Assassins Betrayed

by Robert Cuma

  “I know what you’re saying but you can’t keep it inside, it’s not healthy.”

  “Well, if it will make you feel better, I’ll tell you. After the terrorists overpowered me near the train, only because of my already weakened condition, the six of them tossed me in the boxcar. Like when you found me, I was tied up and really battered by those clowns. While beating me, they did what all nice boys do in a rat pack. They ripped off my jeans and abused me, as I’ve never known before. I’ve been tortured by the best of them but nothing like this, Steven. When they left, I used every ounce of my remaining strength to struggle back into my jeans. I didn’t want you to find me the way they left me.” The tears were streaming down her cheeks as my heart was breaking. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms like a baby. I kept on kissing her cheeks and held on to her until she settled down.

  She said, “Are you satisfied now that you know the whole story?” Then the tears really started to fall as she was sobbing.

  “Its’ okay, my pretty baby, I’ve got you now.” I kissed her in a most tender manner. “I do love you, Hannah and I always will.”

  “Please, Steven, never stop. You mean so much to me.”

  “I’ll never stop, Hannah, never,” as I gently sat her on the chair and wiped her tears.

  Just then, Tina came barging into the kitchen bellowing, “Come on guys, come and see what a mind blowing computer system Gina has here. We can control the whole world right from this house.” We followed Tina downstairs to one of Gina’s hidden rooms and there it was--a command center so elaborate it paralleled the one in we had in Rome at SISMI headquarters. There were electronic devices and computers all over the place. Cameras that scanned the grounds were observed by the monitors on the wall. Tina sat at the console and awaited my orders. She said, “What is your desire, Boss? Shall we start a world war?”

  “No, let’s start small by moving some money around.” I gave her a web address for a bank in the Cayman Islands. I was familiar with this bank since the Agency deep cover people would set up funds for me to draw down while I was on covert missions. I continued, “Let’s set up a new account for a Stefano Lupo, a businessman from Milano. Then transfer some money from the account of our illegal friends here in Italy to the new bank.”

  Tina responded, “I can do that easily. How much do you want to transfer?”

  “Let’s do half of the funds from one of their accounts for starters.” Magic fingers Tina began her task. She seemed to move around the computer with unbelievable ease. In about five minutes of hyper-speed activity, she said, “The new account is set up with the proper identification of a Stefano Lupo of Milano.”

  “Good, make the transfer.”

  “You got it, Boss, watch the screen.” We all watched as the little narrow window on the monitor started to fill up with a blue line saying, “Funds transfer in progress.” Then presto, the screen indicated, “Fund transfer complete! Would you like to print an acknowledgement?” Tina’s fingers ran across the keyboard to type no printout at this time. Tina, as proud as a peacock, said, “What other magic can I perform for you guys today?”

  Gina asked, “Will they know where the money went?”

  “They will think it went to a bank in Hong Kong. Even the banking computer geeks won’t find out where the money went! Now, can we go to the Cayman Islands and spend some of that hard earned cash?”

  “Easy tiger, we’ll get there in due time,” as I patted her on the head. “Nice work.”

  We all had a good laugh and headed upstairs for coffee. The girls were gabbing around the kitchen table while I was reading the newspaper in the living room. My cell phone rang as I unhurriedly answered it, “Cross here. Who’s calling?”

  “Steven, my friend, this is Ivan, Ivan Titov. How are you?”

  “Ivan, I am good. How are things going with you?”

  “As always, they could be better but I can’t complain.”

  “Is this a business call or a social call? And I hope it’s a social one.”

  “Let’s call it a little bit of both. First of all, it’s good to talk to you again.”

  “It’s the same here, my friend.”

  “But now the business, it appears the Russian who caused you some grief awhile ago is in Panama City, Panama. He’s representing his group from Russia at a meeting with other members from Hightower. It is a big meeting. I think they are planning to take over some governments.”

