Trouble And Money #27

On Preparation...The More You Sweat In Peace The Less You Bleed In Combat - U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf.

Clifton Go West Logistics - A Trucking Company - Danvers, Massachusetts

The FBI was smart to have Clifton Go West Logistics hire me. They have been trying to nail this group that hijacks cargo and resells it for years. Stopping them became imperative when the gang started to focus on stealing things that were not allowed to be exported to certain countries and murdering any co-conspirators. They do not mess around.

The idiots learned that these cargos made the target trucks more valuable than an armored car full of supermarket cash.

The tricky part was turning an insider to get them to give up details about a cargo and when it would be shipped. Those insiders, in every case, ended up dead near the date of the crime.   Inflation and uncertainty have made it easy to convince a person working at a manufacturer or a machine shop that "They were just making a phone call." "People sell information all the time." "It's the easiest $50,000 you will ever make."

To this date, the gang has not hit a company more than once.

That one fact created an opportunity for the FBI to set a trap. They employed Artificial Intelligence to cross check small manufacturers and machine shops in New England that produced export controlled parts.

The next step was to eliminate the companies that had already been hit.

This left a handful of manufacturers in the area where the gang operated.

Based on the type of part and the geography of the manufacturer, the FBI's computer identified one company and one logistics company that would most likely handle the transportation of a load of military grade export restricted parts.

Clifton Go West throbbed like a thumb hit by an Acme brand hammer.

As soon as I felt that "this was the day," I called my handler and advised her when I would pick up the cargo and where it was going.

I guess the Feds would develop a solution that identified the most likely spots where the gang would strike at the truck that me, Mr. Lucky, will be driving.

Before I started the engine to go and pick up the cargo, I did a little inventory.

• A Piece of Shit Cereal Box Toy, Two Way Earpiece System that can be seen at 15 feet. (I'll be chucking that as I get out of the truck.)
• A body wire w/ transmitter that is slim and better concealed.
• My standard Glock G17 in a back holster.
• 6 clips with fifteen rounds each. ( I dislike the extended 17 round clip. The metal touches my back and gives me a rash on my ass) 
• A one-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi and a 20 piece box of extruded chicken pieces from you know where. (Well done)
• An Acme brand anvil in case I want to set a trap that causes the anvil to land on the top of someone's head, causing a lump to grow and push the anvil up.

I just got a transmission from the Feds, who say they are setting things up. Let's Get Some!

(I learned long ago that action happens in a blur. I have trained my mind to slow it down and act decisively when the weapons come out of the holsters.)

Trouble And Money is published Monday through Friday. It is a free serial fiction detective story with characters you will love. Read the adventures of Conrad Grange as he solves cases and contends with a harsh world.