Tank's Revenge Ch. 01

Justin had already forwarded the feed from the monitors upstairs. That's when Justin noticed something approaching from the opposite side of the warehouse complex. It looked like a tactical vehicle with four SUV's and unmarked police vehicles. Mark noticed as well, as he was panning cameras to try and find Chavez who seemed to have disappeared from their view within the two-mile perimeter of cams.

Justin spoke up, "Hey I have a chopper approaching from the northeast, thermal shows five men, think they're feds.

"Fuck, how'd they find us," Mark cussed under his breath. "We need to revert to 'plan c' and move out now." Both Justin and Kelsey looked at Mark confused mouthing the words 'what plan c', as they only knew about a 'plan a & b.' Taking a USB drive out of his pocket, he told Kelsey to get all their gear together, and told Justin to gather all the armory and laptops from the cabinets across the room. As the USB was finished downloading with what Mark wanted, he poured water over each console, but not before sending the feed to his smartphone.

They could hear the chopper overhead and heard some vehicles approaching but had no idea if it were the cartel or the feds. He grabbed his bag and went to a locker across the room. He unlocked the lock, opened the doors, then grabbed the hanger rods and pulled. The entire inside came out to reveal an opening to a tunnel. Both Kelsey and Justin looked at each other and smiled as Mark motioned them inside. He then put the inside of the locker in place and led the two to hopefully safety across the border.

***********

The hum of the engines on the chopper took Detective Robbins back a few years when he was in Afghanistan. His friend Edward "Cotton Top" Masters at his side as they were being transported to their destination about fifty clicks from Barfak to give relief to the local villagers. Cotton Top was given his name due to his almost white hair, and not only was funny, but was one of Robbins best friends in the unit.

"Hey Robbins, you with us? We said we are five minutes out, tactical is set, what's the call?" Reynolds asked over the headset bringing him back from his memories.

"Tell them to set a perimeter, but not to engage until we get down there." Reynolds tapped the pilots' shoulder, and he nodded, as the pilot informed the airport about entering its airspace.

"Reynolds, Robbins, I was just told that the Chavez cartel had crossed the Rio Grande about twenty minutes ago and are about one mile out from here." Wesley yelled.

Reynolds just shook his head, "Well boys, looks like they aren't going to make it easy on us. Let tactical know and get all the vehicles down there out of sight now."

**********

The Next Morning

Kelsey opened her eyes feeling slightly refreshed by sleep in an actual bed. By the time they had made it to the Hotel Consul ado Inn, they only had one room left with two beds. Justin was in one, and she was in the other, with Mark lying on the floor with just a pillow. She didn't know about the feelings she was having about this man who was so broken and pained. She felt he would never let his inner walls down, but she felt safe, and cared for. She trusted him more than her own father.

She watched as he slept on the floor beside her. He was so hard to read while he was awake and alert, but when he slept, he was easy to read. She could almost feel the pain and torment his face would show. He would shout sometimes, 'No, not her,' and she wondered who he might have been dreaming about, perhaps his mom, sister, girlfriend, or was he married? He never told her about his life, while her thoughts ran away from her and without noticing the other side of the room, Justin turned on the TV with a low soft volume.

The news was on with subtitles in English and showing a building burning in El Paso, then men in what looked like military or tactical gear. The news reporter spoke, 'Last night fifteen people were killed in an apparent operation involving the Chavez cartel and U.S. authorities in El Paso. Our partners in El Paso has reported among the fatalities are four FBI agents and one DEA agent. No word on their identities at this time, but we will keep you updated as soon as more comes in.' Justin turned off the TV, climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. Kelsey heard the shower start up, as she closed her eyes wanting to revisit the dreams once again that involved the man on the floor beside her.

Meanwhile Marks dreams were not as nice as Kelsey's. Visions of his past would fill his mind, from the passing of his father in his arms to the deaths of his family. Lately the visions seemed to be mingled together, as he targeted the enemy in Afghanistan, firing the full metal jacket round toward the Taliban soldier, but as he watched through his scope it was his wife's head that exploded. His sweat covered body rose only to find himself standing at his father's grave site, while his mother walks away from him. The air felt chill now, as a shiver went down his spine and all he could hear himself yelling was, "I'm sorry!!!"

Then he felt a calm as he felt Maria lying against him with her hand on his chest, and her soft voice in his ear. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips kissing it, whispered back that he 'loved her', turning onto his side not letting go of her hand as he felt himself relax into a peaceful slumber.

Kelsey's heart raced as he held onto her hand, and did he say he loved her? No, he was dreaming about whomever 'Her' were. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and looked down upon him once more, taking her other hand and kissing her fingertips and as she gently placed them on his lips she felt him kiss her back. Quickly she pulled her hand away, but the other one was held tightly by the rugged man. She knew he would never be able to love her, and she chastised herself to even be having any kind of feelings toward him or any other man for what she had been through. Something inside her just gave her a sense that he was different, and he was a good man with a gentle soul.

As Justin rounded the corner from the washroom to the bedroom, she noticed him and put her finger to her lips. He whispered to her, "That's the most relaxed I've seen him in a long time. Whatever you're doing, keep it up." He winked at her; her smile told him what he already knew. While he jumped into bed and started to look through his phone, she looked down once again, closed her eyes and started to nod off once again.

