The Cartel Affair
Page 17
“Are there any particular times he roams around?”
“No. He always makes sure that it’s at different times. He says that this way, no one will know exactly when he’ll be doing it and they can’t surprise him this way. Manuel is very paranoid.”
“Manuel should be paranoid. When you do the kinds of things he does, you need to worry that someone will come to get you.”
“Yes, this I know for a fact.”
All three men laugh at this.
“Jose, I can’t thank you enough for the information you’ve provided. I can’t tell you the time or day when we’ll strike but rest assured that my men will protect you. All you have to do is stay inside and you will not be harmed. Show me which building you’re in at night and I’ll have my men protect that building.”
“I’m always in this building at night. There are five other men in this building with me. There are six men in all of these buildings here.”
“When you hear anything happening at night, keep your head down and we’ll protect you.”
“Thank you, Travis. I must be getting back before they suspect anything.”
“I understand. Thank you again, Jose.”
Travis returns to studying the model of the camp and making his game plan. He knows more now, and that information is priceless when it comes to missions like this. Travis spends the next three hours putting together his plan.
Travis completes his plan and leaves to take a look firsthand at the camp once more before finalizing the details. Travis takes off with Trojan and Muskrat.
Travis and the guys arrive just in time to see a truck pull in and the men in camp start unloading crates that look suspiciously like weapons crates. Travis grabs his binoculars and looks more closely. Sure enough, the crates are marked as M72 Laws Rockets - a handheld, shoulder fired 66-mm unguided anti-tank system used by the United States Military. How in the Hell they managed to get their hands on those is anyone’s guess.
“We’ll need to keep an eye on those and see where they store them. We’ll take those with us when we complete the raid on the camp. I don’t want those getting into the wrong hands.”
“Roger that, Skipper. We don’t want those hanging around after we leave.”
“No, we do not. Make sure we keep tabs on them. I can only imagine what they have planned for those.”
Travis and the guys spend the next several hours tracking the movements inside the camp and making notes. They get positive identification on the leaders and where they’re staying. Everything checks with what Jose has told Travis. This makes Travis feel a whole lot better about everything. Travis sees Jose walking around the camp talking and laughing with the others. Travis stays until about 02:30, then leaves for the General’s house.
Travis rises early the next morning and joins the guys at breakfast.
“After breakfast, everyone meet in the study for mission planning. We’ll be going tonight at 02:30.”
Travis and the guys finish breakfast and gather in the study to wait for General Ramos’s arrival.
“All right, everyone’s here now. Let’s begin. We’ll strike at 02:30. General Ramos, you’ll be on the hilltop with me as overwatch. I can always use an extra set of eyes.
Genius, you’ll secure the M72 rockets. Falcon, track any aircraft in the area. General Ramos will have air traffic halted during the operation.
Guardian, you’ll secure Jose and keep him safe.
Trojan, have a diversion ready in case we need one.
Merlin and Spider, take out the guards and secure the tower.
Boomer, disarm the booby traps and secure the fence line.
Muskrat, Beaver and Brutus, you have mop up duties. Take out any and all threats.
Squeaker, you have the comms. Make sure to wire the General up also.
I’ll have overwatch from the hilltop. I’ll take out Manuel Ortiz as soon as he pops his head out. Take them all out except Jose. I want no one left to warn the others. General, have transportation ready when we’re done so that we can get the M72s out of there and make a clean getaway. Is everyone set on what your duties are?”
“Roger, Skipper. We got it.”
“General, are you good with being with me? You’ll have a bird’s eye view of everything that goes on from the hilltop.”
“Yes. I’m very excited to watch you and your team in action.”
“Good. We’re glad to have you along with us. We’ll have Brutus and Merlin watch the camp until 14:00. Then come back and get some rest and be ready tonight.”
“14:00. Roger, Skipper.”
“The rest of you get the gear ready and get some rest. We’ll be using silenced Remington Model 16 semiautomatic rifles with sub-sonic rounds. No explosions unless absolutely necessary. Understood?”
“Understood, Skipper.”
“Boomer, let me know as soon as you get the fence line secure.”
“Roger, Skipper.”
“I will not be using Jamie on this op. I’ll be using a silenced Remington Model 16 semiautomatic rifle just like the rest of you. Quiet is key on this op. I want a clean in and out. Everyone get your jobs done and get some rest.”
“If I may ask, what is a Jamie?”
Everyone laughs at this.
“Jamie is what I call my regular sniper rifle. I named it after my father. It’s a M40A1 700 Remington.”
“If I might be so bold could I see this rifle?”
