The Independents Read Free

Previous Engagements , next to the tools . He di dn’t know how far away the aircraft was, so he intended to pack for an overnight stay in the desert . It had been months since he had done this , and he knew from experience that everything needed to be planned out in detail. The plastic- covered paper had lists of gear and the time it took to do everything from making a mea l to clean ing his rifle. He opened a small bo x on the makeshift workbench, pulled out a clean piece of paper , and began writing out a plan.
    Terri padd ed over to his side for a closer look. A mischievous smile crossed her lips as she asked, “Isn’t this like packing for a vacation? Just throw everything in you might possibly need and go ? Why do you keep all those lists anyway? ”
    Bishop laughe d and kissed her on the forehead. “Well, just like our vacations, there isn’t room for everything. Don’t you remember having to repack a bout ten times whenever we d ecided to get away for the weekend ?”
    She playfully swatted him on the arm and feigned a hurt look. “It wasn’t ten times , Bishop. ” Terri paused briefly before continuing. “ Seriously though, h ow come you keep all that information ?”
    Clearly lost in thought, Bishop paused and then inhaled deeply. “Did I ever tell you about Mr. Franklin P. Mossback?”
    Terri shook her head and giggled. “No, Bishop. I ’m sure I would remember a name like that. ”
    He stared into space fo r a moment before pulling more equipment from the rock wall. He glanced at his watch and turned to Terri. “I bet the plane tried to land on the hig hway, and I want to get there when the light is at my back . I’ve got some extra time before I need to leave. So l et me tell you about Mr. Franklin P . Mossback, Senior Geologist, HBR. ”
    “Several years ago, before you and I met, I received my first assignment at HBR where I was going to be in charge. HBR had won a contract to explore for natural gas in a remote location known as the Tri-Border Area , in Sou th America . Quite the little cesspool of criminal and terrorist activity, i t was basically a disputed border region between Argenti na, Brazil, and Paraguay . ”
    Terri interrupted him. “Terrorist s in South America ? Are we talking about Islamic terrorist s or rebels?”
    Bishop shook his head, “Both . . . and much , much more than that . There were drug cartels, C hinese m afia, homegrown syndicates - you name it. If you were into money laundering, drug shipments, gunrunning, or general mayhem, you had to have an organization in the area to be considered an A-player. It was kind of like a United Nations for the underworld.”
    Terri absentmindedly toyed with a flathead screwdriver lying on the bench , digesting his stateme nt for a bit before responding. “We knew this was going on? I mean , America knew they were all down there and didn’t do anything about it? Why didn’ t we ever hear anything about this on the news?”
    Bishop chuckled and explained , “Our government was doing a lot more in the region than anyone knew. The DEA had infiltration teams all over the place. A lot of Special Forces were there as well. I’m sure the CIA and every other clandestine U. S. organization had boots on the ground at one point in time or another.”
    Terri pushed for an answer that made sense. “What about the local governments? Why didn’t they do something?”
    “The area is quite isolated, and hundreds of years of border disputes bred a society of corruption that was several generations old. I’m sure if you didn’t em brace the established method of doing business , you ended up as monkey bait out in the jungle somewhere…or worse. ”
    Terri settled down on the homemade workbench, making herself comfortable while Bishop finished his tale. He turned to look at her before continuing. “ Have you ever heard of a city called Ciudad Del Este in Paraguay?”
    Terri shook her head no. 
    “It’s a sh itty- looking berg, mostly