Texas Tango: A Flint Rock Novel (15 page)

Flint spoke as Murphy paused.
 
“Bahaar for sure knows that I am still alive and that Ava left Athens with me.
 
We should assume that Bahaar may be able to track one or more of us by our mobile devices.”

“I agree,” Murphy said, “and there are two more things from Zeta by way of Harry.
 
She has tracked a six million dollar money shift from one of Bahaar’s secret accounts to the head of the angel trumpet group.
 
That happened about one hour ago.
 
And the other item is that Bahaar is flying some men to Rome for a meeting in the Hotel L’Orange about three blocks from the Vatican.
 
The blond woman whom Ava hypnotized is there.”

Gina spoke next.
 
“Flint, you must know this Zeta person.
 
How can she find out such secret
information.
 
I don’t like trusting some Chinese girl’s hunches.
 
You ready to bet your life on what she says?”

Flint looked straight at Gina.
 
“Absolutely!
 
When we have more time, I will tell you why I trust her so much.
 
But right now I have a couple of questions for Zeta that Harry might already know her answer to.
 
I would call her directly, but she has hardly slept since all this started five days ago.”
 
Flint took out his smart phone and called Harry who answered on the second ring,

“Flint.
 
Glad you are still among the living.”

“Thanks Harry.
 
I have you on speaker, and Murphy, Ava, Gina, Mary, and I are wondering about our next moves.
 
Two questions that Zeta may have already answered:
 
Did she have time yet to get backgrounds on the names Bahaar gave to Ava?
 
And are they the guys Bahaar has invited to Rome?”

“The answer to the second question is yes,” Harry responded.
 
“Zeta used the four names to find out who Bahaar is bringing to Rome.
 
They are all on their way.
 
Except that the fellow from Brazil has already arrived.
 
Zeta uncovered a fifth person who should be at the Orange Hotel by 5:00
P.M.
, Italy time.
 
He is from Suriname.”
 
Harry paused,
then
said, “Hey Flint I thought Zeta had left but she is still here and wants a word with you.”

“Flint.”
 
It was Zeta’s voice.
 
“I just now emailed you photos and a brief bio for each person Bahaar is bringing to Rome.
 
Each of them has a hotel room paid for by Bahaar for two nights.”

“Any guesses about why these particular men?” Flint asked.

“Each one is highly educated as a geologist and is very influential in Latin American oil discoveries.
 
They are between twenty eight and forty two years old, and each one has substantial holdings in Latin American oil stock.
 
I know Bahaar thinks that a majority of the world’s current and future oil reserves are located in Latin America.
 
Bahaar may plan to funnel a lot of money through the Vatican bank.
 
Or perhaps he intends to house some stock certificates at the bank.
 
I suspect that he means to gain control of the stock certificates of some or all of the men who are about to be his guests.
 
He will have some way of forcing the men to agree to whatever he wants.
 
Sex with Pagana is part of the plot, but not simply to entertain.”

“What is the fifth guy’s name?” Flint asked.

“Jonathan Temple.
 
From Suriname.
 
He is on his way to the Orange Hotel, but his name was not included for Pagana to have sex with.
 
So he is different from the other four.
 
Bahaar is an evil being.
 
He always ends up using pain somewhere in his schemes.
 
What do you plan next?”

Flint thought for a few seconds.
 
“Looks like a journey to Rome
is
needed, but I want to see what I can learn about Freddy before leaving Naples.”

“Good idea, but I suspect that won’t be easy.
 
He is either dead or in hiding.
 
I think he is hiding.”

“Any thoughts about how to find him?”

“Yes.”
 
I would look for a priest of his size and age who just got to town a day or two ago.
 
He likes the Society of Jesus.
 
In fact he took initial vows as an eighteen year old.
 
I’m headed out of here for a few hours to get some sleep.”

“Thanks Zeta.
 
Tell Harry thanks too.”

“Right.
 
Stay alert.
 
You owe me some flight instruction,” she reminded Flint.

They hung up.
 
Flint saw Zeta’s email on his smartphone.
 
He glanced at all five photos, handed the phone to Mary.

“These are five of your colleagues from Latin American.
 
Know any of them?” he asked.

She looked.
 
“Yes I know all of them but have actually talked to only three beyond superficial social pleasantries.”
 
She indicated Davi Ruiz from Brazil, Jonathan Temple from Suriname, and a man named Lucho Blanco from Argentina as the three with whom she had conversed.
 
Mary opened her mouth to comment on the men, but stopped short of speech.

Freddy Gambini had entered the house through the kitchen door.
 
“Hello everyone,” he said as if it was another humdrum day in an unremarkable life.
 