“Of course, General. I’ll not only let you see it, I’ll let you shoot it as well.”
“I would be very honored.”
The guys look at Travis as if he has lost his mind. In 300 missions together, Travis has never let anyone, not anyone, touch his rifle, much less shoot it. Travis looks at the guys with a “when in Rome” look and smiles.
“General, if you will follow me, I’ll show you my rifle. Is there somewhere we can shoot it?”
“Yes, we can shoot it out back of the house.”
Travis takes the General out back to shoot Jamie. Travis and the General return after some time with the General rubbing his shoulder and laughing about it being sore.
“All right gentlemen, get some rest and we’ll assemble here at 02:00.”
FIFTY-NINE
Mission Day
TRAVIS AND THE guys meet up at the appointed time and leave for the mission. They arrive at the camp and Travis and the General take up overwatch on the hilltop and the others go to their appointed posts to get ready.
“Dragonslayer is in the tower watching the dragon. All knights sound off.”
“Genius all clear.”
“Falcon all clear.”
” Guardian all clear.”
“Trojan all clear.”
“Merlin all clear.”
“Spider all clear.”
“Boomer all clear.”
“Muskrat all clear.”
“Beaver all clear.”
“Brutus all clear.”
“Squeaker all clear.”
“Commence Operation Overlord.”
The team springs into action. All but Boomer comes in through the back fence. Boomer’s clearing the front fence.
“Skipper, fence is all clear.”
“Roger that, Boomer.”
Travis watches as the team moves inside the camp and starts taking out the members of the group. Just as Guardian goes inside to secure Jose, Travis sees Manuel come out of his tent. Travis takes aim and lets his breath out slowly. He squeezes the trigger and Manuel goes down. He then moves to the guards in the tower and squeezes off two more rounds and the guards go down.
“Tower is clear. Merlin, Spider, get in there and man that machine gun and light.”
“Roger that, Skipper.”
“Falcon, status?”
“All clear, Skipper.”
“Guardian, status?”
“Package is secure.”
“Genius, status?”
“Laws are secured.”
“Boomer, wire it up. Everyone e
lse mop it up. Time check, 02:45. Good job, gentlemen. Let’s get loaded up and ready to roll.”
“Roger that, Skipper”
“Boomer, get ready to light it up.”
“Ready, Skipper.”
“Everyone loaded and ready?”
“Roger, Skipper.”
“Boomer, light it up.”
As Travis and the team drive off, Boomer lights up the camp. They watch it explode in the rearview mirror as they set off to the General’s home.
Travis and the team get up the next morning and leave for the airport. They load Turner’s body and the Laws Rockets onto the plane and return to Washington, DC. Travis knows he’ll have a hard time feigning remorse at Turner’s funeral.
WILLIAM E. BOONE
PROUDLY PRESENTS
THE NEXT WORK IN THE
TRAVIS BONES SERIES
THE
GOVERNMENT
SILENTLY
WEEPS
A Political Thriller
Written by
William E. Boone
Turn the page for a preview.........
PRELUDE
Director Smith’s Office
AFTER THE FALLOUT from the whole Senator Baker scandal, Travis and Director Smith sit down and try to decide what to do with the treasure trove of information accumulated on other members of the Senate and Congress. Travis wants to meet with President Carpenter and involve him in the loop of things. Smith thinks they should just turn everything over to the FBI and be done with it.
“Travis, as you know, the CIA is not allowed to perform investigations on United States soil. The only option we have is to turn the investigation over to the FBI and let Director Hughes take the information and run with it.”
“There’s only one problem with that whole thing, Chuck. That being, we don’t know if he or anybody at the FBI has been compromised by Baker’s corruption. We need to find out before we turn anything over to him and have it get mysteriously lost. You, better than anybody, know how the FBI is about accidently losing information if it suits them. Hell, how much stuff did they lose about the whole Democratic office break-in bullshit? Why don’t we simply meet with President Carpenter and I’ll live with whatever he decides.”
“How about we take a week and think things over and see what we come up with after that?”
“You won’t mind if I spend that time going through the information to see if I can uncover anything do you, Chuck?”
Smith laughs and nods at Travis. “You know I can’t stop you when you put your mind to it.”
Travis leaves and goes down to the Op’s Center. He hates to contact the guys, as he has just given them time off to see their families. He decides to page the guys and let them know what he’ll be doing for the next week. He tells them to enjoy their time at home and he’ll contact them if he needs them. The only way he’ll do that is if he finds anything. He has a nagging suspicion that he’ll find something or someone that has been compromised.
