Learning the Smuggler's Blues

The guest chair scraping as it was pulled out in front of my desk was my first warning.

"They grow up so quickly, don't they, Pogo?"

"They never call. They never write. Sad, isn't it, Colonel?"

I looked up slowly with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Howard was seated in the chair across my desk and the tall, lean form of Pogo rested lazily against the doorframe.

Maybe I could convince them to just kill me and leave Chip alone. "Chip doesn't know anything. I've never told him anything."

Howard studied me with his cold blue eyes. "Didn't figure you would."

Well, at least that was something, I squared my shoulders. "What can C&W Shipping do for you?"

Pogo chuckled and talked directly to Howard. "I believe the word you used was 'chutzpah,' wasn't it?"

Howard nodded, still studying me. "Only word for it. It's something you're born with. You either have it or you don't."

I waited. Either they were toying with me or not, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have a chance of getting my revolver out of my desk. Pogo was too damn fast, and I was pretty sure Howard was faster than I was too.

Howard put a folder on my desk. "Your discharge papers. You've been out for months."

I opened them and stared at the papers. "This is real?"

Pogo smiled his too-wide smile. "You even got a Meritorious Service Medal, pretty good for a terminal Buck Sergeant. Obviously nobody in the Division would sign it, but we have connections at SOCOM. Couldn't do anything about a Good Conduct Medal though, what with the General Letter of Reprimand in your file."

I smiled. I'm sure it was a bit crazed looking. "I don't mind. That was worth losing a Good Conduct Medal over."

"We also have your stuff in the truck outside. Even all your suits and shoes." Pogo looked thoughtful. "That's a lot of shoes."

Howard gave a grim smile. "Now, on to business."

"Business?"

"Business. We, and some of our... brethren, are running into problems moving shipments efficiently lately."

"Really?" I tried not to grin. They still needed me. I was sure he could see my interest though.

Howard nodded sagely. "Really. Since the unfortunate demise of the Huang brothers, there's been infighting in their organization, and that has had side effects. Nobody has managed to take it over because all their chief lieutenants are quite dead."

"How can I help you with that?"

"The Huang brothers' companies have, of course legally fallen into the hands of their nearest relative."

"Maybe you're speaking to the wrong person. You should be talking to him."

"Her. Seems they had a sister." He slid another folder to me and waited while I opened it.

A passport. I opened it. Wendy Huang, a British national, born in Hong Kong. My own picture stared back at me.

Pogo looked up at the ceiling. "Educated at Vassar with a Master's in Business Administration. She has a reputation for being rather ruthless. Rumor has it she shot her brothers in the middle of their own nightclub, then had her bodyguards shoot all their lieutenants."

"I don't look Chinese."

"Half Chinese. Do you really think anyone wants to look that close?"

I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. "At least that would take care of the Senator Shirling issue. I could visit the states."

Howard tossed another folder on the desk. "I forgot about that. The good senator is trying desperately to keep his daughter out of any further news stories." Pogo was laughing softly.

I flipped the folder open and stared at the front page of the Sun newspaper from a month or so before.

BIPARTISAN SPIRIT! SENATOR'S DAUGHTER REACHES ACROSS THE AISLE!

Brandi Shirling was on the front page, with her naughty bits blurred, obviously wearing nothing but thigh high boots and a strap-on that looked like it doubled as a door breaching ram. A man older than her father was tied up naked on the bed. Head down, butt up.

"Is that...? "

"Yes, that's Dennis Velman, the Democrat challenger to Senator Shirling in the last election."

I snickered. "I guess he's getting used to being screwed over by the Shirlings."

Howard stared at the picture for a bit. "She is being asked to quietly resign her commission 'for the good of the Army.' Needless to say, the good Senator has lost interest in pursuing anything that could cause any further press interest in his daughter at this juncture."

"I'd guess not. And the camera does add thirty pounds, doesn't it?"

"Isn't that supposed to be ten?"

"Maybe she just got fat. How did this happen?"

"It's a long story, but Pogo has contacts."

We just sat for a few moments.

Howard finally sat back. "So we have an agreement? You take over the Huang network for us and keep it running for us."

I summoned my inner femme fatale. "For the right price, of course."

Pogo looked amused. "That's only fair, but I'd think, given that you disappeared with nearly half a million dollars in operational cash, that you'd offer us a family discount. Say ten percent?"

I couldn't stop the grin that time.

###

Post Production Notes:

The MP5SD is a silenced 9mm submachine gun used by spec ops all over the world.

The M25 is a essentially a sniper version of the venerable M14.

Wendy's Smith and Wesson Model 38 Airweight Bodyguard is a nod to fictional counter-spy Matt Helm. "The Toughest Spy to Ever Crush a Kidney with a Crowbar."

The "Needles story" is very much a true story. It happened to our Team Medic. Scared the living hell out him. He fortunately did not pick up any diseases, but we gave him a pretty rough time about it for a damn long time.