Chapter Fourteen

And the Distrust of Loyal Pawns

Ryder Trauma Center

Tyson picked up his laptop and rounded the table. As he crossed behind Giddy, he paused, looked over his shoulder and studied the video playing back on the screen. It was the recording shot from Salem's helmet cam.

"Start it again, Giddy."

Giddy did, and the pair watched the shooting again. They watched Salem stand up and shrug free of his white Ghillie suit after Murray cleared him to stand down. They watched him take a moment to double check his surroundings and they watched him begin to walk back toward the elevator shaft. Both men flinched when the first shot tore Elliot's mask from his head. After that, their view shifted to a point looking sideways from the rocking mask at Salem, as the impact of the round creasing the back of his head knocked him forward, and then they watched him slam to his left when the third round tore through his arm and chest. Finally, the fourth shot dropped him to the blood stained, and slickened roof deck.

"He did everything right. How many times have you watched it?"

"Too many."

"Then stop, Phil. It's not our fault. We did nothing wrong."

Giddy snorted and started the video again, this time from the perspective of the satellite view and aimed toward 110. Rios shrugged and continued round the table. He put his laptop down and set it up. As he was typing in his security codes, Giddy's cell phone rang.

"Talk to me M.I.T.. Okay, roger that. Yea, I see it uploading to me now. Good, yea, make god damned certain you weren't tailed. Yea, well fuck 'em. Names, ours any way, have all been redacted a long time ago. Sure grainy, but I'll make due. No, don't worry about it. Stay on the shit from today. Giddy out."

"What's that all about? You give M.I.T. something to do outside of my orders, Giddy?"

"Fuck you Rios, and yea I did. It should be loading to you too."

"Look Phil, I don't know what bug crawled up your ass, but…"

"Sure you do, Rios. You're just hoping you won't have to deal with it. You're just hoping that I'll let you off the hook by just passively cruising along. Tough luck."

"My allegiance is to him."

"Tell him that."

"What? He knows. All of you should know."

"You're right Rios. We do know, because we have sen it time and time again. We have watched you throw his ass away over that cunt time and time again. So yea, Tyson, we all are more than clear about exactly where your so called allegiance lies."

"Art was not involved, so my allegiance is not an issue."

"You're completely certain of that?"

"Christ Phil, if he wanted to get rid of Elliot, he could do it with a hell of a lot less exposure. Why would he go so far? Just to take advantage of the situation? A situation that just dropped into his lap. It doesn't add up. It's just not likely."

"And if it turns out you're wrong? He snuck around and un-sealed Elliot's files. He was definitely plotting against him."

The pair locked eyes. Rios knew what Giddy was thinking. The entire team was thinking the same thing. If Art was implicated, if it came down to letting Art go free, and not seeing justice for Salem would he cave in to protect his wife's father and daughter's grandfather. Which family would he back?

"Salem, Salem comes first, then Nala. The rest do not matter, Phil. As for Art, even if he did want to off Elliot I don't see him as bright enough to put the entire op together in such little time. His only incentive was our concern about a second shooter. Sure, he might have figured he could capitalize on it, but the risk far outweighed the payout. I just don't see it, and I do not see his guys being so loyal that they'd throw away their lives in such a risky attempt. They just didn't have enough incentive. Money, yea, but Art's not loaded so, what else could he offer?"

"What if he could offer revenge?"

"For fucking what? We don't know these fucking guys."

"Open the file M.I.T. just sent."

Rios opened it and read the title. Operation Ski Slope, date redacted, place redacted, he shook his head not quite seeing a connection.

"How did you get this?"

"Don't ask don't tell. Remember it?"

"Bolivia, some narco bastard backing Paz Estenssoro's competition. He had too much land and money, and all of it was in drugs. Wasn't helping our interests."

"Name?"

"I don't recall."

"Delgado, ring a bell?"

Tyson looked up from reading the file, and stared at Giddy wide eyed.

"We went in and we cleaned them out. The kids, the little ones anyway, were sent here into orphanages. Jorge Vicente Delgado was five years old that day."

"So what the fuck are you trying to say, Phil?"

"George Vincent Delgado is sitting in an interrogation room right now accused of shooting Salem. Ten perfect years of service, a nice little home with a picket fence, a cute wife and an adorable five year old boy; what incentive do you think would push his buttons enough to make him throw away his life? Jealousy at us getting the call, shame at being passed over, money from Art? No, but revenge for the destruction of his home and his entire family, yea just maybe."

"No, not possible."