He wore a priest’s collar and tunic.

Gina and Ava spoke to Freddy simultaneously in Italian.
 
Then Ava translated.
 
“We are demanding to know where Freddy has been and why he is dressed as a cleric.”

“I went under cover with the help of a Jesuit who is a friend since childhood,” Freddy explained.
 
Not long after I removed the third angel trumpet assassin, two men grabbed me.
 
They blindfolded me and tied me up.
 
They mostly talked some language I didn’t understand but sometimes they spoke on the phone in English.
 
Sounded like they were waiting for Ava to be brought from somewhere.
 
They said she was going to hypnotize me.
 
They seemed to know all about my therapy with Ava.”

“When was this to happen?” Flint asked.

“Not sure, but soon I think.
 
After what seemed like hours, they put me back in the car, actually a van, and were driving me somewhere, I think to Rome but I’m not sure.”

“How did you get here?” wondered Mary.

“I managed to jump out of the van right in front of the church I was confirmed in.
 
I had grabbed the pistol one of them had and it fired as he tried to hang on to it.
 
The slug hit the other guy who was driving—which is how I was able to leap out of the van.”

“What’s with the priestly dress?” Ava asked.

“The church rector hid me.
 
Then I got him to call my Jesuit friend who loaned me this outfit.
 
He and I figured I would be safer dressed like a padre.”

Freddy rubbed his arm as he talked, causing Ava to ask why.

“It hurts a little,” he said.
 
“I think they gave me an injection when I was blindfolded but I’m not sure.”

Ava asked Gina for a magnifying glass and took Freddy to the window for better light.
 
She looked at his eyes, took his pulse, asked if he had a dry throat.

“Now that you ask, yes.
 
Feels like I might be getting a cold,” he replied.

“May I borrow your computer, Gina?”
 
Ava asked.

Gina took Ava to the library a few steps away and turned it on for her.
 
Ava got the log in screen for the PDR, the Physician’s Desk Reference.
 
She typed a few words, read for a couple of minutes, typed again, read more.
 
She did that several more times, then returned to the kitchen.
 
Everyone was instantly silent, looking at her.

“I am 95 percent sure,” she began, “that Freddy was injected with a psychotropic drug that increases suggestibility and that likely also erases conscious memory.”

“More Russian truth serum?”
Flint asked.

“Possibly,” Ava responded, “but it isn’t the one they planned to use on you.
 
Fred, how many hours has it been since they gave you the shot?”

“Nearly twelve hours,” he replied.

Murphy spoke.
 
“There is a drug that the KGB developed a few years ago to use on assassins so they would not have any memory of an assignment in case they were caught.
 
But it didn’t erase subconscious hypnotic programming.
 
The problem with it was that it led to permanent memory loss.
 
A few of their crack agents ended up in a rest home because they could not remember where they lived.
 
So the Russians developed an antidote.
 
Let me borrow your phone Flint—mine is out of battery—and I’ll see what more I can find out.”

Flint handed it over.
 
Murphy dialed, then talked, listened, then asked to be handed off to another person.
 
When he hung up, he said, “good thing I called.
 
There is a supply of the antidote in Geneva which will get here in about two hours.
 
It has never been known to do damage if administered in error but it is a life saver when needed.
 
 
It is coming directly to this house, Gina.
 
A CIA agent whom I trust is bringing it himself.”

Flint looked at Murphy and said, “
can
you guess what Bahaar might have intended to do with Pagana if Ava had done as he directed with the hypnosis session?”

“I assume that he will still do whatever he planned because he probably hasn’t discovered that Pagana isn’t performing as he thinks Ava programmed her to do.

“Try this out,” Flint said as everyone looked at him.
 
If Bahaar’s plan had gone as he wished, he would have had Ava hypnotize Fred so he would do anything that Bahaar directed
..
 
Fred got an injection so he would not be able to remember anything he could tell police.

Fred cleared his throat.
 
“Who was Ava supposed to suggest that I kill?”

“No one specific.
 
What Bahaar intends to have Ava suggest is that you love Bahaar and trust him completely and want to do anything he asks you to
do.
 
You become a blank slate assassin, ready to take out anyone Bahaar tells you to kill.”

Ava looked puzzled.
 
“But who would that be?”

Flint looked at Ava, then at Murphy and then at Gina.
 
“Bahaar will need to dispose of Ava when she is no longer useful.
 
I think he will have Fred get arrested for killing her.
 
But Fred won’t have any memory of why he has killed her.”

Gina whistled softly.
 
“Flint you are thinking like an Italian, like Machiavelli.
 
But this Bahaar guy must know by now that you are still alive and that Freddy got away.
 
How do those developments affect what he will do?”