Chapter 26:
Managua, Nicaragua
1730 Hours Local Time
Touching down at the airport of Managua, Henry O'Malley stepped off the plane, he then looked to the pilot and whispered something to him as the pilot nodded.
Carrying his duffel bag, Henry left the airport. He looked around seeing the city that was Managua, he noticed people were looking at him as he put on a fedora hat.
Heading for a taxi pick up area, he grabbed a cab and asked for it to go to the city centre.
Driving to the city centre, Henry looked out the windows he could see the gangs putting merciless beatings on poor innocent people. He see drugs flooding the streets from buyers.
Prostitutes offering themselves up to the tourists and the native countrymen, stopping outside the government building, Henry could see the police station in sight, he caught a look of the police captain from where he stood.
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Paying the driver, he instantly got out grabbing his duffel bag, Henry walked into the building as he said in Spanish, "Hola, estoy buscando al Capitán de policía Rodriguez, soy de la policía de Nueva York, no tengo una cita."
"Está en la oficina, te guiaré hasta el." An officer replied.
The desk officer took Henry to Rodriguez, keeping aware of his surroundings, he could feel preying eyes on him, some of the police officers were laughing whilst flashing expensive jewellery.
Growling at the corrupt officers, he thought to himself, "These assholes are no better than corrupt cops in New York."
Walking up to the office of the Police Captain, Henry knocks on the door, undoing the latch on his holster, he is ushered in.
The police captain looked up at Henry, the man was in his early 30s quite young to be a captain, behind the desk was a Latina who was on her knees as the captain had said, "You say you're from New York?"
The captain's English was very well spoken, it was noted that Rodriguez had learned English through the poems and stories.
"I don't carry a badge on me, but I did know Commissioner Riddle…" Henry had said in a false tone, hoping to lure the man into a sense of false security.
Henry then said, "The Commissioner is fine, by the way, he asks that I send you his regards…" "How polite of you to do that… would you like a drink, perhaps some company?" The Captain suggested with his eyebrows raised.
"I'll have a drink; do you have bourbon?" Henry asked.
Rodriguez smiled and signalled for two glasses of bourbon, "A man of good taste, what business do you have with me?"
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The bourbon was placed down in front of him, he could detect a hint of a roofie inside the drink as he said, "I'd rather not discuss business in the presence of these lovely ladies, can they wait outside?"
"They would not say a word, I guarantee you…" Rodriguez said as he asked the girls to leave.
Henry nodded, "Sometimes, business needs to stay between people, nobody has to hear about what we're doing."
Walking the girls to the door, he closed the door as he said, "So that nobody interrupts us…"
He pulled out the gun and aimed it at Rodriguez who put his hands up, Henry then proceeded to pat Rodriguez down as he said, "Don't make any sudden moves, Captain…"
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Hearing Henry sneering out 'Captain' made Rodriguez quiver with trembling fear. Henry found 2 guns on Rodriguez's person as he emptied the guns of their ammunition.
Picking up one bullet from the revolver, he put it back in before spinning the cylinder, and loading it, pulling the hammer back he had said, "You have one bullet, one bullet tell me how long you've been working for the cartels, I don't like what I hear… I'll put that bullet in between your eyes. Let's play, how long have you been working for the Cartels?"
"I can't answer that question." Rodriguez said. Henry squeezed the trigger which clicked empty.
Pushing the cylinder out, he spun it and pushed it back in, he asked again, "How long have you been working for the Cartels?"
Rodriguez smirked before saying, "You might want to think about how you're goin' to get out of here alive, amigo. There are 250 men in each cartel, 500 men, an army… you're one man we would make you fertiliser before you thought of escaping…"
Henry smirked and squeezed the trigger, it was empty again as he pushed the cylinder and spun it again as he said, "Wanna make it third time lucky?"
Noticing the maniacal look in Henry's blue eyes, Rodriguez's spine started to freeze so ever slightly, he knew that the gun had only six holes and one bullet, every time it spun, he prayed that he would live, but now he was counting his prayers and praying that he would survive getting shot.
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"Wait… wait… I've been workin' for the Cartels since I was a police officer… my father was a cartel drug runner. I got into the police force just to be a mole for my father for his operations." Rodriguez panicked.
Henry rose an eyebrow as he said, "Ernesto Diablo?"
"Yes, it is true." Rodriguez said, he then explained his role in identifying Henry's family to the Nicaraguan Cartels, his role himself in killing Henry's parents, looking down at his feet, Rodriguez didn't want to stare into the hardened eyes of the man who had lost his family.
Henry himself hearing the confession of the man that had taken everything from him, felt rage and only rage running through him, the reason why his own mother died stood before him a crumbling mess.
