by Mike Ryan
“Eight to ten thousand?!” Turner astonishingly asked. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. So if a highly sought after criminal slips a couple bucks to some police offers every month to keep his whereabouts silent, man could stay hidden for quite a while,” Cole explained.
Cole was correct in his assertion. Police officers in Mexico were woefully underpaid and often poorly trained. Drug trafficking was a major problem in Mexico, with cocaine, heroin, and marijuana being among the chief exports. It was also one of the main causes of corruption, with many police officers being on the drug cartel’s payrolls. Drug trafficking was also a major source of violent crime in the country. Some police officers who’d taken bribes did so under strict circumstances. Either take the bribe or be killed. Corruption wasn’t limited to just police officers though, as it also went up the chain of all government offices.
“You,” Cole said, pointing at Turner. “You’re not to leave this room without one of us with you.”
“Why?” he asked.
“You’re an easy mark down there on the street.”
“I can handle myself.”
“What if some police officer comes up on you and extorts you for something? Or someone marks you for a pickpocket?”
“You make this seem like the wild west out here,” Turner said. “Millions of people come to Mexico every year. I’m sure not every single one of them were targeted for some type of crime.”
Cole shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“We all need to be careful,” Parker said. “Corruption is a big problem down here. Talk to the wrong person and you can be targeted.”
“One thing’s for sure. This ain’t Los Angeles. Getting Nikishin within twenty four hours like the others is a long shot…at best,” Cole noted.
Cole was right in his assessment. Getting Yaroslav Nikishin was going to be their trickiest target. Nikishin not only had the backing of the Yevenko organization, he had dozens of public officials and police officers on his payroll. Since the first hit by the CIA on him missed, he successfully went underground into hiding, seemingly not seen by anybody since that day. Cole had already asked his contacts about him, but none had any information for him. Parker likewise checked with her informants, but she wound up having the same success that Cole did. None.
They worked around the clock on getting some type of lead, anything that could be of some substance. Friends, girlfriends, acquaintances, anybody that was known to have any sort of contact with Nikishin, was contacted and questioned. They all claimed to have no knowledge of the criminal’s current whereabouts. The days quickly started adding up and before they knew it, five days had flown by. They were no closer to finding Nikishin than they were when they first started. They had absolutely no leads and seemed to be out of options. They were getting frustrated by their lack of progress on the case. They’d gathered in Parker’s room on the sixth day to discuss what else they could do that they hadn’t done already. They were throwing all possible ideas on the table, whether they were actually viable or not. At this point, they were just about ready to try anything, even the longest of long shots.
“I have an idea,” Turner mentioned.
“Keep it to yourself,” Cole frustratingly responded. “It won’t work.”
“You haven’t even heard it yet.”
“If you’re thinking of it…it won’t work. Or we’ve already thought of it, or tried it already.”
“Well, if he’s disappeared by throwing some money around…why don’t we make him reappear by doing the same thing,” he said.
Parker and Cole looked at each other, thinking that they may just have to give it a shot. “I’ve thought about that already, but we’d have to know who can be bribed,” Cole replied. “I mean, we can’t just go around offering money to people, especially if we pick the wrong cop.”
“He’s right,” Parker said. “Here’s what we can do though; let’s contact Burnett and ask her if she has any intel on government officials who are of questionable standing and see what she can find out.”
“We can also have her check the police in the jurisdiction that Nikishin worked in. If there’s a few that stand out with questionable behavior, that would give us the edge we need. I’ll get her on the horn,” Cole said, springing out of his chair to call Burnett.
To be able to get the kind of information they were looking for, Burnett would have to pull some favors and consult with someone in Mexico’s government in order to acquire that information. Luckily, she knew someone within CISEN, their national security and investigation branch. But, that kind of information would require time and effort, and the agents weren’t likely to get it within the day.
“Guess we can just stay here for the day and order in,” Turner suggested, smiling to his girlfriend as he snuggled up to her.
Parker smiled at the idea, not opposed to it in the least. Cole rolled his eyes and had enough of his innuendo.
“C’mon, Cole. You could always hit the night life here, find a strip joint or two,” Turner insinuated.
Cole had a disgusted look on his face. “You must be joking.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I hate this place.”
“Really? Why? I thought Mexico was a popular vacation spot.”
“In case you forgot, genius, we’re not on vacation,” Cole growled. “Plus, this city’s dirty, graffiti everywhere, and it’s too small. I feel confined. Reminds me of Los Angeles or San Francisco.”
“I’m just wondering, but do you pretty much hate everywhere you go?”
Cole looked up to the ceiling, pondering the question. “Uhh, no, not everywhere. Most of North and South America I do. Parts of Europe are OK. Asia, Africa…not so much.”
“You’re a hopeless cause, you know that? I think you like being miserable.”
“I’m not miserable,” Cole countered. “I’m just not as easily swayed by stupid nonsense like some people.” Cole waited a few seconds for a response, but didn’t get any. “What? No comeback?” he asked, slightly disappointed the bantering was over.
