Breaking Point Part XXIV

[Robbie C.]

Sonny waited until they were all seated to kick off the briefing. “First, welcome to our new best friends who we have never met and don’t know they exist.” He waited for the few forced laughs to fade. “It’s been confirmed that at least part of Unit 8 is operating from Isla de las Arenas Rojas, which to spare us all I’m gonna call Red Base or just Red. We don’t know where they are in Miami, but I’m countin’ on our two specialists to help sort that out.”

Slats nodded. “All they gotta do is come on the air.”

“And they’ll be doing that soon enough. Stan’s got one of his special mixes ready to roll that should bring at least one or two of them out of the woodwork.” He turned. “Ain’t that right, Stan?”

“That’s right, Sonny. I’m gonna dangle what sounds like a Narcotics transmission telling their team to clear the area so the Task Force can get a good look at Burnett and his new best friend.” Stan nodded across the table. “That would be Tubbs playing Marcus Jefferson for the day. Our two heroes are gonna be down by Rizzo’s, a serious dive of a strip club, supposedly meeting a contact to make a small deal.” He nodded again. “That contact would be Randy posing as Patch, our bad boy biker. That won’t raise any eyebrows because he and Burnett have done business before. But a call like that’s sure to generate at least some traffic for you.”

Slats nodded again. “Perfect. You know what freq they usually use?”

“I’ll get that to you as soon as we’re done. We’ll be listening, too, so I can update if they switch.” Stan grinned. “I got their routine down, but I can’t run RDF with what we have.”

Sonny took control again. “Once we get a location, Mindy and Trudy will start running property checks. See if we can find any locations the RDF doesn’t ping. We can’t afford to miss any of these guys when we give the go order.”

Moneybags nodded. “Where are we?”

“Anywhere you’d like to be, at least for now. You want to slip some guys in for cover at Rizzo’s? Cool by me. Where it gets tight is when I make the call.”

“Which call?”

“Unit 8’s expecting me to call them about their tax ultimatum. I figure right after this ‘meet’ is a damned good time to do that. They’ll be all edgy about me, not sure if I’m gonna blow them off but not wanting to take me out because the Task Force is watching me.” Sonny grinned. “That’s where it all gets really complicated.”

Castillo looked at the map. “Where do you want the meeting?”

“I’m thinking the marina over by Little Havana. If we’re right and they’re basing there it will make them comfortable and maybe a little careless. Plus there’s good overwatch positions there. And we’ll need those.”

Randy looked at the map. “I’m guessing you’ll want me at least six hundred out. So that means Alpha 29 or Alpha 31.”

“Yeah. See, if they stick with their SOP, they’ll have their shooter somewhere to do the same thing. But Stan will be rolling his Friday mix, which puts a Metro-Dade sniper team in position to do something with the meeting. They won’t know what, and it will make them nervous. Metro snipers don’t engage from over about three hundred yards, so their guys will be scanning in close and not watching the wider field. And if they’re in Little Havana…”

Randy grinned. “That narrows their shooting choices. And I know ALL the shooting positions within a quarter mile of that marina.”

Moneybags nodded. “And when you drop the sniper and his spotter, my guys will take out the moron they send and his security detail.”

Sonny nodded. “And that’s where this whole thing turns into a ballet. We have to have the warrant teams in position to move on all identified targets as soon as Randy takes his first shot.”

Red Ball favored the table with a thin smile. “We can knock their comms off the air, too. Listening ain’t the only thing our bird can do.”

“Outstanding.” Sonny felt one of those empty Burnett smiles slipping on his face. “As soon as they’re deaf our teams will hit the locations. I’d like to have one member of the Task Force with each team if possible, but we’ll make that division as soon as we have an idea about how many targets there are.”

Jester cleared his throat. “This is all cute, but what about Red?”

“Our birds will be standing by five minutes out. As soon as the last body falls, they’ll be in the air. Gear will be pre-loaded so all you have to do is jump on and gear up. They’re working out the flight plan and approach tactics now, and they also have two Nam crew chiefs coming along for the ride. Guys who know the M-60 like the back of their hands. The bastards at Red won’t have time to blink before we’re on top of them.”

