Читать книгу Pirate Offensive онлайн | страница 21

“Supposing what you say is true,” Sergeant Gato said slowly.

“It is.” Bolan interrupted.

She scowled. “Supposing so, you wish to do what, exchange your imaginary stockpile of missiles if we give you this vessel?”

“Oh, hell no. I merely want to rent it for a while. Maybe a few weeks, possibly longer.”

“Rent?” A young girl laughed. “You wish to rent the...” She closed her mouth with a snap.

“I never could find out the name, much less the location,” Bolan admitted. “You security is good. Damn good.” He proffered the grenades. “That’s why I had to go to such an extreme measure.”

“Rent.” The burly man shook his head in disbelief. “You have cojones, I’ll give you that, dead man.”

“I’ll pay with a hundred missiles...and a name.”

“What did you just say?” The man gaped.

“In exchange for renting the warship, I will pay you one hundred missiles per month, until the end of my mission.”

“Per month?”

“Or twenty-five a week. Whichever you prefer.”

“Madre mia,” a bald man exhaled. “With such ordnance....” Abruptly, his face took on a terrible expression. “Bah, it’s a trick! Just more lies from the president, eh? Everybody out of the tent. I will handle this pig personally.”

“Thank you, Miguel, but not this time,” the commander said, lowering her weapon. Her actions were slow but deliberate. “There is no fear in the eyes of this man, and his words carry the ring of truth.”

“But—”

“Let him talk for a little more,” she said, dragging over a folding canvas chair. “Let us see if the strength of his words equals the strength of his hands.”

“Sure as hell hope so,” Bolan said.

Leaning forward, she rested both elbows on her knees. “A hundred missiles per month, you said?”

“Plus a name. The name of a traitor in your organization. A paid police spy.”

“Davido?”

That caught Bolan by surprise. “Yes, Davido Sanchez.”

She shrugged. “Killed him last week.” Then she smiled. “But nobody knows that yet.”

A tense minute passed in silence, then another.

“So, my intel was good,” said Bolan.

“Good, but late. Still, I like that you offered his name without a price,” Sergeant Gato said. “And a hundred missiles seems a fair price for the....”