Rogue Asset (Book 3 of the Wade Hanna Series) (15 page)

Sikes put the photo in his shirt pocket and looked back at Mabuto waiting for the next wave of instructions and threats.

“I know you feel we are nothing but an insignificant African country but do not ever underestimate the reach of my power in the world. I know where you live and where to find you as well as your relatives and close friends. I just want to be clear that you understand the stakes of this venture you have undertaken with me. We have already paid the Russians you introduced us to. We just need to be certain the last leg of your assignment is completed without a problem.”

Sikes looked up and meekly said, “I understand.”

Mabuto exchanged eye contact with Sikes letting Sikes know he was serious before he turned to a more pleasant subject. Pointing to one of the other houses in the compound Mabuto said, “Over there we have set up accommodations for you this evening. I hope you will join me this evening. We have a special feast set up with food and some local dancing in your honor. I am told that one of the girls who works here has taken a liking to you. Perhaps she will join you after dinner.”

Chapter 15

Tangier, Morocco

Wade watched the afternoon rhythms of the street from his hotel window as the cast of funny characters he named paraded before him. Thinking about life back home he missed hearing Megan’s voice. An hour was left before the pharmacy closed. Using a new route to the pay phone Wade departed the hotel with a quickened pace.

His first call was to Leo. “Hi. I met with Claude on the shipping today and just wanted to know how that fits into my assignment.”

“The ship is due to arrive in Tangier within the next few days. I want you posted as eyes and ears at the dock when it arrives. Tomorrow go over there and find a hide where you have good visibility. The ship could be assigned any one of several docking positions for bulk carrier vessels, but they will be unloading grain so I think the docking spaces will be limited to two. Find a location where you can see what’s going on with the ship and the general dock area.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of that tomorrow and let you know. I think I’m going to need some small but good binoculars.”

“Not a problem. You’ll have them by tomorrow. You’ll also need a hand-held radio transmitter that’s coded to a secure frequency. I’ll get that to you as well.”

“I’ll also be pacing off my distances between major dock structures so I can report them to you accurately.”

“Good, but don’t make yourself too obvious with the pacing. You’ll want to have that all done before the ship arrives.”

“When’s that going to be?”

“I’m thinking three or four days at the most. In fact, a lot of things will start happening fast within that time period.”

Wade knew Leo didn’t like idle chatter and replied, “I’ll be ready, anything else?”

“You’ll be getting a call from Angéle this evening or tomorrow. She has some materials for you. Go have dinner.”

“I’ll be ready for that as well.”

“I bet you will.”

As Wade hung up the phone, he realized that this phone call represented the most information Leo had given him at one time since the assignment started. Wade took another route back to the hotel.

As he passed the front desk, the manager said, “Mr. Hess, there is a message for you.”

He picked up the message from the front desk and recognized the phone number. It was from Angéle. The guest phone booth in the lobby was free. He called the number believing she would not have a secure line and would be careful in her speech.

“Hi Angéle, I was out for a walk when your message came in.”

“I’d like to take you dinner. I’m hoping your stomach is ready for the next level of spices our country has to offer. I have an interesting place in mind.”

“That sounds good.”

“I’ll pick you up in two hours.”

They entered the Moroccan restaurant and were ushered by the turban-clad maître d’ to a private fully enclosed alcove. A red curtain hung across the alcove hung for privacy.

Angéle looked gorgeous in a gray and pink silk blouse and black pants with a black jacket adorned with small silver studs opposite the buttonholes. She had a matching headband of pink and gray. Wade thought he was in a scene from Casa Blanca. There was even a piano player in the corner belting out soft American jazz.

Wade had to stop staring at Angéle, so he decided to speak.

“This place looks intimate.”

Angéle was quick to respond with a smile. “You can do just about anything behind these closed curtains. You just give the manager a tip, and he will post a guard for privacy. We won’t need that of course. I just wanted to keep our discussion private.”

