Page 38 of No More Lies
“I saw Charlotte last week. She asked after you, said to say hi.”
He closed his eyes. “How is she?”
“She seems to be doing OK. She’s such a nice girl. I always liked her. Such a shame what happened to her brother.”
Donnie sucked in a breath but was saved from saying something when his mom spoke again.
“James, I’m sorry. There’s someone at the door.”
“It’s OK, Mom. Say hi to Dad. Love you both.”
“Love you, too.”
He hung up and his mind wandered to Charlotte, or as she preferred Charlie, not for the first time recently. It happened at this time of year, every year. Charlie’s brother, Nate, was his best friend in high school. A couple of jocks who had enjoyed their high school years to the fullest. Charlie was a year younger. She was cute, but off limits. His best friend’s little sister? Nope, no touching that. Charlie liked him, maybe even had a little crush on him. He had noticed the shy smiles, even the way she dressed pretty when he was hanging out with Nate at their house. But he never encouraged it. He was polite to her, talked to her in school, even intervened when the school bullies had started on her one day. Their families had been close back then.
One night, one decision destroyed everything. Disaster struck and it changed the course of Donnie’s life forever. He hadn’t spoken to Charlie in ten years. She brought back too many memories, and he couldn’t handle it. It was getting close to another anniversary and that always took him to a place he’d rather not go.
He glanced at his phone, still seeing no response. Hopefully, Steve and Diane were talking and working things out. He loved the Williams family as much as his own. Whatever Steve needed to get through this shit, he would do it.
Donnie headed back inside. When Mackie glanced up and caught his eye, Donnie shook his head. He rejoined the rest of the team who had started looking at potential targets. Waiting was the worst part of this job. None of them had been home, instead grabbing sleep on the cots. This kind of op sucked. So many unknowns, so much research needed. He much preferred being handed a target, a location, and boom, they executed.
Kelly and Mackie were conferring on something with Sam, then Mackie whistled, getting everyone’s attention.
“We have some intel,” Sam said.
The team gathered back around the table. Dex stood with Sam at one end, while the rest of them lounged in chairs. Dex still played with his baseball; the man was addicted to the damn thing. As if reading his mind, Dex threw the ball at him. He caught it, throwing it at Ryan. The ball began making the rounds as Kelly started talking.
“The only way anything leaves that plant is on a specialized truck. Transportation of hazardous chemicals is highly regulated, and the plant is making legal products that need to be transported to various countries. VV transportation has the sole contract with the plant. Nothing gets out of there unless it’s on one of their trucks.”
“What do we know about the company?” Dex asked.
“Their reputation is impeccable. Founded twenty-five years ago. This company has friends in high places and notable contracts. Based out of Los Angeles, they also have a few warehouses across the state, one down by the LA port. The company has the means to transport hazardous chemicals worldwide. It has legit contracts with governments, even military in Russia, China, UK, Germany and here in the US.”
“So, they’re clean?” Sam asked.
“From the outside, yes. Not quite sure if they are involved or not. I’m working on looking into the owners and board of directors while Mackie was able to crack VV transportation GPS tracking system.”
“Well, about time you got something. Beginning to think you were losing your touch. Was going to offer my services.” Dex’s sarcastic tone made the team laugh.
“Like to see you try, old man,” Mackie shot back.
“Maybe you should stick to what you’re good at, babe.” Kelly winked at Dex.
“Well, I would, but that wouldn’t be appropriate, sweetheart, in front of everyone.”
Groans and howls erupted around the room.
“Alright, alright, enough.” Sam raised his hand, silencing them. “Mackie?”
The boys quieted and looked at Mackie expectantly.
“Yeah, I got in, but I couldn’t stay in too long, not without getting noticed. They have a highly sophisticated encryption, which covers all the regular back doors. I go in that way, it will set off alarm bells. I managed to find a way in through their billing program, as they use an outside provider that tracks the mileage, but once I’m connected to their main server, it’s going to think I’m a virus, and shut everything off as protection. It’s damn tight security. Why it’s taken so long.”
Donnie glanced around at the team in amusement. They were all looking at Mackie with blank faces.
“Maybe you could skip to the part where you tell us what you found,” Dex said, throwing the baseball at him.
Mackie caught it. “Right. The truck went to a Moscow airport. I managed to locate the shipment number and searched plane manifests, and found it left on a private plane. It’s destination – Reno-Tahoe Airport, Nevada.”