Page 68 of Princess's Revenge

It’s nine-thirty. I follow her out and we both lean on the hood of the Maserati. “You want to tell me what’s going on now?”

“Nope. Just wait and see.”

Far below us, it looks like a little city. The port never sleeps. Loading and offloading containers happens 24/7. If it stops, trade stops…which means commerce stops. The whole economy grinds to a halt.

Somewhere down there is someone’s fruits, vegetables, coffee beans, sweaters, furniture, machine parts, computers, you name it—it all comes from right here.

Everything leaves from there too.

There are more docks than you can count.

I hold my hand out for the binoculars, Andrea passes them to me absentmindedly. Dock eighty-seven is empty, and dark, there seems to be no action at all. There’s a white panel-van parked there though. That’s not the DEA. It looks like the guys who’re waiting to pick up the stash.

“So, you didn’t call the DEA then?”

“I sure did,” she cutely wiggles her nose.

“Then where are they? There’s nothing going on down there.”

“Patience darling.”

We wait…

A while later she looks at her phone for the time—it’s nine forty-five.She pulls an untraceable burner flip-phone from her bag, pushes the call button twice and holds it to her ear.

“Agent Carlson, it’s me,” she whispers, “I was given the wrong information. It’s dock eighty-seven,” then pauses, “yes. Now!”

Andrea pops the back off the phone, pulls the sim out, snaps it in half, then breaks the phone in two at the hinge and tosses the lot over the cliff.

“Now, watch,” she points below us.

“Andrea, what the hell is going on? What did you do?”She’s got the fucking DEA on speed-dial?!

“I said—watch!”

Two minutes go by and I see the panel-van start up, turn around and get moving. “Okay, their inside man tipped them. Now?”

“There, she points into the distance.”

There’s a ship that’s suddenly turning away. It’s a container ship, so it’s not the kind of thing that turns on a dime. There’s a chopper headed towards it and several CRRCs—Those little rubber boats.“Okay, explain.”

“I called them weeks ago, anonymously, and told them I might have information about drugs coming in at the port. When Leo called today, I phoned them and told them—Ten tonight, dock twenty-seven.”

“I see.”

“I had them nearby but not too close. Twenty-seven isallthe way on the other side. They had plenty of time to set up but they were in the completely wrong place. So, the Cassaduchis and the traffickers are all happy to make their deal proceed as scheduled.”

“Uh huh.”

“I make the call with the correct location, their contact in the port warns the Cassasuchis and they have time to escape, but that ship doesn’t. Stopping and turning was a red flag. Suspicious behavior. Now they’re going to get searched by the port cops and the DEA. No more drugs. See?” She smiles like the logic is bullet proof.

It is…and it’s so obvious I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.

“I’m willing to bet that was a big ass shipment. Their supplier is going to be pissed. It’s going to set them back”

“And they’re going to be angry.”

“Yup.” Andrea smiles again. “Home, Christopher,” she gets into the car.

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