The next few weeks became a blur. Noriega had convinced Gaviria, or Escobar as all the men called him, to have Sonny become their go-between. Crockett at first was just handling the transport, then he became entrenched in the smuggling. He had not yet seen or been contacted by Petra Salaya, but was constantly travelling between Mexico, Panama, Columbia and Cuba. They seemed to be stepping up their production of the products and so he was extremely busy. It was good to an extent, as he had little time to think of Gina. He had a suspicion that Noriega had done that on purpose.
Crockett had just landed in Mexico and was about to meet with Noriega. They knew he liked to drive himself to meetings, so when he got off the plane, there was a Porsche 911 Turbo in black waiting for him. He checked the car, to make sure it wasn't rigged with anything. Then started up the engine, letting it rumble to life. He took it down the runway, before exiting onto the road. He lit up the tires as he put the car through it's paces, a satisfied smile graced Crockett's face. Out on the road, he made sure there were no tales. He got on the highway and that is when he saw a Ferrari, weaving in and out of traffic, racing along towards him. Every lane change the driver signalled.
[Tom Petty's Runnin' Down A Dream: "…It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down, I had the radio on, I was driven', Trees flew by, me and Del were singing' little Runaway, I was flying'…"]
"It can't be," Sonny said to himself. Having the head start, he took off in the Porsche. They raced down the highway, when the cars were side by side, he saw it was a woman driver, he jerked his head to the soft shoulder and began to slow down. The woman understood and did the same. Eventually they came to a stop. Crockett got out of the Porsche.
"Hello Sonny," Petra said as she came towards him.
Crockett gave her a once over, recognizing her from the picture Castillo had shown him. His gaze lingered on her long slim legs a moment, then he looked into her eyes. She had hazel eyes, but at that moment they were cat yellow. Her light brown hair, glinted in the sun, capturing the copper red highlights. He smiled, "have you been following me Petra?"
"Not until today. Florida was just me having fun on the highway. And Brazil, that was coincidence again. Today I knew where you'd be landing and decided it's time we talk." Petra laughed. Then more seriously she added, "I'm sorry to hear that your wife passed away."
"Thank you, but darlin' why no motorcycle today?" Sonny teased.
"I'm going to be at your business meeting today with Noriega. These men, like their women in skirts and dresses, not racing leathers." She smiled and it lit up her eyes.
Sonny nodded, "you like to race just bikes and cars, or anything?"
"I like speed, I'm fast but careful, as you seem to have noticed. I've never driven a boat, but I would like to go on a scarab some time. Planes, I don't think I want to race one of those. I can barely handle flying. I'd rather ride or drive somewhere, but sometimes flight is unavoidable."
"Noriega assigned me a scarab off shore boat, I'll take you out on it some time. I'm glad you contacted me, they want me to move guns too, not just cocaine and heroine."
"Do whatever they ask, if you can. Your name has come up often Mr. Burnett in cartel business meetings," Petra winked. "You've become a valuable player, I'm just glad you're really on our side and not theirs."
Sonny removed his sun glasses and looked her straight in the eyes, "Look lady, I had amnesia when I was just Burnett, but even then there were lines I didn't cross. I would never hurt a woman or a child, if I can prevent it. I'm doing this to clean up the streets for my son."
"My intent was not to offend, merely to admire your undercover skills and appreciate your work," Petra said with genuine feeling.
"So who are you?" Sonny asked. "Are you DEA, CIA, FBI, ATF?"
"You're asking for my credentials? I've worked for them all in one way or another. Who knows what I'm classified as now." She said truthfully.
"Fair enough. Why all the secrecy?"
"Too much drug money has bought off influential people at home. Even high up in the government, judges, senators, agents in various agencies, it's like a disease. There are a few good people and we are working to clean house top to bottom. Martin Castillo recommended you, explaining you had recently run in to the corruption and quit. When you provided the information on Norman's Cay, we put things into motion to re-instate you." Petra looked at her watch. "We need to get going."
"Race you!" Sonny grinned and they both quickly got into their cars and got back on the highway. They did just that.
