“I forgot my bag and went back to the room to get it. I don’t know anything about the car bomb. After it went off, I ran like everyone else,” Eliana stated with a great deal of conviction in her voice.
Ron didn’t believe her. She likely would have guessed what this interrogation was going to be about and so she practiced the response during the trip here. Plus, if she had gone to the room, she’d have been killed in the blast. The room in which they stayed along with the rest of the front half of the building were demolished. For show, Ron turned towards Tom and Alex, who had found a rock off to the side to sit on and addressed them.
“Well, all right then! Hey, guys, she forgot her bag,” Ron stated and then asked her, “Is it the one out in the van?” She nodded yes. “She didn’t know a car bomb was coming, and she was scared after hearing a big boom. Alex, why don’t you go get that bag? Let’s see what she forgot back at the room. Tom, let’s get these ropes off her and…”
Ron swung around quickly and sliced her blouse up the center, cutting away the buttons but not cutting her or opening the blouse. “No, Tom. On second thought, I think not. I don’t believe her!” Ron shouted as Eliana let a small shriek escape her lips, before biting her lip to keep from crying or screaming.
“Gee, your excuse sounded pretty good. Too good, actually,” Ron expounded. “We know that you were gone long before the bomb went off. So why don’t you tell me the truth and avoid the unpleasantness that will befall you if you don’t?” Ron flashed the knife past her face quickly before adding, “Who are you working with?”
Alex returned with the bag and set it down next to the square rock pedestal before returning to his seat next to Tom. Eliana watched as Alex stepped back, but she didn’t answer Ron’s question. Ron watched her as Alex had approached. As he sat back down, as soon as he sat down, Ron slapped the rock soundly next to her face, causing a loud, sharp smack. Eliana jumped, her eyes blinked and she twisted her head, trying to get it away from the offending hand and the noise it had made.
“Pay attention! I asked you a question! Who are you working with?” Ron shouted into her face this time.
“I told you, I forgot my bag! That’s all it was! I don’t know who killed Eddie!” Eliana squealed.
“Bullshit!” Ron shouted. “You caused Garza to delay his departure, so the car bomb could arrive. If you had gotten in the SUV when he was ready, he wouldn’t have been there when the bomb got there, so you delayed him. We have it all on tape!” Ron continued shouting.
“Please, I don’t know what you’re talking about! I forgot my bag, that’s all!” Eliana cried, holding back tears and playing the role of an innocent woman beautifully.
“This bag?” Ron asked quietly, holding up the bag Alex had brought from the van. Eliana said nothing, as she fixed her eyes on it. “Let’s see what you forgot that was so important that you had to have it,” Ron said as he opened it. “Ah… I see what was so important!” Ron grinned as he started pulling bundles of American money from the bag, stacking it on the rock next to her.
“Yes, this was very important! You’ve got be one stupid bitch to have forgotten this in the room. Hell, if the maid had found it first, you’d have been ripped off for sure. There’s got to be at least a hundred grand here. Fast Eddie must have given this to you to go shopping or something?” Ron spat. When she didn’t answer him, he leaned into her face again and yelled, “Well, did he?”
Eliana quickly responded, “Eddie was a generous man to me. He has given me money many times. I have a nice retirement account in the Cayman’s thanks to him.”
“Eddie gave it to you? Eddie gave it to you? Why would Fast Eddie Garza, one of the biggest slime buckets on the planet, give you this much money? Did you make him pay to play?” Ron sarcastically mocked. Eliana just turned her eyes away and said nothing.
“Well, I guess we’ll move on to the more unpleasant stuff,” Ron stated flatly as he dragged the flat edge of the knife down her body, causing her to involuntarily shiver and squirm. Ron reached the bottom of the skirt, then he used the knife to lift up the hem and push it towards her waist. Eliana squirmed but she was unable to stop Ron from exposing her upper thighs. Once he had done so, he slowly and very lightly drew the cutting edge over her exposed skin, drawing a slight trickle of blood on both thighs.
