Rendition Protocol Read online

  Ames looked at his feet.

  Stone was all business. “Out with it. How did you find us?”

  Ames shifted in his chair.

  “Hey!” Stone yelled.

  “I, uh. I found you . . .” He looked directly at Cade. “It was him.”

  “Him?” Stone said. “What do you mean it was him?”

  Ames looked back at the closed bedroom door. This time he saw the shadow of two feet underneath the door. Jana was standing just on the other side.

  “When I got out, all I could think about was her. Actually, she’s all I thought about on the inside as well. I hadn’t seen her since she was a baby.” His voice became choked with emotion. “I had to find her. But no one would tell me. No one would tell me anything.”

  “And?” Cade said.

  “I started doing internet searches, looking for her. It took no time to find all the articles. FBI agent, stopped those terrorist bombings. She’s not exactly a private figure, you know?”

  “Yeah, well aware,” Cade said. “But there’s nothing online that would lead you to her home address, phone number, workplace, nothing. And there’s sure as hell nothing that would lead you here.”

  Stone towered over Ames and crunched a stiff hand onto his shoulder. Ames winced. “I’ll ask you nicely. How did you find us?”

  “I placed a music box on him,” he said as he nodded to Cade.

  “A music box?” Cade said.

  Stone squinted at Ames. “The term music box is CIA parlance for a radio transmitter. How in the hell did you place a radio transmitter on him?”

  “Not so much a radio transmitter. A tracking device. It wasn’t that hard.”

  Stone clamped harder. “Why don’t you explain it to me before I become impatient?”

  “Jesus, alright,” Ames said. “I started sending Jana letters a good six months before I got released. I didn’t have her address so I sent the first one to FBI headquarters in DC. I figured they’d send it to whatever field office she worked. But the letter got returned. They marked it as ‘no longer at this address,’ presumably meaning she didn’t work at the FBI anymore. I didn’t know what to do so I sent another letter. This time they forwarded it to her apartment address.”

  “How do you know that?” Cade said.

  “Because they got something wrong. They forgot to include the apartment number. So when it got there, the post office just marked it ‘return to sender’ and the letter came back to me at the United States Penitentiary at Florence. Now I had her home address, minus the apartment number. I started sending letters there and those were never returned.”

  “Yeah,” Cade said, “I was looking after her place when she disappeared. I had worked with the apartment manager and asked the postal-delivery guy to flag all her mail. I was collecting it. Holy shit.”

  “That doesn’t explain how you found this place,” Stone said.

  Ames continued. “When I knew the letters weren’t getting returned, I figured I had the right address. I kept writing. Then when I got out, I sent a box of candies.”

  “The marzipan,” Cade said.

  Ames looked at the bedroom door. “They were her favorite when she was a little girl.”

  “And?” Stone said.

  “Inside the box I hid a Tile.”

  “A Tile?” Stone questioned. “What the hell is a Tile?”

  Cade’s eyes flared at the familiarity. “A Tile?”

  “Yeah. Little Bluetooth tracking device,” Ames said. “Bought a couple of sets on Amazon. They’re great for locating your missing wallet, finding your car in a giant parking lot, or . . .” He looked at Cade. “Placing in the bottom of a box of candy.”

  Before Stone could ask, Ames said, “It’s not always easy to locate your Tile because they don’t use the cellphone network for location tracking. If they did, it would be easy. You’d just pop open the application on your phone and find the device’s location. Instead, they use Bluetooth. Everyone who owns a Tile installs the Tile app. There are millions of users. If you need to locate one of your Tiles, you tell the system to locate it. Then, all the users become a network of devices that look for your Tile automatically. If someone comes within a hundred feet of it, their device sends a notification. In this case, I got lucky.”

  “How so?” Stone questioned.

