Darien
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I own no cattle. Wait. Is that right? Rating? K maybe? Time: After Alexis Castle, MD.
"Problem?" She asked.
"You could say that." He replied sarcastically.
"What happened?"
He sighed.
"You need some context. Chen is a billionaire in China. He also has a loud mouth. He probably figured he could mouth off about the Chinese Communist Party because he's rich and his AI did a lot of good work for the party. He was wrong. The Chinese Communist Party really doesn't like criticism. They decided to give him some time to consider the error of his ways. Like maybe a year shoveling yak shit in Tibet. He found out about it and decided to run. He took his private plane to Cambodia. Now the Cambodian government is great pals with the Chinese and wouldn't do anything to upset Beijing. But there are Cambodians who love money just like everyone else. The next thing the Cambodians or the Chinese knew, Chen and his private plane were gone. He must have planned his escape very carefully because the next we heard from him, he was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, calling the US embassy and asking for asylum. We said yes of course. Being a billionaire, he wanted to go first class. No riding in the back of a USAF C-17 for him. He leased a Brazilian Boeing 757 to fly him to Bogata, Columbia. From there he'd take a light plane to a small airstrip just south of the Darien Gap and some people smugglers, coyotes, would fly him by helicopter to Panama City where I'd pick him up and take him to the US."
"What went wrong?"
"Like I said. He loved to shoot off his mouth. He kept telling the coyotes he'd hired how much money he'd managed to get out of China and how much he was going to make in the US. Coyotes like to charge all that the traffic will bear. They felt they were getting shortchanged on the deal. So, they want ten million dollars to take Chen to Panama. And they want it in cash. US hundred-dollar bills."
"So?' He's a billionaire. Ten million shouldn't be a problem."
"Alexis, even billionaires don't carry much cash around anymore. They use plastic like everyone else. For really big things they use certified checks. The coyotes want cash."
"So how do we get the cash to them?"
He sighed again. There she was using that "we" word again.
"He's called his bank in Panama City. They're used to dealing with eccentric billionaires. I'll pick up ten million in cash tomorrow and take it by helicopter to someplace in the middle of the Darien Gap."
Alexis thought about what she knew about the infamous Darien Gap. You could drive a car all the way from the North Slope of Alaska to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. There you could pick up the Pan American Highway and drive all the way to the tip of Tierra del Fuego at the very end of the continent of South America. You could drive except for a sixty-six-mile-long area called the Darien Gap. The Gap was a mountainous triple canopy jungle filled with carnivorous predators. Other predators included drug smugglers, people smugglers, and a few remnants of the rebel Fuerzas Armadas Revolucianarias de Columbia, the Columbian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC. All of them would be thrilled to see a gringo with ten million US dollars show up on their doorstep.
"Do you have a helicopter handy?" She asked.
"Luckily, "They" thought of that. A guy we use named Charlie has a chopper. He'll take me."
"He'll take us."
He shook his head.
"No. The coyotes gave strict instructions. Me and the chopper pilot. No one else."
She wasn't sure the coyotes had really said that, but she had no choice but to believe him.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Ten million in hundreds is pretty heavy. You might be able to help me get the money to the airport from the bank. But I'm not sure Mr. Stanley would take his hot secretary along for something like that."
She gave him the best glare that she had learned from Kate Beckett.
"I'm a doctor and I can dress like one, and my dad is a millionaire. I can look exactly like a hot, well-dressed Wharton School of Business MBA if I need to."
The bank needed some time to get that much cash together, so they went back to sleep. In the morning, she dressed in a black silk pants suit with a light pink blouse that buttoned up to her neck. Her hair was pulled back into a bun.
"Are you ready, Mr. Stanley?"
"Yes, Miss Blaine."
"Ms. Blaine if you please." She said snippily.
"Yes, Ms. Blaine. I'm ready."
The bank had the money ready for them. The whole ten million was in large suitcases. Anyone in Panama with an IQ above their age would realize that anyone coming out of a bank with many large suitcases had money in them. Lots of money.
Charlie pulled up in front of the bank in a pickup truck. In the back were several rough looking Panamanians. When Alexis looked in the back, she saw AK 47 assault rifles, ammo and flak jackets.
""They" use these guys too." Rick said. "It'll be okay. I hope."
To her surprise, Alexis was handed a flak jacket, an AK 47 and a bandoleer of ammo.
They roared off towards the airport and Charlie's chopper. Surprisingly, they made it with no problems. They drove to Charlie's chopper, a twin-engine Huey. They tossed the money in and then Rick turned to Alexis.
"I should be back later today. Maybe early evening."
"It shouldn't take that long to get to the Darien Gap, should it?"
"The coyotes will want to count every bill. It may take a lot longer. Don't worry, I'll be back."
He kissed her and got in the helicopter. They waved to each other and then she watched until the aircraft was out of sight.
