Once inside the property I saw that the yard was well manicured. The thick-bladed grass was cut short around many palm trees. Numerous patches of red, yellow, and blue flowers stood out, adding a floral, clean aroma to the heavy air.
I decided to walk and stretch my legs.
The house was set back about a hundred yards from the property entrance. It was a single-story, brick rancher with a green metal roof. It suited the landscape.
In the driveway was a small red Toyota pickup and a white, late-model BMW 323i.
I came up to our vehicle as everyone was getting out.
“My brother-in-law is ex-military and an engineer,” Jorge said as we gathered around him. “My sister is a lawyer, and their two girls are both in university. You can trust them.”
“Thanks for setting this all up,” Sue said.
“Well then, let us go meet your family.” Ivan began walking up the pathway.
There was a red brick entryway that matched the house facade.
The front door opened as we approached, revealing a strong looking man about six foot five with dark mustache and hair, wearing silver-rimmed glasses. “Hola!”
Jorge said some quick words in Spanish and embraced the man. He was a head taller than Jorge, yet their girth and age were about the same.
“These are my friends.” Jorge introduced us. “This is Enrique.”
We each took a turn shaking his large hand.
“Welcome to my home; please come in.” Enrique’s English was understandable.
Entering, we immediately got a waft of something baking that smelled appetizing. The floor was clean white tile, and various vivid landscape paintings hung on the white walls.
“My wife, Monica, has painted all the pictures in the house.” Enrique appeared proud.
I looked closer at the painting nearest the doorway. I wasn’t an expert in any way, but Monica had real talent.
Sue studied one of a jungle hillside. “Amazing detail.”
We walked into a two-step sunken living room. I figured the home had been built in the seventies but definitely updated since then. The furniture was dark, like stained teak, and the sofa and chairs had bright red, yellow, and green cushions. There were big windows but not an immense amount of light because of all the trees outside—it gave a feel of privacy. A dusky-orange brick-faced fireplace was the focal point but looked never to have been used. Why would anyone have a fireplace here?
“Como estas, welcome.” A very attractive lady, most likely in her late forties, with auburn-streaked hair, came out of the next room. She wore a white, thin cotton dress and a flower-patterned apron.
“This is my sister, Monica.” Jorge went to kiss her on the cheek.
I looked from Enrique to Monica. She was just over five feet tall—they were a contrast in size.
Jorge introduced us. She had a warm sparkle in her light-brown eyes.
“I hope you are all hungry?” Monica was well spoken in English. “Enrique, show our guests their rooms so they can settle in and wash up. Then we can have something to eat.”
“Si, mi amor.” Enrique motioned toward a hallway.
The feeling was of visiting a friend’s relatives while on vacation, not the real reason we were there.
The house was larger inside than it looked from the outside, yet most of the rooms seemed to already be in use. Sue and I shared a bedroom again, and so did Mike and Ivan.
As soon as we were alone, Sue looked at the one queen-size bed and said, “Does everyone think we’re a couple already?”
“If anyone asks, let’s say our relationship is ‘special’.” I was happy to be sharing a room and bed with Sue, even if nothing special was going to happen. I wanted to keep her close and safe.
The white tile floor and white walls ran throughout the whole house—it must’ve been for a cooling effect. The color was all in the details, like the thin flowery bedspread, the additional landscape paintings, and the vase of freshly cut flowers on the dark wood dresser.
We dropped our duffel bags on top of the bed and went back to the living room. Ivan and Mike were right behind us.
Enrique emerged from a doorway. “Come with me.”
We followed him into a dining room that had a long country-style table. There were two young ladies standing at a doorway at the opposite end.
“These are my lovely daughters.” Enrique gestured. “Olga and Esmeralda.”
“Hola.” They both came over to us.
My guess was Olga was nineteen and Esmeralda twenty-one. They each received height from their father and beauty from their mother. Both had shiny black hair, infectious smiles, and flawless light-brown skin. They were very polite and fluent in English. Olga’s almond-colored eyes portrayed shyness, and Esmeralda’s had a glint of mischievousness.
