Four Months in Cuba

by Luana Ehrlich

  Carlton asked, “Are you saying you don’t believe Ben is on this airplane?”

  I said, “I’m saying it’s a little early in the process for Franco to bring Ben over to the island when he hasn’t even given the Senator the details of how the exchange will take place.”

  Carlton nodded. “Once we hear back from the surveillance team, we should know more about the occupants of the plane, and if it appears they’re not headed for Franco’s villa, then we’ll have to reevaluate the situation.”

  When Carlton told Coach Thompson he could resume the briefing, he said, “The Ops Center will notify us when we get an update from our personnel in San Andros. In the meantime, let’s take a look at our third component.”

  He clicked over to the next slide, Component Three: Know Your Objective. “Obviously, your objective is to hand over the ransom money in exchange for Ben Mitchell. However, since the cartel requires the money be handed over electronically, you’ll need to be familiar with the banking procedure for doing that.”

  Coach gestured over to the side of the table where Katherine and the rest of the analysts were seated. After introducing Danielle Frazier, he said, “Ms. Frazier is our expert in banking, and I’ve asked her to explain how the Senator’s account at Banque Cantonale can be accessed online in order for the funds to be transferred to the cartel.”

  I was somewhat familiar with the procedure already, and once I’d memorized the access code and the Senator’s password, Ms. Frazier seemed satisfied I could handle the transfer.

  Juliana asked, “What about Ben in this transaction? Will they give us access to him before the bank transfer is finalized?”

  “Since Franco hasn’t given the Senator the details of how the handover will take place,” Coach said, “it will be up to Titus to decide how far to push him in that regard. Getting Ben back is, of course, the main objective here.”

  I said, “At the very least, I’ll demand Franco give us a visual of Ben before any money changes hands.”

  Carlton spoke up. “You’ll have full discretion to deal with Franco anyway you like, and as soon as he gives you the details of where the exchange is to take place, we’ll provide you with whatever backup or surveillance you think is necessary.”

  “That brings us to component four,” Coach said, clicking over to the next slide, Component Four: Know Your Exit.

  No matter what kind of operation it was, Coach always used component four to discuss the closing hours of the mission and the arrangements for leaving the country.

  “The Ops Center is working on three different options for getting you back to the States. I won’t discuss those right now because everything will depend on how Franco does the handover. As soon as we have that information, I’ll set up a video call with you in San Andros to discuss the details of your exit.”

  When Coach Thompson closed the lid on his computer, Carlton asked Josh Kellerman to brief Juliana and me on our cover stories.

  Before Kellerman said anything, he walked around to the side of the table where we were seated and laid a passport down in front of us, along with a jeweler’s box with a set of weddings rings inside.

  Stepping back away from Juliana and me, he extended both hands toward us and said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  * * * *

  Kellerman, who had been an advertising executive before coming to work for the Agency, milked the laughter in the room for a few minutes before turning serious and summarizing the biographical profiles on Austin and Elizabeth King.

  Although I was listening to him describe the cover stories his division had designed for Juliana and me, I also took note of a whispered conversation between Coach Thompson and Carlton.

  Once Kellerman had concluded his briefing, Carlton said, “The Ops Center has an update from the surveillance team in San Andros. We should be able to view the feed from the CO’s update shortly.”

  I started to ask Carlton who the Coordination Officer (CO) for the San Andros team was, but before I had a chance to ask the question, the video monitor in the conference room powered up and Seth Harvey’s image appeared.

  Harvey had aged a lot since the last time I’d seen him, but when he recited the tag for the recording of his field update, his voice was still the same low-pitched monotone I remembered.

  “Seth Harvey, Level 2 Surveillance Officer, initiating the OFU on Operation Peaceful Retrieval, Code 74523.”

  From what I could tell, Harvey was sending his field report on his Agency sat phone from inside a parked vehicle. After he noted where he’d set up his surveillance teams at the San Andros Airport, he described seeing a passenger disembark from the JRB Leasing plane—a person he identified as Subject A—and enter the terminal.

  Harvey said, “When Subject A left the terminal fifteen minutes later, he returned to the aircraft, and the pilot taxied over to a hangar. Twenty minutes after that, a black Toyota SUV pulled up, and Subject A got inside the front passenger seat. The Toyota left the airport and immediately headed north after picking up Subject A.”

  “He was alone? There was no one else with him?” Carlton asked.

  “No one except the driver of the SUV,” Harvey said. “I left one team in place at the airport and followed Subject A. The SUV took the Queen’s Highway down to Conch Sound Road, made a right turn, drove past Franco Cabello’s villa, and then turned north on Nicholls Town Road. Once the SUV arrived in Nicholls Town, the driver dropped Subject A off at the Sandy Beach Villas. I’m sitting in a parking lot across from there right now.”

  Carlton said, “Did the SUV slow down at the entrance to Cabello’s villa?”

  “Hard to say. Maybe a little.”

  “Were you able to get photographs of Subject A?”

  “Yeah. They weren’t all that clear, but I’ll upload them to the Ops Center when I’m done.”