Only Henry himself shook with anger before him as he said, "You understand that what you did means I get retaliatory payback, that means you and your family are gonna be mush when I'm done with you. You will suffer as I had to suffer…"
But in a shaky voice, Henry had then said, "All of those years, if you come after me… if you send people after me when I've killed you… their bodies will be sent back as a reminder and a message that you don't ever fuck with O'Malley if you wish to live…"
"I will become more powerful than you've ever realised… this place is my kingdom! I will live on long after you're dead!" Rodriguez laughed manically. Henry turned to walk but stopped and said, "Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, ask Hitler and the Emperor of Japan!"
Grabbing the tie of Rodriguez, he dragged him to the window against all protests, tossing him out the window, below there was a pool to which Rodriguez had nosed dived into.
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Taking the opportunity, Henry went about setting up a tripwire in the office, he pulled 3 hand grenades to which he had attached them together.
Making sure that the tape holding them together was underneath the lug, he tied the string through the pins of the grenades as Henry softly said, "Forgive me Pop, I'm sorry for blowing up a cop station."
Stepping over the carefully laid out trip wire, he grabbed his duffel bag and walked calmly out of the station, he used his fedora hat to slip away, amidst the confusion that some of the cops were surrounding their captain, he slipped past seeing a lady cop who stood away from the scene. Judging by the way she wore her uniform, she looked to be a seasoned cop, he said, "I need a moment."
The cop looked at him as she followed him out, he had then said, "Sorry for causing trouble, but judging by what you saw, it seemed as if you were happy that asshole had that scare."
"Judging from you hurrying away from the scene, you had something to do with that." The cop had said.
Henry nodded, "You're a good cop, you hate the corruption in this city. You hate the fact that the gangs and the Cartels run things. You hate the fact that he's invincible but now you're starting to believe again." "Not bad for somebody who's survived 25-years trying to make a difference."
Henry was surprised and asked, "You served since the 80s?" "Worked my way up just to a point where I could help others and prevent corruption from spreading." The Cop had said.
"I was the one who alerted the NYPD and the CIA regarding that weapons locker back in '91." The cop said. Henry then stopped as he said, "Then you know I'm apologising that I'm bringing blood to the streets of Managua, but this is the only way to win this war."
"I heard you lost family, I'm sorry that you lost 'em. Bring these sons of bitches down for them, make 'em distant memories." The cop demanded.
Henry nodded as he took his leave, looking down at his watch, he then whispered a rhyme, "Soldier, keep marching on, head down into the gateways of hell, into the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil."
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An explosion was very close, Henry saw that the police Captain's had taken a hit, he then smirked, "Now it's their turn."
Sneaking away from the explosions that happened, Henry found a safe place inside a warehouse that was abandoned. Setting up two motion sensors, he set the bag on the table, opening it up, he placed the 30. Cal on the tripod, lifting up the receiver, he placed an ammo belt inside making sure that it was placed in properly, slamming the receiver down he pulled the bolt handle back as it was prepared.
Pulling out the M1928 Thompson SMG, he was preparing to go over it, but one of the motion sensors could be heard.
Reaching for the overhead light, he turned it off, he pulled out his M1911 from the holster he stepped to the side and stood in the darkness. Seeing a figure walk in through the door, the figure carried a SIG Sauer P226.
Attacking first, Henry hit first and tackled the figure to the ground, but the 6ft tall figure punched back and tackled Henry but he got back up and the pair aimed their guns at each other.
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Through the dark light, the blue eyes of the 6ft figure and the light brown hair gave the man away, Henry smirked saying, "I think I'm faster than you Joseph."
The man named Joseph inquisitively smirked and cocked his head to the gun pointed at Henry's manhood.
Henry looked down and saw the gun pointing at his manhood as he said, "Damn SEALs."
Gripping each other's hand in a strong handshake, Henry laughed and said, "Good to see ya, Brother."
"You too, Brother. How's things?" Joseph Jr had said. Henry nodded, "Same old, same old. Thought you were in Iraq?"
"Hadn't taken leave since I joined, so they shipped me back for a while, no argument or I'm suspended." Joseph Jr replied.
Joseph then continued, "Then I get a call from my grandmother who tells me get down here and bail your ass out because you went off on some suicide mission."
"Well glad you're here, anybody else?" Henry said putting his gun away. Joseph indicated to two figures above him as Henry nodded and said, "Stand back."
Henry took a step back before kicking out the broken beam holding up a platform. Suddenly, two men fell down onto the floor groaning in pain, one of them with very dark black hair, with light blue eyes had then said, "Remind me to kill that little bastard when I find him…"
"By that little bastard, you mean me, don't cha?" Henry smirked holding his hand up, the two older men accepted as Joseph said, "You remember Steve and Thomas, don't ya?"
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Henry nodded with a smile and said, "Good to see you, brothers."
"Good to see familiar face, it's been a while brother." Steve fist-bumped Henry who then said, "Let me guess, Agent Lafayette and Chief Capelli called you down here?"