Wade hadn’t noticed Angéle’s large purse looked more like a matching satchel. She carried it around her shoulder opposite him. It rested on the seat next to her. She swung it around and unzipped it but let it sit quietly between them as she raised her glass of water for a toast.

“I’m not sure exactly what I’m toasting tonight except that I think you are a special guy in my life, and I’m happy we met. Whatever happens I’ll always remember our time together.”

Wade swallowed hard not sure how he would respond. “That’s very kind of you. I want you to know I feel the same way about you. In the short time, we have known each other I have learned that you may be trying to say something else.”

Angéle’s eye had twinkled at Wade’s perception before she responded. “I don’t know but sometimes in our line of work you get a sixth sense when things are going to happen. They often happen very rapidly, and I’m starting to get that sense now.”

Wade wondered for a second if she was talking about their relationship or the mission.

“That’s interesting; I’ve started having the same feeling. I’ve had it before on other assignments.”

They looked into each other’s eyes differently than they had before. It was as though something else had connected between them. Angéle broke the brief romantic glance that was becoming an intimate stare.

“We now have some work to do.”

“Perhaps we should order first, I’m starving.”

Angéle picked up the menu. “This restaurant is famous for its lamb dishes and they prepare them in hundreds of different ways.”

“I love lamb and I haven’t become sick following your cuisine recommendations. I’m open to suggestions.”

She glanced up and down the extensive menu options written in Arabic with broken English subtitles. “Let me suggest a combination of dishes of lamb.”

Angéle called the waiter in and ordered in what sounded like her combination French and Arabic language. The waiter understood her perfectly, but Wade was clueless as to what food might be coming.

“I’m going to give you this satchel to take with you. There is some equipment in here as well as Intel papers. I want to go over some of the Intel papers this evening and then burn them. Please realize I’m going to tell you what I know, but I only know a little about what Mr. Leopold is dealing with. I don’t know the whole story. I’ve learned it is better that way in case we are captured.”

Angéle opened the satchel, taking out papers for their discussion. “Here is the latest photograph we have of Sikes. He is one of our main surveillance targets. It is my understanding that he has just arrived back in Tangier after being in Africa.”

Angéle continued, “Take a good look at him, so you can recognize him when you see him. You can’t keep the picture. I am to destroy it after we meet. Sikes is the former MI-6 and has turned or gone out on his own. He is brokering the deal for arms to this man who is Mosie Mabuto. Mabuto is trying to take over his African country.”

Wade knew most of this story but decided not to say anything and let Angéle tell the story her way. He was confirming details as she spoke.

“Here are photos of Mabuto’s key men that are expected to be arriving in Tangier anytime within the next few days. Mabuto is bringing in the money once they have inspected the arms. We have one of Matubo’s men’s name but not the others. He may be sending more men. We just don’t know that yet.”

There was a pause while Wade looked at the photos before Angéle continued.

“Here are pictures of Sikes’ men. The three here are his closest chiefs. Two of Sikes’ men are former Israeli Mossad Secret Service. The other one is the former head of the private military security force for the Tunisia mobsters. All of these men have extensive military training and security experience and won’t hesitate to kill.”

Angéle looked into Wade’s eyes as he intently concentrated on the photos. She continued her briefing.

“I’m told the ship won’t be in for three days due to delays in loading the grain in Egypt. Mr. Leopold intercepted one message that said the money drop would take place at the DiBoise Restaurant at the docks. I hope you are available for lunch tomorrow at this restaurant. Mr. Leopold wanted us to check it out.”

Wade questioned whether the DiBoise Restaurant was still the expected drop point based on what Clyde had told him. He wasn’t sure Angéle knew that and decided to keep that fact quiet. Wade answered.

“I am familiar with the restaurant and I have other work to do for Mr. Leopold around that area in the morning. Why don’t we just meet at the restaurant at 12:30 p.m. instead of your picking me up at the hotel?”

“That would be fine. I will tell you that Mr. Leopold has a feeling that this drop point will probably change. He is not certain based on other Intel he has, but he still wants us to check it out.”

