Watching the boat speed away from them, the four last members of the team had a thoughtful expression on their face even if it was hidden by their hood. The night was peaceful and the weather still hot despite being this late in the morning. They were all still wearing black camo and a hood showing only their eyes.
"I really hope your plan is good Nathaniel because it's too late now to get our weapons back." Na-Yung said.
"Oh don't worry about it, it's good, you are going to like it." Nathaniel said, taking his hood off and showing a big smile.
"My god, he's smiling." Lucie said.
"I don't like this." Camilla added.
"Me neither." Na-Yung continues also taking her hood off.
"You don't trust me?" He asked with a false hurt expression on his face.
"No." "No." "No." He received an answer from the three womens.
"Not when you are smiling like that at least." Lucie amended.
"For the record, it's still painful to hear." He said, Taking the two bags at his feets.
"What's in the bags?" Lucie asked, looking at those with a suspicious expression.
"Surprise." He smiled again.
"Your plan, it's going to be dangerous isn't it?" Camilla asked with apprehension.
"That depends on your definition of dangerous." He shrugged before starting to walk forward.
"That's not an answer!" Camilla shouted angrily.
"Alright, it"s time we leave this place. We need to move the van and the car with the least fuel on the tank to the sand and burn them. I don't want us to accidentally start a forest fire. We will take the last car to leave this place, Lucie you will drive." Nathaniel explained, acting like he didn't hear her.
"Stop ignoring me! I know you can hear me!"
Nathaniel just continues walking away with the two bags in his hands and a big smile on his face.
******
Piloting a boat in the night wasn't something easy to do, even with the help of the light. Scott had been piloting the boat for hours now, he had started at high speed to get as much distance between him and Belize. Now that he was in International water and the sun had risen, he had adjusted his speed and was driving at a much slower pace. Based on Lina estimation, they should arrive at their destination in the next two hours.
Thanks to Hans who had modified their radar to be three times more effective and disabled their transponder, they had managed to dodge other ships and more importantly, Coast Guard patrol. Not mentioning the fact that they had to split the team, the mission had gone really well, even better that they had expected. Despite this, the team was not really happy right now even if the hostages were.
"Excuse us, can we talk to you?" Scott heard behind him.
Throwing a quick look behind him, Nathaniel recognized the two Livingstone daughters and so quickly nodded before focusing on the direction he was taking.
"We wanted to thank all of you for having rescued us. We were starting to think that we will die here. We have heard about the money they were asking and we knew our family didn't have it." The eldest sister, Elisabeth, said.
"We were just doing our job, you shouldn't worry about it." Scott waved it away.
"Were you even looking for us specifically and if it's that the case, how did you find us?"
"Yes, your parents reported the issue and we were asked to find you and get you back. We weren't aware that they would be others with you."
"Why are you all keeping your hoods on and why you refused to give us even a name? It's hard to thank someone when we don't even know what they are called." She said, biting her lip in annoyance.
"Our identities are classified, it's even more to protect you than to protect us. Believe me, it's best for you to know nothing about us." Scott answered calmly but sternly, dissuading them to ask more about it.
"Why are the rest of your team staying back there?"
"They didn't have the choice, like you can see we are already cramped as it is, in terms of weight we couldn't afford to have too many people here. So we had the choice of letting some hostaged in there or split the team and get back home with you while the others find another way. You can see yourself what solution we choose."
"But, isn't it dangerous for them?"
"Don't forget they are trained for this, you shouldn't worry about this. Now, you should go back with the others, it's safer over there."
"We will not disturb you anymore then, thank you again." Elisabeth said with a weak smile before walking away.
"They have been asking questions to us for a while now, they are too curious." He heard Hans say in his earpiece.
"I understand them but if we stay silent, they are going to stop eventually." Scott answered, not feeling concerned in the slightest.
"Do you think the others are in danger right now?" Lina asked.
"No way to know for sure but we should know by now that the boss can come up with the craziest plan that always goes without a hitch. If I were to trust his style after everything I saw, let's just say that his plan is going to be showy."
"That's an understatement if I ever heard one in my life." Jon joked.
"Yeah, I know. Hans, come over here and take the wheel so to speak, I need to pass a phone call. Jon, Lina I need you to make sure the hostages stay out of ear shot from me while I make the call." Scott said.
"Got it." "No problem." "We got you." He heard in his earpiece.
Getting the farthest away from everyone, Scott pulls the Satphone that Nathaniel had given him before they separate and dial the number he memorized. The call didn't take long to connect and at the second ringtone someone answered.
"Do you have them?" A scruff voice asked instantly, not bothering with pleasantries.
"McCornaig on the phone." Scott said, he recognized who was on the other side.
There was a surprised pause on the other side before the man asked another question.
"Colonel, why are you the one who is calling?" Tobias asked with clear suspicion in his voice.
"Ex-Colonel. The mission had some unexpected results and that's why I'm the one who is calling now."
"Tell me." He demanded.
"To answer your previous question, we got them. The mission did go really well and not casualties were reported on our side. The complications that we got was that there were others hostages with the Senator daughters, seven others to be exact."
"Crap, what did you do with the others? I didn't hear anything about this on the news coming from Belize and I paid close attention. Congratulations by the way, you made the front page of almost every newspaper in Central America with your little operation last night." Tobias said with clear disapproval.
"We took them of course."
"Are you fucking insane!? That's going to draw a clear line directly to us! Do you have any ideas about the shitstorm we are going to get when word gets out that we conduct an illegal operation on foreign soil!" Tobias shouted.
"The hostages are not going to say anything about this and frankly, we are accused of that even when we have nothing to do about it. Moreover, now that this is done, do you want to continue bitching about it or do you want to know who we have with us?" Scott ask calmly.
"Fine, tell me." Tobias huffed.
"We found two Swedish teenagers between twelve and fourteen years old I would say, One old man who is apparently an Argentinian businessman. The four others are British college students who came here for the Spring Break. We have the names of everyone except the two teenagers because the only person who can talk Swedish among us stayed on the island." Scott summarized quickly.
"Holy… Alright, you got names for me?"
"I have all except for the two teenagers, you will have to arrange for a translator." Scott said before giving everyone names.
"I have a friend in the State Department, he will handle everything. What's your ETA?"
"We are still three hours away from the rendezvous point. I know I was supposed to call at one hour but I thought it was best to give you an early heads up. We will also need two ambulances ready for us, some of the hostages are not in great shape."
"That was some good thinking, it was really a big mistake to let you go colonel. If you ever want to get back your position and then some, tell me anytime, I will make it happen."
"No thanks, I'm good where I am right now. It's a nice change of pace to know why we take on assignments and where I have a say on how the mission is conducted."
"Understood, the offer is still open if you ever want to take me on it. I need to go, I have a lot of work to do." Tobias said before hanging up.
Taking a few seconds to think, Scott starts to reflect on the conversation. He had purposely hidden some vital information about the mission, mostly the fact that the team was forced to part away in order to take the civilians. He did not know if it was a consequence from his last experience or Nathaniel habit to keep everything between them but he realized he had changed from the perfect soldier he was before and he was feeling better for it.
Directing a meaningful gaze at where they came from, he hoped the rest of the team was okay.