  “Do you know where the meeting is and when it will take place?”

  “Sure, I do. It’s at the Las Ramblas hotel downtown. The meeting is scheduled to take place this Friday at 10 a.m. Panamanian time.”

  “Great news, what is his name?”

  “He is called Andre, his surname is Popov. And he is climbing the ranks in his organization, Caspian Services, rather quickly. This is a dangerous person. He kills for sport. Be careful and good hunting.”

  “Thank you, Ivan and stay well.” We broke our connection.

  I returned to the kitchen were the girls’ where chatting. I said, “Well, I hate to interrupt the party but another mission has just materialized.”

  Gina responded, “Steven, I thought we were going to have some down time?”

  “This just came up. Hightower and their Russian counterpart are meeting in Panama. This may be an opportunity to take out a large part of their organization.”

  Hannah asked, “Will we all go?”

  “I think so. Who speaks Spanish?” Of course, all three girls raised their hands like a bunch of school kids with the right answer to the teacher’s question. I continued, “Why does this not surprise me?”

  Tina responded, “Because you know we are all brilliant.”

  “Okay, if we all go, Gina you cannot tell anyone what we are doing.”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  “Hannah, are you up for this trip?”

  “I can manage alright.”

  Tina chimed in with, “Isn’t Panama close to the Cayman Islands, where we just deposited all that money? If we all do good can we drop by and spend a couple of bucks?”

  “If we get through this mission, we might do that!”

  “We will basically be on our own on this trip. There won’t be support from anybody. We’ll be traveling on commercial airlines all the way. I’ll make a contact to pick up some supplies for our strike. Tina, make flight arrangements from Milan to Panama City leaving tomorrow. We must get there early in the day so we can locate one of the Agency’s safe houses.”

  “I’ll take care of that, Boss.”

  “Okay, everybody, let’s get a good nights’ sleep. Tomorrow we are on the move again.” The rest of the day was uneventful. Everybody had fun and relaxed. Later that evening when we were all going to bed, I checked on Hannah one more time. When I entered her room, she was already laying down. I sat on the edge of the bed and whispered, “Are you asleep?”

  “No, I’m thinking about things.”

  “What things,” I asked.

  “Oh, just how frazzled I got over the humiliating experience I went through. It’s not like me to react that way.”

  “Easy, Hannah, what you went through would send most women over the edge. Please, try not to beat yourself up over it. Time will heal it all for you. And I’ll do anything to help you through this.” She sat up in bed and put her arms around me. I kissed her with love and tenderness. I continued, “Remember what I said, I will always love you.” She lay back down and went to sleep as I ran my fingers through her beautiful hair.

  Then I heard from Tina’s corner of the room, “That’s why I love you, Steven. You are an adoring and kind man.” I walked over to her bed and kissed her goodnight. I left the room to go sleep with Gina.

  _______

  The next morning came quick and we were on the road early so we could make our flight to Panama. We slept on the plane ride so we could hit the town refreshed and ready to go. Once we arrived, I rented a jeep with a covered top. We drove around town a littl
e since I noticed that we were followed by some government agents. I think they were checking to see what our intentions were. Traveling with diplomatic credentials can sometimes work against you. It immediately creates suspicion with the local government. They think we all work for the CIA or something. After about thirty minutes, the follow car gave it up and we went to our safe house. The safe house was several miles from the target hotel. We went into the house through an alley from a back street in a nice neighborhood. Gina parked the jeep in the garage under the house. Once inside, we thoroughly checked the place out for any listening devices or cameras. We never know in advance if a safe house has been compromised in any way. The place seemed clean. I had the girls dispense with the tee shirt uniforms and put on long fatigue shirts. It was necessary not to draw any attention but with these beauties, it was next to impossible. I had Tina set up the computer we brought. She could network through the CIA telecommunications system at the embassy. She also could bypass the embassy by using her cell phone. Most operatives use the basement of the house for secure meetings. I usually conduct substantial meetings in the attic. I brought along a small device that when connected to the computer it could sweep the area for deep-planted bugs. While Gina and Hannah went to a store down the street to pick up some food, Tina and I swept the entire house. Now I was convinced that it was relatively safe. When the girls returned we made coffee and went to the attic to discuss our plans.

