“Wait a minute, we just rescued everybody,” Carlos said. “Let’s not undo everything we worked so hard to accomplish; we don’t want to put you two in jeopardy by having you both waltz around the back parking lot of the Global Hotel and Casino. Those security cameras are there for a reason.”
“Okay,” I said, “that’s a valid point. Why don’t you and Jamie come along as back-up? Mikey and Melinda can keep an eye on Alphonso. Rick and I promise to keep a low profile.”
“And speaking of Alphonso,” Carlos said, “how are you going to contact Fagamo without endangering yourself, giving him a way to trace your number, maybe pay you a little visit?”
“I’d be willing to bet that Alphonso’s cell phone has Fagamo’s number on it,” I said. “Why don’t we just call him using Big Ear’s cell, tell Fagamo we have Alphonso and we want to make a trade. We’ll say we’ll call him again at 10:00AM the day after tomorrow with the details.”
“But we don’t have any details,” Rick said.
“No, we don’t,” I said, “at least not yet, but right now we’re just stalling for time, and who knows, maybe by 10:00AM Monday morning, we’ll have some.”
“I do have a suggestion regarding Alphonso,” Rick said, “I vote we feed him nothing but pizza for as long as he’s tied to that chair, see if he gets as tired of it as we did.”
“I agree,” Jamie said, “I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m never eating pizza again.”
“Sounds fair to me, can we get ready to go?” I said.
We went back inside. Alphonso had a greeting for us as we came in. “My boys are going to be looking for me,” he said, “and they will tear this town apart brick by brick until they find me.”
“I got a news flash for you hot shot,” I said, “your boys left you for dead on the warehouse floor. They were too busy saving themselves to worry about you. In fact they’re probably celebrating your disappearance right now with a big dish of Spumoni, maybe a cannoli or two on the side. When we asked them if there was anyone else in the building they said no. So let’s be clear on one thing, that pretty speech about your boys tearing this town apart brick by brick is just so much wishful thinking.”
I let him chew on that for a while and turned to Mickey and Melinda. “If this guy gives you any grief whatsoever, is disrespectful to you in any way, shape or form,” I said, “I want you to use that duct tape to close his yap. I looked at Mikey, “Is that something you promise me you will do?”
“Yes,” he said, “don’t worry. We won’t let him cause any problems.”
“Good,” I said.
I picked Alphonso’s cell phone out of the pile of his belongings and headed for the front porch.
“Excuse me,” I said, “I have a call to make.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
PING CHOU, DEPUTY COUNSEL-GENERAL, CHINESE CONSULATE, SAN FRANCISCO
P ing Chou was dictating a memo to his personal secretary when General Li Chen called. Chou dismissed his secretary with a wave of his hand so that he and the General could talk in private.
“General Chen, what a pleasant surprise,” Ping Chou said, hoping to conceal his annoyance at the unwanted interruption in his morning routine.
“Yes,” the General said, “it has been too long old friend and I apologize for not calling more often, but something has come up and I need a favor.
So, thought Ping Chou, the time has come to pay the debt I owe Li Chen. “What is it I can do for you?” Ping Chou said.
“I need you to go to Las Vegas for me,” Chen said.
Ping Chou had been to Las Vegas many times. He liked to gamble, of course, and the extravagant buffets were partly responsible for his ever expanding waistline, but the women were the main reason he liked Las Vegas so much.
“Las Vegas?” Chou said, as if biting into a lemon. “My schedule is filled with important obligations; there is no way I could take the time to go to Las Vegas.”
He wanted Chen to believe that going to Las Vegas was a huge imposition. He ran the list of show girls he knew through his mind. There was one at Wynn Las Vegas, one at the Tropicana and one at Global Entertainment, and they were all exquisite.
“I’m sorry,” Chen said, undaunted, but there is an issue regarding a pipeline at the Global hotel and Casino. This pipeline has sprung a leak. I need you to talk to a Mr. Alphonso Vietri there to ascertain the extent of the leak and how soon it can be repaired.
