by Robert Cuma
Gina chimed in and said, “Steven, I never lied to you. I told you that all your questions would be answered in time.”
“You’re right, kid. I guess I wanted to go down this road with you no matter what.”
Enrico spoke, “Steven, we really need your help. Everyone who knows you says that you are the best of the best. I hope you will continue the mission and rid our country of this scourge.”
“I have to know more about what’s going on with this Bono character and his operation.”
“Gina has been working on this mission for years now. She can fill you in on anything you need to know. Also, if you decide to continue, which I hope you will, you will need to know the names of all our undercover people.”
“You guys are making me an offer I cannot refuse.”
Gina spoke again, “Oh, Steven, I am so glad you will carry on with our cause. Especially since these people were the ones responsible for killing my friends in Florence.”
“I’m not so sure about who’s to blame for killing your friends but I will find out. I promise you.”
“See Enrico, I told you he would help us.”
“Several things we should do before we start. I will need a safe house in Palermo and one in Naples. I might need to bring in some of my team but I haven’t decided yet. Another thing is the influx of these Hightower people. That may be another problem or it might be all tied together. That is something I have to figure out also. The whole mess may be bigger than your people anticipated.”
Enrico said, “Steven, whatever you need all our resources are at your disposal. Do you still want Gina with you?”
“Oh sure, she has become an essential part of my team already.”
“Great, then the two of you get started and Gina knows how to get in touch with me. Take tonight and get some dinner on the house. I booked a couple of rooms at a nice hotel for both of you. Once you get set up in Naples, I’ll come down on occasion to see how things are going. Tomorrow before you leave, you should meet with our Comandante Generale, Silvio Balsano. He is the friend of your Director, Dean Grimes.”
“I will be looking forward to the meeting.” Enrico and I shook hands. He seemed to be grateful. Then Gina and I left.
We quietly sat across from each other at dinner. Then we walked around a nearby piazza. Gina asked, “Steven, why are you so quiet? Are you mad at me?”
“Oh no, I’m trying to figure out if I should bring my team in from Taipei. Do we only want to take out the target or do we want to destroy the whole operation?”
“Well, you have to understand where Enrico is coming from. He has a personal vendetta against Bono. A few years back a couple of our people were undercover in Bono’s organization. Bono found out and brutally murdered them. Enrico took it extremely hard since he was the one who sent them on that assignment.”
“Oh, that explains a lot.”
“Now me, on the other hand, I want to take down the entire operation from Afghanistan to the U.S.”
“That’s rather ambitious, Gina.”
“I know, but if we can destroy half of them, I’ll be satisfied.”
“So, Gina, tell me something about you? Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend or are you married to the job? Be honest with me.”
“I kind of have a boyfriend but he’s too much in love with himself to really be serious. I just think he’s too young.”
“Are you really twenty-three?”
“That’s the only lie that I told you so I could pass myself off as a student.”
“That’s fine with me. So how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“Whoa, now that’s a big difference! Well, you still look like a teenager.”
“They use me a lot for young kid work.”
“That’s fine. You’re a sharp agent. Tomorrow I would like to make some calls. Can we go someplace for the secure phone call I asked you about?”
“Sure, it’s as I told you earlier, we will be able to make secure calls when we go see Balsano. There we can use the secure communications systems right in the same building.”
“Can you tell me about the secret passageways in your house? That was your house we were in, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, that is my house. You see, my father is the lieutenant general for the Carabinieri in the Tuscany region.” The Carabinieri is a national police force aligned to the Italian military. She continued, “He built the house about twenty-five years ago and for some reason he wanted all that secrecy. As a child, I used to play behind the mysterious walls.”
“So between you and your father, no wonder I was able to get a new identity in twenty minutes. What about your mother?”
“She comes from a well-to-do family from Genoa. I was ten when my parents split up. My mom took me to the States to live with relatives. After about five years, my father insisted she return to Italy with me. He gave her the house and she runs all over Europe trying to feel important. I guess she’s an okay person. I hardly see her. My father also insisted on my education. Oh yes, I have studied psychology. He was the one who pushed me into SISMI.”
“That’s sure an interesting life you’ve led so far, Gina.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder.”
“I know what you mean. Well, I guess we better get to our hotel and call it a night.” We walked back to the hotel. I accompanied Gina to her room and said, good night, and started to leave.
She asked, “Steven, could you come in for a while? I could use some company.”
“Sure, Gina, I can stay for a bit.” We went into her room. I sat in a chair and Gina sat on the bed.
She asked, “Do you really think I’m too young?”
“What do you think you’re too young for?”
“For you, I find myself very attracted to you and I don’t know what to do about it.”
I got up from the chair and sat next to her on the bed. I kissed her several times ever so gently. Then I asked, “Now do you feel the same way?”
