Hope this works, Jack thought, rolling his eyes internally. As long as the plan didn't conflict with his own, he wasn't too bothered to voice any objections.
From the intel they'd gathered, the territories of the Reyes cartel and the Matamoros cartel were closely adjacent, and tensions between the two had always been high. While Matt's plan was crude, it was still quite feasible. Besides, this kind of straightforward strategy was typical for the CIA. Compared to the Russians, the Americans were at least a bit more cunning.
Carlos Reyes had two children. His eldest son, already an adult, was actively involved in his operations. His younger daughter, only 16, attended a church school in Mexico City. The target of Matt's kidnapping plan was Reyes' daughter. They intended to make it look like the Matamoros cartel was behind it, smuggle her into Texas, have the DEA "rescue" her by accident, and then return her to Mexico, handing her over to the police.
Of course, they'd be very strategic about where they'd return her—specifically, it would be in Matamoros cartel territory, and they'd leak the information ahead of time. This was an obvious setup. Even if Carlos Reyes sensed something was off, he'd still have to walk into the trap to save his daughter.
But before that, they had to set the stage. To avoid making their intent too obvious, Matt planned to target the Matamoros cartel first. A week later, Jack found himself in Mexico City.
Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, had a population of over 20 million, making it the most populous urban area in all of the Americas. The climate was similar to Ceris' southwestern city of Kunming, with a high altitude and a pleasant, spring-like atmosphere year-round, though it had both dry and rainy seasons. The city was built on what was once the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan, which used to be a massive man-made island. After the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan was burned to the ground. Now, in front of Jack, stood a modern city dotted with Catholic architectural influences.
Once out of the country, Matt seemed to have loosened up. He generously booked six luxury rooms at the Hilton Hotel on Reforma Avenue in the city center.
There were eight of them in total. Four were mercenaries hired by CWS, who would share two rooms, while Jack, Alessandro, Michael, and Matt each had a room to themselves.
Jane Banner had been recalled, but Jack left her stationed at Corpus Christi Air Force Base in Texas. The mission they were embarking on was too dangerous and underhanded for her to get involved directly.
Jack had already removed the bandages from his hand, and thanks to one of his abilities, even the scabs had vanished without a trace. After lying low in their hotel rooms for two days, Matt finally gathered enough intel to track the movements of Matamoros cartel's lead lawyer, Diego.
Diego was chosen as their first target because the other cartel leaders were too elusive—either hiding in complex slums or constantly surrounded by bodyguards. With only eight people, they were here to cause trouble, not throw themselves into the meat grinder. Diego, being a lawyer, had a routine schedule and only traveled with a secretary and two part-time driver-bodyguards.
The attack was set to take place just as Diego left his law firm. At 3 p.m., a black Mercedes pulled out of the underground parking garage, only to be blocked at the intersection by a white Fiat van.
The van's side door slid open, and two masked gunmen armed with MP5 submachine guns with drum magazines opened fire on the front of the Mercedes.
The two bodyguards in the driver's and passenger seats were instantly turned into swiss cheese. Diego, as fat as a pig, scrambled out of the backseat, frantically trying to run away.
Bang! A third gunman stepped out, holding an M1911 pistol, and shot Diego in the leg. Diego stumbled and fell, his glasses flying off. He tried to get up and keep running, despite the pain.
Bang! Another shot hit his thigh, and he collapsed again, his blubber rippling as he hit the ground.
The masked gunman calmly picked up the fallen glasses, walked over to Diego, and tossed them in front of him. "Put them on."
Diego, struggling, reached for his glasses and put them back on, staring at the man in front of him.
Alessandro pulled off his mask, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. "Goodbye."
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Meanwhile, Jack sat in the driver's seat of the van, watching through his mask as two mercenaries turned the Mercedes's remaining passengers—the two bodyguards and the young, attractive secretary—into bloody messes.
He then saw Alessandro empty his pistol into Diego's body, firing so fast that it looked like he was using a fully automatic gun rather than a semi-automatic handgun.
Once the three men were back in the van, Jack slammed on the gas, speeding away according to their pre-planned escape route.
---
As the sound of police sirens faded in the distance, Jack knew they were in the clear for now. He glanced over at Alessandro, who sat calmly in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, and curiously asked, "Was Diego one of your enemies too? Just how many grudges do you have with the cartels here in Mexico?"