*************

As ASA Maria Downing came upon the scene, she observed several agents trying to sift through the rubble of the building. As she exited the vehicle she scanned the agents faces hoping the one agent she had cared for most would be alright since she had no identification on the fourth victim, nor could get a hold of the three agents working together. Her eyes came upon an EMT vehicle with two men sitting on the back bumper being tended to.

Agent Reynolds knew that look as soon as he noticed her walking across the open space. Her strides were long, fast and confident, and he knew he was in trouble. How could he let this Detective fill his brain that Lawson was behind all this? The building blew, and no way he would do that with friendlies in the area. ASA Downing stopped to talk to the lead EMT still staring into Reynolds eyes, which he could not read, which made him scared, and excited at the same time.

He stood as she approached the other man still leaned on the vehicle behind them. "What kind of shit operation you two running here? You don't go through protocols and set a perimeter, hell you never called me with any information that you had a lead that involved Chavez Tejada! I've already received an ass chewing this morning from the Assistant Director wanting your badge, and you off your own agency," she said looking at the men. "As of right now, you both are off the case immediately and as for you," she pointed at Reynolds, "I expect a full detailed report on my desk today! Do you both understand?"

Both men nodded at her affirming they understood, but in their minds, it didn't sit right about being pulled off the case because of what happened. As she stood there, she looked around as if to see if anyone was within earshot of them. Turning back to them she came closer so only they could hear her. "I'm real glad the both of you are alright," as she looked into Reynolds eyes. "I'm also sorry you lost your friend helping you, but from what I heard there was nothing you could have really done to stop it. We need to meet somewhere private, the three of us and talk. Something isn't right about this whole thing, and I...., I'll talk more when we don't have any ears around."

She reached into her jacket pocket and handed Reynolds a cellphone while saying, "Only use this phone to contact me, it is encrypted and I have already programmed the necessary numbers in it, including my private numbers." She turned on her heels and walked away from the two, barking orders at agents standing around.

Detective Robbins turned to Reynolds and smiled, "Damn, she's a Pit-bull, I like her." Reynolds just watched her as he made a grumbling sound. "So, what you thinking."

"Not anything I want to share with you!" Reynolds said a little defensive.

"Whoa big fella, I'm talking about what are you thinking we should do now?"

As he put the phone in his pocket he started to walk toward a federal vehicle, "I need coffee." He didn't even turn around or look over his shoulder. "Are you coming or what?" Robbins chuckled and started to catch up with him, wondering where this whole mess was going to lead, or if it would just go away like most cartel business.

***********

Chavez Tejada was relieved to be back in Mexico. Two of his foot soldiers were able to get him out of the melee before it started. The faces of his three captors were etched in his mind, and he wanted them to pay for what they had done. He thought they had stolen his drugs and money when they took him, with the street value being half a million alone.

First thing he did was reached out to his contacts across Texas to find out who they were. His contacts in the FBI and DEA were the best in finding out these things, and he hoped they were a part of the fifteen killed in the shootout in El Paso. With no identifications being made public yet, he was sure he would know before the media. Just to be sure he put a ten million bounty on each of them for their identities or for them being delivered to him dead or alive. He hoped alive so he could kill them himself, especially the red-haired girl, he wanted her to suffer the most.

************

November 11th, 2018

Kelsey woke to find Justin had left, only leaving a note to Mark. She wanted to read it, but decided against it, knowing that it might upset him if she did. She went to the coffee maker in the room and started a pot and gathered her clothes to take a shower. Before entering the bathroom, she looked down at the man whom she had been developing feelings for. He had been sleeping for quite some time, but she would leave him be until after her shower.

Mark was dreaming of his Maria when he was woken by noise in an adjacent room. He opened his eyes trying to gather his bearings, and without looking around, raised up and walked toward the bathroom. As he opened the door, he noticed someone was in the shower, but he had to relieve himself. Without even thinking about it, he walked up to the toilet and took his pants down, letting the stream hit the water.

Kelsey heard someone enter the room, but she didn't know if they were still there, so she opened the curtain enough for her to look out. Right in front of her was Mark and his penis, as he relieved himself in front of her. She covered her mouth with one of her hands as she silently gasped, staring at his member. Unlike her captor who took her virginity, he was much bigger, and it was much more attractive to her. She could feel herself become moist. As he finished, she closed the curtain taking in a full breath as he exited the room.

Mark walked out of the bathroom and noticed that both beds had been slept in and on the nightstand was a letter addressed to him. He sat on the furthest bed from the door and opened it. It read,

'Mark, I will always have your back, and I hope you know that. Without a plan right now, I must make an appearance at home, so nobody calls the police looking for me. I was to be home today, and as it will go, I most likely won't be there until tomorrow morning. I hope you understand and call me later. I still believe in your cause and am behind you brother. Justin'

He put the letter back into the envelope as the bathroom door opened revealing Kelsey in fresh clothes and a towel wrapped around her red locks. She knew he had read the letter in his hand, and wanted to comfort him, but he was so predictable, as he raised up from the bed. "Hope you didn't take all the hot water." He proclaimed as he entered the room, soon after the shower started up. She looked over her shoulder back at the room she had just come from, biting her lower lip, she started to feel a tear run down her cheek. Would he ever take notice of her? Would he ever be able to love her?

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**Thank you for reading, and I am currently writing more to this series. It is quite different to what I usually write, but I hope some will like it.