by Finian Blake
Just before dawn, the Bell Jet Ranger appeared on the horizon. Mike the lead agent went up the pole cutting the phone and power. An alarm went on instantly, because one of the phone lines was supposed to be constantly open for the security system. The lieutenant at the police station had strict orders not to respond to any alarm for at least twenty minutes. The four men repelled down to the court yard. Randal, the agent that was supposed to secure Mooney, ended up in the pool. The other agents ran to the bodyguard’s quarters quickly securing them. Julio instructed his guards to make only token resistance. Randal climbed out of the pool leaving his equipment at the bottom of the pool, sprinting to the master bedroom bursting in with his sidearm drawn because his Mac 10 was soaking in the pool. He stood dead center in the middle of the decorative carpet leaking water out of every inch of his black coveralls looking more comic than threatening.
Julio raised an eye brow, “Get the fuck off my carpet. That’s a $2,000 handmade carpet.”
“You are under arrest.”
“Get your soggy ass off of my carpet.” Randal was getting the idea that this was not a surprise. He stepped on the tile taking Mooney by the arm, “Let’s go.” The helicopter landed at the airport without incident. Mooney was loaded on board a Lear jet with Randal close behind him. Not waiting for clearance the Lear took off as soon as the door closed. Back at the hacienda, the remaining chopper was hovering low and the pilot saw six squad cars coming their way. The pilot called on the TAC radio.
“I am coming down. Six police cars will be here in four minutes. Mike blew a whistle and four men started to run for the assembly area. Mike flinched when he heard six shots. All members of the team vaulted on to the chopper without even a scratch. Mike looked at the team member with the gun in his hand.
Mike asked, “What the hell was that?”
“We fired a few rounds to keep their heads down, as we left and they fired back. We returned fire and wounded them both.”
“Shit…” Mike had given Minister Rodriguez his solemn word that no Mexican nationals would be harmed.
The driver of the first car ran into the gate of the Hacienda. The two bodyguards had been wounded and they were both Mexican citizens.
Mike called the Lear that had just taken off giving the news to the Supervisor Ken over the radio, “The police were at the hacienda in twenty minutes. Two of the bodyguards were wounded and we are back at the heliport.”
“Great, did we leave anything behind to identify us?”
“Randal’s Mac 10 and equipment belt are at the bottom of the pool.”
“So much for a precision operation make yourself scarce until I can talk with the Minister.”
“There are six carloads of police that just drove on to the heliport.”
“Surrender don’t make it worse.” Ken thought a minute. “Was that the chopper that said, FBI on the side?”
“Yes…”
“Is there any chance that the five of you could just blow your brains out?” A roar of laughter came out of the passenger cabin. Ken had forgotten to close the cockpit door, and the radio was on speaker so that he could hear. Randal sat in the chair across from Mooney dripping water on the carpet. Mooney was doubled over in his seat laughing. Ken walked up to Mooney with the idea of threatening him. As he stopped, Mooney threw up on his shoes. Ken walked back to the cockpit in disgust at a loss for words.
Mooney gasped in laughter, “I have been to the circus many times. I have yet to see a clown act this funny.” Ken was getting more pissed off by the minute. Mooney looked out the window and saw a jet Fighter out of his window. “Hey, I’ve more bad news for you.” He pointed out the window. “I’m glad you took me along. This is getting better by the minute. Are you going to respect the law?” Mike was seriously thinking of shooting Mooney but he was the only value that they had for this whole fiasco.
The Lear Jet was unmarked except for an American flag on the tail of the plane next to the ID number. The pilot of the fighter indicated that he wanted to talk to the pilot in the Lear. Ken walked up to the cock pit door. It was a two-man cock pit so they had to leave the door open.
“We understand that you are holding a Mexican national on board against his will. We need you to return to Mexico City.”
“Negative we are a diplomatic flight, and we are continuing to the United States.”
“You are not listed as a diplomatic flight, return to Mexico City.” Ken grabbed the pilot by the shoulder. “If you return, we are all going to a Mexican jail including you.”
