What happens after the action packed start - Part 29
Our hero knows he's in serious trouble.
The problem is, there are familiar faces and a question of who is a friend and who is foe made all the more difficult because of the enemy, if it was the enemy, simply because it didn't look or sound or act like the enemy.
Now, it appears, his problems stem from another operation he participated in.
I
had to wonder if Lallo had already called the number on the phone he had handed
Jacobi, and then considered, if that was the case, there would be no need for
Jacobi to call anyone. Or Lallo had got
an answer, just not the answer he was expecting.
Jacobi
looked at the phone, and I got the impression he was weighing his options. The first was how long Lallo would hold him
in custody. That I think we could both
assumed to be forever if necessary. There
was, no doubt, a cell at a black site with his name on it already. The second, if he did call his contact, would
that contact co-operate, though it was hard what it was Lallo was expecting
Jacobi’s co-operation for.
But
there was no doubt Lallo had a plan.
Jacobi
took a moment to consider any further options I hadn’t thought of, and then
made the call. We were only going to get
one side of the call.
A
raised eyebrow indicated Jacobi had an answer on the other end.
“It’s
me.”
Why
did everyone say it’s me when asked to identify themselves, or as in the case announce
themselves.
“No. An unfortunate set of circumstances, and a
gross breach of our agreement. I am
supposed to have autonomy of operations at home. These bumbling idiots may have blown my
cover.”
Somehow,
the fact he was sitting in a small room told me his cover was more than likely
a myth. If this was our supposed point
man in the failed operation I’d been on, then I could see why it cost a lot of
good men their lives.
He
had been playing both sides of the fence and sold us out.
“You
would have to ask them.”
A
moment later he handed the phone to Lallo.
“Prepare to die,” was all Jacobi said.
It
didn’t move Lallo in the slightest,
He
took the phone and asked, “Whom am I speaking to?”
The
expression change told me that it was most likely none of his business.
“This
man is responsible for the deaths of a good many men.” A minute’s silence, then, “I doubt that would
be the case considering the number of phones and their credentials. He had been playing you, and perhaps many others.”
The
silence was a lot longer, but the expressions changing by the minute told me
that Lallo was not going to get what he wanted.
“No,
that is not going to happen, not in the circumstances you describe. I will be sending him back, yes, but for
another mission. I think it’s time you
realized he’s been feeding you false intel for some time.” Silence again, then, “By the time you do, he
will no longer be here, there. I’m
sorry.”
He
disconnected the call and put the phone back in the plastic evidence bag.
Then
he sat, and gave Jacobi a long, hard stare.
No
effect.
“What
is happening,” Jacobi finally asked.
“You’re
going home.”
“Good. I expect once I get back there you will leave
me alone.”
“On
the contrary, Mr Jacobi, you will not be going back alone. In fact, I’m sending you back with my team,
and we are going to extract the same people you were supposed to help us
extract the last time.”
“I
had nothing to do with that. It was
simply your incompetence.”
“Be
that as it may, you will do as I ask.”
“You
are a fool. Why would I do anything for
you, and especially since they are both probably dead now, or, if not, past the
point of saving.”
“You
will then want to hope that isn’t the case, simply because if they are, then
three members of your family will be executed.
You can say goodbye to them before you leave, or tell them you will see
them again, it’s your choice.”
Lallo,
it seems, was no fool, and had ensured he had the necessary leverage. There was no mistaking the shock on Jacobi’s
face.
“You
lie.”
Lallo
got up from his seat and knocked on the door.
It opened and two men brought in a large screen connected to a computer
on a trolley. They moved it to the vacant
wall and left. Lallo pressed several
keys and a picture came up on the screen.
A woman and two small children, and judging from the expression on
Jacobi’s face, exactly who he was hoping he would not see.
There
were two hooded soldiers either side with guns loosely pointing in their
direction.
“One
word from me, and they will be shot.
Considering the treachery you have perpetrated, it’s taking a great deal
of restraint for me not to give the order to kill them.”
He
took a few seconds to regain his composure.
“This serves no purpose,” Jacobi said in a rising pitch, “your people
are most likely dead. It has been a long
time.”
“I
don’t think so. We have word from a
different source, a more reliable source, that they are still alive. Barely, but alive, serving a life sentence
for treason. And helping the General
with information. All you need to do is
get a small team of mine in and assist them to effect an escape. They come home alive and, well, your family
lives. They don’t come back alive, well,
I don’t think that’s an option, is it?”
Jacobi
was in an invidious position of being damned if he did help us, or damned if he
didn’t. Either way, it didn’t guarantee
his co-operation or assistance. Painted
into a corner, sometimes people like Jacobi chose the easy road, sacrificing
everything to stay alive. No doubt,
until this predicament, he was well in favour with Bahti, and from what I’d
heard, Bahti was not a man to cross.
There was a graveyard in the prison that was full of the remains of his
enemies. And people who were once his friends.
I
knew firsthand what it was like to be between the proverbial rock and a hard
place, and unfortunately, there was no upside.
No doubt the team leader of this new folly would have orders to shoot
Jacobi once his work was done. Lallo
would not be able to leave a man in his position alive because of what he knew.
And
from my perspective, I felt sorry for the team Lallo had selected to go on what
could quite possibly be another suicide mission.
©
Charles Heath 2019
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