Assassins Betrayed

by Robert Cuma

“I don’t think so because he can incriminate a lot of people in a court of law. I know all you girls won’t like that but we’ll see what Carlo has to say.”

  “Are you going to involve him in our plan?”

  “Not right away. We have to eliminate a few people first.” At that moment, Gina came in the kitchen.

  She asked, “What about Carlo?”

  “He probably would want to prosecute his father rather than we kill him. What do you think?”

  “I would agree. Carlo knows his father is dirty. The evidence we can provide will make a good case for him. I guess we should try to get Popov to testify against the whole mob.”

  I asked, “You don’t have a problem with that?”

  “Steven, what’s done is done. We have to think of the prosecution of these criminals.”

  “We should get started with the phone calls to the cartel.” Just then, Tina came walking into the kitchen half asleep. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat with the rest of us. I asked, “Tina, can we make our calls look like they came from France, near where we found Gina?”

  With her head down sipping her coffee, she nodded in the affirmative. Then she said, “Can I wake up first? No need to be concerned about the origin of the phone calls.” A few minutes later, Tina set up her computer for our special use. She continued, “Have Popov use his cell phone. It will indicate to the person on the other end that he is still in Toulon. I’ll stay here in the kitchen to monitor and record the conversation.”

  “Great, Tina, you and Gina stay here while Hannah and I go downstairs to give this a try.”

  Once in the dungeon, we sat Popov in a chair and told him to keep his end of the bargain and we’d make sure of his safety. His first call was to Bono. While they were talking, I noticed he was tight with our ‘public enemy’ number one. His call to Titov was quite different. He talked to him as if he was his superior officer. He suggested to Titov to arrive in Rome but not to let anyone at the Russian embassy know of his plans. He also told him a special car would pick him up once he arrived in three days. Popov told us of a house outside of Rome where the cartel would meet. This did not require any confirmation over the phone lines. He drew us a map to the place. It was high in the hills around Rome and quite secluded. I didn’t want to talk in front of him about our plans so Hannah and I went back upstairs.

  Gina said, “In listening to the conversations, I would be extremely careful with this operation, Steven.”

  “I think you’re right about that, Gina. Another issue is Popov himself. How can we get him locked up somewhere while we run our missions?”

  Gina responded, “I can get my father to lock Popov up in a secret facility in this region. Besides, I think it’s time to bring him onboard with the arrests of our criminals.”

  “But, Gina, we have to run our missions before people get arrested. I don’t want Bono to get spooked and take off.”

  “It will be okay. My father knows how to delay raids on these people.”

  “Great, then call him and get the ball rolling. Do you want to set up the raids with your father and Carlo or would you rather run with us?”

  “I certainly would like to run with you guys but I think it would be best if I manage the raids. Also, I want to see my father in person when I tell him what we need.”

  “Okay, let’s get the ball rolling. Gina, I think you should have one of the girls drive you.”

  “Alright, I’ll take Hannah with me. We should return in a couple of hours.”

  “Good, bring back a prison jumpsuit for Popov. He’ll leave here hooded, as he arrived. He must never know where we kept him.”

  Gina and Hannah got dressed and soon left for her father’s place. Gina called him in advance to make sure he would be there. I stayed in the kitchen with Tina. We had other work to do.

  Tina asked, “What do you want me to do now, Steven?”

  “I need you to move most of the money back to where we found it. The authorities will need it as evidence but don’t do it now. Wait until we finish our mission with Bono.”

  “Do you want me to move it all?”

  “Oh, no, we need to keep the money in the Taipei banks for our future.”

  “Right on, Boss, that should leave us a cool billion. Is that enough for us?”

  “That will be fine. Besides, I make good money on my job, you know!”

  “Yeah, sure Boss, whatever you say.”

  “I’m going to lie down for a while. I want you to take care of Popov, okay?”

  “Are you sure you want me to take care of him? I will if you want me to. He’s not a bad looking man,” as she smiled at me.

  “I’ll be down there in a few moments.”

  “I thought you needed to lie down?”

  “I better keep an eye on you.”

  “Steven, are you jealous?”

  “Just get down there.” She left and I took a moment to reflect on the situation. I still had some doubts with Gina but she did select Hannah to go with her on this trip. Even if Gina killed Popov it wouldn’t prove anything, it means more money to go around. I think Tina wants a home and she found one, with me. Of course, Hannah will always be loyal. Maybe I’ve been in this business too long. They probably are all loyal. It’s just my nature to think this way.

  By the time I got downstairs, Tina was having a good old time with Popov. She was taunting him like a caged animal. She kept poking him with a long stick but kept her distance. The fool was enjoying every minute of it. He wanted more as she continued the game. Finally, I said, “Enough, Tina. He deserves to be tortured but I would venture a guess he’s enjoying it all. Am I right, Popov?”

  “Play with me a little more you sweet little creature,” he pleaded.

  I responded, “Quiet, you creep, or I’ll forget our deal.” He sat down in his chair.