  Once upstairs, I spoke, “We have several things to accomplish in a short time frame. One is to find the location of this meeting, two is to secure weapons and explosives, three is to destroy the meeting place and all its’ participants, four is to get out in a hurry.”

  Hannah asked, “Steven, do you have a source for the munitions we will need?”

  “I think so, he is a local guy but I don’t trust him. He likes money though.”

  Gina asked, “How do you plan on finding out the location of the meeting?”

  “We’ll stake out the hotel and isolate anybody we recognize from the group. Then we’ll take him to the jungle and get all the information we need. We’ll use a rented van with a bogus identity.” This is something we had plenty of, phony identifications. I continued, “We’ll lure our victim from the others by one of you girls offering him some special service. Once outside, we’ll take the target into the van and that will be it.”

  Hannah said, “I can do it but my face is still a bit marked up.”

  “No, Hannah, I don’t think you can do it right now. Gina, you can be spotted by some of these people.”

  Tina chimed in and said, “I guess it’s up to me. Little miss jailbait.”

  “Not to worry, I’ll be close by at all times.”

  “What! Me worry with you in the area. I’m finally going to get initiated into Steven’s secret society. Do I get a raise or a tattoo or something,” as she smiled at me. I didn’t want to use the kid but I had no choice.

  I said, “We better get this show on the road quickly. Okay, Tina, you better get dressed for your performance.” We all went downstairs and waited for Tina.

  Hannah said, “I hope this works. I fear for this kid.”

  “I know Hannah, I’ll stay close.”

  Tina made her grand entrance wearing a tight tee shirt, a mini skirt and her long dark hair hanging straight down. She looked hot! This made me want to call it all off. Tina read my mind. She said, “Steven, don’t worry, I have to look the part, don’t I?”

  “You stay close to me at all times. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Boss, perfectly.”

  After picking up the van, we scoped out the lobby of the hotel. Gina and I were wearing sunglasses and Tina was sitting in a chair by herself. Hannah was outside with the van. We all were wearing communications devices. We sat there for an hour or so. Every guy that walked by Tina made a pass at her, as did some women.

  Then the break came, it was Popov’s buddy from my apartment in DC. He was the worm who held Gina half-naked at knifepoint. Gina spotted him first and gave me the high sign. I, in turn, passed it on to Tina. She immediately went into action. The guy stopped dead in his tracks when Tina stood up. Face to face, she propositioned him. He hesitated at first but couldn’t resist this young beauty who was offering herself up to him. She held onto his arm as they walked outside toward the van. I followed close behind while Gina made sure we weren’t followed. I heard him insist they go up to his room. She calmly said it would be a good idea but she had to get something out of her car first. She was one smooth seductress, that’s for sure. Tina had him eating out of her hand. The van was parked close to our location. As Tina walked by the open door of the van, she told him her car was only up the street a little. Then she broke away from him as I hit him with my full body strength throwing him right into the van. Hannah held a chloroform soak rag to his face and put him to sleep immediately. Tina jumped in and closed the sliding door while Gina, checking the rear, got in the drivers’ side. She started the van and slowly drove down the street as not to raise any suspicion. A couple of turns and we were off to the jungle.

  After driving for a while, we arrived at a desolated area about ten miles off the main highway. Gina stopped the van when we ran out of road. We took our prisoner and tied him to a tree. He began to wake up from his induced nap. He shouted, “Where am I? Who are you people?” No one answered him. We all stood there and stared. He continued to rant and rave. Nothing was said by anyone. Gina had a rather long knife in her hand. She was waving it slowly in the air as she prowled around the prisoner. She moved in closer and exclaimed, “Do you remember me? You pig!”