“I hope you all found your rooms to your liking?” Monica entered from the door that the girls had been standing next to, carrying plates.
Everyone nodded and thanked her.
Sue and I sat in the empty chairs between Mike and Ivan.
“Enrique, girls, can you please help bring out the food?” Monica said as she retreated.
“We’re going to compensate your family for all of this, right?” I asked Jorge, as soon as our hosts had gone into the kitchen.
“Yes, of course.”
Enrique came back, carrying bottles. “You will find that beer best quenches your thirst in this climate—better than water. It’s not strong, so you’d have to drink much to be drunk. Your body perspires it out as quickly as you put it in.”
“I’m all for that.” Those were the first words Mike had uttered since we’d arrived.
We’d been followed from Dallas to Key West, and then to Saint Thomas. Hopefully we had thrown off the Naintosa security thugs in Bogota, but there was a chance they knew exactly where we were now. “I don’t mean to be impolite, but shouldn’t someone be on guard in case we were tracked here?”
Monica and her daughters came in with trays of food.
“Our cousin has confirmed that he’s hidden beside the turn-off from the road to the driveway,” Jorge said. “And nothing suspicious has happened so far.”
“We have a perimeter alarm and cameras,” Enrique said. “Yet you are right, we must be extra vigilant, and I will go check them.”
I exhaled. Of course, they’d be on top of security.
“You’ve all had a big journey and need to eat and at least rest for a minute.” Monica helped her daughters place the food on the table.
Enrique passed the bottles around and then left the room.
The meal consisted of thin steaks covered in chimichurri sauce, fluffy little potatoes that we were supposed to cover with a spicy tomato-and-green onion salsa, ripe plantain, red beans, and rice.
Enrique came back and informed us that all security functions were operational.
While we ate everyone was asked questions about their backgrounds. We found out that Enrique, Monica, and their daughters had read our reports and were totally onboard.
By the time we were done with dinner the sun had set, and we adjourned to the living room. It became cooler as the ceiling fans circulated air coming in from the open windows.
“Let’s go over the first part of the plan.” I sat between Ivan and Sue on the couch.
Esmeralda came and squeezed in-between Ivan and me.
I looked at Enrique. “Are you sure you want your daughters involved?”
“They will be our couriers, nothing more,” Enrique said. “I want them to play a part. They have to know the realities.”
“But this is going to be dangerous,” Sue interjected.
“This means our future,” Olga said, standing behind her father’s chair. “It’s more important to help you than anything I know of.”
“The world can be a dangerous place,” Enrique said. “There is much injustice, and I want my daughters to fight for the things they believe in. And what you’re fighting is the largest injustice of all.�
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Monica looked worried but didn’t say anything.
Put that way, we couldn’t argue. I’d make sure to watch that the girls would in no way be placed in jeopardy. “Let’s talk about our initial steps.”
“In the morning I will need to get a note to our informant at the lab,” Ivan said. “I will tell him we are here and want to meet.”
“The girls can deliver the note to the established spot on their way to class,” Enrique said.
“Yes, no trouble,” Esmeralda said.
“That is how the notes have been going back and forth?” Ivan cleared his throat. “I did not know how it was being done.”
“Ivan told me what he needed, and then I instructed Enrique to take care of it,” Jorge said.
“And the spot is safe?” Sue asked.
“I set it up.” Enrique had a glimmer in his eyes. “It’s perfect—people around but not too crowded, and a safe place to leave things that no one would steal.”
“We’ve been monitoring the lab ever since they started building it,” Monica said. “Anything Naintosa does in this country is suspect.”
“We’ve been keeping tabs of the comings and goings,” Enrique added. “And some spying.”
Mike sat quietly, following the conversation, drinking his beer slower than usual.
