In her previous undercover assignment with La Cosa Nostra in which she was instrumental in the locating and the ultimate arrest of the serial killer and Mob boss, the Benefactor, she had access to thousands of dollars of illicit drug money. During the final weeks before the Benefactor went down, she removed enough cash from the stash of the criminals to provide her dad with the necessary funds to get his case dismissed. She felt no guilt for this heist, but she swore it would never happen again. There was enough money left after the lawyers took their cut to bring her immediate family to the USA. They settled in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
For a short time Ahalya was engaged to a successful politician, and was posted in the command headquarters of the Phoenix FBI offices. She felt caged and yearned to return to the excitement and autonomy of undercover work. She did not work well within a bureaucracy, and remained in trouble with her supervisors for her bluntness. Superiors in the FBI finally recognized that her best work was when she had full authority to make independent decisions entirely on her own. Undercover work provided her this opportunity.
When the FBI Director Stancil indicated that he needed an experience undercover agent to infiltrate the Russian Mafia, she eagerly volunteered. Her undercover work made it impossible to have a meaningful relationship. She ended her relationship with the politician and left Phoenix.
Ahalya was willing do whatever was necessary to be successful and break a case. On occasion she used her beauty and sex to obtain information and acceptance with criminals. The FBI didn’t require or allow her to use sex for information, but she was obsessed with busting criminals, especially in the sex trade. If she sacrificed her body to save one young girl from sex slavery, she felt vindicated. The sex meant nothing to her more than another work situation.
Within six months, she wormed her way into the organization of Ivan Dubov. The Russian loved beautiful women and Ahalya was ravishing. She soon became one of the FBI’s most valuable assets for obtaining inside information on the Russian Mafia Family headed by Nevsky.
To the associates of Dubov, she was known as Macy Verdon. Her ultimate goal was to connect with the Godfather Nevsky through Ivan Dubov, find out what they were planning, and bring them both down.
Now she unexpectedly found herself on the plane with the Senator Roberts’ daughter headed back to Dubov in Chicago.
Macy sat wondering how she could save Lisa Roberts, as Sturgess landed the jet at the O’Hair Executive Airport. A limo was waiting when they taxied up to the hanger.
“You take the girl and I’ll be right there,” Sturgess said.
Macy got a knife and cut the tape from her hands and feet. “Come with me quietly and I promise I will help you. You must trust me,” she said as she took Lisa’s arm.
The young girl wiped tears from her eyes and followed the only person who had shown her any compassion.
Macy guided her into the back seat of the limo. The driver was a very large bald African American man. He glanced at them when they got in, then turned his head and stared out the front windshield. Soon Sturgess joined them and sat in the passenger seat beside Baldy. “Let’s get moving,” he ordered.
It took about thirty minutes to get to Dubov’s estate in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. After passing through the private gated security post, Baldy drove to the circular driveway in front of the ultra modern stucco and white brick home.
Sturgess got out of the limo, walked around and opened the back door. Macy exited first and then gently pulled Lisa out. The young girl appeared to be in a mild state of shock, and her eyes looked vacant.
The front door opened and a smiling Dubov stood there.
Macy guided the young girl to the door and went in. Sturgess followed.
“Your delivery is complete,” Dubov said, handing him a bulging envelop. I want you immediately available when we’re ready to deliver the girl to Nevsky.”
Sturgess nodded, accepted the envelope and left. Baldy drove them away.
Dubov closed the door and locked it. He put his hand on Lisa Roberts’ face. “What a beautiful young girl you are,” he said in his heavily accented Russian voice. Lisa cringed and lowered her head.
“Leave her alone,” Macy said. “She’s in shock. I’ll lock her in one of the guest suites. You can do your evaluation later.” She took Lisa’s arm and began walking toward the spiral staircase.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Dubov barked.
