16 jun 1992 año - Dutch's third tape recording.

Descripción:

It’s hard to remember that the most important part of an operation is patience. You can plan the perfect op but you can’t account for everything. If shit goes south, there’s nothing to do but to adapt and finish the mission. Sometimes, you just get lucky. I was on the dock ten klicks down-river from the Val Verde border, figuring out my next move. I was ready to pack it in. I mean, I thought I’d learned everything I could, that there was nothing left for me to find. The OWLF had abandoned the detonation site a year ago, and I’d thought they’d already shipped back to America.

That’s when I saw Agent Peter Keyes tie his skiff to the dock. I mean, I haven’t seen Keyes since I gave my official statement to him. It was impossible, but there he was with three of his buddies. All agents. I mean the clean, tidy outfits give them away all the time. I mean, they won’t get down in the dirt. You see, that’s what they pay soldiers to do. Keyes walked up, looked right at me, and shook my hand. With the radiation sickness, I’d lost a lot of weight. I thought maybe he hadn’t recognized me, but then he greeted me like we were old pals.

Keyes is a good spy. Saying nothing, implying everything. We spent the next few hours trading war stories at the bar. If you’d heard us, you’d never suspect that we were trading intel on an alien manhunter. His cover was that they’d been looking for a serial killer. A sadist who’d been operating in the area for years. Hunting people like animals and then skinning them alive. Keyes wanted to talk about the monster, so it all came out in the cover story. In many ways, they were just a few steps behind, surveying villages for information, locating witnesses. He did confirm one thing I’d only considered. He told me about how the “killer” chose his victims.

They were always armed: a rifle, a pistol, a knife in the boot. He wasn’t taking kids or random villagers. He wanted a challenge. Whatever it was, it was a hunter. When it killed for sport. I wish they were here for a military action. Recon for an invasion. But the truth was so much worse. We’re prey. Animals. Fit only to be hunted. Keyes and his buddies paid their tab, and mine, but before he left, he winked at me and he said… “Stay out of the Jungle. That’s where he gets you.” I tracked Keyes and his team for weeks, but they didn’t learn anything new. Maybe they knew I was there, maybe they didn’t. I don’t know. I’ve risked enough for now. I think it’s time to disappear. Keep my ear to the ground. Be patient.

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