Rainbow Six: Bloodlines

"EL LEÓN" - Chapter 5

FEBRUARY 24, 2018
CEUTA, SPAIN
Hotel La Muralla

     After the meeting with Santiago Arnavisca, Caveira contacted Ding Chavez to brief him.

     Thanks to Chavez and Arnavisca's history of being fellow operators on the original Rainbow team formed in the 1990s, an unofficial agreement between Rainbow and some elements of the Spanish government had been quietly forged.

     Arnavisca would make sure Rainbow would be forgiven for its transgressions on Spanish soil in exchange for the head of El León, aka Thiago Pérez, the head of a secretive cartel with ties to the now-dismantled Santa Blanca Cartel in Bolivia... as well as powerful corrupt officials in the Spanish government.

     Caveira was instructed to lead the black op and fulfill the agreement by taking out Pérez,

     Taina had fought with Ding over the comms, insisting that she would be able to carry out the assassination much easier on her own. Ding had staunchly shot down the notion, ordering Pereira to stay with the Bosak sisters, Vigil, and Dokkaebi.

     The woman knew Chavez was right - more skillsets and boots on the ground was obviously sensible - but she simply preferred working alone.

     She was good at it, after all.

     Arnavisca's agents had quietly arranged for Caveira's team to be put up in Hotel La Muralla, and Taina sat at the table near the window, hiding her impatience as she looked out between the blinds to the city streets.

     Dokkaebi was sitting on one of the beds, pillows propping her up against the headboard. Her ballistic laptop was open, and the woman's fingers glided along the keyboard.

     Caveira yawned. "Anything yet, Grace?"

     Dokkaebi held up a finger. "Quiet, please."

     Pereira smiled, watching the reflections of the laptop screen dance in Grace's eyeglasses as she hammered away.

     The operation was at a standstill until Grace found what she was looking for.

     Taina saw Ela and Zofia out on the small patio balcony, both in the heat of a push-ups content. She watched the younger Bosak closely. Even though Ela had apologized for disobeying orders at Mount Hacho, the uneasy lines of distrust had already cracked the glass.

     Chavez had assured Taina that Ela's indiscretion would be dealt with later. In the meantime, the woman's experience would serve the coming mission well.

     Again, Caveira knew the man was right - and still, she ached for the chance to take down Thiago Pérez by herself. When the woman had only her own wellbeing to worry about, she was a machine.

     That was exactly why Director Six and Ding Chavez had agreed to not let Caveira out of their sight - or the sight of her teammates - unless absolutely necessary.

     Vigil trudged into the room with a bottle of water in hand. "Anything yet, Grace?"

     "Silence, Hwa."

     Vigil held up a hand in acknowledgment. "Alrighty, then."

     At that moment, the Bosaks opened the sliding door and entered, both breathless from their impromptu contest.

     Zofia wiped sweat from her brow. "I need a shower."

     Ela smirked. "Tak. You smell like shit."

     "If I smell like shit, there isn't a word for what you smell like."

     Dokkaebi suddenly snapped her fingers and sat up straight with a gleeful holler. "Got it!" She hurried to Pereira and excitedly set her laptop on the table in front of her. "Check it out. I faked some digital certificates, found a backdoor through the dark web. Turns out I was able to trace the signature of-"