by J B Black
Carlos promptly informed Yasser that his fee for handling such a risky smuggling operation would be ten million dollars.
Yasser had only brought two million dollars with him. He contacted his superiors, told them how much more money Carlos wanted for smuggling the bio-weapons into the United States, and received authorization to draw the additional funds from one of the Jihad Brotherhood’s banks in the Cayman Islands.
When Yasser contacted the Brotherhood’s bank in the Cayman Islands, he was informed by the bank’s manager that the eight million in cash and an armored truck to transport the money from the bank to a nearby airfield would be available on Thursday morning.
Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the Brotherhood’s G550 flew Hashim al-Harbi and the four body guards over to the Cayman Islands where they would stay overnight. They would pick up the money from the bank after it opened on Thursday morning and return to the hacienda by early afternoon that very same day.
* * *
“Father, is it really your intention to smuggle the bio-weapons across the border for these jihadists?” Raúl asked.
“I think it is time to sever our relationship with the Jihad Brotherhood, Raúl. It was bad enough when they thought we were foolish enough to actually believe them when they told us the men we smuggled across the border for them were innocent refugees.
“Now, they want us to smuggle a deadly bio-weapon into the United States. And they weren’t going to … no, make that they refused to tell me it was a weapon of mass destruction they wanted smuggled across the border. I had to send our chief chemist to find out what it was they wanted smuggled into the United States. Turns out it’s some weaponized version of a virus they intend to set loose on the gringos hoping to wipe out half the gringo population. We could lose half of our customers in the United States. Hell, it might even spread back across the border and kill us, too.
“No, son, it just doesn’t make good business sense to continue doing business with a customer when that customer is determined to kill off your best customer.”
“What do you plan to do?” Raúl asked.
“After they deliver the money to us, tomorrow, we’ll kill them all.”
CHAPTER 23
FBIS Headquarters
Washington, DC
Thursday, May 6, 2010
7:00 a.m. EDT
When he arrived at FBIS Headquarters, Jake went directly to see his boss, Director of the FBIS, retired Lt. General Garrett Davidson. General Davidson was at his desk going through a stack of documents. Jake walked into the office and took a seat in one of the armchairs in front of the General’s desk and waited for the General to finish what he was doing.
After a moment, General Davidson looked up from the document he had been reading, removed his reading glasses, rubbed his tired eyes, and said, “That’s what I like, people who love their job so much, they come in early. What have you got on your mind, Jake?”
“I got a call from Reb late last night, General.”
“How’s our friend, Reb, doing?”
“Not well, sir,” Jake said, and proceeded to bring the General up to speed on Reb’s plight.
When Jake finished, General Davidson picked up the handset of the phone on his desk and buzzed his secretary. When she answered, he said, “Virginia, be a dear and get the head of the DEA on the line for me, please.”
After placing the handset back on its cradle, General Davidson looked across his desk at Jake and said, “So, Reb and the Chief of Police there in Seaside Beach took one of the drug cartel’s drug smuggling boats away from them along with its load of drugs. Why am I not surprised? It’s a real shame that Reb’s girlfriend had to get caught up in this affair. Her being in Mexico when this happened was just another case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. Those drug cartel thugs made a big mistake kidnapping her. Reb’ll be on a rampage until he gets her back. And we’re going to do everything in our power to help him. We can’t be having these drug cartels thinking they can get away with kidnapping American citizens. When we’re done with them, they’ll feel like they were hit by a ton of bricks. That’s for damn sure.”
The General’s phone buzzed and he picked up the handset. “Yes, Virginia. Okay, put him on.”
Jake commented, “That sure was quick.”
“Ever since the FBIS was created after 9/11, our charter has given us a certain amount of clout in this town. Furthermore, the heads of the agencies we have to interact with know it never hurts to at least act like they’re cooperating with our organization.”
General Davidson pushed the button on the phone to put it on speaker, so Jake could listen in on the conversation, and placed the handset back in its cradle.
George Longhorn, head of the DEA, came on the line. “Good morning, General Davidson. What can the DEA do for the FBIS?”
“Good morning, George. I’m afraid we’ve got a situation that requires the assistance of your organization. Who on your team handles the Vicario drug cartel in Mexico?”
“The Vicario cartel? Let me see, General. That would be Maria Gonzalez. She’s the Deputy Assistant Director in charge of our operations for that part of Mexico.”
“George, would you be so kind as to read her in on who we are and what level of cooperation we are to be given and then have her call on me ASAP? I urgently need to pick her brain about this Vicario cartel.”
“Certainly, General. You can expect her at your office, shortly.”
“Thank you, George. I really appreciate your help.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, General Davidson and Jake were seated on one side of the big table in the General’s private conference room. Maria Gonzalez, Deputy Assistant Director at the DEA, was seated across the table from them.
Maria Gonzalez took a small recording device out of her purse and placed it on the table in front of her. “You don’t mind me keeping notes so I don’t forget anything important, do you, gentlemen?”
“Of course not, Ms. Gonzalez,” General Davidson answered.
