It was her turn to smirk.
“Well, as Director Fryar was condescending to us, I texted Johnny-F and asked him if he could …pretend to be the DHS and tell Mr. Fryar to let us see the security footage. He replied, ‘NP!’”
She couldn’t help giggling.
“I have to say, whatever he told Fryar was good … real good!”
Ricci rolled his eyes but he was really impressed with Michelle. In fact, he was starting to feel other things about her, things that he wasn’t prepared to deal with there and then. Man, I want to lean over and put my lips to hers!
It took all his effort to refocus and concentrate on what he was doing as he fast-forwarded through the recording. After a few minutes he froze the footage on a figure stepping off of the elevator.
“Michelle, who does that look like?”
Wang leaned in towards the monitor.
“Les…!”
“Okay, so he arrives on the floor at … 9:15p.m …” Ricci continues to fast-forward, “… there, he appears to be entering that suite … about an hour later … there he is running from the suite … and behind him is a man …” Ricci freezes the frame and zooms in, “… with a suppressed pistol?”
Wang squinted, “It’s hard to make out, he concealed it so fast … but it could’ve been!”
Ricci fast-forwards again, “Gunman returns to suite … a minute later … two men leave the suite in haste.”
Ricci hit a few buttons and brought up the feed from the lobby.
“There’s Les running out of the hotel’s entrance … and there go the two men chasing him. He must have been delayed on the elevator. It looks like they took the stairs.”
Ricci asked someone in the next room to fetch Director Fryar who looked thoroughly annoyed when he walked back into the room.
“Mr. Ricci, I thought I told you that you could ask my staff if you needed anything—“
“Mr. Fryar, I only need two more things from you. Would you please access the video feed from the hotel’s entrance that evening and put it on the monitor?”
The Director of Security did as instructed but was obviously annoyed.
“My staff could have done this for you!”
After a few minutes of fast-forwarding, Ricci saw what he needed to see. He replayed footage that showed both gunmen approaching Pastak and taking positions standing on each side of him. The three men appeared to wait for the valet to retrieve Pastak’s car and then they all drove away in it. Ricci froze it on a frame of Pastak getting into the back of his own car. Fryar was confused as to what it meant.
“Mr. Fryar, this is why I called for you. What you’re seeing is one of our agents being forced by two gunmen …concealing their weapons no doubt, but two gunmen nevertheless, into his own car and be driven away. Ms. Wang and I would surmise that these men were actually terrorists driving our agent to a remote location where they would most probably murder him and dispose of his body. I don’t have to tell you how badly it would reflect on you and this hotel chain if our agent’s body is discovered and the events leading to his death are traced back to here. The Foster Lafayette would be known as ‘the hotel where terrorists stay.’”
Fryar blinked his eyes, wetting his lips as anxiety overtook him.
“... Which brings me to my second request … the name of the guest in that suite?”
Fryar looked shell shocked as he walked over to a computer terminal. After typing into it, he handed Ricci a printout.
Ricci took the paper and smiled at him without looking at it.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Fryar.”
Once he left the room Ricci looked at the name then handed it to Michelle.
“Bahman Fard ...?” Wang asked with a little disappointment in her tone, “I was hoping to see Zamani’s name.”
Ricci accessed Big Brother and after running a search on the unknown man’s name, flashed a Cheshire cat grin. He tossed his iPhone to Michelle who read aloud from what he left on the screen.
“Bahman Fard … listed as a director of one of Zamani’s companies in one place and as his executive assistant in another!”
She started to think out loud.
“So this guy Zamani invests $25 million into a company owned and/or controlled by the Pacifico drug cartel. Then he probably has his man Fard offer Les a bribe in return for information on our investigation into his transaction.”
Ricci took his phone back and added to her thoughts.
“Who knows what they offered Les. We found out about his new “bling-mobile” he was looking to buy, so it was probably a heap of money.”
Michelle jumped in again.
“Something went wrong though. The way Les acted when he found out that Garcia went missing … and remember … he looked like he had an ulcer when he heard that Garcia’s transponder started to transmit again…”
Michelle thought in silence for a moment then it hit her.
“He wasn’t expecting either of those things to happen!”
Ricci nodded.
“He panics … goes to meet with Fard again … right as we send a team down to find Garcia and the next thing we know, their operation was compromised—“
“… and Les disappears with Fard’s two goons never to be seen or heard from again.” Michelle capped it.
Ricci headed for the door with Michelle at his side.
“Let’s get back to The Watchman. Now we know whose behind all of this …it’s time we figured out why!”
Chapter 28
The Offices of Zamani Import-Export Corporation
Lower Midtown Manhattan
New York, New York
10:30p.m., Monday, September 05, 2011
Aref Sami Zamani laughed to himself as his Executive Assistant Bahman Fard used a VoIP provider to place a secured, encrypted video phone call to the head of the Pacifico drug cartel, Tuco Ramirez.
These Americans … such silly doves! They spend billions on technology to listen into and monitor phone conversations. Yet, anyone can just use one of these VoIP26 providers with their proprietary encryption algorithms and they’re as deaf as a post!