  “When I mailed the marzipan to Jana’s apartment complex, I didn’t locate it on the tracking app at her apartment. I located it when this guy,” he pointed to Cade, “took it back to his own apartment, which is a different complex from where I believed Jana lived. At first, I didn’t know what that meant, but assumed maybe she moved or something. I traveled from Colorado to Maryland and staked out the apartment, hoping to see Jana. But all I ever saw was him. I staked out her apartment complex as well, but she never showed up.”

  Cade scrambled to keep up. “Wait a minute. You were the one that sent me the package of—”

  “That’s right,” Ames continued. “Like I said, it isn’t all that easy to locate a missing Tile, even with millions of users out there. The ping showed up on my Tile app probably because someone in your apartment complex had it. But I had to make sure you installed the Tile app on your phone. That way, if you ever hand-delivered the candy to Jana, your phone would ping its location.”

  “What package? What did he send you?” Stone said to Cade.

  “I received a free package of Tiles in the mail. It said it was a free sample. Hell, I thought it was cool.”

  Stone rubbed his eyes. “So you installed the app on your phone so you could track your cute new little tracker devices? Let me guess. You put one in your car, one in your wallet, and one, wait, in your satchel in case little Timmy stole it from you at recess.”

  “Kiss my ass, Stone,” Cade said.

  “And when he flew here,” Ames said, “and the box of marzipan came with him. I could easily track where he was. It was only a hope, a long shot, that he would deliver the candy to Jana.” He looked at the bedroom door again, the feet were still there.

  Stone slung the rifle behind himself and crossed his arms. “What were you thinking, sneaking up here like that?”

  “I didn’t know,” Ames said. “I mean, it’s a tropical island. It’s not as if I thought she was on an op or something. She doesn’t even work for the FBI anymore. I figured she was on vacation.”

  Stone said, “You almost got yourself killed.”

  “I’m going to be sore in the morning, that’s for sure,” Ames said as he rubbed his ribs. “I take it you guys are on an op? But I don’t get it. It’s just the three of you?”

  “We can’t discuss anything with you,” Stone said.

  Ames shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like much has changed. Back at the Agency, I’d set up operations all the time. Damned if someone wouldn’t screw the pooch though. Somebody would pull the plug and my guys would be on their own. No support.”

  “Screw the pooch?” Cade said with a smirk. “You really have been out of circulation. I don’t think anyone has used that particular phrase in a couple of decades.”

  “If it’s just you three,” Ames continued, “maybe I can help.”

  From behind the bedroom door, Jana’s voice boomed. “I want that man out of this house, right now!”

  “Doesn’t sound like you’re invited. Time to go, sir,” Stone said as he pulled Ames to his feet.

  Cade walked him down to the beach toward the boat. “Looks like your anchor came loose,” Cade said. The stern of the boat had slid closer to shore and bobbed gently against the sand.

  “Yeah, guess I’m not much of a captain,” Ames replied.

  The two spoke for several minutes. He handed Ames back his wallet. “Let me help you get this boat pushed back out.”

  Once they were done, Ames began to climb aboard. Cade said, “You went to a lot of trouble to find her.”

  Ames looked down at him and spoke through a tightened throat. “She’s all I have left. She’s all there is.”

 
; Cade shoved the boat and Ames fired the engine and motored out.

  40

  Shell Game

  Cade walked back to the safe house and waved for Stone to come outside.

  “What did you two talk about?” Stone said.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Uninstall that ridiculous app from your phone before someone else uses it to track us.”

  Cade said. “Not that he doesn’t already know where we are.”

  “Can you believe that old nutjob? Sneaking up on us then asking us if he could help?”

  Cade said nothing but his expression spoke volumes.

  “Wait a minute. You want him to help us? Are you out of your mind?”

  “Think about it. You said yourself it was going to be impossible for the three of us to make Carlos Gaviria disappear. Maybe you were right. We need more men. He’s ex-CIA.”

  “He was last at the Agency when Jana was a baby. It’s out of the question. We can’t put some rogue civilian in the middle of this. He’s a liability and can’t be trusted.”