Macy dropped the girl’s arm and walked back to the stocky Russian. “Glad to be back to you,” she purred and kissed him on the cheek. “However you have some explaining to do. You lied to me about the mission. You said it was a drug run. Then you involve me in a kidnapping. This girl is the daughter of a United States Senator.”
“Just take her up and get her settled, and then I’ll explain. I kept you in the dark for your own good,” Dubov said. Macy just glared at him in silent distain.
A piercing scream shattered the silence. “What are you doing to me?” Lisa shrieked. “Where are my mother and father? Who are you people?”
Finally the shock was wearing off. She completely lost it and ran toward the door. Dubov bolted and grabbed her. Lisa flailed at him, resisting his grasp. She managed to scratch his face, all the while shrieking at the top of her lungs.
Dubov instantly shot solid blow to her midsection and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
Macy darted to the scuffle and grabbed Dubov as he was preparing to kick the girl.
“Stop it now!” she yelled, pushing him away. “You’re damaging the goods.”
The angry Russian stepped back and wiped the deep scratch on his left cheek. He looked at the blood on his fingers. “She’s a hellion. Get her out of here.”
Macy helped the crying girl to her feet. She was trembling uncontrollably. Lisa looked at her with wild rage in her eyes, and attempted to hit her in the face. Macy grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t, I’m going to help you. Settle down please.” Lisa’s shoulders slumped, and she wept hysterically. Her emotions were out of control.
“Let’s go upstairs and I’ll get you situated. Please, please settle down.”
She led the distraught girl to the staircase and supported her while they went upstairs. They entered the second door on the right. Macy lived in the first suite. She took the girl inside and sat her on the bed.
In the front of the suite was a small living area holding a couch, recliner, coffee table, and end tables in front of a large flat screen TV. In the back area was a king size bed with a lace canopy. To the right of the bed was a bathroom with a large dressing room. The entire room was decorated in white whicker with beige accessories.
Macy squeezed Lisa’s arm. “Now I want you to listen to me carefully. I’m going to help you, but you have to trust me. I’m going next door to my room and bring you some clothes. Later I’ll bring you food and water. Don’t make things worse. I’ll find out what happened to your mother and father. Please trust me.”
She went to the white wicker dresser, picked up a box of tissues and handed it to Lisa. “I’ll be right back.”
Macy left the room, locking the door with her master key. Macy went to her suite and gathered underwear, a couple of T-shirts, shorts, jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, and returned to Lisa’s suite.
“I want you to take a shower and change into one of these outfits. It’ll make you feel better. In the meanwhile, I’ll get you some food and drink.” She put her hand on the girls arm, “I have treated you kindly. I know it’s hard to trust anyone right now. I’ll help you. Do you understand me?”
Lisa nodded.
“Okay I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.” The girl looked calm when Macy left the room and locked the door. She walked downstairs and confronted Dubov.
“What happened to this girls parents, and what exactly do you plan to do with her?”
Dubov looked at her and grinned. “Both of them are dead. Their deaths are the beginning of a revolt against the United States
Government. ISIS political operatives are in the US, and one of them holds a high position in Government in Washington. The Russian Mafia has partnered with them. That’s all you need to know. If you play your cards right and stick with me, I’ll assure you a position of power when the government falls. If you mention this to anyone, your death will be immediate.
As far as the girl goes, she’s a pretty little thing and I can reasonably assume that she’s a virgin, which raises her value immensely. I’m going to give her to Maxin Nevsky as a gift, exhibiting my loyalty to my Godfather. He’ll probably pleasure himself with her, and then sell her to ISIS in Syria. Young American girls can go for as high as 100,000 dollars if they are not heavily used and drug addicted. Then considering that she is the daughter of a US Senator, they may hold her for ransom or behead and release the video for the maximum effect. On the other hand, they may just use her as a sex slave for new recruits.”
Macy held her emotions in check. She was entering a new realm of knowledge and needed to remain a close confident with Dubov if she hoped to obtain information for the FBI concerning the plot to take over the Government.