Fard turned the monitor to face Zamani who could now see the drug lord looking back at him. They conversed in English.
“Hello Tuco. My men, they have arrived?”
“Hello Aref. Yes, they arrived in Nogales today. I wasn’t expecting so many. I thought you limited your cells to three or four people. I was told that a total of 16 men arrived and that six of them are Russian?”
Zamani didn’t trust any infidels but he knew that Ramirez had no love for the U.S. so he didn’t worry about divulging too much. Besides, he thought it better to satisfy the drug lord’s curiosity than risk him trying to find out on his own and putting the whole operation at risk.
“Yes, the Russians are all former Spetsnaz. They’re needed because they’re experts with the bomb. After it’s detonated over Las Vegas, the others will cause havoc in the city, killing survivors and rescue personnel.”
Zamani saw Ramirez laugh.
“It’s too bad. I’ve been there you know …to Las Vegas, when I was younger. I always hoped I could go back one day … but I guess I’ll have to settle for Monte Carlo now.”
Zamani didn’t even break a smile. It took all of his composure to even speak with the Mexican pig infidel. I must remember … the end justifies the means…
“Is everything ready with … your stampede night?”
“Just about … we had one wrinkle come up but we’re planning to iron it out right before we cross the desert to Tucson.”
Zamani became concerned.
“What wrinkle, Tuco? I paid you all that money so that there would be no wrinkles!”
“It is nothing to worry about. A small group of border patrol agents might have become aware of our noche del espantada but—“
Zamani’s rage was growing.
“HOW …did these agents find out? I thought you had control over your people to keep their mouths shut!
”
“I do and those responsible will never utter another word,” Ramirez’s tone became agitated.
“Who is this small group of border agents?”
“They call themselves the Shadow Wolves. They’re just a dozen or so Native American’s that patrol their reservation.”
“Isn’t that where you’re planning to cross my men and my bomb… isn’t that where the airport is?!”
“Aref, get your temper in check, my friend. I’m not some peon you can talk to this way!”
Zamani knew he had to reel in his temper. He needed the cartel; it was as simple as that. He shot a quick look at Fard who nodded that he understood his boss’s anger.
“Tuco, it’s too late to call this operation off and it’s too late to change things. What are you planning to do about these … Shadow Wolves?”
Ramirez seemed satisfied with Zamani’s change in tone. His smile returned.
“Like I said Aref, there is only a dozen or so of them and we have the edge on technology and firepower. We’re planning to ambush them. Once we get rid of them, there’s no one standing between us and the Sells Airport inside the reservation. That’s why we picked crossing there. The regular U.S. border patrol agents aren’t even allowed to patrol on the reservation.”
Zamani merely nodded and went on.
“…And once they reach the airport … everything is ready?”
“Yes, we’ll simply load the bomb, the Russians and the two men you chose as pilots onto the Piper Chieftain we’re keeping at the Executive Airport in Las Vegas. I’m having one of my men fly the plane from Las Vegas to Sells. It’ll have enough fuel for the return trip. If all goes to plan, the group will make it to the airport by horseback in no more than 12 hours. That would put the plane over the Las Vegas Strip ninety minutes later, sometime around eight or nine that evening. It could all happen earlier but no later than that. The rest of your men will board a van that will meet them a few miles east of the town of Sells and take them into Tucson. It will deliver them to a safe house where they will stay until they board the charter bus at dawn the next morning. They’ll be disguised as relief workers from FEMA27. That will put them into Las Vegas sometime Sunday afternoon, the 12th.”
Hearing the schedule lightened Zamani’s countenance.
“Good. It will only take the Russians about an hour to rig the bomb to detonate, and then they plan to parachute out. My two martyrs will then have 30 minutes to position the plane directly over the Strip. By the evening of September 11, Las Vegas will be in ruins and the next day, the rest of my men will spread terror throughout their relief efforts.”
Ramirez smiled softly.
“You know, Aref, there are not many men that I consider to be as … ruthless as myself.”
The drug lord’s comment made Zamani’s eyes sparkle.
“We will not speak again, Tuco, until after this thing is done.”
The monitor went black as Tuco Ramirez turned to his second-in-command; his smile disappeared as soon as the image of Aref Zamani disappeared from the screen.
“Make sure nothing goes wrong. These Iranians … I don’t understand them and who I don’t understand, I don’t trust. What we do, we do for money. What they do, they think they do for God … perhaps their god, not ours.”
* * * * *
Zamani turned to Fard.
“Contact Payam … tell him he is to raid De Niro’s ranch early on the morning of the wedding. Tell him that I want De Niro questioned. I want to know about anything else he may know about my connection to Antioch. Tell Payam to kill his sons in front of his eyes. That should break even a man as strong-willed as Mr. De Niro … and Bahman … make sure you remind him that he and his men must leave Las Vegas no later than noon that day.”
