The Cleansing

by Shane Crosby

  “Good morning fellas. I found something.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve been going over the information we got from the crematory laptop. There are emails referencing a meeting in Dubai. You can purchase a table at the meeting. Before everyone gets happy, I need to kill those dreams and I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat before I delivered the fatal blow.

  “The cost to purchase a table is one million dollars.”

  “What did you say? How much?”

  “Too damn much, that’s for sure.”

  “There’s no way, we can come up with that much money.”

  “Makes me wish I’d stolen some of Saddam’s money when we ran across it. But, no, I had to do the right thing.”

  “Doesn’t that just get to you? We could be rich right now.”

  “Can everyone come back to reality, please?”

  “What kind of meeting? Does it say?”

  “The Attorney General makes a notation in the margins regarding PPV Industries. Doesn't say what it means.

  “When Don and I were looking into that company we couldn't find anything on them. J found everything about them. Now, they're being brought up again.”

  “They've been around committing crimes for a long time. They had a little help from the Russian government, didn't they?”

  “Rumor has it that way.”

  “Best piece of information we've had in almost two years. We have to find out what that meeting is about. And, most importantly how to get invited.”

  “No, what's most important is how are we going to get one million dollars?”

  “There has to be a way.”

  “When you think of it, let the group know.”

  “If it involves spending the rest of my life in a hole somewhere off the grid in a federal government run facility, uh, count me out Cletus.”

  “Since you put it that way, getting the money might just be a little more difficult.”

  LET’S DISCUSS IDEAS

  BUNKER

  Dub

  This morning Mase presented us with an option that could possibly help us to put an exclamation point to this out of control paragraph of a case we’ve inherited. The opportunity presented isn’t an easy one to take advantage of, but I believe it’s doable. My brothers on the other hand only see it as a mountain. And, we’re out of mountain climbing gear nor do we have experience mountain climbing. Therefore, they don’t believe it’s possible.

  As a field operative, you spend many of your days out there alone. You’re cut off from the home office, team, family, friends any support provided will come from within. You can’t afford to see anything is unachievable because it could cost you your life. You’re focus is returning to your loved ones the way you left. My brothers, have never really been in those types of situations so their minds allow them to see obstacles that I’m incapable of accepting or seeing.

  This afternoon, I’ve had some time to think and believe I’ve come up with a solution, we just have to be willing to take the chance.

  “Has anyone figured out how to crack the encryption on the thumb drive we got from Stravosky?”

  “Not yet, we’re working on it.”

  “I think this is going to need some extra attention.”

  “We can come back to that. The best lead we have to go on is happening in two months. That needs to be our focus.”

  “Right, that’s certainly a hot topic.”

  “However, we have some big obstacles in our way.”

  “Like?”

  “Come on Dub. We don’t have to spell that out to you, do we?”

  “You’re getting on my last nerve with that playing dumb stuff.”

  “I just don’t think we should allow the obstacles to consume us.”

  “We shouldn’t? We need a million dollars. It’s happening in less than two months to be accurate. We don’t know what it’s about nor do we have an approach. Or know who to approach.”

  “We know who to approach, PPV Industries. The other stuff is easy to maneuver, too. I’ve been thinking about it.”

  “We need to find out what it’s about first.”

  “No, we don’t. We just need to get on the list, once there we can run with it.”

  “Where are we going to get a surplus of money?”

  “We don’t need to actually have it. We just need to create an illusion. I know someone who specializes in illusions. Glad the entire world depends so much on technology. Since PPV Industries, Inc. is a business we’ll come at them all business like.”

  “We have to make ourselves interesting to them and they’ll approach us.”

  “The more money people have the greedier they are. The two reasons why people lose everything; Greed and ignorance. Once they have it, they don’t know what to do with it. Or they’re never satisfied with what they have and always trying to get more.”

  “Hmmm, when you put it that way, makes it look like everything is in our favor.”

  “It is. I know a guy. We all do. I’ll give him a call or we can just wait to see him in a couple of days.”

  “Tell me again how we going to get on their radar?”

  “I have a plan.”

  CHAPTER FORTY - ONE

  MOVING ON UP

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Dub

  Since we can’t go into the airport without being on someone’s kill radar, we had to get Scott to make contact with his friends to get us a way into the United States. The best way he could do that was in a cargo plane headed that way. The next time Trevor decides to step into someone else’s pasture, I’m cutting my ringer off on my phone.

  Our baby brother Jared was getting promoted. All of us brothers are so proud. The last little birdie in the nest is a big time Deputy Director of the CIA. I’m not one to show emotion and I held true to form during the ceremony, but it was difficult. I let him know how proud I was, we celebrated, praised him and then it was back too busy as usual.

  “Little bro, I know you think you’re the boss now but I came here to remind you, you’re still the baby bird. Like when we were kids, the same rules apply.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I remember.”

  “None of us can forget.”

  “Don’t act like it was all that bad.”

  “No, it was worse; especially when mom and dad went out and we were there alone with this lunatic. Boy oh boy.”

