Fatal Dose (23 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

In 1988, a private developer, backed by small group of billionaires, purchased a barren island in the South Pacific for the purpose of setting up an island nation that would be exempt from all taxing authority and any extradition agreements.

Several lavish resorts with exotic beaches were built within a year. The purchase price for a two-bedroom suite: three million U. S. dollars. Nine mansions were soon added: one for each of the seven backers and two reserved for visiting dignitaries requiring privacy. Two banks followed, each providing the absolute secrecy common to offshore accounts.

A militia composed of a 125 professionals provided by a leading U. S. security company protects the island. Led by General Thomas W. Parker, a decorated Korean War hero, the force is headquartered in a compound located in the center of the island and equipped with the latest sophisticated weaponry and communications. Transportation to and from the island is mostly by boat, although occasionally a VIP will arrive by helicopter using the helipad located at the entrance to the compound. The island has a fully equipped marina that houses several yachts and military patrol boats.

An apartment house is located at one end of the compound. It has thirty three-room apartments, the majority of which are rented to call girls who provide the services that call girls are wont to do. Several male prostitutes also reside at the apartments for the pleasure of female guests and for male on male relationships. Dozens of small shops dot the island, selling clothing, cosmetics and jewelry to the residents of the island and to a moderate flow of visitors. Restaurants are located exclusively in the hotels, although, during the busiest time for visitors, several street vendors are licensed to sell food as long as there are no tables or seats for the customers.

Isla Fortalenza is governed by The Council of Seven, composed of the original backers of the island project or their proxies. A simple majority decides most of the issues that arise. Laws are few and mostly unwritten. Citizens of the island are expected to abide by the civility of major world countries. Infractions are usually dealt with through discussions with the perpetrator. If the issues remain unresolved, the individual is usually asked to leave the island.

Isla Fortalenza is the perfect sanctuary for Mel Tarkington hunted by the FBI and several international agencies for murder, extortion and terrorist acts. Mel was a partner in crime with John Portman, the Director of Security for the National Rare Blood Association. The two, with the help of NRBA Directors, embezzled several hundred million dollars from the association, while funneling money to terrorist organizations abroad. When Susan Harrigan and Mark Matthews hacked the Association’s financial records for the Justice Department, John abducted Susan, which ultimately led to his death in an FBI raid. The shutdown of the NRBA and the killing of John Portman incensed Mel and he set out to exact revenge on Susan. He eventually succeeded in planting a bomb in her car and she was killed. His mission accomplished, he fled to Isla Fortalenza, where he enjoyed the wine, women and song amenities that the island has to offer, but most of all a safe haven for the millions of dollars that were siphoned off the books of the NRBA. Mel own one of the ten-room suites at the Fortuana Resort. Amenities come at a high price on the island and after a year of indulgence it became clear to Mel that he needed a new source of in; the advantage of having an account on the island being secrecy and security, not a high return on the billions that are stashed there.

Small investments and high-return Ponzi schemes were the only business opportunities on the island, but they came with the risk of the notoriety that Mel took every caution to avoid. He considered them to be no better than the Nigerian bank schemes that flooded the internet. He concluded that he had little choice but to return to the States to meet personally with the financial connections he had when he was with the NRBA. It would be the first time he left the island since his arrival, but business deals such as these required face-to-face contacts. Mel had money to invest and his in-person negotiations would assure that he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage by his “most wanted” status.

Using his state of the art encrypted cell phone; his first call was to Edwin Marcus, a longtime friend and associate. Mel used Edwin to launder much of the illegal money he and John Portman skimmed from the NRBA payments. Ed also provided services that spanned the globe, making him a vital contact. It was he who told Mel about Isla Fortalenza.

Mel dialed the number in Westminster, Colorado.

“Westminster Financial Resources,” a cherry voice answered. “How may I direct your call?”

“Ed Marcus, please.”

Seconds later, Edwin Marcus was on the phone “Hello, how can I help you?”

Using a code word, Mel replied, “This is Abel.”

“Hold on, I’ll switch to the other phone.”

There was a click on the line and then Ed was back on the phone. “There, Mel, that’s better. How the hell are you, buddy?”

“I’m doing just fine, Ed. I’m thinking of visiting the States soon. I’m looking for some investment opportunities at better than market returns. Would it be worth my while to swing by to see you?”

“It’s always a good time, Mel. I’ve got a few things going on that are right up your alley. They’ll be a bit pricey, though. I’m talking about six or seven hundred grand at a clip.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“What about the fugitive warrants?”

“No problem there either. I’ve got the best paper money can buy. From now on you can call me Walter Simmons. I hail from Chicago and I’m an investment consultant.”

“That works for me, Walter. When am I gonna see you?”

“Within the next two weeks. You can do me a favor in the meantime. Your friends in Cleveland did a great job of surveillance for me when I needed them a while back. Would you contact them and have them ask around to see if anyone is actively searching for Mel Tarkington? I’m curious more than anything else.”

“Sure Mel, I mean Walter. I’ll contact them as soon as we’re through here.”

“Thanks Ed. I’ll call you Friday to see what you’ve found out.”

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Milt knocked on Dennis’s door. “Got a minute?”

“Sure, come on in. What’s up?”

“We found a secret hiding place in the kitchen of Agent Paschal’s apartment and it contained hundreds of nude photos of the four women doing all sorts of sex acts, including the use of whips, chains and all sorts of sex paraphernalia There were also dozens of DVD’s with pornography on them. It looks like BAM might have had an active porno enterprise going. Probably Vennuti knew about all that stuff. He might have even had an interest in promoting it. That wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

“That would be my guess too.”

