Chapter 46
-
Coconut Grove
Flint told the taxi driver to drop them at the end of a random tree-lined street in Coconut Grove, just in case he was ever questioned. Flint paid the man in cash and added a generous tip to ensure his memory stayed fuzzy.
They waited for the driver to turn the first corner. Then they walked several blocks through residential neighborhoods before approaching Gaspar’s house.
Spanish moss hung from ancient oak trees. The air carried the scent of jasmine and faint diesel exhaust from the distant highway.
Drake favored his left shoulder. His arm still rested in the sling Dr. Vega had provided. Pain showed in the tight lines around his eyes, but he stayed alert to their surroundings.
“Company?” Flint tilted his head toward the cars lining the curbs as they rounded the last corner.
“Not likely.” Drake scanned the street again. “Could be watching via satellite or local CCTV hacks. Otherwise, no identifiable watchers.”
Gaspar’s house sat back from the street behind a wall of bougainvillea and royal palms. The Spanish colonial architecture fit the neighborhood perfectly. Red tile roof, white stucco walls, wrought iron details. Nothing about it suggested the electronic fortress inside.
Flint pressed the doorbell. A camera hidden in the porch light fixture captured the image and the lock clicked open. They went inside. Drake closed the door firmly and the electronic lock slipped into place again.
It was late and Gaspar’s family were asleep, which saved them from small talk and his wife’s usual generous offers of hospitality. The house was quiet except for the soft hum of central air-conditioning and the distant tick of an antique clock.
Flint led the way through the foyer toward the back of the house. Gaspar’s home office buzzed with electronic activity. Multiple monitors displayed data streams while keyboards and communication equipment occupied the workspace.
Flint got a whiff of strong Cuban coffee. He looked around for the coffee pot.
“Bad night?” Gaspar glanced up when they came through. “As you Texans would say, you two look like you’ve been rode hard and put up wet.”
“Drake needs to sleep,” Flint replied with a nod. “I could use some coffee.”
“Second door on the right.” Gaspar gestured Drake to head down the hallway. “Clean sheets. Fresh towels.”
“I’ll take a pill and grab some shut-eye, and I’ll be good as new.” Drake headed toward the guest room without argument. The shoulder wound and blood loss had finally caught up with him.
After he heard Drake’s door close, Flint poured a coffee and settled into the chair facing Gaspar’s desk. The coffee was thick as motor oil and twice as strong. “Cole’s got Jason Fisher and Lizzy Pace.”
“Figured it was something like that when you called.” Gaspar’s fingers seemed to move across multiple keyboards simultaneously.
“What do you have so far?”
“Devon Cole says he owns more businesses than , Alphabet, and Apple combined. Tripple A Plus, he calls it. Shipping. Logistics. Tech services. Media companies. Even a space flight program. He’s got tentacles everywhere.
” Gaspar pulled up financial records on one of the larger monitors.
“But for your purposes, here’s what’s interesting. ”
The screen displayed a complex network diagram showing money flows between dozens of companies. Lines and arrows formed a spider web of financial connections that would take an army of forensic accountants months to untangle.
“See these cash transfers?” Gaspar highlighted several transaction patterns. “Shell companies moving massive amounts through Mexico and around the world. Way more money than any of his most successful legitimate businesses generate.”
Flint studied the financial web until he spotted the most important point. The numbers were staggering. “Drug money? Harry Fisher, Jason’s father, was in the opioid pill mill business with Cole way back when. Nothing I’ve seen so far suggests Cole got out of that business after Harry Fisher did.”
“Probably. Fentanyl has mostly supplanted the opioid market, but it makes sense. And look at this.” Gaspar switched to satellite imagery of several other ocean platforms. “Cole’s got seventeen research facilities in international waters.
Most are legitimate. Oil exploration. Marine biology. Renewable energy development.”
“Most?”
“One is the jewel in his crown.” Gaspar zoomed in on a platform three hundred miles west of San Francisco. “This beauty.”
Flint studied the image of the structure that dominated the screen. At a glance, he noticed it was seven levels above the waterline. Multiple helicopter pads and a runway suitable for Flint’s Pilatus or maybe Harriers. Industrial cranes and processing equipment.
Flint had seen and even visited such platforms before. But this one was massive enough to house hundreds of people. It looked like an oil rig crossed with a small city.
“What’s Cole call the place?”
“New Geneva.” Gaspar grinned. “Clever name. Sounds boring and scientific to regulators, but it’s ironic. Geneva’s where international laws get made. New Geneva is where Cole reigns supreme and makes his own laws.”
Flint’s satellite phone buzzed. Kim Otto’s number appeared on the screen. He could hear the tension in her voice before she even spoke.
“This is Flint.” He answered on the second ring after he put the call on speaker. “I’m here with Gaspar.”
“Hey, Chico. Got the intel you wanted.” Otto greeted Gaspar before she delivered the bad news.
“We suspect Cole’s floating platform is a base for illegal activities.
We believe there’s a drug processing operation and possibly other crimes going on.
Disguised as the corporate headquarters for several of his marine research operations and other legitimate enterprises. ”
Which was what Flint had suspected, but confirmation was good. “Can the Bureau breach the place?”
“Physically? Sure. We’ve got equipment and manpower.
