The Trafficker: A Michael Thomas Thriller

by Gavin Reese

  Michael turned to the documentation. As usual, the first page contained government ID info and database photos. Alfred König, age fifty, five-ten, one-seventy, sandy hair, blue eyes. Bright blue, like they have to be colored contacts. Odd that he got his government I-D photos taken in them. Michael tried to identify a celebrity or someone he knew who resembled König, a technique he’d learned in the police academy called “Keep in Memory System” in military and intel circles.

  He snapped his fingers. “The bad guy from SPECTRE. Christopher, something, maybe. The name doesn’t matter, that’s your doppelganger, Alfred.”

  Michael moved on to the Executive Summary pages and began with its synopsis: “Initial analysis supports allegations that target ALFRED König is an active and intentional conspirator in international narcotics trafficking (by volume: cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine) who uses his position in Austrian high society to avoid detection and apprehension. His recent drug shipments have supplied narcotics that directly caused dozens of overdose deaths throughout AUS and the region. Intel documents show König’s knowledge, acceptance, and dismissal of personal responsibility in deaths and growing addiction and subsequent crime rates. König is transitioning the majority of his import-export business to facilitate international drug trafficking from South America and Mexico into Europe and Russia. His communications indicate he will soon begin assisting the parent drug trafficking organization (DTO) to increase supply shipments into United States ports in the coming year.”

  Michael exhaled and sat back on the loveseat. If all this is true, König’s an absolute monster. He flipped to the next page and began reading the document’s analysis:

  “KNOWN BACKGROUND: The analysts and risk managers at Division of Intelligence & Counter Espionage advise this investigation will likely require extraordinary effort. The subject, ALFRED König, has established a number of front companies, forged documents, and false paper trails that required substantial effort to overcome. We have experienced great difficulty in deciphering the ‘black’ and ‘white’ sides of his business operations.

  König’s business began failing three years ago, due both in part to his own financial missteps and unforeseen market changes in international shipping, as well as market disruption from emerging pan-global online retailers.

  Psychological experts believe König’s behaviors and personality are consistent with narcissism and anti-social disorders. He seems blind to his own failings, ignorance, and relative inexperience with drug trafficking operations. He seems to rely on his social position/influence and masking techniques to evade detection and apprehension.

  König responded to imminent financial difficulties by forming and growing relationships with illicit drug trafficking organizations (hereafter, ‘DTO’) in Mexico and South America. These criminal enterprises operate ‘superlabs’ to supply and profit from rising opiate demand across the globe. Review of his own communications to these respective parties indicate that each believes they have an exclusive partnership with König in which he refuses knowingly furthering the trafficking efforts of their competitors. König’s most sizeable trafficking partnership appears to be with the ‘SANTA LENA CARTEL,’ a DTO based in the Sinaloa province of west-central Mexico.

  ILLICIT METHODOLOGY: Records and communications indicate the mutual trafficking efforts began with cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine (listed by decreasing volume). Border restrictions in recent years, especially from the Balkan overland routes to the east, have reduced drug shipments into Austria. KÖNIG took advantage of this reality and formed external partnerships to use his own corporate assets to evade detection and apprehension efforts. Shipment volume and frequency increased with the parties’ mutual trust.

  König employs several key employees within his company. This includes corrupt and bribed port authorities and customs officers who assist him in evading detection and apprehension, but internal communication makes clear none of his conspirators know the nature of the shipments or their contents. To date, shipments are primarily moving into Europe through Slovenia (Port of Koper). KÖNIG exerts control and influence over several key Port Authority police and customs officials there. The prepackaged contraband is then shipped via air and ground transit through ‘Koenig International’ transports to distributors across the region.

  It remains unclear at this time what external organization(s) or individuals have bought, or are buying, König’s contraband. Communications, both internal and exterior to the company, indicate most shipments transit from ports in eastern Mexico, with lesser shipments originating in Columbia and Venezuela. Records show the transit of three-to-five weekly parcels from Koper to KÖNIG at his Vienna office. This is expected to be smaller, kilo-sized shipments that he personally sells for additional profits.

