Coffee (45 page)

“Yup.”

Warren
spoke up so she’d hear. “I sure wish there were some
Americans around here
who could play a decent game of DARTS!
”
Etty jerked awake. Her sleepy face swelled to a beaming grin - her
eyes squinted through still bloated eyelids. She rushed to them and
hugged them together with her arms around their waists. Warren
kissed the top of her head. “You’re wet!”

They
held the embrace for some time relishing the moment, no one needing
to say a word. Etty broke the silence. “Are you guys are
still working alone? I hoped this time you’d bring a few
friends.”

Bryce
shrugged, embarrassed.

Warren
answered, “We’ve had plenty of help along the way, but
they were more interested in helping kill us.”

Bryce
patted her back. “I say we get the hell out of here. I’ll
check flights with the concierge, and let’s be on the next
plane north. This time you’re not getting away from us.”
Etty loosened her grip and backed up, a slight change in her
expression. Bryce noticed. “What’s that face?”

Etty
turned to Warren. “Would you go get us a room, a single?”
The two men stared suspiciously. She explained with innocence,
“Hey, it’s the middle of the night - we’re not
going to get out of here for a while, at least we can be
comfortable. I need to let these clothes dry. Plus, if they’re
looking for me, I need to be out of sight.”

Bryce
gave Warren an approving glance, who turned and left. “Etty,
there’s a lot of repairing to be done back in the States.
Warren and I are running fugitives - it’s no fun. If we lose
you, we spend an eternity hiding or in jail. Think of Warren at
least, he was dragged into this.”

“Let’s
get upstairs. Just hear me out.”

“I
knew it. You have other plans, don’t you.”

Etty
pecked him on the cheek. “Nice hat.”



They
settled into the grand hotel room. Etty changed into a robe in the
bathroom and hung up her things to dry. Warren fell back onto the
bed and dangled his feet. Bryce and Etty took seats near the
window, which offered a panoramic view down the flood-lit beach.
Bryce called the concierge and had her look up information on the
next flight out.

Hanging
up, he announced, “Can’t leave for Washington D.C. ‘till
11:00am tomorrow. I want to go straight to FBI headquarters.”

“11:00am
tomorrow? With all your FBI and Marine connections, you can’t
get something earlier?” Warren asked.

“Even
if we could, I’d rather not call attention to us until we get
off this soil. There’ll be plenty of fireworks when we land,
but let’s keep a low profile until then.”

Warren
spoke towards the ceiling. “Then there’s time for a
little taste of the local hooch. I’m calling in an order.
I’m having two of whatever.”

They
swapped stories on their harrowing week. Warren and Bryce did most
of the talking, frequently connecting glances as if it would
validate the outrageous facts. Etty chimed in only once, with her
shark story, but otherwise appeared detached. The men drained the
tall fruit filled drinks, but Etty only ate the orange slice hanging
off the side of hers.

Once
the laughter subsided from an amusing anecdote, Bryce turned more
serious. “Etty. What’s eating you?”

As
good a time as any to begin her delicate negotiation, she thought.
She retrieved the manila folder from the bathroom and laid it on the
table.

Bryce
spun it around and scanned the cover. “What is it?”

She
made sure Warren could hear from the bed. “You’re
looking at a detailed plan to wipe out the coffee growing industry
in every major producer market in the world, except of course
Brazil.”

Warren
sat up. Bryce flipped it open, and strained to find words on the
pages that verified her statement. “It’s what?”

“I’m
not kidding. He’s using disease tainted fertilizer. Clorice
has a warehouse full of it, ready for shipment.”

Bryce
punched his index finger onto a page. “Global Growers is
mentioned here. Are they behind this?”

“You
got it. Clorice ordered more world dominance, and Global obliged
with a plan.”

He
pushed aside the folder. “This is none of our business, Etty,
not while we’re here anyway. Plus, I doubt he could pull it
off - it’s insane.”

She
raised her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t be so hasty.”

