Brazil: Criminal Empire - Chapter 200: A Textbook Capture Operation (Patreon)

The three men slowly made their way across the hill along a narrow path hidden among the bushes. Beyond the hill lay a small clearing ringed by several low hills.

The Paraná River curved around this spot, its turbulent current growing calmer through the bend.

At the calmest stretch stood a makeshift wooden dock with a wooden warehouse beside it.

Beside the warehouse was a short pier extending into the river. The dock was a noisy, chaotic scene.

Fifty or sixty burly men crowded the cramped space, talking loudly and swearing without restraint.

Some had assault rifles slung over their shoulders, while others carried nothing at all.

Three speedboats were moored beside the pier, all of them empty for the moment.

The group appeared to be preparing to cross illegally from Brazil into Paraguay in broad daylight.

Other smugglers waited until nightfall, but the PCC was brazen enough to move during the day.

As the largest criminal organization in Brazil, the PCC had no shortage of arrogance.

Santana was about to step past a large tree to get a better look when Rock suddenly caught him by the shoulder.

Santana looked back in confusion. Rock seemed to be resting his hand lightly on Santana’s shoulder, but the pressure felt like a mountain.

Keeping him behind the tree, Rock pointed toward the two o’clock direction. Santana was startled.

The PCC had posted guards after all. Under a large tree on the opposite slope, two men with sniper rifles were scanning the area through binoculars.

They had camouflaged their position well enough that a casual observer would overlook them.

If Rock had not stopped him, another few steps would have put Santana directly in a sniper’s sights.

At that moment, Santana gained a deeper understanding of what Cassiano had told him earlier about Rock’s formidable abilities.

The three of them lay quietly hidden in the woods on the hillside, observing the group of PCC members below.

At the same time, the van they had been tracking slowly emerged from the side road.

The shortcut on foot really was faster than driving around by road, just as Santana had said. Two men climbed out and addressed the crowd at length.

Then, led by one of the men who had just exited the van, the group boarded a speedboat.

From the speedboat, he waved his arms and shouted more instructions to the men on the dock.

Five or six men entered the wooden warehouse and emerged carrying three bulky bundles wrapped in black plastic.

Their shapes made it obvious that the packages held the PCC’s favorite kind of merchandise.

As the cargo was loaded onto the speedboats, the fifty or sixty people all crammed onto the three speedboats.

The other man from the van waved to the two snipers on the hillside, then called them on his phone.

The two snipers quickly shed their camouflage and ran down the hillside at a brisk pace. Before long, they too boarded the speedboats.

Once the snipers were aboard, everyone seemed accounted for. The three speedboats started their engines one by one and headed across the Paraná River.

After the passengers went ashore on the far bank, the boats were hidden in a small tributary.

Only after every figure on the opposite bank had vanished did the entire dock instantly fall silent again.

The man who had stayed behind turned toward the van, lit a cigarette, and smoked as he walked.

He didn’t get back into the van right away, but instead paced slowly in place, seemingly deep in thought.

Santana had barely let out a breath when Rock sprang forward from behind him like a leopard. Remarkably, the branches barely stirred as he ran.

From a distance, the faint movement would have looked like nothing more than leaves rustling in the mountain breeze.

In the blink of an eye, Santana saw Rock already at the foot of the hill. He was now less than 50 meters away from the van.

The man took one last deep drag, dropped his cigarette, crushed it beneath his shoe, and turned to open the van door.

By then, Rock had used the bushes for cover to approach within twenty meters.

Just as the man touched the door handle, Rock flashed up behind him and dropped him with a light knife-hand strike.

Rock caught the unconscious man before he fell, checked his surroundings, and waved Cassiano and Santana down from the hill.

Cassiano led Santana, who was still staring in astonishment, down the slope with a smile.

“Boss, there’s simply no stopping you.”

Cassiano started flattering Rock the moment he reached him.

After witnessing a capture operation that looked straight out of a textbook, Santana didn’t know how to express his admiration for Rock.

Only now did he realize that Cassiano had not exaggerated Rock’s abilities. If anything, he had understated them considerably.

“Mr. Locke, your skills surpass those of any SEAL Team Six operator I’ve ever seen.”

Santana could think of no higher praise. He was thoroughly convinced.

“Do you have somewhere we can deal with both the man and the vehicles?”

Rock left that decision to Santana, who knew the area. At the same time, he was gauging Santana’s willingness to get involved in this matter.

If Santana hesitated, Rock would take Cassiano and handle everything themselves.

Future relations with the Santana family would then be limited to using their connections to sneak into Paraguay for a single trip.

After that, he would avoid any deeper involvement. As it turned out, Santana’s eyes lit up, and his response was swift.

“I do, Mr. Locke. I have a place where we can deal with the van and the prisoner.”

Rock placed the unconscious man in the back seat of the van. He first bound the man’s hands and feet behind his back with cable ties.

Rock would never allow the kind of careless treatment seen in movies and TV shows, where people are casually tossed into the trunk.

The sight of Rock producing reinforced cable ties from his backpack impressed Santana all over again. This was what it meant to be prepared.

Even when he was supposedly out discussing business, Rock carried what he needed to restrain a captive.

Rock expertly hog-tied the man. He was clearly a hardened professional who was always ready to abduct someone.

Every detail caused Santana to raise his estimation of Rock even higher. Cassiano drove the van back along the same small road.

When they reached the spot where Santana had hidden the Ford sedan, Santana got out, took the wheel of the Ford, and drove ahead to lead them.

The Santana family was still technically at war with the PCC, even if the fighting had been suspended for now.

Santana was more than happy to cause the PCC trouble whenever he had the chance.

Besides, everything Rock had done suggested that he was a man capable of pulling off something big.

Santana had good reason to think Rock might cause the PCC a great deal more trouble once he slipped into Paraguay.

That was why Santana immediately decided to get involved in the kidnapping of this PCC member, and to commit himself fully.