The pilot offered, “We need five more minutes, and we will be over international waters.”
“Keep going we will land in the States. They will not shoot us down.” Ken rolled around the corner with his back to the cockpit tightly crossing his fingers. He was really hoping that he was right as the pilot insisted, “I repeat we are a diplomatic flight, and we will land in the United States.”
“This is Captain Rodriguez of the Mexican Air Force. You will turn around and return to Mexico City!” He had been briefed that the plane would not turn around. “We have four of your agents in custody. If you do not turn around they will be put on public trial.”
Ken was half out of his mind, “If we go back, we will all go on trial, keep going.” When the Lear cleared over international waters, Ken called the fighter. “We are over international waters and you have no jurisdiction.” Ken looked back in the cabin at Mooney he had his arms wrapped around his sides. He was not laughing. He was puking. It was then Ken started to wonder if this whole exercise was worth it.
“You have just condemned your friends.” The fighter peeled off, and returned to base as instructed by his cousin. The Minister arranged for his cousin to be the pilot of the chase plane the day before so that there would be no misunderstandings.
Minister Rodriguez received the news. He did not want to see the four agents. If he did as a Minister, he would have to admit that he knew of their existence. As it stood, the whole thing never happened, and the four men did not exist. If the FBI wanted their men back, they could send their director down to claim them at a press conference. The Lear Jet landed in Houston and the pilot was instructed that no one was to leave the plane. A man from the local office met the plane ordering it to Washington, DC after refueling. Ken would get four more hours to hear Mooney’s laughter, and smell his puke. Mooney threw up three more times before they landed.
The Lear Jet was met by the Director’s personal assistant Devon. He made sure to remove Mooney before the conversation began. Ken’s pant legs, and shoes were covered with puke and the smell assaulted the director from ten feet away in a stiff breeze. Ken and Randal lost it an hour before landing and the copilot blew chunks on the approach.
Devon made a sour face at the smell, “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing he has been sicker than a dog since we picked him up. He says that he is on chemotherapy.”
“He has cancer!” Devon could not believe his ears. “We requested that our agents be returned to us. The Mexican Government says that nothing happened and can’t figure out what we are talking about. The Director is decidedly unhappy.”
Ken seemed to brighten considerably, “Then, we are in good shape. If nothing happened, we are in the clear.”
“We have four good agents down there that don’t think so. The Mexican’s claim, that they are holding no one. Mooney was never kidnapped, two Mexican citizens were never shot and the Hacienda was never shot up. Mike and his crew are nowhere to be found. The Mexicans claim that they left with you on this aircraft.”
“Just make an appointment with Rodriguez. He said that he would turn a blind eye to the whole thing.”
“That was before you shot two Mexican Nationals, shot up the neighborhood and told the Mexican Air Force to fuck off! Minister Rodriguez will see the Ambassador, after he finds out whether or not he is still a Minister. We are about to lose a major friend down there. The Mexican President wants to know why a foreign government is shooting up his country.�
�� Devon sat down on the steps of the Lear. “You could screw up a one-man parade! I hope that this was worth it. Mike and his crew are going to sit it out in a Mexican jail, until the Mexicans acknowledge that they have them. Right now, this whole thing never happened, and you are a field agent in the Chicago office pending transfer to Barrow, Alaska. We are going to keep your name on this fuck up all the way.” Devon needed to check his facts. “What are we going to indict him for?”
“Racketeering, he ran gambling, prostitution and drugs.”
“What evidence do we have?”
“Nothing extensive, he left the country before we came up with hard evidence that could be linked to him and we could not get full cooperation from the CIA. From the wire taps we have we can make some kind of a case. He had a few calls threatening him if he turned state’s evidence. There is a rumor that he is willing to turn states evidence.”
“Ken I can get that much from reading a newspaper everybody knows what he did, but we have to prove it.” The Director shook his head in disgust. “Well he did not seem upset when he got off the airplane. Will he turn? If he does turn will he live? These cases take a long time.”
