by Dale Cadeau
Taking a plate, Laura started making sandwiches. “I think looking back is good for more knowledge on the General. But if the Feds couldn’t pin anything to him back then, I don’t see how they can go back and redo what the Feds failed at. No, my opinion is that we have to get the General at something he is doing now. I don’t think he’s the type to change his ways. I think, in fact, he would be even more secure in his dealings after all this time. The Feds backed off long ago. What do you think?” Laura looked at Janet as she made sandwiches beside her.
“I think the guys will find a way to pin it on him no matter how many years have passed. I know my guys and it looks like the rest of Clay and Brad’s unit are made out of the same mold. Give them time. I’m sure we’ll hear something when they come up for lunch.” Janet cut a plate full of sandwiches and put the plate on the table. Wiping her hand on the dish towel by the stove, she took iced tea out of the fridge.
“Don’t worry, Laura. You couldn’t have better men looking into your situation right now. Sit down and grab a sandwich. If I know the men, there won’t be any left soon after they sit down.” Janet sat down, handed her a sandwich, poured a glass of tea, and placed it in front of Laura as she took the chair across from her.
Jared walked into the room and kissed Janet on top of her head as he passed her seat on the way to his chair. Stan followed and mirrored Jared, giving her a quick kiss also, and sat on the other side of her. Clay walked in next and while he didn’t kiss Laura, he squeezed her shoulder as he passed her on the way to his seat. Brad and Grant grabbed chairs and soon all the sandwiches were gone. Then they sat back and sipped at their iced tea.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Tell us what you dug up?” Laura was tired of waiting for them to talk.
Clay reached over and put his hand over hers on the table. “Well, from what Grant found out, General Brown still has the account active in the Caymans that you told us about. Grant wiggled his way into the account and cross-referenced the wires to some of the known shipping of drugs into the states that the Feds got wind of. He found the large wires were deposited into the account around the same time. We just have to link them to whoever is doing the shipments. We also learned that this has been going on for years, and found one deposit dated the day after we were disgraced and moved out of the area of Columbia. That area back then was a hotbed for big-time drug runners. Our unit was shipped out the next day back to the states without anyone being sent in to complete the mission.”
Grant took over as Clay sat back and picked up his tea. “I think the more I dig, the more we will find that General Brown had a lot to do with the shipments getting through to our shores. Laura, your involvement was just bad luck. You found something that the General didn’t want exposed. The bank that the wires were sent to will not give us any information concerning any of the depositors, not who they are nor where they live. It’s a tax haven for a lot of people trying to rip off Uncle Sam. The only way I was able to find out information now is that I went in their back door and I knew where to look. I wish I had had this information ten years ago when we first looked into the General.”
“God, I just thought that he was taking payoffs from someone. I really didn’t consider where the money came from. He’s even more of an asshole than I thought. We have to get him.” Laura rose from her seat, her hand slipping from Clay’s, as she moved from the table and paced the kitchen. The men and Janet just watched her pace and swear at the General as she walked back and forth.
Clay let her let off steam for a while, then took her arm and led her back to her seat. “OK, got that out of your system. We now have to start putting the pieces together in an airtight case. I know you told us the bank’s name and where it’s located, but we would like to see the actual bank statement copies if you have them.”
Laura got up and went up to her bedroom and grabbed her purse. Coming back to the kitchen, she went to a drawer and pulled out a sharp knife. At the table she upset her purse and let the contents fall on the table. She then pulled at the lining of her purse and took the knife to the bottom silk cover. After she had made the hole big enough, she pulled a leather folder out of the bottom of the purse and handed the folder holding the papers out to Clay.
“Is that the same purse you had years ago?” Clay asked her as he accepted the papers from her.
“No, you silly man. I just buy leather purses with a silk lining that I can un-stitch and tape the leather folder with the papers inside and sew it back up. It has worked better over the years than anything else. I take my purse wherever I go. So I know that they are not going to get another chance to steal them from me, without my knowing about it.” Laura gathered her stuff off the table and returned it back to her purse and sat back in her seat.
“I’ll never underestimate the clever mind of a woman again. I wouldn’t have thought to look in your purse or if I did I would just give it a quick toss to look at the stuff that would come out. Even if you put your hand in the purse you would think it was just the leather bottom. Great hiding place,” Clay told her as he opened the folder and took out the bank statements. He laid them out on the table in front of him.
“Wow,” Brad said as he looked upside down at the papers. “The guy must be loaded if he had that much money in there five years ago.”
Clay looked at the bank statements. “This scumbag has been taking money for allowing drugs into the country. We just have to prove it. Now at least we can pinpoint the deposits, days and shipments with this. I know the Feds tried, but with our knowledge of the drug trafficking in Columbia, we can also cross-reference them to all the missions that went wrong or when the weasels got away. I think if we look hard enough we will find that we lost some great men because of the greed of this one.” Clay rose from the table and picked up the statements.
