by Robert Cuma
Gina asked, “We also need to know who will be at the meeting?”
“A lot of people,” the prisoner responded.
“We need names.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“You continue to live, perhaps!” She began to tap his genitals again with the knife. He began to spew out the names of all the attendees. The people we were interested in were - Fred Clark, Andre Popov, Leonard Hill and the grand prize, Philip Moody. Their deaths would certainly put a severe dent in these corrupt enterprises.
I said, “Put a hood over this guy’s head and let’s get going, quickly.” Hannah and Gina complied with my request. I drove us back to our safe house.” Once there, I told the girls to tie the prisoner up in the basement.
I took Gina and we went to see the sleazy arms dealer I knew. I decided to take the jeep so no one would know about the van. I called him on the way and said I needed equipment right away. As usual, he told me it would take time but I insisted it was an emergency. He reluctantly told me to come right over. We pulled in the back of his warehouse in a matter of minutes. Expeditiously was the only way to deal with this creep. You never want to give him time to contact anybody else. And after the sale was made, he wouldn’t call anyone because it would implicate him. Once inside, his men patted us down, of course they patted Gina down three times. To throw them off guard, she gave them some extra fun in the process. She spread-eagled on the wall and lifted her shirt up a little. Then she told them in Spanish, “You must be very thorough these days.” That kept them busy while I conducted business with the dealer.
He said, “Mr. Cross, your partner is a seductively clever girl. I could use her for a while in my enterprise. I pay well!”
“There’s no chance of that happening so let’s get on with our business.” I told him what I needed and not to waste my time. He was accommodating as he showed me through his arsenal. Then, of course, during the process he shook me down for more money because of my urgent need. I paid him and his goons loaded up the jeep. This clown had no loyalty to anyone except the almighty dollar. We were out of there in thirty minutes. On the way back I said, “Gina, I think I’ve created a luscious monster in you.”
“Steven, did my actions help you get things done without any hassles?”
“It sure did, Gina. I guess you’re way ahead of me sometimes.”
“Good, now on with the mission. Oh, by the way, do you have anything else for our Russian prisoner?”
“Yeah, but we’ll talk about it later.”
We returned to the safe house for coffee with the girls. The four of us sat around the table out of earshot of the Russian.
I said, “Girls, we need our prisoner to do one more thing.”
Hannah asked, “What might that be, Boss?”
“We need him to call Popov to let him know he’s okay. The problem is he must be convincing.”
Hannah responded, “We can take care of it, Boss. Right, Gina?”
“Oh, sure we can.”
“How can you girls be so positive?”
“Because we’re women,” Gina responded.
We all went to the basement and the girls brought the Russian coffee. I stood in the shadows with Tina. Hannah gave the prisoner his coffee while Gina began to tell him what he must do for them next.
His response was, “Why should I do this for you two?”
Gina responded, “Look, you’re still alive, right?”
“Yes, but when you’re finished with me, I’m a dead man.”
Again, Gina responded, “That may be the case but you have a lot of usefulness left.” He finished his coffee and the girls tied his unclothed body on top of a long table. While tapping her knife again on his privates, Gina continued, “You tell Popov you’re okay and will be spending the night with a beautiful woman. You ask him if it is okay. Oh, do you two converse in Russian?”
“Yes, we do.”
“Good, then talk to him in Russian. We are all fluent in the language. Another thing, also tell Popov you’ll see him at tomorrows’ meeting. There may be some good things in this for you. One never knows.”
Hannah said, “See, Gina, I told you this sort of thing excites him.”
“Great, then it will serve as a reminder of good things to come.”
Gina dialed Popov’s cell number and put the phone up to the Russian’s ear. He began to talk in Russian and told Popov the story the girls wanted to hear. At first, he wasn’t too convincing, but when Gina took the Russian’s excitement in her hand, he lost his mind. He begged for the night off. His overly excited voice convinced Popov of his desires. They soon hung up the phone. The Russian pleaded for more but Gina walked away asking Hannah to give him some food.
Awhile later, we all met in the kitchen. Gina came from one of the bedrooms, sat down and took a cup of coffee.
I asked, “Are you alright, Gina?”
“I’m fine, Steven. Was the Russian convincing enough?”
“I think it went well.”
“I’m happy for us, Steven.”
The rest of the night was spent setting up the van with explosives. After several hours, we had it rigged with enough dynamite and C-4 to sink a battleship. The plan was to drive the van onto the compound and park it next to the meetinghouse. According to the Russian, the house was made of wood with no special reinforcement. In the jeep, we would have our heavy weapons and remote devices to detonate the explosives. If there were enough time, we would carry from the van two compact explosive containers and place them at the end of the building on the cliff’s edge. We were all set for tomorrow’s attack and ready for a good nights’ sleep.
Once alone with Gina, we made passionate love together. Afterwards, she, said, “Steven, you were overly excited again. I see a pattern here.”
“Not quite true, when I watch you work or do anything when you’re in control, it does induce my excitement.”
“Whatever turns you on, Steven, will excite me too.” She kissed me with great passion and we fell asleep.
