Pleasant Harbor

by Thomas Bloom

  “Oh, jeez,” Dusty said. “This was supposed to be private and low key.”

  “This is low key,” the officer said. “If it was official we’d have brought in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.”

  Chapter Fifty Six

  Well mama did you ever hear the saying that every problem is also an opportunity. I’ve got a problem but also an opportunity. The Arabs called me. They don’t want weapons this time, they want a safe house in western Michigan. They didn’t call it that but they want an isolated house with a big barn or garage in rural western Michigan. They didn’t say for what but it doesn’t take a genius to figure this out. They want a base to carry out whatever attack they are planning. I don’t expect them to be back. I’m sure they’re planning a suicide attack. I said give me a few days and then call me back.

  I know they already rented a garage someplace because they disappeared after the attack at the marina. My guess is they had two sets of vehicles, one to do the deal at the marina and another to drive out of the area. They’ll probably come back for the other set after the heat is off.

  Then another complication. I get a call from the guys in Chicago. They are not happy about losing their people. They have no idea who I am but they know the takedown was in Pleasant Harbor. We assume you were part of this, they say, unless you point us to the guys who did it we will come after you. The problem is they know what I look like. If they stake out the town sooner or later they might ID me. Maybe I can make a win-win out of this. I need to think about it.

  Chapter Fifty Seven

  Dusty and Amanda had a Skype conference with Agent Tamourini a couple of days later. “We don’t have much,” she said. “We’ve combed Dearborn and have nothing. We don’t think they came in that way. What we know is that they have a mission and weapons. Have you guys come up with anything?”

  “Look,” Dusty said. “We’ve got every officer in both departments looking for anything suspicious but so far nothing. We don’t really know what to go after. We can’t just stop any vaguely looking Middle Eastern type and search them or their vehicle. We think that just because the gun deal took place here there’s no reason to believe anything else will. On the contrary, because they may have been seen here we think they will avoid this part of the state like the plague.”

  “One thing we’ve thought of,” Amanda said, “is the guys in Chicago are not going to take losing their people and their money lying down. We expect them to take some kind of counteraction. But they may not really know anything. We think they will show up looking for leads but we don’t know what they’re after. Same problem, we can’t stop every Hispanic looking driver and interrogate them. We think there was a middle-man-someone who set up the deal. That’s the key. If we find the middle-man we can connect both ends. What the Chicago guys have is a cell number. It’s probably a throw away but if we had that number we might have a connection. And, by the way, no further action from Mr. “X.” He appears to have gone to ground.”

  “So how would a middleman have made contact with these two groups?” Tamourini asked. “There’s no obvious connection. What we can do is get cell phone traffic from NSA in western Michigan on the days in question. The problem is there will be hundreds of thousands of calls. How do we figure out which phones go with which person? I could tie up a dozen agents for a week or more trying to figure that out. And if we end up with two throwaways we’re no better off.”

  “Let’s leave it this way,” Dusty said. “The Arabs are your problem. We don’t think they will show up here again. You have resources that we don’t have. But we think there’s a good chance the Chicago guys will show up here soon. They have a score to settle and Pleasant Harbor is their only lead. If they show up we will know it soon enough. Even if we don’t have cause to stop them we can watch them. Actually, it’s better that we just watch them. If they do make contact with the Arabs that’s our critical lead. What you can help us with is eavesdropping equipment. If they check into a local hotel or motel we need to bug the room, bug their cars and their phones.”

  “Look,” Tamourini said. “If they show up call me and within four hours we’ll have a team there to do the eavesdropping. And, they’ll speak Spanish which I don’t think either of you do.”

  “Oh, just one other thing,” Amanda asked. “That second notebook we found on the boat with something written on the front page. Did you figure out what it was?”

  Tamourini laughed. “Yeah, it was a reminder to someone to get his wife a birthday present.”

  Chapter Fifty Eight

  Okay mama, you’ve heard of a twofer. Well this is a threefer. We know the guys from Chicago will show up here sooner or later. They’re after the Arabs but they have no information except my throwaway. The Arabs are long gone and will not be back unless I lure them back. Thanks to my pictures they have left me alone.

  Also, we still have the Dusty and Amanda problem. Sooner or later they will get back to my case. So here’s what we do. The Mexicans have a bunch of money. The Arabs have a bunch of money. Dusty and Amanda want me. So we set up a meet where they both pay to get in and the Donavans get invited for free. Here’s how we do it. I contact the Mexicans and then tell them I have another arms deal set up with the Arabs. If they want to know where and when they can pay me. I call the Arabs and tell them I have some low grade fissionable material which they can have if they pay me. I then collect from both sides and give them the same time and same place and tip off the Donavans that something is coming down. Everyone shows up at the same place at the same time and all hell breaks loose. Plus, I’ll set up a little insurance ahead of time.