  Hey, stop that talk now. You act like I was some sadistic dictator or something.

  “Close enough.”

  “Hey!”

  Laughter all around the room pours out into Jared bachelor pad. We all enjoy hearing that sound because it’s being produced by all of us, together in one room. Boy, I know I’ve missed that.

  “I told you all, I have a plan to get into that meeting, right?”

  “Are you going to fill us in?”

  “J, since you have some newfound power, I was wondering if you could or would make your brother a profile.”

  “Sure, thing, who are you?”

  “A rich, when I say rich, I mean billionaire oil tycoon from Saudia Arabia. I want to approach PPV Industries to purchase some of their properties. They have enough properties around the globe that I can pretend to be interested in.”

  “How’s that going to get you access?”

  “They come from a long line of criminals. All the way back to the grandfather. I’m betting they haven’t been able to exist in the underworld this long without doing their homework before they do business.”

  “Oh, I see. When they do a background check, they’ll see how much you’re worth and won’t be able to resist reeling you in.”

  “Bingo!”

  “The money, portion?”

  “I need another favor, J, this one is big. The million dollars. Can you misappropriate funds? Or at least make it look that way?”

  “I can reroute a million dollars from our accounts, sure, but this isn’t permanent. In about seven to ten days it’ll automatically return to its proper place
. You only have a week to get this done, maybe two.”

  “I need more than that. If I’m invited to the meeting I can’t have them noticing a million dollars missing from their account. I won’t make it back. They’ll kill me and bury my body in the desert somewhere.”

  “I’ll figure something out, but you need to get this part done quickly. I’ll make you an oil baron with three wives and ten children. You already know the language. I can hook that up when I go back to work. I have my own office now, no one looking over my shoulder I’m golden. Hey, I found some more information about your boy, Popovich, well his dad. The dad wasn’t just close to the President of Russia, he was his brother. Popovich is royalty. The kid out of wedlock is still a rumor for now. I haven’t found anything concrete to prove he exists. Which would mean, he’s Popovich’s brother. We need to locate him, if he’s anything like the dad, he could be dangerous to national security.”

  “How does the CIA lose track of someone like this?”

  “He was never really on any radar so we couldn’t lose him.”

  “His dad was head of the KGB for God’s sake. The uncle was President of Russia. The damn brother, Popovich was trying to purchase plutonium, probably to make a freaking nuclear bomb and this rumored love child wasn’t on any radar of any intelligence agency within these United States? I can’t believe it. I only know of Popovich because I worked that case with the Plutonium, never saw his face, and never had the pleasure of locking his ass up. No concrete evidence, I always believed someone within the CIA tipped him off.”

  “Yeah, that was the rumor. There wasn’t anything that could be done about it with no evidence. And, you know as well as I do, there’s always a rumor of a conspiracy. If we investigated everyone’s paranoid delusions we would never stop terrorism or anything else, this country would be left defenseless from whatever and whomever.”

  “Stop defending them. I’m telling you, there’s something to that. I hate the way the agency just goes about its business like everything is normal just because they don’t have concrete evidence right in front of their face. How about looking for it?”

  “If they did that, that’s admitting it’s a friendly who burned you.”

  “Maybe, but at least he won’t keep burning you.”

  “I can’t argue, bro. I can do what I can at my position and that’s help you smoke out all of this foolishness inside and outside of the agency.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Let me know how I can help.”

  “Get me a meeting with PPV Industries.”

  “Done.”

  “And, don’t get me killed in the process.”

  “Easier said.”

  CHAPTER FORTY - TWO

  ONE MONTH LATER

  PPV Industries

  Paris, France

  Dub

  I can always count on my little brother. Due to his skills with creating fake backgrounds and his connections, I was able to get a meeting scheduled with PPV Industries, Inc. Since my cover was a Billionaire Saudi Oil man and I only spoke Arabic, I brought my faithful interpreter with me; my brother, Scott who speaks Russian. I wanted all the bases covered.

  PPV Industries corporate offices were created to impress. They obviously wanted it to be a conversation piece at the dinner table of anyone who visits. The first thing that stood out was its height. I’ve seen the Sear’s Tower countless times so for the height of a building to impress me, it’s worth noting and discussing. It was so high; the clouds formed a circle around the top of it. The entire front portion of the building was made of glass. The trim around the glass shined like it was gold. In order to gain entry, you had to show your face to the cameras strategically positioned on the front, side and back of the building. When they buzzed you in, there were security guards dressed in Italian suits and expensive shoes to round out their attire. They greeted you with a smile as they ran a metal detector over your entire body.

  The inside of this building didn’t disappoint. Waterfalls with expensive sculptures inside with water free flowing through them were positioned in opposite corners inside of the building. The receptionist desk was made out of glass with gold trimming. There’s artwork on the ceiling, marble floors and exotic flowers to grasp your attention as you marvel at the attention to detail given to this place.

