by Tom Haase
Kareem’s effort to move drugs into Savannah constituted his first try to expand the organization he managed, and he had attempted this move on the specific instructions from the Tsarina, whose name he never spoke without respect.
The Tsarina, whose real name was Tasha Alexandrovitch, had given him the opportunity to expand his trade on her behalf into Savannah. No reason had been provided why she wanted to target that particular area, but she had specified explicitly she wanted him to build up an operation there and ensure it succeeded. He understood the implied threat, and what the cost of failure would mean. The Russian Tsarina would have his balls.
Kareem had risen to his present position from his previous status as a small-time criminal, although a successful one he thought. Recently, he took part in and helped pull off a significant drug deal when he supplied the Miami based organization with a shipment of drugs gained from his friend at the police department. It was a fortuitous event, as he never expected that group to contact him again after completing the highly lucrative sale.
A week later, he received a call from the Tsarina. She even called herself Tsarina on the phone. He recognized the name as it instilled a degree of fear in anyone who had encountered her. She possessed a reputation of death to anyone who crossed her and enjoyed a status as a grand benefactor to anyone who accomplished her bidding. She offered Kareem a job. He viewed it as the opportunity of a lifetime. She directed him to establish a drug organization in the States, specifically Savannah, Georgia. She would supply the money to purchase the initial shipment of drugs in the Bahamas. At present, an abundance of heroin existed on the island. He agreed, and the money hit his bank account the next morning. This moved him up to the big league.
Now, the dream appeared to be on the edge of collapse, and his life expectancy was tied to the success or failure of the operation. He strived to maintain a clear head, and he decided to become personally in charge and to do so at once. Things had gone to shit, and he couldn't afford to remain idle. He chose to take action.
“Jalen,” he shouted to his lieutenant who was leaving the Café after delivering the news. The man returned to his table and took a seat opposite his boss.
“Be in Savannah by tomorrow morning. I need to learn what happened. If there’s someone there who is working against us, I order you to take care of the problem. I’m tied up in another deal right now. If you need me, I can arrive there in a few hours. Understand?”
Jalen nodded and departed. Kareem sat back and recalled what the Tsarina had said when she called and gave him the money along with the go-ahead to start the operation in Savannah.
“There’s a man in Savannah named Ramon. He caused us trouble before, and if you run into any problems in the distribution efforts, he is most likely to be the source. I have learned that he’s trying to establish a drug and sex business there. We cannot allow that.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll handle him.”
It appeared he must now take a course of action against the man. Someone had fired at and destroyed his boat with the drugs and killed his man. He held no idea where his drugs had ended up, but he wished to recover his property if it still existed. Jalen had never failed him. He would fill him in on any new details he received from the Tsarina when Jalen arrived in Savannah. Kareem had one man already there, who could receive the drug shipment and then confirm its arrival. He had heard nothing from his contact. If all had gone according to plan, more men would arrive to set up the operation and distribution center in Savannah. He felt the pressure to get that organization up and running as soon as possible.
His heart sped up as he contemplated, with a degree of foreboding, the call he now needed to make. There was no getting around it, the sooner, the better. He already had taken the initial steps to fix the problem.
“Tsarina, this is Kareem. I have a little unfortunate news to relay to you. I must assure you I’m already working to correct the situation.” The sweat trickled into his eyes, and his hands trembled as his heart rate soared.
“Tell me,” she commanded.
He did.
4
In the morning, following the trip to take Darlene back to her office, Chuck called his old friend and partner on the police force, Eddie Gordon. They had played football in their high school days, and during their senior year, they reached the state championship competition and won. Later, Chuck served with him on the force for three years before his unexpected divorce and then his sudden decision to enter the army.
“Heard you had a little excitement at your place yesterday,” Eddie said when he answered the call.
“Yea, but today I need help. You think you can come by? I have a few questions you might help with and a favor to ask.”
“Sure, but you might also want to hear what I have learned about the boat that crashed into your place. See you in an hour.”
Eddie arrived at the door in one hour and knocked. Sergeant Eddie Gordon sported sandy brown hair with a bulldog face and in general lacked a sense of humor. They recently had worked together after Chuck’s return from the army. That case involved the Adjutant General of the state, a Washington, D.C. consultant to the NSA, and an undercover investigator named Emma Williams. They all had assisted Captain Glenwood Kennedy at police headquarters to break up a human trafficking ring operating a series of brothels.
Chuck and his Indian and Cuban friends had assaulted and destroyed the headquarters of the organization controlling the trafficking. There had been fatalities, and a few of his friends suffered wounds. Chuck had provided for the family of the man killed while assaulting the place.
Chuck led Eddie into the renovated space, which now exhibited his new Emma designed décor. He poured two coffees and they then sat at the table, the one his Seminole friend and the owner of the furniture store had recently replaced because of bullet holes in the previous one. His Indian friend, Sam Jones, carried the name Abiaka in his tribe after an influential spiritual leader who used his “medicine” to stir warriors into a battle fever. The name Sam proved more user friendly, so he used it because most of his friends couldn’t pronounce his real name. Once, he had helped Chuck fight off the attackers who stormed in and peppered the table with automatic gunfire before being beaten back.