Wade had looked romantically into her eyes before he spoke, “It will be a pleasure enjoying a lunch with you while we look out at a beautiful sunset and ships anchored in the harbor.”

Angéle replied, “How romantic.”

It was sometimes difficult for Wade to read Angéle’s comments. She could seamlessly shift back and forth between intelligence work and personal comments as though she was dating him. Wade thought maybe she did have feelings for him or perhaps she just did that as a good agent. That proposition both amazed and bothered Wade.

After dinner, Angéle dropped Wade off at his hotel, gave him the satchel, and threw him a kiss. When he got back to his room, Wade found the satchel contained a pair of binoculars, a two-way radio receiver with an earpiece, and a Walter P-38 semiautomatic pistol with silencer lodged in a concealed holster. He studied the documents carefully before burning them and flushing the ashes down the toilet.

Chapter 16

The next morning before sunrise Wade walked to the intersection of two major streets near the hotel where cabs gathered and randomly picked one for his trip to the harbor. Before reaching his destination, he had the driver stop to let him out to walk so he could observe the target area unseen and determine if he was being followed.

Without warning Wade quickly dropped down behind a set of high bushes to observe two men who seemed to be looking back and forth over the path he had just traveled. He thought they might be a tail. The men split up, both moving away from Wade’s hidden location. When the men were out of sight, Wade moved behind a wall that the bushes fronted.

His better location allowed him to see the two men while keeping hidden. He had to clear these two men before making his next move. One of the two men pointed to a car that appeared to be slowly following the men from the street. After one of the two men signaled, the car stopped, and the two men got in. The car drove off. Through the car window, Wade could see the two men continuing to look behind the car. The car and men were soon out of sight.

Familiar with the area now, Wade made several turns down side paths and between buildings to get to the dock area he wanted to observe. Wade didn’t bring his weapon or the radio-receiver Angéle provided. He did bring his binoculars that hung from a strap between his shirt and jacket.

After a quarter mile of evasive moves, Wade finally arrived at the unloading dock for bulk carriers. Instead of measuring distances by walking, as he normally would Wade he noticed the dock was divided into carefully scored concrete sections of equal size that made measuring distances convenient and easy. He just had to count the squares after he got the precise dimension of one sections. Taking steps from toe to toe he randomly verified that each concrete section was the same. This gave Wade the depth and width measurements he needed. He recorded his calculations in his small spiral notebook using a code he learned in intelligence training.

Wade noticed that the bulk cargo gantry ran on two iron tracks embedded in the concrete. The track didn’t go the entire distance of the docking area. That meant that a ship using the gantry had to be positioned within the dimensions of where the gantry could travel. He made a notation in his notebook that the docking position had to be reduced by the length of the gantry track. This gave him a more precise area in which a bulk cargo ship could dock. Wade thought it would be an important fact in finding his hide.

Using one of the cargo vessels unloading that day as a reference point, Wade figured the area where his hide had to be in order to get the best view. The calculation narrowed his options for a hide. With hands in his pocket, he wandered up and down the dock whistling like a tourist without a care in the world.

Wade’s first thought was the gantry itself. The upper portions of the gantry would be the ideal location to see everything. The gantry wasn’t operating at this time. He walked over and started looking up inside to see how the gantry was framed. His enthusiasm for the gantry waned when he saw how open its structure was and reminded him that workers would be all over the gantry and its operation. That idea was simply not feasible.

His instincts told him to look higher. He looked up and around trying not to be obvious. The concrete apron extending back from the dock was approximately 28-feet, according to Wade’s calculation. There was a wooden stairway that went down to the water underneath the dock. The stairway might work to gain access to the ship unnoticed but was not good for observation.

He searched above and strolled to the other side of the concrete apron toward the warehouse area. There were several warehouses aligned with two-foot spacing between each building.

Each warehouse had large tall metal sliding doors. Inside the warehouse stood stacks of pallets with goods, forklifts, and a few older trucks. In the second warehouse, there was a second floor that appeared to contain crates of parts.

