by Robert Cuma
Without hesitation, she said, “I want to be with you, Steven, wherever you go. But only if you want me.”
“I always want you around. Then it’s settled, you’re coming with me.”
Before we left, I called Cathy and Linda and told them of my plans. I especially told Linda to ease back into the job. She agreed. I mentioned to Cathy to come back to Taipei periodically to help. She also was onboard. I told them that I loved them both and I would see them soon.
13 – The Return
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The next morning the girls and I said our goodbyes to Miller and everyone else and we were off to Italy. We had to make a stop in Japan first to get new credentials for Tina. I met with my clandestine team there and they made all the arrangements for Tina’s new identity. She now was of legal age, at least on paper, and was a computer clerk with the U.S. State Department. Our overnight stay was in an exclusive hotel. We all shared one room. Lord knows it was big enough! We spent the night on the town enjoying a fancy restaurant and visiting some cool Japanese discos. Everyone had a good time. The girls bought Tina some new clothes and included some nice outfits for themselves, all on my credit card, of course.
When we arrived in Rome, our first stop was to see Enrico Bassie. He was at his usual post down in the dark dungeons under the church. Gina introduced Hannah and Tina. She did not reveal Tina’s real identity. He welcomed us all to his vigilant station.
Then he asked, “Steven is it alright to speak in front of everybody?”
“It’s okay, this is my trusted team.”
“Well, my sources tell me that Bono and Campo are both back in Italy. They are up to something because there is a lot of activity in their camps.” I couldn’t help notice the silent anger that came over Tina’s face. But it was to be expected.
“Enrico, the only thing I can report is the arrival of a ship out of Taiwan carrying arms and drugs. It’s due in Naples any day now. Do you have any people you can trust to observe the port?”
“The best people, in my opinion, come out of Carlo Balsano’s group. He has handpicked each one of his troops. I would recommend you see him about any surveillance operations. These are the people I get my information from.”
“Okay, Enrico, we’ll talk to Carlo when we get to Naples.” It was a short visit with the priest. We all left and checked into a hotel. It wasn’t first class, this time we had to keep a low profile. So, two rooms it was. Tina and Gina went to pick up some pizzas for dinner. We decided to stay in for the evening.
Using my super-duper new cell phone, I called Miller for a report on the location of the renegade ship. He told me the tracking station indicated its’ arrival in Naples was two days out. He also told me of the successful attack in Manila. The bombing of the drug facility destroyed everything there. In addition, my team isolated the location of the drug plant in Taiwan. He also said my team decided to sit on it for a while since it may lead them to other operations in the area. I told Miller what we were up to and that I’d be in contact with him soon. We ended our call. I immediately called Winston Moore in DC to see if he had any information for me.
He answered his phone, “Moore here, how can I help you?”
“Winston, it’s me, Steven. How are you doing?”
“Hey, Steven, it’s good to hear from you.”
“Have you made any progress on the mission I gave you?”
“I’m afraid so, this whole thing is bad.”
“Well, tell me. I’m on our high security cell phone.”
“I designed the security of that phone but the information I have is too dangerous. You need an encryption computer network at the highest level of security. Contact me when you can connect with a secure site. Use the depth of the submerged nukes we tracked as a way in through my firewall. Talk to you later.” He hung up. Winston sounded shook up. I would have to wait until we got to Naples to access his computer. I know what he was referring to with the depth of the nukes. We worked on a case to find nuclear weapons and we discovered the location by some fancy calculations. The weapons were at 200 feet below the surface of the water. The key number is 200. Later in the evening, after our pizza and some laughs, I sent Hannah and Tina to their room so we could all get some sleep. I stayed with Gina. Finally, we were alone feeling uninhibited and able to make love and sleep anyway we wanted. It felt good.
The next morning I went to see Tom York at our secret meeting place, the coffee house near the embassy. I took Gina with me in case he needed more help from her father. When he arrived a bit late, he looked angry.
I asked, “Tom, are you okay? You look a little stressed.”
“Stressed is not the word. With the help of Gina’s contact, I was able to pin the murder of Roger Woods on two of Hightower’s people.”
“Well, that sounds like good news.”
“One would think so. But before I can arrest a civilian, I need authorization from the ranking diplomat in the country. In this case, it is our ambassador Lawrence Storms. He told me directly to back off for a while since this may become a political hot potato. I showed him all the evidence but he continued with the same order. Something is not right here, Steven.”
“Listen, my friend, just take it easy. I’ll help you get to the bottom of this. I will continue to work on my case and I’ll bet there is a connection between the two. Stay cool and I’ll get back to you when I have some news.”
“I hope you’re right, Steven.” We left as quietly as we arrived.
Gina requisitioned a car from her agency and the four of us were off to Naples. With Gina at the wheel, we were there in no time at all. We went directly to Carlo Balsano’s operations center. He greeted us with much enthusiasm. We went to his office to chat. Of course, he embraced his girlfriend, Gina, who became very embarrassed. She never told anyone about her long-term relationship with Carlo. Oh well.
Carlo asked, “How can I help you world travelers today?”
I responded, “Carlo, we need some of your people to locate the arrival of a ship coming here to Naples tomorrow.”
