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l00na24 · 3 months

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I Got Your Six - Chapter 5

Warnings: Death, some things won't be 100% accurate to reality and are written that way for the sake of the story

Word Count: 9k

A/N: Hello 🤗 First of all I wish everyone a happy new year even if it's a bit late but I hope all of you are doing well and had a great start into the new year! 🥰 I am so sorry it took me sooo long to finally get this chapter finished (after changing it about a million of times because I wasn't happy with it lol), which I had wanted to get out before Christmas but unfortunately I got sick for a few weeks and then real life stuff came up right after 😓 But now it's here and I hope you enjoy reading it with things turning up a notch 😋 And don't worry, the next one won't take that long because I'm already on it! 😉

Also a little part of this chapter was inspired by the original Triple Frontier Script which I totally recommend you to read if you haven't already!

7 days later, 4 PM, Brazil, Jungle (at Lorea’s house)

It was a humid warm and cloudy day when I crept through the various green plants that surrounded me. The typical climate you would expect in a jungle.

Exotic birds occasionally flying high above the treetops and filling the wild and untamed nature with their chirping or insects buzzing around between leaves big enough to cover my body entirely, some smaller ones with the similarity of palms that fit perfectly in the spaces between together with other, more colorful plants or bushes on the ground. Meter long lianas hanging from above that were winding themselves along the branches of some big trees like snakes.

If I wouldn’t be here for a mission, I would take my time admiring every little detail and the peaceful, quiet and yet a tad mysterious atmosphere with the slight fog floating around.

The calm before the storm.

How the ridges of the Andes, completely covered in green nature and shrouded in banks of clouds, ominously greeted us at our arrival. Like they would be announcing a bad omen that was in the air.

Normally I wouldn’t be faced much by anything when it came to a mission besides the flying part but this time I’d been restless as soon as we were on our way to the destination Santiago had given me when I called him a few days ago.

My gut was screaming at me to not do it, to turn as fast as we could and fly back instead but it was too late and I wouldn’t leave them alone in this. I never backed down from a mission. No matter what. And I’d never forgive myself if I did now.

It had been the first warning.

My team and me nearly got caught in the crossfire of some criminals and the local police on our way to the friendship bridge, the signature element of the Triple Frontier, that connected Paraguay to Brazil over the Parana River.

We were slowly driving through the outskirts of Ciudad del Este, the second largest city of Paraguay and a literal hotspot for any crime imaginable thanks to the Triple Frontier connection, the biggest part being the smuggling of a lot of dangerous things. You could practically see on every corner you turned, that the criminals were ruling this place. My trained eyes spotting them from miles away out of the car window next to me or the guns some people were carrying with them, hidden beneath their clothes in hopes nobody would notice, even if they were way too obvious. Drug dealers selling their stuff openly on the street without a care as if it would be an everyday business. The poorest of the poor together with other citizens weaving through the thick traffic between cars.

You should think we would actually change something with our work but looking at this, I understood what Santiago had meant. Nobody was giving a shit about government or authority here, they had their own laws and the police were only bystanders, not able to do anything and probably not even bothering anymore or corrupt to the core.

Just as we were crossing an intersection, suddenly loud sirens started to blare in the distance and only seconds after a sports car nearly crashed with us when it flew by in high speed, the police following close behind.

“Alex! Watch out!” I shouted from the right backseat when I saw it speeding directly at us.

“Oh fuck!” As fast as he could, Alex hit the brakes. The force of it jolting us forward in our seats as we came to an abrupt stop just enough that the car only lightly grazed our front and didn’t crash into us.

In the middle of the chaos that broke out with people screaming and madly running around and vehicles on the street trying to get out of the way, I saw the windows of the sports car rolling down and persons with assault rifles leaning out of them to shoot at the police car.

“Get down! Put your heads down!” I raised my voice even louder before I heard the first shot being fired and made myself as small as I could.

The bullets were flying everywhere, one piercing through our windshield and almost hitting my shoulder if I hadn’t ducked to the side in my seat.

“Is everyone okay?” Luc asked from the passenger seat in the front and immediately looked over to Alex and then behind to me and Mick in the backseats.

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

The boys breathed out after everything seemed to be back to normal like nothing happened and people resumed their ways. The bullet hole the only reminder of what had just transpired.

“What the fuck is wrong with these people?!” I let out with irritation.

“I think they had a slight disagreement with each other.” Mick commented from the left.

That had been the second warning we ignored.

Stalking like a panther through the thick foliage of the jungle, I moved forward to the spot I was supposed to be and grabbed my TAC-50 that was slung around me as I came closer.

When I looked through my scope, a set of two big, black eyes ogled me and I looked up confused, spotting a little black and white patterned gecko sitting in front of its lens on my sniper.

What the heck?

“Hey there, little guy. You should be careful, you could get yourself hurt.” I said and inspected him curiously.

He held eye contact when his tongue darted out and ran along his mouth before he carefully moved across the upside of my gun, over the scope to its long rear where he laid himself flat on his stomach, his tiny feet spread wide from his body and blinked a few times at me and slightly tilted his head.

“You better get down there.” I told him and slowly moved my hand that wasn’t holding the gun to him.

Without moving he still sat there, not letting me out of sight. After another moment of studying me with his big, round button eyes he got up and came toward my hand. Stopping for a moment right in front to look, before carefully climbing with his sticky, nub-like toes onto it.

He was running all over it, in my palm and between my fingers, stopping at some point and dragging his little pink tongue along my skin.

“Did you… just lick me?” I asked him surprised, staring at the little reptile who didn’t seem bothered by me.

He only looked back innocently before he started to advance up my arm to my shoulder.

“Oh, no, no, little guy! You can’t go there!” I slightly panicked, not wanting him to touch or come close to the part of my body that was forbidden to everyone.

Thankfully he stopped as if he understood what I was saying and changed his direction. Moving over to my other shoulder along my front and looking from there at me once he had reached it.

“Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable, hm?” I asked and held my hand at him again, so I could put him on one of the plants around me, waiting till he was back in my palm.

I let him climb on one of the lianas hanging down in front of me.

“Watch your six, little guy.”

