The Journey to Freedom: Path to WW3

Chapter XXIII

There's no shame in stealing – any actor who says doesn't, is lying. You steal from everything –

Benedict Cumberbatch

We get the truck ready by the next day, AB, Marcus, Fito and I go to where I had marked on the map where we would ambush the money truck. I tell Fito where he would be hiding, and we start making some fox holes so that he and Drew will hide. I tell Marcus that he will be in the woods behind the holes to provide back up cover. AB starts to put the explosives on the road and carefully measures where he thinks the trucks will be when we detonate the explosives.

Once we're done we go back to the farm and I get Kevin and Lawrence and drive to town and park the truck away from Garza's house and walk towards the woods and tell him the spot where they will be once we attack the money convoy. Kevin and Lawrence nod in agreement and we walk back to the truck and drive back to the farm. So now that the truck was ready to move, I tell everyone that they should go out tonight and have some fun.

"I think we should just buy a case of beers and drink tonight and have a cookout." Says Kevin.

Everyone agrees. I walk to the house and tell Raul if he can go into town and buy three cases of beer and enough fajitas to cookout for everyone because we're only here for 2 more days and we would like to have a little party before we take Garza into custody and back to the states. He says ok and tells his wife to start cooking some beans and some rice and if possible, to make some home-made flour tortillas for us. I tell him that it's ok, she's already going to be busy with the beans and rice. Just to go ahead and buy some from any store, we're not really picky about how its made, we just want the food to fill our bellies. He leaves and I walk back to the barn and look at the map once again and go through the plan in my head to make sure that I left no details out.

Marcus walks up to me and asks, "Do you really think that the Chief will really send us on another mission after this one?"

I sigh out loud and tell him that I know he is. "This is something that we don't usually do, we don't intervene with drug cartels, I'm pretty sure that he's going to send us somewhere to use our skills since he knows that we won't fail. I won't fail because honestly, I sometimes wish that it was me that died in that room instead of Genesis. But as much as I hate to admit it, my daughter made a mistake in turning her head while the knife was pressed against her throat. Better for me if I would've died also but fate has something more for me. I know that in the end, I'm going to make a better life with my remaining daughters." I tell him.

He sighs and tells me that he's sorry because he can't imagine what it's like to lose a child. I tell him that it's a horrible feeling that I wouldn't want to wish upon my worst enemy. I wipe the tears away from my eyes and tell him that things will get worse, but once we are at our worst, our best usually comes out and we tend to make a better way of life,

"Wise words bro," Marcus tells me.

I just smile and put my arm around him and take him outside so that we can go and grab some wood so that we can start making a fire for the cookout. The sun starts to set, and Carmen was done cooking the beans and the rice. AB starts putting the meat on the grill and we all just sit down and start drinking. We all tell embarrassing stories of each other and laugh out loud. Once half the meat is cooked, Carmen walks over with the rice and puts it next to the pot of beans and Raul comes over with plates and tortillas. I take the tortillas and hand them to AB so he can put them on the grill so they can heat up.

Carmen asks how we all met, and Raul tells her that we probably don't want to tell them things like that. I tell him that it's ok. I tell him that Daniel is my cousin and that Kevin is one of my oldest friends since childhood. AB and Lawrence were my friends from the Army. And Marcus was a friend of mine since Iraq. And Fito and Drew were my friends from the town of Eagle Pass, Tx. I told her that I would give my life for any of these guys since they were there for me when my fiancé was murdered and my daughter was kidnapped and murdered right before my eyes. She has this sad look on her face and I tell her that she shouldn't be sad because if it wasn't for my daughter passing away, then we wouldn't be here to try and stop the cartels from causing more harm.

She looks at me and says that even if no one tells us but that they are grateful for what we are doing because Mexico isn't just a country of cartel drug lords. It's much more than that. I tell her that I know that. I have a brother living in Monterrey and that I visit him once a year and he takes me to all kinds of places to see. So even though I am a born American, I am still Mexican by blood and that I love both my countries and would give my life for both of them just to make sure that they would be safe for future generations. AB comes over with a plate of the fajitas finally cooked and the tortillas already heated up. We start to grab the food and Carmen starts praying and we bow our heads and once she's done, we start eating.