After everything they had faced and been through over the past few days, neither of them had any intention of spending the night alone. No words were needed and she led him by the hand into her room - where they fulfilled each other's needs.
Chapter 19
Saturday 14 August 2012, USCG Key West Naval Base, Florida.
The next morning Hayes and Watson both woke up a little nervous – neither had any regrets about the previous night but they were unsure what would happen when they got back to DC.
They showered, packed their bags and then had some breakfast in the camp's restaurant before seeing Admiral McVey. They thanked him for his hospitability and restaurant recommendations, signed their witness statements and collected Perez's Blackberry from the safe. The Admiral shook hands and had arranged for his car to take them to Key West International Airport for the flight back to Washington.
The car got them to the airport at 09.45am and the DEA plane was already there waiting for them. Hayes felt nervous now as she walked up the boarding steps behind Watson and into the cool air conditioned plane. The plane had deep luxurious leather seats, fitted desks and banks of communication equipment which made it look like a floating office.
A youngish man with a long pony tail, a goatee beard and rimless glasses wearing a black T-shirt, tatty jeans and a baseball cap was sitting at one of the desks with a host of electrical cables and boxes opened. As he fitted the bill, Madison immediately guessed this geekish man was Nathan Powell and Logan introduced them.
"Hi Nathan. This is Agent Madison Hayes from the FBI" said Logan.
"Hi Nathan" said Hayes cheerily.
"Hi" said Nathan who Madison guessed didn't find it easy to mix with people and probably preferred an X-Box to a bar conversation.
"Here is the Blackberry, Nathan. This is more valuable than a Ming vase" joked Watson.
"I comprehend the situation" said Nathan.
He pulled out a pair of rubber surgical gloves and interlocked his fingers before making a clicking sound. He bent a desk lamp over to throw more light on the Blackberry and removed the cover. He slowly took out the battery and SIM card breathing dramatically.
"Let the magic begin! I have some college friends who are now working their way up the corporate world in Silicon Valley. They have given me access to forbidden code and restricted software that can break the MD5 and SHA1 algorithms used by the Telcos. I don't approve of the Black Hats but sometimes to understand a hacker, you have to become a hacker" said Nathan at which point Logan tapped Madison's arm and nodded towards the far end of the plane. She was delighted to move away as she struggled to take Nathan seriously.
"We'll leave you to your secret hacking then Nathan and we'll wait up there" said Logan.
They headed towards the coffee bar and the pilot announced over the intercom that the jet would take off in five minutes. Madison sat down, still grinning and Logan fixed a couple of flat white lattes.
"You can only take a few minutes with him. He lives in a world of characters from books, films and TV series and everybody he meets has to be another character" said Logan.
"But what he doesn't know about PCs, Laptops, iPads and PDAs ain't worth knowing. If anybody can find out what is on that phone, Darth Vader over there can!"
The plane took off and silence fell. Hayes and Watson were both thinking on to DC and what might happen whilst Nathan worked on the Blackberry.
"I'm nervous Logan" said Madison after about twenty minutes. What are we going to do if Konchesky plays dumb?"
"No worries. We already have enough to make this work" said Logan confidently.
"Think about it. Firstly Konchesky and Salvez won't know how much Perez told us – they will be mighty curious and worried now though. Secondly we know Steiner isn't his real name. Now we do know his true identity but we have been lied to blatantly by an FBI senior. Thirdly SEAL Team Two had been deliberately misled about who was on the Alcatraz. Sure there were dangerous people on board but not Middle Eastern or Soviet terrorists."
"And fourthly there was an assassin ready and waiting for our prisoner at Key West who had to have been neatly tipped off by an insider. By the way …I think I have totally fallen for you!" he smiled dramatically changing the conversation thread.
Madison blushed a little and a huge smile spread across her face. "Well that is real nice to know Mr. Watson cos I am finding you cute too!"
Before this loved-up conversation could progress any further, they were rudely interrupted by a yell from the back end of the plane.
"Hey Top Gun, FBI Babe!" shouted Nathan. "Vader has delivered as requested!"
Watson and Hayes shot out of their luxury leather chairs and hurried down the plane's aisle to Nathan's desk, where he was reclining in his chair with a big satisfied grin across his face and his hands behind his head. They were eager to see what he had found.
A small electronic unit, with Perez's SIM card inserted, was attached by an improvised cable to a laptop. Masses of names, addresses and phone numbers were scrolling down the screen – too fast for the human eye to read.
