He motioned to her and she ran to him, put her arms around him, and pushed her bare breasts hard against his chest. He spanked her soft bottom, then lifted her up. She wound her legs around his waist and locked them. Jaime carried her that way into his bedroom and the king-sized bed. He dropped her on it. Then he told her to get on her hands and knees.
Jaime smiled. It was going to be another good romp before dinner. Yes, he had it all right here. For just a moment he thought of his wife and three children in Bogotá. They were well taken care of. Colombian women were not naive. They expected their husbands to have a mistress. He pulled her skirt off and dropped her on the bed. Oh, yes, he had it all right here. Besides this, he had been paid slightly more than a million dollars last year. Most of it was in a bank in Bogotá. He gave his wife ten thousand dollars a month to spend. That alone was enough to keep her happy. He’d go home again at the end of the month on his twice-yearly trip.
When Murdock awoke the next morning, he wasn’t at all enthusiastic about the prospects. He had an 0800 meet with Colonel Paredes. That would result in an assignment to go out and destroy a cocaine lab somewhere in the area. Yes, knocking out some of the cocaine supply was a good thing. But it wasn’t exactly the type of mission he and his men had trained for. Okay, he thought it was beneath their talents. The truck parking lot and the commo center, that was more like it.
He shaved carefully, removing two days’ growth of beard, and reported on time with Ed DeWitt in tow. At least Ed could help backstop the bleats of wonder they would get from the men.
There were four military men in the room beside the colonel. Murdock was surprised to see two enlisted sergeants. That was a good sign.
The colonel nodded at them and began. He pointed to a large map of Cali on the display table.
“Gentlemen, here is the target for tonight. It’s an unusually large cocaine production laboratory from the old days. It’s twenty-five miles outside of Cali, in a rugged section of the mountains. There are no known residents in the general area. Anyone found there can be considered a lawbreaker or someone working for a lawbreaker. Captain Herrera will give you the details.”
His English was scratchy, but they could understand the captain.
“My friends the SEALs. It is good to have you here. Congratulations on your two missions here so far. They have been exemplary and effective. Now to the problem.
“The president has commanded us to take out every cocaine processing plant we know of in the Cali region. This is the largest one. It has been in place some say for more than fifteen years. So it goes back to the days of the huge Cali cocaine cartel. That no longer exists.
“We have two men who will lead you to the site. It is an armed camp, with guards, weapons, and men who can use them. Inside the camp will be from twenty to sixty civilians, workers from the streets of Cali. Many were homeless and work there for food, clothing, and a place to sleep. They should be spared as innocents.
“We estimate that there are about twenty guards there. They do not have guard dogs. The area is not fenced or protected in that manner. There are six supervisors and one general manager by the name of Jaime Pardo Leal. We know little about him. Our suggestion is that we go by truck to within a mile of the site, then off-load and march to the lab area. Would a night or daylight attack be most beneficial to the SEALs?”
Murdock looked up. “A night attack is preferable for this type of operation.”
“Then it will be a night assault. Our primary objective is to capture as many of the guards and supervisors as possible. To release the civilians, and to totally destroy the facility so it never again can be used as a cocaine processing plant. Fire will be one of our tools.”
“Will you be along, sir?” Ed DeWitt asked.
“Yes, unless that would conflict with your procedures.”
“Glad to have you along, sir,” Murdock said.
“Will you want any of our troops to back you up?” the captain asked.
“No sir,” Murdock said. “If you had your men there, we wouldn’t know who to shoot at.”
“Will you need any additional equipment, ammunition, or explosives?”
“Yes sir. We’ll confer with you on that. When is the operation planned?”
“For tonight, Commander. We’ll be moving as soon as all is ready.”
The one six-by truck left Camp Bravo just after two that afternoon. They had on board the SEALs, the two Colombian sergeants, both of whom could speak limited English, and Captain Herrera, who rode in the cab and acted as native guide. Ostercamp drove.
The route soon left the city and traveled up a small valley with only a few farmhouses. Then it turned left up another small stream where there was no real road.
“The lab is six miles up road,” one of the sergeants said.
They drove four miles, and Ostercamp pulled off the road into a lane that ended in a heavier growth of trees that completely concealed the truck.
The two Colombian sergeants left the truck and hurried back to the turnoff where they covered up the tracks the truck made in the turn so no one traveling by would know a truck had left the main trail. They came back and reported to their captain.
“If the man in charge has driven into Cali today, he will be coming back well before dark,” Captain Herrera said. “We’ll wait here and see if he drives by. If he doesn’t show up by four o’clock, we’ll move toward the lab.”
“When will it be dark today?” Murdock asked.
“Yes. Good. By five-thirty, or 1730, it will be dark. That will be extremely dark since we have a cloud cover and no moon.”
They waited. The SEALs had attached additional bags of explosives to their combat harnesses. They all had regular weapons except the Bull Pup men, who were given MP-5s as better for this venture. Murdock had the only Bull Pup and twenty rounds.
It was just after 1645 when they lined up and moved out. They used the road with Lam out front a hundred yards and one of the Colombian sergeants in back, listening for a truck.
Nothing happened before the captain and Lam went to ground two miles later. Murdock moved up with them.
“We’re about two hundred yards from the lab,” the captain said. “The shacks are spread out for three hundred yards and all camouflaged on tops and sides. Almost impossible to see from the air except by a chopper at a hundred feet.”
They had moved up well dispersed and stayed in the heavy brushy and woods cover. It wasn’t dark yet, and Murdock had a good look at the layout. It ran up the small creek for about 300 yards and had cheaply built shacks and sheds all over. One of them must be the lab. They would burn everything in sight.
“You said there might be a roving patrol,” Murdock said. “Would that be by jeep or truck?”
Just then they heard the growl of a motorcycle. It came down from the far end, circled around behind the buildings, and then moved toward the watchers. It turned sharply north and behind the nearest buildings, then up into some brush and vanished. A moment later, the engine sound cut off.
“I think that’s their roving patrol,” Captain Herrera said.
DeWitt looked at Murdock. “How do we play this? We don’t know where those civilians are.”
“No crossfire,” Murdock said. “We’ll all get five yards apart and move across the complex. We take out any guards we find and herd the civilians into one of the structures. All weapons suppressed. We’ll move out as soon as it’s fully dark.”
Murdock gave the same instructions on the Motorola, and the SEALs settled down to wait for darkness.
It came less than a half hour later, and Murdock waved at the captain. “Time to rock and roll, sir.”