When he was on the road and outside of the village, he spoke aloud as he drove, "Joe, are you there?"
He heard a slight rustle and noticed the folded tarp settle and flatten on the seat beside him as if a weight had just been placed on top of it. Joe's voice emanated from that area. "I'm here, Manny. We saw and heard everything. Your performance was perfect, except for the extra goading of Jesus. He will remember you and bear a grudge. That is not helpful."
Manny knew this already, but he could only take so much from the bastard, and he had lost his temper. Lost control, putting himself and the operation at higher risk than was necessary. It had been a mistake, and he regretted it, but he was also smiling a bit as he recalled the look on Jesus' face as he stared at his hand in shock and pain after his punch ran into the unyielding wall of the invisible shield.
"Sorry about that…" He told Joe.
"No problem, he had it coming," Joe said. Manny's smile widened for a minute, until Joe continued, "but next time, keep yourself under control. I'll let Francisco and Jorge know when to expect you back. Jorge will be happy to know his truck is safe and on the way. Meanwhile, can you pull over for a second and open the letter? Just hold it up toward my voice so the drone can get a look at it for me. It'll be better if you don't look at the contents."
A minute later, the truck was parked on the shoulder of the road, and Manny held the letter up for Joe to read. "Thank you," Joe said, "you can put it back in the envelope. When you get back to the warehouse, put the envelope, Jaime's wallet, and the shield ring inside the LITV booth. It'll be in the same spot. Inside you'll find a conventional bullet-proof vest. The Kevlar weave has been strengthened to increase its protection somewhat, but it will only protect what it covers. It's just a bullet proof vest. Put it on under your shirt. Switch the plates on the truck back to Jorge's tags, put the fake ones you installed for today's operation in the LITV booth with the other things when you get back to the warehouse. Take one of the handguns and a spare magazine. You'll find a concealed holster in the LITV booth, use it. Carry the gun on you at all times until we tell you otherwise. Don't forget to retrieve your radio. We'll need you to sleep at the warehouse for a couple days, taking shifts with Luis and Carlos to guard the facility. They will be equipped similarly to you. We'll send a couple changes of clothes along with toiletry items and meals for each of you. We can send any other small items you need. We don't expect trouble, but the enemy knows where the warehouse is."
Manny made a mental note of the instructions. He reached under the driver's seat and pulled two battered old license plates out from underneath. He climbed out of the truck and switched the plates back, reversing the operation he had performed on the drive out to San Juan Ixcoy earlier that morning. If they tried to trace them, they would find them tied to Jaime Ruiz residing at an address in the city of Santa Cruz del Quiche. The street was real, but the number of the house was 3 higher than the highest number on that street. The phone number would ring unanswered but records at the telephone company would show that it was also registered to Jaime Ruiz at the same fictitious address associated with the license plates and the fake license that Jesus had seen.
"Manny," Joe's voice called out from inside the truck, "Get those damn signs off the doors." Manny smiled at that. He peeled the signs off the doors and tossed them into the bed of the truck. When he finished, he climbed back into the driver's seat, pulled the door closed and drove the rest of the way back to the warehouse.
Just before he arrived back in Sacapulas, Joe's voice spoke again from the seat beside him. "As per your contract, we have transferred a bonus for hazardous duty to your bank account. We judge the importance and danger of this mission at 24 out of 100, making the base amount 4000 Quetzales. Since you were not injured, we pro-rate that by your efficiency, which we judge at 76% for a total of 3040 Quetzales. The bulk of the efficiency loss was due to your interaction with Jesus. Goading him added risk to yourself and the mission, not just in the moment, but into the future as well. It was unlikely that he would shoot you in that moment, but not beyond the realm of possibility, he is unbalanced and unpredictable. He cannot be counted on to act in his own best interest and may act on emotion without regard to consequences. If he had shot you, the shield would have protected you, but he would have seen your immunity to bullets, and the results of the encounter with Rafi would be thrown into chaos. As it is, we calculate that Jesus will seek revenge, given that he knows how to find the warehouse where he believes you work, we expect him to track you down, kidnap you, and torture you to death. We will deal with him appropriately to protect you. Listen to me, Manny. If you see him anywhere, ever, do not attempt to flee, attack, or goad him further. Trust us that we will protect you and handle Jesus. You will have an armed drone shadow protecting you at all times. Your parents are also being protected, although we find that they are unlikely to be at elevated risk. We take care of our people... even when their actions put themselves and others at risk. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we succeed in our goals here. We are working for a larger cause. I'm not going to bring this up again, and we don't consider you any less important to our cause. We just ask that you consider everything that is at stake here before letting your emotions get the better of you going forward. Thank you for your work today, Manny, overall, you did very well."
Manny's mind was a whirl of emotions as he listened to his evaluation for the day. He knew he had messed up, but until now hadn't really considered the larger stakes. He didn't know what his employers' ultimate goals were, but he knew that the average person in his homeland would be far better off if they succeeded. He wasn't just risking his life, or some business deal. He was risking his people's future when he acted rashly. It would not happen again. $3000 Quetzales, Holy Father, that was two months' pay in the city, more than 7 months' pay for a farm worker out in the country. He was going to be rich! If he lived long enough to spend it…
Finally, he pulled the truck into the open area beside the warehouse in Sacapulas. He was tired. He gathered his things from the cab and climbed out. He picked the signs out of the truck bed and went around to the front door. Locked. He grabbed the lock to tug on it reflexively. As his hand touched it, he heard a click and the shackle released. He stared at it, then removed the padlock and opened the door to find Luis standing there, the 45 ready in his clasped hands pointed toward the ground in his direction. Manny froze. "It's me. Damn, you scared me half to death, Luis."
Luis shrugged, "Sorry, I'm on watch and I heard the truck, your footsteps, the lock… better safe than sorry… or better sorry and safe than dead… however, that saying goes."
Manny chuckled. "Say it however you want as long as you didn't shoot me. How are we gonna lock the door from the inside?"
Luis took the lock from Manny, closed the door, pointed at a hasp on the inside and put the lock on and snapped it closed. "All the locks are rigged to respond to being touched by the three of us only. From now until further notice no one goes in or out unless we open the locks. Juan Carlos and Francisco will call us on the radio when their five minutes out, One guard stays inside, one opens the door and waits outside."
"Damn, they aren't taking any chances, are they?"
"I guess not. We both got the mission briefing of your trip today. Nice work. Get your stuff settled then get some rest. There are cots in the back. Juan is sleeping," Luis told him.
Manny arranged the items he was carrying including the shield ring as he had been instructed, put on the Kevlar vest, grabbed the holster, a handgun, two spare clips, and headed for the cots. He found a plastic cooler there. He opened it, found it full of ice and bottles of water. He smiled. He took two and drank one completely, and half of the next before capping it and setting it on the little table beside an empty cot. He saw an empty slot on the side of the table facing the cot. It was tall enough for the handgun and would be hidden from view for anyone not on the cot. He reached around his back to pull the gun from the holster that held it in the small of his back and placed it in the slot in the table.
Then, completely exhausted, Manny lay down and had time for just one thought before falling sound asleep. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.