Read Online Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) by Suellen Smith - Free Book Online Page B

the moment they captured the
American oilman from the back of his truck after shooting the
driver and two locals.
    Immediately after making contact with the
outside world for ransom of their captor, the sophisticated
satellite equipment of the American government had a “bead” on the
guerilla soldiers. Their activities were monitored for one week
before the private special ops unit invaded their territory.
    Slater studied the movements of the
guerrillas through field glasses. It wasn’t long before he spotted
the American tied to the tree like a dog. He looked grungy and
dirty with two weeks growth of beard. He was a little thin, but
otherwise seemed unharmed physically. It was not a pleasant
position, which to be put. The daily harassment from lunatic
banditos was beginning to show. Hopefully, he could arise to the
occasion and with the prospect of freedom would not be too weak to
keep up with the ops unit and “Get out of Dodge”.
    Slater and his buddies surrounded the camp
carefully. They would wait until dark to make their move. Wearing
night goggles, they were able to position themselves for any attack
that would occur. Slater would free the prisoner. With luck, he
would silently cut him loose and no one would be the wiser until
morning. Unfortunately, that was usually the exception rather than
the rule. As night fell, the victim was moved into a rough shelter,
making the issue slightly more complicated.
    The unit waited in tense silence, observing
the camp, counting the guerrillas, and listening to the spoken
Spanish. Each man of the SEALS’ unit spoke fluent Spanish as well
as several other languages. They were all highly
intelligent---which was just another reason that they were
extremely lethal to their enemy. They were always in full
battle-rattle gear with their flak vests and M-4 machine guns that
had been modified to also include a grenade launcher. It is a
heavy, but effective weapon and this crew did not use it as pray
and spray artillery. They were deadly and accurate with their
target.
    As the sun was going down and boredom set in
combined with a little tequila, an argument broke out between two
guerrillas. It wasn’t long before all were entertained with a knife
fight, which left one of the guerrillas dead. No one seemed
particularly concerned. Life was not real important to this bunch
unless it was their own.
    Once the camp settled down for the night, the
unit would execute their plan. They would know the exact position
of each smarmy terrorist before the attack began and dispose of
them if necessary.
    As the dawn jungle sounds began their nightly
ritual, the soldiers prepared to launch their attack when a
guerrilla operative wondered into the jungle to urinate near
Bear---that was his misfortune. The guard near the captured oilman
soon fell asleep---that was his misfortune as well.
    Inside the makeshift shelter, Slater touched
the shoulder of the kidnapped victim. He jumped in surprised and
then slumped in relief as he realized he was in the presence of an
American soldier. After cutting the leather bindings from the hands
and feet of the guerrilla victim, Slater helped him stand and get
his circulation flowing. It was at that moment that a bandito
guarding the perimeter must have stumbled over the dead body of his
comrade. An alert was sounded and all hell broke loose.
    Bear and Dog immediately created a diversion.
Grenades and a few other fireworks got the attention of the camp
banditos. They soon muddled through their tequila fog and immerged
on the fight scene with all the savageness they could muster.
    Eight dead guerrilla banditos were left
behind as the three American soldiers and their kidnapped victim
dissolved into the jungle terrain. They were too fast, too deadly,
and left too many bodies to be followed. They were long gone before
the guerrilla terrorists could regroup.
    The oilman was a little shook and weak, but
the thought of freedom gave him the needed boost of energy. With
the help