“Uhh, no, no, you got me. I have no more words for you,” Turner dryly replied.
“I’m out of here,” he huffed. “Let me know if you here from Burnett.”
With not having any leads to work with, despite what he said about not really liking the city, Cole spent the rest of the day walking around in it. He figured at the very least, maybe he could find a woman or two to spend a few hours with. Parker and Turner, however, were quite comfortable staying inside and ordering room service for the rest of the night.
As they approached noon the following day, Burnett contacted them with some information she’d acquired. Turner went over to Cole’s room to have him sit in on the call. Soon after knocking, Cole answered the door, with an American looking woman exiting at the same time.
“Do you have like a revolving door or something?” Turner asked.
“Why? Jealous?” Cole smiled.
“No. Not at all.”
“Looking for some pointers? Alex not enough for you?”
“Uhhh….,” Turner stumbled, not having words for him. “Uhh, yeah, Burnett’s on the line. You might wanna come over.”
“Be right there.”
Turner went back to his room. Parker was sitting by the laptop, waiting for Burnett to come on.
“You know I just saw another woman exiting Cole’s room,” Turner informed her.
“Really?”
“This one was American.”
“Well, Cole certainly isn’t choosy about….well, when it comes to women, he’s not really choosy about anything,” Parker stated.
“I heard that,” Cole said, entering the room.
“Do you deny it?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t true.”
Just as Cole got there, Burnett appeared on the secure feed.
“Good. You’re all here,” she greeted.
Turner was about to reply with a joke, but thought better
of it. Burnett wasn’t usually one who appreciated his sense of humor.
“Come up with anything?” Cole asked.
“Indeed I did. Thanks to my friend in CISEN, I have a list that he provided of people that he suspects would be involved in taking bribes. Whether they are, or have been, taking them from Nikishin is another matter. I’m emailing the list over to you. It’s ten names, with all of their personal information on it.”
“What makes this list so special? I mean, what makes them likely?”
“Most of them are police officers or other government officials that don’t make much money. Yet, all of them have recently purchased new cars, new homes, or made other purchases that have sent up red flags. I didn’t ask questions. I asked for a list of people that would be most likely involved in such a case as what we’re investigating. This is what my contact came up with and sent back,” Burnett explained.
“No offense meant by what I’m about to say, but are you sure your contact can be trusted? Is it possible he’s just throwing names against the wall knowing we’re not likely to find anything with them?” Cole asked.
“No offense taken. It’s a question you have the right to ask. While it’s never a hundred percent guarantee when you’re dealing with foreign government agencies and contacts, I’m pretty certain this man is on the level. He wants a better life for his country. I believe the list is authentic and may have the answers that we seek.”
“Have you checked into the list at all?” Parker wondered.
“I have looked at the names and did a brief search on a couple of them, but I haven’t got the time to dig into it with any great detail. That’s where you guys come in.”
“We’ll get right on it,” Cole replied.
“Good. We need to wrap this mission up. It’s been almost a week you guys have been down there. We need to start making some progress.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“If you don’t find Nikishin within the next few days we may have no choice but to chalk the assignment up as a failure and assume he’s gone completely underground. In that case, we’ll have to move on and wait until he resurfaces in the future.”
“We’ll find him,” Cole confidently told her as the call ended.
“You sound so sure of that,” Parker stated, pulling up her email and downloading the file.
“I am. One of these cruds know something. If they’re as dirty as we think they are, they know things.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Sure I am. Cause I’m not leaving here until we get Nikishin.”
Chapter 11
After getting the names from the list they downloaded from Burnett, the agents spent several hours checking and cross referencing those names. Personal information, job information, where they lived, where they worked, friends, family, almost every possible piece of information they needed, was there.
“I’ve gotta hand it to whoever Burnett’s contact is,” Cole praised. “This list is pretty thorough.”
“I agree,” Parker said. “There’s no doubt most of these are probably on the take.”
“Now we’ve just gotta find the right one.”
Their plan was to narrow down their focus to one or two names on the list. They thought if they talked to every single person on it, one of them would dime them out, and it’d get back to Nikishin that the agents were getting close. No, the plan was to focus on one or two names and get what they needed from them, before word spread that the agents were still there. They continued whittling the list down, cross referencing known areas where Nikishin was known to frequent. Six hours after receiving the list from Burnett, the agents narrowed the names down to one. One name stuck out more than any other. Marcos Castellanos. He was a police officer, in his mid-twenties, and was living in a condo that was obviously above his pay grade. Castellanos had also recently purchased a new thirty thousand dollar car in the past three months. Considering he didn’t come from a wealthy family, the agents believed it was fairly certain that he was getting extra money from somewhere. There was no known, legal second job to account for his expensive tastes. He was also assigned to patrol the same area that Nikishin was known to be in, including Nikishin’s small café that he used as a front.