She cleared her mind, walked over and grabbed Dubov by the back of the neck. She drew his head forward and kissed him passionately, assuring that he felt her breasts pressed hard against his chest.
“You excite me,” she said, and kissed him again.
Chapter 14
I knew I had to quickly overcome the loss of the lighter. I jumped to my feet and took a drink of water from the gourd. “First things first,” I said aloud.
I need to find bait for my traps and worry about starting a fire later. I grabbed the fish spear and headed back to the jungle. I followed my trail of broken twigs toward the watering stream and found a Tamarind fruit tree. I learned of this fruit during my survival training in the Navy. The Tamarind fruit “pod” is smooth, and brittle to the touch; inside the tasty flesh clings tightly to the hardened dark-brown seeds.
There were several low hanging pods, and I jerked them down. Just beyond the Tamarind tree was a banana tree. There was a bunch about ten feet above me. With my fish spear I managed to knock it to the ground. I picked it up and went back to area where the traps were placed. I used both the bananas and the tamarind fruit to bait the traps, and ate the remainder.
A loud clamoring coming from the tree line startled me. Looking in that direction, I spotted Moses screaming at another larger than average black monkey. A metallic object was flashing in the sunlight in the black monkey’s hand. I knew that monkeys live in large social groups called troops. There is usually a single dominant male, whose position depends more on his social skills than his physical strength. I assumed that Moses with the dominant male. Rivalries often occur among the males. Fights break out, and sometimes a new leader emerges as a result. This might happen when a dominant male loses prestige in front of his troop because he lost a fight.
Moses and the black monkey dropped to the ground and circled each other. Moses rose to his feet and shrieked. The black monkey cowered and dropped the shiny object. Moses picked it up and squealed a victory cry. The black monkey scaled a tree and disappeared. The rest of the troop sat quietly watching their Alpha. To my surprise Moses scampered toward me. When he was within five feet, he tossed the shiny object toward me. My lighter landed a few feet away. He stood there for a moment just looking at me.
“Thank you Moses,” I managed to utter. He remained silent for a moment, then squealed and darted back to his troupe. They all disappeared in the jungle. At that moment, I knew I had a friend. Why he felt the need to help me and protect me, I don’t have a clue. I pushed the button on the lighter and a flame appeared. Apparently the sun dried it out, and thank God it works.
It was nearing twilight, and I realized that I needed to start a fire to keep wild animals away while I slept in the shelter. I dug a small pit with my hands and a sharp stick, gathered twigs and broken branches from the trees, and stacked them in the pit. Carrying stones from the jungle, I encircled the pit.
Then it hit me. Toting my club and spear, I went back to the dead boar carcass to check if the meat was edible. Surely the smell could determine that. Cooked pork would taste wonderful, and I knew a way to preserve the meat.
As I approached the clearing, I head noises and peered through the underbrush. There chewing on what was left of the hind quarters of the boar were two gray rodents with short legs, strong claws, small rounded ears, and a moderately long tail. I figured they were some sort of tropical ground squirrel. Near the head of the boar was a large red bird with a long pointed beak. I’ve seen pictures of this bird on post cards. I think it is called a Scarlet Ibis.
From the looks of the carcass, it had been ravaged and I think the bird was actually eating maggots. So much for roast pork tonight, I thought.
I set my sights on the big bird. I think the squirrels might be too fast for me to kill. As quietly as I could, I made my way close to where the bird was feeding. Hidden by the underbrush, I scarcely was breathing. The big bird lifted it head one time and then continued to eat. Being closer, I noticed that it was pecking at the eyeballs of the boar.