“Let’s get back to work, guys.”
“Don’t you think now we know we are on to something that might pan out, that we should call James and Angel? Maybe even Sam?” Grant asked as he got up and pushed his chair back under the table.
“Grant, you were there in the office when he went ballistic on Angel for disturbing him. Why don’t we leave telling them until we have a solid plan in place?”
“Are those your partners that just recently got married?” Janet asked as she got up and started to clean the table.
Jared got up beside her and made her sit back down. “You just rest, both of you. Laura and you made the lunch. The least we can do is clear the table.” Jared picked up his plate and the rest of the guys did the same and rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. When they finished, Jared led the way back down to the basement.
With the guys gone, Janet poured herself and Laura each another glass of tea. “Well, what do you think? I know you’re out for blood now with you trying to wear a hole in the kitchen floor.”
“God, I was seeing red when I heard about the drugs. I can’t believe that someone is so greedy that they would ruin the lives of the kids and citizens the he has sworn to protect. I think if I had a gun at that moment, I might have used it.” Laura held her glass of tea on the table and spun it around between her hands, looking at it as she talked.
Taking a sip of her tea, Janet agreed with her. “I think I could do the same. I think we should put our heads together and come up with a woman’s view of what should be done. Let’s pick this apart and come up with our own solution. You never know, we might outthink the guys this time. Like Clay said, we have clever minds and are not against using devious means of getting what we want.”
“Well, I’m in.”
Chapter Seventeen
Clay and the guys sat back down in front of the computers in the basement. Grant printed out what he had been working on before lunch and spread the papers on a small table in the room. Then he asked the others to gather around.
“I’ve done a spreadsheet that compares the deposits in the bank account to known shipments that the Feds stopped before they made it to the public. I also fo
und most of these shipments were from Columbia. So I took that information and compared it to all operations in Columbia for the last ten years, including ours. From what I can see they correspond within a week to ten days of the General receiving payments into his bank account. It looks like the General had a hand in making sure the shipments got out without interference from the US.”
Clay took a seat at the table. “So what are we going to do to get this bastard? And the less Laura is exposed the better. I wish James was here. There is no one better than him at coming up with a good sneaky plan.”
“I know you don’t want to contact him, but I think this is something that he should know about. He should be allowed to make his own decision as to his involvement,” Jared commented.
“Hey, guys,” Janet yelled from the top of the stairs. “We have company. There are two large motor homes just driving up.”
“Oh fuck.” Stan jumped to his feet and went to the security camera feed on one of the computers. Sure enough, there were two large motor homes pulling up to the house. “What the hell happened to the security perimeter we set up? It’s the best. I don’t understand how anyone could get through it without us knowing well in advance.”
Clay walked over and also looked at the large vehicles coming to a stop in front of the cabin. “We better get the girls down here and in that safe room you have. I hope that you have some back-up plan for when your security fails.”
Clay made it halfway up the stairs to get the women, when Jared’s voice stopped him.
“Wait, look, the doors are opening and someone is getting out of each vehicle. Let’s see who would come up to our doorstep, get through the security, and not try to hide that they’re here.”
Clay walked back down the steps and took a look at the monitor. “Son of a bitch, that’s James and Angel getting out of those motor homes. How the hell did they get a lead on what we’re doing? Well, that explains how they got through your security. Nothing can keep James out.”
Clay turned and looked at the rest of the guys. “Well, let’s go see what’s up.”
Clay made it up to the front door with Jared right behind him. The rest followed and stood behind him as he opened the front door. He was just in time to see Angel and James turn back to their motor homes and help Avery and Cyn out.
James turned and looked at them. “Nice place you have here. We thought that since we are on vacation, that we would drop in and pay you a visit.” James looked and sounded pleasant as he and Angel, with their wives, came to a stop just in front of the door.
Clay could hear the steel edge to James voice but didn’t let on he did. Until he knew what was going on, he would play it like James was leading.
Brad stepped out from behind the others. “James, Angel, I would like to introduce you to my friends that own this place.” Jared and Stan stepped forward, extending their hands as everyone now stood on the porch of the cabin.
“Any friend of Brad’s is welcome here. I’ve heard so much about you guys. Come in and have some coffee or something. And your beautiful wives must meet ours and Laura.”
James and Angel shook hands with Jared and Stan, then each put a hand on their wife’s back to gently steer them inside.
Laura and Janet were just inside the door trying to look out over the shoulders of the men. Then they stepped back to allow James and Angel inside. Janet hurried over to the women and gave them each a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you two. Come into the kitchen and have some coffee or tea while the men get acquainted.”
Janet grabbed onto Cyn’s and Avery’s hands and led them into the kitchen. Laura, as she followed the others, looked back and saw that Clay looked a little stiff and not as relaxed as the others at seeing his friends.
James watched the women walk away, then turned to Clay, asking for a minute alone.
Brad just looked at James and Clay and gestured to Angel and the others to follow him. They left the two alone in the hallway.
