Assassins Betrayed

by Robert Cuma

  “No, I never have been to the Far East at all.”

  “Well, Steven tells me you are going to need some protection for a while and I’ll be happy to provide it for you.”

  “You are very kind, Colonel. Steven has been true to his word.”

  “Steven is the most honorable man I know. I trust him with my life.”

  “I guess I have done the same.”

  “Steven, where are you planning to keep Bianca?”

  “I was going to ask you if you had any thoughts on the subject.”

  “Bianca, if you feel comfortable here you can stay for as long as you want. I have several bedrooms with private baths and this is a safe place.”

  Bianca looked at me and asked, “Steven, what do you think?”

  “Well, to be honest, I was hoping the Colonel would have offered his place to you. He made me the same offer last year when my team and I needed a place to hide. We stayed a long time. This would be the safest place around.”

  Bianca responded, “If everybody agrees, then I’ll stay. I only have one request. Is it possible to get some clothes here?”

  Miller chimed in and said, “Tomorrow we’ll get Steven’s girls to take you shopping and don’t worry about money. Steven is loaded.”

  “Very funny, Frank, but that is a good idea.”

  Gina piped in and said, “Excuse me, but am I an orphan child in this situation? I need some clothes too.”

  “We’ll take care of you too, Gina. Not to worry,” I said. Bianca started to laugh. It was great to see this woman in good spirits.

  Miller showed Bianca her room. It was a large bedroom with a private bath. Gina would stay in a smaller bedroom also with a private bath. Then Miller showed the women where all the toiletries and bath supplies were. They both went to their rooms to get cleaned up.

  Miller asked, “Are you going to take Bianca back to Italy for any trials?”

  “Frank, when I saw how frightened this woman was when I met her, I knew if I got her out of there she wasn’t coming back for any reason unless she wanted to.”

  “What will you do about your original mission?”

  “I’ll carry it out and make Bianca a young widow. She has been through a lot over the years. That‘s why I made the decision to get her out of any danger.”

  “That’s what makes you a great guy, Steven. What about Gina?”

  “Although we are very intimate, I still don’t trust her a hundred percent yet.”

  “You do realize that you have created quite a cache of woman out here.”

  “That I do know. Gina is not like the others. I think she is more of the possessive type. But we’ll see.” When the girls returned from their baths, they both were tired from the trip. I said, “Bianca, tomorrow will be a brand new day. I hope you will be happy here.” She walked over to Miller and thanked him.

  Then she hugged me and said, “Thank you, Steven, thank you.” When she pulled away, tears were running down her cheeks.

  I said to her, “Everything will be just fine. Don’t worry.” She shook her head in the affirmative and went to bed. Then I told Gina and Miller that I was going to the safe house to check on a few things. It was early in the evening and I told them to get more acquainted. I would return in a little while.

  I immediately went to the girls’ apartment to check on them. Linda answered the door and gave me a big hug along with a kiss. This incredibly gorgeous, fair-haired, 23 year old girl worked for me as my secretary for several years. During that time, she finished college and worked her way up to a position of field operations officer. It wasn’t until she joined me in Taipei that I realized how strong the feelings were between us. Similar feelings are shared with my other ops officer, Cathy Wong. I blame it on the water out here. Cathy, Linda, and I have been through many dangerous situations together. We all trust one another 100 percent. These beauties and Hannah, the fine-looking Israeli girl, have all lived here together for about a year now. They are sweet wonderful women until it comes time to kill. They will slit a man’s throat in a millisecond and not give it a second thought. I call them my three beautiful foxes.

  Cathy and Hannah also gave me an affectionate greeting. They seemed to be doing quite well in my absence. We sat around sipping coffee and chatting about the case I was working on. I told them the whole story. Only these three women know of my assassin activities. I didn’t leave anything out, including my relationship with Gina. Linda said, “I guess you want us girls to be cool about things.”

  “For now, I still don’t trust her with everything.”

  Cathy exclaimed, “It’s okay with me, Boss, whatever you want. Do you need any of us to return to Italy with you?”

  “We’ll all get together tomorrow and formulate a plan.”

  “Sure. Are you leaving the other woman here in Taipei?”

  “Yes, I promised her I would take her to a safe place. I need you girls to take her out tomorrow to buy the clothes she’ll need here.”

  Linda jokingly responded, “I’m sure we can handle it just fine. Is she one of your loves too?”

  “No, Linda, this woman has been through a lot, so treat her nice.”

  “You know we will, Steven.”

  “I’m going back to Miller’s place now. Arrange for everyone to meet on the base at 8 a.m. in the conference room. I don’t want Gina to know where our safe house is located yet.”

  “You got it, Boss.” I kissed them all and went to Miller’s apartment. By the time I arrived, everyone was asleep. As I walked down to the small bedroom to get some sleep, sweet Gina came out of her room. She invited me to her bed and there I stayed for the rest of the night.