“Oh, yes, Steven, even more so now. I think we should make love.”
“If that’s what you want to do, then I don’t see why not.”
“That’s what I want.”
She removed her clothes in a most sensual manner and stood before me in all her naked beauty. Her long dark hair flowed over her incredible breasts. I thought, who, is this spectacular woman standing before me? She ignites my passion as well as my deepest emotions. I couldn’t do anything else but lie with her in the bed and make passionate love. We spent the entire night together getting to know each other more and more. It was fantastic.
The next morning after coffee and a breathtaking shower together, we went to see the Comandante. Back to business what a letdown. When we arrived, Gina told me to go to his office alone so she could get things ready for my phone calls. I walked into his office thinking this guy must be Grimes’s brother. He, like Grimes, had his walls adorned with organizational memorabilia. It was the Italian version of the CIA for sure. The big difference was that the Italians were more laid-back than we Americans were. The first order of business after we greeted each other was coffee and cookies. I sat down with Balsano at a small conference table. The guy even resembled Grimes with his graying temples and cool demeanor. He started the conversation with, “Mr. Cross, I have heard so much about you. Now we finally meet.”
“Signor Balsano, the pleasure is mine.”
“You know my relationship with Dean Grimes goes back a long time. We met during the cold war working in Eastern Europe together. Several times we saved each other’s lives, as you well know that kind of friendship goes a long way.”
“I didn’t know that. Over the years Dean has kept quiet about many things.”
“You know better than anyone that’s the nature of this business we’re in.”
“This is true.”
“Well, I’m glad you decided to stay with us on this mission. It is extremely important to many people here in Italy. I must a
lso warn you there are many dangers surrounding this man and his operation.”
“I am aware of his power and I will not underestimate him again. That is something you can count on.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. I know you have met Enrico and you’ll be working with him. He is overly obsessed with Bono so I must ask you to be patient with him.”
“I don’t foresee any issues with Enrico. I think we’ll be able to resolve most of these problems together.”
“You should know that only Gina and I know about Enrico’s cover. Please keep it between us.”
“You can count on my discretion in this matter.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. On other matters, you can also contact my special deputy Marco Marino.” He pushed the button on his intercom and called for Marco. Almost immediately, a mean looking character walked into the office. He was larger than most Italians were and his handshake was strong.
I said, “Nice to meet you Marco.”
He grinned and said, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”
The Comandante jumped in, “Steven is going to be working with us on the Bono case therefore give him all the support he needs.”
He responded, “Yes, Comandante, I will help in any way I can and I look forward to working with Signor Cross.”
“That’s good. Well, Steven, we won’t keep you from your mission any longer. Good luck and if you need my help in any way come directly to me or Marco.”
I thanked the Comandante and Marco as we all shook hands as I left.
Gina was waiting for me outside the office. She took me to the communications center so I could make some calls. My first call was to Grimes.
He answered his phone with, “Grimes, here.”
“Dean, old buddy, this is Steven. You remember me, the guy you set up to take on all of Italy’s problems.”
“Steven, it’s nice to hear from you.”
“Is that all you have to say to me?”
“No, Steven, but knowing you I’m sure you figured the whole thing out by now. And you couldn’t turn down those nice people, I’m sure.”
“Well, you may be right about that but you could have warned me when I called you.”
“You know that you were too hot at that time. Besides, now you are involved and I know that you’ll put an end to the bad guys. By the way, did you meet my old friend?”
“Oh, yeah, I think you two are related.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, he’s seems to be a nice guy. Can I trust him?”
“You bet. He and I went through a lot together and I trust him with my life.”
“Right now it’s my life I’m concerned with. Oh, by the way, I think you might be interested to know Hightower is operating here.”
“I am aware of their Italian operation to a certain extent. Are they causing you any problems?”
“They already tried to kill me a couple of times. I had to kill a few of them already. I think it’s safe to assume that more of them are here than we could anticipate. We have to find out if they are involved with the target, or do they want to take over the business for themselves. Do you know who is running their operation in Italy?”
“Wait one second, I’ll check my computer. Ah, here it is. His name is Fred Clark and he has offices in Rome and Naples. It looks like they have a contract with our military in Naples.”
Grimes gave me both addresses and the other pertinent information about their military contract. I then said, “Okay, Dean, let me get going on this mission. I’ll check in periodically.”
“That would be nice. Steven, be careful and thanks.”
“Oh, I might bring in some of my team, is that okay?”
“Whatever you need, talk to you soon.”
We hung up.
3 - The Mission
______________
I wanted to take some time to think about using my team. I asked Gina, if there was a place, we could talk in private. She took me to a small office on one of the lower floors. She asked, “What’s up, Steven? You look pensive.”
