He chuckled.
“Come on, get serious. Three months, how about we go somewhere?”
She smiled and looked at him.
“I would like to go see my family in Holland. They might not want to see me, but then at least I can say I tried.”
“I’ve never been to Europe.”
“You’d like it, I think.”
“Then, let's go there. I have some cousins in England somewhere, and I’ve always wanted to see Paris.”
“Oh yes. I love Paris, can we go there?” she said.
“Sure. Honey, I don’t care where I go, as long as I’m with you,” he said, and she started to cry again.
“Hey, what are you crying about?” he asked.
She smiled and took his hand. “Because I have never been so happy.”
He leant over and gently kissed her lips, he could taste the salt from her tears.
It was the first time he had kissed her, and she felt a warm glow spread across her whole being. She wrapped her arms around his neck and the kiss lingered and developed into something a lot more passionate.
Then he broke off.
She looked at him, a little disappointed.
“I just want to tell you that you kiss beautifully, and you light my fire,” he said with a grin.
She pulled him close.
“I haven’t even started yet,” she said, kissing him again.
* * *
Ricardo was frustrated, as he was certain that the agent was still alive, but he didn’t know where he/she was. The logical choice would be the naval hospital, but that was well guarded, so he was wary of showing too much interest and revealing his intentions to the authorities.
He had now sufficient information to begin work defending the men in detention. There were too many for him to deal with, so he picked the few key persons, giving the remainder to some junior associates to defend. It was a complicated case, involving many exhibits and many co-defendants. The DEA lawyers and the DA applied for an adjournment and all defendants were remanded in custody. Bail applications were refused on the grounds that there was a fear that all persons would abscond, and commit further offences whilst on bail.
He tried to fix bail for his few, but unsurprisingly the request was rejected out of hand. Public opinion was riding high, and the DA was using this case as a vehicle for his advancement. Ricardo expected nothing less, but still he felt somewhat frustrated.
He tried calling the naval hospital and enquired about any DEA agents held there. A female voice told him that such details would not be divulged over the telephone, and asked him for his name and telephone number. He hung up quickly.
There would have to be another way.
He took out a small black notebook, and leafed through it for a few moments. He found the page he wanted and picked up the telephone again, keying in the number.
* * *
Franco was a handyman. He did odd jobs for anyone who was prepared to pay for them. He’d clean toilets, steal a car to order or even kill someone, if the price was right.
This was an easy $1000. He simply had to get into a hospital and find someone; a tall blonde girl, who’d been shot. There couldn’t be many of them in a Navy hospital.
He went to his van, a white Ford, with ‘ACE Sanitary and Drainage Engineers’ on the side. He was dressed in a set of pale blue overalls with the same words emblazoned on the back.
It was ten in the morning when he drove to the Naval base, and was directed to the hospital.
He pulled up at the gate and thrust a wad of papers under the SP’s nose.
“Gotta call to clear some blocked toilets,” he said. The guard looked in the rear of the truck, searched him, and then waved him through.
The guard watched the truck approach the rear doors and picked up the phone.
“One just came in. Hispanic, in a white Ford van. He claims to be here to unblock a toilet but he has no papers, is this the guy?”
He nodded and put the phone down, and then alerted his supervising NCO.
Franco pulled out his toolbox and went into the side door.
He was methodical, so he found a floor plan, from which he worked out where intensive care was situated, and any room that would be used for gut shot victims. Then he set off, unaware that his progress was being followed on the CCTV monitors in the security office.
Sean watched the man, smiling wryly. They were showing their hand and no mistake. He believed that the shyster lawyer Ricardo Candarez was the organiser on this one, but proving it would be real hard. The guard at the gate had searched the man, but the toolbox hadn’t been searched by all accounts.
They let the man wander the corridors unchallenged. He did every room on every floor, so in an hour had satisfied himself that there were no females with gunshot wounds in the place.
He returned to his vehicle and drove away, unaware that a device had been attached to his van.
Twenty minutes later Sean was looking at the mug shot of Francisco Fernandez, convicted felon with eight previous convictions for assault and robbery. He was also arrested over a homicide two years ago, but never charged, due to a lack of evidence.
He passed it to Ryan.
“Mean looking mother,” he said.
“Yeah, but I think his job is just to locate her. It means our ruse didn’t work,” Sean said.
The nurses were helping Michelle wheel her bed back into her room, as she had been placed in the security wing for the last hour. All her drips and catheters went with her, so it was quite a feat to get her back in one piece.
“Well, it did and it didn’t. They don’t know whether she is dead or alive. So as long as they can’t find her, we’re winning.”
Michelle looked quite pale. Ryan realised just how weak she was. Her wound and surgery had actually taken a heck of a lot out of her, and with all the antibiotics and other drugs, she was prone to sleep at the drop of a hat.
“Have you managed to get anything from any of the prisoners?” Ryan asked.
“Not really. But then, to be honest, we didn’t have to try. All are facing charges, so all will get long custodial sentences. A couple are trying to cut deals, but Ricardo knows exactly what he is doing. No, the real problem is that Luis has a brother back in Columbia. What I want is to force him to come out where we can get him, and then there will be less chance of the Mendoza cartel doing any more business.”
“Why not go in after him?” said the girl from the bed. Sean had forgotten she was listening.
“There is the small matter of him being outside US jurisdiction. And even in the spirit of cooperation, the Columbians are somewhat limited with their ability to stretch that deep into the outlands,” he explained.
“So, I’m not talking about a fully equipped military operation, how about just one or two agents, sneak in and take him out.”
Sean looked at her. “Suicide,” he said.
She smiled.
“They muttered that about the island, yet here I am.”
It was Sean’s turn to smile. “Okay, but believe me, Columbia is a whole different ball game.”
“Then we have to lure him out with something he wants,” she suggested.
“Like what?”
“Me,” she said, but both men refused to entertain the thought.
Having heard their protestations she raised both hands in surrender.
“Okay, I withdraw that remark, but I reserve the right to raise it again in twelve weeks, when you are no closer to catching him,” she said, with a tired smile. She actually liked the feeling of having two men so eager to protect her.
But right now she was tired, so she eased back on her pillows and closed her eyes.
Sean noticed and gestured for Ryan to leave. Once outside the room, he stopped the younger man.
“Okay Ryan, before you get in over your head, what the hell are you doing?”
Ryan smiled sheepishly.
“I don’t know. It just happened, but neither of us seems able to do anything about it. So, we’re going to recuperate together, and I said I’d go with her back to Holland so she could have one last attempt to make things up with her family.”