Castillo stood, and the room grew quiet. Sonny could hear the air hissing through the HCAV system. The captain stood for a handful of heartbeats. “I don’t have to tell you how important this operation is. These men are wanted war criminals, and they’re looking to bring their way of doing business to Miami and the United States. That cannot be tolerated. We are not looking for trials here. This is a message, sent in a language they understand. Mess with us, and you will be swept from the face of the earth. I know most of you have seen this group’s handiwork in Central and South America. You know what they represent. But it ends. Here and now. If you have any questions, my door is always open. Lieutenant Crockett will oversee the smaller plans for your parts in this operation.”

Casanova whistled. “Did he just green light all of Unit 8?”

Randy turned, speaking before Crockett could. “Yep. Sure as hell did.”

“Well out-fucking-standing. Let’s get this shit rolling.”

Sonny followed Castillo into his office, leaving Rico to keep an eye on things for the time being. “It’s not like I need to be out there. These guys have that shit well in hand.”

“Yes.” Castillo sank into his chair with a sigh. “You should know…I’m planning on leaving after this operation.”

“So am I.” Sonny turned to look out the office window. “It’s time, Marty. For both of us.”

“Yes. It is.” Castillo looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped.

“It’s ok, Marty. We’ve known each other for…what? Almost ten years now. That’s damned near forever in this work.” He smiled, thinking back to the first time he’d seen Castillo and how wrong he’d been about him. “And there’s nothing strange you could say that Jenny probably hasn’t already told me.”

“True. The hill people I used to work with would have considered her a very powerful shaman.”

“Maybe she is. Hell, I don’t even try to figure it out anymore.” Turning, he sat down in one of the chairs on the far side of the desk. “But you and Trudy need to have a life. Just be with each other and enjoy what you have. But I don’t have to tell you that.”

“No, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. I could say the same thing to you.”

“Yeah, you could.” He paused. “Jenny told me I had to bring all of you back from this one. I think she sees it’s time to quit, too. I guess they’re bringing Gina on for some kind of position at Caitlin’s House. The only one without an exit plan is Lester. Randy and Dave can always go back to Montana. Those two will always land on their feet. It’s in their blood.”

“Lester will be fine. Stan will look after him.”

“Yeah. Stan’s a hell of a team leader. No way he could go back to Metro-Dade after this.”

“Do you think Tubbs will go back?”

“No. He’s got Mindy now, and that’s something he’s wanted for a long time, I think. A chance to do things right. Same thing I was looking for, except he knew it. And if Pete does retire, hell, there’s nothing left for any of us really.”

Castillo nodded. “Thank you. You’ve confirmed a lot for me. Things I felt but wasn’t sure of. Now we need to make sure this plan is as good as we can make it.”

Sonny nodded, feeling that cold part of him slip into place. “It will be. You have my word.”

 

Rico forced himself to focus on the planning talk around him, even though his mind kept drifting back to how Mindy felt on the patio last night and later in bed. Dinner had been perfect, the second set at Downbeat even more so, and having her for dessert pushed it so far beyond perfect he wasn’t sure what to call it. But he knew he had to be here, now. For both their sakes.

In truth there wasn’t much he needed to do. Moneybags and his team had fallen into their own planning routine, complete with animated give and take before they settled a question and moved on to the next one. It was smooth, like everything they did, and he could almost hear the pieces falling into place. The same thing was happening, but in a different way, with Stan and Lester and the two mystery men. Slats and Red Ball almost finished each other’s sentences, and their ideas blended with those of the Task Force’s tech guys perfectly.

Shrugging, he looked over at Mindy and Trudy. “Hell, I’m just window dressing.”

Trudy smiled. “I’ll pick you out a dress so you can stand with us girls and look pretty.”

“So long as it matches my eyes…” He grinned. “But these cats are so locked in I’m just taking up space.”

“What about Rizzo’s?”

“Naw. That’s me, Randy, and Sonny doing our thing. Those cats’ll be there, but I’m betting they’ll want to hide from us, too. I would if I were in their shoes. Hell of a training opportunity.”

Trudy nodded. “And it looks like if they aren’t fighting, they’re training.”

The fax machine in the intel office chirped, and Mindy went in to check the traffic. She came out with a frown on her face. “Just got some intel from the Coast Guard. They managed to slip a plane close the Red and got some pictures. They’re sending them over, but the analysis here says there’s at least twenty guys on the island, and they look to be setting up some kind of defensive positions.”

