by Robert Cuma
He said, “Steven, the best way I can explain this situation is to point out the Russians are dealing with their own version of Hightower.”
“So, in their case it’s the Russian mob infiltrating the Kremlin.”
“That basically sums it up in a nutshell.”
“Is Hightower working with them?”
“My sources tell me they are closely connected.”
“Dean, am I supposed to take on the whole world with my small team?”
“Do what you can. Use Miller’s people as usual but be careful you don’t cause an international incident. It could cost both of us our jobs and possibility our lives.”
“I guess I’ll take everyone down systematically and if anyone gets in my way, they will go down too. I still have some trustworthy Russian operatives.”
“Be careful. I’ll send some more of our people to Tokyo for support.”
“None of the old crowd, we can assume they have all been compromised.”
“I’ll send some new people out to you. If you don’t like them, returns are acceptable.”
“It sounds good to me, Dean.” We headed back to the ceremonial grounds where Miller was about to be blessed with his long awaited star. It was a big moment for him. Shortly after the ceremony, there was a parade and a party for the new general. Gina never left his side. This deserving soldier was very proud of himself and so were the rest of us. General Frank Miller was a true patriot.
I took Gina to the side and said, “I need you to stay here with Miller while I go to the Russian Embassy to look up an old friend.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“I’m sure. Just hang on to the General and make him feel good today. It’s important everyone thinks that a man of his stature has a woman, especially one as good looking as you.”
“Alright, Steven, I’m convinced, I’ll hang onto the General.”
“Great, I’ll see you at the festivities this evening at the latest.”
I kissed her and headed over to the Russian Embassy. On the way, I stopped at Langley to run a trace on the employees of the Russians working in the U.S. I found a picture of the thug from the night before who threatened Gina and me. After making a copy of the picture, I continued over to the embassy. Once there, I met with an old colleague of mine. Major Ivan Titov, a onetime powerhouse in the KGB. He was very gracious as he invited me to his office.
Titov said, “Steven, my old friend, it has been a long time. How are you?”
“I’m good Ivan and how is the world treating you?”
“Okay, it’s a little boring working security for the embassy. I miss the intrigue of the old days when we all tried to fool each other. The mind games were superb.”
“I must admit, I enjoyed it also. Nowadays everyone is blowing themselves up for some unexplainable cause.”
“You have that right. So is this a social call or business?”
“Well, I have some business to discuss with you but it is always a pleasure to see you, old friend.” I took the picture of the thug out of my pocket and placed it on the table. I asked, “Do you know this man? He broke into my house last night and threatened my girlfriend and me. You of all people should know what that means.”
Ivan looked at the picture and responded, “Oh, I know this creep. We have a group of the Russian mob, which, has moved into our political affairs and continues to cause trouble. They are similar to your Hightower Corporation.”
“I see you are keeping abreast of problems.”
“Steven, the two groups are linked together on many dealings around the world. They even associate with the people who blow themselves up. Feel free to kill him if you want. I’ll give you my blessing but if you kill him, two more take his place. They seem to multiply like rabbits. I myself have killed a few of them but to no avail.”
“I see we have interrelated problems, Ivan. Maybe we can help each other.”
“I think we can. I’ll be in Western Europe for the next few weeks. Contact me on my global cell phone. We’ll be able to compare notes better when we are in our old stomping grounds. We as friends will share information.”
“I’ll try to be there, Ivan.” We exchanged phone numbers, shook hands and I left. I helped Ivan out of a tricky situation with the British MI-6 twenty years ago and he has never forgotten.
I left the embassy and headed back to the festivities surrounding Miller’s celebration. It was quite elaborate. There was so much brass around I thought I was back in the military. Gina was glad to see me return.
10 - Trouble in Paradise
___________________
That evening after Miller met with every powerhouse at the Pentagon, we took off to Taipei. It was only the three of us, Gina, Miller and me flying in a high-speed military aircraft. Two of Miller’s trusted pilots were manning the plane. Once we were airborne, Miller gave Gina a great big hug and thanked her for playing his girl for the day. Gina told him the pleasure was all hers. He laughed and popped open a bottle of champagne as he continued to celebrate. We were about three hours into the trip and all feeling no pain. This was the first time I saw Miller this intoxicated and he was funny. Actually, so was Gina.
Miller, in a slurring voice said, “Guys, I think I’m in love with Bianca. I am grateful to both of you for bringing her to me.”
Gina responded, “You are a great guy, General and you deserve the best. How do you think Bianca feels?”
“Well,” as he thought for a moment, “we sleep together whenever we can. I think it’s real. What do you guys think?”
Gina responded, “I would have to call it love of some kind. Enjoy it, General.”
“I knew you guys would understand.”
The passenger quarters in this high-speed plane were small. The three of us were kind of crowded together on a half moon shaped seat in the rear of the plane. Gina being tipsy began to kiss me in a very passionate manner.
I said, “Easy, Gina, Miller is still with us.”
Miller responded, “Oh don’t mind me, I’m trying to figure out if the plane is spinning me or I’m spinning the plane.”