“I have only one engineering project, and it’s near completion,” Enrique said. “So I am available to help as much as you need.”
“I’ve made sure I have a very light caseload right now,” Monica said. “We have a communications room assembled with secure Internet and phone for you to use.”
“We can contact Sam, Eugene, Lee, and Lorraine; plus Ivan, you can communicate with the Council,” Jorge said. “By the way, Sam called. His recovery is slow but progressing. He and Eugene still hope to join us when he’s able to travel.”
That was promising news about both Sam and the communication room.
Mike perked up. “We could use the extra muscle.”
“I would like to contact the Council and update them, then,” Ivan said.
A cautious feeling came over me. “Ivan, maybe you should remain quiet for a little longer … just in case.”
CHAPTER 28
May 21, 2003
I woke up with Sue snuggled right next to me. It was cool in the bedroom. The window was open, and a fan rotated above the bed.
Last night before we fell asleep, Sue and I had talked about the nervous feeling we both had when Ivan mentioned contacting the Council for an update. We didn’t know what it meant, but better to be silent for the time being. Thankfully, Ivan hadn’t objected.
Anxiousness of being so close to the Naintosa and Pharmalin compound and the eagerness to get going on what we were there for had awakened us all at sunrise.
On our way to have breakfast, as we walked past the living room, I noticed a blanket and pillow on the couch. Next to it was Jorge’s backpack. “Jorge’s sleeping there.”
Sue stopped. “We should tell him to take our bedroom; he’s worked so hard, getting us here safely. He deserves it. I can sleep on the floor, and you can have the couch.”
“You actually think he’d take the bedroom and have us sleep out here?”
Sue didn’t hesitate. “No.”
As we came into the dining room, we heard Ivan say to Monica, “You cannot be cooking for all of us on your own; that is too much.”
“I have someone helping me with the cooking and cleaning,” Monica replied. “She lives in the back suite and has been with us for many years.”
Esmeralda and Olga left for school at the Universidad de la Amazonia. They promised to drop off the note Ivan had written in the designated location. It consisted of one sentence: We are here and would like to meet as soon as it is safe for you.
Monica led Ivan, Mike, Sue, and me to their office. The room was large enough to have two desks, a bookshelf, various electronics, and a couch. On each desk sat a computer monitor. Through the window was a view of a vegetable garden.
Jorge was working at the desk on one of the two laptops we’d brought but had avoided using since England. “Everything seems to be operational.”
Monica looked at us. “I do a fair amount of government work, so they’ve set me up with a secure server. However, it’s not tied to the government.”
She then stepped over to the table that had a TV monitor on it with a split screen. “We have two cameras hidden in a tree next to the road. We’re able to see vehicles coming to and from the Naintosa compound and Pharmalin lab. It’s the only road. We record twenty-four hours a day, so we can play back all movement and don’t have to be watching all the time. It has slow motion and still functions, as well as photographic capabilities, so we can focus on who is in the vehicles. For example, Hendrick Schmidt V arrived a few days ago.”
Ivan looked at me. “It is interesting that he is there personally.”
“He’s been there before, as was his father before he died,” Monica said. “Also, Tom Crane was there the other day.”
“What would that guy be doing at the lab?” Mike asked.
“He’s been their advocate to get genetically engineered seed into Africa,” Sue said. “That shows how tight he really is with the Schmidts and Naintosa.”
“Sad,” Mike said. “I used to think he was one of the rare good guys that helped humanity with all his money.”
“I don’t think there are any of those left,” I said.
“Jack was one,” Sue said.
We all paused.
Ivan cleared his throat. “And maybe the last.”
“How far, exactly, is the lab from here?” I asked.
“Two kilometers west.” Monica had picked up three manila envelopes. “Why don’t we look at the recon pictures we’ve taken?”
Sue, Ivan, and Mike sat on the couch. Monica, Jorge, and I brought over chairs to face them on the other side of a rectangular coffee table.