  The next morning, bright and early, Miller was up waiting for all of us to rise. I jumped in the shower along with Gina. It was difficult to get the day started. I could have spent hours with her. Reluctantly, I got dressed and went to the kitchen to join Miller for a cup of coffee. He was sitting there with Bianca and they were laughing a lot. She appeared to take to Miller rather well. This would be a big help when I had to leave here. Soon after, Gina emerged from her room. We all went to Miller’s conference center for the morning meeting. The whole team was there. Handshakes and introductions were exchanged by all. My three girls were there along with John, Mike and Tao Li. I told everyone how good it was to be back. I explained the whole story of how Gina and Bianca came to be here. I left out the part of me in the mountains trying to assassinate Bono. Gina went along with the story. I said, “We are going to take down an international heroin ring and the prime subject is Bianca’s husband. With her help and guidance from Gina, who I introduced as an undercover cop, we will be able to formulate a comprehensive strike plan.”

  John asked, “Have you figured out who will go where?”

  “Not yet. It depends on where we’ll have to concentrate our efforts. All this will come into play after information is shared.”

  Linda chimed in and said, “Bianca, do you have any clothes with you?”

  “No. I walked out of Italy with just the clothes on my back. And when Steven told me he would take care of everything, I believed him.”

  Linda continued, “Steven, are we through for now?”

  “Yes, Linda, for the time being, we will regroup here this afternoon at 4 p.m.”

  “Good, it’s all set. We’ll go downtown and buy you a whole new wardrobe, compliments of Steven. I’ll get a car and meet all the girls out front.” With that, the girls left the building. Gina stayed behind ready to give her briefing on the situation.

  I said, “Gina, why don’t we wait until they all get back before you brief anyone?”

  “I can do that.”

  Miller asked, “Why don’t I show Gina around the city since she will only be here for a short while?”

  “Sounds like a good idea, Frank,” I responded. Frank instinctively knew I wanted to find out other things from the rest of my team. He’s one sharp guy. Frank and Gina soon left on their tour.

  I asked, �
��Tao, how are things going with your family?”

  “Things are going fairly well.”

  “I assume things are well between Mike and Mia.”

  Mike said, “Things are a lot better since last year.”

  “That’s great, I’m glad to hear that.” Mike and Mia were captured and brutally tortured by terrorists about a year ago. Tao and Mike took their revenge out on the terrorists but the emotional scars have been hard for twenty-two year old Mia to shed. Her father, Tao, is an extremely powerful man in Taiwan. The agency hired Tao as an operative after he retired as director of the Taiwanese secret police. It is rumored that they are a division of the paramilitary forces in Taiwan but the general population doesn’t have a clue, including U.S. intelligence. Tao is an influential and well respected, man in his country. He knows everything that goes on here. My guy, Mike, is totally in love with Mia and he has been close to the family for years now. I also asked, “Tao, how is Zia doing?”

  “With John’s guidance, she is doing much better.” Tao’s other daughter; Zia the youngest of the two girls, got herself mixed up with the wrong crowd last year and began using drugs. John found her one night passed out from drug use in a restaurant with some sleazy characters. Since then he has kept a close watch on her.

  “John is a good guy. I knew he wouldn’t let you or your daughter down.”

  Tao said, “I wish she would tell me of her drug connections so I can have them all put away.”

  John jumped in and said, “Tao, it’s like I told you before, let’s get Zia better first then we will work on the dealers.”

  Tao responded, “As always you are right on that one, my friend. I wonder if the increase in drug trade here in Taiwan is somehow connected to the Hightower organization.”

  I said, “Tao, we will all look into it as soon as we cut the head off the snake. John, I’ll leave you here in Taipei to look after things. I need you to take charge of the entire operation, including Japan. You can visit there periodically. Say, if it’s okay with Tao, why don’t you take Zia with you?”

  Tao responded, “That would be fine with me. Maybe a change of environment will help. Can you handle her on your own, John? I don’t want to overburden you.”

  “Sure, she’ll be fine with me.”

  “Good,” I said, “It’s all settled then. Let’s take a break until 4 P.M.”

  We all went our separate ways. I went to Miller’s apartment to collect my thoughts and rest for a while. I lay my head down on the couch and fell asleep. Sleep was not in the cards for me that day. Within minutes of sleeping, there was a knock at the door. It was John. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised. John is a fifty-two year old super straight guy and is probably having a hard time dealing with a twenty year old like Zia. He came in and said, “Steven, I think it’s wrong that Zia is hanging out with me all the time. She’s at my place every night. The kid hangs on to my every word and her kisses are not little friendly pecks on the cheek anymore. What can I do?”

  “Listen, John, is the kid basically drug free?”

  “Sure, as far as I can tell.”

  “Well, there is your answer. You’re doing right by her and she knows it. Nobody is going to treat her as well as you do. She may outgrow her affections for you but if she doesn’t, just go with it. It’s obvious that you’re probably good for each other. Don’t worry and I’m sure Tao doesn’t mind. He thinks the world of you and he trusts you with his daughter. He also doesn’t think you’re some kind of a Buddha either, so relax and enjoy it.”

  “Okay, Boss, if that’s your take on it maybe it will work.” I think I made John feel somewhat better, for now anyway. He left and back to sleep I went. I must have slept for about an hour when Gina and Miller returned from their tour of Taipei.

