Nemesis Chapter 38

Nicholas and Max returned to the hospital and reported their adventure to Grant and Jim.  Grant gave a low whistle in response, and Jim frowned worriedly.

"I'm glad you two are all right," he murmured.

"These guys don't play around," Grant understated.

"No, they're definitely dangerous," Jim agreed.  "And, speaking of which, I wonder who our third player is."

"Let's find out,"  Grant answered.  Nicholas handed him the camera, and he uploaded the photograph of Garcia's companion and ran it through the IMF database. Almost immediately, he got a hit.

"Alfred Sanders." Nicholas read his name from the screen that Grant had pulled up.  "Minister of Commerce.  It says here he's known for his work with the community's impoverished."

Grant pushed another couple of keys. "Sanders oversees the distribution of government food staples, including rice, to the poorest residents."  Grant looked up at his teammates.  "Want to hazard a guess as to where he gets all that grain?"

"Kyle Garcia's rice farm," Jim concluded.

"So the rice is used for food distribution," Nicholas mused, "yet Sanders is somehow involved in the distribution of cocaine."

"I'll bet they're planning on packaging the coke inside the bags of rice and giving it to the people," Max ventured.

"Just what every drug dealer needs," Grant added dryly.  "A country full of addicts."

"We absolutely have to stop this before those drugs hit the streets," Jim vowed, his voice tense.  "Otherwise, this country is about to see an epidemic like no other."

*******

A little while later, Jim was cleared to leave the hospital.

"Time to find out where Christie is keeping himself," he said resolutely, and outlined his plan to the others.

"Are you sure about this, Jim?"  Nicholas asked, his face a mask of worry.

"We know they're going to be watching our headquarters, Nicholas," Jim answered, "but the only way they'll lead us back to Christie is if they think I'm dead.  Relax," he smiled, trying to sound confident but failing somewhat, "I'll be fine."

Jim left the hospital with Nicholas and Max, and they went to obtain another vehicle.  Then Jim drove the sedan back to the warehouse while the others followed at a safe distance.

As they approached the building, they noticed a maroon-colored car conducting surveillance some distance away.

"Christie 's men," Jim grunted into his communicator, which Grant had set to a different frequency so that Christie wouldn't detect it.

As planned, Jim parked his car and got out, deliberately drawing attention to himself as he pretended to be getting something out of the trunk.

The two men in the maroon car were so riveted by Jim's sudden appearance that they failed to notice Nicholas and Max slide in a few carlengths behind them.  Max quickly trained his field glasses on the pair as Nicholas eased out of the car and swiftly planted a metal magnetic device on the underside of the surveillance vehicle.

The two men exchanged astonished glances, then Max watched as the passenger aimed his own binoculars toward Jim.  He lowered his glasses and grabbed his communicator.

"Jim," he said tensely, "be careful.  You're being watched."

"Right, Max," Jim responded quickly.

Once Nicholas was safely back inside the car, he keyed his own communicator as Max once again raised his binoculars.

"Jim," he said, breathing heavily, "the device is in place. Time to make a move."

Jim slammed the car's trunk deliberately and then walked to the front entrance and unlocked the door.  Max watched Christie 's men as Nicholas raised the antenna on the monitoring equipment Grant had given him.  Max saw the man in the driver's seat reach for a radio, and almost immediately the monitor picked up voices.

"We've spotted Phelps," the man hissed.

"You know what to do," came the immediate response from the voice Max recognized as belonging to Garcia.  "Make him go away."

"Roger that," the man answered, nodding to his partner, who made a pulling motion with his hand, opened the passenger door, and tossed a small cylindrical object towards the warehouse.  Max and Nicholas recognized it simultaneously, and the dark-haired agent gripped his communicator urgently.

"Jim!"  he yelled.  "Grenade!"

Suddenly, everything happened at once.  The grenade sailed through the air and hit one of the front windows of the warehouse, shattering it.  Almost immediately, both the building and the car parked outside exploded as the driver gunned the engine and pulled away. 

*****

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