Wade noticed a small area on the second story. It seemed to be an office. He couldn’t take the chance that there would be someone in that office. Right next to the office was a small, cramped little space outside the office wall. The cramped space included a sliver of the large industrial window that lined the upper floor. The windows were dirty and the space small, but otherwise it might work as a hide. Wade had to find first if the office was in use and what he could see from the window partially blocked by storage crates.

To estimate what could be seen from the window, Wade walked outside on the dock and looked back standing on different parts of the dock. He liked what he saw, although he couldn’t be sure because of his angle from the outside. The only way to be sure was to gain access to that space without being seen. His next task was to understand the pattern of workers going in and out and bide his time to gain access to the second floor.

Wade considered his dress and how much he stood out from the overall dressed workers. He wandered over to the worker’s coffee shop not far from his selected site. The shop was crammed with dockworkers all speaking different languages. The place was loud. Wade squeezed himself slowly towards the counter.

As he reached the counter, Wade heard what he thought was a distinctly British accent but couldn’t see where it was coming from. He picked up a word or two in English and listened carefully. He got his coffee and went toward the sound. Little by little he edged a few inches at a time until he confirmed that what he heard was English.

He moved closer to the source of the sound and heard another similar accent. This one was Scottish. A few steps closer and he spotted the two English-speaking gents in the large crowd of international languages.

When he got in speaking distance, Wade simply turned to the two bearded men and toward that direction. As he got closer, he heard a strong Scottish accent being answered by someone with a British accent. Wade simply wandered over, smiled at the two bearded workers, and said, “It’s good to hear English for a change.”

The second of the two men answered, “Is that what you’re speaking to me, lad. Where I come from we don’t call that English.”

Wade laughed, “Well, I hope it’s close enough. I’m Canadian.”

The Scottish bearded man commented, “Aye, that’s better. We thought you might be one of those Americans.”

Wade quickly replied, “No, I’m third generation Canadian through and through.”

The English bearded man replied, “What brings you to this godforsaken place? It can’t be for the coffee.”

“I’m just spending some tourist time after my college education. I was thinking about taking a ship from here.”

The British bearded man replied, “Going where?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t decided. Maybe Tunisia? What brings you here?”

The English bearded man replied, “My mate and I work on the docks here between vessels. We’re happier when we’re at sea, but our last ship went to dry dock. We came to the docks because they were hiring. What’s your name, son?”

Wade replied, “I’m Frank.”

The English bearded man replied, “Nice to meet you, Frank. This is James and I’m Colin.”

They shook hands and Wade asked, “Just out of curiosity when do the docks open and close those big doors?”

“They close at five in the evening unless they are doing a night call in those warehouses. They open around six in the morning. But it sometimes depends on whether the watchman is drunk or not. He’s supposed to open up at six. Sometimes they find him behind those barrels over there in front of the doors sleeping it off. I think those are old whiskey barrels. He must like the smell. It helps him doze off. We’re known to have a few too many ourselves but those barrels are not a place I would pick to sleep.”

Finished with their coffee the Scottish man said, “Yeah, we got to be getting back to work.”

“Nice meeting you.”

The two men waved and headed for the door. Wade followed the men out of the shop and strolled down the dock. He paced his walk confirming the calculation of distances and re-checked his observation post. As he strolled down the dock past the warehouse, he noticed the watchman was already leaning against the large open door half asleep.

Wade also noticed the long chain hanging from the watchman’s belt with dozens of keys hanging from a ring. He took note of the padlock mechanism that locked the large door. Strolling past the door Wade also noticed the old oak whiskey barrels. He imagined the watchman using them as a four-poster bed and aromatherapy to accompany his sleep.

On his call to Leo that afternoon Wade described the two men he eluded at the dock. Leo didn’t show particular concern. Wade went on to describe the observation position he found hoping Leo would share his enthusiasm. Instead, Leo showed a preoccupation with other moving parts of the mission that all seemed to be coming into play at the same time. Leo instructed Wade on maintaining his focus.