“That’s kinda like having cut your leg shaving, huh? Now I’m going to continue to make these little cuts, not just here on your thighs, but all over your body until you tell me the truth,” Ron stated quietly, his voice dripping venom. Alex started to stand, but Tom stopped him as Eliana turned her head towards them, pleading for help with her eyes.
“Now, one more time! Who are you working with?” Ron questioned.
Eliana lay there, tears running down her cheeks. She remained silent except for the occasional sob slipping passed her lips. Ron sat looking at her for several minutes, showing no emotion at all. Then suddenly, Ron flicked the knife again and cut two more slices in her thighs. Eliana jerked and cried out slightly before biting her lip once again.
“I know he said he would kill you if you told, and maybe he will. He clearly is a man of great and terrible power. Just look at what he did to Fast Eddie. But, you see, he isn’t here.” Ron waved his hand with the knife in it around the room for effect as he spoke. “I’m here, and I will kill you, eventually, if you don’t tell me. I know someone paid you to set up old Fast Eddie, and you will tell me who or I will kill you. You take too long to tell me, I may kill you anyway for being such a pain in the ass! Now tell me—who are you working with?” Ron finished quietly as he reached for her thong with the knife point.
“Please help me!” Eliana blurted out. She let the tears flow full force, hoping to persuade Tom and Alex to save her. Alex again started to move, but Tom put his arm out blocking Alex’s way and gave him a very stern look.
“They won’t help you. They work for me, and we have a job to do or someone might kill us. So, I’ll ask you once more before I cut away your lovely thong and started cutting on your happy spot. What do you say? Will you tell me? Or do I get to treat my perverted side to a sweet treat?” Ron slipped the knife point under the edge of the thong and began lifting the edge.
“Okay! Okay! I don’t know his name! He met with Eddie many times over the last year, and every time he left, Eddie was mad. Eddie was always saying he was going to kill him—” Eliana blurted out.
“Tell me something I don’t know!” Ron shouted, cutting off her little monologue in mid-sentence. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know!” Eliana shouted back. “I never heard his name.”
“That’s bullshit! I’ve heard his name, and you know it, too. Now say it! Say it!” Ron snarled.
“It’s some Arab name. I can’t pronounce it,” Eliana sobbed.
“I guess I just need to cut a little more to help you remember…” Ron snapped as he cut the thong off her with one slice.
Eliana howled as Ron pulled it free and showed it to her as she continued to twist and tug at the ropes in vain. “Please, please believe me!” Eliana cried.
“I don’t believe you! I want the truth! I need the truth! Now tell me, who you were working with?” Ron shouted as the knife slipped up her inner thigh, allowing the tip of the blade to poke her lightly at the top of her pubic mound. Eliana sobbed loudly as the tip pricked her. “Tell me who or I’ll stick it in so deep you’ll be a side show freak if you live,” Ron spat caustically as he leered at her.
“Okay! Okay! I tell you!” Eliana cried but Ron continued to press the tip in deeper, slowly breaking the skin and letting a little trickle of blood drip. “His name is Azzaam! Azzaam is his name. Now please stop!”
Ron stopped pressing and slowly withdrew the knife. He then smiled as he looked her in the face and said, “That wasn’t so hard, was it? You could have saved yourself all this unpleasantness if you’d have just said so when I first asked. So Azzaam is his name. Do you know where I can find him?” Ron asked quietly.
&n
bsp; “No! I don’t know where he is. He travels all over the world. He has many soldiers and many bases of operations. Eddie was just his Central American general. Eddie said the man had a base in the jungles of Brazil way out in the rainforest, but I don’t know where. I don’t know where!” Eliana sobbed.
“You know what? I believe you! I’m wondering, though, if you might know where he might be in the near future. Did he say anything about where he was going or who he was going to meet with next?” Ron asked as the knife slowly inched up her thigh once more.
Shaking almost uncontrollably, Eliana began crying again, and with huge tears running down her face, she sobbed, “He was going to meet some man in Oman on the first of next month. There are some ships he has to check before they sail for Iran. I overheard that when he and Eddie spoke last month in Panama City. Something about a canal or the straits of something! I don’t know what! Please stop!”