  Further, external communications, along with corroborating investigation show König’s illicit shipments are confirmed responsible for at least one-hundred-eighteen overdose deaths in central Europe in the past six months. Investigation also reveals a portion of König’s shipments are sold to black market medical personnel engaged in illegal euthanasia and assisted suicide. This rise overwhelmingly emanates from König’s recent additional trafficking efforts in fentanyl, a lethal opioid narcotic up to 100-times more potent than heroin. König discussed the deaths in written comms with SANTA LENA (DTO) contacts before all involved parties agreed to dismiss the deceased as ‘an unavoidable cost of doing business.’ König specified he would instruct downstream affiliates to more dramatically dilute the fentanyl to lower its potency before its sale to the end user. It remains possible that König’s retail sales affiliates are disingenuously presenting the fentanyl product as heroin to addicted users. This indicates the dramatic, unaltered potential for substantial numbers of overdose deaths as König continues to supply fentanyl to illicit and unscrupulous street-level dealers. Immediate corroboration is required, as analysts expect König to accept a massive shipment of fentanyl due to arrive in the Port of Koper on or about 20-February. If the conduct of his organization and extended hierarchy remain unchanged, our risk management expects hundreds, and potentially thousands, of overdose and assisted suicide deaths in the coming weeks.

  “OFFENSES AGAINST HUMANITY AND MORAL LAW.” Michael skimmed the section to confirm that it reiterated König’s alleged offenses involving Drug Trafficking, Scandal, Intentional Homicide, Euthanasia, and Assisted Suicide. He sighed and turned to the next page. I’ll never understand how some men trade all the lives and potential happiness around them for their own comfort and wealth. I guess I’m not ever supposed to. Michael refocused on the document’s details.

  “CORROBORATION EFFORTS: Current analysis indicates the greatest probability for success lies within König’s office inside the Tourism Information Center building. Use additional caution as a State Police station is located in the west wing of the same building. Security and surveillance systems have not been upgraded to allow remote incursion by our internal staff. Intercepted communications indicate König’s life is excessively habitual, which may ease surveillance and corroboration efforts. As it appears that he rarely returns to his Vienna estate or his family’s castle in Rappottenstein, our analysts recommend focusing investigation and corroboration efforts on his hotel suite #D41 at Hotel Sacher and his office in the Tourist Information Center. Please find the enclosed RFID access card for entry into his office. Due to his physical security measures, this card is required to both enter and leave the facility. Sources indicate a door-lock release button may also be found under his desk, if required.

  DEVIL’S ADVOCATE: Intel staff has grave concerns regarding the absolute reliability of the source statements, and it wishes to reiterate the need for objective, irrefutable evidence in light of her public, occasionally scandalous lifestyle. Based on the length of their relationship, it must be considered that, up to this point in time, the source has been a willing participant and conspirator with her husband. If possible, attempt to corroborate her motivation
s and fears. Additional exculpatory documentation recently came to light through an independent financial insurance audit that Lloyd’s of London conducted on König International (deemed fiscally sound for business loan expansion and additional insurance policy issuance).

  CAUTIONS: König holds a ‘Waffenpass,’ a permit from the Austrian government that allows him to possess and transport single-shot and semiautomatic firearms. It is best to expect him to be armed inside any structure that belongs to him or inside his own vehicles. Exercise such caution in and around his leased hotel suite, as well. END OF DOCUMENT.”

  Michael set the papers aside, stood, and looked across the street below, called Operngasse, at the opposing building that housed König’s business office. Alright. That’s what I love about John and his desk-nerds, they give me a lot of ‘who’ and ‘what,’ but leave all the ‘how’ up to me. Seems like the bad guys always decide the ‘when,’ as ironic as that seems.