Pipeline can only refer to money, thought Chou, as he asked for the spelling and then wrote the name down.
“I would be more than willing to assist you in any way I could,” Chou said. “But, unfortunately, my schedule prevents me from going to Las Vegas.” There was no sense in making this easy for him, Chou thought, show girls or no show girls.
“I’m sure your schedule is full,” Chen said, “but I would consider this a huge favor. Let’s not be crude and call it payment for a past debt, shall we? If you are able to do this small thing for me it is I who would owe you.”
“Now who is the diplomat?” Chou said, laughing. The English term is reciprocity, but the Chinese had it down to an art form, without centuries of one hand washing the other China would still be mired in The Great Leap Forward.
“I could never pretend to be anywhere near the diplomat you are,” Chen said, “But I have learned much from you over the years.”
“Thank you my friend, I will clear my schedule despite the many difficulties that presents,” Chou said.
Knowing that Li Chen seemed desperate and needed the information concerning this leak very badly, he decided to make the most of his opportunity. “There may be certain expenditures not allocated for in my trip budget,” Chou said, thinking that the girl at Global Entertainment, Tiffany, was an expensive date, but aloud he said “Obtaining information is never cheap.”
“I will send you all the details by Diplomatic Courier; you should have them in 24 hours. I will be sure to include an additional allowance for any contingencies you may encounter,” Li Chen said.
“You are too kind, old friend,” Chou said. “I will do my best to find out all I can.”
“I’m sure you will,” Li Chen said. “In fact, I’m counting on you. I will talk to you again soon.”
Ping Chou was nothing if not diligent. He liked to think that he had gotten to such a high position in life not because of his political connections, which were many, but because of his hard work and attention to detail.
And while it was true he enjoyed the finer things in life, he always prided himself on his ability to do the work before indulging in the ample pleasures that life provided. But he had been working far too hard lately and perhaps a trip to Las Vegas was just what the doctor ordered.
Stacked was the American slang word for Tiffany, but in any language Tiffany was gorgeous. It had been too long since he had enjoyed her many charms. He asked his secretary to clear his schedule and book his flight to Las Vegas. Then he picked up his cell phone and scrolled through the names until he came to Tiffany.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
FAY
A s it turned out, Fagamo was agreeable to our suggestion. He seemed like a reasonable guy. Of course, the fact that we had Alphonso’s cell phone lent credence to our claim we had Alphonso as well. And besides, I imagined that after the fiasco at the warehouse he was worn out from putting his foot so far up the ass end of all four of his incompetent hired hands that he was most likely, as the hospital spokespersons like to say, resting comfortably and didn’t have the strength to argue with us.
Either way, he was willing to wait until 10:00AM Monday morning to listen to what we had to say. Rick and I got to the Global Hotel and Casino a little after 11:00PM and set up shop at the back end of the parking lot and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk much,” Rick said. “I’m wondering if you remember our conversation in the elevator the night we hacked Alphonso’s computer?”
“That’s right,”
I said, “I forgot all about it. You said you would tell me later. Something about infuriating the Chinese”
Rick nodded, “After I stole Alphonso’s signature and social security number, I programmed the USB Key to not only open the bank account in Macau, but to also open an account for him at HSBC Bank. It was designed to open ten days after the first account. Here’s the thing you need to know, all the funds to the Chinese accounts, the larger one in Beijing and the smaller one in Macau will stop. The money will now only be going to the HSBC Bank in New York City.
“Why that bank?” I said.
“HSBC has almost 4,000 offices in over 70 countries around the world,” Rick said. ”You can access your account on-line 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ideal for someone on the run, someone who can go anywhere in the world and still have access to their money.” Besides, the name was irresistible, the provocative, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, merely a way to twist the knife a little.”
“So, they’re supposed to think that Alphonso is now completely welching on the deal and making a run for it?” I said. Rick nodded, “That’s the idea,” he said.