But practically speaking, no. International waters plus Cole’s political protection makes it untouchable through normal channels.
” Otto lowered her voice as if she was concerned about being overheard.
“Our satellite surveillance also shows increased activity over the past twenty-four hours.”
“What about Cole? Did he land there with hostages?” Flint asked. “He took Jason Fisher and a woman from Fisher’s estate on Windsor Island a couple of hours ago.”
“Not yet. But New Geneva is all the way across the country from Miami and three hundred miles off the coast of California. Give him time,” Otto replied. “You think he is eliminating witnesses? That might give us jurisdiction, if they’re Americans.”
“Hard to know,” Flint said.
“It’ll be difficult to eliminate Jason Fisher. The public outcry would land him on death row somewhere,” Gaspar said. “Fisher is beloved. He might also be the only billionaire on the planet who is more powerful than Cole. Which puts Cole between a rock and a hard place.”
Otto said slowly, “So he’s running an active criminal empire through legitimate businesses. New Geneva is where he conducts operations too sensitive for anywhere else.”
“Which means it’s a place where he could kill two people and get away with it.” Flint absorbed the implications. “What kind of illegal activity?”
“International drug trafficking. Money laundering. Contract murders. We’re talking about a criminal enterprise worth billions,” Otto said. “And he’s got the resources to disappear anyone who threatens him.”
“Including Jason Fisher,” Gaspar said flatly.
“Especially Jason Fisher. A tech billionaire investigating Cole’s operations is exactly the kind of threat Cole would want to eliminate, if he can get away with it,” Otto said.
“What about timeframe?” Flint asked. “How long before Cole moves against his hostages?”
“Based on the satellite activity, he’s already mobilizing. Supply ships, personnel transfers. Whatever he’s planning is happening soon,” Otto said. “Hours, not days.”
“Any intel on New Geneva’s defenses?”
“Private security force. Paramilitary contractors. The place is a floating fortress with serious firepower,” Otto replied. “I can’t stress this enough. You’re talking about assaulting a billionaire’s private army in international waters. This is way beyond normal operations.”
“Understood,” Flint replied. Which was not even close to the assurances she wanted.
She paused a few moments, and no one filled the silence.
Before she rang off, Otto simply said, “Don’t make me regret giving you all of this.”
“Copy that, Mom,” Flint said with a smirk as he ended the call and looked at Gaspar. “As expected. Conventional law enforcement can’t touch him. Not legally, anyway.”
“Exactly. He’s created his own sovereign nation out there.” Gaspar switched to architectural diagrams of the New Geneva platform. “But that doesn’t mean he’s unreachable.”
“How so?” Flint had his own ideas, but he wanted to hear Gaspar’s.
“The platform has submarine docking facilities. Large enough for submarine access during supply operations.” Gaspar highlighted the underwater sections. “With the right resources, you could get close without being detected.”
Flint considered the logistics again because Gaspar had identified the same solution he had come to. “I’d need a submarine.”
“Funny you should mention that.” Gaspar’s grin widened. “Remember Captain Walsh? Owes you a favor from that Baja operation a few years back.”
“Yeah, I recall.”
“He’s got connections at Naval Base Ventura County.”
The pieces started falling into place. Cole’s vast resources. Domestic and foreign contacts willing to bend rules. A billionaire’s floating fortress operating outside all laws.
“Drake’s in no condition for this kind of operation.” Gaspar seemed genuinely worried, which Flint took seriously. Gaspar rarely worried.
“Drake’s tougher than he looks. And I can’t do this alone,” Flint replied. “You want to come along?”
“My wife would kill me. Assuming I survived the assault.” Gaspar pulled up nautical charts showing approach routes to the platform.
“Cole made a mistake when he grabbed Fisher. Now he’s doing more than covering up old crimes, for which he might have been forgiven.
One billionaire trying to destroy another?
That’s a recipe for a long prison term when he’s caught.
Which he will be. No jury will give Devon Cole any sort of sympathetic verdict. ”
“Normal people have jaundiced views of billionaires, for sure,” Flint agreed. “Love ‘em or hate ‘em. No middle ground. And no one believes billionaires can be trusted.”
Flint studied New Geneva’s building plans on Gaspar’s screens. Seven levels of criminal enterprise protected by international law and private security.
Two hostages, one of whom might already be dead. The other too visible and powerful for a quick death.
On top of that, the platform looked impregnable from every angle.
An impossible mission with no backup and no official support.
Flint smirked. “When do we leave?”
“Walsh’s contact can be ready to move in six hours.
It’ll take you that long to get ready and get out there.
” Gaspar was already working his phones.
“But understand what you’re walking into.
Cole’s platform is a floating fortress. It’s also his personal kingdom where he makes all the rules.
Once you breach New Geneva, you’ll be totally on your own. ”
Flint replied, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“If you intend to kill yourself, please call Scarlett and tell her. Because she’ll have my hide if she finds out I knew what you were doing and didn’t report in,” Gaspar said.
“Don’t worry. She’s your boss, but she’s the closest thing to a sister I’ve got.” Flint smirked again. “I’ll handle Scarlett. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Gaspar nodded and reached for another secure phone. Through the office window, the first hints of dawn were beginning to lighten the Miami sky. “Get some sleep. I’ll make some calls.”