“Sure they are.” Toad heard part of the conversation and rolled his chair down to their end of the table. “Same thing I’d do. Keep the troops working and focused, even if there ain’t real shit to focus on. Be good to see the pictures, though. Then we can tell if it’s just Micky Mouse busy work or if they’re really expecting trouble.”

Rico nodded. “Makes sense. You think they got wind of anything?”

“Not from our people. And not from yours, at least from what I’ve seen. You guys got a damned tight ship here. Metro-Dade, not so much. But…”

“They don’t know a damned thing about what we’re doing.” Rico looked around the room. “Not unless we tell ‘em, and then we usually tell them the wrong thing.”

“Smart man. And the marshals’ office?”

“Pete’s good people. Old school lawman. And he plays his cards damned close to his vest.”

Toad grinned. “Even better, man. It’s good to work with people who know what the hell they’re doing.”

“Likewise, man. Likewise.”

“At least the FBI ain’t involved.” Toad looked back down the table. “And I gotta get back. Sounds like they’re working out what to do if you guys get jumped in Rizzo’s. I don’t wanna miss that one.”

Rico watched him roll back down to the knot of men. He knew part of him would miss this, but then he looked over at Mindy and knew he wouldn’t miss it that much. Not compared to what lay ahead. “If they’re working on Rizzo’s, I want to start going over the marina side. Sonny and I are gonna be out in the open, and things will move fast once they get started.”

Trudy narrowed her eyes. “What about Metro-Dade’s response? Someone will call in shots fired, and they will roll on it.”

“Good point. We might have to ask Pete to handle that side. We’re not gonna have time.” Rico looked at the map. “I think you two will be split between the warrant teams along with Stan and Lester depending on how their end of things goes. Sonny and I will be on the birds the second they touch down, so that’s out. And so will Randy and Castillo. We’ll have to wait for them to vacate the overwatch position, and of course Moneybags’ team will be assembling as well.” His lips curled into a snarl. “Shit. We might have to let them know sooner than I’d like.”

Mindy touched his arm. “Pete can handle that. He loves kicking Metro-Dade in the balls almost as much as he loves kicking the FBI in the junk. Stan can give him a go call just before everything kicks off. All they’d have to do is keep the zone clear until the birds pick you guys up, and then they could play with their yellow tape all they want.”

Trudy nodded. “And keep them clear of our raids as they go in. They might complain about lack of notice, but they can’t ignore the number of leaks they’ve had. And that’s not even counting Gorman. I’ll bet Unit 8 already has at least one source inside Metro already.”

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t.” Rico looked at the map again. “It’s how they were trained. They’ll get an in no matter what it takes. Money. Blackmail. You name it.”

He looked back as Castillo’s office door opened and Sonny came out. As soon as his partner reached the table he filled him in on their progress. “So if we get Pete working with Metro-Dade, we think the local end will go off fine,” he finished. “Then it’s all on us.”

Sonny nodded, and Rico saw that odd Burnett distance in his eyes. “It’s the timelines that worry me. They’re so damned tight. But there’s nothing to be done about it. And we can’t do much more until we pin down some of their locations.”

“That’s true.” Moneybags’ clear voice cut into their conversation. “My boys got their part lined out, and we know how we fit in with your plans. It’s the raids here that worry me. I know the warrant teams can do it. No question. But like you said, it’s a matter of time and distance.”

Rico cleared his throat. “We might not be able to get them all. And I think we need to be ok with that. We have to get the ones that matter, though.”

“Find the radio and you find the boss.” Sonny’s voice was flat. “We cut the head off and we can always come back and sweep up the twitching bits of the snake. I doubt if many of these guys were trained to run on their own.”

“I did a stint with the Columbian army as an advisor. You can bet anyone below the rank of sergeant or maybe corporal ain’t gonna be able to do much aside from wiping their own asses. Get the officers and the senior NCOs and the rest will damned near give themselves up.”

Rico nodded. “And you’re sure they’ll be where the radio is?”

“It’s how those dudes roll. The boss has to know what’s going on, and everyone else only knows what the boss wants them to know. He’s not gonna trust having the radio too far away from him. It’s a question of control.”

“Ok. So all we gotta do is pull off the Rizzo’s bait act. They’ll be hanging on the damned phone for Sonny’s call, and then we wrap ‘em up.”

