CIA - The Slave Traders

by Joe Bob Newman

that she had just found the missing agent and had received a warning.

  The men had everything hooked up and they all backed up about two hundred feet. Ramon said, “Heads down,” and he pushed the button. A sharp cracking sound assaulted them, and fire and smoke erupted at the tree. The tree swung to the left, then fell to the right. All that was left was a small stump. The rest of the tree lay on the ground.

  Everyone cheered and whistled.

  Lynda yawned at Rico and said, “I was expecting something bigger, not just one tree!”

  Ramon came up to Rico and hugged him. “We are on our way, my friend.” He ignored Lynda.

  Rico picked up on Ramon ignoring Lynda and asked her, “What gives?”

  She smiled at him. “I am pregnant, and it upset Ramon.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It is not his baby, I guess.”

  Rico smiled back at her and said, “Congratulations, I guess.”

  Lynda smiled back, and said, “Yeah, I know, it was a surprise to me too.”

  Rico took her by the arm and hustled her back to the car. He said, “I guess, under the circumstance, we had better be going. Ramon is not a good man to have pissed off at you.”

  They drove back into the city. Rico was very cheerful. Lynda liked him; he was not the pushy type. She asked, “Who were the other three guys?”

  Rico said, “They are the guys who set the building on fire at the University, some really bad dudes.”

  “Are they the ones who did the traitor in?” Lynda asked carefully.

  “No,” Rico said, “Ramon killed him and buried him all by himself.”

  She had a lot of information to pass on to Wayne. She said, “Rico, you are a nice guy. How did you get mixed up with Ramon?”

  He told her a long story, but they had basically grown up together.

  She said, “Since I gave Ramon the money for the warehouse, you would think that he would give me some slack.”

  Rico said, “Lynda, I will talk to him, but I can’t promise anything. You may just be out of the group.” He seemed worried.

  He dropped her off at her apartment; she could see Wayne parked down the street.

  Wayne walked back to her place and knocked on the door. She let him in and told him the whole story, including that she might be out.

  Wayne called Tom and told him the story. Tom asked, “Is there anyway Lynda can find out where they got the C-4 from?”

  Wayne relayed the question to Lynda. Lynda shrugged her shoulders and said, “I will try.”

  Friday night came, and Lynda rode the bus to the meeting house. She got there early. Ramon was there. She strutted up to him and said, “What’s your problem with me?”

  She had caught him off-guard; she had clearly shaken him. She was careful to look innocent and not angry. He said, “American girl. You sleep with every man you meet. That is not good. I am sorry, but you are not right for me.”

  “You don’t mind if I see Rico?” she asked.

  He replied, “Enrique is like a brother to me. If he wants to see you, I have no problem.”

  Lynda demurely said, “Thank you!”

  Rico came in, and Lynda went and stood by him. She was wearing tight slacks, and high heels. She knew that she looked good. She was also taller than Rico.

  Rico put an arm around Lynda and pulled her over to him. She responded lightly.

  The rest of the group showed up, and the meeting began. Mostly it was old business. Then one of the men said, “We do not have enough explosives!”

  Ramon said, “I agree! Rico, check your source and see if you can get some more.” Lynda had her lead.

  Nothing else interesting was reviewed, except several of the women spouted off how much they hated America. Lynda did not believe them; she felt that someone had put them up to it.

  On the way home, she took Rico’s hand and rubbed it. He had a ring on his right hand. She slipped it off and slipped it on her own finger and held it up for him to see. He smiled and said, “It looks good on your finger.” She asked him to stop at the market; he did. They both got out and she picked up some groceries and some wine.

  When they got to Lynda’s apartment, she saw Wayne down the street. She invited Rico in. He shut off his car and got out, and walked with Lynda up to the door. She unlocked it and they both walked in. Rico shut the door and locked it. Lynda heard the lock click.

  She fixed them both a half-glass of wine, and put the bottle in the refrigerator. They drank several glasses, then she asked him to go to the park with her and swing. Rico nodded.