Following his movements along it until he turned upside down and looked back at me before I turned around and continued onward. At least a nice surprise for a change.

Brushing past some large ferns, I made my path through the wilderness with a watchful eye on the ground to not fall over tree roots or for any other kind of danger and made sure to take slow steps to not cause any unnatural movement that potentially could be spotted.

As I reached my spot, I got in position hidden behind a wall of leaves and cocked my sniper to inspect the rest of the area around the house after I had done a full circle of observation.

“I don’t like this.” I spoke into the com I had placed on my in dark and light grey tones camouflaged gear.

“What’s your concern?” Alex’ voice crackled through my earpiece.

“Looks too easy.”

“Did you expect a heavily fortified fortress out here in the middle of a jungle?” Mick asked chuckling.

“Considering the millions of dollars he’s supposed to have and that he’s one of the top tier pieces of shit here, yes, that would be my first expectation if I’m honest.” I retorted while letting my sight wander around through the scope, not spotting much besides some guards hanging around in a few corners with submachine guns strapped to them.

“You aren’t wrong. I estimated with more defense measures too, looking at his profile. But let’s check what we’ve gathered so far.” Luc suggested, wanting to hear what we had detected during our surveillance so he could start thinking about possible tactics at how we would approach this.

“Guards on all sides of the house in groups of two to max three, no protection and armed with SMG’s. Three right, left and rear side, two front, potentially more inside. Lots of spots all around the house where we could easily slip in without a problem except the front. There’s a long, unprotected driveway, ending with a couple of concrete jersey barriers on the sides and a steal gate. Could be breakable with a car I would guess, if you manage to destroy the barrier that comes out of the ground when the gate closes but that would alert everyone, which rules it out as possible option. The only real “danger”, if you wanna call it that, is the machine gun in a sort of tower behind it. 50 caliber, that would shred you before you come even close. I would need help from one of you to take both guards out undetected if we do this the ‘silent way’.” I explained my observation.

“I could give you a hand. There’s a small waterway from my position leading in your direction, would be a matter of seconds to get to you.” Alex confirmed.

“Perfect.” I answered before continuing. “I’ve also seen some surveillance cameras around. We will have to either destroy them when we approach, or we have to look inside the house for a security room to deal with it. They didn’t seem to give a shit about aiming them at the crucial spots, but I would like to take care of them, so we don’t have to worry about it later.”

“They are not looking like the newest ones there are. Don’t wanna know where he got them from, but it will be enough if we take care of the hard drives.” Mick brought in his opinion. His expertise as the best engineer we had in Delta gave us a huge advantage with any tech or gadgets we had to deal with in our missions or other unconventionalities.

“Also, we have high fences extending around the house in a radius of probably twenty to thirty meters. We won’t be able to climb over, but we could cut through them. I’m actually surprised they aren’t charged with electricity.”

“If I were him, I wouldn’t want my kids getting roasted, that’s probably the reason.” He had a point. I had seen them playing outside and some toys laying around but I doubted that it was why.

“The less time we need the better.” Luc pointed out, reminding us that we would have a time window we had to keep in mind once we were in.

“Look what we have here... Someone’s got some little toys.” Mick’s amused voice came through the com again.

“What is it?” The tone he used set off alarm bells in my head. Something was wrong.

“Ground sensors.”

Well, shit.

“The lethal kind?” I inquired with a hint of worry and scoped the area more wary a second time and focused on every detail I could find but spotting none of the mentioned sensors. They must be hidden underneath the plants.

“Hard to say but I don’t wanna find that out.” He answered thoughtfully when he inspected the object on the ground more closely with his trained eyes.

“Any way we can deactivate them?”

“Negative. Not without setting them off.”

“Copy that. Eyes up and on the ground then. Be careful where you’re going.” I spoke sternly, not wanting my team to have an unpleasant encounter that could end potentially deadly and risk the mission before it even started.

The theory with his kids was off the table with that but now we had an explanation why he wasn’t using electricity. Lorea probably thought it would be enough to rely on the sensors and I guessed, he hadn’t even wasted a thought about the possibility of some highly trained and lethal delta force soldiers attacking him or figuring out his location in the first place. Very bad mistake.

But it didn’t make our situation any better, knowing we practically walked around in a minefield. I had to hope the other guys would spot the objects in time and not run into one by accident, not having the possibility to communicate to them what they were about to walk into without revealing myself. They didn’t know we were here and I wanted to keep it this way till we were done with the recce.

“We’ve got company now, boys and girls.” I heard Luc shortly after through my earpiece upon spotting the arrival of the five ex-delta soldiers we had been waiting for. Their timing was just great… note the sarcasm.

“Make sure none of them notices the slightest trace of you and get your comms ready.” I ordered in the serious tone as their captain, wanting to avoid getting detected by any of the boys at all costs.

“Copy.” The three men of my team answered in unison.

I lowered my weapon and slung it back around me with its strap, reaching into a pocket on the backside of my vest and pulling out the com I had requested for me and my team from Santiago, so we could listen their conversation, putting it in my other free ear. They couldn’t hear us unless we used the manual trigger of the mic, which me or my teammates wouldn’t dare to touch and continued to use our own to communicate with each other.

Hearing their line crackling to life, I left my position and disappeared back into the thick foliage.

“So what's this guy got against banks? At least a safe.” Will’s deep voice reached my ears and sent a shudder down my spine that halted my movement for a moment. It felt weird to hear their voices after so long. I needed to get used to them again.

“The house is the safe.” Santiago answered cryptical. What was that supposed to mean?

“Got any idea what he’s talking about?” Alex questioned through our com and spoke out what I was asking myself.

“No clue.”

“Feels like he didn’t tell you everything.” Mick threw in skeptically, emphasizing the most important word in his sentence. Everything. Santiago better didn’t withhold any important information we should have known about before.

Carefully ducking underneath some low hanging branches, the quiet rustling of plants caught my attention and I looked alarmed around. It didn’t come from me but who- or whatever it was that made them was close.

