Chapter 13
Three hours later Trevar was not happy that he was still in Washington as he walked into the large conference room at Homeland’s detention facility.
Joseph Rippe had been extremely forthcoming with information about Finger’s organization and could still be useful, so Trevor had requested his presence.
“To say the CNO was pissed that one of his Admirals was involved in the pedophile sex trade, didn’t scratch the surface of the man’s anger.
” At least he didn’t shoot the messenger, Trevor thought.
“Rear Admiral F.X. Finger turned in his retirement paperwork, via an email to the CNO, effective December thirty first. He is on terminal leave effective immediately.”
“Thought he’d run but I’m surprised he’s cut ties with his military career.
” Kam noted. “We traced him leaving Miami heading to St. Vincent and the Grenadines the afternoon of November first. It took us so long because he didn’t use his United States passport but one that he’s obviously been issued from SVG. ”
“Mr. Rippe, could we sneak a couple of SEALs or Delta operators in as security on the island?” General Lyon, commanding officer of USSOCOM asked from the head of the conference table.
“No, sir. The admiral knows every man on the security team by name. He personally recruited each and every one of us.” Joseph Rippe shook his head side to side.
He was still handcuffed but not to the table.
“Too bad we can’t sneak in a girl. He doesn’t have a clue who they are.
One blonde haired blue-eyed pre- or early teen is the same as the next to him. Purely merchandise.”
General Lyon’s gaze flew to General Ava Standish, the new Director of Section 7 at Homeland Security. “What do you think about putting Black Swans on the island?”
The highest-ranking female general in the Marine Corps smiled.
“That’s one hell of an idea. Lei Lu looks like a child.
Her Asian American features are ageless.
If we put her there, all of Team 1 is going to want in on the takedown.
With the right makeup and the compression bra, Kira Frost from Team 2 might be able to pass for a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old.
She’d be a good choice because she’s a nurse practitioner.
Black Swan Team 2 is going to want in on the action if she goes in. ”
“I don’t have a problem with that. They might even be able to help with keeping the girls calm.” General Lyon pointed out.
“Sir, who or what are these Black Swans?” Trevor had never heard of them before.
“Yes, I’d like to know, too,” Kam interjected.
“Whoever we send to the island has got to have some kind of special operations training. We’re risking so much.
If word gets out that we’re going to invade the island, Admiral Finger will run again and start his disgusting sex trade somewhere else. We need to stop him now.”
General Lyon and General Standish exchanged a glance before she shrugged and gestured to him.
“The existence of the Black Swans is need to know only.” He pinned Commander Gallagher with his stare.
“In order for this mission to be successful, I deem that everyone in this room needs to know. I caution you to immediately forget about their existence once this mission is completed. Your names will be added to a very short list of those who know of the existence of these women.”
“Admiral Maddox, the Black Swans are trained better than your SEALs. They have not only successfully completed every SEAL training school, but those of Army Special Forces and Marine Special Operations before we sent them to several very focused schools at the CIA. Make no mistake, these women are the most lethal tool I have. Yes, they are mine because they’re active duty and cross services.
They are temporarily assigned to Homeland for reasons I’m not going into here and now.
” He swung his gaze to Kam. “As the Director of Human Trafficking Division, if you ever get the opportunity to hire one of these women, pay her whatever she requires. You’ll never regret it. ”
General Lyon focused his attention at the end of the table. “Mr. Rippe, how could we get girls onto the island?”
Joseph Rippe held up his cuffed hands. “I could take them. When I bring in new girls, I have to take their picture and enter certain data into the company computer. I can put that in and back date it to make it look as though they’d already been through weeks at the training camp.
They could just slide in during loading and join the group.
Better yet, they could meet us at the plane and blend in.
The girls are usually quiet on the way to the island. ”
Kam raised her eyebrows. “You’re asking me to release you? I’m not sure the brass is going to go for that.”
“I have the most brass of anybody at this table.” General Lyon pointed to the four stars on his collar.