  I have to be careful about how I play the Mexicans. They have my throwaway number and they know what I look like but they have no clue that I have any presence in this county. There’s an old warehouse on the south side of town that I know is tied up in probate and will not be touched for some time. I’m going to use it. I will call the Arabs and tell them that the fissionable material is just right for a dirty bomb. They don’t need any more weapons but might bite on this. Same deal, I want a certified check. When the money shows up they get the time and place. . Same deal with the Mexicans. The question is how do I lure Mr. Dusty and Mrs. Amanda in at the same time. I’ll work on that.

  Chapter Fifty Nine

  With the kids back from Chicago one of them stayed with the boys at almost all times. They were still not comfortable that the local killer did not have designs on them. When they started school they would be accompanied by an officer for at least the first few months.

  It was time for Dusty to pay a debt. He called Sergeant Johnson and they picked a mutually convenient date. He rented a banquet hall at a low level hotel in Lansing and also reserved about 20 rooms. He then called a caterer and ordered enough food for about 100 persons plus an open bar. The whole thing was going to cost his department and Amanda’s about $10,000. They agreed to split it down the middle and write it off to inter-department relations.

  Dusty put three conditions on attendance—no uniforms or weapons, everyone had to leave cold sober or with a designated driver or they were free to spend the night in one of the reserved rooms. Finally, spouses or significant others were welcome. Dusty figured that things were a lot less likely to get out of control with the ladies present.

  Dusty gave a little speech at the beginning of the affair thanking the State Police for their help on several different occasions. Sergeant Johnson immediately rose and said “if you do this every year we’ll come as often as you want us.”

  The affair was a spectacular success and it was 2:00 A.M. before the last officer had left for home or for one of the rooms in the hotel. The reception room was a disaster but that was the caterer’s and the hotel’s problem. Dusty and Amanda took one of the twenty rooms and were asleep by 2:30. The boys were with Mrs. Johnson accompanied by one officer.

  Early in the affair, Dusty, Amanda and Sergeant Johnson had taken the time for a serious discussion.

  “Any leads on the ki
ller of the women or the guys who nixed the Mexicans?” Johnson asked.

  “We’ve got a good profile of the killer but we still can’t match it up with anyone local. We’re afraid it might be an inside job but we can’t figure out how to smoke him out. As for the Arab/Mexican thing not a clue. We think the Mexicans are going to show one day looking for leads on the guys who took down their people. The one thing you might help us and the FBI with is just to keep your eyes out for any middle-eastern types who are doing anything in the least suspicious. Unfortunately, the first thing we might see of them is when they walk into a mall and start shooting.”

  “Hey,” Johnson said, “we’ve got multiple notices from the FBI on that problem. But it’s a civil rights issue. If we start stopping every middle-eastern type who is doing anything the tiny bit out of the ordinary then we’re going to get the press and the Arab American league and the ACLU and who knows who else down on us like a ton of bricks.”

  “Understood,” Dusty said. “But if we miss one lead a lot of people could die.”

  “What we need,” Johnson said, “is something specific—a photo, a vehicle description, a license plate number, whatever. They’ve had plenty of time to do a mall but they haven’t surfaced. My guess is they’re waiting for something specific so they can make a spectacular splash. Which means that when it happens it will be even worse than you think.”

  “Look,” Amanda said, “these guys are good, they have money and now they have weapons but no one is infallible. All they have to do is make one mistake that brings them out of the background and maybe we can get them before they do whatever they’re planning.”

  “True enough,” Johnson said. “Let’s hope they make that mistake.”

  They clinked glasses.

  Chapter Sixty

  Well mama here’s the way it’s going to happen. I’ve been waiting to hear from the Mexicans and yesterday it happened. They offered me a bunch of money to steer them to the Arabs. I told them I had a way to lure them back to Pleasant Harbor and for a flat one million I would tell them when and where. I said I would not meet them face to face. When the time came I would give them a bank account number to transfer the money. What if your information is no good, they ask. Then I expect you’ll chase me forever, I said. Why would I want that? I delivered once and I will deliver again. I’m not taking sides here. I’m just an expediter.

  The Arabs were their usual cautious self. It took a week for them to get back to me. I think they’re reporting to someone up the chain which is why it takes them so long to make a decision. I made the same deal. One million in my bank account and they get the address and time. I told them the goods would be in a sealed box which would be very heavy because it was lead encased. I told them under no circumstances to open the box without full radiation protection or they would be dead in a few days. I’ve made a box four by two by two in the barn and then loaded in a bunch of scrap metal. It weighs three hundred pounds and it’s going to be a pain to move.

  The bank account was a little trickier. A year or so ago I managed to get a driver’s license, a passport and some credit cards that belonged to someone who had just died of a heart attack. I took a long weekend and made a fast trip to the Turks and Caicos who are famous for their lax banking laws. I traveled under this guy’s passport and opened a bank account in his name. I deposited the money I already had and told the bank that I was expecting several very large deposits in the next week or two because I was planning on buying some property in the country and that I was working with several backers. No problem they said, we will look forward to meeting all your banking needs.

  I’m setting the deal up for New Year’s Eve. I told the Arabs it would be the time of least surveillance because every officer who could get time off would do so and the ones who had to work, for the most part, would not log in until later in the evening so they could work through the action hours. That would leave the late afternoon and early evening with a bare bones staff. Specifically, I told the Arabs to plan on 7:00 PM so they could drive in after dark.