  When Harvey signed off on the update, Carlton asked Coach Thompson to expedite the analysis of Harvey’s photographs, and then he looked around the room and said, “I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions on these developments.”

  Juliana spoke first, “It doesn’t sound like Ben’s on that plane.”

  Katherine was looking down at her computer, but she glanced up long enough to say, “After looking at some of this data, I’m not convinced JRB Leasing is a Los Zetas enterprise. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s a legitimate business. There’s too many layers of paperwork for that to be true.”

  Frank had managed to stay quiet during the briefing. However, he must have thought Carlton’s invitation to speak included him, so he spoke up and said, “I would advise delaying the implementation of Phase II until you have a clearer picture of what’s going on in San Andros.”

  I said, “The sooner we get down to San Andros, the sooner we’ll know what’s going on.”

  Carlton said, “You leave tomorrow.”

  PART FOUR

  Chapter 38

  Thursday, August 13

  The charter flight carrying Austin and Elizabeth King arrived at San Andros Airport at three o’clock in the afternoon. As we taxied over to the terminal, I spotted the JRB plane parked outside a hangar.

  Before leaving Langley, Carlton had updated us on the situation in San Andros. Not much had changed in the last twenty-four hours; Katherine and her analysts were still researching the plane’s ownership, and Seth Harvey and his surveillance teams were continuing to watch the plane, as well as Cabello’s house and the resort where Subject A was staying.

  Juliana was staring out the window at the plane. “Do you think the cartel is holding Ben on that plane?” she asked.

  “It’s possible, but I’m still not convinced Subject A is connected to Ben.”

  “Why not?”

  I pointed over to the plane. “For one thing, Ben is a high-priced commodity. I can’t imagine Subject A leaving him here at the airport and then spending the night at a resort on the other side of the island.”

  “If Ben’s on the plane, I’m sure he�
�s not alone. He’s probably surrounded by guards.”

  “I still think it’s too early in the game for Franco to have Ben on the island. However, I assure you, if the cartel doesn’t make contact with Austin King in a few days, I’ll be begging Carlton to give us permission to pay a little visit to that plane.”

  * * * *

  By four o’clock, less than an hour after we’d landed in San Andros, Juliana and I were being shown around the Los Tavios Resort.

  The villa we were in, Dorado Villa, consisted of a master bedroom, two smaller bedrooms, a full-size kitchen, and a large living room/dining room.

  The living room had a set of sliding glass doors that opened out onto a terrace. From there, we could easily access our own private beach and view the endless horizon of the Atlantic Ocean.

  As soon as the bellboy left, I pulled Austin King’s laptop out of his briefcase and checked his email to see if he’d received anything from the cartel.

  There were several fake emails from family and friends congratulating Austin on his marriage to Elizabeth and urging him to enjoy his honeymoon, but there were no emails from Los Zetas with the final instructions for paying the ransom and getting Ben released.

  Juliana walked in from the terrace just as I was closing the lid on the laptop. “Anything in Austin’s inbox?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You weren’t really expecting to hear from Franco yet, were you?”

  “Not really. I’m sure he’s having someone check us out first.”

  “What if the cartel questions Ben about Austin King? How would he handle that?”

  “He’d probably say something disparaging about his father and tell his interrogator he wasn’t in the habit of keeping up with his father’s staff, which is true.”

  Juliana, who was wearing a lime green sundress, walked over and sat down on the white sofa. Leaning her head back against the cushions, she sighed and said, “Ocean breezes; private beach; no one around; I could get used to this.”

  I shook my head. “Not me. If I could choose, I’d pick the city over the beach any day.”

  “Sorry, but if we’re going to convince Cabello’s people Austin and Elizabeth King are newlyweds, you might have to endure some romantic strolls down the beach with me while we’re here.”

  “I think I can manage that.”

  I picked up a travel magazine from the coffee table and pointed to the back cover where there was a full-page advertisement for a famous restaurant.

  “I want us to eat at Sapodilla’s tonight,” I said. “It’s definitely the kind of place Austin would take Elizabeth, plus, if Franco sends some of his thugs to check us out, it should be easy for us to spot them.”

  As Juliana got up from the sofa, she said, “If we’re eating there, I better go put on a fancy dress. You don’t mind waiting, do you?”

  “Not for a fancy dress I don’t.”

  A few minutes after Juliana went back to the master bedroom, I walked down the hall and knocked on her door.

  She looked surprised to see me.

  I immediately pointed at my suitcase, which the bellboy had deposited in the master suite next to her luggage. “I need to get my suitcase out of here and move it to one of the guest bedrooms.”

  She gestured toward the large picture window. “This is the only bedroom with an ocean view. I should be the one sleeping in the guest room.”

  I began wheeling my suitcase out of the room. “I’m the primary for the operation. I’ll make the sacrifice. You enjoy the view.”

  * * * *

  After taking my suitcase over to the bedroom on the other side of the villa, I changed into a pair of dark slacks, a light-colored sports shirt, and a blue sports jacket.

  When I walked back in the living room to wait for Juliana, I got a call from Carlton. After asking about our flight, he said he was calling to give me an update on Subject A.