“That was very nice of you to tell me,” Ron said in very polite voice as he pulled away the knife and then used it to flick down her skirt, covering her. He then asked her softly, “Is there anything else you can think of that I might want to know?”
Eliana lay silent with her eyes closed for several moments, until Ron reached out and placed his hand on her ribs, just below her breasts. She jumped and twisted, trying to get away from his touch, but said nothing. Ron continued to let his hot, sweaty hand lay upon her as he began to speak again.
“You know, I have a dozen pictures of you sunbathing in the nude at Fast Eddie’s villa. You have a very beautiful body. I don’t understand why you seem embarrassed by my touch or by being exposed here. You are certainly not shy! Perhaps I could see you up close and personal now that we are such good friends,” Ron stated, doing his best to sound like a real pervert who was about to rape her.
“Eddie and Azzaam have stationed several thousand men in Northern Mexico they are to be used to attack America in late December. It’s supposed to look like riots by the poor. They will attack the San Diego Naval Station and Camp Pendleton to keep them from fighting the army that will be crossing into Arizona and New Mexico a few days later,” she rushed to share what she had heard.
“Azzaam will have two hundred thousand armed men and women attack in the first wave and over a million in the second. They have been recruited from all over Central and South America by paying them some money now and the promise of even more money later, after they win. They have two very large supply depots in northern Mexico. One is in Arizpe and the other is in Ahumada. They will cross into America through four cities: El Paso, Calexico, Laredo and Brownsville. Azzaam felt very strongly that Texas is the key to controlling the battle early, and California is the key to winning the war. Azzaam has paid bribes to every government from Brazil to Mexico, so that he might build a Central American highway. He wants the highway so he can move his army quickly north before the Americans can decide what to do!” Eliana sobbed loudly.
Ron laid down the knife and loaded her money back into the bag. He then stepped away, taking the knife and bag with him. He nodded to Tom and Alex to get her down, which they did quickly. After cutting the ropes and helping her to sit up, they gave her just enough time to tie her blouse closed and then tied her hands again. As they led her to the van, Alex fitted duct tape over her mouth again. She was then tucked into the back of the van for the trip back to the airport, just as she had been earlier.
“Can you tell me why we had to drive all the way out here for that?” Tom asked Ron as they drove away from the ruins just as night began to close in.
“Sure. We drove all the way out here to be sure no one saw us and just in case we had to kill her,” Ron explained without fanfare.
“You’d really have killed her?” Alex asked, shocked.
“Never threaten unless you are prepared to follow through,” Ron replied.
“Son of a bitch!” Alex muttered.
“You’re a psychopath!” Tom exclaimed sharply as he stared at Ron.
“Yeah, but I’m your psychopath,” Ron retorted with a grin.
They pulled into the airport around midnight and left Garza’s girlfriend on the highest level of the parking structure. She was bound hand and foot, though the ropes had been loosened, and they placed a brown paper bag over her head. Her carry-on bag was tucked in her lap as they propped her up in a sitting position against the wall. Ron told her to wait there and to count to a thousand before making any noise, then the team drove away.
To avoid any problems at the airport once Eliana was found, they drove to Managua, Nicaragua to catch their flight to Nassau. On the way, they called the boss and explained the change in plans as well as the reasons behind it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After a few short days, William Wyatt had received his first briefing from his own staff regarding the intel Chip had supplied about the ships, and he felt it warranted a meeting with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Jack Hatcher. After meeting with General Hatcher, it was agreed that the information should be brought to the president’s attention.
The National Security Council met in the situation room at the White House. As usual, President Starks was late, and by the time he had made his appearance, the council members had already picked sides and were arguing loudly over the merits of the intelligence.
“Damn, I thought this room was soundproof? I could hear you arguing down the hall. What the hell is going on?” Starks reprimanded.
General Hatcher began speaking rapidly, as did Bascome. President Starks looked back and forth between the two men as he took his seat and finally held up a hand. The two men quieted down, allowing Starks to take control of the meeting.
