Caribbean Capers

by Dan Kelly

  Abby wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but let it go for the time being. “Well then, why don’t you and Pete pay a visit to this source and see if he can meet our needs? If he can, we will pay him for the merchandise by bank transfer to any account he specifies, half up front and the remainder upon delivery of the goods.”

  “Where will we take delivery?”

  “That information will be provided at the time of our first payment. I will talk with Aloncia and have her provide an appropriate place for delivery. We definitely don’t want the equipment delivered here. Aloncia’s involvement in any of what we’re planning to do must be kept a secret. You should use no names but the one this individual knows you by and volunteer no information, lies or otherwise, as to why you are purchasing the equipment.”

  Looking at Abby as though he’s seeing her from a different perspective for the first time Damien said, “It appears to me that you have done this type of thing before.”

  “Whether I have or haven’t should be of no concern to you.”

  “I was just making an observation. There’s no need for a reprimand.”

  “Let me make one thing clear, Damien. All of us in Sea Wasp are united in our hate for and desire for the elimination of all of the organizations who have been plaguing our nations with all sorts of terrible things. This union is not predicated on everyone knowing everything about everybody engaged in the joint effort. The tenet ‘need to know’ is paramount over everything else to our survival in the world of mayhem many of us have to function in. When I feel someone is violating that tenet, I will point that out to them. If you disagree with what I’ve said, then perhaps you shouldn’t be here.”

  “Whoa. I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I was just making an observation. I didn’t think I was putting you in any danger by doing so. As for me being here, only I or the President can make that decision. If you object to my being here, I suggest you bring that up with him.”

  To prevent the encounter from escalating any further Pete jumped in with, “Okay, you’ve both made your points. Let’s cool it shall we? Damien and I can head out for the electronic gear now and, Abby, you and Ramon can start the ball rolling on finding out who the Fresco Farm and Cannery folks use to hire temporary help when they need it.”

  Standing up Damien said, “I’ll ask Aloncia if there are wheels here at the villa we can use and, if not, ask her to arrange for us to be taken into town for a rental.”

  Ramon also stood up and said, “I’ll start out by calling this farm directly and say that me and my family have just moved into the area and are looking for work. I’ll say that we saw the farm and were impressed by it and are hoping we can find employment there. I’ll ask if they hire directly or use an employment agency. I’ll say that we are looking for kitchen, cleaning or office work as we have a lot of experience in these areas. I’ll mention these types of jobs because they will enable us to work inside where we’ll have a better chance of finding out what we need to know about the attendees. The answers I get will determine how we proceed from there.”

  Abby said, “That’s a great idea, Ramon. While you’re doing that, I’ll work on getting bodies to fill some of those slots that should be opening up in the coming days. I’m thinking four or five should be enough for our purposes.”

  When Damien and Ramon were out of ear shot, Pete said, “What the hell got into you? If Damien has gone over to the other side, you sure put him on the alert to watch his step. It’s going to be a lot harder to catch him doing something wrong now.”

  “I was hoping to provoke him to the point where he would think it best to scram out of here instead of risking discovery because I’d be watching him like a hawk. I’d feel a lot better about the success of our mission if he weren’t around. If he did stomp off in a huff, I was going to have Dave pounce on him and keep him out of circulation until we’re done here.”

  “Abby, if Damien is working with the Fuentes cartel he’s probably already warned them about what we’re up to. Perhaps we should call this whole thing off.”

  “You may be right, but I don’t think any warning he might have given has gone beyond Fuentes’ ears. Fuentes would love to be the lone survivor when the dust settles after out assault. I believe Fuentes would use any information he got from Damien to ensure he’s out of harm’s way and let the rest of them go down in flames. I’m going to clue Dave in about what I’m thinking, but I still think the prize is worth the risk, even if Fuentes manages to dodge the bullet this time. And if I’m wrong about Damien, no harm will be done. Having said all of this, I still want to keep a close eye on him.”

  “You’ve obviously thought a lot about this. I’ll do my best to keep him in my sights, but I still think you’re wrong about him.”

  Chapter 35

  - Bogota, Colombia –

  The next two weeks fly by. Damien and Pete are able to get the equipment needed to eavesdrop on the goings on both inside and outside the buildings at the farm. It doesn’t come cheap and Abby knows more than eyebrows are going to be raised when the total cost of their planned raid on the farm is reviewed if the mission turns into a boondoggle. Phil for one will raise holy hell and Dave will raise the specter of life in a cubicle for the rest of her career with Uncle Sam. On the other hand, Abby also knows that if the mission is successful the attendant costs will magically disappear into the woodwork, never to be mentioned again. Such is the life in government service.

