Tom Clancy's Op-center Balance of Power - Tom Clancy [60]
The other three men had crowbars as well and Ferdinand had a.38 revolver in his deep-cut right pants pocket. There were extra shells in his left pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief so they wouldn't jangle. Juan and his people did not want to kill any more people. But after what had been done to Seńor Ramirez, they would not hesitate to do anything that was necessary to complete their mission.
They knew that the door would be locked and had planned accordingly. Juan was the tallest of the men and he placed his crowbar on the top left side of the door, between the door and the jamb. Martín bent low and put his bar on the bottom left side. The other man, Sancho, inserted his crowbar to the left of the knob. Ferdinand pulled the gun from his pocket and stood back, ready to fire in case they were attacked.
The men wedged the prongs of the crowbars in as far as they would go. If they didn't get it open on the first try they would push them back in unison and try again. They figured that two strong pulls should do it. Martín had worked in construction and said that even if the door were double-bolted, the jambs wouldn't be steel reinforced. Grounded metal like that would wreak hell with the radio broadcasts, he said.
The men pulled hard on Juan's count of three. The door flew open on the first try, large wood splinters fracturing up and down the jamb. As soon as Ferdinand gave them the all-clear they ran in.
There were three people inside. One man was inside a soundproof booth and two people, a man and a woman, were seated at a control panel. As planned, Martín sought out the fuse box. He found it quickly and killed the electricity. The station died before the announcer could report what was happening. Under the brilliance of two battery-powered emergency lights mounted on the ceiling, Juan and Sancho ran over to the technicians. They clubbed each one hard across the collarbone. They fell to the ground, the woman moaning and the man shrieking. While Ferdinand covered them, Juan entered the booth. He walked calmly toward the announcer.
"I want to know who gave you the tape you played earlier," Juan said.
The slender young man, bearded and indignant, moved back on the rolling chair.
"I'll ask you one more time," Juan said, raising the crowbar. "Who gave you the tape recording?"
"I don't know who he was," the man said. His voice was high and squeaky. He cleared his throat. "I don't know."
Juan swung the crowbar against the man's left tricep. The man grabbed his arm as his mouth dropped open and let out air, like a furnace. Tears formed in his wide eyes.
"Who gave you the tape?" Juan repeated.
The man tried to close his mouth. It didn't seem to want to work. The chair thumped up against the wall and stopped.
Juan continued toward him. He looked at the fingers of the man's right hand. They were wrapped around his upper arm. He swung the crowbar again, at the fingers.
The iron bar smashed the back of his hand, just below the lower knuckles. There was an audible crack, like the snap of dry chicken bones. The hand dropped onto the man's lap. Blood pooled and caused the skin to bulge at once. This time the victim was able to scream.
"Adolfo!" he shouted from that wide, open mouth.
"Who?" Juan repeated.
"Adolfo Alcazar! The fisherman!" The man provided Juan with the address and Juan thanked him. Then he swung the crowbar one more time, just hard enough to break the man's jaw. Juan looked out at Martin and Sancho, who did likewise. There wasn't time to check for cellular phones and he didn't want them calling ahead to warn the fisherman.
Five minutes later the four familia members were driving back down the road toward San Sebasti