48
“I’ve watched my people,” JJ thumped his chest hard enough to hurt and it felt good. “I’ve watched them be decimated for too long by the drugs and the traffickers who see hardship and pain as opportunity. I’ve stood by as my own country has marginalized and attacked those in greatest need while allowing the users to thrive beyond reason. Mexico fights, but it is powerless.” JJ had spent his whole career combating that desperate dichotomy.
“But won’t they defend themselves?” Mike asked from where he sat on the deck.
“The government has three fighter jets, total.”
“Northrop F-5s,” Jeremy nodded. “They purchased them in 1982. But it’s a 1950s design. Mexico is almost two-thirds the size of the contiguous US and they rely on about a hundred helicopters—most light utility—for air coverag