“You said you had something on the boat that hit my dock,” Chuck said to Eddie.
“I have nothing on the boat, but I found out a little about the man who impaled himself on your boat lift. The coroner sent his mug shot to other agencies, and we got lucky. According to the Bahamian police, the man was supposedly on a drug smuggling run,” Eddie stopped and took a sip of coffee.
“Mind if we go over to the boat lift?” They moved over to the dock. Little evidence of the accident remained, save a few burn marks and some small debris floating in the water.
“For your information, the Bahamian police reported that he was a member of an organization they have been monitoring for some time. They believe they are trying to begin a drug operation here in the States, but they didn’t have a location. After the guy died here, they put forward the idea he was delivering drugs to set up a new operation in Savannah.”
“Did you recover any drugs?” Chuck asked disingenuously. He kept the package his secret until he found out what was in it.
“Nothing. But the Bahamians have put forth the idea this drug cartel is somehow controlled by a Russian mafia type organization. It has contacts in Miami and St. Petersburg. They haven’t been able to tie it down, and to this point, no one has talked.”
“Seems strange that a Russian organization would try to establish a drug center here in Savannah.”
“Maybe not. The organization you helped destroy was also into drugs. You destroyed their operation here. Someday you will have to tell me how you did that.” Eddie waited for a response.
“Maybe someday,” Chuck said. “You can guess almost all there was anyhow. And you helped to get rid of the mole in the police department. They gotta love you for that.”
“I
remind you, it also got rid of your ex.”
Chuck nodded agreement. He didn’t want to go down that road which would conjure up old memories of the failed marriage to Sherry. The organization had taken its revenge on the lieutenant who turned out to be the mole in the department. The man had been informing the sex trafficking gang of all the police moves, and they had effectively evaded all the police raids on their brothels for years. When he failed to warn them of the devastating raid conducted by Chuck and the police they blew up the lieutenant and his wife, Chuck’s ex, to bits in an explosion at their house, which destroyed the entire structure.
“I want to warn you. If you find anything from the wreck of that boat, get in touch. If the guys who sent it find out something remains of their drugs and that you have them, they will come after it and you. They will play rough, my friend. You don’t want to piss them off. Did you find any items from the wreck?”
“Not so far. I’ll take a closer look today. Thanks for coming by and for the information. I’m trying to stay out of sight where the police are concerned. Don’t want to get involved in anything,” Chuck said. He escorted Eddie to the door. “Drop in anytime. You’re always welcome.”
After Eddie left, Chuck walked into the kitchen and opened the large broom closet where he had moved the bundle from the boat before Eddie arrived. The time had arrived to discover what it contained.
Eddie got into his patrol car and made a cell phone call to Ramon Escobar. Ramon led the gang that was now trying to fill the vacancy left after the obliteration of the previous drug and human trafficking organization by the police based on information given primarily by Chuck McGregor. Many years ago, Eddie and Ramon had been lovers but had split on friendly terms, and recently, after the take down of the organization running the brothels, Eddie had agreed to a five percent take in the new gang run by Ramon by becoming the mole in the department. He visualized this would offer him an earlier retirement, and he would escape Savannah and move to his dream place in Costa Rica.
“I just left McGregor. He had a drug boat slam into his place and exploded yesterday. The info I have says the guy killed in the explosion worked for a Bahamas gang that will try to establish a narcotic business here,” Eddie told him.
“You gave me the info from your snitch about a drug run supposedly coming into town using the river. So I sent my men to intercept it. They botched it. Did he find the drugs?”
“He says no. Maybe true, maybe not, I couldn’t tell. I’ll keep an eye on him. The crime scene boys didn’t find anything there. I’m glad we didn’t kill McGregor, as you originally wanted. He might still be useful if a new gang is bringing in drugs. How is your business doing? I mean our business?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll send your share to you every month. Just find out where those drugs are. I want them, and I plan to destroy whoever sets up an operation in my town.”
Ramon disconnected, and Eddie listened for a few seconds before he started the car and drove away. Several interesting thoughts festered in his mind. Perhaps, maybe, possibly, Ramon wasn’t the right guy to be in bed with to fulfill his retirement desires.
5
Following Eddie’s departure, Chuck examined the large package he had retrieved the day before from the water. He placed it on the kitchen countertop and pulled out a knife from the rack hanging below the cabinet where the dishes were stored. Then he carefully sliced the small corner open and peeled back about four inches of the cardboard cover. There were bricks, which was the closest thing he could think of to call what he saw. They all appeared to be white. He nurtured little doubt that the bricks didn’t contained heroin.
His cell phone rang before he could get it back into the closet. The display showed it was Captain Kennedy, from Savannah police headquarters. “What the hell could he want?” entered his mind.
