Note: All persons in this novel are fictitious. If you are looking for a great deal of explicit sexual activity, this story is not for you. Those scenes that are included will be evocative rather than just for the sake of sex itself. This story is for your reading pleasure. Its length is undetermined at this time, because I do not know where my mind will take me along the way. I hope you will stay with me during this journey until it reaches its inevitable conclusion.
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116. Tying Up Some Loose Ends
The driver of the truck was let out of jail, miraculously, even though it was his third offense. It was due to a good attorney, and $30,000 in bail put up by a 'Former Rodeo Champion.' Lucius had his men in place to follow the perpetrator, whether he walked home, or took a taxi. He wasn't 30 feet from the courthouse steps, when a shot rang out hitting him in the head, and splashing his brains all over the pavement.
Lucius yelled over the radio, "Who did that?"
All the answers came back in the negative.
The police were everywhere within a matter of seconds. They questioned everyone on the street to see if they saw the person who did it, or anyone suspicious. No one did. No cars moved away from the scene quickly. No one was seen running away from the scene of the crime. Everything looked, and seemed normal.
What no one saw was Liz closing the small opening to the rear door of her rented van. While everyone looked around, she broke down her rifle, put it back in its case, returned to the driver's seat, and waited for traffic to start moving past the scene of the crime. When it did, she moved into the flow of traffic, rubbernecked as every other driver did, when she past the crime scene, and moved on. The bastard that killed Tonya and Margaret had paid for his crimes.
She returned to work, for the first time since the accident, the next day.
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There wasn't a hair's breath in the qualifications, between Lucille Ball, and Rory Calhoun. They both spoke Spanish fluently, they were great shots, and could run long distances well. More importantly, they were great spotters. They used the new scopes, with the barometric and temperature readings on them perfectly, and helped the shooters with corrections on their aiming points, if they were asked.
In the jungles of South America, the humidity alone could make a bullet fall nearly 3 inches per mile. The temperature made that number rise or fall.
They could not simulate that anywhere in the United States, not even in Louisiana, during the heat of the summer.
Paul would have to use his brain, and a little calculus to figure that out on the fly. These new scopes would help, but they were not always perfect. They could always try to get closer to the subject, and make the shot from there. However, that meant they would have to move undetected, that much further to get away.
It was decided that they would become a threesome. Rory and Lucille would act as a married couple from Guadalajara. Paul was a widow from Mexico City.
They arrived in Lima Peru with all the appropriate tourist information about the indigenous tribes. They were going on guided tours to Machu Picchu, and to the Headwater of the Amazon River, high in the Andes Mountains.
The trek to the Headwater of the Amazon just happened to pass within 50 km of the presidential retreat, where William Silver was staying.
It was also in the heart of cocaine country, which the bus they would be traveling on passed through. It was often detained, and searched by guards of the cartel, but the passengers were never robbed, or killed. The cartel was appropriately paid for each trip through its heartland by the bus company.
In a country, where money can buy you anything, William Zabo bought the Commanding General of the Peruvian Army. He promised General Antonio de la Fernando Rios one of two things. He would be dead within 48 hours, or he would be $20 million richer if he followed instructions. General Rios chose door number two.
William gave the general the coordinates he wanted his army units to attack, on what days and at what times to start, and stop. General Rios was told American satellites would be watching every moment of this operation, and if he did not comply completely, he would collect every penny of his money back by removing the general's skin, inch by inch, while he was begging for mercy.
During these attacks, the cartels would be obliged to split their forces to protect its territories, laboratories, warehouses, and most important, their coca plants. These attacks would leave a narrow passageway for Paul, Rita, and Rory to get through, hopefully unseen. If it worked, the three of them would have no trouble infiltrating the area, and get to the presidential retreat.
Exfiltration was a problem all its own.
As the three of them waited in line to board the bus, Paul attached an explosive charge between the right rear tires. He would set off this explosive, when they reached the appropriate coordinates.
They were lucky that the conductor of the bus forced the people, who got on first, to move to the rear of the bus, instead of allowing them to take up the front seats, blocking everyone else's entrance. Most of the passengers were either Americans, or British, and it was hard for them to maintain their Latin cover, with everyone else speaking English.
As they drove along the route, the driver commented that there were no guards on the road today, and it was highly unusual.
Lucille asked him why it was so unusual."
The conductor replied, "The cartels own this area. They grow the coca plants here, and they don't want anyone looking around."
"Does the government know about this?"
"Yes, everyone knows about this, especially the government. However, the cartels are so strong; the government is powerless to do anything about it."
She said, "It is the same thing in Mexico."
Paul checked the GPS coordinates continuously, and when they were at the correct coordinates, he signaled his two comrades, and pushed the button.
The explosion lifted the bus a few feet in the air, while throwing the right two tires and rims off the axle. The bus skidded 30 feet, before it came to a halt.
Everyone on the bus was screaming, as the conductor was begging everyone to remain calm. He was going outside to see what had happened.
When the conductor started yelling, the three of them got out to see what had happened.
Rory said to him, "It looks like you hit a landmine."
Lucille agreed. "Maybe that's why there are no guards on the roads today."
The conductor said, "I can't fix this. I only have one tire. However, the wheels and bolts are gone also. This is a disaster."
"How far is the closest town?"
"We past it nearly 1 ½ hours ago; it's nearly 51 km from here."
"If you will give us something to identify ourselves, and explain what happened here, we will walk to the town, and do our best to get help. You can't leave these people alone, the gringos will panic."
"I will give you the pass that allows us to go through this area. If anyone stops you, show it to them, and they will let you pass."
"We will probably not get there until nightfall. Do you think they will chance coming back here at night?"
"No, they will come here in the morning. No one travels this road at night if they want to live. We will see you in the morning. Have a safe journey my friends."
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As soon as it was safe, they slid into the jungle, and began running southeast towards the presidential retreat. Within 10 minutes, they were in the coca fields, where billions, and billions of dollars worth of young coca plants were growing. In a few months, they would be harvested, processed, and made into cocaine, before making their way north to Mexico and the United States. It would feed the habits of millions of addicted Americans, and making millionaires out of criminals.
