The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (16 page)

Impressed, De Niro continued in Spanish.

“
You speak Spanish with a slight Puerto Rican accent, did you know that?”

Moriah replied in English.

“
I took Spanish at Cornell
⁹
but I interned in Spanish Harlem. That’s where I really learned to speak the language, although, I acquired the accent, in the process. Where did you learn to speak Spanish?”

“
My paternal grandmother, Carmen taught me. She was born in Barcelona. We still have people there.”

Richard and Louis ran over dripping wet followed by some of the other children. Rosita intercepted them and sat them all at another table, then placed a platter similar to the one that William brought out, on their table. They were followed by all the adults who were in the pool, led by Mugsy.

De Niro quickly grabbed a plate.

“
Quick, before the
Cavoni
clean this platter too, what would you like?”

Moriah laughed.

“
You speak Italian too?”

“
My mother taught me.”

William walked over and whispered into De Niro’s ear, "Sir, Ms. Wang, calling from Virginia, is on the home telephone. She asked to speak to you.”

“
Thank you William, I’ll take the call, in my study. Moriah, if you’ll excuse me I’ll be right back. William, please serve Dr. Stevens first, before the wet vagabonds raid the platter.”

“
Hey, we’re towel dry,” Ricci exclaimed, making everyone laugh. Ricci walked over to De Niro.

“
Something up?”

De Niro decided it was time to let his brother-in-law know.

“
It’s Michelle on my home phone. I’d like you to sit in on the call, that is, once you dry off and make sure what’s-her-name gets something to eat; then join me in my study.”

“
Her name is Courtney, Cris… at least that’s her stage name.”

De Niro entered his study and closed the door behind him; then he took a seat behind his desk and picked up the receiver.

“
Michelle, its Cris, what’s up?”

“
Sorry to call on your home phone, Cris, I tried your cell but got your message.”

“
No problem, that’s on me, I left my cell inside the house. Things have a way of melting when you leave them outside, out here. You can always call on this line, though. My Executive Assistant William Brett is familiar with all of Watchman’s staff. So what’s up, did you turn anything up?”

“
Well, something turned up, but it doesn’t have anything directly to do with the mosque, at least I don’t think it does. You know how we’ve been monitoring large cash flows into Mexico from the Middle East, as part of our consulting contract with DHS
¹⁰
?”

“
Sure, they wanted us to help them crack down on any foreign terrorists trying to infiltrate the U.S. via Mexico. Apparently, they had intel that Al Qaeda might be paying the cartels up to $25,000 a piece for every person they helped to smuggle across our southern border.”

“
Correct. Well, with the help of Big Brother we just got a lead. $25 million American was wired into a Banco Santander account from an account kept in Qatar’s leading investment bank. The curious thing is that the account belongs to a Sharia-compliant private equity firm that was on the list of firms that you wanted me to keep an eye on … and so was the bank in Qatar. The money was said to be an investment that the firm was making into a Mexican logistics warehouse operation.”

Ricci quietly entered De Niro’s study and closed the door behind him.

“
Michelle, Captain Ricci just walked in, I’m putting you on speaker.”

“
Hi Michelle.”

“
Hi Captain.”

Ricci look quizzically at De Niro.

“
Mugs, I asked Michelle a few months ago if she’d do me a favor and look into … any financial transactions that might take place between firms that might be supporting Islamic terrorism and … the Ground Zero mosque project.”

Ricci was not amused.

“
Cris, you asked a person on my staff to do you a personal favor using resources of the firm you put me in charge of … and you didn’t let me know?”

De Niro breathed a sigh of relief, “For a moment there, I thought you were going to reprimand me for the …legal uncertainty of my request.”

Ricci’s face turned red with anger, “Hey Cris, she was your wife, but she was my sister too!”

De Niro walked over to his brother-in-law and gave him a quick but sincere hug, “I know Mugs, you’re right; I should have told you. I just didn’t want to involve anyone else.”

Ricci patted De Niro on his back then took a seat.

“
So fill me in.”

“
Michelle was saying that Big Brother kicked out a lead on $25 million American that was paid by one of the Sharia-compliant private equity firms that I had her keeping tabs on, to a Mexican logistics warehouse operation. We’re not sure if there’s any tie-in with the mosque though. Michelle, Cris again, why did double-B tag this particular transfer. There’s nothing illegal or particularly odd about a Sharia-compliant PE company investing in that kind of company. Logistics warehousing is one of the approved by Sharia law industries.”

“
That’s what we thought too Cris, until Big Brother produced some compelling info. It couldn’t immediately track the individual investors in the Middle East but it did dig up some disturbing intel on the Mexican side. Apparently, this warehouse operation is suspected of being used by one particular cartel to transport their narcotics into South America and the U.S. The warehouse operation is owned by a few layers of holding companies, but there is also suspicion that those companies may be owned wholly or partially by that same cartel’s leader.”