“That’s not too much of a problem since I have four undercover agents working the docks right now.”
“Well, that’s great, Carlo. The name of the ship is the Canton Seas and it’s from Taiwan.”
“I will do this for you but please, if you must get away quickly again please, let me know.”
“I’m terribly sorry for that incident but it was an emergency.”
“No harm done. Will you all join me for dinner at my place tonight?”
“Sure, Carlo, it would be a pleasure.”
“Ah, great, I’ll call my housekeeper to tell her I have guests tonight.”
“Carlo, one other thing, do you have a computer with internet access we could use?”
“Sure, through that door,” while he pointed to a door leading to another office. He continued, “This is my private workstation and it has the highest level of security possible. Feel free to use it.” He excused himself since he had other pressing matters. All four of us went to Carlo’s workstation. Once there, Tina and Hannah started to laugh. Teasing Gina, Tina said, “Oh, Gina, you wild thing you.”
I had to laugh also. Then Gina said, “Steven, we are not staying at his apartment tonight!”
Smiling, I said, “But Gina, he has so much room there.”
“Very funny, don’t push me.”
Tina exclaimed, “Do I detect a lovers’ quarrel?”
I said, “Okay, let’s get to work.” I sat at the workstation and started to slowly type in Winston’s address.
Finally, Tina said, “Steven, may I help you?”
“Do you know anything about these computers?”
“Isn’t my new job title computer clerk?” She immediately sat down and began typing a mile a minute. This kid could type. Then she started to enter all kinds of key strokes that none of us knew.
I had to ask, “Tina, you can really type on that thing but what else are you doing?”
/> “I’m creating our own little network that no one can read going out over the web or when we leave here. Now quick, tell me your friend’s address!” I gave it to her and we still were not able to read all the symbols she was typing. Again, she said, “Your friend’s firewall is looking for a password or code word. What is it?”
I told her 200 and she quickly typed it in. Almost instantly, the message came up “encryption code 770A” as Tina’s young fingers zipped over the keyboard, like a seasoned professional. She said, “Watch the screen, the message will appear momentarily.”
It started to come into view instantly. Bank of Switzerland, account number W33E44908. Owners: Ricardo Bono; Lawrence Storms; Fred Clark; Phillip Moody; Marco Marino; William Dreyfus. Account total 600,000,000 Swiss Francs. It continued bank after bank, different countries, account numbers, astonishing account balances.
Gina asked, “Tina, can you load this onto a disk?”
“Sure, I’ll put them on the flash memory and a CD. When I’m done, no one will know what went on here. I’ll also let the source know what we have done.”
In a matter of minutes, Gina and Hannah had the devices in their possession. Tina closed out her session and entered more code.
I asked, “Where on earth did you learn all this, Tina?”
She smiled and responded, “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” She jumped out of the chair and kissed me on the cheek, “I think we should leave now, if anyone tries to trace our activities they will be logged on to Barbie Doll dot com.”
We told Carlo we would see him later as we hustled out of his place. We drove out of Naples for a little while and Gina pulled over to the side of the road. That’s when we all started to laugh out loud. With tears in our eyes, we all were hugging Tina. What an amazing kid!
I asked, “Tina, where did you learn all that computer stuff?”
“Since I was about eight years old, I began to pick it up on my own. Then several years later, I officially took courses in programming and networking. I won first prize in a computing contest held in Milan. I was the youngest of all the contestants. One time, I hacked into the bank of Naples and left a trail leading to my father’s phony company. He had to pay off a few people to avoid prosecution. Eventually, he found out it was me and he beat me silly.”
I said, “Well, Tina, you sure have become an instant asset to our team! You will be our resident computer expert.” She happily began to smile.
That night we went to Carlo’s apartment for dinner. He was a gracious host and set out a nice spread. After dinner, we sat around talking about the business at hand. Carlo said, “Steven, I have a couple of choppers keeping an eye on the Canton Seas as it approaches the port. It looks like it will dock sometime tomorrow night.”
“That’s great, Carlo, keep me posted.” I gave him my cell phone number. He agreed and the two of us went on his balcony. Carlo was a bit tipsy, once again. The last time I drank with him, he became extremely depressed. I had to assume he had a drinking problem. He said, “Steven, do you know at one time I wanted to be an artist?”
“No, I never knew that.”
“It was a great passion of mine. My father insisted I join the Carabinieri. Like a good son, I followed his wishes. At times I hate myself for not following my dream.”
“Hey, Carlo, it’s never too late.”
“I know but I have become obsessed in being the best in my field now. Sometimes when I drink, I have thoughts of what could have been. I can’t even love Gina the way she deserves. I am truly self absorbed in what I am doing now.”
“Well, we all have our moments. I sure have my share of them also.”
“Steven, do you like Gina?”
“Yes, I do, very much.”
“Then care for her, she is a sweet angel.”
“You’re absolutely correct on that one, my friend.”
“I’ll never stand in the way of her happiness.”
“Good, but tell me something, Carlo, what do you think of your father?”