"All of them, probably," Alessandro replied after a long pause.
---
The next day, Matt moved the team to a different hotel, this time to the InterContinental Santa Fe, a 20-story skyscraper. From the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the presidential suite on the top floor, they could look out over a luxurious church school. This school, located in the satellite town of Naucalpan about 20 kilometers outside of Mexico City, was where Carlos Reyes' daughter attended.
"Why not just kidnap her from home?" Jack asked, holding a pair of binoculars as he observed the fortress-like school building. The architecture was odd, to say the least.
"Too many innocents would get caught in the crossfire if we did it on the street," Michael replied, stuffing plastic explosives disguised as perfume bottles into his bag. "We need to make a scene—a big one. That's the cartel's style."
"Alright, it's time to move." Matt checked the time, packed an MP5 into his bag, and led the rest of the team out, leaving Jack behind.
Jack bent down and pulled an L115A3 sniper rifle from a gun case at his feet. Through the rifle's 25x scope, he zeroed in on the distant school.
This long-range sniper rifle, made by Accuracy International in the UK, was his new toy, courtesy of CWS. Chambered in .338 caliber, it had an effective range of 1,500 meters and was touted as the best sniper rifle in the world.
Though the distance between him and the school was over two kilometers, making it impossible for him to take a shot, aiming a sniper rifle at a school still felt strange to Jack.
The actual sniping location was planned for a junction about 800 meters from the school. Even the CIA wasn't crazy enough to conduct a kidnapping right outside a school in a neighboring country. Well, at least not in this world's version of the CIA.
An hour later, two Suburbans pulled up in front of the school. At the same time, a voice came over the radio, "Attention, the target has arrived."
This was the support from the Special Operations Command. Jack didn't know if there were satellites watching from above, but he was sure there was a drone in the sky.
Before long, a set of data synced to the display on his wristband, providing the current wind speed and humidity at the scene.
"How's it looking? Do you have eyes on the target?" Matt's slightly distorted voice came through the channel.
Through Jack's scope, he spotted a small figure—a girl with long black hair draped over her shoulders, wearing a gray over-the-knee skirt, white stockings, and a bright green jacket.
Though he'd seen photos before, seeing her in person through the scope made Jack realize she looked exactly like the little girl from Transformers: The Last Knight, except a bit older. She still had a round, pouty face, giving her a cute but stubborn look.
"Confirmed, target is getting into the back seat of the second vehicle," Jack reported.
As soon as he spoke, he saw a hand reach out from inside the vehicle, helping the girl into the back seat.
"There are other people in the car, but I can't make out their faces. Please confirm."
"Doesn't matter, it's probably just her bodyguard," Matt replied.
The two Suburbans left the school, following the route they had previously scouted, heading toward the junction.
"Cut their cell phone signal and follow them. Move, move, move!" Matt's command came through the channel again.
As the Suburbans neared the junction, the bodyguards seemed to sense something was wrong. Maybe it was because their phones lost signal, or perhaps they noticed the pickup truck tailing them in the rearview mirror, but they suddenly sped up.
Boom! An explosion went off at the junction, as an IED hidden in a garbage can detonated, flipping the lead Suburban.
The second vehicle slammed on its brakes and tried to reverse, but Alessandro's pickup rammed into the back of it at full speed.
Matt and the mercenaries, wearing black masks and wielding MP5s, emerged from the roadside, quickly surrounding the vehicle. They pointed their guns at the driver and body
guards, who had attempted to resist.
Alessandro, also wearing a mask, jumped out of the pickup, pulled out his handgun, and opened the back door, only to freeze in place.
"What's going on?" Matt's voice came over the radio.
"I think we've picked up an extra passenger," Alessandro rasped. A middle-aged man wearing sunglasses stepped out of the car, holding their target—the girl—in his arms, and entered Jack's scope.
"Wait… Is that Carlos Reyes?" Jack was stunned. What is this, a buy-one-get-one-free deal? Or buy the kid, get the dad?
"F, f, f!" Matt cursed repeatedly. He hadn't expected Carlos Reyes to show up personally to pick up his daughter today. According to their intel, Reyes rarely left his compound and didn't even live with his family. What was he thinking, coming here today?
This surprise was more shock than joy. Matt didn't have time to figure out why; he just waved his hand and gave the order, "Take them both!"
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