“We sure were lucky to find this stuff. I know a lot of it is circumstantial, but I don’t think we’ll have too much trouble connecting Vennuti to Special Agent Paschal, especially since he so blatantly singled her out.”

“I agree, Milt, but we have to be careful not to move too quickly. When we close down Atronen I want to have an ironclad case. Vennuti’s participation in the illegal distribution of drugs and suspicion of contributing to the death of at least a dozen people should get him the death sentence here in Ohio, but every piece of evidence needs to be airtight when we move.”

“That’s a day I’m looking forward to. What’s the next step?”

“That depends on your mandate. Are your people satisfied that the deaths of my agents are part of a major crime ring and that our investigation is proceeding at a proper pace?”

“When I told them of my findings, I recommended that I stay here and help with the investigation. They haven’t replied as yet. I’m assuming that you want my help.”

“Are you kidding? I can use all the help I can get, especially someone of your caliber.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, “Milt replied with a big grin.

“You know that that wasn’t my intent.”

Dennis got up from his desk. “Why don’t you use my phone to call Washington? Make sure that they understand that I requested you to stay.”

“That’ll be fine. I’ll only need about fifteen minutes.”

“See you back here then,” Dennis said as he exited and closed the door behind him.

He returned about twenty minutes later to find Milt relaxing in a side chair with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

Milt looked up and offered, “Can I get you one of these?”

“I’ll pass. I just finished a cup. So, how did it go?”

“Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while.”

Dennis beamed. “That’s great. Good to see those Washington Bureaucrats making a smart decision for a change. Having you around will be a big help.”

“I sure hope so. Well, what’s next?”

“One thing for sure, Vennuti is crippled by the loss of Joan. I’m sure he’ll try to ramp up his use of Marcia, but she is of limited use to him. What he desperately needs is another agent willing to feed him timely information of our ongoing investigations of Atronen and him.”

“What do you think the odds are that he’ll be able to recruit anyone?”

“He’s done it before. He’s very resourceful when it comes to recruiting double agents. I should have Mark do a very discrete background check of everyone having anything to do with the Atronen investigation. We need to find our weaknesses before Vennuti does.”

Bagnold sat quietly while Dennis spoke, but the look on his face showed anxiety. He looked like a kid in school who knew the answer and was anxious to share it. Finally he could be silent no longer. “I’m sure that this is going to sound off the wall, but why don’t we offer him someone?”

“What do you mean?

“Think about it, Dennis. You expect that he will put pressure on Marcia to get him more information about what PDS is doing, right?”

“Yes, I’m certain that he will.”

“He knows that she has limited access to information. Well, what if we have Marcia supply him with some dirt on one of our agents and suggest that he attempt to recruit her? We’ll put together something that Marcia can claim she came across using the background check programs she used on Atronen employees. To add to the legitimacy, she’ll ask for money from him to divulge the information. Say, ten thousand dollars. I think he’ll bite. Then we’ll have our agent feed him false information so we can entrap him and Atronen.”

“That’s ingenious, Milt. I can see why you’ve been so successful. You said ‘her’ that suggests to me that you already have someone in mind?”

“Actually I do. While I was doing my original investigation I noticed that one of your agents studied counter-espionage in college. She scored real high, too, as I recall.”

“Well don’t keep me in suspense. Who is it?”

“Special Agent Wendy Farrell. She’d be perfect, especially since she is a member of the PDS and a logistics expert. I’m certain that Vennuti would jump at the chance to get his hooks into her.”

Dennis immediately thought about how Mark would react to the idea. He knew that Mark would have the same reservations that he had when Marcia first told him about Vennuti’s offer to her. On the other hand he knew that Wendy would be enthusiastic about the idea. But her involvement would have to be kept from Mark as long as possible.

“Of course, she would be a perfect candidate. I know that she would be more than willing to be involved. It’s risky, but I think we need it as a catalyst to shut down Atronen and Vennuti.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Clifford Melbourne put in a call to Marco.

No pleasantries were expected or forthcoming. “That big shipment is in the pipeline and it needs to go through without a hitch. I need to know if the FBI hears anything about this shipment. Don’t let me down. There is also a new deal in the works with China that will use Atronen to distribute their generic products. The company is called Pharma-Smythe. It’s still in the development stage, but you should be hearing about in soon. I’m relying on you to be my eyes and ears on the reaction that the rank and file have about it. We’ll be legitimately distributing the product in place of the counterfeit pills we’ve been smuggling in from Eastern Europe.”

Melbourne ended the call without a goodbye.

* * *

Marcia sat across from Vennuti. The waitress had just served their usual drinks.

Marco spoke first “You know that I can help you make your money worries go away.”

“I’m well aware that you have deep pockets. What do you want now that’s making you so generous?”

Marco smiled, “I guess I don’t need to sugarcoat things any longer with you. Okay, I’ll get to the point. You probably already figured out that Special Agent Paschal and I had a special arrangement not too dissimilar to ours. Her death was an unfortunate accident that has left me without an inside informer. I’m looking to fill that void.”

“What’s that got to do with me? I’m not privy to any of the information that she was.”

“Well, actually, I need you to help me find a replacement for her.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“I’ve never been more serious. You have access to that special software that uncovers stuff about people. I figure that you can use that same software to find soft spots in the backgrounds of the special agents in your office. In fact, I heard that the Justice Department assigned a special investigator to do background checks on all your agents. I imagine that you would be involved in making these checks. All I’m asking is that if you find a weak link, you withhold that information from them and give it to me. The same thing you did for me before. For that, I’m willing to pay you a twenty-five thousand dollar bonus; sort of a finder’s fee.”