Convoluted Journey (The Mercury Black Authority Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  Morning came quickly. It was 05:30, and he wanted to be at Everywhere Air at six. The drive only took ten minutes. Noah parked the truck and was at the door before Bob arrived. When Bob showed up, Noah filled him in on the events of last night. Bob was not too happy to find out that he was sitting on 600 pounds of dope. He ushered Noah back to the two D containers which Noah left behind finding that they were still sealed. Noah fired up a forklift and moved them to the door. At 7 AM sharp a truck pulled up to the door with the drivers asking for the package and Noah quickly complied by loading it in the back of the truck. Bob pushed the close button on the door.

  “I would not have slept if I knew that was sitting in my warehouse. Every now and then, the DEA comes by to work their dogs. That could have been ugly.”

  Noah filled Bob in on the crew problems. They were going to replace one or two of the crew. “I hate to do it, but I want everyone in the game. The relief had two names. I need at least one on these long trips, but two would be better. They want one last run and I will guarantee that this will be the last run.”

  “I’m surprised that you are pushing it.”

  “I have always filled my contracts and this last run will conclude it. I am keeping the Ark here and I will give the two departing Franks a ticket home. I need a security crew to watch the Ark. I will go $4,000 a day for four, 24 hour days. If anybody goes on board; I need to know who it was, for how long and why they needed to go. I will also need your secure line.”

  “No problem. I will have someone out here within the hour. Here is the key for the secure line.” Noah went back to the supply room dialing Susan first.

  “This is Noah how are you?”

  “You always leave a mess. I had to use a great deal of my influence with MI to kill off the investigation. Angie claimed the body. She is going to bury him here. I will fill you in on the details later. How did your project go? Lynn has been dying to know.”

  “It went perfectly as planned. Tell Lynn that I could never have done it without her.”

  “She was hoping that it went well, since she has a lot invested in that one. How are my girls?”

  “We had a few problems when we returned, so I did not want to contact them until things quieted down. I will have them call you when I see them. Either they will call or I will tomorrow morning. We will keep you in the loop. I need a favor. We need a fuel stop other than Adana. Can you arrange things?”

  “I can swing something.”

  “Good we will talk tomorrow. Before I hang up Buck said that the NSA used extreme leverage to kill the investigation too. You don’t owe MI as much as you think that you do.”

  “I will talk to you tomorrow.”

  Noah dialed Buck next. “Buck did you get your confirmation?”

  “Yes, I did. You sure do not leave any doubt. What did you do with the body?”

  “She is feeding the sharks in the Gulf as we speak.

  “What did you do with the C4?” Buck had to know.

  “That went in the box with her, and I set it off half way down.”

  “You are a cold blooded bastard.”

  “You didn’t say to kill her with kindness. She is dead and right now she is shark shit. If I brought the body back that customs super would have had a real find. This reminds me are you going to keep your promise?”

  “You know how interdepartmental bullshit is.”

  “No, I do not, but I do know bullshit when I hear it. What would you do if I fed you bullshit instead of results? Do you think you will get your promotion based on bullshit?”

  “Are you going to make that last run?”

  “Yes, I will. Of course I may just be bullshitting you.” Noah broke the connection.

  “Has anyone left a message for me?” He brought the key back to Bob.

  “Yes, a woman called leaving a number. Here it is.”

  “Thank you, if anyone calls for me, you do not know where I am. I will give you both your second and third bonuses tonight. I will see you later.”

  It was only seven thirty when Noah pulled back into the hotel parking lot using the same spot that the truck was parked in earlier this morning. He started to walk in the side door. Fran was leaning against the wall drinking a cup of coffee.

  “I heard you pull in. That truck has a real signature sound.”

  “It is a nice tune isn’t it?”

  “What was all that ‘you don’t own me’ bullshit last night?”

  “The truth is I don’t have any claim on you. We are doing a business deal.” Noah produced a slip of paper from his pocket. This is your account number with Father Cash, and that concludes our financial commitment. If you lose it contact Bob. He has the phone number for Father Cash. Use the Francesca name not just Fran. There are six million dollars more in your account for a total of nine as promised. Since you are dead I don’t think that they are expecting another run with goodies with the weapons and the extras the rebels have about nine million in value. Frank has no idea that you are getting anything other than your bonus. The six million for the rebels is in your account. Since I killed Maria there is nobody left to ask for the money. As far as I am concerned it went overboard with your body. You can always make a relief donation a little later. They already have a good selection of relief supplies, and they should be able to make it for a few months, but that will be up to you.”

  “Both you and Frank will be getting $340,000 each this afternoon. The other two will get $125,000 and a plane ticket each. The new additions will get $125,000.” Noah hesitated a moment. “It doesn’t take any great sensitivity to tell that you and Frank have hooked up. You need to make Frank believe that we are clear on this. I think it is obvious that Terri and I are hooking up.”

  “Are we that obvious.”

  Noah talked just above a whisper. “You passed obvious a long time ago.

