by J E Higgins
Goodings seemed to ignore the African as he continued. “One of our planes conducting a routine aerial recce over Bosnia captured this.” He slipped a large black and white photograph from the folder and handed it to O’knomo. The African carefully examined the blown up picture. It revealed a couple of boats along the river. What made it unusual was what looked to be a serious gunfight being carried out with another group along the shore.
When the African finished studying the picture, he handed it to Nawati as he returned his attention to the Englishman. Goodings continued. “Once we saw this, we decided it was necessary to continue monitoring these craft that at first looked to be just fisherman. It was during this time that we noticed one of them was female. ”He produced another enlarged photograph that he handed over to the African. It showed a woman with long black hair wielding a Kalashnikov rifle. O’knomo showed it to Nawati who, after a serious study of the picture, nodded in agreement. It had to be Sauwa.
Confident the two men were in agreement, Goodings continued. “We tracked her boat down the river all the way to a coastal village in Croatia. We lost her again. We assumed they were in the village to do a business deal of a criminal nature. So, we did a little research and found out a man named Viktor Heisvic, known to deal heavily in the black market, lives in the village, We had our signal intelligence boys at the General Communication Headquarters monitor his phone conversations in his apartment and radio connections on his boat. We also found several references to a woman, a female mercenary, who was apparently quite sought after by someone who has been interested in paying nearly a hundred thousand pounds for her. To narrow down the playing field, even more, Mr. Heisvic referred to the young woman as the South African killer.”
“Do you know who bought her?” Nawati again chimed in.
“We know these messages were intercepted just before the deal went into effect. The man with whom he was having these talks was a small-time arms broker named Mikael Gurov, a Ukrainian who deals mainly in small arms for local gangs around the Mediterranean. Not long after this, we received a report about some dead Croatians floating in the water near Montenegro. We assume the switch occurred there.”
“I trust you’re keeping tabs on Mr. Gurov in the hopes he will lead us to Miss Catcher’s whereabouts, assuming she’s still alive,” O’knomo asked.
“You think someone else purchased her for the purpose of killing her?” Goodings exclaimed.
“In her area of expertise, you can’t help but make many powerful enemies,” Nawati explained as if speaking from experience.
“I don’t think so,” Goodings continued. “From what we’ve ascertained, Gurov deals in weapons. And from his conversation with Heisvic, it seems she was being spoken of as a weapon more than in the context of a reprisal.”
“The path is clear.” O’knomo’s deep voice captured everyone’s attention. “We investigate Mr. Gurov and find out who wanted Sauwa Catcher and why.”
“And then?” Nawati asked.
O’knomo eyed both men before answering. “Then we bring her home by any means possible.”
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—J.E. Higgins
Acknowledgments
To my family, Suzi Lamb, Bob Liepold and Arne Woodard, as well as the many others who contributed to the making of this book, I would like to give thanks.
About the Author
J.E. Higgins is a former soldier who spent 12 years in the US military, first as infantryman in the Marine Corps and then in the military police with the Army. He holds a BA in Government and a Masters in Intelligence; Intelligence Operations.
The Bosnian Experience is his second book.
You can reach J.E. Higgins at his website: www.thehigginsreport.com where he publishes monthly papers on international political trends.
Also by J. E. Higgins
The Dublin Hit: Book 1 of the Sauwa Catcher Series
The Montevideo Game