The only thing I saw was a backwards cap in green camouflage moving through the greenery of the jungle and I knew who it was. I stopped dead in my tracks and didn’t dare to breathe or even blink. Ben had no clue I stood directly behind him when he moved by, not more than a thin wall of leaves separating us. His sudden closeness speeding up the beat of my heart in an instant that was pounding loudly in my ears and I prayed he couldn’t hear it. Keep your god damn composure, Y/N! Don’t panic.

Fuck. Did he have a compass which seemed to always lead him to me?

His hand was not a mere inch away and nearly brushed my belly. I’d be so, so fucked if he was able to sense me. Please don’t let him notice. Only this time.

Thump-thump.

After a few beats of him deciding it was a good idea to stop and stand right there in front of me and I thought I’d die from my heart jumping out of my chest, he finally started to walk away and gave me an actual chance to get some desperately needed air into my lungs again. I swear, this man was the death of me, in more ways than one.

This was waaay too close.

My eyes had grown at least double their size as I followed his path till he was out of sight, not making any kind of motion or noise yet for fear he could pick up on it and discover who was here with them.

“I'm at the gate.” I let out a sigh of relief when I heard his still well too familiar rough voice speak through their com that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. If someone would have told me, I’d ever be relieved not having to be near him… Nothing could have been more wrong…

“This looks like everything was done about 82% right. They got all the toys out here, but these cameras aren't even aimed at the weakest breach point.” Ben continued and repeated in his own words what I had observed before, showing clearly why both of us were the experts at reconnaissance.

“Someone’s got some knowledge there too, huh?” Mick indicated, somewhat surprised there was someone else ‘as good as me’ as he would put it, in this field.

We had been the perfect team… And now we were standing on opposite sides.

Deciding to stay silent, I put more distance between us when I was sure he would be far enough away and went with fast but still calculated steps in the other direction. I didn’t want to have another close encounter with him.

“Your girlfriend's making her normal money drop?” Tom’s voice joined in and halted my steps a few meters after once again. What were they talking about now?

“Yeah.” Santiago answered him directly like they were talking about the weather, despite knowing that we could hear their conversation. “She's prepared to record the inside of the house.”

Girlfriend?... Wait a minute…- His so called ‘informant’ was his girlfriend?! And he had the nerve to not tell me before all of this?! He just had dug his own grave.

I was sure my teammates didn’t take this new information any different. I could already imagine how their brows would knit together and their jaws would clench at the revelation.

Santiago had unknowingly managed to turn our team against him before they even had the chance to meet with his move. The fact that none of them felt like speaking up about it told basically everything already. Good luck for him to get out of this.

“Pope...” The person using his callsign was Frankie but it sounded a bit off. Was that concern I heard? What was worrying him? Everything should be fine, I made sure of that before they arrived. Besides… My thoughts went back to the discovery we had made not long ago. Damn it. He didn’t accidentally set off one of the sensors, did he?

“Pope, I have kids over here. Does he have kids living in here with him? 'Cause that's gonna make things a whole lot more complicated and is not what I signed up for.” He shared his discovery over the com and thankfully not confirmed my suspicion but reminded me of what would be another part on my personal task list which I hadn’t wanted to think about yet. If Fish had known what he signed up for… maybe he would’ve had considered his options better.

I continued my way with quick strides through the jungle while I listened, passing by the gate in the distance with enough space to not get noticed and reaching the spot on the left side of the house where I had originally begun my observation round.

“The family's not the problem. They're the answer.” The addressed man replied without the slightest concern. What was it with Santiago and his cryptic sentences?

“Why?” Frankie wasn’t the only person who liked to know.

“Church.” Santiago simply answered. “Lorea's very devout. Every Sunday morning, he sends three guards to the 6 AM service. When they get back, he sends the rest of the team, along with his family, into town to mass. That leaves him and three guards in that house, and that's our window.” He elaborated and I could only shake my head at what I heard. I wouldn’t give them a chance to escape and not finish the mission properly, he could totally forget that. I didn’t care how many guards Lorea had in his house, ten, twenty, it didn’t matter. We would have the army with us too, which would be way enough to wipe them out for good. Not that my team and I could handle it on our own. I didn’t understand why he was making such a fuss about the damn family. There was definitely some business we had to discuss later.

“Why would he do that?” Will inquired, which wasn’t really surprising. He always was someone for details. Too bad he didn’t pay attention to them when he actually should have.

“Worried about someone taking his kids. And he never leaves his money.” These would be the least of his problems very soon…

“Also, I don't think he believes anyone actually has the balls to come out here and rob him.” Santiago added bluntly. That was another way to put it, except ‘rob’ was the wrong word for what we’d be doing. Let me correct, what they’d be doing. My team wouldn’t get involved with the money the guys would confiscate together with the army after we were done. So was the plan. But I didn’t like how he said it and the feeling it caused in my gut.

“It's probably cause it's a stupid idea.” At least Will had some common sense. Yes, it absolutely was. It was the stupidest idea on earth to be exact.

The sound of a car approaching had me drawing my sniper in a flash, holding it steady with both hands and looking out at the driveway through some trees and bushes from my higher position. A black van came into view that slowly approached the barrier at the gate where it stopped. The guard not standing behind the machine gun walked up to the passenger side.

“Pope, I got your girlfriend coming up right now.” Ben announced at the same time.

“Y/N, do you have the safety of your gun on?” Mick joked into the com right after, who had been uncharacteristically silent, already knowing what my reaction would be and wanting to check up on me.

“Maybe I accidentally switched it off.” My voice dropped lower, with an underlying threat behind it my boys were familiar with, while aiming through the scope of my TAC-50 at the woman’s head. It would only take a little pull on the trigger…

I inspected her nearer and got slapped in the face with the bitter truth that I couldn’t compare to her, and it was obvious why Santiago seemed to have a liking in this woman. She looked attractive with her tanned skin, the dark brown, shoulder long, wavy hair and dark eyes. And I bet the rest of her body looked just as good. Something I wouldn’t ever come close to…

“Holy shit. She is beautiful, man.” My blood ran cold at Benny’s next words and something broke inside me. He should have kept his damn mouth shut. The grip on my weapon tightened with my fingers wrapping themselves like snakes around it that were about to choke their victim to death.

