At the Valzez warehouse, Felix and Whymare watched the shift change. Each chose a mark and followed him home. Both warehouse workers were young and before they went home, they stopped off for a drink. Felix and Whymare went in the bar for a cool one. An hour later, with Felix buying, both young men were tipsy and blabbering away. Later both were too drunk to hardly walk. Felix took one and Whymare the other. They used their cells and soon a van came by picking up all four men. The two guys were put on ice by Miguel for the duration.
The next day, both Felix and Whymare went into the warehouse office looking for work at around 10 am. The boss man looked their resumes over and said, "We're two guys short this morning. If you want the jobs you're hired. See the guy in the back with a blue baseball hat on and he'll get you started. Meanwhile fill out this paper work please.
On the way back to see the man with the blue hat, Felix said, "That was almost too easy Whymare. Now let's do what we need to do to show these guys were worth our low pay."
At the hotel, Billy and Alice were working hard on the background checks of a few names they'd been given. Those names were bankers who managed the loans of Valzez's many companies. A total of five bankers from the San Paulo area were instrumental in overseeing their investments. Billy was doing the background checks while Alice went looking for off-shore accounts. First she hacked into his office computers looking around for passwords and numbered accounts that were coded. It took awhile, but hit on a trail that she was looking for. Like Perez, he'd hundreds of millions in various accounts.
"Billy, I struck gold," said Alice. I've two accounts so far and like our former drug lord, it wasn't so hard to hack into his accounts. I wonder what Brad wants done with these accounts to start with."
"He'll be around soon, if I'm not mistaken. He's fairly easy to predict when he's on a mission. Background and develop a picture is what he likes. I hope we nail this guy soon so we can go frolic somewhere nice for a short intense vacation," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Nancy came in looking for Brad. But she realized Billy was on to some bankers. She gave him an additional list of three names for checking on. "I'm in need of a shower so I'll be back for dinner time. Tell Brad I'm available in forty minutes if need be. Oh, Wade called me from a hospital saying he'd gotten his wound checked, cleaned and was good to go without a sling. He's so damn proud of that wound. If I was an available woman I'd probably swoon over his bravery. However, as you know, I prefer the specie without the dangling appendages."
Brad did come in a few minutes later with Mike. They'd just returned from a sightseeing tour. Billy showed Brad what he'd found. Brad said, "Good work and I think we can get Ana to put some heat on these guys if need be."
"Brad," said Alice, "I'm into some off-shore accounts. Any orders as to what you might want me to do?"
"Set up or open an account for us here in San Paulo. We don't want it known that some strangers just opened up a large account. I think Tony can provide the information needed for an account. He's in his room with Angie busy recruiting some help. Go see him and open an account. When Nancy gets her shower over with, have her find some office space for us to work out of."
Chapter 27
James T. landed back in the city at midnight. He and his co-pilot were bushed. They took a long rest at the hotel. But first they reported that the two men were dropped where they belonged. Brad thanked both of the men and went back to bed.
The next morning all met for a breakfast meeting. The meeting last night was cancelled due to a tired bunch of people. Wade spoke up and said, "I'd like to be in on the abduction at the remote airport if possible. My shoulder is fine and I feel kind of useless here. But remember, I'm here to do whatever the job requires."
Brad and Tony both smiled while looking down at their breakfast. Tony took the lead and said, "It's a boring job Wade. First you wait for the plane to arrive, then take the guy to a location where he can be watched. Next you wait for the next plane to arrive. After the third plane arrives, you load all the pilots into a van. Then you drive down to Campo Grande to a warehouse we've rented. From there you can leave the warehouse and fly back here via domestic airlines. If that excites you, have right at it."
"I wanted to hang around to see what happened to the three planes when they found out they were way overdue. Ramon must have contacts along the way. No way he'd let almost a ton of coke sit in three airplanes in the middle of nowhere."
"You got a point there Wade," said Tony. Let's stash a vehicle for you in case of emergencies and we'll wait for a report after the dust settles. I think it might be prudent of us to have a partner with you. However, we're running out of staff at this point in time."
"I'll go with him," said Nancy. "I'm fully trained and not just to push a pencil around or to be just a pretty girl in the room." That made the place erupt in laughter. Even though Brad chuckled, he knew she could handle herself in a skirmish.
"I'm okay with it if you are Wade," said Brad. Wade nodded his head and all knew he was just fine with Nancy on any assignment. The only one that wouldn't like it would be her significant mate and the president Sam Bates.
It had taken a lot to replace Mr. X of old times. He'd been the whisper in the ears of more than one president. The chain went from the president to Mr. X, who then passed it on to Steve Lewis who had been Brad's superior in Afghanistan. It was Steve who'd recruited Brad as the beginning of the covert team that would take care of special problems confronting the president and the country, Brad Pratt dearly loved.
Sadly, Mr. X succumbs to that dreaded 'C' and just after Steve Lewis finally retired, fell victim to a heart attack. Nancy Longstreet was chosen to replace both of them. In the last couple of years, Nancy had the ear of the president and his confidence in her logical take on difficult problems.