After a few seconds the scrolling stopped and a message appeared on screen "File Transfer Complete – Press Any Key".
Nathan copied the list to a USB key and handed it proudly to Watson.
"Voila! There's your list. It will be in alpha-numeric text format showing contact names, numbers and last call details."
"Thanks Vader. The force is with you!" said Watson leaving Nathan to get down to some serious gaming on his laptop. Watson and Hayes returned to their seats and plugged the key into her iPad. Hayes clicked on the file and it opened up an alphabetical list of the contacts that Perez had used and which they studied in almost childlike excitement and eagerness.
"Wow! This looks like a definitive list of the world's narco dealers." said Hayes.
"Madison, see if you can find Archangel or Iron Eagle" said Watson focusing back quickly.
Hayes re-ordered the huge list and eventually found both names. She hardly dared to look at the information but clicked on Archangel. A cell phone number appeared and an email address.
"We haven't got long now till we land in DC" said Watson. "Can you get a trace on the owner of that cell phone number?"
Hayes opened up the FBI database, copied the number from Nathan's file and pasted it into the search field. An hour glass appeared agonizingly as the records were accessed and then a name got returned.
The name was Juan Salvez.
Hayes went back to Perez's list, found Iron Eagle and opened the record up. Again she traced the number.
"I got a feeling who this might be" Hayes added ruefully.
Sure enough the name was Joel Konchesky.
"So Perez was telling the truth." said Watson. "Now you don't need to be afraid – we've got him."
Hayes felt the relief flow through her body and she started to feel really upbeat.
"Do you want me to email this data to Frank Jinks?" she asked.
"Yes please!" replied Watson, who looked now like a guy who had won the State lottery.
Chapter 20
Saturday 14 July 2012 11.00am Reagan International Airport, Washington DC.
The plane touched down at Reagan Airport at 11.00am. After thanking Nathan again the agents quickly passed through the Arrivals area without anybody challenging them. As they walked through the main terminal doors, with all their cases and bags close by, a familiar and friendly voice shouted out to Watson.
"Hi! I got a car for Mr. Watson and Ms Hayes!" They swiveled round and Watson was relieved to see the friendly chubby face of Frank Jinks, wearing his weekend clothes of a loud checked shirt, denims and sneakers. The casual appearance took Watson by surprise as he was used to seeing Frank in his regulation dark suit, white shirt and tie.
"Hi Frank! Hey I didn't know you'd be here but it's sure good to see you. I don't think you have actually met Madison Hayes in person before" said Watson, shaking his boss's hand warmly.
Jinks then shook hands with Madison.
"Good to meet you at last Madison. It sounds like you and Logan have hit the jackpot with this one. I just got your email with the names from Perez's Smartphone. There is gonna have to be some high level Senate enquiries going on into this dammed soon. Looks like some serious cover-ups have been going on for years."
They walked quickly to Jinks' Cadillac.
"What time are you due at the FBI?" asked Jinks.
"It was meant to be 9.00am sir" replied Hayes "we decided we weren't going to be rushed and I'm grateful you provided the plane for us. Your IT guy was great in getting that data out."
"Yep. Nathan sure knows his stuff – I do worry about his sanity though!" laughed Jinks.
As Jinks drove them from the airport back into Washington center and up to the J.Edgar Hoover building, they briefed him on everything they could think had happened over the past forty-eight hours.
"I think we should go in via the south entrance" said Hayes, still troubled by the prospect of another Perez-style take down on the steps of her own office.
"OK" agreed Watson "And I think we need to book-in these suitcases to somewhere safe after all this, the last thing we want is to lose $10million!"
Jinks drove up to the quiet entrance and then said.
"OK. I'm gonna wait down here for you till you tell me everything is OK. If you need anything you just call me".
"Thanks" they both shouted as they grabbed all their bags and cases from his car and hurried into the building's entrance
Everything seemed quiet and they swiped in through the security barriers. The Bureau was on a reduced staffing level on a Saturday afternoon, so not too many folk were about.
Hayes led them up a series of back stairwells and onto the fifth floor. They walked past their own office briefly saying "Hi!" to a couple of duty agents but not stopping until they reached Konchesky's office.
By now their heart rates had quickened and their throats were dry.
"Are you ready?" whispered Hayes and Watson nodded.