Don’t let it get to you. Just ignore all the shit they’re talking. He’s not worth it! None of them are worth it!

“He doesn’t know that the most beautiful woman is already here.” Alex threw in quickly, trying to lessen the damage but he had no clue that what Ben said had fueled my wrath already to a dangerous level. He only tried to lift the situation and make me feel better, knowing about my insecurities that got much worse after what I had been through, but this was something even he couldn’t fix. Only one person could have done that and he wasn’t here anymore… because of me.

Fuck him. Fuck all of them. I wouldn’t give them even the slightest chance to hurt me.

Thank god the van drove past the gate a moment later before I couldn’t resist the temptation to shoot her and the driver anymore. My index finger hovering dangerously close over the small part of the gun that could decide between life and death in a moment’s notice if I wanted.

“I got an execution about to go down over here.” As if sensing my mood for satisfying the craving I felt, Will spoke through their line, adding greatly to the need for shedding blood. Did I hear execution?

“Are you at the tennis courts?” Santiago wanted to know and I looked around if I could see the mentioned place from my position to follow what was happening there but to my disappointment it was out of my sight.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, that's his spot.” He confirmed. Of course Lorea would kill others for his sake, people like him were all the same. He wasn’t the first and surely wouldn’t be the last.

“Anyone have sight on it?” I spoke into the mic, in hopes one of my boys would be close by and could give more detailed information about the situation.

“Positive, I do.” Alex answered while watching Lorea with a guard next to him getting ready to kill the unfortunate souls that were kneeling on the ground with bags over their heads. He had also found the blonde person lurking behind the small brick wall not far from him who must be one of the ex-delta soldiers, watching through the free spaces in between what was about to unfold.

“How many?” I inquired after his response, meaning the number of people the drug lord was about to kill.

“Four.” Too many. I would make sure to pay it equally back to him. He wouldn’t hurt someone ever again after we would be finished with him.

“Man, this guy really takes his business way too serious.” Mick commented with a snort when multiple shots of a gun filled the atmosphere. It wasn’t meant as disrespect toward Lorea’s victims but more his own way to cope with what we had to experience in our job and to not let it get to him. The complete opposite of me.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

“One more reason to get rid of him.” The grip on my sniper hardened even more at the thought of how many people had died because of him. How many lives he had taken for all the blood money. This guy was practically begging to be killed. A shame I couldn’t do it right now.

“Why is she doing this?” Frankie wondered as he saw the dark-haired woman and a few men getting out of the van and entering Lorea’s house with some bags, bringing their line back to life after it went silent for the time of the execution, everyone probably listening the sound of bullets delivering death and leaving nothing but corpses behind.

“She hopes I can get her little brother out of jail.” As if it hadn’t been enough to hear that she was his ‘girlfriend’ but to also find out she was doing this for Santiago to get her brother back on top of it… This was the culmination of it all. How did he even wanted to do that? If her brother was involved with Lorea, there was no way he could get him out legally. Or was he simply playing her so she agreed to help him? Like he tried with me also with leaving out what I heard since they arrived? He had chosen the wrong person.

“Tell me he isn’t fucking serious?!” Our engineer let out in vexation, being careful to not speak too loud and give himself away to the person with a cap he had in sight while he looked over the entrance area of the house where the van had stopped not a minute ago.

“I guess he ‘forgot’ to mention those little details, right?” Alex was just as pissed off, the kind where he questioned himself if he should shoot first and ask questions later or the other way round.

“He should pray I won’t find him right now.” Mick threatened afterwards, directly voicing out what his Spanish brother had hidden behind his words.

“You should give him a chance to explain himself and not make any assumptions already.” Luc spoke up, surprising us with his calmness and how he wasn’t on the side of his brothers. Sitting still on his spot on the other side of the house and following the guards’ movements while also keeping a careful eye on two of the ex-delta soldiers laying on top the massive concrete wall underneath some plants.

“What the fuck, man?! How can you defend him?! There is no god damn room for assumptions because everything is fucking clear! We need to have a talk after this!” His friend shot back with a growl.

It would be an exhausting drive back… Releasing some air and not wanting to take part in their conversation to fuel the tension that already had manifested itself with my own emotions, I focused back on the other boys.

“Did you put him in jail?” I heard Ben asking the most obvious question, silencing and distracting my three men from their heated discussion. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if Santiago did.

“Not really.” There we go. So he had something to do with it. He might be able to fool the others but not me.

“I'm guessing that's putting her at some risk.” Tom pointed out and a sarcastic chuckle left me. It was putting her at the risk of vanishing from the face of this earth as soon as I got my hands on her.

“Man, I almost forgot why I got out of this business. Shit gets so dark so quick.” Frankie shared his thoughts, not knowing how true his words actually were and hitting the nail on the head. Explaining why I was as I was and bringing back painful memories. Nothing would come close to what I had to experience.

My knuckles turned white from the force I was gripping my weapon with now, teeth grinding hard against each other and shutting my eyes to force the unwelcomed thoughts away before they had a chance to get through.

Keep breathing slowly. You’re not going back to that place. You’re over it.

“Oh, shit, we got ground sensors here, boys.” Benny suddenly announced alarmed over their com when he found himself near the dangerous little object that blocked his way.

“Did you hit one?” As soon as Santiago had asked his question, my focus completely relied on them, tensely waiting for an answer and cursing under my breath that of course it had to be him out of the five to get himself into this situation.

“I don't know, I'm not sure.” With concern heavy in his voice and face Ben answered, uncertain if he had activated it or not and quickly taking a look around to check if he had been detected but everything seemed normal until Fish’s warning hit his ears.

“Benny, I got two guys on motorbikes coming your way.” He informed the younger Miller when he watched them speeding down the driveway in the direction of the gate where Ben was crouching deeper into the bushes covering him.

The urge to eliminate the enemy grew with every passing second and I considered starting the mission early. They wouldn’t get anywhere near him. I wouldn’t allow it. They’d be dead before they knew it.

With him already in my sight from my place across, I switched off the safety of my sniper once again. Making sure he was unharmed and nobody would come too close to him and discover where he was hiding.