James reopened the front door and signaled for Clay to follow him back outside.
“What’s up?” Clay swiped a hand through his hair, waiting for James to speak as they reached James’s motor home.
James turned as he reached the hood of the motor home and put his hands on his hips, steel-blue fire shooting from his eyes. “Fuck, Clay. Why the hell didn’t you contact Angel or me as soon as you knew where this was leading? I can’t believe you would leave us in the dark, you know we all have a vested interest in bringing that bastard down.”
Clay let James have his say then stepped up to him with eyes that also held a hint of gray steel. Putting his hands on his hips, he mimicked James’s pose.
“Step back, James. We were going to tell you, just not yet. Both you and Angel are on your honeymoons and we wanted to give you both time.”
“Time. I don’t need time, when something as important as this comes up. What the hell were you thinking?”
“Remember when Angel had to ask for the jet? You almost took him out, because he interrupted you and Avery. Well, I didn’t want both of you up my ass for breaking in on your private time.”
“I wouldn’t—” James didn’t get any further.
Clay didn’t let him continue. “I know you better that that. You would have come out swinging and asked questions later. I didn’t have time for that. We are in the early stages of gathering information and making a plan. So sue me if I wanted to have solid information to give you first before I said anything.”
James took his hand from his hips and ran a hand through his hair, looking at Clay with the fire gone from his eyes. “You’re probably right. I would have seen red, it being a second time I was interrupted. But this is too important to take any chances with. The whole team is needed on this if we are going to have a chance to succeed. Avery and Cyn will just have to understand.”
James slapped Clay on his back, breaking his pose, and started walking back to the house with him. “How well do you know this Jared and Stan? I heard Brad mention them, but just in passing. Tell me what you can.”
“I don’t know too much either. I just got here the other day myself. But they looked after Laura and seem to have a good setup here. By the way, how did you get through their security system?”
James just laughed at Clay. “A new gadget I developed. You didn’t think all my time was spent making love to Avery did you? After all, a guy’s got to let his lady rest sometimes. Anyway, I had this idea rolling in my head, from something Grant said a while ago and tried it out. I wanted to show you that all the expertise of our unit is needed. I had to try it out sometimes anyway, so I thought what better place than this? I’ll admit I was pissed when I called the office and Grace told me what was going on.”
“You found out from Grace? I just told her brief details of what was going on.”
“I know Grace couldn’t tell me much, but I pieced it together with what I knew. I also used our GPS that we installed in all our phones in case of an emergency to find you.”
“Well, let’s go find the others and help Jared and Stan update their system. They’re probably scrambling right now to figure it out. They put a lot of effort into this cabin and thought it was foolproof. The guys really take the safely of their wife Janet seriously and I know they included Laura in that security.”
James stopped at the door and looked back at Clay. “Step back for a minute. Did I just hear you call Janet their wife?”
“Yes, you heard right. Jared and Stan are both married to Janet. She is a nurse and looked after Laura while I was gone. From what I’ve seen so far, there are no two men more devoted to one woman. I didn’t think you would have a problem with it.”
“I don’t have a problem with it. I know it’s not for me, as I’m a greedy bastard and don’t share. But if that’s what makes them happy, I’m glad. Nowadays it’s hard to sustain any kind of a relationship with our discarded society. Which reminds me to ask. How is it going with Laura? Did you solve all your problems and are you back toget
her? Angel told me a bit about your he-man approach to her job.”
“Well, I’d like to tell you everything is OK, but we haven’t had a chance to iron everything out yet before this new information fell into my lap. I will make sure that I have a chance to make it right with her tonight. Today, I just want to concentrate on trying to pin that bastard for everything we can.”
“Let’s go and see what we can do.” James opened the door and he and Clay made their way through the hall where they could hear the girls taking in the kitchen before they went downstairs to join the others.
James and Clay walked in to see Brad and Stan standing behind the two computers that Jared and Grant were sitting in front of, and all were shooting questions at Angel.
“How the hell did he get through? I know you’re part of the group. But our safety and especially the women’s safety is more important. We can’t have a glitch in our system at a time like this. Spill,” Jared told Angel as he brought up the specs for the security system on the computer.
James walked over to them and butted in on the conversation “Angel can’t tell you anything, Jared. He doesn’t know. I developed this while I was away.” James took a slim box out of his pocket and tossed it to Grant, who had turned in his seat to watch them come in.
Grant caught the gadget and looked it over while pushing his glasses back up on his nose. They forever gave him trouble by sliding down.
“What’s this?” Grant asked James as he turned it over in his hand.
“Just something that we were talking about before I met Avery. Remember we discussed different wavelengths? Well, I had time to think about it and tried this, but I have to admit that I mostly used your theories.”
“Well, son of a bitch, it worked! I was going to get on it when the dust settled from Cyn and Angel’s dilemma, but this is great. Where’s the specs? I want to update the system here so no one can get a jump on us.”