  “No, I don’t know who you are.”

  “Think about the fun you and your partner had at my expense in DC. It was awhile ago.”

  “You’re not Cross’ girl, are you?” He didn’t see me sitting in the van with Tina.

  “Well, you’re not as dumb as you look.”

  “Listen, gorgeous, I hope you are not going to let business make you so angry.”

  Gina replied, “I’m not angry. I just want to have some fun!”

  “Sure, untie me and we can have lots of fun. We can play with your friend, too. Say, where is the other young thing? We can have fun with her also.”

  Gina moved closer and with her knife cut the man’s belt off. His trousers fell. Gina removed the rest of his clothes by using her knife and ripping them off. He started to yell. That’s when Hannah duct taped his mouth shut. Then she pulled his legs back around the tree and tied them up.

  Tina whispered to me, “Steven, what are they going to do with him?”

  “You may not want to see this, Tina, so close your eyes.”

  “Oh, nonsense, Steven, how will I learn things if I don’t see them happening?”

  “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Gina began to toy around the prisoner’s genitals with her knife. Then she said, “We could have fun your way or I can have some fun my way. Which would you like to do?” He began to scream under his gagged mouth. Gina continued, “I can’t hear you.” Hannah then removed his gag.

  He shouted, “Are you crazy? Turn me lose!”

  “Do you want my friend to gag you again?”

  He shook his head in the negative.

  Gina continued, “You must stop the screaming. I didn’t scream when you had your knife at my throat, did I!” Gina then began to draw blood from his genital area.

  “What do you want,” he said in a quivering voice.

  “All I want to know is where the meeting is being held and at what time. It’s simple when you think about it. Tell me and you will live.”

  “Is that what this is all about? If I tell you anything, I’m a dead man.”

  “Well, if you don’t tell me, guess what? Have you ever seen what happens to a man as he bleeds to death when his genitals are cut away?” She pressed a little harder with the knife.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you what you want to know. The meeting is on Saco ridge at 10 a.m.
tomorrow.”

  “Don’t lie. Saco ridge is a military compound.”

  “That’s not so. The powers that be replaced the military with high paid mercenaries. They provide protection for us. Besides, there is no way you can get into the place. Now let me go!”

  “Not so fast. We need to verify this information.”

  The girls cut the prisoner down and threw him in the van. He lay in the back of the vehicle tied up and still without any clothes. Wearing my sunglasses as not to be recognized by our prisoner, I drove the van with Tina in the passenger seat. Hannah and Gina sat in the back on the floor with their prisoner between them. We began to drive toward the ridge. It was about a forty-five minute ride. I knew the girls would torture this guy to death. The way I looked at it is they could do anything they wanted to. He was their prisoner. Tina turned around and watched them. She didn’t want to miss anything. Gina was tapping the guy’s genitals with her knife.

  She said, “Hannah, check this out, he seems to like torture. He’s getting all excited.”

  Hannah said, “We could torture you some more, if that is what you like.”

  The prisoner responded, “Look, I lay here next to two beautiful women, how am I supposed to react? I can’t help it.”

  Tina said, “I want to see what’s going on.” She began to lean over her seat. I pulled her back and sat her down.

  I said, “Stay here and don’t move. And the two of you back there, take it easy.”

  Tina exclaimed, “I don’t ever have any fun!”

  Hannah responded, “Sure, Boss.”

  Everyone was quiet for the rest of the trip. When we were in range of Saco ridge, I stopped the van. The ridge was basically, a plateau hung over a valley. There was one road to the top. I took a pair of binoculars to get a closer look. I saw three buildings. The one in front was obviously for the mercenaries. My guess was they had about thirty troops on the compound. The small building in the middle looked like a supply house and the one on the end had to be for meetings. There were a lot of large windows around it providing a view of the valley. Later, with further interrogation, our prisoner confirmed my findings.