“Again, I’m trying to figure out if we will need my team or can just the two of us handle this.”
“Well, for several years now I have studied Bono and I have come to know a lot about him and his operation. You should also understand that I never killed anyone but if necessary, I think I could. You need to know these things if we are going to work closely on this mission.”
“That’s okay. Stay close to me as much as you can and you’ll be fine. There is something, you should know about me. I have intimate relations with a couple of the female members of my team.”
“I’m not surprised. You are an incredible man. Besides, I’m a discreet person.”
“That’s good to know but the girls and I have been in some life and death situations together. Circumstances like these make people closer.”
“It sure does. Why look at us, just last night it was life and death all the way,” as she gave me one of her enchanting smiles.
“Okay, stay focused. Does Bono know you at all?”
“I don’t think so. I did all my studying of him from afar.”
“Could you handle infiltrating his organization?”
“If necessary I could but you do know what that will mean. Young women in his organization are passed around like an old football.”
“Well, maybe that’s not such a good idea.”
“Steven, let me make a suggestion.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Why not work it in reverse? Let’s work on someone already inside the organization.”
“Do you have anyone in mind?”
“Sure, Bono’s wife, she hates her husband and would do anything to bring him down. And you would be the perfect candidate to get her to work for us.”
“Whoa, you sure turned that around on me. Umm, but it just might work. We’ll give it some more thought as we go forward.”
“Well, better you than me on that kind of strategy.”
“How are we on shadow agents to cover our backs once we start roaming around Bono territory?”
“We have many people undercover but I don’t really know who we could trust 100 percent.”
“Where in Naples will the operation be located?”
“There is a shipping company office near the main train station downtown. In a hidden area below street level, we have an operations center. This would be the best place for us to set up quickly.”
“Okay, you make the arrangements and I’ll call my team to alert them in case we need them out here.”
“You got it, Steven.”
We both returned upstairs to the communications center. Gina made plans for use of the operations center in Naples and I went to call my team. I reached John Adler by secure phone in Taipei. He was in our new safe house at the time. He answered, “6-1-1, who is calling?”
“This is dragon slayer on assignment,” I answered. This was a simple verification process; we go through to authenticate our identities.
Then he said, “Boss, is that you?”
“You’ve got it.”
“How are things going out there?”
“Pretty boring but I have made some good contacts for future operations. How are things going where you are?”
“Extremely quiet but it’s much needed for all of us right now.”
“Good, you guys deserve to take it easy for a while. I will be doing support operations out here for some colleagues. This may require the services of a few of our team members but I’ll keep you posted. It’s nothing too important.”
“Whatever, you need, let me know.”
“I’ll be in touch, have a good one.” We ended our conversation. All the years that I knew John I never told him of the assassination work I did for the Agency. This kind of deep cover was extremely dangerous and I started doing it a long time ago. The only ones who knew about it were the three foxes: Linda, Cathy, and Hannah. They too have conducted as
sassinations along the way. Hannah is one of the Israeli Mossad’s top agents and is an extremely deep-cover operative. The Mossad is Israel’s version of the CIA.
When I finished my call to Taipei, I decided to call the embassy to talk to the RSO, Tom York. I didn’t trust anyone else there either so I enlisted the services of Gina once again. She was a willing participant. She made the call to York then handed me the phone. I said, “Tom, it’s me.”
“I figured you’d be calling sooner or later. Don’t talk now. Meet me at the old watering hole in one hour.”
“See you there.” We immediately hung up the phones. I knew where he meant. Years ago, Tom and I were stationed in Rome together. We used to hang out in this small bar and coffee shop on a side street near the embassy. It was located around a corner from the Via Veneto shopping area. We were able to go in from the rear entrance through an alleyway. I asked Gina to drive me there and to cover me from the outside. She agreed and we were on our way. Once inside, I saw Tom sitting at a table in the back of the place. I quietly greeted him while we shook hands and I sat down.
He said, “Steven, what is going on with you?”
“I’m running a mission to clean-up Italy of all its big-time criminals.”
“It doesn’t look too good for you. I guess you need my help.”
“No, Tom, I’m really here to help you.”
“Very funny, I’ve got a guy murdered in Florence and the ambassador is furious.”
“I know about Roger. I think he was killed by the Hightower people.”
“How do you know about Hightower?”
“Tom, I’ve been chasing them all over the world and they are dangerous.”
“Tell me about it. That damn Leonard Hill has an army of these people working for him. They’re crawling all over the place like rats. I keep getting told to let them be from my superiors all the time. They constantly violate all the security regulations in and out of the embassy.”
“Well, my friend, you have to be careful with them because they are killers. I’m sure they took out Roger. Don’t ask how I know. I just know.”
“I appreciate the advice Steven but what can I do for you?”
“Where does Hill live?”