Operation Bayou Angel

by Margaret Kay

  Sloan did as Sherman had suggested and sure enough, the big gator followed him. He’d just as soon take it out, but he knew Brielle would be all over his shit when they got back if he did that. It followed him as he piloted the boat back to the bank, an unsettling feeling having such a lethal predator stalk you. He held a hand out and pulled Sherman back into the boat. Sherman’s boots splashed into at least six inches of water. He too immediately began to bail.

  As they made their way back down the bayou, the heavy sheets of rain still shrouded the area. The continuing torrent wasn’t letting up. They were all drenched. Had been for hours. Sherman couldn’t wait to get back, take a nice hot shower, and crawl into bed with Brielle.

  Kilo

  Brielle sat in the chair watching the boats retreat back down the bayou for a good half hour after they pulled away from the bank. The downpour hadn’t let up any and the weather report didn’t forecast it moving out of the area until daybreak. She knew there was nothing left for her to do, but she was fascinated with the activity that was set in motion by the identification of BioDynamix Chief Security Officer, Mike Spencer and the unknown Chinese man who took their smoke break at the back door.

  Cooper was still talking with Garcia at headquarters through his comms, which Brielle listened into with interest. Doc solely had the team on his comms. Every once in a while, she heard him talk with the men in the boats. She glanced back at the mission feed captured from the cameras on their vests, which still displayed on the monitors. They ran in the dark, with their night vision goggles giving them a better view of the bayou in front of them, than the search lights would.

  “So, here’s the thing about Mike Spencer,” Garcia’s voice broke in on Brielle’s focus on the monitors. “I’ve got nothing on him before twenty-three months ago when BioDynamix filed their articles of incorporation. At that time, boom, driver’s license, activity on his Social Security number, a checking account opened.”

  “How can that be?” Brielle asked, forgetting her lip mic was still on.

  “I found a legal birth certificate filed in New Jersey at the right time for him, but nothing from then on. That usually indicates an identity takeover of a deceased child. I’m searching for a death certificate now.”

  “That’s disgusting and despicable that someone would do that,” Brielle remarked. “Imagine being that poor parent and finding out someone took over your dead child’s identity.”

  “That parent is likely in their sixties by now,” Garcia said. “And they’ll probably never even know, but I agree with you, I’d be plenty pissed if I were that parent and my kid isn’t even born yet.”

  “How is Sienna feeling?” Cooper asked.

  “Pretty good. She’s just tired. I finally felt the baby move this morning. He’s kicking up a storm!” You didn’t have to know Garcia to hear the excitement and pride in his voice.

  “He?” Cooper asked. “I thought you weren’t going to find out the gender.”

  Garcia laughed. “Planned not to, but we had an ultrasound this morning and the stem was prominently displayed on the apple. There was no disputing what we saw.”

  Brielle saw Cooper’s smile spread over his face.

  “Congrats, man, that’s great.” He turned to Doc. “Garcia and Sienna found out it’s a boy.”

  Doc smiled. “I know Elizabeth was kind of hoping for a girl to be best friends with Olivia, but yeah, a boy, that’s great.”

  “Doc sends his congratulations,” Cooper said.

  “Oh, hello,” Garcia’s all business voice came through their comms. “I found a death certificate on Maribel Spencer, Michael’s mom, dated October seventeenth, nineteen ninety. But interestingly enough, she’s one of the officers on the Articles of Incorporation for the BioDynamix Corporation, with an address at an assisted living facility in Trenton.”

  “Aren’t there safeguards in place that will alert someone if a dead person is filing legal documents?” Brielle asked.

  “No, even with computerized records, databases aren’t linked to crosscheck for those kinds of things,” Cooper advised her.

  “That seems like a no brainer, don’t let a dead person get a driver’s license or be the legal owner of a corporation,” Brielle said.

  “This is a sophisticated organization, pulling this much off,” Garcia said. “There are inconsistencies with the other owners, as well. I’m diving into them too, but hitting a harder wall. I was lucky to find Maribel’s death certificate. It was filed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I only found it because her obit was published in the local Trenton newspaper.”

  “Keep on it,” Cooper said. His eyes met Brielle’s. “How much longer are you planning to stay up? You’re welcome to listen in as long as you want, but there is no need.”

  Brielle hadn’t really thought about it. There was still activity and conversations taking place, and the journalist in her didn’t want to miss any of the story. “The whole process fascinates me. Did Landon mention to you that we had discussed active surveillance on Sheriff Henderson?”

  “No, he didn’t,” Cooper replied. “But I think it’s a good idea.”

  “I think that should be extended to Deputy Downey too. That man gives me the creeps. If anyone laid his hands on Bobby, I bet it was him. I’ve felt threatened by him on multiple occasions.”

  “How so?”

  “He’s literally pushed his way into my house when I told him he couldn’t come in. He stands close, way too close if you know what I mean, to intimidate.”