Will left his position right after, following back the way he came through the small waterway around the area toward his little brother.

“Hold tight, Benny. I'm trying to get out there to cover you.” He told him, the protectiveness as his big brother coming to the surface. Moving as fast as he could till he got in position behind a small tree on the opposite side of the gate and aiming his pistol underneath its branches toward the newly arrived guards.

I shifted my view to the gate when I heard the sound of motorbikes approaching, noticing Will at the edge of my scope. Shutting out everything to not get distracted from the threat at hand and taking in controlled breaths to keep the heavy weapon steady while looking at the guys getting off their bikes, ready to shoot at any wrong movement or getting closer to Ben’s position.

“A stock boy job at Walmart's starting to look pretty good right now, boys.” It wouldn’t be Ben if he didn’t make one of his comments in his current situation, holding his pistol low but ready to use if needed. He was unaware that me and his brother had him covered from both sides of the gate and nobody would have an actual chance to harm or get to him without being killed. It kind of was like a déjà vu.

For a long moment they stood there, talking to the other guards. Thankfully not showing any signs that they were alarmed or actively searching for Ben. With a wave of a hand from one of them they got on their motorbikes again and drove back where they came from.

“I'm clear. They're coming back to you.” Ben confirmed to Frankie and watched them retreating, putting the gun back in the waistband of his jeans and relieving all of us with his words.

“Let's get the fuck outta here.” Will ordered into their com, keeping his hand weapon aimed on the men until they were out of sight. He had seen enough and didn’t want to push their luck any further, it had already been a close call with his brother and there was no reason to risk another encounter. The intel they had gathered should be enough to make a plan.

“Two retreating on my position.” I informed my team, watching both Miller brothers leave and disappearing into the jungle. Lowering my sniper and allowing my muscles to loosen up after I made sure my surroundings were safe.

“Positive, two as well here.” Luc responded first.

“Affirmative. One on me.” His friend Mick validating the same after.

“That’s all of ‘em. Alex, you clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Copy. If y’all are, I’ll meet you at the car. Be careful out there, boys.” I instructed before heading to where we had parked and took the earpieces out. Not looking forward to what awaited me…

35 Minutes later, 6:18 PM, Brazil

A bump in the road we were driving along woke me rudely from my nap when my front made contact with the car door to my right side I had leant to in my sleep. Startling me awake with the force of the impact.

A very faint “Sorry!” rang through the car.

“Can’t you drive more careful? If you continue like this, you gonna wake her up!” Alex complained annoyed from the left backseat, taking a look beside him in the dark of the car to ensure their girl was getting some much-needed sleep.

“I’m very obviously trying my best here. It’s not my fault this road is absolute shit. How is someone supposed to drive safe here anyway?” Mick complained back and shot his friend a glare through the rearview mirror before looking back at the road and giving Luc a glance on the way in the passenger seat.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, you won’t find any better ways out here. I’m afraid this is the best we can get, gentlemen.” Luc declared with a chuckle.

“Still was a mistake to let him drive.” Alex grumbled lowly, not agreeing with the choice they had made earlier because he had enough experience with his recklessness at times. Especially with driving.

“If you think you can do it better, go ahead, pen-, pem-? Whatever you call asshole in Spanish.” Mick challenged him, struggling to find the word he was looking for because his knowledge of his friends’ second language was very limited or rather nonexistent and slowing their vehicle.

“It’s called pen-de-jo, dumbass. And we all know I’m a better driver than you.”

“Who almost caused an accident when we came here? Hm?”

“Seriously?! It wasn’t my fault some crazy people were having a fucking chase with the police!”

“Whatever you say, bud.”

“If you keep going like this and not lower your volume, it won’t be the movement of the car who’ll wake her up.” Luc clarified, sending a look their ways that didn’t require any further words.

With a slight groan I came to and opened my eyes slowly, noticing the lack of daylight.

“Great job, Mick. Look what you’ve done! You woke her up!”

“It certainly wasn’t me!”

With an eyeroll Alex shifted his head in my direction and gave me a smile.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” He greeted me softly, his hand searching mine and giving me a light squeeze while caressing the back of it with his thumb. A ritual my boys always did when we were out on a mission, to assure me I was safe and in the present while I was waking up out of my half sleep.

“Hey. What’s… happening?” I answered groggily and looked at him with barely opened eyes, giving a squeeze back.

“Nothing you have to worry about. You okay?” He asked, letting me take my time to get more conscious and inspecting me.

“Mhm. As best as I can be.” I saw it in his eyes when I nodded at him that it wasn’t the answer he’d been waiting for, even if he did an excellent job at not showing any changes in his facial expression and maintaining the smile on his lips for my sake. Giving me a final caress with a bit more pressure before retreating his hand.

“Welcome back.” Mick’s cheerful voice broke our moment and my sight went to the front of the car. Realizing night had settled in with the headlights illuminating the earthy path ahead and the instruments inside being our only light source, now that I was more awake.

“How was your little nap?” Luc turned around in his seat to face me.

“You know how it was.” I told him right away, every person in the car aware of the fact that my sleep was screwed for good with permanently fearing to have another nightmare yet again when I allowed myself to rest. But of course it didn’t keep them from asking anyway.

“Sorry by the way if we woke you.” Came it from the driver’s seat, a brief side eye meeting mine while Mick took one hand off the steering wheel and rubbed the back of his head in a guilty manner.

“You didn’t.” I assured, not wanting him to feel responsible for something he wasn’t the reason of.

“And for earlier… I didn’t mean to be an ass.” He added more quietly, exchanging another look with me, the memory of our “chat” before the drive in his mind that hadn’t gone like probably all of us had intended it to. But on the other hand, they had gotten a chance to release some steam and cool off which mattered the most for me, not blaming them at all about their complaints and voicing them out loud. Taking in every last word and feeding the side of me that lived from it, that didn’t know anything else and used what I bottled up within me as its catalyst to cause the fatal havoc it was meant to do. To make the world burn for what had been done.

“There’s nothing you’d have to apologize for, Mick. And aren’t you an ass all the time? At least to Alex?” I tried to lighten the mood and draw the attention away from me.