  He considered his next steps. If I had more than five days, I could ask John for König’s financial records to see where his money trail goes. No such luxury, so the next step is to confirm which office is his. Start with a simple walk through the building. Should be easy and natural to play a dumb tourist who doesn’t sprechen. Michael rummaged through his luggage and donned a pair of high-end Swiss hiking pants with subdued internal cargo pockets. He retrieved a hard-sided case from his own diplomatic pouch that held an anesthetic dart gun and three syringes of antidote. The case barely fit inside the internal thigh pocket, which meant he couldn’t quickly or clandestinely retrieve it. At least a set of handcuffs disappeared into the corresponding pocket. I’d prefer not to run into König yet, but God works in mysterious ways, so I need to be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that arises.

  The sticky note that clung to the black access card table reclaimed Michael’s attention. ‘Beware of Polizei.’ That’s right. In addition to avoiding König, I also need to avoid the police station that’s housed on the far side of his building. Those guys are gonna be so pissed when they find out what he was doing right under their noses.

  February 15, 4:35PM

  Hotel Sacher. Vienna, Austria.

  Michael had just returned from his reconnaissance walk through the Tourist Information Center and again sat inside his extravagant hotel room. He’d moved one of the smaller chairs behind the hallway door, which placed him as far from the windows as possible. A set of thermal binoculars allowed him to see inside Alfred König’s office. Can’t let the setting sunlight reflect off the binos right back at the target. The low, late winter sun descended just over the roof of König’s building and almost directly over his target. He aimed the binos so the bottom portion of König’s office filled the top half of his lenses.

  The thermal imagers displayed colors based on relative temperatures. Winter temps outside allowed the occupied offices to shine bright red and people inside to appear light pink. König’s pink two-dimensional image had been sitting behind his desk for most of the last hour. Gotta be quittin’ time soon, especially for a man of his stature. Then I’ll have a new challenge of deciding how to follow him around the hotel without gettin’ made.

  The extended idle time reminded Michael of Rome, and the hours he’d spent waiting outside Pietro Isadore’s apartment the night he killed the man four months ago. His mind replayed a brief portion of the events that lead to Isadore’s death before settling on Michael’s subsequent confession to Monsignor Hernandez. He’d gone to his mentor to confess his guilt for unintentionally killing the man, but Michael hadn’t yet revealed his conduct and assignment to Hernandez at the time. Instead, he’d couched his words and feelings around his continued inability to deal with aggressor and victim confessions and being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. At one point, he’d asked H if he believed God had more mercy on men who committed suicide to stop themselves from taking another victim. They’re all so selfish, Michael had told his mentor. They just want whatever they did to be okay, regardless of how their actions affect anyone else. If they had real remorse in their heart now, they wouldn’t have committed their sins then. Maybe the best thing some of these guys could do would be to commit suicide so theirs is the only additional life they destroy! They know what’s inside their heart, what goes through their mind, and they know God didn’t put any of that evil there!

  Michael sighed and returned to the present. Another few minutes of watching König do nothing allowed his thoughts to wander back to John’s covert training program. John designed his training exercises to force creative thought, and, more than a little bit of subterfuge. I got around most of his rules, and this investigation shouldn’t be any different. With more time, I could use a forged identity to contact König as an interested buyer, an aspiring new middleman in his distribution chain. Impossible in four days when a new round of addicts’ and emergency workers’ lives hang in the balance. Hundreds, maybe thousands of lives are at stake, and I can’t break my vows to go to the authorities. He grimaced at the familiar and uncomfortable scenario. Yep. It’s all in line with John’s training, and I need another creative solution.

  Michael pulled his eyes out of the binoculars and watched what little he could see of the building’s exterior for a moment, just to give himself a short break. He sighed, leaned back, and pulled his feet up onto the chair’s cushion. Resting his elbows on his knees, he brought the binos back up. Before I do anything else, I also have to wander through the building again to identify all the relevant surveillance cameras. With national heritage sites all around its exterior and a police station on the other side of the structure, there’s gotta be a ton of digital watchers lurking all over the place.