“Jesus, gentlemen. Someone needs to explain what this is all about. Roger, just give me the highlights,” Starks ordered.
General Hatcher sat fuming and throwing daggers with his eyes at Bascome.
“Yes, sir,” Roger began. “It seems that the CIA has been made aware of a small, four-ship fleet that was sailed from somewhere in the South China Sea to a scrapyard controlled by the Tongs of Southeast Asian crime fame, on the southeast coast of India, where they were outfitted with sophisticated electronics. The refit presumably was to allow the ships to be sailed by radio control, minus a crew.”
“And the issue is?” Starks asked snidely.
“The general here and Mr. Wyatt believe these vessels present a clear danger to the military operations in the Gulf—”
Roger, at this point, was cut off by the general, who just couldn’t sit still any longer listening to Bascome downplay the risk. “Not to mention, sir, to the world’s oil supply. These ships were hijacked by pirates on the high seas. And now they have been apparently sold to someone or some country in the Middle East, where they have an unknown purpose. These ships could easily be fitted with a nuclear bomb, or a dirty bomb or even a fuel air bomb. They could be sailed anywhere in the world and then detonated. These are shallow draft small freighters. If they reach their destination and then are fitted as a delivery platform for a weapon of mass destruction, they could easily be repainted and under sail before we could learn the new identity of the ship.
“Just imagine one of these ships sailing up the Potomac armed with a nuclear device or into New York harbor, Baltimore, Charleston, Hampton Roads, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, or Jacksonville or, say, one of any of a dozen world capitals or other major port cities.
“There would be no one on board to contact to stop the ships. We’d have to put teams on board to try to defuse the bombs, provided they haven’t rigged failsafe devices and blow the moment they’re touched by anyone,” the general concluded.
“I see, General.” Starks was clearly just humoring him. “Bob, what’s your take on this?” Starks asked Bob Rynhard, Deputy Director of Homeland Security.
“Well, sir, both sides have merit. I believe we need to find the ships and determine exactly what their purpose is. We need to do this before we go about sinking vessels of a foreign, sovereign nati
on, committing an act of war.”
“We need to act quickly and decisively, sir. We cannot wait for the ships to make port to ask what their purpose may be. What if they have already had bombs installed, and they’re in the delivery phase? Every port is a potential target. What if their target happens to one of the two battle groups we have in the Gulf?” Admiral Twilling offered.
“Mr. President, my staff is telling me,” John Massey, Director of Homeland Security, spoke up, “that none of these ships has the fuel capacity to cross the Atlantic. If they sought to cross it, they’d take at least two weeks to arrive. They’d have to stop every thousand or so nautical miles to refuel. Unless they were refurbished with a second set of fuel tanks, they can’t harm us here.”
“Well, Bill, you called this little shindig. What do you have to say?” Starks called on William Wyatt.
“Yes, sir, I did. These four small ships were purchased by a shell corporation. The purchase of these ships—and seven others just like them—are the only business transactions this corporation’s has been involved with since its inception, five years ago in Myanmar. The company that handled the sale of the ships is a known front company for Indonesian pirates. It represents itself as a broker, who supposedly brings together buyers and sellers of old ships. Most of the ships they sell go to breakers as salvage. Having these old derelicts refurbished can be quite expensive. Whoever bought the eleven ships had all eleven electrically refurbished. The company they chose to refurbish the ships is a known front for the Tong, an infamous Chinese gang, similar to our mafia. All eleven ships were refurbished in less than ninety days.
“The ships sailed for the Arabian Sea three days ago. Our source says that seven of the ships had not been given a destination as of sailing, just some GPS coordinates, and the other four were sent to four different ports in the Persian Gulf. The four ports chosen to hide the ships until they are ready are Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai and Oman. Where the other seven ships are, your guess is as good as mine. But yes, I think they are a significant threat to our troops in the region, and of course, to world oil interests. In my opinion, the ships should be stopped, detained and their purpose determined before allowing them to enter any port. Perhaps, if we do allow them to get to the port, we could send special ops to do a recon,” Wyatt concluded.
Reprisal!- The Eagle's Challenge Page 18