Chapter 29
Back Porch – Main House
Estancia De Niro
Henderson, Nevada
8:00p.m., Saturday, September 10, 2011
Moriah Stevens pulled her bare feet up and nestled into the comfortable chair on the porch of the De Niro’s beautiful ranch house. She was deep in thought, sipping from her glass of Cris’s favorite Barolo wine as she stared at the way the moon reflected off mirrored waters of the large pool. She just had the most perfect meal with Cris and for the first time, it was only the two of them. That is, until he received an important call that he had to take in his study. He promised to return and spend the rest of her final evening there, with her.
She came back to vacation on De Niro’s ranch as she promised she would. In fact, she could think of nothing else from the moment she left. The plan was for her to spend the week at the ranch and then fly back to New York with De Niro and the boys on 9/11. They were all going to meet up with Keith Tompkins and his family in time to attend the evening memorial ceremonies down at Ground Zero.
The week was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The whole estancia staff really liked her, especially Concho who seemed to trip over his own two feet every time he was around her. Young Louis De Niro fell in love with her right away, especially since she would sit listening to him play the piano for hours. Even Cris’s oldest son Richard, who was most attached to his mother’s memory, softened to her after her first few days there. Moriah absolutely loved the ranch. It was large, filled with animals and everyone who lived and worked there were so nice. She could feel their contentment radiating from them.
One of the highlights of her trip was when the head gaucho, Martin Fierro, let her ride JoJo, Lisa De Niro’s horse. It turned out to be something of an extraordinary and emotional event for everyone at the ranch. She found out from the others that no one had ridden JoJo since Lisa had died. Moriah fell in love with JoJo, the boys and everyone else … and deeply in love with one person in particular.
To her, Cris was the consummate host. She knew he was a very busy man but she marveled how he always seemed to make time for his boys and his staff, and now her. He took horseback rides and walks with her, showing her all around the large estancia. She was worried at first, riding JoJo, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all, at least he never made mention of it. The nights when he was home, he ate with her and his boys and of course, William. William told her that De Niro had always treated him like part of the family. It was his way. There was also one night where he invited Martin and his wife, Concho, Aurelio and Rosita, and Arturo to a back yard barbecue with them. Apparently it was something they did quite often. In fact, De Niro treated the entire estancia workforce more like they were his family than his employees.
Moriah was most impressed with Cris. He wasn’t like anyone she had ever met before. He seemed to be full of contrasts. On one hand, he was one of the brightest individuals she ever met, yet he preferred to listen more than he spoke when it came to things like politics and business. He reveled in interacting with his boys and delighted in laughter with his staff and the simpler, less ostentatious things in life. She noticed, for instance that while he was somewhat an expert on red wine, he was quite content with an ice-cold bottle of beer. He was also just as happy eating a tuna sandwich while watching a football game as he was going to a five-star restaurant and attending a symphony, something he treated her to the second night she was there. Moriah also saw that, while most people were acquainted with Cris De Niro, he was for the most part a loner. Even at home, aside from meals, he seemed to enjoy his own company when he wasn’t with his boys.
The entire stay had been something out of a dream to Moriah except for one thing … her feelings for Cris were real, they were powerful and as far as she could tell, they were not mutual. The more she thought about it, the more she had to admit that he was nothing but a complete gentleman and was also becoming a dear friend. In fact, in just the week that she was there, she was already considering him her best friend. She thought that there was even a chance that as far as friendship went, he felt the same way about her. Yet, while her feelings for him had gone far beyond platonic friendship, his didn’t seem to. That really bothered her. For one, s
he had to admit to herself that there was an aspect of ego …hers, that was being bruised. She was so used to being the center of attention of men, without really trying, that now she felt she didn’t know exactly how to try to get Cris’s attention. She never chased after a man in her whole life, including her husband, so she had no idea what to do. It was all very frustrating to her. She did get something out of the whole experience … empathy, for all the men that had ever pursued her.
One thing was for sure, this was the last night of her stay and she wasn’t going to let it pass without confronting Cris. I’ll just tell him how I feel about him and leave it at that! I mean … I’ll make sure he knows there’s no pressure for him to reciprocate in any way … and if his feelings for me aren’t mutual … I’ll tie myself to the back of JoJo and have her drag me until I’m lifeless!
Smiling to herself, she downed the rest of her glass of wine and poured another, glad that her sense of humor was still intact.
* * * * *
De Niro stood in front of the plasma screen on the wall of his study; his brother-in-law’s image was on the monitor.
“What’s up Mugs?”
“Sorry to take you away from your date, Cris. How’s it going, anyway?”
“It’s not a date, Mugs, we’re just hanging out. It’s her last night here.”
“That’s not what I heard. The boys told me you sent them out with William for the night and Aurelio and Arturo told me that you gave them the night off ‘cause you’d be doing the cooking tonight.’”
De Niro rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“You know Mugs, it’s amazing that you’re finding time to investigate this guy Zamani … I mean with all the time you’re spending investigating me!”
Ricci was unshaken.
“So …?”
“You’re unbelievable. First … the boys wanted to go see that cartoon movie with the chipmunks and William volunteered to save me from having to take them. And as far as Aurelio and Arturo go, I was planning to grill a couple of steaks, Mugs, not something I particularly need help with.”
The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) Page 20