  “Do me a favor and don’t mention anything about the six.” She smiled giving Noah a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “About what?” Noah said. It was time for a conference. Noah always rented a room at the last minute to throw off any bugs or tails picking regular rooms and conference rooms at whim never being so cheap as to have a business discussion in one of their rooms.

  Noah went to the desk and rented a conference room for a few hours calling all of the rooms so that within ten minutes everyone was present in the room. Noah explained the break down. Frank was only able to contact one of his replacements. He would be here this afternoon.

  “We have Fran. Are we good with one replacement?” The consensus was yes.

  “Good, what is his name?”

  “Ralph, but for that kind of money he will change his name to Frank.” They all laughed.

  Noah had wanted to double check, “Are we clear then?”

  The two Franks said at once, “We were clear when we decided not to go.”

  Noah meant what he said. “I want volunteers only. I have included enough cash for you to buy a first class ticket home and the Ark will stay here. Take a week off. I may need to ask you to make a legal run with a Lear jet. I am not sure yet.”

  “You are not going to talk us out of quitting?”

  “No, I will pick everybody up at four o’clock and we can settle up. We will do it quickly. That way everybody can visit the bank.” Noah thought for a minute. “Are we all good with our decisions? Are there any other changes? This is your last chance to stay on.” Noah’s question was met with silence. “Let’s meet in the lobby at three thirty, and we will go from there.”

  Noah drove to his storage locker which was the size of a single car garage. He talked to the manager of the locker to arrange for a large dumpster. He started going through the contents of the locker, there were pictures, clothes, tools, and souvenirs. He retrieved some papers, two revolvers, a sawed off shotgun and some ammunition. He packed all of this into a medium size suitcase slipping one of the revolvers in the glove box, and the shotgun under the seat. Noah then loaded all the useful items in the back of the
pickup truck. The dumpster arrived while he was doing this. When he was done there was only enough to fill, one third of the green container. He walked into the manager’s office, “The locker is empty and the lock is off the door.”

  The Manager instantly went on the defensive, “The locker is paid one year in advance by credit card so I will only be able to issue a refund to the card.” The manager was fishing to see if this sorry individual would push. This guy only took a third of a dumpster to throw away all of his personal belongings.

  “Here is forty bucks for the dumpster. Have them pick it up. The refund does not matter I am finished with the locker.” Noah did not wait for an answer. It was just half past two when Noah pulled up in front of Everywhere Air. He went in the office dialing the phone number that Bob had given him. Neither Terri nor Suki were in. He left a message, ‘Dinner at Seven thirty. Pick you up at the hotel. I am bringing a friend.’ As he was walking out of the office, he noticed Bob waving to him. There was a C container with his name on it.

  “The eagle has landed. Hank took the container over to the supply room.” Noah looked quickly at the large envelope that was inside. All the letters of credit were in order. He put the Pounds Sterling in a map case placing it in a secure locker. He filled four of the backpacks with three hundred fifty thousand each. Noah pulled the envelope that Fran left behind stashing it in one of the backpacks with her other bonuses. He filled four envelopes with $125,000 each, placing them in separate backpacks. He took a small box and put $250,000 in it writing a one-word message on a sheet of paper, FINISHED. He wrote Pat’s address on it bringing it up to Bob. Noah sat down at Bob’s desk.

  “Here is the last installment on the bonus.” He handed a backpack to Bob. “I left three cases in the safe. Please have a courier deliver this to Pat.” He called Hank and Bill over and gave them twenty thousand each.

  “If Buck, calls tell him I will call him back in three days. I will make the last run.”

  “He has been calling. Is there any chance you could get him off my back?”

  “I wanted him to sweat, and it looks like he is doing that.” Noah went to the secure phone.

  “Buck you are being a pain in the ass. What do you want?”

  “I want you to quit screwing around and give me some hard answers.” Buck sounded pissed.

  “That is what I want too,” Noah said with an edge to his voice. “Are you going to deliver or keep screwing up?”

  “My contacts keep screwing up. I can’t control what they do,” Buck pleaded.

  “I tell you what? Do you have the picture that your contact sent you?”

  “Yes”

  “That is what the next screw up will look like. You don’t need fuckups anyway.”

  “I don’t like threats.”

  “That is the truth. The next screw up dies. I will see you in four days and we can talk face to face.”

  Noah hung up hopping into the truck and driving to the hotel. Walking in the side door Noah walked up to the desk requesting a hospitality room. He walked into the seating area of the lobby. The pilot and copilot were talking, in two of the lobbies overstuffed chairs. They were the first to show. Noah took two envelopes out of one of the briefcases. He handed them their bonuses.

  “Thanks for being up front. There is $125,000 each. I put some extra in to cover expenses. Do me a favor and do not spend any of this for ten days. I want to be done with this before the money starts hitting the street.”

  “We can cover that. Thanks for the extra.”

  “Are we on good terms?”

  “We are on very good terms.” They looked over Noah’s shoulder. Fran and the two Franks were just showing up now. They had another pilot in tow. Everybody spent five minutes saying goodbye. Noah shook hands wishing them well. He moved the others to the hospitality room.

