FALLEN | The Devil of Caracas

Chapter 30 | Brothers

"Rain's dying down," says Erikson as he walks back into the examination room. "Why don't you let your pilot know we'll be heading to the airstrip now."

Dietrich stuffs his hand into the pocket of his jeans and drags out the burner phone. As he coordinates with Gabriel, the doctor redresses Jason's bandages and prepares him to leave. Denying the wheelchair, Jason leans on Anatoly as the group exits the back of the clinic.

They pile into the van.

"We should return car before we go," suggest Anatoly.

"Just ditch the van - who gives two shits?" says Jason.

"It'll get stolen, which leads to cops, which leads to us leaving more evidence behind," replies Dietrich. "Anatoly's right. Let's just take care of it."

Erikson trails behind the mercenaries in his own sedan, as they splash their way down the vacant streets. His windshield wipers slosh the decreasing precipitation out of his line of sight. With one hand on the wheel, he reaches for his cell phone with the other. Selecting a pre-saved number, he switches the phone to the speaker setting and holds it aloft.

"Si," answers a man's gruff voice on the other end.

Erikson attempts his broken Spanish. "Hola. Tengo una... Um.. Forget it, I'm doing this in English."

The man on the other end chuckles. "It's okay, Yankee," he says in English. His Spanish accent is thick and years of burned cigarettes echo through his gravelly tone. "We'll keep teaching you."

"I've got a location for the airstrip," Erikson continues. "It's that little shitty one we figured they'd use."

"Of course," replies the voice.

"Okay, so we don't have the entire team together, but I guess Rodríguez is getting impatient, so we'll come up with something else for the stragglers. In the meantime, let's move forward... I need you and your team to get to the airstrip. I'll text you the address."

"Standing by," the voice says eagerly.

---

"Okay, he's a little ways away from you, so you'd better get going," Gomez says over the phone. "I'll feed you the directions as you go; It'll be about a forty minute drive - and he's moving."

"On it," replies Hugo. He sets the phone to the speaker setting and drops it on the passenger seat next to him. Shifting the car into drive, he eases out of the parking lot and into the light traffic.

Weaving around the few vehicles in front of him, he listens carefully to the directions provided by Gomez. "Alright, now you're going to stay on this road for about eight mikes." After a brief moment in silence, Gomez says, "Remember to stay out of sight. Now that we've got a location, we just need eyes on the target. Don't do anything stupid."

"Not planning on it," says Hugo, plainly.

---

After returning the van, the mercenaries cram into Erikson's sedan and make their way to the airstrip. They drive in silence. The two-lane road winds its way through the jungle and away from the populated city. Anatoly sits somberly in the back seat, next to Jason. He rests his head against the window and admires the towering trees.

Finally, Erikson slows the vehicle and gently cranks the wheel to the right. They pull off the sparsely used road and drive down a paved slope. The car slows as it pulls through the already open gate. Before them lies the barren and poorly maintained airstrip. On the far side of the property is a single hanger, housing two small planes. Their ride sits idly outside the mouth of the structure.