Tatsu - The Threat

Chapter 25 - Two Steps Ahead

They went along with the plan and rented the truck on Thursday night at the Houston PFM location. All PFM trucks had secret compartments in places you could not imagine. Behind the glove compartment was a 1' x 1' storage bin that was mainly used for cash. The floor on the trucks was actually hollow and had a 6" tall space along the entire floor to store merchandise. Brian did not like to transport drugs in his trucks because he never considered himself a drug dealer, but more often than not, he would pull very lucrative favors for his business partners. This particular trip actually had an unusual request; four million in cash and ten kilos of cocaine. Brian had no hesitation with stashing the cash and the drugs in the couple's truck. It was sort of an adrenaline rush and a way to test PFM's efficiency.

The PFM system required an inspection stop at Knoxville, Tennessee to make sure the truck was in good shape since the trip from Houston to New York was over 1000 miles. Knoxville was a great midpoint. The system already had the drugs and part of the money scheduled for delivery in Nashville and Atlanta out of Knoxville the next day. The remaining cash was going to remain on the truck and scheduled for delivery in New York.

Brian almost made a game out of this. His excitement had been idle for far too long. He wanted to indulge himself in a usual operation under the nose of two FBI agents. He wanted to give them the pleasure of witnessing the extent of HEG's competence so he made absolutely no load or delivery modifications. He didn't want anyone going above and beyond, just business as usual.

When they arrived at the PFM location in Knoxville, the shift manager asked them to pull the truck into the service area for inspection. Marty and Laura were escorted to the waiting area while the truck was inspected.

"It'll be about 30 minutes. May I offer you something to drink while you wait? We have soft drinks, filtered water and coffee," offered the clerk.

They both asked for water.

In the waiting area Marty was restless "I bet you they're unloading something off that truck. Mandatory inspection point my ass. These guys are full of shit!" said Marty pacing back and forth.

"Sit down and calm yourself Marty. We can't blow our cover."

"I'm going out there. You wait here!" Marty stormed his way out of the waiting area.

"No, Marty, what are you doing?" whispered Laura.

"Sir, you can't go in there!" shouted the clerk.

Marty ignored both of them and rushed to the truck. "What the fuck are you guys doing with this truck? I don't want you guys touching my belongings!"

As he kept walking toward the truck to take a peek, he saw they were taking out the cocaine from underneath the truck out of the floor compartment.

"Sir, please go back to the waiting area. Only authorized personnel can be here," said the shift manager.

Marty kept staring at the drugs in disbelief. His experience told him it was about 10 kilos. As soon as the shift manager finished talking, Marty pulled out his 9 mm and shouted "FBI, put your hands up!"

The shift manager and the other two employees who were unloading the cocaine, stopped. They were slowly putting their hands above their head when suddenly a bullet came flying through the air and hit Marty on the forehead. He died instantly.

Laura heard the shot and took a quick peek to check what was going on. She saw three men running toward the waiting area to apprehend her. Marty's body was on the floor with a shot right on the head sitting on a pool of blood next to the cocaine. Oh, no! A rush of adrenaline flowed through her body.

She ran out to the road and pointed her gun at an old pickup truck driving by. She pulled the driver out and yelled, "FBI, I'm sorry. This is an emergency!" She then took off as fast as she could.