Travis starts digging through the information and it doesn’t take long for him to find a name that rings a bell. It appears that FBI Assistant Director Joseph Greene has had dealings with Senator Baker. He’ll have to investigate this more in depth. If the assistant director is compromised, who else is he going to find? Smith needs to know about this, but Travis need more information about him first. The more Travis digs, the more names he comes up with that are tied back to Baker. By the time Travis finishes going through the information, he has a list of 13 agents plus the assistant director. Travis is convinced that if they give the information to the FBI, they will bury the information or find a way to lose it and the guilty parties will never be brought to justice. Travis has to find a way to get the President involved or convince Smith that they need to handle the investigation themselves. He knows that the CIA isn’t allowed to operate within the borders of the United States, but something has to be done to bring these people to justice and stop the corruption brought about by Baker and his cronies.
ONE
Washington, DC
“THIS IS NBC News with a breaking report out of Washington, DC.”
“Good evening everyone. This is Cory Stevens for NBC News. We have just been informed the FBI Director Robert Hughes is about to hold a press conference. We are joining the press conference in progress.”
“Good evening, everyone. I’m here tonight to announce that four Federal Judges have been arrested and charged with bribery and obstruction in the wake of the William Baker scandal. The FBI will be conducting an investigation. It’s possible that some cases tried by these judges will have to be thrown out in regard to these charges. I’ll be keeping the public updated as new developments happen. Thank you. I will not be taking questions at this time. I’ll be making updated statements later as events unfold in the investigation.”
“Well, there you have it. More bad news for the country in the wake of the Senator Baker scandal. NBC News will be keeping you up to date as the situation unfolds. This is Cory Stevens for NBC News. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.”
TWO
48 Hours Earlier
Director Smith’s Office
TRAVIS MEETS CHUCK at his office to let him know what he has found. Travis has found too many people in the FBI tied to Baker to feel comfortable with handing the investigation over to the FBI.
“Good morning, Chuck. I don’t believe you’re going to like what I have to tell you. The assistant director and 13 other agents all have ties running back to Baker and his cronies.”
“How the Hell can that many people at the FBI be tied to Baker and his people?”
“Baker had half of Capitol Hill on the hook. It didn’t surprise me that he had that many people at the FBI on his payroll or at least owing him favors. That’s why I wanted to get the President involved. I know we’re not supposed to run investigations domestically, but if we turn this over to them, it’ll get buried and nothing will get done.”
“I have to agree with you on this one. Sit tight and I’ll see if I can get President Carpenter on the line.”
Smith calls the President and tells him what Travis has found. The President isn’t happy about the findings.
“Hell Chuck, it’s not like we didn’t have enough problems already! How the Hell did he get his hooks in that many people over there? To know that the assistant director is on the hook to him, just boggles my mind.”
“I know, Mr. President. I found it hard to believe until Travis showed me the documentation to back it up. If we turn this over to the FBI at this point, nothing will get done and all the information will probably disappear. I’m just glad that the Director himself is not on the hook to these guys.”
“I know what you mean, Chuck. I’ll make a phone call and get back to you in a few minutes. I have to talk to the Director and see if he has any idea that his guys are involved like this.”
“Thank you, Mr. president. I’ll be looking for your call and your recommendations.”
Travis and Smith continue to go through all the documentation while they wait for the President to call them back. The more Smith reads, the more he is inclined to agree with Travis. The phone rings and Smith answers.
“Hello, Chuck. I’ve talked to the Director and he had no idea that any of his guys were tied up in this mess. I’ve set up a meeting for tomorrow at nine am. It will be me, Director Hughes, you and Travis. Be sure to bring the documentation so we can all take a look at it and come up with a plan. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me, Mr. President. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
WILLIAM E. BOONE lives in the foothills of North Carolina with his wife and dogs. He enjoys spending time with family and friends and cherishes the time spent with his five grandchildren.
William grew up in a small town north of Raleigh and entered the Marine Corps at age 19. He ran classified missions while in the Corps. He draws from his experience and in-depth research to write the Travis Bones series.
William has always enjoyed reading and composing stories to share with family and friends. After having open heart surgery, William decided it was time to pursue his passion for writing on a more professional level. That’s what brought about the creation of the Travis Bones series. William welcomes you into his mind for a short period to learn the world of Travis Bones. He hopes you enjoy reading it as much as he enjoys writing it for you.
Visit his website at www.williameboone.com to keep up with the latest works for the Travis Bones series. You can also book interviews, book signings and speaking engagements. William loves his fans and enjoys spending time with them discussing his works.
Twitter@WilliamEBoone1
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