“Did you know it’s against the law to knowingly employ illegal workers?” Agent Carter inquired.
Cletus Lee exploded in laughter then mocked, “No? Really? I had no idea.”
“Yes, really,” Agent Carter assured him. “A person commits a federal felony when he or she—”
“Whatever. This is Texas. I’ll hire who I want,” Cletus Lee barked. “Y’all wanna see what I found or not. I mean, y’all come out here to look at murdered folks and instead all y’all are doing is—”
“We don’t know that anyone has been murdered,” Agent Andrews interrupted.
“Oh yeah, the boys back there committed suicide by eating themselves down to the bone overnight.”
Agent Andrews and Agent Carter looked to one another then to Cletus Lee then back to one another.
“Please lead us to the bodies,” Agent Andrews requested.
Cletus Lee did as he was asked and, as it had before, the sky turned black with the sudden explosive flight of buzzards. Agents Andrew and Carter gagged at the onslaught smell of rot and decay that overwhelmed the area and swatted at the clouds of buzzing flies that nearly engulfed them.
“Is this one of the individuals you called the agency about?” Agent Andrews asked, trying not to vomit.
Cletus Lee turned in disgust, rolled his eyes, and said to himself, “A couple of goddamn rocket scientists I got out here.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t hear you,” Agent Andrews admitted.
Cletus Lee turned around to address the agents.
“Yes, sir,” he condescendingly began again. “That there dead mutilated body is one of the dead mutilated bodies I called y’all about. Them other dead mutilated bodies back there too.”
Agent Andrews and Agent Carter nodded to one another then knelt next to the remains of the first body. They looked the body up and down, nodded to one another, and rose.
“Chainsaw,” Agent Andrews and Agent Carter said in unison. “Chainsaw.”
“Chainsaw?” Cletus Lee guffawed. “Chainsaw what?”
“It is our assessment that this individual and I’m guessing the others, if they look like this poor gentleman, were killed by chainsaw-wielding cartel members,” Agent Andrews decreed.
“Are you shitting me?” Cletus Lee exploded. “Chainsaws don’t eat folks to the bone, ‘n’ they don’t leave bite marks.”
“Buzzards,” Agent Carter replied. “Buzzards ate these individuals. You saw them fly away.”
“Buzzards! They couldn’t kill these folks and eat them down as far as they did in less than a day.”
“It was a chainsaw that killed these men,” Agent Andrews reiterated. “Buzzards are what ate them.”
“What about this crazy footprint here?” Cletus Lee inquired, pointing at the odd-shaped cast in the bloody mud next to his boot.
“It appears to be that of a child,” Agent Carter theorized.
“That’s not a child print!” Cletus Lee’s blood pressure was at the tipping point. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand these two idiots. “Look at it. It’s all deformed.”
“Yes,” Agent Andrews agreed. “It appears to be the footprint of a deformed child.”
“A lot of deformed individuals try to enter America,” Agent Carter explained. “After all, we have the best health care system in the world.”
“And we are a very inclusive society,” Agent Andrews added. “Americans don’t bully the handicapped anymore.”
Cletus Lee spit in utter disgust and declared, “Boys, there’s something weird going on out here, and it ain’t a Mexican drug cartel out for a day of chainsaw chop suey! If y’all don’t pull your heads out, I’m afraid whatever’s happened out here is going to bite you and yours in the ass big time.”
27.
Despite the fact that they followed his command and that they followed military structures and procedures, Hunter’s team wasn’t military.
They were mercenaries.
And as such, Hunter let them choose their own weapons and what equipment they took into the field. Yes, today they’d all be issued night vision and thermal imaging goggles and radios, but everything else they took into the tunnel was of their own selection.
Hunter himself was wearing his standard outfit of a 5.11 tactical pants and shirt, custom boots, and body armor. He carried a Glock 19 pistol, an FN MK 16 CQC rifle, extra ammunition for both, a knife, flashlight, and a multi-tool. He also carried a small pack with a three-liter Camelback filled with water, several energy bars, and a first-aid kit.
Taylor’s gear was similar. He wore the same style clothing as Hunter and the same thermal imaging goggles and body armor. He carried a Sig Sauer P320 chambered in 9mm, a LaRue Tactical Costa Edition AR-15 rifle, extra ammunition, a knife, two M84 percussion grenades, and a pack filled with water, energy bars, and extra batteries.
Pearce’s massive build and thick black beard gave him the appearance of a barbarian from a fantasy film. The 18-inch socket machete he carried in addition to his Colt M4A1 SOPMOD rifle and Glock pistol made him appear even more so.
Nickerson wore worn fatigues from his DEA days and carried the same .40 Glock 22 pistol that he used during his career in the agency. He also carried a Heckler & Koch MP5A3 rifle and Ka-Bar knife.
Although not one for theatrics or flashiness, Agüera carried twin 1911 pistol’s sporting ivory handles with silver and bejeweled Mexican eagle engraves. Agüera had taken his “pair of trophies” off a sicario from the Sinaloa Cartel sent to collect a bounty on his head. The hit man didn’t succeed and Agüera picked up two new .45s as keepsakes. In addition, Agüera also carried an M4A1 Carbine rifle, Bench Made SOCP dagger, an ARDEC stun grenade, and several packs of Marlboros.
Like Agüera, Ruck also carried a sidearm she’d taken off someone with nefarious intentions. She had just turned 13 when she made the adult decision that her mother’s live-in boyfriend would never hurt her or her mother again. Ruck waited for the right opportunity and found it on the night the man whose-name-she-refused-to say pulled a Beretta 9mm on her mom in yet another one of his booze and drug-fueled tirades. Ruck put a frying pan to his head from behind then watched in pure bliss as he hit the floor and stayed there bleeding out for 20 minutes. When the man came to, Ruck was holding his pistol to his head. Ruck said she’d love to pull the trigger but had a social studies project she’d worked really hard on due the next day and hated to miss turning it in because of all the police drama that would surely come from her putting a bullet through his, “worthless piece of shit head.” Mom’s now ex-boyfriend agreed that shooting him would definitely mean Ruck would miss school the next day and promised to leave immediately. Ruck held a pistol on him all the way to his truck.
Ruck worried that he might return but that fear was erased when the police came to inform her and her mother that he’d died in a car wreck shortly after leaving their trailer house. The bash to his head delivered by Ruck and his subsequent loss of blood combined with all the alcohol and narcotics in his system caused him to fall asleep at the wheel and run off a highway overpass.
Ruck also carried a Daniel Defense M4A1 rifle and knife.
Jordan outfitted himself with the same make of clothing and firearms that he used during his two combat tours in Afghanistan. Not because he was too lazy to research anything different, but because they’d served him well. He saw no reason to change what worked and the low-cost of surplus military gear fit his thrifty nature well. For weapons, Jordan carried a Heckler & Koch MP5A3 rifle and Sig Sauer P320 chambered in .45 ACP.
Drake carried a Radical Firearm AR-15 rifle, Glock 19 pistol, pry bar, and a little something extra she recently picked up online.