“Amen to that, Nick.” I disconnected. “I love Nick’s idea about the superyacht at our new island sanctuary. I hope it works out that he and I can save the ship during mission op.”
“You damn well better, Recon,” Lucas barked. “It’s written in script now. You and Dead Boy must pirate the Tempest and bring her into the fleet. That’s an order.”
“Blow it out your ass, Ahab. If Nick and I get into trouble, the grenades will fix the situation real quick and we ain’t dyin’ to preserve the superyacht so the rest of you better be very attentive when Nick and I get aboard.”
“We’ll have to be close and steaming full bore,” Lucas said. “Otherwise, the only suggestion I have is an attack by Stealth once you and Nick secure a landing zone. Then we can plunk armed people right where we need them instantly.”
“I like it, Lucas. We’ll have to go full helicopter assault on this one. I say we sail on the ‘Valkyrie’. It has the helicopter LZ’s we need for doing this. I’ll text your idea on to Nick. I’m sure he’ll be on board with it.”
“Damn… this collaboration with Nick is getting freaky good,” Lynn said. “I have to plan another directorial action down in LA with El Kabong. He has fresh ideas and knows how to get them across to me at the right time. The new season of LA Bounty Hunters will be in production soon. I hope Nick can spare him for a time.”
“If we pull off the confiscation of Carone’s superyacht Tempest and Al-Kadi’s compound at Pilot Hill, we’ll have some valuable launch sites. I bet those two guys have a couple of nice offshore accounts to share with us too. We’ll have the budget of a small country soon.”
“We’ll have to create some discreet defensive systems on board the superyacht, Recon.”
“I know, Lucas. Carone probably has some good systems already. We know his radar is first rate. It’s a nice touch it can launch Panga boats from its interior. We’ll have our own ‘Mother Ship’ although the Valkyrie with the helicopter launch pads and RGM-84 rocket array is already a battleship. We’re approaching superpower status, Ahab. I think we need to get you an admiral’s uniform.”
“One more ship and I think we need to attack Saudi Arabia,” Lucas replied in character.
I threw a line in the water again. “I’m beginning to believe we should do just that. We need to watch them closer. Maybe we could find proof of something horrendous we know they enabled. We could hit them hard under the same circumstances as we did Iran.”
“Well… aren’t you the cutest thing,” Lynn said. “Put that talk on the back-burner for now, Cheese. I need to direct a real movie before I’m put to death by my own country.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m glad we’re networking with Nick. He has a knack of turning over rocks and revealing new leads to threats and people. Dangerous times, my friends.”
“It’s a dangerous time for Carone and Al-Kadi,” Lucas stated. “I see a bad moon rising for those two and everything they own.”
“As Dead Boy would say – absolutely,” Casey stated.
*
“I told you, Cracker.” Jean smirked at her partner in crime.
Sonny’s mouth tightened into thin lipped frustration. “I didn’t doubt you. I told you we should take this to your Dad.”
“I have to see this through. We’re good together, Cracker. We see things no one else does. Dad’s into some big ops. He doesn’t have time for this small stuff.”
“Small stuff? This is an extortion ring,” Sonny hissed. “They’re collecting money for protection. These three guys are small time hoods, pretending they’re connected. That doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous.”
“We spotted them in the market near the school,” Jean whispered. “Keep your voice down. There’s no question these guys are shaking down the owners for money. Our next step is to get the owners together. We have all the evidence to bring these guys down. The only part to fill in is testimony. Once the owners know there’s no mob behind these guys, they’ll testify against them. This is our case.”
Sonny watched the three men, dressed in three piece suits, with dress fedoras. They looked very impressive. He and Jean followed them. They had the license plate number for their Lincoln MKX. From that, Jean had used Nick’s satellite uplink laptop in the safe-room to learn the address they listed. It seemed to be a small time operation with thug type, heavy-handed threats. Three drive by shootings listed in the news happening at businesses on the thugs’ list convinced the business owners to pay for protection. The three entered the last restaurant on their list while he and Jean moved behind the building’s edge they were conducting their surveillance from.