  “You know we’re running out of options. If Kyle is alive, he won’t last in there much longer. What was your plan? For the three of us to go in with guns blazing? We wouldn’t stand a chance. The only way to get to Kyle is for Jana to be successful taking Gaviria out of commission. After that, she’ll have gained the trust of both Rojas and Gustavo Moreno. I agree that the last type of person I’d trust is one who’d committed treason. But did you think he was going to do anything to put Jana in harm’s way? He’s her father. And nobody on this island even knows he’s here. He looks worn out, but so do a lot of these tourists. He’ll be able to get in close with no one having any idea. And,” Cade paused for effect, “he’s got a boat.”

  “What are we going to do with a boat?” But Stone thought about the idea for a moment. “A boat. That’s it. If Jana can lure Gaviria into a compromising position in some place right next to the water, we can whisk him away.”

  “It’ll be nighttime. Cover of darkness,” Cade added. “You’ve got to admit, it’s the best plan we have.”

  “It’s the only plan we have,” Stone admitted.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Stone shook his head. “Surprised, that’s all.”

  “Oh screw you. I told you, I’ve been in the field before.”

  “Oh, then you’d know what a freshly cut M112 block demolition charge smells like.”

  “What? There’s no time for this. I’ve got to—”

  “Lemon citrus.”

  “Well that’s just lovely, Stone,” Cade said with a sarcastic tone. “You should work for a potpourri company.”

  “And if we need to, we’re using Ames.”

  “I disagree,” Cade said.

  “You’re not in charge!” Stone barked.

  “Hey! This is an NSA operation.”

  “NSA doesn’t run field operations, cubicle-boy.”

  “We can argue about this later. Right now I’ve got to find a way to establish comms with FortMeade again.”

  “We’re going to rent our own boat. And if we go after Gaviria tonight, we need as much background as possible. Where’s that file Jana brought back?”

  “In the house.”

  The two walked in. Stone picked up the background dossier and said, “You think Jana’s up for it?”

  “Never seen her back down from anything,” Cade said as he sat at the laptop.

  “Good,” Stone said as he began studying the dossier.

  Cade began working the laptop again.

  Jana emerged from the bedroom and the two looked up. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “The first person to mention my father is going to hobble away from here. What were you two talking about outside?”

  Stone said, “Gaviria. How to get Gaviria. We need a plan.”

  “It’s happening tonight, so make the plans quick,” she said. “Anything useful in that file?”

  “Not much. Just that he’s got a metric crap-ton of bodyguards. Looks like his address is in here, not that it will do us any good. We can’t go pull a raid on his villa with all that firepower. We’ve got to get him off-site somewhere.”

  Cade sat up. “What the hell?” he said as he pecked at the laptop. “The satellite uplink, it’s back.” But before he could punch in a call to the NSA command center, a ringtone pulsed on the laptop. It was an incoming video call. A moment later a new window appeared and CIA Deputy Director Lawrence Wallace’s face stared at them.

  “Don’t bother trying a call to NSA, Mr. Williams, the comlink won’t be online long enough.”

  Jana and Stone hovered over Cade’s shoulder and glared at the monitor.

  “What is wrong with you?” she blurted. “What are you playing at?”

  “It is a pleasure to work with someone of your stature, Agent Baker. Considering the success you’ve had killing terrorists, that is.”

  Cade spoke. “Why is CIA interfering? Kyle MacKerron is being held and you’re blocking us at every turn. He’s CIA for God’s sake!”

  “Don’t concern yourselves with that right now,” Wallace said. “You need to focus on Agent Baker’s assignment, Carlos Gaviria.”

  “How do you know about that?” Jana yelled.

  “It’s my job to know, Agent Baker,” he said. “And it’s your job to worry about Gaviria. What you are missing is the where, am I right?”

  Before Jana could speak, Stone put a hand on her arm. “Let the prick finish.”

  “One thing you won’t find in the Gaviria dossier is the fact that he owns a local nightclub. That’s because it’s registered to one of his shell corporations. I’m sending you the information packet now.”

