Chapter 235: So It Begins

"Geese, after taking all our money, Eve is going to buy breakfast isn't she?" Jake asked.

"She is standing right here Jake, ask her," I said.

"So Eve are you buying?" Jake ask playfully.

The game was a simple fun game because everybody put up $100 dollars. No one was allowed to bring more money into the game. When the money was gone, so was the player. "I'll buy your breakfast, but anybody who orders over a hundred dollars worth of food is on their own," Eve said playfully. I was still surprised that now and then she seemed more human than I did.

I had some kind of apple thing that wasn't a pancake exactly and wasn't a strudel either, It was somewhere in between, but it was all delicious. The coffee wasn't bad, so the dozen of us sat there drinking coffee and eating a little of everything on the menu.

"Give all the checks to that skinny blond chick," I said to the waitress. " She is part of the the hospital staff." Funny thing, but after that people avoided us.

Back at the base camp, such as it was, we crowded into Martin's cabin, "There are so many of us now that we are going to make this short. Maxine and I will meet each group separately later." Then Martin introduced Smiling Jack and the Navy group to all the others. He explained what we had waiting for us logistically. He also explained how each unit was going to be interrelated during the operations. "So if you have any questions, voice them anytime and we will work out an answer."

"I know you all want to know when we leave. It should be at least a day or so. We have a few things to clear up with intelligence, then we need to pick up the boat. But don't leave the compound." I said. "Security is Martin's job. For those of you who are new to this kind of thing, he takes it seriously. We all do. Now get lots of rest, and stock up on carbs, like a long distance runner."

"Alex, let's take a walk," I stayed quiet until we got to the picnic table, which sat by the road. I still had Martin's electronic scrambler, so I flipped it on just in case.

"So what do you need Max?" he asked.

"I just wanted to tell you that when you take control of the boat, disable all the electronics on board. You won't be needing them. The instruments to run the engine and gauges you will need, but not the navigation or radios gear."

"Max that's a hell of a long way to go without Navigation tools," Alex said with a lot of concern in his voice.

"Alex you have to trust me, we will have all that. Besides aren't you the one who told me the Gulf was just a big bathtub?" I asked.

"Yeah but it's a really big bathtub," he did smile as he said it.

I handed him my tiny laptop. Take a look. There are three websites listed. Each of them seems to have a boat large enough for our needs," I said.

Alex was better with the computer than me. He not only checked the websites but he flipped around checking other things about the boats. "You are right all three of these are large enough. This is the newest of them, and it appears to be well maintained, if this is a current photo. We are going to have to see them in person though."

"After we see them, we may have to steal one. If we can't book it for the day we need to sail," I suggested.

"Then let's see if all three will work, so that we have a choice. Maybe we can get one of them to fit into our plan, without a theft from the dock. From my work I can tell you hijacking it is much easier.

"Take the Martin's SUV and go see the boats. When you get back, we can make a decision." I said.

Alex nodded, then walked back to his cabin to get someone from his crew to go along. I could only hope they wouldn't act too suspicious. Nothing of ours would hold up to an in depth investigation. At least I had him in a motor vehicle that would check out should he be stopped by the locals for some bullshit traffic violation. Biloxi had been a good choice for a base of operations, because there were lots of out of state tags on the cars running up and down the roads.

"So Eve, is our Narco Terrorist home today?" I asked upon entering our cabin.

"He is home. Along with his wife and son," she informed me.

"Why didn't anyone mention his family before?" I asked.

"It isn't relevant," Eve replied.

"Everything is relevant, some of these men have kids of their own. They will never be able to pull a trigger on children. Even if they are being groomed to be drug cartel leaders." I replied.

"Then we keep this to ourselves," she suggested.

"Good, more ghosts to visit me on Halloween," I suggested. "What does the security look like?"

"Twenty to twenty five trained mercenaries on site any time that Estavante is in residence. He also has four body guards that travel with him always." Eve said.

"When he leaves the compound by car how is the configuration?" I asked.

"Usually there are three to five Ford SUVs. They are all bullet proof. He will be in one of the center vehicles. It differs as to which one." she said.

"So we use the IEDs to stop the vehicles, then we kill car one and the rear car. Give them an order to come out of the others. If they hesitate, which I am sure the will, we kill another car, then give it again, if Estavante doesn't come out quickly, then we will have to search the rubble for his body." I said.

"That won't be pleasant," Eve suggested.

"It won't be my first rodeo," I said. I changed the subject because frankly I didn't want to think about it any more. "What's the long range forecast look like?"