“I will put the package together and bring it to your office.”
“In person Ken…” Devon caught another waft of puke. “Before you come to my office be sure to clean up.”
Because of his value as a witness they decided to hold Mooney at Quantico marine base. The security was tight and getting a hit man on base to the brig was impossible. Ken checked in with the Brig and after some details were cleared Mooney was admitted to the brig being allowed to clean up.
“Mooney, I hear that you might want to turn states evidence.”
“You have been listening to my phone calls. Those pricks took over my operation. I leave town for a few months, and the pirates want to steal everything. There is only one thing stopping me from taking your offer.”
Ken was obviously irritated, “Tell me, what is stopping you?”
“I would be working with a clown like you.” Ken wanted to punch his lights out. He knew that Mooney was intentionally baiting him. “Who are you going to get for my protection the ‘Keystone Cops’?”
Ken ignored the barb, “Look, what would it take to get your co-operation?”
“I am talking to you right now, because I wanted to come back to see my doctor. I have been feeling like shit lately. I need to go home.”
“Do you have cancer? Is that what the drugs are for?”
“Your assholes got to my doctor too!”
“Where, is your Doctor’s office?”
“He is located in Houston. He is the only one I trust for serious things.”
“You live in Chicago, and your doctor is in Houston?”
“He moved to Houston. He didn’t like the Chicago winters.”
“There is no way...”
“If I call my lawyer, I will be out of here by Tuesday. Give the Director my regards.” Ken stormed down the hallway, and stopped before he reached the end. He started to think about what he was going to tell the Director. He had four agents unaccounted for, told a foreign government to screw off, and the worst thing that he could do to Mooney was to get him ten years in a federal pen if he lived that long. As sick as Mooney was he might not even make it to trial and without Mooney’s co-operation he was screwed. He walked slowly back to the cell.
“I will need to keep a close watch on you. You will use a private plane to go to and from Houston.”
“Now we’re talking.”
“I need to talk to the prosecutor to work a deal before you can go back. We can start Monday.” Ken started to walk out of the cell.
“Oh, I could use a couple of cocktails. Could you talk to the Warden? After all I am in here for protection.”
“Could you put in a call to Minister Rodriguez?”
“I will talk to him, but you are going to deal with Mexico for shooting those bodyguards.” Mooney laughed
“That would help. I will arrange a line.” Ken made his report to the director personally. It would take ten days to make the necessary arrangements.
‘Hermes’ was called to the Ministers office shortly after the raid. The Minister was clearly unimpressed with the results.
“That was a total screw up,” Minister Rodriguez stormed. “Two of our citizens were wounded, my hacienda was shot up and my cousin was told to screw off. He is a captain in the Air Force. The whole thing is a shambles.” ‘Hermes’ pulled off his money belt removing fifty thousand dollars.
“Here is twenty thousand for you, ten for your cousin and ten each for the wounded bodyguards. The whole incident never happened. Find a nice quiet cell for the four agents, and deny that you have them. We will cover all the repairs to the hacienda. Remember it was their screw up not yours.”
“What then,” Minister Rodriguez said. “Your country will want their people back.”
“Tell them you have not heard of such an incident. You cannot investigate something that never happened. The U.S cannot publicly admit to violating your sovereignty. Let them stew. They will come to you with their hat in hand. You claim that your position is threatened. When this is over you will be a rich man.” Rodriguez thought for a few moments and was able to see the profit in the situation. He called the jail.
“Find the worst flea infested cell in the city and put our guests in it. Do not let them talk to anyone. They are not to leave the cell for any reason. They look fat. Feed them the standard jail fare of beans, tortillas and water once a day. Monitor this personally. I will send you an incentive.”
The jailer laughed, “Your wish is my command.” Mike and his crew were shown the most offensive hole in the jail. They were being bitten by fleas before they were fully in the cell.
“What now?”