Gina turned and began to hold Miller’s head as she said, “Sleep, General, sleep. Have pleasant dreams of Bianca.” She returned to me to resume her passion.
Then she said in her tipsy voice, “I hope I can coordinate my activities and put the kisses on the right guy.”
I started to laugh and said, “No one will remember this tomorrow.”
Gina remarked, “Steven on my left and Miller on my right.” As Miller began to pass out, Gina successfully removed her jeans while continuing to pat Miller on his head and presto, her mission was accomplished. Miller was out and we were able to make love.
About four hours later, Miller was shaking the two of us to wake up. He said, “Okay you two, the party is over, back to business.
Gina was laying naked across my lap with only a blanket over her. I was hoping for Gina’s sake, she had covered herself with the blanket and not Miller.
Half hung over, I said, “Frank, I hope you slept well. We all got a little toasted a few hours ago.”
Gina woke up saying, “Oh, General, I hope I didn’t make a complete fool of myself earlier.”
“Not to worry, my dear, your modesty has been preserved. We’ll be landing shortly so we should get ourselves in order.”
When we landed in Taipei, it was late at night. Once off the plane, Miller suggested that Gina and I stay at his place for the night. We took him up on his offer. When we arrived at his place, it was quiet. Then out of the back bedroom Bianca came running and threw her arms around Miller. After a couple of passionate kisses she said, “Hi guys, I’m glad to see you back.”
I spoke, “It’s good to see you too, Bianca.”
She continued, “I hope Frank told you about our relationship.”
Gina said, “That’s all he talked about the whole trip.”
Miller chimed in and said, “Okay, enough you tw
o. There is still the mystery blanket affair.”
Gina sheepishly said, “Oh no, General, tell me no.”
Bianca asked, “What are you guys talking about?”
Miller with a smile on his face, responded, “Oh, nothing too important, I’ll tell you later. Are you here alone?”
“Yes, the girls all left when we received word that you guys were about an hour away. They were all very tired. Oh, by the way, Tina has been staying with Hannah.”
“That’s good, now can we all get some sleep?” Steven, find a room, any one you like, except mine, of course.”
“Sounds good to me, sleep well.” Gina and I went to a bedroom, far away from Frank's room.
Once we were in bed, Gina said, “I am so embarrassed about the blanket issue.”
“Not to worry, your secret is safe.”
“I can’t believe I did that.”
Lovingly, I kissed her and we fell fast asleep.
______
The next morning came too quick. After our showers, Gina and I joined Frank, having coffee with Bianca who was all aglow with excitement. Frank has a real love and I was happy for him. Gina sat quietly at the table with her head down. Then Bianca went to get us some coffee.
Frank said, “Gina, you’ll always be my favorite girl, next to Bianca, of course, so don’t fret over the small stuff.” She picked up her head and broke a little smile. Frank squeezed her arm and smiled.
He said “Back to business. Where do we go from here, Steven?”
“We have to bring the troops together and start making some plans for this unsettling mission.”
“Okay, get your people to the conference room so we can share information.”
I called the whole team to let them know I was back and that we would get together at 10 a.m. in the conference room. Bianca stayed at the apartment since Hannah was going to drop off Tina to stay there while we talked business. Bianca knew Tina and her mom from the days in Naples. She told us some of the horrific experiences they both had to endure and it was not pretty. Bianca also was greatly saddened by the death of Tina’s mother.
While Gina, Miller and I walked to the conference room, I briefed him on the Russian involvement in this whole mess. That did not make him too happy. When we arrived at the conference room, my team was already there. The only one missing was Cathy Wong, who was at her grandfather’s place. We shared greetings and immediately got down to business. I brought everyone up to date on my activities including the Russian involvement and Miller’s promotion. Everyone congratulated the new General as he beamed from ear to ear.
Continuing with the meeting, John said, “We have reason to believe that Abdullah is in Taiwan. Tao Li’s people have spotted him around Chi-lung.”
Miller spoke, “I think everyone should move in pairs and be shadowed by our Taiwanese military experts. I would like Tao Li to pick them since they all were trained by him over the years.”
Tao responded, “I will put together a special group quickly to fulfill this task. They will be in civilian clothes as not to draw any suspicion.”
I said, “We also might be seeing the Italian gangsters out here along with this new group of Russians. People, we must be on our toes. I don’t want anyone to leave this base until Tao Li can put his group together. Mike, get the first group of troops to Tao’s house to protect his family. John, bring Zia here to the base. Linda, I need you to stay with Cathy. She will need your support. I don’t want us to underestimate the enemy this time. Frank, can we get a chopper to take Linda out to Cathy’s grandfather’s place?”
“Consider it done. I’m going to have the base put on high alert. No one can get in or out of this place. I also will be running routine sweeps of the Chi-lung area. Something may turn up. One other thing, everyone who leaves the base should maintain radio contact with our command center.”