  Now the last piece is how do I get Mr. dusty and Mrs. Amanda on site at the right time? I’m working on that.

  Chapter Sixty One

  The Donavans had the first real Christmas they had experienced in several years. Presents under the tree, including a set of clubs and a golf bag for each boy, a turkey dinner and football all afternoon. They had an easy week off until after the 1st. Everyone seemed to take a break, even the crooks. They planned a family night for New Year’s Eve—a ham dinner, games with the kids and then a few drinks at midnight while they watched the ball come down in Time’s Square. New Year’s day would be a sleep in, ham sandwiches with mac and cheese and football in the afternoon broken up by a walk along the shore, weather permitting. Dusty set up a football pool with all the holiday college games. Everyone put in a dollar and the boys spent several hours researching the games. Dusty and Amanda bet on intuition. As of the morning of New Year’s Eve they were both out and the boys were vying for the pot.

  Dusty had kept his daughter, Cindy, up to date on his relationship with Amanda. She was sitting for exams when they had their wedding and Dusty told her to stay in school. There would be plenty of time later. She had been more than a little hesitant when she came home for the holidays to walk into a strange house occupied by strange people. But it only took Amanda and the boys a day to make her at home and then a couple of days to make her a friend. She was a tall willowy blond and very pretty. Both the boys seemed to have a crush on her and she spent a lot of time with them. She had opted out of the football pool. I don’t follow it at all,” she said, “not even Michigan’s team. I’ve tried to get interested in it but all the games look the same to me. Just a bunch of guys running around the field and banging into each other.”

  At about 4:30 on New Year’s Eve Dusty’s cell rang. It was his dispatcher. His heart sank a little. Please, not tonight he thought.

  “Sorry to bother you sir, but I’ve got an odd one and I thought you ought to be aware of it. This afternoon we had reports of several cars with Illinois plates cruising the town. The occupants seemed to be Hispanic—two cars with four occupants per car. Per your orders if they ever showed up we did not approach. They did not do anything, just drove throughout the area. I almost called you then but we decided to see if they bedded down for the night or not. Then about an hour ago we had a call from Rusty’s Easy Shop convenience store out to the east of the county. He said two vans pulled in about 6:30 this afternoon. They spent half an hour filling and re-filling a tire that was low at the air pump and then finally pulled out a spare and replaced it. They never came in but he said he saw about four of them and they all appeared to be middle-eastern. I don’t know what’s coming down here sir but the last time we had Mexicans and Arabs in town at the same time a lot of bad things happened.”

  “Thanks, George, I’ll be in shortly. Do we have any of the vehicles under surveillance now?”

  “Well, you know we only have one unmarked car. We’ve had it following one of the Mexican vehicles. At last report it seemed to be circling a neighborhood on the south side.”

  “Okay, you said it George, the last time these people were in town a lot of folks died. I want you to bring in every man on call and I’ll have Chief Stevens do the same. Something’s coming down and we need to find out what it is.”

  “What’s up?” Amanda asked.

  “Bad news on two fronts,” he said. “Our night’s off and we could have a major incident in the making.” He filled her in and they agreed to take separate cars into town. A frantic call to Mrs. Johnson had her on the way to the house as they left.

  Dusty’s next call was to agent Tamourini. She had always said to call her at any time but New Year’s Eve might be a reach. She answered on the second ring. Dusty filled her in on the recent sightings.

  “Why would the Arabs come back to Pleasant Harbor after making a clean get away? It doesn’t make sense unless it’s something very big. An
d then why the Mexicans at the same time. There’s something very odd going on here. I don’t care about the Mexicans right now but I surely want the Arabs. Keep the best watch you can and call me the instant you have anything new. I’m going to get clearance for two teams on helicopters. We should be there within two hours. I will need transportation when we get there. I’ll have about ten people. It would probably be better if your guys drove because they know the town. Say five vehicles with one of yours and two of ours in each. Where’s the nearest place to land?”

  “There’s a small private field about a mile north of town but I’m sure it’s shut down at this time. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll get the high school football stadium lit up for you. There will be plenty of room to land two copters. It’s about a mile and half northeast of the center of town. I’m sure you can’t miss it from the air once we have it lit up.”

  Chapter Sixty Two

  It’s working mama. There’s two million in my account down south. I checked my new bank account on line. Both deposits are there. I’m a millionaire. Then I called in the first sighting of the Mexicans in town and then let the department play it out. I knew about when the Arabs would get here and how they would arrive. When I saw the two vans I knew I had them. I pulled up next to the rear van in my pickup and used a twenty-two caliber with a silencer to put a hole in the right rear tire. I wanted to be sure they were spotted so that Mr. Dusty and Ms. Amanda would show up. The rest they did themselves. I got lucky with old Rusty. He’s a nosy son of a bitch. Now I just need to be sure they all get to the same place at the same time. I know that Mr. Dusty is on it because they called in every on call officer, including me. I hope this doesn’t mess up something else I’ve got planned.