She knocked purposefully on the large oak door and a voice said politely "Come in"
As they went in both agents saw Konchesky behind his desk and instantly scanned for Salvez – who wasn't there.
"Have a seat please folks" said Konchesky smiling and gesturing to his conference table.
"I've been expecting you."
He looked very weary and stressed and by the large bags under his eyes, Hayes guessed he was lacking sleep. An empty bourbon glass on his desk indicated to her that he had steeled himself for a difficult day with something stronger than mineral water.
The three moved over to the conference table, where Hayes got out her iPad and a printed copy of their end of assignment report. She hesitated, wondering if to start to say something. Konchesky had in front of him the MEX1 report, a large manila envelope that was face-down, a fresh glass of water and his hay fever pill box.
Konchesky spoke first in a decisive and clear tone; this was the Konchesky that Hayes remembered and had once admired.
"Let me start first please people and I'll answer your questions later. I read your report yesterday, and again today, in great detail and I want to congratulate you on an excellent piece of investigative work, handled very professionally. Your mini-team has delivered exactly what was expected when Operation Marlin was first discussed and planned with White House officials and I hope the other teams can deliver as efficiently and effectively as you two have demonstrated."
"The objective of either the Kill or Capture of Miguel Perez has been achieved, along with the arrest of the Lombardi brothers. You have recovered a substantial amount of cash and helped to prevent the purchase of illegal chemicals for a probable future terrorist attack on the US or its allies."
"That is highly commendable work and, in my capacity of Head of Operation Marlin, I have today written to the office of the President of the United States to record your efforts. I suspect both your careers will really flourish from this point on."
He paused, drew a deep breath and avoided any eye contact before continuing.
"I am also aware that certain other matters have come to your attention during this operation and I would like the opportunity now to explain some things to you. I owe it to you both and it may help for the enquiries that will inevitably follow after your reports are published."
Hayes and Watson both tensed inside and wondered what he was about to say or reveal.
"Let me start by taking you back to the mid-1980s" started Konchesky.
"I served in the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Marines back then with Major Juan Salvez, the man you know as Steiner. I loved my time in the army and was fortunate to serve with some very brave and patriotic men - including Salvez who had served his county with distinction in Vietnam. We were both decorated and we received the Silver Star. Our battalion was led by another patriot you will have heard of before - Colonel Oliver North.
When we left the army we were both honored to be asked to work at the National Security Council.
"Both Major Salvez and I strongly shared Colonel North's views on the importance of defeating the Sandinista Government in Nicaragua."
"We were part of a team that repeatedly travelled covertly to Honduras and Nicaragua for discussions with rebel forces on the best way to supply the latest guns, missiles and ammunition needed to overthrow the Sandinistas. Our contacts down there pointed us in the direction of a young Mexican who was already highly skilled and experienced at smuggling drugs, arms, people in fact any commodity you could think of throughout Central and South America.
His name......Miguel Perez."
Hayes and Watson sat in complete stunned silence as this remarkable confession and abuse of Government position was unfurled.
"In late 1984, through local contacts a dialogue with Perez started. Salvez and I were introduced to Perez in a late nite meeting in a disused barn outside Matamoros. There were several Sicarios present guarding Perez and the atmosphere was very intimidating throughout. Several times during the meeting the guns swung round and pointed at us - I truly thought we would die down there."
"We spelt out the deal we were offering to Perez - transport these crates of AK47s, Stinger missiles, hand grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition from a food distribution warehouse in Tulsa through to Nicaragua and you will be paid $1m cash in a US Government briefcase."
"This money would come from a series of hidden bank accounts in Washington - funds that were set up to evade detection and that I know were in contravention of the Boland Agreement."
"Even at a relatively young age then, Miguel Perez was a hard and tough negotiator. He laughed off our first offer saying it was "an insult". Much haggling took place and after an hour of discussion, Perez laid out his three conditions for safely delivering the weaponry anywhere we wanted in Nicaragua:
A cash fee of $3m - half payable in advance, the rest on delivery of the consignments.
No Customs checks on importation of his other "goods" into Texas or Florida through agreed entry points for 12 months;
An American passport for ease of entry into the United States in future.
"We refused at first and tried to negotiate with him but it was soon obvious that he wasn't going to deal with us on any lesser terms. We made calls back to our senior contact in Washington and eventually got the agreement to deal with Perez on his terms. We drank some Tequila with him to seal the deal and we returned to Mexico ten days later with the cash and details of the first consignment of weapons."