“
Michelle, its Ricci, which cartel is suspected?”

“
Hold on… the Pacifico cartel ...”

“
Pacifico is run by Tuco Ramirez,” Ricci replied, more to De Niro than to Michelle, “he’s considered the boldest and most violent of the new wave of Mexican drug lords.”

Michelle’s voice jumped in.

“
Captain, I’d like permission to send two of my operatives, one to Qatar and one to Mexico to investigate. Double-B has done all it can do, now we need to put feet on the ground and find out who the limited and general partners are of the private equity firm, and we also need to find out more about that Mexican warehouse operation.”

“
Michelle, sounds like it could be dangerous, especially on the Mexican side. Are you sure you want to send them both in solo?”

“
I’m sending two of my most experienced agents, one is Saudi Arabian, the other is Mexican, both naturalized U.S. citizens drafted by Langley over a decade ago.”

Both men detected a hint of defensiveness in Michelle’s tone.

“
Neither of them should have any trouble. We’re already working on their covers. This is a simple fishing expedition and they’re both experienced fishermen. They’ll know if they’re entering rough seas, trust me. They’ll both have standing orders to return to port, at the first sign of trouble.”

“
I do trust you Michelle, make it happen.”

“
Thanks Captain, sorry if I sounded testy there.”

“
Not a problem, get back to your July 4
^th
festivities. Where are you, anyway?”

“
I’m by my sister’s house in Richmond. Hey, tell Johnny-F that Big Brother did its job; double-B even sent me a text message to my cell when it found the dirt on the warehouse.”

“
Will do, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“
Happy 4
^th,
Michelle and thanks for the head’s up,” De Niro added.

“
No problem Cris, same to you.”

De Niro hit the disconnect button. As soon as he did, Ricci spoke up.

“
What do ya think?”

“
I don’t know. If it is something … it may be something we need to worry about. According to DHS, the cartels supposedly are only charging about 25 grand-per to smuggle a foreign alien over the border. So, if that’s a payment to smuggle bad guys into the U.S. that would pay for an army of them. Or else—“

Ricci finished his sentence, “Or else that’s not all they’re paying to smuggle in. Michelle’s right, we need to know.”

De Niro thought out loud, “That was odd though, one of the firms that I thought might be interested in funding the mosque, we find transferring $25 million into the account of a company suspected of having ties with a Mexican drug cartel.”

Ricci patted De Niro on the back, “As you like to remind me Cris, sometimes God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes you set traps for mice and you snare a rat. I guess we’ll see where this leads.”

“
On both ends,” De Niro added.

Both men got up to leave the room. Ricci opened the door but then shut it again, right before De Niro was about to walk out.

“
By the way Cris, she’s hot!”

De Niro knew exactly who he was talking about.

“
Mugs, don’t start!”

“
I’m not starting; I’m just saying … she’s hot!”

De Niro opened the door and spoke over his shoulder as he walked out.

“
Coming from a guy that’s dating a girl with a stage name, I appreciate your opinion, Mugs.”

Moriah was no longer at the table, by the time De Niro walked out. He looked around the pool for her and saw that everyone else was having a ball. Someone had turned the music up and everyone was singing along to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Before De Niro even asked, William walked over and told him what he wanted to know.

“
Dr. Stevens walked over to the stables, sir.”

De Niro was about to try and act uninterested, but he knew William knew him too well. So he simply replied, “Thanks William.”

As he approached the stables, De Niro could see Martin Fierro, his head “gaucho,” standing at the opened gate.

“
¿Que pasa, Martin…?”

Martin replied in English. He was practicing English with William and was proud of his progress.

“
The señora took Beauty out for a ride. I told her I go with her but she say not to bother, she just go down the path and back. Here she comes!”

Both men watched as the beautiful lady came trotting up the path, her blond hair in total contrast to Beauty’s jet-black mane and body. As she approached she reined the powerful animal into a graceful sidestep.

De Niro thought out loud, “She can ride, can’t she …”

He wasn’t expecting a reply, but Martin stepped up next to him.

“
Si, señor, she rides like the Chinitas
¹¹
back home in Argentina … except señora Moriah is a lot better looking than they are!”

Martin winked at De Niro as Moriah stepped down from Beauty.

“
Muchas gracias Martin, Beauty lives up to her name!”

“
De nada, doctora, you are welcome to ride Beauty, anytime.”

Martin led Beauty back into the stable as Moriah walked up to De Niro.

“
I hope it was okay to take her for a ride. I couldn’t resist. She’s a beautiful animal.”

“
Hence her name,” De Niro replied with a smile on his face.

“
Martin is amazing too. You know, I think he knows more about animals than I do.”

De Niro didn’t reply right away. For a moment he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time, but when it came to him what it was, it made him feel sick. His reply was a little obvious.