“Please, call me Maria. So, what’s your interest in the Vicario drug cartel?”
“They’ve kidnapped a friend of ours, a woman by the name of Honey Brown, while she was on a work assignment in Cancun. She’s being held for ransom and an exchange is to take place at the airport in Veracruz. We’re planning a rescue mission. What can you tell us that may be of help?”
“The Vicario cartel has a hacienda—a large plantation of around fifteen thousand acres—located about 75 miles outside of the city of Veracruz. That’s their headquarters and that’s probably where your friend is being held. They grow a lot of sugar cane there at the hacienda. That’s the only legitimate side to their business. On the dirty side, they have a large number of industrial size greenhouses where they grow poppy plants for the production of opium and they have a large-scale production facility on site to process the opium into heroin. Last, but not least, the cartel has an industrial scale facility for the production of crystal meth there at the hacienda. Also, they have an airstrip large enough to accommodate the business jets that fly in and out of there. Furthermore, we’ve long suspected the cartel operates one or more cargo ships out of the Port of Veracruz that transport their drugs along with the hacienda’s sugar to destinations along the Gulf Coast—Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. We’ve just never been able to catch them at it.
“What’s the DEA doing to shut them down?” Jake asked.
“Graft buys the Mexican drug cartels a whole lot of protection from the local government officials. The corrupt officials make more from the drug cartels than they do from their government salaries. Bottom line is they work for the cartels. We try to infiltrate our people into the cartels, but, when they’re discovered, they’re tortured and then killed. It’s a very hazardous occupation these days.”
“Maria, do you think you could get us confirmation Miss Brown is being held at the hacienda?” Jake asked. “It would be a really big help to us if you
could find that out.”
Gonzalez hesitated a moment before saying, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Gonzalez then opened her briefcase and retrieved a large manila envelope which she slid across the table toward the two men.
Jake picked up the envelope and said, “What’s this?”
Maria smiled at Jake and said, “Aerial photos and maps of the hacienda showing the location of the various buildings along with GPS coordinates, floor plans of the mansion, maps of the surrounding area including the city of Veracruz, you know, things that might come in handy if someone were planning on conducting a raid, that sort of thing.”
Maria stood up and said, “If that’s all gentlemen, I’ll run along and see what I can find out about the exact location where your friend is being held.”
CHAPTER 24
Hacienda Vicario
Veracruz, Mexico
Thursday, May 6, 2010
7:00 a.m. CDT
Honey and Sarah were dressed and waiting when Raúl knocked on the door to their guest suite for the second time that morning. The first time had occurred around six thirty when he had knocked on their door to let them know breakfast would be served at seven and he would be back to collect them at that time.
Honey and Sarah followed Raúl in silence to the end of the breezeway where it intersected with the South wing of the mansion. There they took the stairs down to the ground floor and entered the courtyard. They quickly walked across the courtyard to the west wing and entered the door to the breakfast room adjacent to the kitchen.
As they entered the breakfast room, Honey noticed Carlos as he walked out of the room through another door that led to the formal dining room.
A very attractive young woman was seated at the breakfast table. She had finished her breakfast and was drinking coffee. She turned toward Raúl and said, “Carlos didn’t mention we had other guests, Raúl.”
“Good morning, Sophia,” Raúl replied.
Raúl turned to Honey and Sarah and said, “Ladies, this is Sophia Cortez, mistress of the house.”
Raúl turned back to Sophia and said, “Sophia, this is Honey Brown and Sarah Smith. They will be staying with us until Friday.”
Honey and Sarah took their seats at the breakfast table.
“Ladies, I’ll return in half an hour to escort you back to your suite,” Raúl said and then left the room.
“Good morning ladies,” Sophia said. “Welcome to Hacienda Vicario.”
“Thank you, Sophia,” Honey said. “By the way, last night, when we were on the way to our guest suite, we walked past the open door of one of the other guest suites. I could hear some men talking inside, but couldn’t quite place what language they were speaking.”
“You must mean our Middle Eastern guests,” Sophia said.
“Oh. Will they be joining us for breakfast?” Honey asked.
Sophia laughed. “No, fortunately. Seems they prefer to prepare their meals in their suite. They don’t appreciate our Mexican breakfast cuisine. Something to do with the pork sausage, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Or maybe it’s about being around attractive Western women. Who aren’t covered from head to toe in those ugly looking outfits their women wear. And can say no to their unwanted sexual advances. It’s got to be awfully frustrating not being able to control your animal urges and having to resort to pulling your pud to get some sexual release,” Honey said.
Sarah looked confused and asked, “Okay, what’s pulling your pud?”
Honey replied, “Spanking the monkey.”
Sarah looked even more confused.
“I know you’ve heard the term jerking off,” Honey said.
The light went on in Sarah’s eyes and she said, “Oh. Well, bless their hearts.”
All three women started laughing at the thought of the sexually frustrated Middle Eastern men up in their rooms jerking off.