“Your bosses listen to me. I believe Mr. Rippe wants to take down Admiral Finger more than anybody else.” He turned his attention to the shackled man at the far end of the conference table.
“How are you going to explain where you’ve been for the past forty-eight hours? ”
Joseph Rippe shrugged. “As soon as I figured out the building was being raided, I grabbed Sigrid and we escaped through the hidden tunnel. I put her in a safe place and went back to the training camp to check on those girls. I’ll call him from the secure line there and offer to bring a load down to the island.
We have a secure computer at the training camp, and I’ll just add the information about the women that you’re sending. ”
“Why does that sound too fucking easy?” Trevor asked everyone in the room.
“Human trafficking is easy.” Rippe lifted his hands off the table.
“The whole process is easy, and lucrative. I hope somebody here is tracking down all the admirals’ accounts, including the bank he owns on the island he owns.
He makes easily tens of millions of dollars every month.
I know he’s invested a lot of money into the island resort.
His intention was to live on the island and rake in the money.
He pictured himself as a smarter version of Jeffrey Epstein.
SVG doesn’t have extradition to the United States, unlike Epstein’s island.
Many of the admiral’s clientele used to visit Epstein’s resorts.
These men will pay a lot of money to satisfy their prepubescent proclivities.
Admiral Finger is willing to take their money. ”
General Lyon pinned Kam with his gaze. “Are you willing to issue an arrest warrant for Francis Xavier Finger?”
“Yes, I am.” Kam grinned. “The warrant will include the search and rescue of kidnapped American citizens, your two Black Swans, the arrest of anyone involved in holding them captive, and a whole lot of legal jargon. We will also seize all his accounts. The IRS is going to want to issue their own warrants for tax evasion, but they can wait until we’re done with him. ”
“Trevor, as commanding officer of USSOCOM, I hereby assign you to plan and execute a mission to rescue the two kidnapped American citizens on the St. Vincent and Grenadines island known as the Island of Joy. General Standish, I request that you assign whomever you choose to go undercover on said island and assign both Black Swan Team 1 and Team 2 to assist the SEALs from Group 1 on this mission. Did I miss anything?” General Lyon looked around as he stood.
Everyone shook their heads.
On his way out the door, General Lyon pulled Trevor aside. “I’ll talk to the CNO and see how he wants to handle Rear Admiral Finger. Technically, he’s still active-duty until December thirty first.”
“Thank you, sir.” Trevor shook the hand of one of the few men in the entire military who outranked him.
He’d worked very closely with the general over the past two years as they discussed the need for SEALs to handle specific missions.
He respected General Lyon and was thankful that he’d taken on the task of dealing with the Chief of Naval Operations and the disposition of Francis Finger.
Trevor was tense as he and Marta got ready for bed.
It had been a long week, which included the weekend, to prepare for the raid on the Island of Joy.
Thank God Marta knew about the entire mission since she had to handle all the paperwork.
It was nice not to keep secrets from her.
They were able to talk openly about the mission and the preparations.
She’d surprised him when he discovered she knew all about the Black Swans.
She’d been the one to arrange their secret SEAL training, working directly with Marine Corps Brigadier General Ava Standish, Army Major General Nancy Burkhoff, Rear Admiral Betsy Willett, and Air Force Brigadier General Janet Nichols who were on the controlling board of the Joint All-Female Special Operations School.
He’d been extremely pleased with the level of expertise the Black Swans had demonstrated, even down a woman on each team. They worked very well with the men and often offered helpful suggestions.
With Marta at his side, Trevor would follow the raid scheduled at four o’clock in the morning.
He had decided to send home all the officers who would be watching the live video from the Group 2 conference room so they could get a few hours’ sleep since they were going to be up most of the night.
Marta had all but dragged his ass out of the office as well.
Since moving into the VOQ, he’d slept in silk boxers, and she’d worn a mid-thigh cotton nightshirt.
Even if they made love, they’d often end up in those sleep clothes afterward.
They were going to try to get four or five hours sleep before they had to return to the office, so they’d simply stripped off their clothes and crawled into bed in their underwear.