‘Hermes’ laid two thousand dollars on the table. “This is for the jailer and his guards. He needs his share. I would not want to dilute your share.” Rodriguez smiled at the gesture.
“And after that…?”
“Wait for the right person to call. You will know when the time comes and the money is right. I must be on my way.”
“How much will they offer?”
“How much can you imagine?” Minister Rodriguez smiled warmly as Rich left.
Rich stopped by his lawyer’s office as soon as the plane landed in Chicago to finish the deal on the house with George and his wife finding that they had already signed the papers to transfer the house. Rich begged off going to lunch wanting to go to his new apartment. He went straight upstairs to talk to momma when he arrived.
Chloe smiled warmly, “Thank you for letting Pat off the hook so easily. She has a quick mouth that is her short coming.”
“Her honesty is what I admire about her. I do not have to guess about what she is thinking. I was hoping that she might have dinner with me.”
Momma poured Rich a cup of coffee. “My boys are thrilled with their new jobs, and they get asked for overtime every night. Friday they will be bringing home their first pay check, so we will be having a big party in the evening. Would you care to join us?”
“It would be my honor. Let me make a donation.”
“I wouldn’t hear of it. If it were not for you there would be no party. This is to thank you.”
“I would be honored. I must make a few business arrangements. If you will excuse me, I will meet you for dinner.”
Rich called the clinic in Houston. Finding out that Mooney made the appointment for a week from Friday, since they had all of the test results ready to go. Rich would have him do the pictures to finish his new identity there. Next Rich called Wanda to be sure that her man in Houston would be available a few days before and after the planned appointment. It would be an extra cost, but they could not afford to miss on the timing. Rich was not about to blow the deal because he went cheap. Wanda would hold Laurita’s papers until Mooney’s were finished. Everything was on hold for ten days.
Lastly Rich called the Minister,
who was still laughing. “The FBI wanted their agents back and I of course denied any knowledge of them, but promised to look in to the matter carefully no matter how long it takes. Mooney called, and said that he was planning to go back to the States anyway. I told him we were looking in to the matter, but we still have no knowledge of any incident. We thought that he left of his free will.”
Rich was in stitches with laughter, “Don’t budge until they make some kind of offer. Remember those boys almost cost you your job. Hold out for cash and favors. Don’t forget to hold out for the medical bills of the two citizens that were shot. If I am not mistaken you will have to bribe the Captain to forget the incident too, that is once he tells you of the problem.” Rich chuckled as he hung up the phone, knowing that Mooney liked nothing better than getting in the FBI's budget.
Rich made it home in time for dinner. Pat was dressed in a modest short sleeve dress that came to the knee. Momma was of course dressed modestly. She picked a Mediterranean restaurant owned by an Armenian. After ordering they settled in to conversation. Momma wanted to know more about their benefactor with Pat also expressing an interest in Rich. She was a good girl, but she had American ways. Chloe knew that the situation needed to be watched. Rich had only a few stories about his past, so he spent most of his time listening to Pat. This didn’t make Chloe at all happy. Pat was happy to find someone interested in what she had to say so the conversation never lagged. At the end of the evening they went home with Rich walking them to the door, and instead of going through their apartment he went around to the outside entrance for access to his apartment.
Things were slow at work so Pat decided to take a few days off. Rich enjoyed spending time doing the things that a normal person does. They caught the CTA downtown to see the sights. Rich and Pat walked around downtown, and strolled through the Art Museum. For lunch the hot dog stand in the park worked perfectly. They found out that there would be a free concert in Grant Park that evening. Pat called Chloe telling her that they would be later than planned, because at twenty-four she was still a considerate child. Rich found a place to buy a blanket, and the two of them caught the concert. Rich was holding hands with Pat, and felt a tug on his pocket. He swung around quickly catching the pick pockets hand. He spun his other hand hard against the pick’s elbow. Rich could feel the bones shift when he struck. He knew that the arm would not be of much use. Rich was instantly looking for the backup.