“Good idea, General. This evening I’ll take Hannah and Gina to see what’s going on in Chi-lung. Okay, people, let’s get going!” I told Gina to go with Hannah to Miller’s place and to wait for me there. Everybody took off to their respective assignments while Frank went to his office to make some calls. I took Linda to an old office I use on base. The two of us have been in some tough situations over the years. I hoped she would feel comfortable with just the two of us. I sat down with her on a couch in the office.
I asked, “Linda, how are you doing?”
“I’ll be alright.”
“Linda, you’re not alright. I know you too well. Talk to me.”
“It’s hard to talk about it.”
Tears were beginning to run down her beautiful face.
I spoke, “Linda, you know that I love you and it would be better if you talk about this with me.”
She responded, “I know. It was so humiliating but I’ll try. Four men grabbed me on the elevator as I left your room. They knocked me out with chloroform. The next thing I remembered was being in the basement of a house. I don’t know where. I was hanging by my wrists from the rafters a few feet off the ground. They took all my clothes off and I was hanging there by myself. It seemed like a long time. Then Bono and the other fat guy, Campo came down the stairs. The fat guy punched me around for a while. Bono said, ‘Don’t bang her up too badly, we’ll need her for the exchange.’ Then two other goons came down and they began to slap me all over. One of them used his belt. They burned me with their lit cigarettes as I just hung there. When I passed out, they watered me down with a hose to keep me awake. After many hours of this torture, they brought me up to a room and threw me on a mattress on the floor. They bound my hands and feet then, blindfolded me. I knew the worst was yet to come. I lay there for some time. Then two women came in and cleaned me up. I guess some deal was in the works. My first thought was being sold into slavery. As you well know, I’ve been down that road before.”
Last year Linda had been captured in the Philippines and sent to a slave camp to be sold at auction. A young soldier gave his life to save her and hundreds of other young people from this horrible fate. She was traumatized by the whole ordeal. Linda was always a target for our enemies, I think it’s because she is extremely beautiful.
She continued, “The next thing I remembered was being put on an airplane going somewhere. When we landed, I had no idea where I was until our General Miller found me. I was tied up with a sheet wrapped around me. I felt like somebody’s lost luggage. He then took me to the hospital where I stayed for a couple of days. It just took all I had to survive this one, Steven.”
I said, “Linda, I want you to go and stay with Cathy until all this blows over. Then I’ll come to see you. I will call Cathy and let her know of our plans. Is it okay with you?”
“Sure, Steven, whatever you say. I’ll be fine. You’re right. I had to tell the story. Thanks for listening.” I held her in my arms and kissed her tenderly. I told her I would always love her, no matter what. Frank put her on the chopper while I called Cathy to tell her what was going on. I also told Cathy I’d be out there soon to see her and her grandfather.
I returned to Miller’s apartment to find the rest of the girls there. They seemed happy. I was greeted by Tina with a great big hug.
She said, “Steven, this place is beautiful. Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
I kissed the top of her head and said, “You’re doing okay here.”
“The memories of my mother are tough but everything else is great.”
“Have you met Zia yet?”
“Oh, yeah, she is a nice girl. We have already started a good relationship between us. She has confided in me about her past drug abuse. I have been talking to her a lot about the cruel world of narcotics. We shared many stories.”
“Do you think you can hang out with her and try to keep her straight?”
“Sure, I can, Boss,” as she smiled at me.
“Good girl.”
I went to get a strong drink when Gina asked, “Are you okay, Steven?”
All the girls suddenly got quiet. They
were waiting for my answer.
I said, “I just listened to Linda’s horrific story about being kidnapped and I sure need this drink. The story was not a pretty one. It once again demonstrates human brutality at its worse. This is why you girls must be careful. Even though all of you have been abused, I worry about each and every one of you. Please, be extra careful, especially during these times.”
They all responded in the affirmative while they gave me their heartfelt thanks along with loving hugs. As I threw down my stiff drink, Tina came over to where I was standing and pulled me to the side.
She said, “You know, Steven, I met a few of these girls here. They all love you and think the world of you. And there is one thing I can tell you for sure, every one of them would do anything for you and I mean anything! That includes me, too!”
I hugged her and kissed the top of her head again. I said, “Thanks, Tina, I needed to hear that.”
______
That night Gina, Hannah and I left for Chi-lung. The drive was about an hour from Taipei near the ocean. We were followed by four guys from our new special militia unit. They stayed far enough behind us as not to draw any suspicion. Preliminary observations indicated heavy activity in warehouses along the harbor in the Jungleng district. When we arrived, it was late in the evening. We parked our car near a deserted warehouse and began to look around on foot. Hannah was walking about fifty yards in front of Gina and me. She ran back to report heavy activity at one of the warehouses ahead of us. While all the other facilities were reducing their activity for the evening, this particular one was becoming more operational.
We went into a dark warehouse across the narrow street from all the activity. Once inside, we made our way to the top floor to get a better look. Using my night vision binoculars, I could see a ship on the other side of the target building offloading large crates. I said, “We have to get a closer look.”
Hannah said, “On the side of the building there is a walkway where a guard is standing with an automatic weapon.”