Chapter 268

Monday was the last full day of training we were going to be able to give this group. While we were at the gun range practicing on the shoot don't shoot range the two C130s flew over on the way back to Morton Field I loved to hear the sound of four engine turbo props. They had been gone five days instead of four I hoped that this did not cause problems because they were scheduled for maintenance.

Because of the extra day they were going to have just two days off before leaving on the next agency flight. This one was also scheduled for four days. During those two days off, the planes were going to get a maintenance check since they had been flying for 5 days straight and this had been the first real extended flights in service.

Lorrie had hired sight unseen two former air force mechanics who were C130 specialists from a list that Frank supplied. He vouched for their integrity and performance. They were on probation the same as any other new hire.

They had started work this morning and were going through all the C130 parts that had come with the planes. Working off their experience, they were going to give Frank and Lorrie a more detailed list of spare parts that they thought we needed to maintain. Frank was going to rattle the system to get any C130 parts that they thought we needed. His response was that all kinds of mislabeled things showed up on the auction site.

Jamie, Ching Lee and I ran the fifteen through the shoot don't shoot range twice. I just wanted them to have a feel for it. It would be a mess if one of them accidentally were to shoot members of their own team.

Jamie, Ching Lee and I rotated as we walked them through the course. I learned a lot while we were waiting for one to finish before starting through with another.

I found out that they were hand picked throughout the agency for this job. Several were computer techs. Three were specialized equipment access techs. I asked what that meant, although I did not figure I would get an answer. "Safe cracker," one of the guys laughed.

I learned that a strike team in disguise was going to get them inside the compound and they were all fluent in the local Spanish Central American slang where they were going.

As I put the pieces together with what I learned from them and the tidbits from Frank, it came to me what they were going to do. They were going on a heist at a drug cartel headquarters.

That was why they wanted them to be skilled in the close quarter hand to hand. Not only were they after data, they wanted the people that recorded the data to fill in the blanks and they wanted them alive. Bookkeepers and communications people would not be allowed to have weapons.

The heavy fighting and dying was to be done by easily expendable goons and whoever was in charge thought the location and the goon squad was enough to protect the cartel's bank compound.

I would bet the compound security had been infiltrated over time with agency or agency connected people.

Why had the date been moved up I wondered? One possible answer may be that big transactions had taken place or were going to, either way the money was going to be stashed in the compound. That was why the safecrackers were along.

The next question was why would the agency be involved in a drug cartel operation? That was normally a DEA stint. The possible answer was the DEA was going to intercept the drugs as they came to the border and the agency the money and the people that knew all the international connections. The cartel would lose two ways, the drugs to the feds and the money and money counters to the agency.