  Once in place, the equipment will enable the Sea Wasp team in the villa to monitor telephone conversations and email communications as well as face-to-face discussions. Unfortunately, they had to wait for some of the equipment to be obtained by Damien’s source because he didn’t have everything they wanted in stock. They just received everything yesterday at a warehouse owned by a friend of Aloncia who agreed to accept the shipment and not ask any questions.

  Fortunately, a key aspect of their plan unfolds without a hitch and ahead of schedule. Ramon was told by the person he talked with at the farm that a big to-do was planned in the near future and quite a few temporary help were going to be needed. They weren’t sure if they were going to be able to find all the help they needed for the affair from the local employment agencies since they were looking for people with experience, not just bodies. An invitation was extended for Ramon and his family to come out to the farm to be interviewed and Ramon accepted. Five people showed up at the farm the next day, a husband and wife and their grown children, two sons and a daughter, and they all got hired and will start tomorrow. Their group is now down to ten people.

  Three of the five are very experienced with the planting and setting up of the gear they will be smuggling onto the property and Pete and Abby know how to use it. Examining the ordinary looking wrist watches that are also transmitters that the five will be wearing tomorrow Pete comments, “I think it’s kind of appropriate that we’re smuggling stuff into a smuggler’s lair and will be using it in violation of the law. It’s a perfect example of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

  Abby said, “Well, let’s test all of this equipment to make sure we don’t have any lemons in the bunch to sour what we hope is going to be a sweet victory over these low lifes and have our own gooses cooked.”

  Ramon said, “Do you two always talk like this?”

  Abby said, “Like what?”

  “Analogously.”

  Holding his stomach Pete said, “Please, Ramon, I can’t handle words like that on an empty stomach.”

  Laughing, Ramon wandered off toward the buffet table, probably to get something for his stomach.

  Looking at each other Pete and Abby started to laugh. Abby said, “Analogously?”

  Pete said, “Maybe we’re experiencing the onset of some new kind of battle fatigue. Geez, I hope not. My friends think I talk funny as it is.”

  Laughing, they too headed for the buffet table.

  All of the equipment passed muster and was ready to provide all of the audio and
visual information they will need from inside and outside the buildings on the farm for a successful mission. One of the ten remaining members of their group is a techy who can do amazing things with a computer. Upon receiving the email address/addresses of any computers in the complex, he’ll hack into them and see what he can learn about the cartels’ operations.

  During the following week, the bugs that are to be planted inside and the surveillance equipment that was to be hidden outside are put into place. It has been a challenge to find a sufficient number of locations along the perimeter of the grounds surrounding the cluster of buildings comprising the living quarters and offices for the farming and canning operations to adequately hide the gear, but with a lot of quiet cussing it is ultimately accomplished. As far as that aspect of the mission is concerned, they are now good to go.

  The lay of the land has been thoroughly scouted and every access to the property has been identified, but they have less than a week to go before people will begin to arrive for the meeting and everyone is becoming tense because they still don’t have a clue as to how many people will be attending and therefore can’t proceed with assembling the required assault force from all of the participating nations or determine how best to move the assault force into position undetected.

  The crew on the inside has picked up nothing helpful in this regard except that Juan Fuentes is the host for the whole clambake and some of them have seen and talked with him regarding the preparations. Their impressions from the amount of food that’s been ordered and furniture that’s scheduled for delivery is that the number of attendees is going to be in the hundreds.

  When they were down to four days to go, Pete and Abby thought they were going to have to wing it as to the size of the assault force to assemble, but they finally got a break when one of their inside people overheard one of Fuentes people talking on the phone to somebody who was requesting permission to bring some more people to the meeting and was told no more people could be accommodated. The person was told that close to four hundred people were coming, the leaders of the large cartels and smaller organizations along with and their advisors totaled over 100 and the remainder were bodyguards and others assigned the task of protecting their leaders should trouble break out.

  Abby was immediately on the horn to Dave who in turn called Phil who immediately set the ball in motion for Manny and the other nations to assemble their crews and get them to the staging area in Bogota.

  During the past few weeks, Aloncia Flores has not been idle. She’s been looking for a way to bring the troops, their weapons and other gear into Bogota undetected as well as searching for a place large enough to hold all of them and, if possible, provide the basic amenities such as shelter from the weather, toilet facilities, etc., although Aloncia was sure that if the amenities couldn’t be provided these troops, the best of the best of their countries’ military, would be able to deal with the inconvenience.

