Piranha (Oregon Files 10)

Linc pulled up to the front of the warehouse office door next to a second Humvee. They got out, and Linc looped the FAL over his shoulder in as nonthreatening a way as possible. It was common to see soldiers and sailors carrying around assault rifles in South America, and Captain Ortega’s adjutant had been no different.

Juan flung open the door in the style he’d memorized from Linc’s video and strode into the office, surprising four men, three of whom were sitting behind desks, the fourth in front of a bank of video monitors and ignoring them. A radio in the background was playing a soccer match.

The heads turned toward the visitors as one and the radio flicked off. All four men leaped from their chairs and snapped to attention.

Juan scanned the group for only a moment and focused on the sailor with lieutenant’s bars on his epaulettes.

“¡Teniente Dominguez!” he bellowed. “¿Cuál es el significado de está?”—What is the meaning of this?

The chastened officer was caught off guard, his eyes wide with fear. He showed no sign that Juan’s voice was anyone’s other than Ortega’s.

“Captain Ortega, I thought you were in Puerto Cabello.”

“That’s what you were meant to think. I see that I should conduct surprise inspections more often. Despite your mistaken assumption, it is not your patriotic duty to listen to our national team play Argentina. Quickly—how many are on duty tonight?”

Dominguez practically spit the words out. “Myself and ten sailors. The four of us here, two at the guardhouse, three on sentry duty, two guarding the payload.”

“Only two in the warehouse?”

Dominguez hesitated for a moment. “I have no men in the warehouse. I could post some there, Captain, if that’s your order, but since it is empty I saw no need.”

“I see,” Juan said. But he didn’t. If the payload wasn’t in the warehouse, where was it?

“We have intelligence to suggest spies may be trying to gain knowledge about this facility. I want two of these men to join the sentry posts.”

Dominguez didn’t hesitate this time. “You heard the captain!” he yelled at the two men. “Move!”

The sailors snatched up their rifles and donned their caps as they scrambled out of the room. The only one to stay behind was the man at the monitors.

“Get back to work, seaman,” Juan said to him, and the man plopped into his chair. Juan shifted his gaze back to the lieutenant. “Show me the payload.”

“Sir, Admiral Ruiz ordered that no one was to view the cargo once it was loaded.”

“You will show us the payload or I will report that you disobeyed a superior officer.”

Another hesitation from Dominguez. “The admiral’s orders were very specific.”

“His orders are immaterial. That is the purpose of a surprise inspection.”

Juan was an excellent interpreter of people’s faces, and something that he’d just said was wrong.

Dominguez’s arm did nothing more than twitch, but Juan could sense that the lieutenant was attempting to be a hero. Juan drew his pistol and had the FN pointed between Dominguez’s eyes before the lieutenant could even get a finger on his own sidearm. Linc moved even faster, whipping the assault rifle around in one smooth movement.

Dominguez froze, then slowly raised his hands above his head without being told. Linc disarmed him and patted him down before gesturing that he had no other weapons. The seaman, who’d watched the whole sequence motionless and agog, moved against the wall with his lieutenant.

“Don’t make a sound,” Juan said. “Either of you.”

Slow nods confirmed the order.

“How did you know?” Juan asked.

“The admiral,” Dominguez said. “She’s a woman. You used the word ‘his’ when you talked about her orders.”

Juan shook his head. Talk about playing the percentages. He didn’t know how many female admirals were in the Venezuelan Navy, but it couldn’t have been more than a handful. For once, the odds beat him.

“What did he say?” Linc asked.

“Apparently the admiral in charge of this operation is a woman. I will have to remember to look her up when we get back. Keep an eye on the lieutenant here while I collect what we came for.”