Page 23 of Cooper

“We’ve been labeled worse,” said Ham letting out a long breath. “If it saves the people of Argentina and returns the wealth to their pockets, I won’t hesitate for a minute.”

Myles was once again quiet, glaring at the screen and the men behind the camera. He hated them. He hated them all and knew that they had more information than he probably had at his fingertips.

“I believe I’ll have to have some conversations with my colleagues before we continue our negotiations.”

“There are no negotiations, Charlie. You leave this alone. She will sign the land back over to the country, to someone truly in charge and who will do the right thing. If Pablo doesn’t leave the land alone, if he doesn’t remove all his little minions, we will send people in to secure it.”

“You’ll start a war of your own for some stupid fucking woman!” he screamed.

“We’ve started wars for less worthy causes,” frowned Ham. “Or I should say you and your colleagues started wars for less worthy causes. Bianca Garcia owns that land. If one more person touches it, we’ll go to every court in the world if we have to. But the first thing you’re going to do is stop the search for Bianca. Claim it was a case of mistaken identity.”

“Fine. Fine, we’ll withdraw that but nothing else right now. I hope you boys know what you’re doing because you’re about to declare war on your own nation as well as Argentina.”

The screen went black once again and Ham shook his head.

“We need to get everyone we know to open up to us,” said Gator. “Contact every senator, every military leader, all the way to the fucking POTUS. We need to know who is on our side and who knows nothing of what’s happening.”

“And if they’re all involved? If they all know exactly what’s happening, then what?” asked Coop, staring at the room of men.

“Then I guess we prepare for war.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Thanks for returning our call, Admiral Hamilton,” said Gator.

“I have to be honest, son. I didn’t want to.” That made the room freeze, thinking of what might come next.

“Then you do know something about what’s happening down there,” nodded Ham.

“We all know, Ham. Every fucking military leader, senator, anyone with a .gov e-mail address. We’ve known for decades that Argentina was wealthy with natural resources but they were very private, very closed to any foreign interests or assistance in obtaining those resources. No foreign oil companies, no foreign drilling, nothing.

“A few years ago, this guy comes up on the radar, Pablo Garcia. He was like a ghost. No one knew who he was or where he was other than he was dealing with Rodriguez, whom I suspect you helped us with.”

The room of men said nothing, simply staring at the screen, waiting for him to continue.

“I won’t bullshit with you guys. If the girl doesn’t sign over the land, no one will give a fuck. They’ll take it with or without her signature and she will get nothing. If she signs it over to her uncle or whoever the fuck he is, she’ll be paid a reasonable price for the land.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit,” said Cooper staring at the man. He pursed his lips glaring at the younger man.

“Fucking hot head, just the like rest of you. Sometimes the good guys don’t win. Sometimes all the things you believe are right, are wrong. You cannot win this one. The Argentine government wants it, the locals are gone, burned out of their village, the Americans want it. It will happen no matter what you do.”

“And Bianca Garcia lives in the shadows for the rest of her life,” said Ham.

“No. No, her uncle will leave her alone as long as she signs it over. She’ll be able to live freely wherever she wants, although I wouldn’t suggest Argentina.”

“And the people working in those mines? The ones making pennies a day, working twelve to fifteen hours a day. What about them?” asked Cowboy.

“That’s a local problem, not my problem.”

“When did you turn into a weak, pathetic piece of shit,” frowned Ham. “I knew you as a good SEAL, a good leader. What the fuck happened to you?”

“Commerce. We all want a piece of the pie, Ham. We can’t all be boy scouts like you guys. Some of us want out of this not just alive, but alive and wealthy. Now, you can fight us on this, you can plot and scheme and plan but it won’t change a damn thing. That land will be mined for shale and all the other resources around it.”

“And what about Uruguay? Paraguay? Chile? Don’t you think they’ll want to have a say in all this. They’re Argentina’s closest neighbors and need those resources to survive as well. Do you really think they’ll allow all of that to be sent north?” asked Cooper.

“They won’t have an option. From a military perspective, they’re weak and seriously outmanned. Right now, as we speak, the entire area is being blocked to visitors. No one will get in or out with cameras, not even from the air. So don’t think about sending your drones down there. It won’t work.”

No one said a word. Even someone this high up in the government didn’t know all the tools that G.R.I.P. possessed. They could do just about anything under their radar, and they just might have to.