“Look, unless you see those same guys again I wouldn’t worry about them. Sikes is in town, and we are monitoring conversations between his men and Mabuto’s men. Mabuto’s men don’t like the restaurant drop Sikes picked. It’s too public. They also don’t want to arrive in town with the money until the ship is in port. Mabuto feels there is too much exposure. These changes along with the ship delay have Sikes on edge, and he’s taking extra security precautions.”

Wade felt Leo’s intensity as he continued, “I’m going to need your eyes on the ship as soon as it arrives. It’s going to take some time for them to unload over one hundred tons of grain. Everything on this ship works like molasses. They have to remove almost all the grain before Mabuto’s men can inspect the cargo.”

It was clear where Leo wanted Wade, but he wasn’t sure he had secured his observation point. Wade commented on another concern he was also thinking.

“Yes, that’s true but once they do the inspection the money side is going down quickly.”

Leo responded quickly, “You’re ahead of me kid. We’re still trying to find out where the drop is going to be. I still need your eyes on the ship until I give you the okay to move.”

“Got it. I’ll be there. I just have to make sure my observation spot is available.”

“You do that right away. We have a man in the customs office that’s supposed to call when the ship requests a docking position. One thing about Tangier is everyone has a hand out. You never know how dependable those hands are. Have your receiver on when you’re in position and wait for my call.”

The pace of the mission had just gone into high gear, and Wade didn’t sleep much that night. Waking the next morning well before dawn, Wade was determined to get into the warehouse. This time he was dressed for the task.

When he shopped for clothes with Angéle, they drove past a shop that sold new and used work clothes. Without mentioning anything to her, he noted the location and went back the next day to purchase two used worker’s outfits. His outfits included a pair of coveralls, jeans, blue work shirt, black watch cap, a local workman’s cap, used boots, used work jacket and gloves.

His work outfit easily concealed his two-way transmitter, his weapon and coded notes on layout and distances. He headed to the dock area using the bus route he had committed to memory.

Arriving before the other men, the warehouse was still locked. He passed an idle forklift truck and rubbed his hand across the tire and grease spot, then smeared the mixture in spots across his face. He found a dirty rag on the forklift seat and hung it out of his pocket to complete his look as a dockworker.

He first went to the closed door in front of the warehouse. The large sliding door was locked, and the watchman was nowhere in sight. Wade thought he could easily pick the lock but rejected the idea because moving the large doors would attract too much attention.

Looking among the rows of empty whiskey barrels Wade didn’t find a sleeping watchman. He went around to the west side of the building searching for any opening that might give him entry.

A few old steel corrugated green panels were loosely attached to the building as siding. He bent one back but couldn’t get access. Moving the panels also made too much noise. Wade continued around to the back of the building. A flat dirt area separated an overgrown area with high weeds providing excellent cover from the street. One of the steel framed industrial windows was cracked and missing a piece of the glass the size of a football. Wade covered the exposed edge of glass with his rag and began moving it up and down until a larger piece of glass came loose in his hand without breaking.

The opening created by the new exposure gave him enough space to slip his hand in to try to reach the metal locking device in the middle of the window just above his head. His hand was about eight-inches too short. He tried but couldn’t reach the metal window latch inside without the risk of being cut by the exposed glass.

Wade looked around and found a stick on the ground. He ran it up inside the broken windowpane to the latch mechanism. There seemed to be just enough space to allow movement of the stick. Prying the stick between the window frame and the latch he was able to move the metal latch over to the open position. Now unlocked, the lower section of the old industrial metal-framed window squeaked its way open. There was enough space for Wade to roll over the window ledge.

Now unlocked, the lower section of the old industrial metal-framed window squeaked its way open. There was enough space for Wade to roll over the window ledge. Landing inside the building put him behind a row of large pallets sitting four-feet back from the window. The building was dark, but pallets kept him hidden from anyone looking to the back when there was light. The commercial metal staircase to the upper floor he observed yesterday was to his right. Wade checked carefully for movement and sound from behind the pallets. He only heard the echoes of a silent metal building as it breathed grunting and groaning from air movement and temperature change.