  I heard Gina exclaim, “Steven, wake up, wake up!”

  “Are you guys back already?”

  Gina continued, “This city is so beautiful. The colonel took me to the market and to some fancy shops. This place is great. No wonder no one wants to leave here.”

  “I’m glad you had some fun.”

  “I had to buy some clothes too and Colonel Miller paid for them. I tried to pay him back but he refused.”

  “It’s okay, Frank likes doing things for other people. Right, Frank?”

  “Sure, anything for a pretty girl.”

  “Thank you, Colonel,” as she hugged Frank with some good Italian passion.

  Just then, the girls returned from their shopping spree. They all came in giggling like a bunch of teenagers. Cathy said, “Steven, we spent a lot of your money but we got a lot of nice things for Bianca.”

  I asked, “Did you have a nice time, Bianca?”

  “Oh, Steven, I can’t tell you the last time I had so much fun.”

  “I’m really glad you did.” With that, she gave me a big hug and went running off to her room.”

  I said, “You guys did a good job with her.”

  Linda responded, “Steven, she is a nice girl and deserves the best.”

  “You’re right, Linda. She has had a tough life with that creep she was forced to marry.”

  Bianca came out of her room wearing the uniform of the times, a tight pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She filled her tee shirt out a lot more than the other girls did. She looked fantastic. I couldn’t help notice that Miller was very attracted to her.

  5 - A New Mission

  ___________________

  We all went to the conference room to join everyone else. We included Bianca in the meeting in case we needed her input. Gina started the meeting off by briefing everyone on Bono and his notorious organization. I quietly sat down and listened.

  Gina continued, “What I’ve learned from Bianca coincides with what I have researched over the years. She has filled in many of the blanks in my investigation. The Bono organization deals in drug smuggling, illegal arms transactions and anything else they can get their hands on. They even run legal businesses in some parts of the world, especially with the arms trade they receive from U.S. government contracts.

  At that moment, John interrupted, “Excuse me, Gina, I understand the severity of this situation but isn’t this problem for the Italian police to handle?”

  “You’re correct in your assumption, John. However, there is some thing about Bono that you should know. He sits on the board of directors of an American company. I think you might have heard of it. It’s called Hightower.”

  John quickly responded, “Say no more, I’m sorry for the interruption. Please, continue.” Gina had everyone’s attention now. There is something riveting about the Hightower name around here.

  Gina again spoke, “Yes, the powers that be seem to connect the Italian police with the intelligence organizations of the world when it comes to Hightower. This notorious company is right in the thick of things along with Bono. Hightower provides the means of getting the opium out of Afghanistan and the Bono organization processes it for the marketplace. The arms are moved from Eastern Europe by Bono and sold to other governments by Hightower.”

  Hannah asked, “Gina, where does Hightower take the raw opium to be processed?”

  “The raw opium is processed in many places. There is one place in Sicily, outside of Palermo, that Bianca has confirmed for me.”

  Mike suggested, “Well, I’m sure the Italian police can raid that place.”

  Bianca responded, “Not really, the corruption in that area is overwhelming. All the local officials are paid off by Bono. Raids have been tried before and word gets out fast. They are able to close down the operation long before anyone gets there.”

  Gina chimed in and said, “They have alternate processing sites to quickly take the opium to. Bono’s people are always ready to move at a moment’s notice.”

  I said, “We must figure a way to disable all sites at the same time. Also, we have to clampdown on the drugs getting out of Afghanistan. This is an extremely ambitious program. Gina, do you trust anyone in Italy who can support our approach to the overa
ll mission?”

  “Outside of Enrico, there are few people I trust.”

  I asked, “Frank, do you have any ideas on this whole mess?”

  “Well, I could have Major Reed give you some support, but he is only one man. With Hightower all over the place, I couldn’t even promise you that the pilots who brought you here are trustworthy. At the base in Naples, there are no Special Forces. Reed is ex-Special Forces. I can trust him to a certain extent. You probably can count on him for weapons and other munitions, but only within reason. I will talk to him while you guys are in route.”

  “Okay, that’s a good point, Frank. When we return to Naples, Mike, you and Linda follow our pilots. If they even smell bad, kill them.”

  “Roger that, Boss.” Mike exclaimed.

  “If these pilots are dirty, then we need some support back here. Cathy, can you stay back and help the Colonel protect Bianca?”

  “I can do that. She can come with me on occasion to my grandfather’s place.”

  “That’s a great idea.” Cathy’s aging grandfather, Cheng Liu, is an exceptionally wealthy businessman. He was one of Chiang Kai-shek’s generals and has done very well for himself over the years. His wife found Cathy in Hong Kong about twenty years ago. She was an orphan living out of trash bins. They took her in and gave her the finer things in life. She is well educated and is a martial arts master. Cathy stays close to her grandparents since she has been stationed out here with me.

  I continued, “Gina, can you find us a safe house in Naples without anyone’s knowledge?”

  “That’s something I can arrange for us with minimal risk.”

  “Great. Does anybody know our two operatives in southern Italy?”