Free Piranha Assignment by Austin Camacho Page B

than an hour on the road Felicity’s bottom started getting sore. She was about to ask Morgan for a break when they suddenly left the forest. The clearing was about a hundred meters deep. Morgan slipped the vehicle into neutral and coasted up to the fence. It was standard chain link, eight feet high. It appeared that theyhad arrived.
    â€œFence looks good,” Morgan commented.
    â€œYou think that barbed wire across the top will slow anybody down?”
    â€œActually it’s concertina wire,” Morgan told her. “A lot meaner. And the clearing’s as deep on the other side as it is here.”
    â€œSure, but I could take that fence in thirty seconds at night,” Felicity said. “And there isn’t a guard in sight.”
    As if on cue, two armed men in camouflage uniforms emerged from a concealed shelter. Aside from the assault rifles they pointed at their visitors, they wore sidearms, grenades, and stern expressions. Hard men, Felicity thought. Morgan stood in the vehicle, keeping his hands on the wheel.
    â€œI’m Stark,” he announced with bold confidence. “She’s O’Brian. Bastidas is expecting us.”
    â€œYou fit the descriptions,” one of the guards said, as the other unlocked and opened the gate. “Let me see some identification.” Morgan and Felicity handed over their passports which received scrupulous examinations before the lead guard handed them back. Then he walked to the back of the four wheel drive vehicle and tapped the big trunk with his AKM’s barrel.
    â€œWhat is inside this?”
    â€œStuff,” Morgan answered.
    â€œWhat kind of stuff?” the guard asked, pointing his rifle at Morgan’s chest.
    â€œOur stuff.” The two men locked eyes and, for a moment, Felicity feared violence. Then the guard turned, and reached for the trunk’s latch.
    â€œOpen that and you’re a dead man,” Morgan said softly, his right hand easing under his open safari jacket.
    â€œWhen we finish talking to Bastidas, you boys will beworking for us,” Felicity pointed out. “If we were the bad guys, we’d have brought help, and they would have overrun you by now. It’s not a very good idea to be leaving that gate open for so long. Questions could be answered on the other side, after the gate’s secure.”
    Guard number two glanced toward the tree line. After a second’s hesitation, the first guard jogged back inside and waved them through. The gate secured, the guards pointed them up the path to another checkpoint. As they drove away, Felicity released a breath she had held for almost a minute.
    â€œWhat in the world was that all about?”
    Morgan waved the situation away with his hand. “They love that macho bullshit down here. Never get any respect without it. Trust me.”
    The inner compound was so well groomed, Felicity thought of it as landscaped. The lawn was even and the trees placed for a pleasing appearance. A barracks-type brick structure stood to the right of the main path. To the left stood a tall Victorian style house, also of brick, with huge windows and gables. It looked out of place in this tropical paradise, standing a quarter mile or so in front of the bay.
    â€œNot sure why, but the house seems familiar,” Morgan said. “Gives me the creeps.”
    â€œDid you ever read ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ in your younger days?” Felicity asked.
    â€œYeah,” Morgan said with a grin. “This is the house on the cover.”
    To the left of the house stood a long carport. Morgan pulled his leased Land Rover in between two others. As they stepped out, they saw a flurry of activity at the house. The front door burst open, and Bastidas marched forth like an emperor, attended by two men in waiting. Morganshifted in his seat.
    â€œNot looking forward to this.”
    â€œWe’ve already agreed how we’ll play it out,” Felicity