However, she felt good about being back in the field and jumped at the chance to be a major part in a mission other than the logistics; which she was an expert at.
Arrangements were made for the two crew member to fly to Campo Grande. From there they'd rent a van and drive north to the designated airport. Two of Tony's men took a separate flight and vehicle to the airport. It was going to be a long wait.
Alice had the information she needed for a bank account under Tony's security company. She transferred two hundred million into his account. That along with the Belem account should suffice for a few years. Both Tony and Brad thought a few more countries, such as Bolivia and Peru would be in need of some house cleaning in the future.
***
At Tigre airport in Bolivia, both of Tony's men observed the goings on around the airport. It didn't take them long to see a busy warehouse with people coming and going to determine that particular warehouse was a cocaine depot.
Like the good men they were, they reported the information to Tony. The following day would be Sunday and both men thought that was a religious day nothing would happen. However, they were dead wrong. Early Sunday morning, around 1 am, the first plane was moved up to the warehouse and several men loaded the bags of cocaine into the airplane. When it was completely loaded, the workers pushed the plane away from the warehouse. The pilot started the airplane and took off disappearing into the night without any lights blinking.
The one spotter called Tony immediately and Tony called Wade and the second vehicle of two men. Wade, Nancy and the two men were on site tucked away in some hardwood trees behind a dilapidated wooden building. If their estimated flight time was correct, at about eight hours, then the plane should arrive at where Wade and Nancy were waiting around 10 am. They assumed the planes would arrive in the dark, but wasn't going to happen. It would be light out and that wasn't any real problem. By the looks of the ground behind the old wooden building, cigarette butts and the smell of urine was clearly evident that people used this spot for relief.
They sat back and waited with the two team members from Tony's merry men. They didn't talk much because their English was very limited. However, sign language and
food sharing made friends of all of them.
Off in the distance, around 9:30 am the sound of an airplane was heard. Ten minutes later an old beat up car arrived with a young man who would man the gas pumps which were gas barrels with a hand pump sticking out the top.
The sound increased and soon the plane landed. It taxied up to the barrels and the pilot shut off his motor. He got out and stretched while the young man proceeded to pump the wing tanks full of gasoline. All four of the 'merry men' watched the pilot begin walking towards the old building. He stopped and lighted a cigarette and then kept walking. When he reached the side of the old building, which was the opposite from where Wade and team were, he unzipped and began urinating on the ground. Wade and team waited until he was almost finished then they walked around the corner with pistols aimed at the pilot.
When he saw the four pistols pointed at him, he forgot to put his unit away. His hands went into the air and Wade almost started laughing at the comical scene in front of him. Wade told him to not move in English and then he told him the same thing in Portuguese.
"Do you understand," asked Wade.
"Yes, I speak a little English. I've not much money on me, but don't shoot me as I'm just a delivery pilot."
Turn around and after you tuck your dick into your pants, put your hands behind your back. We're not going to shoot you just yet," said Wade. He did what he was told to do and then a half hour later the gas man wondered what happened to the pilot. He came around the side looking for the pilot. When he saw Nancy he was shocked and couldn't move.
A few minutes later, it was explained to him what was going on and to keep his mouth shut. Another plane was coming soon and to repeat what he did with the first plane. All five of them pushed the plane off to the side so the other plane could park next to the gas barrels. The story was the pilot was ill and sleeping besides the old building. It was a given that the new pilot would go looking for his friend.
That was in fact, exactly what happened. He too was trussed up and sat beside his fellow pilot at the back of the building. They pushed his plane out of the way and waited for the third plane to come. The story this time was a couple of local girls wanted some fun behind the building.
The third pilot gobbled the story and was soon tied up with his buddies. The plane was pushed off to the side and the two of Tony team members took off with the pilots to Campo Grande. After they deposited the pilots at a safe house, they quickly drove back to where Wade and Nancy waited for some action to happen The first pilot had told them he was to land at Batatais airport at around 5 am Monday morning. That information had been passed on to Brad and Tony; along with a text to Felix.
***
The captain of security Leto was parked on the airport at 4 am Monday morning waiting for the first plane to arrive on the new schedule. He'd ten men with him of which five were armed. The other five were workers from the warehouse and one of those was Whymare. He'd been warned to keep his mouth shut or lose his tongue. He played the role well.
Leto was pacing the apron at 5 am with no sign of the plane. By 6 am he called his boss and reported what hadn't taken place. Ramon was at the airport by 7 am seething mad wondering what the hell happened. He called Bolivia and was told the planes had left on schedule.
He closed up his phone and wondered what would be the fastest way to Batatais airport where the first fuel stop was to take place. The guy who did the fueling only received a message via text on an old cell phone. Ramon was pissed off he'd not a better communication system in place. "Captain, get my jet ready and tell the pilots to hop to it. Have them pick me up here soonest they can."
By 10 am Ramon Valzez was in the air flying towards Batatais airport. The only passenger with him was the captain of his security. Two hours later the small personal jet buzzed the airport. He could clearly see his planes sitting there looking like they'd parked and the pilots had walked away.