“So when is this supposed to happen?” I said.
“Tomorrow,” Rick said. “The ten days ends tomorrow.”
“Well, you said you wanted to get their attention,” I said.
“I think I may have gone too far this time.” Rick said.
“How will you know?” I said.
“When they come looking for me instead of Alphonso,” Rick said. “They’ve had more than enough time to discover our names on the account application for the Portuguese bank in Macao. I’m worried that if they dig deeper they’ll suspect it’s not Alphonso pulling the strings and that I’m the only one with the background to pull this off.”
“I’m sorry I drug you into this,” I said. “But without your help we couldn’t have done anything.”
”I have no regrets,” Rick said. “Without spending those long days and nights in captivity talking to Jamie we never would have grown so close. We were wondering how many people have fallen in love while tied up next to each other in a warehouse?”
“She’s my best friend in the whole world,” I said. “She means the world to me.”
“She means the world to me too,” Rick said.
We sat in silence for a while and after watching dozens of people parade by in their Global employee uniforms we finally got lucky and caught Fay making her way across the parking lot. When we caught up to her she didn’t seem thrilled to see us, especially Rick, and was anxious to leave us standing in the dark, our hats in our hands. I decided to make one last attempt and stepped in front of her, “Fay,” I said, “please, we really need your help and we don’t know who else to ask. Can you at least talk to me?” She paused momentarily and gave me a good look.
“Are you C.R’s kid?” she said, finally.
“Yes I am,” I said, taken aback.
“I can see the resemblance,” she said. “There’s a coffee shop on Fremont, downtown, just off of 6th street. Can you be there tomorrow morning, say 8:30AM?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I can be there.”
“No offense to your friend,” she said, nodding at Rick, “but can you come alone?”
“Sure,” I said, “Sure I can come alone.”
“Okay,” she said. “See you then.” She walked towards the entrance to the casino without looking back. I motioned to Rick and we headed in the opposite direction back towards Carlos and Jamie.
“Any luck?” Carlos said, when we returned to the car.
“I’m not sure, but at least she agreed to meet me tomorrow morning at some coffee shop downtown, at 6th Street and Fremont,” I said.
“That must be ‘The Beat,’ it’s a combination record store and coffee shop,” Carlos said.
“She wants me to come alone,” I said.
“Well, she can think you’re alone,” Carlos said, “but I want to be there to keep an eye on you.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to use that worn out totally transparent Navy SEAL ploy of pretending to read the newspaper again?” I said.
“Of course not, this time I’ll pretend I’m looking at the records,” he said.
“Oh, that sounds so much better,” I said. “Why is it that I think that the Navy SEALS learned all their espionage trade secrets at the Boris and Natasha School for Spies?”
“Don’t start,” he said, frowning, “it’s been a long day and you know I’m only trying to keep you safe.”
He was right about that, it had been a long day. Not to mention the fact that there was something in the tone of his voice that told me that now was not the time for my alligator mouth to overload my hummingbird ass. I decided to change gears. I put the palm of my hand against his face, gazed into his eyes and said, “I know sweetheart, and I’m so glad that I’ll have such a big, strong Navy SEAL there to protect me.”
I think I could have pulled it off too if I hadn’t started to laugh. Even Carlos cracked up. We giggled like first graders all the way back to the car.
When we got back to the apartment I found Rick and Jamie in the living room and I asked Jamie if she would let me borrow Rick for a few minutes as I wanted him to help me do some research on the computer.
“Sure thing,” Jamie said, “What’s up?”
“I just need Rick to help me put a few puzzle pieces in place,” I said, “and I’m hoping it won’t take long.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
FULL NINJA
T he briefing was held in the Zhou Enlai meeting room, a large rectangular dimly lit space with rows of tables and chairs, three windows along the east side, and the standard drab gray walls that the PLA seemed inordinately fond of. Even Zhou’s color portrait, proclaiming him to be the first Premier of The People’s Republic of China, did little to brighten the place.