Warren
piped in. “You mean to tell me that you have actual proof of
some kind of diabolical plot? That’s good, isn’t it?
We turn it in, ruin Clorice, and put another nail in Global’s
coffin at the same time. We can bring this back to the States with
us, give it to the press, CIA, whoever. They’d have a field
day.”

Etty
continued. “First of all, there’s no mention of the
infected fertilizer here. This is just the distribution plan. Ship
dates, destination ports, shipping instructions. Unless you have
proof that the cargo is bad, it reads like the harmless execution of
the seasonal fertilizer cycle. Second you underestimate the power
of Clorice and Global. Look how they have the Americans eating out
of their hands already.”

Bryce
and Warren exchanged knowing glances. Etty went on. “Knut’s
dead, you guys are wanted criminals, and the President of the United
States sounds like he supports Clorice!” She pointed to an
article in the paper she carried from the patio. “Guys, this
plan moves into action in a few days. If we bring this story to the
States, not only would they consider it too sketchy to press
charges, it would take years to process even if they did.”

Bryce
knew there was truth to the powerful immunity Global and Clorice
were receiving from high places. But he persisted, and waved a
finger in the air. “The Brazilian government
here
then, we hand this over to the authorities before we leave. This is
their issue, not ours.”

Etty
moved closer. “Let me enlighten you of another part of his
plan. Clorice killed the President of Brazil a few weeks ago. He’s
lying hard as a rock in a freezer on the compound.”

The
statement took a moment to sink in. “Frozen?” Warren
asked.

“Can’t
be, all the papers have been talking about the brewing military coup
down here because of his new policies,” Bryce added.

“You
mean John Clorice’s policies. President Barros had a stable
country going until all of a sudden, he goes to Clorice Coffee for a
vacation, and boom, the country turns upside down. Frankly, it’s
so obvious that I can’t imagine why others haven’t
figured it out. He lured Barros down here, killed him quietly,
froze him, and then sent out bogus communiqués to discredit
him.”

Warren
moaned. “Whoa. This guy’s serious.”

Bryce
again, “How do you know? What makes you so sure he’s
dead?”

“I
saw him. Up close. No question about it. As for the fertilizer
plan, Clorice told me himself.”

“We
bring it to Brasilia then. There must be someone left in their
congress who’ll listen.”

“You
don’t get it. Clorice
is
the Government now. His plan
is rolling out like money on a press. In fact, I happen to know he
is going to thaw out the President tomorrow...” She checked
her watch, “I mean
today, this morning
, and claim he
died of something in the night, I’ll bet it’s pneumonia.
Clorice will be in place as a key business task force leader by the
weekend on a fast track to the Presidency.”

“Who
else knows about this?”

“Only
loyal Clorice staff.”

Bryce
looked at his hands. “A coup d'état,” he
whispered. A Marine’s reverie - sole access to the seeds of an
International injustice.

Warren
still lay on the bed. “Do you have any idea what kind of
trouble we are in back in the States? We can’t stay here and
fight someone else’s war.”

“Trouble?
Do you hear what I’m saying? We leave here, and Clorice’ll
pull it off. He has fertilizer ready for loading at the Recife
docks that will deliver a wave of deadly disease to plants all over
the world. Once he’s President, nothing will stop him. I’m
just asking you to stay a few more hours - we can still fix the
problems back home.”

Warren
rebutted. “Now that I think of it, won’t his plan be a
little obvious? After a few farmers use the stuff and their crops
die, people will catch on.”

Etty
responded unshaken. “Oh, he’s not that stupid. The
fertilizer will work fine this year, maybe next year. The disease
is incased in little balls of cement that can sit dormant for years.
He can wait for just the right time, and spread it selectively,
randomly, through radio frequency transmissions - like the stuff
they had in me, remember?” They nodded, a bit overwhelmed.
“Impossible to trace.” Her eyes blazed. “I’m
telling you, we have to do something, now. If we leave here
tonight, no matter how hard we try, we’ll end up dedicating
our lives to a frustrating battle that will never be completely
resolved. Thousands, maybe millions of people will suffer.”