“Chuck this is Glenwood Kennedy, and I'm on the phone here with the attorney general. We’re calling you to ask a favor. We remember what a great help you were in busting up the human trafficking gang here in Savannah. We decided to call and see if you might be interested in assisting us with a new problem.”
Before the man continued, Chuck decided to stop this because he did not want to become involved with anything to do with the police again. He had no wish to become a collaborator, a snitch or a vigilante, and he didn’t desire and didn’t plan to associate in any way with law enforcement.
“I'm sorry captain, but I don't believe I can help you.”
“I know this is off base, but I have to make this request. I think we need outside help with no connection to any police force or other government agency. We recognize what you did before was not as a police officer. What we’re proposing now would keep you in that same state. We think you might get to the bottom of our recent problem more effectively than any formal investigation into what's going on in drug trafficking in our area.”
“Captain, I don't have any knowledge about drug trafficking and without a doubt in my mind, not a thing about it here in Savannah or anywhere else for that matter,” Chuck said.
“We did want to let you know the boat that slammed into your building yesterday was part of a drug smuggling operation. I understand you're not involved in any of it, but I assume a handful of people may connect you with drug smuggling since the vessel ended up at your place. Many may assume it was going there. All we are asking is that if you can provide us with actionable intelligence so we can move in and make arrests. We need information.” The captain stopped talking and waited.
“I honestly don't believe I can help you,” Chuck said, not wanting to be a police informant. It wasn't his problem, and he was now trying to finish restoring his house and establishing his presence in the community. Along with that goal, he planned to get his new boat up and running, the parrot that came with the Chris-Craft settled in, and perhaps look into buying a larger yacht for going long distances and working on his relationship with Darlene. Working with the police in any way, manner or shape didn’t fit in with his plan.
“I’m going to tell you something even Eddie doesn't know, at least not until he returns from patrol today. I have decided to promote him to lieutenant in the vacancy left by your uncovering the mole that had operated in our department for years. I think he'll be a good man to fill the slot.”
“That's great. I'm sure he’ll be very pleased. Congratulate him for me.”
“If you're able to find anything out please go to our new lieutenant. He will be your contact in this matter. I'm putting him in charge of a drug trafficking problem in the area.”
“If I pick up something, I'll be sure to let Eddie know. But right now, Chief, I have no inclination to become involved. Thanks for the call,” Chuck said and disconnected.
He put the drugs back into the closet, grabbed his keys, and drove to the sales office to complete the purchase of the Chris-Craft. On his way, he stopped at Pet Smart and got the items he would need to keep a parrot in his new home. He had kept the boat for a week, and now he decided to keep it with the attendant condition of taking the parrot with the vessel. Without additional delay he headed to the yacht sales office in Thunderbolt, a small town next to Savannah on the Wilmington River, at least he would see Darlene today.
The one problem he would soon have to confront and to solve rested with the box of drugs in his house. He would have to decide what to do with them, and quickly. He realized that eventually someone from the organization who owned the goods would come to his place to look for them. He did not doubt it. He had to focus on what he planned to do to get them gone. The logical thing would be to give them to the police and that would tell the world that he didn’t have them. He would do that tomorrow, the day after Eddie made lieutenant and this information would give him a feather in his cap right off the bat. The new lieutenant recovered a million dollars’ worth of drugs on his first day on the job. He liked that and thought it would help his friend’s credibility in his new position.
Chuck enjoyed his thoughts about his
new idea, but he would soon learn what the delay would mean for him.
6
Ramon called his men to a meeting at one o’clock. They met in a rented house on 71st Street. He envisioned using this location as his distribution center once he got his hands on the Bahamian drugs. He intended to make this meeting short. They needed to prepare for the events he planned for later that night. When they arrived, he addressed the four men assembled in the small front room.
“Regrettably we weren’t able to recover the drugs. I’m sure they were on the boat you two,” he pointed at two of the men, “were unable to get after it crashed. I’m still displeased with you for shooting at the man while in your boat. You were supposed to wait and capture them when that shit reached his destination. That way we would have the drugs and the site of their base.”
“But boss, we thought it would be easier to get them while on the water. All we had to do was to kill the driver and then take the drugs from the boat. The man saw us approaching, and he gunned his engines and sped away. Then it became a chase, and we had to try to stop him.”
“Enough,” shouted Ramon. “That’s in the past. We need to get those drugs to give us a means of getting started here in Savannah. We’ll use that money to guarantee no one can even try to start an operation here while we’re in charge. The money will give us the ability to pay for information and the drugs will allow us to expand our operations throughout the city. We needed them, damn it.”
“Sorry boss,” came from both.
He moved over to a map of the city he had previously pinned to the wall. The room was empty except for a few wooden chairs and two folding metal ones. There were no rugs or any other items normally found in a house where someone lived. The coffee smell wafting in from the kitchen area covered up most of the musty stink of the place.