“Whoa! Now that’s just cruel, Y/N! You can’t say something like that when I just apologized!” Our driver let out in his usual overdramatic way, going along with it. Making his friends laugh heartfully, mostly about his reaction but also my words. The joyful sound wrapping around us like a comfortable, warm blanket in the winter. Only that its warmth wasn’t enough to reach my cold, dead soul. It would never be enough to bring it back to life ever again.

Another precious moment between us I should enjoy but couldn’t, with the inability to feel the same happiness as them - or any at all. Faking a small smile to not ruin the entire situation because I didn’t want them to have to deal with me more than they already had to, like the constant loneliness I felt even if they were always around me.

“Totally deserved.” The Spanish man next to me nodded in agreement and fixated his brother in front of him with a wide smirk.

“Keep going and I throw you out of this car myself, then you can see for yourself how you get there.” A finger pointed in his direction as a warning sign before Mick had to focus on driving again and put his hand back on the steering wheel.

“Why do I have the feeling I missed something important?” I asked in confusion, suspecting there was more to their talk than I knew and switching my sight between the boys.

“Oh trust me, you didn’t miss anything, Y/N.” Luc laughed to himself, the other two starting to snicker along him.

“Okay…?” Coming across my lips in more a question than a normal pronunciation. Despite my curiosity I decided to not dig further and leave it at that. It was probably just another banter of theirs like usual. Looking a last time between them before I shifted my view out the window into the night and silence falling over us with only the faint tune from the radio playing in the background.

A few miles later when I couldn’t stand the quietness anymore, I leaned forward in my seat over the center console as far as my seatbelt allowed it and grabbed the inner edges of the front seats with my hands.

“How long till we’re there?” My nervosity getting the best of me because the previous silence grew too loud for my head and I couldn’t keep the thoughts in it no longer from running wild, threatening to overwhelm me.

“We still have a bit to go. You can take another nap if you want.” Luc answered and looked over to me from the side.

“I’m not tired.” I quickly refused his suggestion, as everyone expected, because it had become a common thing over the last 2 years and they were used to it by now.

“Y/N… Then at least try to get a bit more rest, please. You know-” He tried to reason like a parent with their child who was too stubborn to follow their instruction, but I interrupted him before he could finish what I had to hear too many times already: “You know he wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger.”. Who the fuck cares?

“I don’t wanna hear it.” A well-meant advice to drop what he was going to say.

I had decided to walk this path with no looking back till the end, whenever that would be. There was nothing waiting for me anyway. It was like I had been stuck somewhere along the way and got lost in search for something I had known once but wouldn’t find again, left alone in the shadows with nothing more than misery, sadness and deafening silence as my companions, the only remains of a life before that had stopped existing.

With a heavy sigh I sat back in my seat and busied myself with the sight out the windshield, not wanting to continue the conversation we’d had so many times before like the words he wanted to use.

“Can we not-” I instantly stopped midsentence when I saw a hooded figure appear out of nowhere in the shine of the headlights that stood on the side of the road, directly facing us.

I wasn’t sure what it was but the feeling hitting me in this very moment I couldn’t place - something both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time - had me sitting up straight immediately.

“Mick, stop the car! Stop the car!! Now!” I yelled when we drove past it, my eyes glued to where the figure had disappeared behind us in the night and hands pressed hard against the glass. Startling the boys with my sudden change and the urgency in my voice.

“What? Why? Did I hit an animal or somethin’?” He asked as confused as his brothers, all looking at me now with big question marks in their faces.

“Just stop it already!” I urged impatiently, not caring to elaborate and wanting to get out as fast as possible.

“I’m on it! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

Before they got an answer, I was out as soon as we came to a stop in the middle of the road with only the person I saw in mind and ran back through the dark to where I had seen it. Shouts of my name erupting from behind me when the three quickly followed and ran after me.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” My raised voice filled the night, loud enough to be heard for a few meters distance but I got no answer or any sign that somebody was there.

“I know you are! Come out and show yourself! I won’t hurt you, I promise!” After nothing happened and I didn’t want to wait any longer I spoke up again, opting for a different way to get the person to reveal itself but it turned out the same as my first attempt. Looking in every possible direction in hopes of finding what I was searching for.

Multiple cones of flashlights lighting up my surroundings more and more from behind announced my team’s approach very soon after but I was too focused to pay them any mind for now.

With hands crossed over each other, raised pistol in one and a flashlight in the other held next to it, how they had been trained to, so they could shoot at any possible threat lurking out there while still being able to see, they closed the distance between us with fast steps and in their tactical formation with Alex on the left side, Luc in the middle and Mick on the right to cover as much ground as possible.

“Can you tell me what the hell this is all about?” Taking in a defensive stance, Mick came to a stand next to me and let his eyes roam around to make sure no danger was in sight before they landed on me, displaying his obvious discontentment about my careless action.

“They were here.” I answered without looking away from the spot I had been staring at, still clinging on to the false hope of the person showing up.

“Who?” He questioned confused, not understanding what I meant and being more concerned about my safety since I wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest or a weapon.

“The Person. They were right here.” Repeating my words, assuming he would catch on, I tore my gaze away and toward him. Noticing Luc and Alex next to us and the handguns they carried with them. “And put your guns down.”

“Well, I don’t see anyone. Are you sure?” Taking another attentive glance around at my words, he followed my instruction and lowered his pistol slowly after he spotted nothing but grass.

“What Person?” Alex asked from the other side while doing the same as his brothers and loosened his stiff posture.

“That stood on the side of the road looking at us.” I elaborated a last time with slight agitation, not getting why they asked all these unnecessary questions when they must have seen the person too.

Luc, Mick and Alex exchanged a troubled look with each other.

“There wasn’t anyone.” Luc said after a short pause.

“But…- No…- They were standing right here…! I swear!” Denying his words and pointing at where the person had stood, I took a few steps forward, letting my sight wander through the dark once more and staring at the earthy ground in front of me in total disbelieve after I still found no evidence that someone had been here only minutes ago. This couldn’t be true… I knew what I saw… I wasn’t making it up…

“Hey, we believe you, okay? If you say you saw someone, you did.” Alex assured, stepping before me and searching my eyes. The other two not wasting time and appearing at my sides, forming a half circle.