She waited that day and into the night. It wasn't until 7:20 the next evening that she finally got a call. It wasn't what she'd expected. It was what she had feared.
"Miss Blaine? This is Dr. Colon at Saint Francis of Assisi Hospital here in Panama City. A Mr. Charles Newman is here in the emergency ward. He says he needs to speak with you. Normally, we wouldn't allow it, but he says it's a matter of life and death."
"How do I get there?" Alexis broke in.
"Any taxi driver can take you."
She hung up, got dressed and had the desk clerk call for a cab. The desk clerk was helpful, but this was what happened when men like Mr. Stanley fooled around with a woman like Miss Blaine. He wondered if Stanley had been attacked by another older man enamored with Miss Blaine's charms. It was of no concern to him. He was sure neither one would return.
Alexis ran into the emergency room and was quickly directed to Charlie. He was in bed with one leg and one arm in a cast.
"Sorry, Miss Blaine. I tried."
"What happened?' Alexis said quickly.
"We landed and there were the coyotes, standing there with Chen. Or at least they were with an Asian man. Mr. Stanley went to make sure it was Chen and I stayed in the chopper, ready to go as soon as they both got on board."
"They tried to double cross you?" Alexis asked.
"I don't think so. Everyone was just standing around, looking happy and all of a sudden, gunfire erupted. The coyotes were the targets. I think all of them went down. I guess Chen panicked and tried to hide behind the body of one of the coyotes. Mr. Stanley was trying to drag Chen to the chopper and Chen was hanging onto the coyote's corpse with a death grip. Then Mr. Stanley went down and a whole bunch of armed men came out of the jungle. I waited as long as I could, but I was taking fire. I got out, but I took two rounds." He gestured to his casts." I won't be flying for a while."
"I need the GPS coordinates for where you left them, and I need to know where I can get some equipment for a rescue."
"Are you going after them?"
"Do you see anyone else?"
Alexis walked into the shop of the Molino brothers. It looked like they sold junk, but Charlie had told Alexis she could get what she needed here.
"Are you Alfredo Molino?" She asked the man behind the counter."
"I am. My brother Raul is in the back."
"You know Charles Newman has vouched for me?"
"Yes, Miss Blaine." That was Raul, coming up to the counter.
"Then you have a good idea of what I need."
The two men looked at her but said nothing.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked.
"You are La Rojita, aren't you?" Alfredo said.
Alexis thought. La Rojita was Little Red in English.
"Does that make a difference?" She demanded.
"No, but we have heard of you." Alfredo said. "In New York when some men tried to steal from…certain people, you killed one with your bare hands and shot two more."
Then Raul spoke.
"In the gun battle in Mexico, you killed three men at eight hundred yards, using only the iron sights on your M 16. All head shots."
"And in Congo, after you set up the intelligence network for…certain people, you commanded the tank company that destroyed your enemies."
Alexis glared at the men. Her glare had gotten much better with Kate's help.
"There is no one called La Rojita. And none of those things ever happened. None of them. There are people who might get angry if people were spreading rumors about certain people? Understand?"
Both men blanched.
"Of course. Of course, Senorita Blaine. I don't know how those silly rumors get started. We really should have known better than to repeat them. We apologize."
"Excellent." Alexis said with a smile. "Now, about the things I need?"
In no time at all, Alexis had all she needed. She had an H 416 assault rifle, an improvement, she thought, over the M16 or the M4. The rifle had a day and night sight, a laser range finder and a suppressor. And ammo, of course. She also had a 9mm Glock which also had a suppressor and a smaller Glock 26 which went in a holster on her right ankle. She had jungle fatigues, night vision goggles, a first aid kit, a machete as well as a K Bar knife and a Camelback hydration system. She had food, a small stove, a water purifier, and a compass that incorporated a GPS receiver. She had all she needed.
All she needed now was some way to get to the Darien Gap.
"Do you know how to parachute, Miss Blaine?" Alfredo asked.
Alexis didn't but one of her girlfriends had taken up skydiving and had told Alexis all about it.
"Of course." She lied smoothly.
There were no trustworthy helicopter pilots that would be willing to go into the heart of the Darien Gap, but one Eugenio Velez would be happy to provide her with a parachute and drop her into a clearing about two kilometers from her destination.
As she sat in the cockpit of the light plane, she decided that she would never let her husband so much as cross the street no matter how badly "They" wanted him to.
Velez circled the clearing twice.
"You can see there is no wind, senorita. The leaves in the trees do not move. Hook up your static line and I will drop you right in the middle of the clearing."
When Velez said "Go.", she dropped out of the plane. More by good luck than management, she landed in the middle of the clearing and began gathering up her 'chute to hide it. She suddenly felt a gloved hand go over her mouth and felt the point of a knife at her throat.
TBC