Sonny nodded. “Then we finish the damned job.” He looked around the room. “We got a few hours until Stan rolls the tape. You can run through what you gotta run through here or go grab something to eat. We meet back here at 1900 to run through things.”

Slats shook his head. “We’ll be airborne at about 1800. We need to run through some frequency and system checks first. Who knows? We might get some traffic ahead of time.”

“Stan and Lester will likely be rolling before 1900, too. But I want the Rizzo’s element here for a final run-through. That’s it, gents. But be aware, once this starts rolling it’s gonna move fast.”

 

Eduardo Salazar was still sitting at his makeshift desk when the intercom buzzed. “Yes?”

“Sir! We have Metro-Dade on again talking about the Task Force!”

It took him moments to cover the distance to the radio room. “What do you have?”

“It’s that Narcotics unit again. We’d been monitoring some routine stakeout chatter. They’re working near some stip club called Rizzo’s.” Felix seemed to sense his impatience. “They were just told to clear the area for a new surveillance team. The Task Force. When they complained they said the Task Force wants to get a good look at Sonny Burnett. Narcotics protested, saying they had a tip someone called Patch was looking to make a move but were ordered out just the same.”

“This is happening now?”

“No, sir. The order said they needed to be ready to clear in two hours.”

“Do we have any reconnaissance of the area?”

“Not directly, sir. Rizzo’s is out of our normal operating area. Your orders were to focus on the areas around our immediate base.”

“Of course. Still…can we get a ground team in there to have a look? I know there will be no overwatch, but it might be worth the risk.”

Felix looked down at his notepad. “Corporal Cruces will be available in thirty minutes. He’s coming in off the hospital stake out.”

“Pull our men off that immediately. We know about the one man, and it’s clear the Task Force either doesn’t care about its wounded or is taking precautions. I need all trained men on hand to deal with this new situation. And with the colonel in communication now, we need to be ready to respond at once to any new orders.”

“Of course, sir. Shall I alert Lieutenant Orozco?”

“No. Not yet. This is a simple observation. Cruces should be able to handle it with one or two of the trained men. Orozco’s men are sadly not trained to that standard.” He looked at the slowly turning tape reels. “Do you have that traffic recorded?”

“Of course, sir. I can change it now if you’d like to hear it.”

“Send it to my office. And good work, Felix.”

Once the tape arrived, Salazar listened to it. And then listened again. It was all there. He could hear the drone of routine, followed by a spike in irritation and then anger when the team on duty was told to hand off their case to outsiders. He was reassured that the focus of the Narcotics team was on Patch, whoever that Gringo happened to be. But why was Burnett meeting with a supplier? Assuming Patch was a supplier. It was hard to tell from the traffic they recorded. Maybe this Patch was another transportation man. One of the links in Burnett’s chain. The man seemed to have many of them.

The player clicked to a halt as the tape rolled to the uptake reel. It took Salazar a few heartbeats to notice. He’d been so absorbed in his own thoughts. If there was a gap in coverage he would be able to slip his own team into Rizzo’s. Even if there wasn’t a gap he’d put a team in. It was a risk, but it would be worth it if they got the Task Force to expose itself. It was like chasing a ghost, and Salazar hated chasing ghosts.

And even if they didn’t get a look at part of the Task Force, it might give them more information on Burnett. Miami was proving to be a more difficult target than Salazar had anticipated. Too many small runners and only a handful of major players left on the table. Burnett was perhaps the biggest, and the one hardest to get to because of how he ran his business. But with him they could seek entry into markets outside Florida. But it had to be done right. Even some of the runners who were paying their tax were afraid of crossing Sonny Burnett.

A knock on the door interrupted Salazar’s thoughts. “Enter.” He looked up. “Ah, Cruces. Please, have a seat. I need you and one or two of your men to take on a surveillance mission. It’s a matter that requires discretion, so I thought of you right away. Have you heard of a club called Rizzo’s?”

 

“Man, don’t they ever get any new tunes in this dump?”

Sonny chuckled. “Not since Noogie cashed in, man.” They’d just cleared the door and made it to the bar in Rizzo’s, Sonny in his basic Burnett black and Rico sporting the street threads and major attitude of Marcus Jefferson. They hit the bar, Sonny ordering a Black Jack for himself and a beer for Marcus. “Gotta go with the flow, there, Marcus.”