“How did they look like?” Luc changed the direction of our conversation, deeming it a good choice to distract me from the thoughts he practically could see swarming my head and make sense of what I was saying.

“Their… clothes were all black… with a hood over the head. And… the lower half of the face… was covered with a black mask.” I stuttered out. “I know how this sounds but I swear to you I didn’t imagine it!” Seeking the boys’ eyes for reassurance that I wasn’t going mad and my mind didn’t make up things that weren’t there when I just had literally described what we normally wore on our missions.

But it was hard to miss the doubt in them which hurt me more than I wanted to admit to myself when I realized my mistake, not allowing my expression to show I had noticed and quickly cutting off our line of sight to avoid getting more upset and revealing my emotions. I shouldn’t have told them.

“Did you notice anything else? Or were you able to identify the person?” A vertical shake of my head was all I gave Luc, feeling a surge of rage rush up that I didn’t pay closer attention to the person’s face, so I would have known who it was and if they were real but everything had happened too fast and caught me right off guard.

“What’s the plan here then? Are we going for a search?” Mick wanted to know, switching from expectantly looking between us four and checking our surroundings from time to time.

“I don’t see any footprints but if somebody was here they couldn’t have gone too far.” Our Spanish man moved his light around, emphasizing he wasn’t completely dismissing it. His way of telling me he didn’t think I was crazy.

“We surely would have noticed anyone by now - and I’m not saying I don’t believe you,” Coming up with the fact none of us could dismiss, Luc stepped into his role amongst our team and I could feel his observing gaze that hadn’t left me since his arrival. He noticeably changed the pitch of his voice while adding his own assurance into the sentence - a smart move, to ensure I would be listening. “But we won’t find much in this high grass with only our flashlights at this time of day. Also don’t forget we still have a good few miles to go and I doubt we wanna be too late.”

“As much as I agree with you, but I’m not comfortable leaving without knowing if we’re being followed-”

“Luc’s right. It doesn’t make sense to try and find someone in the middle of the night, Alex. And I said we’d be there.” I countered him with a defeated sigh, not having the nerves to argue with my boys about the actual existence of the person but wanting to ease at least his worry that was an ever constant of the trio below the surface since certain things had happened all of them never fully recovered from and wouldn’t. Another thing I was the reason of.

“I mean it won’t do any harm if we take a quick look, right? I’d feel better if we do. And let’s be honest here, none of us gives a damn about being late.” Mick suggested, not passing the opportunity to add one of his blunt comments.

“It’s just a waste of time, forget it. Let’s go and get this over with as fast as possible.” To make this decision wasn’t easy for me but it was the most rational in the current moment. Swallowing down my increasing anger. If things continued like this, I would need an outlet soon because I could only hold it in for so long until I had to release it.

Casting my view for a moment toward the sky in hopes of finding some relief, my mood dropped further when I saw nothing but clouds plunging the stars in their darkness to snuff out their light, like they were foreshadowing what was to come. Not deeming me worthy of the only thing bringing me some little kind of comfort for what I was about to do.

Averting my eyes, I turned around and started to walk back to the car.

“Wait! Y/N!” Alex tried to stop me and was hot on my heels.

“I already told you we’re not searching!” I let out angrily and sped up my steps.

“I swear to god, this woman…” Mick huffed out quietly before he and Luc got moving too, earning an amused snort paired with a smirk from his brother next to him.

“That’s why we love her.” He patted him a few times on the shoulder. “And you wouldn’t want it any differently.” Luc added after a short distance without looking back, following their captain and Alex who was making some gestures with his hands and arms on her side only to be ignored.

“I hate when he’s right…” The last member of the team started to catch up in a sprint.

From afar a hooded figure in black was watching them…

If I had at least understood my third and final warning.

A/N: I want to thank every single one of you who gave this story a chance in the last year and supported it so far, no matter if it was through a like, a lovely comment or a reblog! Each one means the world to me and is greatly appreciated and a huge motivator, regardless how small it is! And I hope I can continue to bring you more enjoyment in the future with it! ❤️

You can definitely look forward to the ultimate clash that's bound to happen which we are approaching with careful steps! Maybe in the next chapter already? 😱

If you enjoyed feel free to reblog, like and comment! 🥰

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scotianostra · 1 month

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Robert Cunninghame-Graham 1st President of National Party of Scotland and the first MP to call himself a socialist died 20th March 1936.

To me Robert Cunninghame-Graham is one of the most interesting of our 19th/20th century politicians.

please just like the post as a historical entity, and just dinnae........

Cunninghame Graham was an author, traveller explorer, politician and adventurer, he was a man of extraordinary talents, tireless energy and considerable courage. His friend and contemporary Joseph Conrad remarked, “When I think of Cunninghame Graham, I feel as though I have lived all my life in a dark hole without seeing or knowing anything.” and I have to agree with him, I use the term Polymath now and then for some subjects I post about, he was that, and more.

Born in London in 1852, educated at Harrow, but always, always, a Scot to his marrow, Cunninghame Graham was a descendant of the Earls of Menteith and the son of a laird whose lands eventually extended from Gartmore in Stirlingshire to Ardoch in Dunbartonshire and Finlaystone in Renfrewshire. It was there that Robert was largely brought up, coming heavily under the influence of his Spanish grandmother.

After schooling, at Harrow, Robert finished his education in Brussels, Belgium, learning, among other things, the art of swordsmanship at which he became an expert.

In a crowded life — Cunninghame Graham was variously a Member of Parliament, a gaucho in South America, a fencing master, a founder member of both the Independent Labour Party and the Scottish National Party, a rancher, horse-trainer, buffalo hunter and Long Rider through North and South America — he wrote prolifically. He called himself, "Don Roberto,". He also enjoyed a journey into Morocco, disguised as an Arab Sheik, he was, as they say, some man!