  “He hasn’t left his cabin since he arrived yesterday,” Carlton said.

  “His cabin? I thought he was staying at the Sandy Beach Villas.”

  “Compared to your accommodations, he’s in a cabin. In fact, it’s more like a shanty.”

  “What do you mean he hasn’t left? Did the guy bring his own groceries?”

  “He’s having food delivered from the restaurant down the street.”

  “That’s good news. I assume you’ve had someone on the surveillance crew make a delivery of their own.”

  “Seth did it himself. He delivered lunch to Subject A around one o’clock and managed to leave a listening device behind. So far, it’s been pretty quiet. He hasn’t had any phone calls or visitors.”

  “Any luck identifying the guy?”

  “I checked with Katherine’s office less than an hour ago, and she said they’ve been able to enhance one of the photographs Seth took of Subject A as he was entering the airport terminal. They’re running the image through the facial recognition software now, and she promised to get back to me as soon as she has the results.”

  “What about Frank Benson? Have you talked with him today?”

  “I saw him earlier this afternoon. He’s totally preoccupied with looking into Governor Gilberto’s connections to Rafael Lorenzo, but, frankly, Titus, I’m not expecting anything to come of his research. Peaceful Retrieval is no longer a rescue operation; it’s a transaction, or, as the DDO put it, ‘Phase II is a simple exchange of two commodities. We’re handing over the Senator’s money and getting our man back.’”

  “Frank and I thought the governor might own property up in El Cobre, but Katherine told Frank she couldn’t find any evidence the governor owned any property anywhere in Cuba, not even in Santiago. I’m not sure what kind of research Frank is doing now, but I told him to call me if he turned up anything interesting.”

  “Giving the cartel millions of dollars to get Ben back isn’t what we wanted, but in the end, the result is the same.”

  “I won’t drop the idea of rescuing Ben until I’ve exhausted every option. You know that.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds, and then he said, “Don’t do anything foolish, Titus.”

  * * * *

  On our way over to the restaurant, I called Seth Harvey. After telling him where Juliana and I were headed, I asked him if the surveillance team watching Cabello’s residence had seen any uptick in activity since Juliana and I had arrived on the island.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “What’s ordinary?”

  “Cars come and go every couple of hours.”

  “What about Franco? Have they reported seeing him?”

  “Yeah. He’s the only one driving a Mercedes.”

  “I’m expecting Franco to send a couple of his men to do some surveillance on us at the restaurant tonight. Let me know if you think they’re headed our way.”

  “No problema.”

  “Anything going on with Subject A?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Great talking to you, Seth.”

  “Same here.”

  * * * *

  I’d tried to make it easy for Cabello’s men to follow us by calling ahead and making reservations at Sapodilla’s for Austin and Elizabeth King. Consequently, Juliana and I were shown to a table as soon as we arrived at the restaurant.

  Within a few minutes of our being seated, I got a phone call from Seth. It was too loud in the restaurant to hear what he was saying, so I asked him to wait a minute while I walked outside.

  “Go ahead, Seth. I can hear you now.”

  “He’s about to have a visitor.”

  “Who?”

  “Subject A.”

  “You’ll have to give me a few more details, Seth.”

  “Subject A called Franco Cabello and told him he wanted to see him immediately.”

  For a moment I was speechless.

  Then, I couldn’t decide which question I wanted to ask first.

  “What exactly did Subject A say to Cabello?”

  “He recited some numbers
and then he said, ‘We need to talk. I’m in villa number eight, Sandy Beach Villas. Come alone.’”

  “What happened then?”

  “Nothing. He hung up.”

  “Has your surveillance team reported seeing Cabello leave his house?”

  “Not yet.”

  “If Cabello shows up, will the listening device you left in the villa be able to pick up their conversation?”

  “Yeah, the place isn’t that big.”

  After I told Harvey to let me know if Cabello left the house, I hung up. However, the moment I put my phone back in my pocket it vibrated again.

  When I noticed Carlton was calling, I figured he knew Subject A had made contact with Franco Cabello.

  “I’m clear,” I said, when I accepted the call. “I just got off the phone with Seth. I guess you know about the phone call?”

  “What phone call?”

  “The phone call Subject A made to Franco Cabello.”

  “When was that?”

  “Just now.”

  After a brief silence, he said, “I’ll call you back.”

  “Why did you—”

  Carlton hung up before I could ask him why he’d called me in the first place, but I thought I knew the answer.

  I figured the analysts had finally come up with a positive ID for Subject A. What I didn’t know was why Carlton had sounded so worried Subject A was in contact with Franco.

  I was still waiting for Carlton to call me back when Juliana came out of the restaurant and sat down on the bench beside me.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked. “I got worried when you didn’t come back inside.”

  “I’m waiting for a call from Douglas.”

  “Should I order you something?”

  “No. We won’t be dining at Sapodilla’s tonight.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we’re about to pay a visit to the Sandy Beach Villas.”

  * * * *

  When I sent Juliana back inside to give the waiter a couple of bills for his services, I got a call from Seth Harvey again.