Chapter 6 - The Ghost of Medellin
"He's taking off!" Dominic yelled, stepping back into the courtyard, firing his rifle up at the guard towers to cover our position.
I wrapped Mateo tightly in a Kevlar blanket, lifting him onto my hip, picking up my pistol with my right hand. "Stay behind me, son. Close your eyes."
Mateo buried his face in my neck, holding onto my tactical vest with all his strength.
I burst out of the guest house into the chaos of the courtyard.
The estate had descended into a inferno. Fire raged from the main villa where my Omega squad was engaging the remainder of Salazar's cartel enforcers. On the concrete helipad two hundred yards away, a sleek Eurocopter EC135 was spinning its rotors, hovering three feet off the ground, preparing to lift off into the dark sky.
In the open side door of the helicopter stood Hector Salazar—'El Espectro'—a ruthless, scarred cartel lord in a leather jacket, holding an M60 machine gun.
"MORETTI!" Salazar roared over the deafening chop of the rotor blades, aiming his heavy machine gun down at us. "YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN NEW YORK!"
RAT-AT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A terrifying rain of heavy .50 caliber rounds chewed up the concrete floor around us.
Dominic and I dove behind a stone fountain as spouts of water and concrete shrapnel exploded into the air. I kept my body wrapped completely around Mateo, absorbing the dust and impact against my armored back.
"He's escaping, Boss!" Dominic shouted, reloading his rifle. "If he gets above the tree line, we lose him!"
"He's not leaving Colombia alive," I growled.
I looked down at Mateo. "Stay with Dominic, sweetie. Daddy will be right back."
"Daddy, no!" Mateo cried out, reaching for my coat.
I pressed my forehead against his. "I promised I would protect you, Mateo. Trust me."
I handed Mateo to Dominic, pulled a heavy AT4 rocket launcher from the back of an Omega soldier who had just sprinted to our position, and stepped out from behind the stone fountain into the open fire zone.
Salazar saw me standing in the middle of the courtyard, completely exposed. He grinned wildly, pivoting his heavy machine gun toward my chest.
"DIE, MORETTI!" he screamed.
I brought the AT4 launcher up to my shoulder, flicked safety lock, locked the crosshairs directly onto the helicopter's tail rotor, and pulled the trigger.
FHOOOOSH!
A blinding trail of fire and white smoke rocketed across the dark courtyard.
The rocket struck the tail rotor with pinpoint precision.
BOOM!
A massive fireball erupted in the night sky. The helicopter spun violently out of control, its tail assembly shredded, crashing back onto the concrete helipad in a catastrophic explosion of metal, aviation fuel, and fire.
The shockwave blew across the courtyard, knocking over the remaining cartel guards. Silence settled over the burning estate, broken only by the crackle of burning jet fuel and the soft drizzle of rain returning to the jungle.
I lowered the empty launcher tube, letting it drop to the earth.
Dominic stepped out from behind the fountain, carrying Mateo. Mateo looked out from under the Kevlar blanket, staring wide-eyed at the burning wreckage, then at me.
I walked over, taking my son back into my arms.
"Is it over, Daddy?" Mateo whispered, his small fingers touching the silver crucifix hanging around my neck.
May you like
I looked around at the destroyed fortress, at my men standing victorious in the courtyard, and down at the face of the boy I had mourned for three endless years.
"It's over, Mateo," I said, kissing his temple. "Now, let's go meet your brother."
