John sealed his mouth again. “One lump or two?”
Nick leaned in closely to Valon’s face while waggling two fingers in front of Valon’s eyes. John smashed the knee twice more. Valon bucked once and passed out again. John brought him into conscious torment once again. Nick patted Jahannam’s face.
“I don’t think you’re getting the rules of our game. When my associate takes off the tape you need to say ‘I will tell you anything you want to know’. Do you think you understand the rules now my little buttercup?”
A vehement nod in the affirmative was followed with John removing the tape over Valon’s mouth. “I…I will tell! Anything… anything… what is it you want?”
“What did you plan to do with the money from this operation? We know this is an Isis cell triggered by our destruction of the Onalaska compound. I also want to know if the Pakistanis are in on this too.”
“We have strike force ready in Cincinnati!” Valon began coughing. John tipped the water bottle into his mouth. Valon drank but said no more.
“If you make me ask questions through this process I will be very unhappy,” Nick explained. “Would you like a demonstration of what happens when I get unhappy?”
“No… please! Two helicopters ready for assault. Once Pakistanis know we have money from drug shipment they will release helicopters to our men. It will be a daylight assault… on the recruitment center in Middletown. We have rented property with hangar sized building nearby. They will be flown there tomorrow night, awaiting orders and armaments.”
“Good job. What airport will the helicopters fly out of Cincinnati from?”
“Cincinnati West Airport. The… munitions and armaments are already at the hangar in Lebanon near Middletown. Once the Pakistanis get paid… word is given to release munitions and armaments.”
“So the money trail is you collect the buy-ins, meet the Pakistani truck, exchange the buy-in money for the Oxy at way over the legal market value - then the Pakistanis make the release call, and you distribute the drugs. What cut will you demand from the distributors?”
“Twenty percent with the… the Pakistanis getting five percent more from that take.”
Nick turned to where Gus held on to a very frightened Lisa. “Was that the deal, Lisa?”
“Yes… we were to pay these guys twenty percent of the take.”
“That has the ring of truth, but how could you monitor and enforce the twenty percent take. It’s not like the dealers wouldn’t rip you off by fudging numbers.”
“We would make early example… we pick one of buy-ins and kill everyone,” Valon answered, his features in a frozen grimace of pain. “This bitch would have been first lesson.”
“You don’t like little Lisa. That’s okay. I see your point. A violent example would cement your cell’s reputation.” Nick took the roll of duct tape from John and began duct taping the knee joint wounds to stop the blood loss. He went over the scenario in his mind as he worked. “I believe in the money trail you outlined. Let’s do the details you know concerning the helicopter transfer from Cincinnati to Lebanon, Ohio. I would imagine the pilots would have to be Pakistani, and the helicopters some form of attack helicopter. What did the Pakistanis promise your bunch?”
“They guaranteed to deliver two MH-6 Little Birds slated for delivery to the Pakistani Army,” Valon replied. “Our… Isis comrades in Lebanon have two pilots checked out on the MH-6 helicopters. The munitions and rockets would be loaded in the Lebanon hangar.”
“Shit!” Nick walked around a bit, running a hand over his scalp. “Those damn birds have hellfire missiles, 70mm hydra rockets, and stinger missiles - not to mention they could have chain guns, .50 caliber machine guns, or 7.62 M134 mini-guns. They could blow the recruitment center, and then strafe civilians for a long time before anyone could arrive to stop them.”
Nick called Paul Gilbrech, explaining the situation to him. “This is beyond us, Paul. I know you have the resources to tear Cincinnati West Airport apart to find the MH-6 Little Birds. I can give the Pakistanis a jolt before leaving for Ohio.”
“Stay where you are. Find out where to meet the Pakistani shipment, and I’ll set Homeland and the FBI on the MH-6 hunt right now. I’ll put a lockdown on Cincy West while teams comb through every hangar there. When you finish with that Albanian bunch load them in their own vehicle and scorch the earth somewhere. I’ll call you the moment we find the Little Birds. Clyde Bacall will be on his way with a military jet at your disposal. I will have him call you the moment he touches down.”
“Okay, Paul. I’ll be here unless I need to fix the Pakistanis shipping problem in which case you can call me in route.”