As if on cue, the cook and an assistant came out of the kitchen pushing a cart with serving trays that were loaded with a coffee service for two, and two plates for Honey and Sarah filled with fried eggs on top of hot, fried corn tortillas, smothered in cooked salsa. Another plate full of chorizo sausage was placed on the table between Honey and Sarah in case they enjoyed having spicy sausage along with their eggs for breakfast.
As Honey and Sarah dug into their breakfast, Sophia said, “I go for a swim every morning. We have a lovely pool out in back. You’re more than welcome to join me, if you would care to?”
Sarah, whose mouth was full, shook her head and Honey said, “Thank you, but I’ll pass, too.”
Sophia stood up and said, “In that case then, I’ll see you again at lunch.”
After Sophia left the room, Sarah said, “She seems nice enough.”
Honey finished swallowing what she’d been chewing before saying, “Yeah, as mistresses of drug cartel bosses go, she’s just peachy.”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Sarah replied.
“What I’m saying is, don’t go expecting Miss Sophia to be helping us out of this mess we’re in, is all,” Honey said.
CHAPTER 25
DEA Headquarters
Washington, DC
Thursday, May 6, 2010
8:00 a.m. EDT
When Maria Gonzalez returned to the DEA headquarters, she stopped in her outer office at the desk of her personal assistant, Ann Williams, and handed Ann a handwritten sheet of paper she had prepared while riding back from the FBIS’s headquarters, wherein she had summarized her meeting with General Davidson and Jake Gant.
Ann gave the sheet of paper a quick glance. Maria’s notes stated that Deputy Assistant Director Maria Gonzalez of the DEA had met with General Garrett Davidson, Director of the FBIS, and his deputy, Jake Gant. General Davidson had informed Gonzalez that he believed an American citizen by the name of Honey Brown had been kidnapped by the Vicario Drug Cartel in Mexico and was being held for ransom. The FBIS had made an official request for the DEA to furnish the FBIS with whatever information the DEA had available on the Vicario Drug Cartel.
“Ann, I need you to type up a report from this and create a file for it. Title it Vicario Cartel dash FBIS Inquiry,” Maria said.
“I’ll get right on it, Boss,” Ann replied.
Maria turned and headed to her office. As she was walking toward her office, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Ann, hold all my calls until I tell you otherwise.”
“Will do, Boss.”
After shutting the door to her office and locking it, Maria sat down at her desk, opened her laptop, and selected a program that displayed a birds-eye view of the stalls and the lavatories in the women’s restroom just down the hallway from her office.
Maria had recently installed state of the art, miniature video cameras equipped with microphones capable of picking up the slightest whisper made within a twenty-foot range in the ceiling tiles above each of the toilets and over each of the lavatories in the restroom.
* * *
As soon as her boss stepped inside her office and closed the door, Ann Williams got up from her desk, stepped across the hallway, and stuck her head into the outer office of the Deputy Director for Western Mexico.
She got the attention of the personal assistant sitting behind the desk and said, “Jenny, cover for me while I go to the ladies, please. I won’t be long.”
Ann entered the ladies room and made sure she was the only one there before going into one of the cubicles. She locked the door, sat down on top of the toilet, took out her phone and dialed a number from memory.
When Victor Atherton answered, Ann said, “Hey, I’ve got something for you.”
Ann quickly gave out the details she’d read from the note her boss had given her about the meeting with the FBIS. After she finished telling Victor what she knew, Victor said, “I think that bit of information deserves a bonus for you this month.”
“Oh goody. When will I be seeing you again, for that bonus?”
“How about tonight?” Victor s
aid. “Nine o’clock at your place?”
“Okay, I’ll see you at nine at my place,” Ann said.
* * *
Maria Gonzalez closed her laptop. For several minutes she sat at her desk and debated about what to do about the mole in her department, now that she knew who it was.
Several more minutes passed and she heard Ann come back into the outer office.
Finally, Maria took out her smartphone and sent a text message to the undercover DEA agent who had most recently managed to infiltrate the Vicario cartel.
CHAPTER 26
Hacienda Vicario
Veracruz, Mexico
Thursday, May 6, 2010
7:20 a.m. CDT
Carlos Vicario was in his study watching a soccer match on one of the sports channels on his satellite TV system when his phone rang. He picked up the phone and said, “Yes?”
“This is Victor Atherton.”
Carlos recognized the voice of the handsome young lawyer who was a lobbyist in Washington, DC. Victor Atherton performed various services for the cartel. His main function, as far as Carlos was concerned, was to keep Carlos informed whenever the DEA was planning some major operation that might adversely affect his cartel.
To that end, Atherton recruited female employees who worked at the DEA Headquarters to become informants for him and, in turn, the Vicario drug cartel. Atherton frequented the watering holes favored by the female administrative staff at the DEA. When he found a likely prospect, he would use his powers of seduction to gain their friendship and later bribe them with large amounts of the cartel’s money to gain their cooperation to provide him with any information they happened across that involved the Vicario cartel. In the last year alone, Atherton had doled out almost a million dollars in bribes to his all-female stable of informants at the DEA headquarters. Carlos was well satisfied with the results, so far.
“Go ahead,” Carlos said.