"They called, we went, we're not leaving our own behind…" Thomas had said as he bro-hugged his little brother.
Henry nodded and briefed the three on the situation, surprised at the severity of the situation, Steve then said, "Best plan to do this, you destroy the compound and kill them all."
"I have a plan on how to do that…" Henry had said as he pulled out schematics for both the Cartel's compounds.
Henry then said, "Here is the compound for the Diablos and the Pulpo Cartels. Beneath, you have tunnels dating back to the conquistador's era. You want to destroy an empire; you do it from within…"
"We'll split into teams of two, use the tunnels to get onto the compound, plant explosives at weak points inside the main building, there's guarded patrols, teams of 2 on a rotation shift." Thomas stated.
Steve nodded, "No guns unless we have to. We keep things quiet unless it's time to go loud…"
Joseph Jr nodded, "Sounds like it'll be a party by the morning."
The 4 men laughed as Henry looked at his watch, "Sun sets about 1900 Hours, we're in the tunnels by 1915 Hours, we hit the compound about 2000 Hours. Searchlights and perimeter lights don't come on until 2200, we need to get the hell out of there by 2155.
Thomas asked, "If things go wrong?"
"Things go wrong, set C4 on the tunnels, collapse 'em." Steve looked to Henry for confirmation who nodded, "That's the idea."
"Kit up, go black." Thomas said.
Three battle-hardened vets in Thomas, Joseph Jr and Steve kitted up into black shirts with sleeves or no sleeves and black cargo trousers.
Henry slipped into a black dress shirt, rolling the sleeves up, slipping his gun holster to his ankle, he changed his shoes to a pair of black boots that Steve brought with him.
The three soldiers carried MP5s with suppressors attached. They lent Henry a Colt Model 933 with a scope, suppressor and a grip.
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Getting into position, they watched as the sun went down. Then by 1900 Hours, Thomas said, "Henry with me, Joseph, Steve… get down into the tunnels. Once you get out, set up ambush positions. It's gonna be loud by the morning."
Henry chortled as they headed into the old Conquistador tunnels, aiming down through the scopes of their weapons, Thomas looked over at him with a nod as they moved deeper into the tunnels.
Looking around and hearing the footsteps of the guards from above, Henry had said, "You know I don't think about it…"
"Think 'bout what?" Thomas asked. Henry had said, "What I'm doing, who I've killed to get to this point… no matter what… I woulda done this if they had taken everything that I loved, including you and the boys that are overseas."
"I'm flattered you love us all…" Thomas said. Henry nodded, "Of course I do, we're brothers. That's means somethin'… somethin' to all of us."
Thomas smiled with a nod towards his little brother, he had been 10-years old when Henry was born, but he always treated Henry as part of his own family.
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The pair made their way into the compound ducking out of sight of the guards. Making their way to some bushes, they stayed hidden in the shadows, darting across the lawn, they made it to a nearby window as Thomas looked inside, he saw several men playing cards, rifles were on the side.
Thomas signalled to Henry indicating how many were inside. Henry nodded as he said, "Let's try the back door."
Sneaking inside the building, Thomas signalled to Henry to take point as the pair moved stealthily through the building, before going up to the top of the stairs.
Taking out two blocks of C4, Thomas said, "Set them up in covert places, burn the compound to the ground."
Henry nodded with a wink as he set off, having brought enough C4, Henry made sure to plant it where the most damage could be done.
Thomas had also done this tactic as he set up charges on the ground floor, far out of sight, using his Army Ranger training to stay hidden, he had avoided detection, once the charges were set and linked to the detonator, he had set about setting a timer on the bombs in the event the detonator malfunctioned.
Exiting out the back in fast enough speed whilst staying hidden. He linked up with Henry who had said, "Charges set, let's get the hell out of here!"
"Sounds like a plan." Thomas said, the pair headed back down through the tunnels and made their way onto the main street.
Heading back to their pre-set ambush positions, Henry was set up in the 2nd floor of an apartment building that was adjacent to the compound itself, picking up the 30. Cal machine gun, he set it up as he looked through the scope, there was a clear field of fire as he was in clear view of the main gates.
Remembering what a brave hero had once said to him, "An old war hero once said this to me:"
"When I was over there in the blood, the dirt, the sweat and tears, I had fought alongside some of the bravest men to have served with. One day, the men you'll find yourself with, they'll not only be soldiers you fight besides, but they'll be your family, they'll be the men and women you'd give your life for them. The dedication and sacrifices they'd make; they show the loyalty that we've shown to each other. Loyalty means everything to those we love. Like a thousand soldiers on a thousand other battlefields, we wait for the dawn."
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Nobody's left behind, not Henry. Even if he believes he is alone, he still has the support of the family that is behind him and still with him in his heart.
Hope you enjoy this chapter.
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