Warren
tried another tactic. “Ok, then we call in the U.S. Army. We
have Etty talk to your home office, Bryce, tell them she’s
alive. They’ll know right away there’s foul play - then
tell them about Clorice. We can fax some of this information as
support. Once they see ... ”

Etty
interrupted. “I already told you, we don’t have enough
evidence. We need more proof before we can send anything that
counts.”

Bryce
agreed. “She’s right. If I call the US Government, the
only army they’d send is one to get us. All they know is what
they perceive to be true, including that we are criminals,
threatening world stability. Clorice has immunity, right from the
top. We’re the fly in the ointment, the turd in the Christmas
punch. We’d need the Brazilian President’s body and
some squirming plant killers before they’d even read our
mail.”

“Who’s
side are you on?”

Etty’s
enthusiasm grew, hearing support from Bryce. “Exactly. I’m
not saying we need to single handedly vanquish the Clorice Coffee
empire, I’m just saying we need confirmation of his plan,
before he manages to take over Brazil and destroy the world coffee
industry.”

Warren
chuckled. “Sounds great Etty. What do you propose - the three
of us storm the compound armed with grapefruit?”

“All
we need is evidence. Then we go home. I’m not exactly sure
how to pull it off, that’s why I need your help. I’ve
got a few ideas. They may be crazy, but these are crazy times.”

Warren
pulled a third chair up to the table. “I suppose we’re
going to hear what they are. Bryce, we can always tie her up with
sheets and ship her home if we don’t like it.”

Etty
waited for a sign of approval from Bryce, who leaned back to listen.
Etty gathered her thoughts. She pulled some stationery out of a
drawer, and found a pen. She located a hotel Directory of Services
and turned to a map of the Brazilian coast in the area. She used it
to draw a sketch of Clorice’s island. She drew boxes for
different buildings and annotated them with careful block letters.
They watched silently. Finally she began.

“We
need evidence. That’s the key. And we won’t be getting
any help from the outside, so we have to make it simple.” She
searched for concurrence with every word. “We need pictures
of the President’s body, and a sample of the fertilizer.
They’re both here.” She pointed to a box on the map.
“It’s right off the main entrance road, in an old,
otherwise abandoned building.”

Bryce
leaned over. “This is the main gate here, and there are high
security fences all around?”

“Yes,
except for here on the north side. There’s a thin pier
leading to an unsecured door. Getting to the dock should be easy -
there are boats all over the place. There are pathways through here
to get to the storage building.”

“How
many guards?”

“Lots.
And they use dogs.”

“Dogs
are bad.”

“I
got out, you should be able to get in. I know the terrain, I can
help.”

He
asked about guards, their schedules, other buildings, and the
technology of fence and building security. Etty offered what she
could.

Warren
looked back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. “Let’s
not get too cozy with this yet.”

“Just
collecting facts, Warren. If it’s impossible, then we have our
answer - we go home. So sit tight.”

Etty
concluded with matter of fact tones, “Once we get the
evidence, we destroy the building. Burn it down. It’s old
and dry - an easy mark.”

“What?”
Bryce shook his head, “If we destroy the building, we’ll
burn the President’s body. That’s ridiculous.”

“The
President will be taken out of there at 8:00am this morning, and set
up in his quarters. Clorice has already given the orders. He plans
to ‘discover’ him dead later today. Let him do it. If
we have our pictures and a sample before 8:00am, we just need to set
a little fire after he’s taken out.”

“Why
add the risk?”

“I’ve
thought a lot about this, Bryce. We have to remove the key to his
blueprint. I know him. Once he sees things falling apart, he’ll
take as many people down with him as possible. In the weeks, maybe
months, it takes us to prosecute, he’ll find a way to
distribute the stuff, change shipping plans, sell to the black
market for next to nothing. He’ll be laughing all the way to
hell. Besides, he keeps his arsenal down there, and we have to take
that out of the equation too.”

Warren
snickered. “That was your plan?”

Bryce
cut him off. “What do you mean, arsenal?”

“Guns,
other stuff.”

“A
few? Just some extras for the guards?”

“A
lot more than a few. Hundreds. Big rifles with lots of high tech
looking gadgets on them. And some other things in boxes.”