In 1872 Cunninghame Graham rode on horseback 600 miles up the river Parana to the Iguacu Falls, researching the role of the early Jesuits with the local Indians. His subsequent book, A Vanished Arcadia, was made into a film, The Mission starring Jeremy Irons. He lived for a time in Argentina, where his extended family had a ranch, by way of Uruguay and Paraguay. He became an expert horseman, riding with gauchos, and his admiration for these men was such that he often wore gaucho clothes when back home, he must have been quite a sight!

He wrote that one day on a knoll in the pampas he met a man who greeted him in halting Spanish. Cunninghame Graham suggested he speak in English and referred to the view. The man, said, perhaps hearing a Scots accent for the first time in 20 years, “Aye, but man, it’s naething tae the view off Dumyat.”

Don Roberto married to an equally colourful and talented woman that he met in Paris, Gabrielle de la Balmondiere, who had been described as a Chilean princess. In fact, she was an actress called Caroline Horsfall, who went on to be a published poet. Among her many admirers was WB Yeats.

His contact with poor people everywhere made him a socialist before that term was even coined. On returning from South America, he rapidly took up political campaigning and in 1886, there being no Labour Party, he stood on a radical ticket for the Liberals in North West Lanarkshire, winning comfortably.

On 12th September 1887 he was suspended from parliament for making what was called a "disrespectful reference" to the House of Lords. He was the first MP ever to be suspended from the House of Commons for swearing; the word was damn.

He was suspended from the House of Commons in December 1888 for protesting about the working conditions of chain makers. His response to the Speaker of the House, "I never withdraw", was later used by George Bernard Shaw in Arms and the Man.

He truly was a courageous man – in 1887, he was beaten up badly by police at the original Bloody Sunday in Trafalgar Square and was jailed for six weeks.

His leftward move and meetings with James Keir Hardie led him to co-found the Scottish Labour Party with Keir Hardie, but has been largely airbrushed out of the history of the party, due to his Scottish Nationalist views.

Its manifesto included nationalisation of land and minerals, an eight-hour day, State insurance, the abolition of the House of Lords and all hereditary offices, home rule for Scotland, the abolition of the liquor tariff and the disestablishment of State Churches.

Yet Labour disappointed him, don’t they always, and after World War One – he volunteered a the age of 62 and became a horse-buyer for the Army – his growing nationalism saw him become president of the National Party of Scotland, the forerunner of the SNP. On 23rd June, 1928, in the King’s Park, Stirling, he presided at its inaugural rally.

He was friends with everyone from Buffalo Bill Cody to George Bernard Shaw, had his portrait painted by Sir John Lavery, knew the Glasgow Boys cirlce of artists personally, was close friends with the writers Joseph Conrad and G.K Chesterton, and generally personified the word kenspeckle. A writer of over 30 books himself, there is a seat dedicated to Cunninghame Graham in the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh with the inscription: "R B 'Don Roberto' Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore and Ardoch,

Few Scots actually know of yer man, but In Entre Rios, in the north east of Argentina is the Instituto Magnasco, in Gualeguaychu (pronounced Wally-wy-chew) there is a Cunninghame Graham library and museum! His books are available there to read on the premises, and the Smith’s library is based on that facility.

The Journalist and author, the late Rennie of the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum wrote a booklet about Robert Cunninghame-Graham, called Braw Gallant, he wrote of the man : “He was a pioneer of socialism and Scottish nationalism, fought unemployment and poverty, backed the rights of native peoples against colonialism and short-sighted development, supported free speech, was an active conservationist, got caught up in the Irish question, attacked brutal wars when it was not fashionable to do so and was prepared to die or be imprisoned for his beliefs.

“The words knightly and chivalrous come to mind.”

Robert Cunninghame-Graham retired to Argentina, where he continued to be active, he would still ride daily while in his 80′s, he died on this day in 1936 of pneumonia at the Plaza Hotel in Retiro. Such was his standing he lay in state in the Casa del Teatro and received a countrywide tribute led by the President of the Republic of Argentina, before his body was shipped home to be buried beside his wife, in the ruined Augustinian Priory on the island of Inchmahome, Lake of Menteith, Stirlingshire. There is a memorial to him at at Castlehill, Dumbarton. The monument, which is built of Scottish stone, but also contains stones from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Between these stones is a medallion of Cunninghame Graham (in his latter years) by the Liverpool born artist Alexander Proudfoot, RSA, who taught sculpture at Glasgow School of Art. Below the medallion is an epitaph which reads:

"Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham 1852-1936 - Famous Author - Traveller and Horseman - Patriotic Scot and Citizen of the World - As Betokened by the Stones above. Died in Argentina, interred in Inchamahome - He Was a Master of Life - A King Among Men"

On the Argentinian stone, there is a portrait of his favourite horse Pampa, an Argentine mustang which he had rescued from pulling trams in Glasgow and rode for some 20 years and the inscription:

"To Pampa my black Argentine who I rode for twenty years without a fall. May the earth lie light upon him as lightly as he trod upon its face. Vale...or until so long. Don Roberto."

One of Pampa's hooves is buried beneath the monument.

The monument suffered considerable damage through vandalism during the 1970s and was moved in May 1981 to the village of Gartmore (where, until 1900, Gartmore House had been the principal seat of the Cunninghame Graham family), and was unveiled on Cunninghame Graham's birthday (24 May) by the Argentinian Ambassador. It is currently in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Despite the removal of the monument to Gartmore, the Cunninghame Graham Memorial Park at Castlehill is affectionately known as "the Mony" and the original site of the Memorial marked by a stone.

In 2012 the National Trust for Scotland carried out significant conservation work on the monument which was completed in time for the 160th anniversary of Cunninghame Graham's birth. A new stone was added to commemorate another of Don Roberto's horses, Pingo, and a new information panel was placed nearby, as seen in the photos, the painting is Don Roberto on Pampas, and recently sold at Christies for over 31 thousand pounds.

The pics are my own from a visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery last month.

Aye ah ken this post has gone on a wee bit more than my usual, I hope you have enjoyed reading it, but please, go have a look at this wee article about the man by Dominic Hilton, on The Critic web page, it is quite amusing. https://thecritic.co.uk/from-gaucho-to-rive-gauche-and.../

#scotland #scottish #history #ploitician #adventurer #cowboy

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