  Aloncia found what she was looking for ten miles from the targeted area. It was a former storage facility for heavy farming equipment, irrigation equipment, seed, fertilizer, packaging material, etc. and was now sitting empty and had been for some time because the farmer who owned it had become ill and had to sell a lot of his assets to pay his medical bills. There were three large Quonset hut type structures on the property which were plenty large enough for their purposes.

  Through a commercial real estate broker, Aloncia had arranged to anonymously lease the facility on a month-to-month basis for temporarily storing merchandise that would be subsequently sold to buyers throughout the Caribbean. The owner was quite willing to rent the facility and couldn’t care less what the renters would be storing in it. The unexpected income would help with his medical bills.

  If they had more time, the troops could arrive at staggered times and on different days in small groups via commercial airlines masquerading as tourists, but time no longer permits such subterfuge. Phil is able to coordinate troop transport with all the participating countries and arrangements are made to fly paratroopers via C130 Hercules military aircraft into the La Tatacoa Desert under the guise of a joint nocturnal military exercise where they and their gear will be picked up by Greyhound type buses and driven to the storage facility outside of Bogota, a four plus hour ride.

  A C130 can carry up to 92 paratroopers and their gear and since there are twelve countries participating in the assault none of the planes will be fully loaded. The planned arrival time for the C130s is O200 hours tomorrow. Each bus has 44 seats, two passengers per seat, so only four buses will be needed to transport the assault team on the last leg of their journey with a few of the troops having to sit on the floor. The buses have heavily tinted windows, so no one can see in and will also be used to get the assault team into position at the farm

  Standing out on the veranda looking off into space while sipping some excellent malbec from Argentina Abby looks nervously at Pete and says, “We’re cutting it short on the timing for everything. When the team arrives, we’ll only have about 48 hours until zero hour. That doesn’t leave much for Manny to get things organized and the troops ready to go or for contingency planning if something should go wrong.”

  “Stay cool, Abby. Everyone on our team is a professional and is used to functioning under pressure. These paratroopers have been trained to handle any contingency that presents itself. You’ve done everything you could do to ensure the success of this mission. Now it’s time for you to stay the hell out of their way and let them do their job.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk, but I won’t settle down until we start kicking some ass.”

  “Said like a true competitor with the pre-game jitters.”

  “Have you seen Damien? I haven’ seen him since lunch.”

  “He went out to the storage facility with Aloncia to help her set things up there.”

  “What things?”

  “Abby, these men are going to be starving when they get here for one. She’s arranging to have food delivered to the facility surreptitiously today. The buses might also need fuel so she’s making arrangements for fuel trucks from outside the area to deliver fuel for them today which will be transferred to underground storage tanks that used to hold fuel for the farming equipment.

  A microphone, a computer and a screen to project a Power Point presentation on must also be made available so Manny can go over the game plan for the assault. The men are also going to need some sack time before taking on the bad guys. She’ll want to make them as comfortable as possible before they risk life and limb for Sea Wasp. There are probably other things she wants to attend to while she’s out there as well.”

  “Oh. Sorry for being short with you. I get bitchy when I get nervous.”

  Smiling he said, “Apology not needed. I too can be a real pain in the ass when something’s bugging me” It’s better to vent than explode.”

  This got a little and very brief smile from her and then she reverted to looking off into space, deep in thought about what might possibly go wrong.

  Chapter 36

  - Bogota, Colombia –

  At 0630 hours, the troops arrived at the storage facility none the worse for wear except for some minor scrapes and bruises from rough landings in the desert. As far as they could tell, no one saw them parachute into the desert and they ran into no other vehicles during the bus ride to the storage facility.

  Abby breathed a little easier after hearing this, but the butterflies in her stomach kept flapping away. This is the biggest operation that she’s ever been involved with where she had a good chunk of the responsibility for its success. It will definitely be a career maker or breaker and she’s still not sure if she’s overlooked anything. Pete’s been giving her a wide berth because he knows there’s nothing he can do or say to alleviate her worry and any attempt to do so would only add to her angst.

  Pete and Abby have been waiting in one of the Quonset huts for the troops to arrive since five thirty this morning while the rest of the group at the villa were t
riple checking the channels of communication with their superiors in their respective countries as well as the equipment to be used to communicate with the assault team. All channels are secure, including encryption, because the enemy is far from stupid and quite savvy when it comes to electronic eavesdropping. They have the funds to buy the best equipment and the expertise to use it effectively.