  “The digital team is already looking into him.”

  “He spends his off hours in this little dive bar in Cut Off. I’ve heard rumors from a female bartender there that he gets handsy after a few too many whiskeys.”

  Cooper’s lips curved into a smirk. “Good to know if we need to scoop him up.”

  “I was also thinking. If they are moving anything down the bayou, the people who live near there or spend any time in the area, would have seen something. There are a couple of people in particular I can think of who I should talk to.”

  Cooper nodded. “We’ll add that to our list. Local witnesses could be our best resource.”

  Brielle appreciated that Cooper was open to her suggestions. She was still up when Madison came into the room carrying a cup of coffee. Brielle checked the time on her phone. It was three a.m.

  “Did everything go alright?” Madison asked.

  “Yes, everything went as planned.” Cooper clicked a few keys. He zoomed out on the map that showed the team’s trackers. “The team should be back in about an hour.” Then he came to his feet. “There’s no activity in the bayou behind the BioDynamix facility, just the rain.”

  Madison took his seat. She glanced over at Brielle. “I’m surprised to see you still up.”

  “I slept on the flight down and I’ll admit I was fascinated by all the activity since the guys planted the cameras. I got to listen in on the discussion between Cooper and Garcia and hear about what the digital team found so far.”

  Madison glanced back at Cooper.

  “I’ll fill you in, in the morning when we have a briefing with the entire team. I’m going to grab a few hours’ sleep. We’ll reconvene at nine hundred.”

  “Sounds good,” Madison said as Cooper stepped towards the door across the room that led to the bathroom and bedrooms.

  Brielle came to her feet as well. “I think I’m going to do the same.”

  She used the bathroom, alone, and then returned to the bedroom. She left her clothes on but crawled beneath the covers. She had a hard time falling asleep. She wished she could talk or text with Bobby. They usually text messaged every night if they weren’t together. She missed him.

  The team got back at zero four-twenty. The rain still fell. Sherman had already done the math. There were four shower stalls and five men. He wanted to be one of the first in so he could get to Brielle fast. With his new realization about Brielle fitting into his life, and the role he wanted her to fill in it, he couldn’
t wait to get to her.

  “We’ve had no movement at the back of BioDynamix since you planted the camera’s,” Doc said as the men filed into the room.

  “I hope we get something soon,” Lambchop said. “The more I think about it, the more I think we should hold off talking to Tina Landry or any other civilian until the digital unit has resolved every inconsistency and have full dossiers on everyone on our radar including the Chinese involvement.”

  “We’ll talk about that later. Cooper set a briefing at nine hundred hours. Get some sleep,” Doc said.

  Sherman had already been stowing his weapons as Lambchop spoke. He didn’t need to be told twice. He made a beeline for the bathroom and the showers, beating everyone else in. He peeled off his wet clothes, hanging them to dry from anyplace available. He was sure there were laundry facilities they could use after they woke.

  After a quick, hot shower, he wrapped a towel around himself and made his way to his room, hoping he wouldn’t encounter Madison along the way. He entered the room and made out Brielle’s form on her bed. He pulled a pair of skivvies on and then crowded in beside her.

  Brielle came awake as Brian’s warmth and the fresh scent of the soap wrapped around her. “Mm, you smell good.”

  Sherman pressed a kiss to her lips. “Scoot over and give me some room. He snuggled in and immediately drifted into a deep sleep, not realizing he had not set his alarm.

  At zero-nine-zero-five, a loud pounding on the door woke them both. “Damn it, Sherman, you’re late for the briefing,” came Sloan’s voice.

  “Oh, fuck,” Sherman swore, coming awake. “We’ll be right there.”

  Brielle’s eyes opened, and she rolled over.

  “Why are you wearing your clothes?” Sherman asked her.

  “Why aren’t you wearing any?”

  Sherman chuckled. He got up and pulled a shirt and a pair of jeans on. “We’re late for the briefing.”

  Brielle jumped up. She finger-smoothed her hair and put it up in a ponytail as they quickly walked to the lounge.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Cooper said sarcastically.

  “Sorry, Coop, forgot to set my alarm.”

  Sloan stood beside him. “Sorry if I interrupted anything,” he whispered.

  “Just sleep,” Sherman guaranteed him.

  Sloan wasn’t so sure.

  “You both look like hell. Go get yourselves coffee. We’ll wait five more minutes to get started,” Cooper offered.

  The two of them went to the galley. The sun shone brightly through the window.

  “Are you in trouble?” Brielle asked.

  “No, Cooper’s just busting my chops.” He handed her a cup and then got his own, black, as she stirred sugar into hers.

  They returned to the lounge and seated themselves in the two open chairs.

  “Last night’s mission was successful. We’ve got clear feed coming through the cameras,” Cooper said.

  “We need to get ears out by that smoking spot,” Sherman spoke up.