  Jana said, “That’s a CIA dossier, isn’t it?” But the video connection terminated. “What is CIA up to? They were the ones that supplied that file to Diego Rojas.”

  Cade said, “Well, there goes the uplink again,” referring to the satellite connection.

  The three looked at the monitor at the new information packet that Wallace had sent. It outlined the complex series of banking connections that linked one of Carlos Gaviria’s shell corporations to the local nightclub.

  Stone said, “Well, we could do it there, at Bliss. That’s the club down from my place.”

  “But I thought it was called Rush Nightclub.”

  “Bliss is in the front of the club, close to the water, Rush is in the back. Lots of people and noise,” Stone replied. “If Gaviria is there, you’re going to need to separate him from his bodyguards.”

  “What is this place?” Cade said.

  Jana answered, “Busy nightclub down on RunawayBay. But Stone, what does it matter that Bliss is closer to the water?”

  “Cade’s idea,” Stone said. “Bliss sits up on the hill, closer to the water, right? It’s just up from my cabana.”

  “So?” Jana replied.

  “If you lure him there without his bodyguards, we might be able to get him into a boat.”

  “A boat? I get that your place is right at the dock, but how am I going to get him into a boat? And he’d never separate from his bodyguards.”

  “You won’t lure him into the boat. You’ll lure him into my place. It sits out over the water, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “There’s a trapdoor under the bedroom floor,” Stone said.

  Jana squinted at him. “A trapdoor? I’ve been in that bedroom a hundred times and I never—”

  Cade rubbed his eyes.

  She continued. “I never saw a trapdoor.”

  “It’s under that grass-cloth rug,” Stone said.

  “Stone?” Cade said. “Why is there a trapdoor in your place, under the grass cloth rug, that’s in your bedroom, that Jana’s been a hundred times?”

  “I put it there. I work deep cover, cubicle-boy, and wanted a way to skin out if something went sideways.”

  Jana said. “Okay, great, so there’s a trapdoor. What do you want me to do, knoc
k him out with some rohypnol and dump him into the ocean underneath your bedroom? Where are we going to get a drug like that?”

  “Rohypnol wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Cade said.

  “No time for that crap,” Stone said. “You don’t need roofies to knock him out.” He let her think about the statement.

  A moment later, she smiled. “You’re right, I don’t.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Cade said.

  “She’s more than a little effective at applying a choke hold. If she gets her arm around his neck from behind, he’ll go out like a light. Never mind,” Stone said, “you just work on the commo. Jana can handle herself.”

  Cade shook his head. “Is it just me, or does anyone else see the big elephant sitting in the room?”

  “Cade,” Jana said, “I’ve told you before, Stone and I were together. If you can’t handle the fact that I’ve slept with other men since you, that’s your problem.”

  “Not that,” Cade said. “It’ll be set up to look like a chance encounter, right? Just like when you ‘bumped into’ Diego Rojas at Touloulou Bar? You plan on meeting Carlos Gaviria the same way. I get how you’re going to lure him from the club into Stone’s place, but how do we know he’s going to be at the night club in the first place?”

  41

  To Lure a Drug Lord

  “Gaviria will be at the club,” Stone said.

  “Oh really?” Cade questioned. “And how do you know that?”

  “It’s my job to know these things. You’ve been on this island five minutes. I’ve been here five years, remember?”

  Cade said, “Okay, so why don’t you explain it to those of us who just work in cubicles.”

  “The Oficina de Envigado cartel hasn’t been here long. And Gaviria himself apparently arrived very recently. Remember how I told you that these cartel members sneak onto the island quietly, under assumed identities? It’s almost impossible for us to know when someone new gets here. But about a month ago, I overheard a couple of Los Rastrojos members talking about the arrival of some new Oficina de Envigado cartel leader. They didn’t have an identity, but they were aware that they’d sent in someone new, someone big.”