“How you wanna take him?” Cole asked.
“Let’s just stake out his condo,” Parker answered. “He’ll probably be more willing to talk after getting home from work. More tired.”
“When you wanna do this?”
“Might as well do it now.”
Cole went back to his room and got his stuff together, while Parker and Turner did the same. Once they were finished, they each came out with duffel bags, their necessary gear and equipment inside.
“What do you keep in there anyway?” Cole wondered.
“A lady never tells,” Parker kidded.
They went to Cole’s van and immediately drove over to Castellano’s address. They looked for his brand new red car, but it wasn’t in sight. They assumed he was still working so they waited in the van until he showed up.
“So what exactly is the plan, anyway?” Turner asked.
“When he shows up, we go in and talk to him,” Cole replied.
“Oh. Just like that, huh?”
“And he’s just gonna give up his meal ticket just like that, huh?”
“Well, I didn’t say it would necessarily be a civil and pleasant conversation.”
“So what’re you gonna do? Beat it out of him?”
Cole smiled. “As fun as that seems, beatings aren’t always effective. I’ve got a little something that should do the trick. And much faster.”
Parker looked at him, having a good idea of what he was talking about. Although she never used such methods, she’d seen them in use before. They waited until just after one in the morning before they saw a sign of Castellanos. They saw his car driving up the street, parking in his spot. Parker nudged Turner, who’d fallen asleep, to get himself ready.
“We going now?” Turner wondered.
“Not yet,” Cole responded.
“What’re we waiting for?”
“Well, you can either go for it right away, surprising them as soon as they walk in the door, or you can wait until they’ve settled in for a while. In this case, when he goes to bed.”
“How are you gonna know that?”
“Usually when the lights go out, it’s a good sign,” Cole sarcastically said.
They sat there for another hour, staring up at Castellanos’ condo, watching him periodically go from room to room, mostly from the living room to the kitchen. After an hour, though, all the lights went off except for a small light in the bedroom. A few minutes later, that light went off as well, indicating he was now in bed.
“We going?” Turner asked, getting impatient.
“Not yet,” Cole replied.
“What’re we waiting for?”
“Give him a chance to settle in. Let some sheep run around in his head.”
“Sheep? Really?”
“Isn’t that the sleep thing? Counting sheep or something,” Cole stated.
“Uhh…something like that.”
Another hour went by before they decided to make their move. The three of them exited the van and approached the condo under the darkness of the night. The streets were basically devoid of activity, cloaking their movements. Once they got to the door, Cole bent down to pick the lock on the door.
“Ahem,” Parker grumbled.
Cole stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. “What?”
“What have we previously talked about with doors?”
Cole mumbled and rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he replied, standing up and letting his partner take over.
“We both know I’m better at entering a building,” she told him. “We’ve talked about this.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you start the interrogation.”
An almost evil smile came over Cole’s fa
ce and his eyes lit up at the thought of it. Parker had the door unlocked in about thirty seconds. Cole just shook his head.
“I could’ve gotten it,” he said.
“Yeah. A couple minutes later,” Parker responded.
“Still would’ve gotten it.”
“OK, enough of the bantering, can we go in now?” Turner whispered.
The three entered the darkened condo, entering into the main living area of the three floor unit.
“Bedroom’s on the third floor,” Cole told them.
“I’ll clear this floor first,” Parker said. “You take the second.”
Cole nodded, immediately finding the steps and proceeding up to the second floor. Turner stuck behind his girlfriend as Parker went through the first floor to make sure there were no unexpected surprises. After a few minutes, and with it clear, they went up to the second floor, meeting Cole at the top of the steps. Without speaking, Cole pointed up to the third floor, indicating the second was also clear. Cole led the charge up to the third floor, where a pair of bedrooms were located, including Castellanos’. They stood just outside his bedroom, the door wide open for them to see inside. He was soundly sleeping in his bed, his back toward the door and his uninvited guests. Cole’s smile widened, seeing how easy it was going to be. They rushed in, Cole immediately walloping Castellanos’ head a few times to subdue him. Parker and Turner grabbed the sleeping man’s legs, though it was largely irrelevant after Cole hit him a few times, rendering him useless.
“Ah, he’s out,” Cole observed.
“Was that part of the plan?” Turner asked.
“Shut up and grab that chair in the corner,” he ordered.
Turner went to the corner and grabbed the wooden chair, bringing it over to the bed. Cole positioned it the way he wanted, then went to his bag and removed some rope.
“Is that standard issue?” Turner wondered, surprised he was carrying it.
“Have to be prepared,” Cole replied. “Here, help me get this joker on here.”
Turner did as he was asked, and helped Cole remove the knocked out Castellanos from the bed, sitting him on the chair. Cole took the police officer’s hands and tied them together behind the chair. Their prisoner started waking up, but Cole figured he’d help him out with the process. He went into the bathroom and found a cup, filling it with cold water. He walked back out to the tied up man and dumped the water over his head.