  The security guards walked us to the receptionist to let her know it was okay for us to enter. They walked us to the elevator and continued to escort us to our meeting. Once up on the floor, I knew this was where the boss was. It was just as impressive as the entrance and the outside of the building. The security guards knocked. The voice that we heard from behind the doors was surprising. We expected something a lot different. When the doors opened, there was a woman sitting behind the desk. I knew it said a woman ran day to day operations, but neither of us expected that to be true.

  “Good morning Ms. Popovich. How are you this very fine morning?”

  “Oh, I’m doing well, thank you. Please sit down.”

  “I’ll be interpreting for Mr. Akbar.”

  “Oh no problem at all, sit please.”

  Malania Popovich, isn’t the typical female in a position of power. She wasn’t trying to be a man dressed in a suit with her shirt collar open short haircut wearing plain black shoes, very little to no makeup trying to shake your hand as hard as a man. They usual only have one child or no children at all. When you go into their offices you rarely see pictures of their husbands, that’s because they’re the man in the relationship. A woman trying to be a man is always the laughing stock of any office. Doesn’t matter the position they hold. They just don’t know it. Which makes them even more pathetic.

  Malania Popovich was in control, but she didn’t want you to forget she was a woman. When she spoke, you could hear that think Russian accent. Her words oozed out of her mouth with the intention of massaging your ear drums. If her office wasn’t adorned with pictures of her family, husband in all of them, you’d probably think she was hitting on you. She wore a form fitting dress, three inch heels, full face of makeup, long flowing hair, smelling great with manicured nails. She was easy on the eyes and I’ll be enjoying every minute of this meeting.

  “Thank you. Don’t mind if I do.”

  “I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. I’m sure you have a very busy schedule.”

  “Yes, but I’m always free for a beautiful woman.” She smiles coyly and throws her hair back as she laughs.

  “That’s good because if we can make a deal I’ll be needing more of your time.”

  “It is yours.”

  “Why thank you. Well, this is easy. I wish all of my business meetings went this well.”

  “I wish all of my meeting were with a beautiful woman.”

  “Vice versa with opposite sex.” She says with a wicked grin and a slight tilt of her head.

  “Thank you for the compliment.”

  “You’ve earned every syllable of it, I assure you. Shall we get started?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “We would like to enter into business with you. However, we aren’t ready to sale those properties. We do have another proposition for you. My father can provide you with the details. You can also speak with him about the sale of some properties in Europe. I think he may be open to discussions on those. “

  “Wonderful, how can I get in touch with him? “

  “I believe he’ll be calling you right now.”

  Phone starts to ring.....

  “Hello, this is Brock Ab-Duhl Haqq, the interpreter for Mr. Tariq Akbar. How may I help you?”

  “Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Popovich. He’d like to schedule a meeting with Mr. Akbar.”

  “Mr. Akbar’s schedule is free for the next two weeks.”

  “Mr. Popovich would like to meet on Friday, nine am.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  “The details will be forwarded to you.”

  “Until then.”

  (click
)

  “It appears the meeting is set. Thank you for your time Ms. Popovich. I hope the next time we can catch dinner.”

  “I’d like that. Please contact my office with the details. I’ll show you out.”

  She walked us to the door and we said our goodbyes.

  Inside the car...

  “What did you think of Ms. Popovich?”

  “She reminded me of a Cobra. How he rises up our of that basket. He’s moving to the music, swaying ever so smoothly back and forth. The entire time he’s waiting for an opening to strike your jugular.”

  “Wow, man, that’s cruel, but I can certainly see your point.”

  “Any woman who that syrupy smooth can’t be trusted. I couldn’t sleep with her next to me at night.”

  “I couldn’t do anything with her.”

  “She’s poison doesn’t matter which way she comes. She’s deadly.”

  “Looks like the entire family is.”

  “That’s certainly the flaw in their family gene.”

  “What are you going to do to prepare for the meeting with Popvich?”

  “Go over all the material J gave me. And, brush up on my hand to hand combat training.”

  “We’ll be in there naked.”

  “I know. I hate doing these types of missions.”

  “Trevor used to say he loved being able to carry a weapon whenever they went out.”

  “Best part about it. My job at times, requires me to be defenseless.”

  “I’m going with you so we’ll practice both before the meeting.”

  “Sounds good.”

  CHAPTER FORTY - THREE

  A WEEK LATER

  RUSSIA

  POPOPVICH & TARIQ AKBAR MEETING

  Dub

  Whenever I’ve gone into the field to encounter something beyond a monster I’ve been nervous. I used to hate that. I attributed it to someone intimidating me. I was young, excited, full of testosterone and devoid of any thought of consequences. I had a trainer who told me, feeling nervous before I run into a dangerous situation means I’m human. He said, if I didn’t feel fear or apprehension, I’d be on the receiving end of a bullet to the brain because the CIA wasn’t in the business of grooming serial killers. Ever since then, although, I still hate it, but I cherish it too. I know despite all of the heinous acts I’ve committed at the request of my own government, it hasn’t desensitized me. I’m still human; capable of feeling fear, nervousness and think about the consequences.