  Tina took me by my hand and said, “Come with me, Steven. I want to talk to you.” I locked the door to the room and we went to the living room. Sitting next to each other on the couch, Tina continued, “Steven, when this is all over, I want you to know that you don’t have to take me with you to Taipei. I’ll understand. I can make it on my own now because I’ve learned so much from you and Hannah. I don’t want you to feel obligated to me.”

  “But, Tina, I am obligated to you through our love for each other. I want you in my life for as long as you want to be. Understand me when I say this.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden to you, ever. I love you too much.”

  “I’m sure.” With that, she hugged and kissed me. I continued, “Now, go get cleaned up because we will be off to the target zone as soon as Hannah gets back.”

  She ran up the stairs like a little kid on Christmas morning. I went back downstairs to place a hood over Popov's head. Then I brought him upstairs to sit by the front door to await his jailers.

  21 – The Demise of the Cartel

  __________________________

  A while later, Gina and Hannah returned with five policemen dressed in plain-clothes. Gina didn’t bother to introduce them as they quickly took Popov into custody. They dressed him in a prison uniform with the hood still over his head and marched him out of the house. After placing him in an unmarked van, they sped off to a place I didn’t really want to know. We were done with this creep. Now it was time to put our plans into motion. We all gathered in the living room for last minute discussions.

  I asked, “Gina, how did it go with your father?”

  “I told him about Balsano and Marino. He will be expecting the evidence to back up our allegations. Also, he will leave Popov in a holding cell for three days. During that time, he will be interrogating him about the activities of the cartel.”

  “That’s great, what will you be doing in the meantime?”

  “I’ll have Carlo and Enrico come to my father’s office for a briefing. Together we will formulate a plan for the raids. My father wants Carlo to take down Balsano and Marco.”

  “Okay, the rest of us
will leave here in the morning to begin the recon of the cartel’s meeting place. We probably will stay in the area until the job is done. You and I will stay in contact to be sure Bono goes down. The rest will be up to you and your people.”

  That evening Hannah and Tina made dinner for all of us. We sat around the table and the conversations were minimal. Pass this, pass that but nobody talked about substantive matters. I think the girls felt we should have killed Popov. This would have brought some kind of closure to the matter. After dinner, we cleaned up and retired early to bed. Hannah grabbed Tina and went to their room. I took Gina up to her bedroom and changed the bandages on her back. The wounds seemed to be healing well.

  While we lay in the bed, I asked, “Gina, do you want to talk about anything?”

  “I wanted to kill that creep for what he did to me. I can’t feel any emotion except hate right now.”

  “That is understandable. You do know that I love you,” as I kissed her forehead.

  “Steven, I want to feel but it’s hard.” I kissed her again, this time on her lips. She began to move and soon we were able to make love. It wasn’t a passionate love but a tender experience. We feel asleep holding each other.

  The next morning when I awoke, Gina was not in bed. She had gone downstairs and was making coffee for everyone. Hannah and Tina were there telling funny stories as the three of them laughed. This made me smile.

  Tina exclaimed, “The Boss is up, everybody stand at attention.” They began to giggle.

  I said, “I’m glad to see everyone is feeling better this morning.” Gina came over to me and kissed me with great passion. It felt good.

  Again, Tina spoke, “Are we leaving on our assignment soon?”

  I responded, “As soon as you two get ready, we’ll leave. Gina, can you gather a package of all our evidence for Tom York at the embassy?”

  “Sure, if you want I’ll have him come here from Rome for the briefing with the others. He knows my father well enough so there should be no problem.”

  “That would be great.” We all kissed and hugged Gina and were on our way to the target area. Before we left, we loaded up our weapons and other munitions we would need for the mission. With Hannah at the wheel, we drove several hours to reach our destination. We were in the foothills of the mountains east of Rome. After finding our target house, we checked into a cabin at some cheap resort area. Our cabin needed to be out of the way and have a view of the entrance road. We rested for a little while and headed out to recon the area. After climbing to the top of a ridge, we found a good spot to position ourselves for the hit. From the site, one could look down on a rather large house with a clear shot of the backyard. From the unfenced yard, there was a sheer cliff with a drop of 300 feet to the bottom of a large gorge. There were no other houses in the area. In fact, the whole region was very rural. We marked off two perches with a clear shot of the house. After carefully searching the rest of the area, we returned to the cabin.

  I asked, “After looking over the target area, do you both feel comfortable with this mission?”

  Hannah responded, “I would feel better if I could take a look inside the house first.”

  “I think that’s a good idea, even if it’s from the outside.” We waited until after dark, then jumped back in the car and headed to the front of the house. As we drove by, it was as I had expected - walls across the front courtyard and wilderness along the sides. There were guards all over the place. We stopped down the road a bit and pulled off. I told Tina to sit with the car while Hannah and I went to check out the house. We went to the side where Hannah could squeeze through the brush. As she went onto the grounds, I watched her back. Hannah was a cunning commando. She slipped unnoticed passed the security system and the guards to get a good look around. She returned as silently as she went in.

  I asked, “Did you get a good look at everything?”

  “Sure, I did,” she whispered. We moved quickly back to the car and left the area. After picking up some food at a nearby restaurant, we returned to the cabin.

  Hannah said, “The place is heavily fortified with guards and security systems. I think we are going to have a tough time getting Bono out to the backyard.”

