Chapter 34 - The Burn Notice
The armored SUV tore through the winding, treacherous mountain roads at breakneck speed, heading directly toward the abandoned airfield. The night sky ahead was periodically illuminated by the terrifying, bright flashes of tracer fire and exploding vehicles. The battle between the cartel mercenaries and the federal tactical team was incredibly fierce.
"Valeria, listen to me very carefully," Alejandro said, turning around in the passenger seat to look at her. She was huddled in the back with the children and Doña Socorro. He handed her the silver, encrypted hard drive.
"When we breach the perimeter, Vargas is going to drive the vehicle straight to the federal transport plane," Alejandro instructed, his eyes locking onto hers with intense, desperate urgency. "You give this drive directly to Agent Ramirez. You do not wait for me. You get on that plane with the kids and you fly away."
"You are coming with us," Valeria insisted, her voice breaking, clutching his arm fiercely.
"I am going to provide covering fire so the vehicle can make it to the tarmac," Alejandro said gently, pulling his arm away and checking his weapon. "El Escorpión is out there. I have to end him, or he will never, ever stop hunting us. This is my burden to carry, Valeria. I have to burn my own ghost."
Before Valeria could protest further, the SUV violently crashed through the rusted chain-link fence of the airfield.
The scene was absolute, horrific chaos. Federal agents were pinned down heavily behind a barricade of burning police cruisers, desperately returning fire against dozens of cartel sicarios entrenched in the old, ruined hangars. In the center of the tarmac sat a massive, gray military transport plane, its engines whining loudly, waiting for the extraction.
"Go, go, go!" Alejandro roared, throwing the passenger door open while the SUV was still moving.
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He rolled onto the rough asphalt, ignoring the tearing, agonizing pain in his stitched bullet wound. He raised his assault rifle and unleashed a deafening, relentless barrage of suppressive fire directly at the cartel positions, drawing all their attention and gunfire entirely onto himself.
"Drive, Vargas!" Alejandro screamed, standing completely exposed on the runway, a one-man army fighting to buy his family a future.