I knew I would only have one shot. I laid down my spear, raised the club in my right hand, cocked my arm and aimed for the head. I remained in that position for a moment, and then threw it as hard as I could. I missed the head entirely but the stone on top of the club struck the bird in the body with enough force to knock is off its feet. I impulsively screamed, grabbed my spear and charged the flopping bird. Squealing sounds filled the air as the squirrels scampered away. I swung the spear, hit the bird in the head and then began stabbing its neck. My heart was racing and I was yelling when I realized that I was acting like a wild man. I stopped, took a deep breath and realized that I had probably killed the bird on the first stab. It scared me that I had so swiftly reverted to a primeval state of mind.
At least I had some protein to eat. I picked up my club, switched the spear to the same hand, and picked up the bird by the neck. After knocking down a couple of gourds and placing them under my arms, I took my treasures and hurried back to the shelter. Nightfall was descending fast. I didn’t want to get stuck in the jungle in the dark. Then I would maybe be protein for some wild animals.
When I got back to my shelter, I noticed that one of my traps was sprung. I put my spear and bird beside the pit and held on to my club. I couldn’t believe it when I spotted a dazed squirrel beside the rock. “Must be a lot of these rodents around here,” I said aloud. Its leg was still twitching so I gave it a merciful blow and carried it to the pit.
The twigs were dry and the fire started easily with my lighter. I piled on a couple of the thicker branches and proceeded to skin and clean the squirrel. With my penknife, I sharpened a stick at the end and stuck it through the body.
Without the ability to pour boiling water on the bird to pluck it, I just threw the entire thing into the fire. For about fifteen or twenty minutes I stood there holding the stuck squirrel over the fire. The outside was black when I pulled it away from the flame, pulled the stick out, and laid it on a bed of leaves.
The flames had burned off all the feathers off the bird, and the skin was charred. I used the sharpened stick, stabbed the carcass and pulled it out of the fire. I placed it beside my other roasted squirrel delicacy, and proceeded to clean out the inside of the two gourds. With my penknife I cut the meat from the squirrel and stuffed it into the first gourd. Before carving the bird, I gnawed on the bones of the squirrel cleaning off the rest of the meat. It was chewy, but edible.
A chattering noise distracted me from my roasted bird. I looked up and about five feet away from me stood Moses. He stopped making the noises when he saw me looking at him. Maybe the smell from the cooking meat had attracted him, or maybe he just came for a visit.
“Well hello Moses. I’m having a nice meal of roasted squirrel and foul. Would you care to join me?” He just stood there looking quizzically at me. I reached into the gourd, pulled
out a small piece of fire roasted rodent and tossed it toward him. It landed a foot in front of him. He immediately picked it up and took a bite. He must have liked the taste because he eagerly consumed it. I’m sure that’s the first time he had enjoyed cooked meat. He chattered and waved his arms, I think he was asking for more.
“Wait, let me carve you a piece of bird.” I cut deeply into the breasts of the bird, carved out a piece about the size if my hand and cut the charred skin from the meat. I cut it in half and tasted it. I was very surprised at the mild taste and ate the rest of my half.
“Here Moses, come get it,” I said, holding the piece of bird in my outstretched hand.
Moses cautiously crept forward. He grabbed the piece of meat from my hand and retreated to about five feet away. I cut another piece of bird and ate it while he gobbled his down.
“”Want some more Moses?” I cut another piece and held it out in my hand. This time he calmly walked forward and took the meat from me. He ate half of it not a foot away from me. I think I earned his trust.
I heard a soft squeal behind him. A small grey monkey was there. Moses looked back and uttered a sound. He gazed back toward me, then scooted to the other monkey’s side, and handed it the rest of the meat. I immediately assumed that this was his mate. She delicately chewed the meat and chattered, indicating her delight with the treat.
“Well Moses, nice to meet your girlfriend. She’s a looker,” I laughed. I remembered that the original Moses had married a woman named Zipporah. “We’ll just call you Zippy,” I said to the monkey.
I shook my head. “I think I’m visiting the Twilight Zone,” I said, and laughed again. Here I am having dinner of bird and rodent with an Albino monkey and his mate.
Lost in the Maze Page 7