  They went out the door and walked to the park. Lynda knew that Wayne was following them. She had the bottle in her lap as she swung. Rico did not get in a swing. He stood behind her and pushed her. Finally she dragged her feet and stopped. She handed him the bottle and he took a long drink. He handed the bottle back to her, and instead of pushing her, he started kissing her on the back of her neck. He ran his nose through her hair. It was very sensual. Lynda gave him credit; he was a smooth operator. She reached back and stroked his hair. She could feel his breathing pick up. He was getting excited. She stepped out of the swing, and walked over to the merry-go-round. He pushed her on it.

  She asked him, “Rico, how are you going to pay for the C-4?”

  He did not answer her; he just kept pushing the merry-go-round faster, then he jumped on. He said, “Lynda, you sure ask a lot of questions.”

  She was ready. She responded, “Rico, I have a thousand dollars invested in this job. I have a right to know.”

  Rico smiled at her. “I guess you do. We have a source in Mexico. I am not sure where he gets it. I don’t actually pay for it; Ramon does. Would you like to meet the guy? He will be here tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Lynda answered back.

  They drank more of the wine. Lynda was feeling tipsy.

  They walked back to her apartment. She saw Wayne in the shadows taking pictures.

  At her door, Rico looked at his watch. He said, “I will pick you up at noon, and Lynda, wear something sexy; this man likes young girls.”

  Wayne knocked on her door after Rico left. Lynda briefed Wayne on what all she had learned.

  Wayne said, “I wish we had a full team here. I would arrest all these guys tomorrow. You need to get a lead on this guy from Mexico.”

  When Rico came to pick Lynda up, she had on her white blouse that showed cleavage, and her red miniskirt. He seemed happy with the look.

  They went to a restaurant and sat down. A man walked up to the table. He was a big man, heavy with Mexican features. Rico introduced him as Eduardo. Eduardo smiled at Lynda, took her hand and kissed it. Rico said that Lynda was his girlfriend and was also a member of the team.

  Eduardo only seemed to want to look at Lynda.

  They were talking business, and Lynda excused herself and went to the ladies’ room.

  When she came out, Eduardo was standing by the door. He handed her a piece of paper and folded it up in her hand. Then he went to the men’s room.

  She put the paper in her purse and headed back to the table. Rico squeezed her hand and said, “Ed likes you.”

  Lynda smiled and said, “How much longer do we have to stay? I am ready to go.”

  “We will finish up soon. Be patient,” Rico said.

  Ed came out of the men’s room and seemed quite happy with himself. He headed back to their table and Rico was right: they were about to finish business. They agreed on five hundred pounds of C-4. Lynda noticed that no money or script changed hands.

  On the way to her apartment she asked Rico, “Where does Ramon get his money from?”

  Rico grimaced, “From an Arab man.”

  “You get money from Arabs?” Lynda acted astonished.

  “I don’t like it either, but it spends the same,” Rico said. “They are paying us five million to blow up the Super Bowl during the game.”

  “That would be impressive.
How are you going to do it?” Lynda asked.

  “We have a contract to install conduit for additional lighting. We will just run extra conduit filled with C-4. Every so often there will be a detonator in a junction box. It is foolproof. We install it right under everyone’s noses. We will even have the inspectors fooled.” He was very proud of the plan.

  Lynda said, “Wow, you guys are good.”

  When they got to her apartment, Rico wanted to come in. Finally Lynda dissuaded him.

  Wayne was to her door quickly.

  Lynda pulled out the piece of paper. It was a note. It read, “Please call me at your convenience. Eduardo,” and gave two phone numbers.

  The next day Lynda called the top number. Eduardo answered, “This is Ed!”

  She said, “Hi, Ed. This is Lynda from Saturday. You left me a note to call you!”

  He was very gracious, told her how beautiful she was, and how he would like to see her again.

  She said, “I am flying home next Saturday. I could stop and spend a few days with you.” She had really piqued his interest.

  He gave her directions from Monterey, Mexico. It was about a two-hour drive to his place. He would have a rental car waiting on her.

  Lynda said, “Good. I will see you at about three o’clock Saturday afternoon.”

  The next week she met Rico several times for dinner. On Thursday, a heavily-armed team arrived in Buenos Aires. They went to a staging area at a warehouse. Wayne and Lynda met them. There were sixteen Seals.

  Lynda gave them a light-hearted rundown on what she had seen and heard. She told them that she would be at the meeting tomorrow night, so for them all to get a good look at her and not shoot her. She