  Cooper nodded. “Agreed. We’ll work with HQ on how we can achieve it.”

  “I also think we need to initiate active surveillance on Sheriff Henderson,” Lambchop said.

  “We definitely need to get his phone paired,” Cooper agreed. “Lambchop, that’ll be your and Handsome’s assignment for the day. Come up with a mission plan and run it by me later.”

  Lambchop smiled and nodded.

  Next, Madison gave updates on everything the digital unit had and had not discovered. She started out with what Garcia had dug up on Mike Spencer and his mother, Maribel. “And the three other officers on the corporate filings are suspicious as well. Shepherd has reached out to federal authorities to pay them visits at their declared addresses, all in the Trenton area.”

  “What the hell is it with New Jersey?” Sherman asked.

  “Mayor Stuart is from Jersey too,” Brielle added.

  “Yes, he was a businessman, owned several gentleman’s clubs there,” Madison said.

  Brielle laughed out loud. That laugh that Sherman loved. “I wonder if the good Christian folks in Galliano know they elected the owner of strip clubs as their mayor.”

  The team chuckled. “Here’s the really interesting thing, Stuart’s brother is listed as an officer on the corporate filings for BioDynamix with his address listed as one of those clubs. The FBI will determine if there is an apartment over it that he lives in, but his IRS records have him in California, so I’m going to guess not.”

  “So, he may not even know that his name was used.” Doc said.

  “I think I’d have to kill my brother if I discovered he used my name and Social Security number like that,” Sloan said.

  “And Garcia and the digital team hasn’t had much luck tracing the money, either. Oddly, there doesn’t appear to be any made from that plant. Garcia is still trying to figure out how they’re making payroll for the local Parish workers. There were multiple fund transfers from a bank in Jersey into the plant fund when it opened, but no more infusions of cash,” Madison reported.

  “Well, I know Tina’s check goes into her bank every week, no problems,” Brielle said.

  Madison nodded. “I’ll notify Garcia her paycheck is direct deposited. Maybe he can back-trace the funds to see if it originated from a different account than he found.”

  “Hey, I mentioned it to Cooper last night. It occurred to me that if any strangers were using the bayou to move anything in or out of the back of the plant, that I know several locals who may have seen something. I need to talk to them.”

  Sherman wanted to say absolutely not, but he knew he couldn’t. He sipped his coffee and watched Cooper and Lambchop.

  “I think we add that to the list of resources a few days out,” Cooper said. “The fewer people who know that plant is being investigated, the better.”

  “These are all local people, Cajun and Creole, swamp people who don’t like BioDynamix any more than I do,” Brielle argued.

  “And we’ll talk to them in a few days if our active surveillance doesn’t bring us results,” Lambchop said.

  “We don’t want to potentially put any civilians in danger,” Mother said. “That’s why we’ll hold off on talking to your friend Tina, for as long as we can too.”

  “I’d feel a whole lot better about involving any civilians if we wait until after we get some answers on the Chinese. If they are part of one of the Triads, we don’t want to put anyone in that kind of danger,” Lambchop added.

  “I’m not sure who’s worse, the Mexican’s, the Colombians, or the fucking Chinese. The DEA is struggling with them all,” Sherman said.

  “And they’re all involved in human trafficking,” Cooper said, “which may be what we’re looking at with the Chinese in those trailers. If Brielle is right and they work twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week and never leave that property, that screams of slave or captive labor. HQ is watching the satellite feed carefully, monitoring their movements in and out of their trailers. If we can see images that back my assumption up, we’ll know that most of those people in those trailers are not our enemies but are people in need of rescue. That will decrease the number of people we need to worry about if we breach that facility.”

  “Speaking of people who live in those trailers, is that where Mike Spencer lives?” Sherman asked.

  “He must,” Madison confirmed. “There are no records of him renting or buying anything in the area. And no footage of him leaving that facility on the video recording that was captured from Brielle’s camera on the water tower.”

  “The same is true for the three men who rotate on as the gate guards. They return to the facility after their shifts,” Cooper added.

  Brielle wasn’t sure how she had missed that or failed to think about where the gate guards lived. None of them were hired from the Parish. She of course didn’t know this Mike Spencer even existed. She wondered how many more people worked inside the plant that she didn’t know about.

  “So, the
y probably live inside those trailers too,” Doc concluded. “We need to know how many Tangos we’ll be facing if we go into that building. It sounds to me like we need to talk with this Tina Landry sooner rather than later.”

  “Let’s give the digital team and our surveillance at least another twenty-four hours,” Cooper said. His eyes shifted to Lambchop. “Fast-track that plan to pair Sheriff Henderson’s phone and let’s initiate some active surveillance on him, as well. There is a car rental here at the port, get what you need.”

  “I’ll need a third man to surveil him,” Lambchop said. His eyes shifted to Mother.