The Greatest of These by Greg Wendleton (booksvooks txt) 📕

more. “Not now Garret. Let’s spend our time figuring out what we can discover that will help us solve this crime.”

So, that’s what we did. Chad did most of the talking, and for the next half-hour he recounted their activities of Monday and the hell that they endured Tuesday and earlier today. Amazingly, it was only Wednesday.

“So, there were two other men who abducted you, along with the man we found at the shack?”

“Yes, and they left the shack at mid-day yesterday. I think they were flying home.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw them in the airport when our flight arrived yesterday”, I stated confidently.

Presley nodded and then turned directly to Chad, “I need to know about the COVID vaccine shipment.”

Nodding his head as well, Chad said, “Yes, that was what they were after. They threatened to…harm Jamie and make me watch, so I told them what they needed to know. The code word for the shipment itinerary, Love.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“I had three potential destinations in Southeast Asia, each coded with a word: Faith, Hope and Love.”

“And the greatest of these is Love.”

“Yes, Agent Presley. Love.”

“So, where is the vaccine destined?”

“The vaccine should arrive around March 29 in Thailand at the Port of Laem Chabang. It’s being transported on the PacAsian Star.”

“Okay,” exclaimed Presley, “I need to get that information to my boss. Someone is going to try to hijack that cargo!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

While I stayed in the ICU suite with the Wilhites, Special Agent Presley dashed out the sliding glass door and disappeared down the corridor. Once he was back in the private meeting room, Presley placed a call on his mobile phone to the Honolulu Field Office. When the phone call was answered on the other end, he stated, “Special Agent in Charge Hein, please. It’s Special Agent Presley calling from Maui.”

“Yes of course, one moment please. I’ll have to route your call to the SAC’s mobile phone.”

A few clicks and a few moments later he heard, “This is Hein.”

“Sorry to disturb you sir, this is Special Agent Presley and I have an urgent situation.”

“No problem, please explain it to me.”

Presley spent the next several minutes explaining the situation that had developed over the course of the day and the potential crisis regarding the COVID vaccine shipment to Thailand. Presley omitted some of the details that didn’t impact the immediate situation, namely my past activities and off-shore account. The SAC listened intently.

When Presley finished his story, Special Agent in Charge Hein let out a deep breath, “Well, that’s a mouthful Special Agent. But, even though it’s after midnight back in D.C., I better run this up the flagpole ASAP.”

“Yes sir, I concur.”

“Don’t leave that couple alone. Make sure they have security posted outside the ICU and keep some agents parked outside the hospital. We don’t know if there are still persons of interest in play over there on Maui.”

“I will call in a few more agents and I’ll stay here at the hospital as well. I’ll wait for your call with further instructions. Thank you, sir.”

With that the Special Agent in Charge hung up the phone and went to work on his end. He was a thirty-five-year veteran of the Bureau and a meticulous note taker. So, he didn’t wait for a report to be sent to him before he began sending an urgent message that he would follow with a phone call to the Assistant Director in Washington D.C. The report he typed took him over twenty minutes to craft. It contained all the details, especially the potential for piracy of the cargo either at sea or upon its arrival at Laem Chabang. He sent the email and fixed a fresh glass of iced tea before he sat back down at his desk in his home office.

The Assistant Director must have been having trouble sleeping because the phone in Honolulu rang before he could place a call. He answered saying, “This is Hein.”

“Wayne, what the hell is going on?”

“It’s a hell of a story Lee. It’s got all the stuff that Tom Clancy would have loved. But my agent on Maui is convinced that there is a legitimate threat to the UN’s humanitarian COVID vaccine shipment that is in route to Thailand.”

“The destination was a very well-kept secret, only a handful of people knew the details. How did the information leak?”

“Well, someone kidnapped the logistics guy and his wife while they were on Maui taking a little vacation. The thugs threatened to do bodily harm to the man’s wife and make him watch. He had no stomach for that and he gave up the information.”

“I see. I don’t think I’d have the stomach for that either. Do we have any idea who is behind the kidnapping?”

“Some guy by the name of Conrad from a little town down by San Antonio. That’s all we’ve got right now. We’ve got a team going through a cell phone that was recovered from one of the thugs.”

“He hasn’t been helpful in identifying his boss?”

“No. The last we heard; he was in an alcohol induced coma, to go along with food poisoning. They don’t think he’s going to survive. BAC was over .40 when they brought him in and they found a 1.75 liter bottle of tequila that was more than three-fourths empty.”

“Good Lord, that thug has harassed his last people, any way you look at it. You mentioned this guy, Conrad from down in Texas, what else do we know about him?”

“Seems he’s been working a mercenary crew for the past fifteen or twenty years. I think he has some military background, but our source isn’t sure. Appears to be about seventy years old.”

“Hmm, sounds like a guy that was run out of the CIA when I first came to D.C. Let me look into that angle and I’ll get back to you. In the meantime, we are going to have to notify the UN and see how they want to proceed. I’m thinking they need to divert