The Independents Read Free Page A

slums . Y et it ranked third in the world in the size and number of cash transactions. Miami and Hong Kong are the only places w here more dough changed hands. ”
    Early in their relationship, she would have asked how he came to know such things. Instead , Terri mused , “ Sometimes you scare me with the things you know , Bishop.”
    Bishop shrugged his shoulders . “There was a meeting of HBR’s advanced security team . Again, I was still kind of new to the job and trying to figure out how everything flowed at the company. I’ll never forget that first briefing. About a dozen of the security team and I were sitting around a large conference tab le when the door flew open , and the Colonel stormed in. ”
    Bishop paused and smiled at the memory . “I doubt any human being has walked more erect since homo sapien DNA aligned itself in its current configuration. I know you never met him, but the Colonel was about 5’10” and built like the proverbial fire plug. It was difficult to judge his age, but everyone guessed he was in his mid-50s. H is hair was closely cut , like a burr . I think it was turning grey, but there was n’t enough to really tell. His shoulders were always squared , and his gut was flat. He was definite ly not just a desk jockey.”
    Bishop moved away from the bench and did his best imitation of the Colonel ’s stride . “ He walked like he was going to throw his weight against a door with every next step. He wore a West Point ring on his finger , but it was un necessary – any fool could see he was a military man down to the very core. We all i mmediately stood at attention when he entered the room . I’ll tell you Terri, the man had a presence. I ’d swear a couple of the guys twitched, subconsciously wanting to throw him a salute .”
    Terri c huckled and teased, “I ’ve noticed some women come to attention when you’ve walked into the room , baby.” She threw Bishop a couple of exaggerated winks followed by a blown kiss.
    Bishop sheepishly grinned and pull ed more equipment off of the wall. “That day, the Colonel stood at the head of the conference table, and without any preliminaries, began briefing us on the upcoming assignment. I really, really didn’t want to mess up my first big job in charge , so I sat there soaking it all in like a sponge.”
    In his deepest growl, Bisho p repeated the Colonel ’s briefing that day. “If you ladies have had your fill of the free coffee and doughnuts, take a seat and listen up. We ’ve been given a new assignment , and I want to make this perfectly clear – this is a deluxe shit sandwich on toast. M anagement has contracted with the government of Paraguay to explore a remote region for natural gas. This job might as well be on the moon as far as we are concerned. The site is so isolated from any civilization or infrastructure we ’re going to have to build everything up from scratch. In addition, my sources at the Department of State tell me this region is hot , very hot . ”  
    Bishop scowled and lowered the volume of his voice, barely keeping a straight face as Terri squared her shoulders and tried to look like a soldier. He somehow managed to continue. “ The borders have been in dispute for over 200 years. There is practically no government presence , and tribal conflicts have raged back and forth for decades . Due to the remote nature of the area, DEA informs us that sever al well-established Columbian based cartels use th is strip of land both for recruiting additional ‘ entrepreneurs ’ as well as the movement of certain cash crops. They are actually some of the nicer of the region’s business men. HBR is going to have to build a small city on the site, and our job is to be the new sheriff in town. There will eve ntually be over 200 HBR personnel on location along with tens of millions of dollars of equipment. Let me make this perfectly clear to all of you. The criminal element operating in th e a rea has already sent numerous