Monica began pulling eight-by-ten photographs from the envelopes. “These are from the road, showing the daily movement of supplies.”
I was next to her, so Monica passed the photos to me first, one by one. Then I passed them along. They were mainly covered cargo trucks, some with refrigerator units, and one open, with lumber. They all had DON CHUCHO TRANSPORTE written on the driver’s door. Then there was a picture that I stopped to take a closer look—an old school bus full of people. The occupants looked solemn, of different ages, and mainly indigenous.
“Do you know what this is about?” I asked Monica.
“Yes, we were curious and did some inquiring,” she replied. “A group of American missionaries have been rounding up poor people, promising them food and shelter if they come to live at the Naintosa compound. They’ve been doing this every couple of months since the camp opened.”
“The human guinea pigs,” Sue said, taking the photo.
“Yes, that was exactly what they were doing at the Bolivia lab,” Ivan said. “They are the disposable human test subjects.”
I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I would never get accustomed to seeing what they did to people and their disregard for human life in the pursuit of power and what they deemed progress.
“Most of these people die, right?” Mike studied a second picture.
“It depends on what stage they are at with their testing,” Ivan said.
“Fucking Nazis,” Mike added. “And what’s with these missionary conspirators?”
“We found it strange that they were here, trying to convert people to their born-again Christianity, when the country is ninety-five percent devout Catholic,” Monica said. “But they aren’t actually real missionaries, that’s their cover.”
“Obviously they get paid per head by Naintosa to bring people to the compound,” I said. “Like we found out they did in Bolivia. It’s a business to them.”
“Human traffickers,” Sue said.
Next was a photo of a Mercedes G55 SUV, but without the tinted windows they had in the S
tates. Clear as day, Hendrick Schmidt V was in the back seat looking directly at the camera. He had a scowl on his face and looked older than the last picture I’d seen of him. “Are there any shots of Schmidt V leaving?”
“No, just the one going in.” Monica placed pictures on the table for all of us to take.
“Nick.” Sue turned a photograph around that was almost identical to the one I was looking at. “The driver looks like you.”
Jorge reached his hand out, and Sue passed the picture to him. His eyes grew wide. “That’s Dale Samson—the one who picked your pocket for the hotel receipt to frame you for Dr. Schmidt’s murder.”
“Really?” I hadn’t looked at the driver until then. “Oh yeah.”
“Holy shit,” Sue said. “He really does work for Schmidt junior!”
“Hospadi, dear God,” Ivan said. “Our theory was right.”
“What?” Mike perked up.
I looked at Mike. “Someone tried to frame me for the murder of Dr. Schmidt.”
“Yeah, I know,” Mike said.
“That’s the guy who was impersonating me. Interpol couldn’t find him after they figured it out.” I held up the picture. “That makes it pretty obvious who’s responsible for the murder.”
“Junior was responsible for his old man’s murder.” Mike had caught up to the rest of us.
“We should contact Chief Inspector Plante,” Ivan said.
I thought about it for a second. “Contacting Plante would reveal that we’re here, and I don’t trust anyone right now.”
“Yes,” Jorge said. “Now’s not good.”
“Let’s wait, then,” Sue said.
I felt relief and foreboding at the same time. Tying Samson to Schmidt junior would erase any lingering doubt that I’d killed Dr. Schmidt. However, knowing that Schmidt V killed his own father reinforced how dangerous he was.
I picked up two pictures of the same Mercedes with a different driver and Tom Crane in the back seat. One was of him coming and the other going.
When we were done, Monica placed the contents of another envelope on the table. “These pictures, Enrique took at the perimeter fence of the compound.”
The ones I picked up showed about a ten-foot-high, barbed-wire fence around a large clearing with a number of wooden and cinder-block buildings. Rows and rows of plants were growing along the edges and through the middle. Some trees remained inside the compound. Near the gate was a parking area that had an assortment of supply trucks, SUVs, and cars.
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