  “I guess I’ll have to go in and smoke him out.”

  “Whoa, he has a small army around that house. It’s too dangerous.”

  “We still have the leverage of the money.”

  “I still don’t like it, Steven.”

  “Well, can we set up some explosives tomorrow night to create a diversion, if necessary?”

  “I think so.”

  “Okay, then don’t worry so much.”

  Tina, who was working on her computer, suddenly chimed in, “Hey, wait a minute. Something is not right here! Check this out.” Hannah and I ran toward her to view the computer screen.

  I asked, “What’s up, Tina?”

  “Look here,” as she directed us to the screen. “When Popov made his call to Bono, he contacted him on his cell phone.”

  I asked, “So, what happened?”

  “My computer has been monitoring Bono’s calls since then.”

  “Oh, please, continue and get to the point!”

  “Well, today Bono called Titov and told him to arrive a day earlier than previously arranged. As you can see, the telephone conversations are converted to text, thanks to my superior talents. Read it all for yourselves,” as she pointed to the screen again. Hannah and I continued to read the saved text on our girl genius’ computer. Bono told Titov to come a day earlier because he thought Popov was under duress. He might have a gun to his head or something else. Titov asked if he, Bono, could find out and do something about it. Bono told him to relax he would take care of it. Bono then instructed Titov to fly to Naples instead of Rome and his men would pick him up.

  I spoke, “Well, girls, something is not right here. I think I’ll give Gina a call. Tina, while I talk to Gina, I want you to locate her position. Can you do that?”

  “Sure, Boss, whatever you need.”

  “Thanks.” I called Gina on her cell while connected to Tina’s computer.

  She answered, “Hi, Gina here.”

  “Gina, this is Steven. How are things going on your end?”

  “Good, we are getting ready to move ahead with the raids.”

  “Is Popov under control and behaving himself?”

  “Uh, sure, why do you ask?”

  “I want to make sure our star witness is in place.”

  “Not a problem, he’s locked up in isolation.”

  “Is Carlo on board with the show?”

  “Yes, he is on board. Steven, why are you asking all these questions?”

  “You know me, always cautious. I guess we’ll be done here in a few days. I’ll call you when we’re finished. Bye for now.”

  “Goodbye, Steven.” We broke our connection.

  I asked, “Tina, did you find her location?

  “Yeah, Boss.”

  “Well, where is she?”

  “She’s in Rome, somewhere around SISMI headquarters.”

  “Something is wrong with this picture. Tina, locate and monitor every call I make. Make sure they can’t trace the call back to us.”

  “Okay, Steven, you got it.”

  I called Tom York at the embassy. He answered, “York here, how can I help you?”

  “Tom, this is Steven.”

  “Hey, how are things going?”

  “Good, have you heard from anybody about the investigations?”

  “No, why should I have?”

  “Not yet. Listen don’t trust anybody until you hear back from me, okay?”

  “Sure, Steven, whatever you say. Can you tell me what I should be looking for?”

  “Not just yet. I will be sending you some transcripts from an interrogation of a Russian mob guy. It should give you some information on some of our suspects in your case. Look for an encrypted e-mail coming your way this evening.”

  “Will do, check with me wh
en you can.” We hung up.

  I said, “Tina, send him the data you collected at Gina’s house. I know you recorded the interrogation of Popov.”

  “How did you know I did that?”

  “Because, Tina, you’re brilliant as well as beautiful.”

  “Thanks, Boss, do I get a raise now?”

  “Send the material to York,” as I gave her his e-mail address and kissed the top of her head.

  I continued, “Tina, one more thing, dial Popov’s cell phone and let me know if there is an answer.” She started to call as Hannah and I watched. It rang twice and we all heard the voice on the other end, it was Popov. Tina quickly broke the connection.

  Tina asked, “Steven, how did you know?”

  “I have a gut feeling about this one. This means we have a war on our hands guys and we are outnumbered and outgunned.”

  Hannah asked, “Steven, do you still want to go through with this crazy plan of yours?”

  “Hannah, if we three can pull this off, we will be able to close them all down in one shot.”

  “I’m with you, Steven. I hope you’re right.”

  “I think I’ll go for a walk to sort things out.”

  Tina asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”

  Hannah answered, “Tina, leave him be for now. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Okay, Hannah.”

  I walked around the grounds of this rundown resort thinking of what to do. Gina was my biggest disappointment. I really do love her and probably will continue to do so. But life can be cruel, at times. I thought of Hannah and Tina, the only loyal ones with me. I can’t get the girls killed because of my determination to eliminate all these ruthless characters. I decided to go in the house on my own and keep the girls out of sight. I would figure out the details tomorrow. I went back to the cabin to try for some sleep. When I arrived, Hannah and Tina were lying in one of the beds. I went to the vacant one. That wasn’t going to work because both of them came in bed with me. They both held on to me tight and knew what was coming down in the next few days. We were all silent until sleep came.

  The next morning, the three of us cleaned up and went to find some coffee. As we drove down the road, no one spoke. We finally found a little bar to get breakfast. The two girls remained silent as we sat at a table.