Early the next morning, we had time for coffee before starting on our mission. As we sat drinking our coffee, I asked, “What do we want to do with the Russian?”
Gina responded, “Knock him out and put him in the van. That’s my suggestion.”
Hannah said, “Well, one thing for sure, he cannot live.”
Tina asked, “Why do we have to kill him?”
Again, Gina responded, “Tina if we let him go it will only be a matter of time before a man like that catches up with you and kills you or your loved ones. Trust me, it’s the way of this world we live in.”
Tina said, “I guess you guys are right. Can I bring him his last cup of coffee?”
I responded, “Sure, just don’t do anything foolish.”
“I won’t, Steven,” as she stood up and poured a cup of coffee for the condemned man.
After she left the room, Gina asked, “Do you think it’s wise to let her go down there alone?”
I responded, “Give her a minute she still has a lot to learn. I’ll check on her.” After awhile, I went downstairs. Tina was sitting on a chair staring at the Russian as he was bleeding profusely from his genital area.
I exclaimed, “Tina, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I gave him his coffee then I thought I’d talk to him for a while in the last hours of his life.”
“What happened?”
“He started cursing at me and called me some vile names. I told him he wasn’t a nice man so I put the duct tape back on his foul mouth and removed his pleasure parts. I wanted to watch him die!”
I hugged Tina and said, “Take it easy. It's okay. We all have hard lessons to learn in life, sweet Tina. Not all people are kind like you are.” I started to take her upstairs away from the dying fool.
She asked, “Steven, you never judge any of the people you love. Why is that?”
“When I love someone, it’s unconditionally. Otherwise, what does love mean?”
“Y
ou really love me, don’t you?”
“I love you with all my heart, Tina. Now we have a job to do, are you up for it?”
“I’m ready, let’s do it!”
I kissed her beautiful forehead and we continued upstairs. I told the other girls what happened and they both hugged Tina. Gina and Hannah wrapped the Russian up in blankets and placed him in the back of the van.
We loaded into the jeep and the van and headed to the target area. Tina was driving the jeep since it would be the getaway vehicle. She also would be the button girl. Upon my signal, she would press the appropriate transmitter buttons to detonate the explosives. We developed a prearranged sequence. The rest of us would be in the van. We intended to penetrate the camp by quiet force and put the van and the other explosives in place. We stopped atop another ridge to observe the camp for a while. All our targets were confirmed entering the meetinghouse, except for Popov. He might have prearranged a signal with our Russian prisoner to warn him. Apparently, he didn’t share his warning with the others. It was too late now to change our plans. Everything was set and ready to go. The remaining attendee’s limo drivers just sat around outside in a crowd and drank coffee. We moved quickly. When we got to the front-gate two guards approached the van. Hannah slipped out the van’s back door, came around and slit the guard’s throat. I immediately shot the other guard with my silencer. Hannah opened the gate as Gina drove the van to its target area. Gina jumped out of the van, locked it and started talking to the limo drivers. This was a good diversion. I didn’t plan on it but it gave me the time I needed to plant the other charges. When I got back to the van, Gina was slowly walking away from her stalkers. Then Hannah came walking up from the main gate with a guard’s uniform on.
She shouted in Spanish, “Hey, you forgot to sign in.”
Gina quickly told the drivers she would take care of this and come right back. They seemed to buy off on it. I walked behind Gina as she and Hannah started to move rather quickly away from the target area. As we passed the guard’s barracks, two of them came out and started shouting for the girls to halt. I pulled out my silencer and shot both of them in the head. When they fell to the ground, other guards and the limo drivers came running toward us. Some of the guards were trying to open the locked van. I immediately gave the signal to Tina to blow the first charge, which was the van. The three of us were almost to the front gate when the explosion occurred, Kaboom! People, cars and parts of the building where flying all over the place. The impact knocked the girls and me to the ground.
I signaled to Tina to detonate the two charges at the end of the building. When these two explosions occurred, the building blew right off the cliff taking half the plateau with it. It appeared that anyone inside or around that building was blown to oblivion. Still other guards came our way taking shots at us. I fired back as Tina quickly drove the jeep in reverse from where she was parked. The girls jumped in and shouted for me to hurry. Gina and Hannah started firing their automatic weapons at the invaders. The guards were dropping like flies. I finally jumped into the jeep as Tina took us speeding down the mountain road. When we looked back, we could see the success of our mission. Half of the mountain collapsed into the valley. It was safe to assume that all attending the meeting were killed.
We continued down the dirt road when I noticed a large dust storm several miles in front of us. The dust trail meant a lot of vehicles coming at high speed. This was a quick reaction to the disaster on the mountain. My guess was Popov wanted us to be eliminated after we killed some of his partners. Whatever! We had to get off this road and head into the jungle.
I shouted, “Tina, take the next turn to the left even if it only resembles a road!” She did as she was told. She made a sharp left turn onto a trail of some kind. We could only hope it went on for a long way. The jeep was bouncing all over the place. We were hanging on to our seats as Tina masterfully took the jeep deep in the jungle. Once we were down the trail about twenty miles, I told her to stop. The brush was so thick we couldn’t even see the trail anymore. We heard helicopters flying around but I was sure they couldn’t see us. The sunlight barely made it through the treetops. Tina shut off the engine so no one could hear us.