"Really, how did you first meet Art? Working with his DEA team in Bolivia, right. He has friends. He's seen the un-redacted files, Rios. He knows who was on what op, and he knows who George Vincent Delgado really is. So, he see an opportunity, the second shooter, and he just nudges Delgado to use it to his advantage. It's a win, win situation for them both."

"Art's not involved. If Delgado is what you think he is he acted alone. Regardless of any of it though, we could have a situation. He can't name us, but he can damn sure open a fucking smelly can of worms."

"You wouldn't think so. I thought about calling Gabe, but then thought we should feel out Art. Thoughts?"

Then, as if the day hadn't already been rife with coincidences, the conference room door swung open and Art walked in. Both men closed their laptops and stared at the detective. Before either could speak, he locked the door and took a seat across from Rios and to Giddy's right. He placed a small voice recorded down in between them and sat back.

"I want to first say that I had nothing to do with this tragedy. Here, Tyson, it's Salem's file take it as a token of good faith."

Rios reached out and took the pale blue file folder from Art's left hand.

"Now, I know that the three of us are well versed in keeping secrets. I know that we have all worked together covertly to some extent in the past. This is the recording of George Delgado's confession. Does that name mean anything to either of you?"

Both Giddy and Rios feigned ignorance and shook their heads no.

"Then, this might." He stated and pressed the play button.

George Vincent Delgado Interrogation 3

Detective: George, Karl has confessed. He told us why you did what you did and why he agreed to help you. Let us help you. If what you are telling is the truth, we may be able to substantially reduce your sentence.

George's representation: I have heard Karl's testimony, you need to talk to us George.

Detective: What drove you to shoot the SSC operative?

GVD: I wanted him to hurt like he hurt me.

Detective: You know him?

GVD: I have seen him.

Detective: Continue, tell me from the beginning.

GVD: In the control center when they were briefing us I noticed him. He's hard to miss.

Detective: The wounded SSC asset?

GVD: No, his partner the big one. He brushed by me and Karl and I noticed his arm, his right arm. He had a tattoo. Roll my sleeves up please. Thanks, see it?

Detective: The letters "VCD", self-inked into your forearm. Looks like they have been there a while, all stretched, and on your left, "ON", also old. Back on the right a circle of linked crosses rounding your bicep just below where your shirt sleeve ends. Go on what does this all mean?

GVD: This SSC man, he has a tattoo in the same place as my crosses. I have one cross for each member of my family that I lost, lost to him. This man's tattoo says, "Vaya con Dios" and the other "O NEG". He held me by my hair, I was five years old, I was Jorge Vicente Delgado and he was with the Bolivian Narcotics forces that executed my entire family before burning my home to the ground. I saw the tattoo, I remembered him for his size and his voice and I wanted revenge. Karl went along, because he is my partner. I did the shooting. Karl just acted as a distraction. Let him go.

Detective: Let me understand you George. I'm to believe that the SSC asset was working with Bolivian forces doing Narco work.

GVD: I don't know who he was with. He was translating, and shooting, there were several Americans. I was small. I don't know their affiliation for sure. I had heard my father discussing the use of American soldiers and this School of the Americas, I figure it was them. I just know he was there. They were there killing innocent Bolivian citizens. I did this to myself so that I would never forget. They sent me here to an orphanage. I made right for myself. Tried to forget where I came from. But, today when I saw him and heard his voice, it all came back. My father, yes was a drug lord, but my mother and brothers and aunts, the farm workers, no. I asked around this morning, and found out that him and the shooter were very, very close. I decided to take him from him, to make him hurt. I knew that he'd be able to see him dying. They have stuff in their gear that monitors their vitals. I knew he'd see him die, and he'd be as helpless as I was while he held me by my hair and screamed at me about how I would never be able to follow in my father's foot-steps. I doubt that this would go over well if I told the right people. Is he dead?

Detective: I don't know.

George's representation: I think we should break here. This complicates the situation quite a bit.

Detective: Agreed.

GVD:I just ask that my family is being looked after. That is my only concern.

Art shut the recorder off and sighed. Rios sat ashen faced and Giddy was slumped in his seat. The detective could easily tell that Rios had not been the only man on the raid that day, Giddy had been there as well.

"Now what?" Art asked, "I came to you, as an act of courtesy. The higher ups are already looking for a way to work this. If you need to contact anyone, do it now. Delgado is planning on using this as leverage, and it will work for him and he'll walk. I know what you are both thinking, let him walk, because there's nowhere he can run, but I really want you to think long and hard about that. Aside from this how is he Tyson?"