Overture to Disaster (Post Cold War Political Thriller Trilogy) by Chester D. Campbell

Author:Chester D. Campbell [Campbell, Chester D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Shadows Press
Published: 2013-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

39

Roddy arrived at the airport shortly before ten and found his passenger waiting. The man had told Pablo Alba he was from Atlanta, Georgia, though the operations director said he hardly sounded like a Southerner. He had insisted on leaving earlier in the morning, but Alba had patiently explained that the chopper was undergoing routine maintenance and would not be ready to fly before ten o'clock.

"I am Ivan Netto," said the passenger, handing over his business card.

Based on the accent, Roddy judged him to have come originally from one of the Slavic countries, probably Russia. He attributed the weary look to someone who had been traveling too long and too far. After a glance at the card, he stuck out his hand. "Roddy Rodman, Mr. Netto. Where did you want to go around Tequila?"

Netto gave him an apologetic smile. "I am not sure."

"Pardon?" Roddy frowned. How the hell was he going to fly this guy somewhere if he didn't know where he wanted to go?

"What I would like to do may sound a bit strange," Netto said, "and, perhaps, useless. You can tell me if that is so. You see, I am looking for a yellow dump truck. I was told I might find it in the Tequila area. Would this be difficult to accomplish from a helicopter?"

Roddy shook his head. He had heard some wild requests, but never one quite like this. "I used to fly search missions while I was in the U.S. Air Force," he said, folding his arms thoughtfully. "It's no big deal. You simply set up a pattern to cover the area you want to search, then fly back and forth at low altitude. A yellow dump truck should be easy to spot. But Tequila isn't all that big a town. It would be just as simple, and certainly a lot cheaper, to do it on the ground, in a car."

Netto nodded, but persisted. "The area I was advised to look at is not in the town of Tequila. It is to the north."

Roddy thought immediately of Elena's ranch. He recalled a couple of small towns not far north of there, one on the Río Grande de Santiago, the river that wound through the mountains, cutting deep gorges on its way to Guadalajara. "I was up that way yesterday. Beautiful country. We can make a thorough sweep of the area." He didn't normally pry into his passengers' business, but his curiosity got the best of him on this occasion. "What's with the yellow dump truck?"

"I am in the importing business, Mr. Rodman. I bought some valuable silver items on a trip to Taxco, then came here to check on other matters. I made the mistake of leaving things in my car. Someone broke in and stole the silver. I learned that the thieves were driving a yellow Ford dump truck that had been seen in the area north of Tequila."

Roddy took the story at face value. It was really more explanation than he had expected. And knowing the Mexican justice system, it struck a sympathetic chord.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.