I said, “Okay, let’s zip up the canvas on this jeep tight. We don’t want any snakes or other unwanted pests invading us.”
Hannah asked, “Steven, do you know where we are?”
“I think we are headed west.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“If we head west, we’ll get to the coast faster than any other direction but we have to lay low until they give up the search. We can’t use a cell phone or a satellite connection because they certainly will pick up our signal. So we’ll have to sit here for a while and see if we can move further in this direction.”
Gina said, “Tina that was some great driving. You’re doing real well with everything. You also did a brave thing when you eliminated the Russian.”
“Thanks, Gina. I think it was necessary for my training to be able to kill at close range."
17 – Return to the Old Country
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After sitting there for a couple of hours, we decided it was safe enough to move. Tina started the jeep and we moved deeper into the unknown. I hoped we would eventually get to some kind of clearing. All of a sudden, a huge snake fell across the jeep’s hood. It looked like a boa but I wasn’t sure. Tina sped up the jeep and slammed on the brakes. As the snake slid off the hood, Tina quickly started to move forward again rolling over the serpent. Another thirty minutes brought us out of the dark jungle to a clearing with a beautiful waterfall. The water was falling from a cliff about a hundred feet high. Tina pulled the jeep onto the banks of the shallow river at the bottom of the waterfall.
After many hours of being cramped in the jeep, the girls got out, stripped off their clothes and frolicked in the water. I climbed the rocks to the top of the waterfall to get our bearings. With my binoculars, I could see the ocean. It looked to be about five miles away down a steep decline. Over to the side was a road, which led to a town near the ocean. I also noticed a narrow path leading to the road into town. I climbed down the rocks to where the girls were now sunbathing on their newfound beach. Seeing the three, beauties laying there next to each other in the sun, taking in all the elements of nature, etched a breathtaking picture in my mind that would last forever. But alas, I had to tell them to get dressed because we were moving on. I said, “Okay, girls, it’s time to go. Let’s get dressed now.”
Tina moaned, “Oh, Steven, can’t we stay for a little while longer?”
I said jokingly, “I don’t think I can take this too much longer. I’m afraid I might do something I’ll regret.”
With a smile on her face, Gina spoke, “Steven, do what you must but let’s stay here for a while. Besides, I don’t think you’ll regret it.”
“Very funny, Gina, so you now read minds.”
Hannah chimed in, “We all know what you’re thinking. That’s why we love you.”
“Even I know what’s on your mind, Steven,” Tina, said. Then all three started to giggle like little children.
I exclaimed, “That’s it, I’m going to the little town down the road to see what’s going on there! I’ll be back for you three later.”
Gina said, “Easy, big guy, we don’t want you to get into any trouble. We’ll all go. That’s it girls, fun time is over.” They all stood up and that made everything even more exciting. I just shook my head. The girls reluctantly dressed themselves and got their gear together. We hid the jeep back in the jungle and started walking toward the road. It was around sunset when we arrived in town. We soon found a small but nice hotel. After we all showered and put on some fresh clothes, we went to find a restaurant. There was a seafood place on the edge of town. The food was exceptionally good. Even better yet, the owner’s son had a large fishing boat for hire. In order for us to elude the Panamanians, our best bet was to travel up the coast until we could get ash
ore in Costa Rica. Gina spoke the best Spanish, so she talked to the young captain and made the arrangements. He told her it would be about six hours of sailing to reach a good drop off spot. His price for the voyage was expensive but he knew if someone wanted to leave for Costa Rica in the middle of the night they, were on the run. So we paid his price. We finished our dinner and were on a new phase of our journey in no time at all.
Gina stayed topside with the captain and his crew to keep an eye on them. The rest of us got some sleep below but we all took turns checking on Gina throughout the night. At some point before 2 a.m., we all heard the sirens of a Panamanian gunboat. They stopped our fishing vessel for an inspection. They also gave the captain a strong warning about leaving the waters of Panama. My first thought was the captain tipped them off. But when one of the crewmen came downstairs to hide us in an undetectable compartment of the boat, it restored my confidence in the captain. Gina remained on the deck of the boat just in case. She very cleverly passed herself off as a member of the crew. After a few tense moments, the gunboat crew was satisfied with the situation. They left and we were permitted to continue on our journey. Just before sunrise, the captain set us on a deserted beach in southern Costa Rica. After thanking him, we walked to a nearby town. We all looked like lost tourists. Once in the town, we were able to rent a car.
Gina asked, “Are we going to rush out of this country also?”
“Why, would you like to vacation for a while.”
Tina asked, “Oh, Steven, can we make this a little holiday?”
“Well, I know a guy up north, he’s an old friend. It would be good to see him again. Would you all like to do that?” All three responded in the affirmative. So we hit the highway headed north to a small town called Juntas.
Gina asked, “Steven is this man a friend or a business associate?”