“Man, ain’t none of these hos good enough for Marcus.” Rico took a swig of his beer to cover his grin, but Sonny knew his eyes were sweeping the crowd just like his were. Looking for any sign of surveillance, either from Unit 8 or their new partners.

He thought he saw Casanova over by the center stage, part of a circle of men waving bills at a slender brunette with her own tits and a nice smile working it to Motley Crue. But the man kept shifting, moving just enough each time to fade back into the crowd. Damn. These boys know their shit. Grinning to himself he turned away, sliding into the cold Burnett mask. The Unit 8 guys might be easier to spot, but he didn’t care about them. He wanted them to be there and to see what went down.

Rico tapped his arm. “Patch is over toward the back. See?”

“Yeah. I got him. Let’s go see what he was to say.”

“Good deal. And I take back what I said about the hos. There’s a couple here Marcus could sink his teeth into.”

“Business first, hotshot. Then you can go trolling or whatever you New York boys do.” Sonny focused in on Randy, impressed with how the sniper turned himself into a bad-ass biker. No one got too close to him, and he sat with a half-full beer bottle watching the third pole girl with bored eyes.

“Bout time you showed up, Burnett. I was gettin’ tired of waiting for her fake titties to pop. Who’s your date?”

“Marcus ain’t no man’s date, fool. You’d best get that right now.”

Randy raised his hands with a grin. “Don’t get all hot, man. We’re all friends here just lookin’ to do some business.”

They went through the motions of a deal, complete with a bit of theatrical foot-dragging by Randy. “Now you’re sure you can move weight all the way to New York?”

“Hell, yes, man. Marcus has the wheels to get whatever you need wherever you need it. Sonny and I, we got the coast sewed up like a damned fielder’s glove.”

“I like the sound a that. We get good margins movin’ from the Panhandle to Miami, but it’s good to have options.”

“So we’re good?” Sonny looked from Randy to Rico, doing his best ‘Burnett the negotiator’ look. “Heroin’s a bit out of my normal routine, but white powder’s all white powder once you get it loaded. You think you can line up buyers, Marcus? My usual New York contacts only move Peruvian marching dust and ain’t much on diversification.”

“No sweat, man. Marcus can line up buyers around the corner and back again. They might wanna know about continuous supply, but that’s a problem for another day.”

Randy nodded. “Yeah, it is. Look, I gotta reach out to my people and lock it down. So we’re talking twenty keys of China White?”

“Yeah. Usual margins. Keep is safe until you hear from me. Marcus gets his buyers lined up, we’ll want to move fast.” Sonny kept his eyes moving as he talked, and he thought one of the skinny Latin-looking dudes had passed by at least three times too many. It was calculated to look natural enough, unless you were looking for it. He’d be curious to compare notes with Moneybags and his team once they got clear. “Anyhow, I gotta roll. Got another meeting across town. You need a lift, Marcus?”

“Yeah. I got calls to make.” Rico stuck out his hand. “Good meetin’ you, Patch. Be better doin’ business.”

“Likewise, man. You take care, Burnett.”

Rico didn’t drop out of Marcus until they were in the Ferrari and heading across town. “Did you notice the chump who kept ‘accidentally’ wandering by?”

“Yeah. The one who looked like a busboy without any dirty dishes? I think they took the bait, but I’ll be curious to see what Moneybags’ boys have to say. I think I saw Casanova, but he was damned good.”

“Jester was the one I thought I saw, but he kept moving. How many do you think they had in there?”

“I’d guess at least four. That way they could rotate and spot without drawing attention. He might have even moved them through to keep it natural.” Sonny focused his attention on the road, taking a winding, alternating slow and fast route back to the office. “I don’t think they’d try a vehicle tail, but you can’t be too sure.”

“Who? Unit 8?”

“Either one. I could see Moneybags doing it just to show us he could.” Sonny sighed. “I just hope we scared up some radio traffic for the ear in the sky to listen to. But we won’t know until the morning.”

“What do we do if we didn’t?”

“Hell, run the play again. I don’t want to call them until we have at least one location nailed down and lines on others. We can’t miss the radio. Get it and we get the command personnel in Miami.”

[mjcmmv]

I keep looking for the Metro Dade department "leak". I know it's there somewhere! 

Edited December 10, 2019 by mjcmmv

[Robbie C.]

Maybe...and maybe not.