Captain Lung scheduled it just before lunch so that it wouldn’t run long and any man who didn’t want the others to know his concerns could discuss them with him afterwards on the long walk to the cafeteria. There might be someone who really didn’t want to go.
The six men chosen for the mission, the so-called “Alpha Team, and the two alternates, Lt. Jing and Lt. Shen, were all present and accounted for. They were waiting for the arrival of Colonel Yeung to begin. The Colonel walked in and apologized for being late. He took a seat in the back of the room and as soon as he looked comfortable Captain Lung glanced at this watch and motioned to Sgt. Wu to begin.
Wu nodded in return and put the first picture on the screen. “This is Katrina ‘Hurricane’ Johnson,” Wu said. “This is taken from her Facebook posting. She is an amateur boxer, who recently turned professional. She is 25 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall is and fights in the 135lb. category, so 1.75 meters tall and 62 kilograms for those of you who slept thru this class at Xi Lan Academy. She has brown hair, brown eyes, and please do not make the mistake of underestimating her because she is a woman. She is thought to be the leader of the group, is weapons qualified, and dangerous at close range.
“This is her father,” Wu said, as he advanced to the next slide, “Carl Robert Johnson, or C.R., as he is commonly known, the picture is taken from the Las Vegas Police Department files, so just over two years ago. He is 54 years old, six feet, two inches, 230 lbs., again, 1.9 meters, 105 kilograms, an ex-marine, who qualified as expert with both the .45 caliber pistol and the M-16, proficient in hand to hand combat, and currently being held in the basement of the Global Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. So, obviously dangerous, but currently neutralized. “Next up,” Wu said, “is Rick Wilkerson, 29 years-old, 6 feet tall, 155 lbs., The picture courtesy of his place of employment, Enterprise Technology Services, where he is head of Computer Security, Mr. Wilkerson has an advanced degree in computer technology from Stanford University and is only dangerous when armed with a keyboard, but someone we are very interested in questioning.
“When we ran Katrina Johnson’s credit card to see if there ha
d been any recent purchases in the state of Nevada, we discovered an expenditure to Enterprise Rental Car, which then gave us an address, an apartment registered to a Carlos Montoya. Mr. Montoya, pictured here, is 25 years-old, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 180 lbs., an ex-Navy SEAL, a veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan who is proficient with a wide variety of weapons, and who, of course, should be considered armed and dangerous.
“Thanks to the latest Yaogan spy satellite, we were able to obtain pictures of the apartment where Ms. Johnson and Mr. Montoya are staying. Pictured here is Apartment #244, you will note that there are two entry points, one being the front door, the other being the sliding door on the balcony. It is believed that this is where Alphonso Vietri, shown here, the CEO of Global Hotel and Casino, is being held against his will. So now that you have all the targets, I will turn the meeting over to Captain Lung who will discuss our Action Plan and current strategy.”
“Thank you Sergeant,” said Captain Lung, moving to the front of the room, “you are to be commended for an outstanding job of research, wading through a large amount of data in a very short amount of time. Just when you thought your kidneys were recovering from filtering countless liters of burnt coffee, we make you drink more. My apologies.”
Captain Lung took the remote control from Sgt. Wu., and then turned to face his men. “Here is the plan so far,” he said. “As it was put together on short notice I’m sure it can be improved upon. If any of you have any suggestions or concerns regarding any perceived weak points please speak up now, better to say something now rather than have it cost us later. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” the group responded in unison
“We have reserved two large cargo vans from Hertz Rent-a-Car at the Las Vegas airport,” he said.
“They are on standby so are available to us on an as needed basis. We will split up into two teams of three men each. Myself, Lt Wang, and Sgt. Wu in Van #1; Captain Tsang, Lt. Cheng and Corporal Ling in Van #2. Each Van equipped so it is capable of carrying out the mission should the other van be disabled. We will maintain contact via cellphone.
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