“Over the years we have grown distant. I don’t even know who he is anymore. Actually, I don’t have any trust in him. I think he has too much power in his current position. There are times I have even investigated him. Every time I get close to his wrong doings, I let it go. It would be hard for me to put him in jail but soon I think it must be done. One thing is for sure, I will take down the creep Marco Marino. I know he’s dirty.”
“Why not arrest him?”
“In due time, I will have enough evidence to put him away for a long time.”
“Is there anybody else on your hit list?”
“Many people, Steven. I will take down Bono, Campo, the American Fred Clark and others.”
“Please, keep me informed, especially when it comes to Clark. I think we have a mutual enemy there.”
“We need enough evidence so they don’t walk out of jail in a year or two.”
Carlo was obviously a man of the law. He and I would use different tactics to bring down the culprits. This was a good conversation.
Since Gina didn’t want to stay there, we thanked him for his hospitality and we all left. We headed to another one of Gina’s safe houses. It was a fourth floor apartment in a seedy part of town. The place was clean enough but it was being used by a couple of her agents. They didn’t expect our arrival but they snapped to when they saw Gina. There were two bedrooms in the place and one bathroom. Gina didn’t know they would be there. She told us we should go someplace else.
I said, “We’re here now so let’s get some sleep and find another place tomorrow, assuming you can trust these guys,” as we walked into one of the bedrooms.
She replied, “I think these guys are okay, just don’t say too much around them. The only problem is we will all have to sleep in the same bed.”
While bouncing on the bed, Tina exclaimed, “Let’s have a pajama party! But wait, nobody has pajamas! This will really be a party!” We all had a good laugh with Tina’s quick wit. Gina went out to talk to the two men while I got comfortable on the edge of the bed. Hannah took a blanket and pillow to lie on the floor. Tina lay on the bed with me until Gina returned. Tina said, “Steven, do you think I’m invisible?”
“No silly, why do you ask?”
“Because the two guys out there are my father’s friends and I know they know me.”
I asked, “Gina, tell me about these guys, quickly?” I jumped up to check out the one window in our room. Immediately, Hannah ran for the door to listen.
Gina responded, “All I know is they have been stationed in Naples for about ten years.”
Hannah whispered, “One of them is on the phone.”
I asked, “What can you hear?”
“They’re telling someone that Gina and Tina are here. It sounds like their accomplices are nearby and they are on their way.”
I said, “There is no way out of this window so we’ll have to use the front door.” Hannah went into the room casually and engaged the men in conversation. She told them she was going for a walk. When they attempted to detain her, she instantly slit their throats.
She exclaimed, “All clear, now let’s get out of here!” We gathered up our belongings and began to leave the apartment. Hannah turned on the gas burners full force. She didn’t light them. Then she quickly set up a match striker by attaching several matches to the bottom of the door. When the door would open, the matches would ignite. Hannah stayed behind to ensure her trap was set up properly. We all were down the stairs in a matter of minutes. Once we were in the car, Hannah caught up to us. I told Gina to move down the street a little and wait. In a short while, two cars filled with goons pulled up to the building. They all ran inside the front door brandishing weapons. It was about two minutes later when we saw the apartment blow, sending bodies flying out the side of the building. Gina thought for a moment then we moved on to a safer place. On the way, she stopped at Carlo’s operations center. There she picked up binoculars along with a few weapons.
> Gina took us to another relative’s house near the docks. When we arrived, a nice young couple answered the door. We were welcomed immediately and in the traditional Italian custom coffee and pastries were offered. They seemed to be a nice couple. The man was Gina’s father’s nephew. He worked for the Italian Customs Department and his wife was a member of the Carabinieri. However, she didn’t come under Carlo’s jurisdiction. We were given the use of a spare bedroom with two beds on the top floor of the house. The room had a nice balcony. From our perch, we had a bird’s eye view of the harbor. Actually, it was a beautiful view of the bay of Naples. Gina told her cousins about the Canton Seas but asked them not to intervene since we would be tracking its’ cargo when it arrives in Italy. They seemed to understand. The couple told us they would be working the next day. So after some small talk, we all retired. Gina and I had jumped into one of the beds. It felt good and safe. Hannah and Tina shared the other bed. Tina and Hannah began to giggle quietly.
I asked, “Why are you two laughing?”
Tina answered, “It’s about the pajama party we’re all having.”
“I thought you didn’t have any pajamas.”
“We don’t!” Then they really started to giggle louder.
“Tina, find something to wear to bed.” After that, there was silence. Then from my side of the bed, Tina popped up in the darkness and said, “Never Steven, never, I’m free!” Gina started to laugh.
I said, “Okay, all you clowns go to sleep, now.”
Finally, there was total silence as everyone fell fast asleep.
The next morning, after Gina’s cousins left for work, we all sat at the breakfast table planning our next move. Gina said, “Well, first, we must wait for the cargo to come ashore to find out its’ destination.”
Hannah exclaimed, “There is something wrong with that cargo! It doesn’t feel right!”
I asked, “What do you mean, Hannah?”
“When I looked in the cargo holds of the ship, one of them was locked up tighter than a drum. They had everything else well exposed. The munitions, the drugs and other contraband but the other hold had something more illegal. I have wondered what it could be.”