  The relief was the first to speak, “Noah, this is Ralph. He and I go way back. We went through a lot of flak together,” Frank smiled, “and that is not a figure of speech. I would fly anywhere with Ralph. He can handle the stress.”

  “Solid is what we need. Did Frank explain anything?” Noah extended his hand to Ralph.

  “He just gave me an idea of the money involved. It must be illegal or it wouldn’t pay like this if it was a milk run.”

  “It is illegal. The money is a percentage of the gross, not pay. We all pull equal shares. I wanted to meet you before I made any guarantee. Here are two envelopes $125,000 each. This is yours, if you are in.”

  “I am in.”

  “I made a promise to the other three crew members. I offered them a double bonus up front. Frank vouched for you, so you are in for equal treatment all the way.” He handed both Franks their bonuses. Noah turned to Fran.

  “Now that you have the necessary ID, you can take out an account. Your other envelope is in your back pack. Why don’t you ride along with Frank and you can get a safety deposit box? Bob wanted me to get that money out of his safe.” Fran nodded yes. “Ralph, Frank will fill you in on everything you need to know. I have a few days’ worth of errands to catch up on, so I will see you in three days.” Noah turned to the engineer. “I am going to need your help. I will give you a ride to the bank and you will be gone for a few days so pack a bag.” Noah loaded everybody in the pickup. Frank and Ralph hopped in the box. The run to the bank was a short one and within a half hour all their business was taken care of with Noah dropping everyone back at the hotel. Frank picked up his bag and by a quarter of five Noah and Frank were on their way to Huntington Beach.

  Traffic was wall to wall. They went down through Corona and Santa Anna. It took them about an hour and a half to get there. Noah passed a men’s store shortly after they left the freeway stopping in to get some presentable clothes. Frank purchased some as well. When they reached the hotel, Noah called Terri’s room from the lobby. Terri said that they would be right down.

  “Noah, who are they?”

  “Terri and Suki flew out to do an errand for me.” Frank picked up right away.

  “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would have done a better job of cleaning up.”

  “It would have given you time to put her panties on.” Noah laughed.

  “No, I have them on right now. I promised to wear them until I saw her again.” Frank was serious. “She is under my skin. That woman is a total turn on.” The ladies walked across the lobby. It was obvious that they had been shopping in California. They had tight halter-tops on using see through blouses to cover them with their mini-skirts just barely covering the essentials finishing off the effect wearing high heeled sandals.

  Noah offered to call a cab because of the seating in the pickup. Suki absolutely refused. She insisted on sitting on Frank’s lap, but Noah kept insisting on calling a cab. Frank finally grabbed Noah by the arm.

  “Screw the cab. She can sit on my lap in your truck.” Everybody broke out in laughter. Frank realized he had been suckered. Noah got in the driver seat. Terri slid in next to him. Frank took the shotgun seat with Suki doing her best to give him an erection by wiggling while she sat on his lap.

  Noah drove down to the marina. Terri noticed several large homes with their private docks that lined the water. They found a restaurant on the water electing to eat outside on the patio. The girls were floored by the view of the Marina with the lights from the homes making their iridescent streaks over the water.

  “I was thinking that I would buy the house for the general here. Would you like to look at some real estate tomorrow?” Noah was throwing out a teaser.

  “Oh yes!” Terri jumped at the suggestion.

  “Let’s start about ten.”

  About nine o’clock Noah called Suki’s room. There was no answer, so he knocked on the adjoining door. Frank answered through the door.

  “What do you want?”

  “I was wondering if you were going to join us this morning.”

  “No, Suki and I developed plans. You two go ahead. Why don’t you try us for dinner later?” He sound
ed tired.

  “We will catch you later.” Noah secured the adjoining door in preparation to leave for the day.

  “Do we have company or are we on our own?” Terri was still wet from the shower.

  “We are on our own. It seems that your instincts were right.” Noah went to dry her back and Terri refused. She guided him into the shower, soaping him up while she washed for a second time. They took their time drying each other making sure that every crevice of each other’s bodies was dry. Noah and Terri finally managed to get dressed and out the door about ten o’clock. They found a realtor asking her to look at some houses. The realtor was a little cool toward them.

  “What price range were you interested in?” Grace had wasted all day yesterday showing houses to tourists that she knew could not afford them. The man looked like the average tourist and the woman looked like she was way out of his league. Grace could not build her enthusiasm for another deadbeat. Noah slipped the letter of credit out of the envelope showing the letter to Grace.

  “$600,000 is my limit. It will be a cash transaction if we see something we like but we only want to look at waterfront houses for immediate occupancy.”

  “My name is Grace and you are?” Her mood instantly changed to total excitement.

  “I am Noah and this is Terri. We were looking for a place to park my Ark.”

  “I am sure I can find something that will interest you.” They looked at eight or nine houses. Grace was a little disturbed by the speed at which Noah went through the homes. Within ninety minutes, they were back in Grace’s office with Grace believing that she had failed. The low was four fifty and the high was six fifty. After some discussion they settled on a large town home, with a dock, for $525,000 with the deciding factor being that it was unoccupied.