Disclaimer: I do not own either of the Mission: Impossible series or any of the characters therein. I receive no compensation or any other tangible benefit from this story. I am just a fan who enjoys taking the team out for an adventure every now and then. 🙂
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Nemesis Chapter 36
"Max, why don't you and Nicholas go ahead and see what's going on at the warehouse?" Jim suggested, as Grant gave them the coordinates that his transmitter had recorded days before. The two agents agreed, bid their goodbyes, and left the hospital.
They approached the sedan, Max automatically climbing in on the driver's side. As he slid behind the wheel, Nicholas gazed pointedly at his broken arm.
"You know, Max, I could drive," he offered.
Max glared at his teammate, not willing to relinquish his position as unofficial team driver. "I'm fine, Nicholas," he muttered. "You just tell me how to get there."
Nicholas smiled to himself. Then he guided his friend through several twists and turns until they could see the outline of the shell building off in the distance.
"We'd better not get too close," Nicholas cautioned.
Max nodded tensely. "There's a road that winds off to the left. If we follow it, we might be able to get a better look."
Max turned and followed the road around a curve and up a slight incline until the two men were parked on a small knoll overlooking the warehouse. Nicholas aimed his binoculars at the building. Two huge doors were standing open, and a large truck with a dump bed was backed up to them. Several men were unloading what looked like stalks of grass into the warehouse, and Nicholas could see the outline of a large piece of metal machinery.
"They're harvesting," Max observed, his voice low.
Nicholas nodded. "And that looks like a dryer," he added. He lowered his field glasses and looked at Max. "Based on what I've learned about rice farming, they'll probably dry the grain today, mill it in the morning, and by tomorrow evening it'll be ready for packaging."
"Along with the cocaine," Max put in, "and I'll bet that's not a coincidence."
Nicholas raised his glasses and looked once more toward the warehouse. His gaze fell on a man in a suit standing beside Garcia.
"Hey, Max," he said, handing his friend the binoculars. "Have you seen this man before?"
Max took the glasses in his right hand and aimed them where Nicholas was pointing. "Yeah, I recognize him," Max replied. "It's the guy I saw talking to Garcia when Grant and I were working on the warehouse. I don't know his name, though."
Nicholas opened the glove box, took out a small camera with a telescopic lens, then quickly aimed it at the man and snapped a photograph. "Maybe Grant can run this picture through his database and tell us who our mystery man is."
"Good thinking," Max praised.
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Kyle Garcia and his companion watched as the truck backed up to the warehouse and several men began to unload the freshly harvested rice.
"That's it, fellows," said Garcia with a smirk. "Lay them on the dryer, please."
"Hey, Garcia," said the man in the suit suddenly, having caught sight of the dark sedan parked atop a nearby hillside.
Once Garcia met his eyes, he nodded slightly toward the car and smiled. "I think we have some interested spectators. Check it out."
Garcia stole a glance toward the car. "You're right," he confirmed. He gripped a handheld walkie-talkie and pushed the button. "We're being watched," he barked. "There's a dark blue car on the access road. Get rid of it."
The man in the suit frowned. "But, Garcia, surely they've seen nothing out of the ordinary. This is a rice farm, after all. People expect us to harvest rice."
"If this is who I think it is," Garcia retorted, recalling what Christie had told him about James Phelps, "they're a lot more dangerous than that."
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Nicholas had just stowed away the camera when suddenly a large, olive colored Jeep came barreling down the road at breakneck speed. It was headed straight for them!
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(c) 2016
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