  Movement. König stood up, stretched, gathered a few items from the desk, and placed them in what Michael thought might be a messenger bag. He stepped over to the corner of his office closest to the glass wall, to Michael’s right. Through the thermal binoculars, it looked like König pushed against the furniture there. Bright handprints appeared and cooled as the target strode back toward the desk. If he’s leaving, I need to surveil the inside of his office building. Gotta start by finding my escape routes to dodge the cameras and the cops before I have to do it live.

  February 15, 7:47PM

  Tourist Information Center. Vienna, Austria.

  As he strode down the hallway toward the entrance to König’s office, Michael donned a pair of black nitrile medical exam gloves that matched the rest of his all-black clothing. Not gonna repeat the same errors from Isadore’s investigation. Michael acknowledged his own flawed humanity. Nope, I’m gonna try to make all new mistakes this time around.

  He retrieved the black RFID access card from his pants pocket and swiped it over a keypad sensor to the left of the door. Michael held his breath and awaited confirmation the intel packet and its contents were legit.

  thuck

  He wryly smiled at the terrifying but beneficial reality. I’m not sure if I should be impressed or petrified that John and his minders have these kinda resources. I’d love to know how they got access into König’s private, secured office, but John will never tell. He’s too dedicated to compartmentalization and ‘need-to-know.’

  Michael pushed his way into the office and closed the door behind him. Bright overhead lights came to life and lit the entire room. Surprised and exposed, Michael glimpsed movement to his right and looked at the perceived threat. His reflection stared back at him from the all-glass wall and displayed his fear.

  Quickly turning back to the doorway, Michael found a light switch and slid its dimmer all the way down. The overhead lights winked out and plunged the office back into relative darkness. Standing still for a few moments, Michael listened for threats as his eyes adjusted. Nothing. As his confidence returned, he approached the glass wall. Standing a few feet back to keep himself hidden from the crowds outside, Michael scanned for anyone who seemed interested in König’s office. A stream of bright and flashing red brake lights emanated from the o
ne-way, southbound lane outside as the audience for that night’s opera inched closer to their destination. He watched the sidewalks on both sides of Operngasse, as well as the windows in the Royal Opera House and Hotel Sacher, but no one seemed to notice or care about his presence. Good. Everyone’s too busy in their own lives to threaten mine. Time to find König’s secrets, if they’re here to be found at all.

  Bathed in the ambient light cast in from the street, Michael walked around König’s furniture toward the far, northeast corner of the office. He wanted to find out what had interested König before he departed for the evening. A full bookcase. Why push on a heavy piece of furniture already set against the wall? Michael placed his hands where he thought König had and pushed. Nothing. After checking that the shelf was secured, he pulled out on the frame and the shelf. It doesn’t budge, not at all. What the hell? He stepped back several steps and looked at the case. Maybe it’s something under the shelf?

  As Michael knelt down, he retrieved his red penlight from his pants pocket and checked the bottom of each shelf. Nothing unusual.

  Car horns out on the street below drew Michael’s attention. Austrian society was too polite for prolonged or extensive horn use, which made the ruckus unusual. Michael glanced down and his chest filled with dread when he saw König running through traffic toward the office building. He’s not running back like he forgot something, he knows I’m here! After narrowly avoiding a southbound taxi, his target glared up at his darkened office and leaped up onto the sidewalk next to the Tourist Information Center building. Michael felt certain they made eye contact.

  He hurried to identify what in the office might have betrayed his presence. Atop the couch’s end table closest to him, Michael saw an egg-shaped device with a small, flashing red light. Dammit! The traffic must have masked it before, it’s gotta be a separate motion sensor! Even though he had to leave, Michael stepped over to the device and shone his penlight on it. As he’d hoped, words and an identifiable logo were molded into the plastic covering: Die Festung.