"What the hell happened down there? Have we been robbed or are we being attacked by this Robin Hood gang?" He thought it could possibly be a trap if they landed, so he told the pilot to fly south to Camp Grande.
At the airport in Camp Grande he'd instructed the captain to have a team of men fly to Batatais, along with three pilots, to retrieve his planes and product.
Meanwhile, Wade talked it over with Nancy and they thought it prudent to transfer the product to their van and drive somewhere to hide for awhile. What to do with it was up to Brad or Tony. They realized Ramon would send a platoon of men and that would be more than his team could handle. At least they'd put a dent in his product.
The next time he was sure, and so was Brad and Tony, they'd have guards at all fuel stops. However, that would be the time when a confrontation would occur. With the Bolivia spotters, on the job, they'd know when a plane left. Ramon's problem was that Batatais was the only airport they could refuel at.
Sure they could fly to Camp Grande but with a cargo of cocaine, that wouldn't be very smart. No, they had to make Batatais their fuel stop or come up with another method of transportation. Regardless of what the future held, it would be difficult to predict from either side.
The whole idea was to put this drug lord out of business and make it next to impossible for any new blood to enter the arena. That ultimately meant that Robin Hood would have a permanent job of monitoring the drug situation in South America.
Chapter 28
When Brad received the news from Nancy and Wade, he was satisfied things were working out so far. He agreed that the product needed moving and he decided to destroy the almost nine hundred kilos of market ready cocaine. That would put a hefty dent in Ramon's pocket and make buyers on the receiving end unhappy. With the removal of Lord Perez, the price of cocaine worldwide had almost doubled. Drug dealers were scrambling to find product for users and users were scrambling to find product anywhere and cost wasn't much of a factor.
Meanwhile, with Ramon Valzez back in his comfortable office and across town Brad and Tony were huddled up with some members of the team to decide what to do when Valzez sent a team of armed men to pick up the empty planes.
"I'm a little short of men Brad. If we are to put up a fight, then we might have to call in Robert and his Seals. What do you think," asked Tony. Maybe we need a diversion, such as, blow up or burn the three planes where they sit."
Tony was thinking hard of the results of that idea. What would Valzez do after that? He'd acquire more planes and fly a different route. If so, then how do we track his new route? A smile broke across his face thinking a GPS tracking device attached to or hidden somewhere on the new planes.
"What about this idea. We place a tracking device on the new planes to see what the new route is and from there we can plot a fuel stop; or follow up with a team behind the single person pilot. Any ideas" as he looked around the conference room.
"Let's say we have a tracking device aboard the new airplane or planes. We know when they take off and approximately where they're headed. James T. with a four man team is following the plane. When their plane lands, we land too. The 'merry men' kidnap the pilot and another pilot flies the product plane to another airfield. The product is destroyed and the plane is hidden. They same program happens to the next planes coming in. Okay, kick some holes in this idea of Tony's," said Brad.
Angie looked to Tony and then to Billy, who looked at Alice, who looked at Mike and finally Mike looked at Rocky who gave a small woof to Mike. Mike laughed like hell and said, "It sounds as good as any plan I've got."
"The second plane will see the twin on the ground. Will it suspect something or just land," asked Billy.
"We'd best throw a camo tarp over it," asked Mike. "Or, just before the second plane arrives, the twin takes off and then lands behind the second plane, and the third one as well.
"If the tracking device works as it's supposed to, then our plane can take off and land behind the second and third plane. I like that better than a camo tarp. Let's load up some Seals for back up. I don't want to take any c
hances," said Brad.
***
Ramon Valzez was still fuming and still waiting from his captain on the recovery of the three planes. He could care less about the pilots; they were a dime a dozen. Messages were coming in that product supplies were running low. His previous idea was to airfreight the product to the Gulf Coast instead of ship container. It was riskier that ship, but he was trying to keep Columbia sellers out of his market. With almost nine hundred kilos, that would tide his buyers over for a couple of weeks. Well, that two weeks was up and he badly needed that product.
His cell went off. It was his captain. "Speak to me captain," said Ramon.
"We're on our way boss and I've ten men with me. Our arrival time is about two hours from now. That would be around 7 pm tonight."
"Find that product captain. My jet is standing by and as soon as you discover what happened, I'll either stay here or fly to Campo Grande. He'd no more closed out that conversation when a call came in from Bolivia.
"I'm listening Ceazar."
"I'm looking for my planes Mr. Valzez. They're overdue and I'm worried. What information do you have?"
"Well it appears the planes are fine, but the pilots have disappeared at the first fuel stop. I've a team on its way as we speak. Onboard are three pilots who will either complete the delivery or return to base. What's up for the next schedule Ceazar," asked Valzez.
"We’re on schedule with a new delivery in about ten day's time. That might be shorter as the product seems on the increase. If so, then a week would be a better target date."
"I've a new fuel stop destination Ceazar. The first fuel stop will be in Camapua, just south of the last airport. After that the second and final stop will be forthcoming."
Robin Hood Visits Brazil Page 17