Chapter 37
Rocco inhaled the fresh ocean air as he sat on the top deck of the private boat Jemma had chartered to take him to St. Felipe. After giving her the run-down of the intel he’d gotten from Dante, she’d explained in excruciating detail why going to the Palmchat Islands was problematic but necessary.
The Proteus Operation was off-the-books.
The local Caribbean DEA offices and the DNCD were unaware he was undercover in the Dominican Republic. Coordinating with the Palmchat Islands Investigative Bureau to look into the meeting would be harder. The PIIB was notorious for wanting no interference in matters within their borders.
Rocco was on his own.
But luckily, he had a trump card that could make his mission much easier.
The mid-morning sun glinted off the thick, black steel card in his hand.
The nature of Eddie’s involvement with El Sombro had solidified. He was getting access to trafficking routes, likely to help facilitate arrangements with the cartels for drugs to supply his growing operations in San Juan. But he’d bought that access with a connection El Sombro wanted. A connection that required permission from the PC-5 to move a shipment through the Palmchat Islands.
Neither he nor Jemma thought the shipment was related to drugs.
The cartel was masterful in shipping cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin across the Caribbean to the U.S. and Europe, with very few busts to disrupt their business. El Sombro didn’t need the PC-5 to keep that going.
So what did he need to ship through the Palmchat Islands?
Rocco hoped Everett and the guys at Stingray Security could help him find out.
Jemma had stayed behind, pointing out that coming with him could blow his cover. There was no doubt that Everett would recognize her. They needed everyone to continue to believe he was a former undercover agent who’d switched sides and now worked for the cartel. He didn’t like lying to Everett, but he had no choice.
The boat docked at the marina a couple hours later. Rocco walked down the street toward a shop renting mopeds for the day. He gave the man enough cash to eliminate the requirement of providing a driver’s license. The baseball cap tucked low on his head minimized the likelihood that the shop owner could describe him to anyone who might ask.
Another hour passed as he rode the bike through the winding Cabrito mountains until he reached the Stingray Security compound. He pressed the card against the badge reader. There was an audible click, then the door to the compound swung open. Slipping the card into his back pocket, Rocco navigated the maze of corridors in the state-of-the-art facility. The place was top-notch, better than most DEA training facilities, with a massive cyber-intelligence system, workout facilities, and living quarters.
Turning another corner, Rocco stopped and stared ahead.
“Well, look who’s here,” Sebastian said, walking toward him with an outstretched hand. “I thought you wouldn’t be back for a few weeks to check on Ike.”
Rocco shook his hand. “I’m not here for that,” he said, getting straight to the point.
Everett must have detected the seriousness in his tone because his friend rose from the table and walked over. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No trouble,” Rocco reassured him. “But I do need help.”
“What kind of help?” Lachlan asked. “And why didn’t you call? I could’ve flown you over.”
He’d bypassed his regular transportation to St. Felipe since he couldn’t tell Jemma about Ike. She thought he was meeting Everett, the former DEA agent turned private investigator. Rocco had convinced Jemma that Everett had contacts to help him find out about El Sombro’s meeting with the PC-5. He conveniently left out details about Stingray Security.
“There was no time for that,” Rocco said. Finding out when Dante was going to the Palmchat Islands with El Sombro was as easy as inviting the man out for drinks. Dante declined, explaining that he would if he wasn’t in St. Killian for the PC-5 meeting the next day. “I have a time-sensitive request.”
Kane ran into the room. “Is that Rocco’s voice I hear?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Rocco said, shaking his hand.
“What kind of time-sensitive request? Everything we have is at your disposal, you know that,” Kane said warmly.
“Not so fast,” Everett said, giving him the once over. “We should hear the request first.”
“With a friend like Everett, you don’t need enemies, do you, Rocco?” Adonis chimed in, chuckling. “Lighten up, man.”
“I’m listening,” Everett said, ignoring Adonis’s quip.
Rocco launched into the story he’d prepared on the boat ride over. “I’ve gotten a bigger role with El Sombro. He’s trusting me to manage a few shipments, but I’m hearing rumblings about a new product he’s about to start trafficking. I want in on it, but I need to know what it is first.”
“What the fuck, Rocco? You know, I didn’t say a damn thing when you left the DEA to work for a drug cartel. I never thought you’d be swayed by that life. Obviously, I was wrong,” Everett said, his blue eyes cold with disappointment. “But coming here to ask us for help to move up in a criminal organization is a new low. Get the fuck out of here.” Everett turned his back on him.
Rocco took the blows, which he knew would be coming, but they still stung. Especially since he was still one of the good guys, even if he had to pretend he wasn’t to the people closest to him.
He raised the black card in the air. “I thought this meant you would have my back no matter what.”
Sebastian walked over. “That is what it means.”
“Are you serious, Seb? You’re going to support a drug cartel with Ike’s security team?” Everett questioned. “Ike wouldn’t want us taking on this kind of assignment. We were created to help the good guys, not the bad ones.”
Adonis erupted in laughter. “If that’s the case, then why the hell is Kane here? Every week, he’s jetting off to some new locale around the world to rob rich folks blind. We don’t hold a grudge against him.”
Kane responded with a wide-boyish grin. “Can’t say I qualify as one of the good guys.”
“Maybe not, but you’re one of us,” Sebastian said, then glanced at Rocco. “If you have a stingray card, you’re one of us, too. Period. That means we’re here for you when you need us. No matter what it’s for.”
Everett threw his hands in the air. “Ike would never sign off on something like this, and you know it.”
“If it’s one thing that I know about Ike, it’s that he recognizes that we all live and act in shades of gray,” Sebastian countered.
Adonis nodded. “None of us are all good or bad.”
Sebastian continued, “Considering that Ike is still alive because of Rocco, he deserves our help.”
Everett flushed red with anger.
Rocco was grateful that some of the members of Stingray Security were willing to give him a chance.
Kane threw his arm around Rocco’s neck, then asked, “So how are we supposed to help you find out what’s planned for these new shipments?”
“El Sombro is in St. Killian today meeting with the PC-5 to ask permission to ship through the Palmchat Islands. You guys must have PC-5 connections willing to talk,” Rocco explained.
Adonis said, “Snitches don’t last long in the PC-5. They get added to the death list and wiped off the earth with a quickness. We don’t have a contact to help with this.”
“But we do have a hacker extraordinaire who might be able to use his skills to get the information,” Lachlan said, glancing around at the other guys. “I could fly Rocco over and see if Bobby could help.”
“Not a bad idea, and all we could offer,” Sebastian said.
“Hey, you’re forgetting about me,” Kane said. “If the cyber intel comes up short, I’m pretty good at getting into places I have no business being. If we can at least find out the location of the meeting, I can get in there.”
“Both options are better than what I had,” Rocco said, then turned to Lachlan. “How quickly can we leave?”