A trip that normally would take 30 min from Acapulco international airport to Las Brisas Place in La Condessa, took them only ten minutes. They raced along so fast, that the other cars seemed to stand still. Petra was a skilled driver and that gave Crockett a challenge he liked. Since he didn't know exactly where the mansion was, he let her get in front of him, hence winning their race and lead the way to the meeting location. They drove up a long driveway, lined by trees. Once they arrived in front of the main entrance of the house, two men came out and took the cars to be parked. Crockett offered Petra his arm and they entered together. They were lead to the back of the house to a circular room, with no walls, that lead out to the pool area. The view was spectacular, as the pool edge dropped off into nothingness and in the near distance was the ocean. The room had a high vaulted ceiling, with a large circular chandelier giving off plenty of soft light. Circular couches and table were directly under the light. They sat down and were given a glass of wine. Noriega was talking to the Ochoa Brothers about a gun shipment. They all stood up, politely and shook hands, then sat down when Petra and Sonny did.
"Sonny Burnett, this is Fabio and Juan Ochoa and I see you have met Petra already," Noriega introduced.
"We met on the road, just turned out that we were coming to the same place," Sonny said.
"Racing again were you Petra?" Noriega scolded good naturally.
Petra smiled and laughed, "you know me well."
"Fabio, Juan, never race this woman in your car, she never looses." Then Noriega added, "Mr. Burnett was the one who helped me get in contact with Pablo Escobar Gaviria for air transportation. His transport expertise has been very valuable to me."
Sonny lifted up his wine glass in acknowledgement of the praise. "It's easy to solve problems, when your advice is taken."
As the meeting progressed it was established that Pablo Escobar, the Ochoa brothers and Carlos Lehder were in an alliance called the Muerte a Secuestraders (MAS), which translated meant Death to Kidnappers. This partnership, Noriega had been instrumental in setting up. Crockett still didn't understand Petra's part in all of it or who she was consulting for. That too was eventually cleared up at the meeting.
"We have a lot of cocaine that needs to be moved fast. We have product from Mexico, Panama, Columbia and Cuba that needs to get into USA. The mexican border has too much heat on it right now. The best way is to fly out the product from Cuba to the Bahamas and then from there to Florida. But we are having problems with missing shipments." Noriega downed his wine glass and signalled for more. "Right now we have a lot of planes refuelling in the Bahamas and flying in to Florida. It's become too predictable and we think we are being pirated. Hence why Sonny and you Petra are here. We need a solution and fast."
Fabio leered at Petra, but she tried to ignored him. He said, "our current methods and locations are all listed here. We will have our men at your disposal. Mr. Noriega, my brother and I have business elsewhere today, Petra you are required to come with us." With that he stood, shook Crockett's hand and they all left.
"Bourbon please," Sonny ordered from one of the men. He reviewed some of the paperwork that had been left behind. He was going to have to go with one of the shipments to understand the flight path. He made arrangements with the man named Mario, to do that right away. He would fly to Columbia on the personal jet and then from there go with a product shipment the next day. "Can you get all the names of the pilots and who they worked for previously?" Sonny asked the man making his flight arrangements. The man nodded. "Okay, when I return from this trip I will need that information."
The flight to Columbia had no problems. Once there, he had a hotel room for the night. Crockett didn't sleep until he had drunk half a bottle of rum. In the morning when he joined the drugs on the plane transporting the shipment, he was hung over and not in a good mood. There were no issues during the flight and refuel in Norman's Cay. When the plane left for Miami, Crockett took a flight back to Mexico on the private jet. When he finally arrived back at the house, he was ready for a swim and a glass of bourbon. He was relaxing in the pool, when he heard angry spanish from inside the house. He recognized Petra's voice.
Petra was furious that she had been taken on the trip with the Ochoa brothers, as their intent was to treat her like a whore. She'd had to put up with Fabio touching her inappropriately and hitting on her, until she found an excuse to leave and return to Mexico. She was feeling ashamed and it had brought to the surface memories she had buried a long time ago. Feeling like a victim made her angry. She had wanted to ride a motorcycle fast, but they had misplaced it on her during transport. When she got to Las Brisas Place, one of the men had come up behind her and she had tossed him onto his ass. He pulled a gun on her and she kicked it out of his hand and then held it to his temple, swearing in spanish. He quickly apologized for his error and she threw the gun out the front door and told him to fetch it like a dog. Then she grabbed a bottle of rum and went out to the pool area, trying to calm down. She didn't see Crockett in the pool. She filled a shot glass three times before she felt his eyes on her.
"Darlin' what's got you all hot and bothered?" Sonny asked, getting out of the pool. He saw fear flash in her eyes, then quickly get replaced with anger. He sat down with her and refilled his glass with some of her rum. She did two more shots. She wouldn't talk, he went to reach for the bottle which was close to her and saw Petra almost jump out of her skin. "I think we should go for a ride on the scarab," Sonny said. She nodded and took the bottle with her.
