The Operator by Rob Lopez

Author:Rob Lopez [Lopez, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

48

They’d only gone a few minutes up the road when Matt shouted, “Stop!”

Silva hit the brakes.

“Back up,” said Matt.

Silva put it in reverse until Matt told her to stop again. Jumping out, he approached the angular shape in the shadows beneath the trees.

It was an old Mercedes sedan, tilted forward at an angle, the tail high. The front doors were open. At first glance it looked like it had veered off the road and crashed. It hadn’t been there long.

There were bullet holes in the trunk. The rear windshield was opaque from several more bullets having passed through its glass. Matt crouched down behind the car and saw one more bullet hole in the gas tank.

The tires were okay. It hadn’t crashed. It just couldn’t go any farther without gas.

Matt examined the inside of the car. A bullet had passed through the back of the driver’s seat. There was a dark blood stain on the fabric at the front where the bullet had completed its passage.

Matt understood now why Dan might have chosen the house. He was wounded already. If his pursuers were close behind him, and if he knew he wasn’t going to make it through the jungle, then he might have chosen somewhere where he could go down fighting.

Again, the rage rose up inside Matt. He should have been here with Dan. It made no logical sense to think that, but he felt it anyway.

Things would have panned out differently if he’d been with him.

Matt popped the trunk to see if there was anything in it. There wasn’t. He slammed it back down extra hard.

Stay focused. Getting angry won’t change anything.

Matt paced around the car, frequently glancing at the blood stain on the seat. Eventually he walked deeper into the jungle and just stared at stuff for a while. When he returned to the pickup, he was calmer.

“Let’s check out that village,” he said to Silva.

“Today is not a good day for that,” she said blankly.

“Why not?”

“You are angry. The people will not speak to us if you are angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

“I can feel the anger coming from you.”

“I’m fine, okay?”

“You are not.”

“I am.”

“Your friend has been murdered. You are having thoughts of revenge. It is natural.”

Matt took a deep breath and made a mental count to ten. “I’m not having thoughts of revenge,” he said.

“I would,” said Silva.

“Are you going to take me to that village or not?”

“I would want to kill all the men who did this, kill their wives, their families, dig up their ancestor’s graves and desecrate them.”

Matt looked at her. “That’s taking it a little too far, isn’t it?”

Silva looked back at him. “You tell me.”

Matt rubbed his chin. “Okay, point taken.”

Silva said, “You have heard the story of my father. Everybody in these villages has heard of, or known, someone who was unjustly taken. Or murdered. They understand. Do not assume them to be at fault if you cannot discover your friend’s killers. When you have had enough, you will go home. They will continue to live here.

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