She wouldn't let him help her on board and hence almost tripped getting into the boat. She took a long pull of rum from the bottle, then sat in the co-pilot seat. He untied the boat and then slowly moved out into the ocean. Once it was deep enough, he gave it more throttle. Petra stopped drinking, the faster they went, the bigger her smile got. After they sliced through some big waves, Crockett slowed the boat, until they were almost stationary. He turned on the radio and searched for bugs. Once satisfied that no one could hear them, he turned to Petra. "Want to talk about something?"
Petra couldn't look at him. Instead she gave him some back history about her. "When I was a teenager, I worked at a store in sales. One of my co-workers tried to rape me. He sexually assaulted me and took my mind instead. A few months later I told the manager of my store and he said he would protect me. Only one day when I was sick, he came to my house to see how I was. When he found out I was home alone, he raped me. I lost my soul for a few years after that. I vowed that I would never be a victim again. It's one of the reasons I became a police woman." She paused, gulping more rum, before offering the bottle to Crockett.
[Lifehouse song Undone: "…I can see it your eyes you're hurting, But pain is part of learning who you are, All these truths can sometimes be deceiving, When your whole world comes crashing to the ground…"]
When Petra had been telling him of her past, he saw in her eyes that it was truth. He saw her fear and anger. He waited for her to continue. "When I went to that meeting with Noriega and the Ochoa brothers, it was because Fabio wanted me for sex. I had to tolerate his advances and his disgusting hands on me. Noriega saw I was about to loose it on him and had me return here. Even though he is a drug lord, Alejandro Noriega is a gentleman."
"What happened when you got to the house? I heard some angry spanish," Sonny probed.
"One of the men came up behind me and I tossed him over my shoulder reflexively. He pulled a gun on me and I kicked it out of his hand and put it to his temple…. Bottom line, I lost my cool." Petra confessed.
Sonny nodded. "My guess is the men will be a lot more respectful to you when we return." He paused and then said, "would you like to learn how to drive this beast?"
Petra shook her head, "thank you, but no. I am going to enjoy this bottle, but I must say that the faster you go, the happier I am. On the way back, let's see how fast she can go."
Crockett grinned, "honey, that was nothing."
"Sonny," Petra said, "thanks for listening and sorry for dumping my past on you."
"That's what partners are for," Sonny winked.
Petra looked at him, "partners… partners in crime right now," she laughed.
"We'll get them. Are you able to get copies of all the papers they gave us?" Sonny asked.
"Yes and when I go to Miami to meet Salazar, I can Fed Ex them to my contact."
Petra looked at Crockett. He knew how to drive fast and handle a car. That is what had originally caught her eye, many months ago in Miami, Florida. He was older than her, but had a boyish smile. He was fitter than most men his age and had a bronze tan, from spending many months in the sunny south. His eyes were blue and seemed to strip away all her defences. He made her feel naked, even though she was not. She admired his arms and liked his ass. Realizing she was looking at his lips, she forced herself to look away. This was not the time to loose her head over a man she worked with.
When they returned, Petra's mood was lighter. Not to mention the alcohol was finally affecting her. Crockett gave her an arm as they went back to the house. He was right about the men, they gave Petra space and if she asked for something they obeyed immediately. Crockett found it amusing, especially since Petra was drunk and didn't even notice. He could tell that she like to be in control, because even drunk she was on guard of her actions. He wondered if she ever relaxed. He was intrigued by her.
"You should come for a swim," Sonny suggested.
'Ok, I'll be back in a few minutes." Petra replied.
It was thirty minutes later when he checked his watch and she still hadn't returned. Concerned for her, he went to go find her. He found her passed out on the floor of her bedroom. He picked her up and carried her to the bed.
"Good night Petra," he said.
She replied by mumbling something completely incoherent. He smiled and then quietly left. He swam some laps and then sipped his drink. As he watched the sun set, he felt a light breeze on his cheek and thought of Gina. She had loved sun sets and it felt like she was there with him.
"Gina," Sonny sighed softly. He missed her.
Petra was a nice distraction, easy on the eyes, smart and always challenging. He could tell she was very driven and it explained why she had been in various agencies within the government. Eventually he called it a night too. He finally took off his wedding ring, he'd send it to Gina's aunt. She would always be in his heart. He went to sleep and for once wasn't drunk. He'd found a purpose in life again, to take down the biggest drug smugglers in history. He would do it from the inside out.