Grisha was 30 but she had a hard life with no man, so when the Chief died she would have to beg for a family to take her in. Three of the older council members believed they would be out at the next election, if not sooner when I took over, and at 50 they saw the same bleak future for themselves once they lost power. For all of them, even if they could get somebody to take them in they would be the drudges in the household, doing manual work like hauling water in and human waste out. That sounded like poor retirement planning.
During a scheduled trip to the hospital Grisha was approached by one of the Five. She agreed to discuss some ideas, and at her next appointment she met all five. They had a plan. For their annual medical exams three council members joined Grisha for a meeting with the Five. That was when Grisha and the 3 crones accepted a promise from the Five. In exchange for their help "in the transition" they would have modern condos in a city, with servants and wealth. The Five plotted the Chief's slow drug-induced death for a time which the women believed would be inconvenient for me - they were thinking mid-August, a month after my visit. They were sure I would be too busy for another long trip to South America.
The male doctors focused on the the Chief. Why not? They planned the meds to kill him in a manner that was slow but seemingly natural. Even if the body was taken to Lima for autopsy the drugs selected were more than likely to escape detection. Once the chief was dead they could move in.
Both sides lied to the other. Grisha knew the Five counted on enslaving the natives in the colony, so she did not mention that the colony was descended from conquistadors, was militarized with well trained motivated experienced soldiers and equipped with modern heavy weapons (artillery, serious SAM, radar, etc.). She also downplayed my standing (painting me as the Chief's rich-city schoolboy grandson). No mention was made of the Patron's drug operations, the Five believed he was on the wrong side of the Andes for such things and Grisha did not want to raise any red flags on her path to the nice house. Instead they claimed the colony, descended from Amazon natives, had once mined gold. (Both were true enough in part, there were records.)
They claimed I was living in the US, working for a living with a small trust fund which remained from the gold. Grisha had my card so they were able to call the law firm and confirm, I was not even a partner. I actually got a memo when the call came but I did not know of a firm of "Chavez and Gold" in Lima so I ignored it. Now they would get a personal visit from a black helicopter.
The Five planned to stroll in with their troops soon after the Chief was dead, and told Grisha that August 25 was a convenient date for the Chief to die. The drugs were timed for that. As for "honor among crooks" we eventually discovered documents that the Five had no intention of honoring their promises to the women, they agreed among themselves that a bullet was cheaper than a condo for the devious witches. Anybody who understood money would agree, but Grisha had never had money, so too bad for her.
To their hired soldiers the Five had bragged about how they were going to "go like Pizarro on the ignorant Inca descendants." The soldiers heard this as "loot gold and rape virgins." They Five had a lousy garage band so they even invented a stupid headbanger dance the called "Do Them Like Pizarro." All their troops had to learn it, because that would build morale.
Peruvian's of at least partial Spanish descent (about 65%) proudly consider the Pizarro brothers as heros based on the success of great treachery, monumental deceit, and the Royal blessings garnered for their gold-pilfering innocence from the truth.
Peru's natives (about 25%) who know history have another view, but their numbers are much fewer, and they don't get as much of the right schooling, so they don't count.
I could snatch up the Five in a day, going in with soldiers in the Huey, using some mortars and the Bell 47 as a gunship. But it would be noisy, would rouse the military to look closely, and would probably start a drug war between rival gangs in the area - so not all bad. A second option was an update of the Teddy Roosevelt thing, "speak softly and let fly one of the big Styx." (These are the fucking big missiles on the Rigo Brava.) But I knew that with a little dumb bad luck that stunt could lead back to the colony (they had a Lima lawyer do done a title search) so I really didn't want that.
It was much easier if, after I grab the Five, they don't pay their lawyer. Unpaid lawyers get very upset, sometimes they forget their ethics, especially if the other side pays them to forget. Then I could hear the confessions of the Five at a leisurely pace, training my future interrogators. ("Don't cut off the perfectly good doctor's finger, snip it off one joint at a time. Keep them interested.")
With the threat to the Chief neutralized in the near term, the colony military would organize a stealthy snatch buttressed with some well-placed rumors (maybe a Triad in Asia that was double-crossed?) and use messages from Grisha to draw them out. So that was the plan. Captain Thomas had it in hand. It would take a few weeks, for recon, and more in-depth intel. It was a good exercise.
The Patron summoned the Retainers and I gave the orders. On a hunch I ordered a check of ocean vessels, insurance, and former employees of the Five. The search hit paydirt quickly, before my visit was over. In a tavern in the port of Salaverry my guys found a security guard the Five had fired. He had all kinds of information and liked his rum. We relocated him to the colony where we had plenty to drink, and no nosy bartenders to listen. When the Germans were with us they had some drugs that insured honesty.
In a short time we learned (text message to the guy they fired) that the Five brothers and their so-called soldiers were scheduled to meet on August 17 - in 5 weeks - at their isolated retreat to plan their attack. The Five, their men, and selected women would party the first night, they could not help it. They would have a dance contest to pick the officers for their attack on the tribe. I set sunrise August 18 for our assault and told my people to plan accordingly. I suggested it would play better if it looked like an inside job, a double-cross within the group gone bad. (Don't they all?) They would lead off with a barrage of flash-bangs, we wanted talkers not corpses. But if their bodyguards had a few extra holes... well, that was okay as long as they could still talk.
When the time to move came the Patron got a bonus, it turned out that the Five had a new fast freighter, with full legal papers allowing it to carry legitimate drugs by the ton. There was plenty of space for "undeclared cargo." It was owned by the drug company which the Five would sign over.
The only way I could see to get away from the law office to join the attack was if I was on my Honeymoon with Abril. It would be a tight schedule but I called Zar and Abril to get the ball rolling. I did know I would have to be back by the end of August for the law firm social.
-
While the retainers were planning a military operation, I had to manage the local situation in the tribe. That was under way by about 8 in the next morning. All seven of the Tribe Council members were invited to the colony for lunch by both the Chief and the Patron. Marta flew up in the Huey chopper to make the invitation. The council were happy to hear the Chief was improving, and of course they were anxious to see for themselves. Why wait? There was room for all on the Huey. They were served Mimosas, with my compliments, just to make the flight easier.
Due to the rushed timetable the women were not in a great mood when they set-down, but as they landed they saw the Chief standing unaided, and looking better than he had been in some time. Four of the women council members were very pleased. The reaction of the other three ("what does this mean for us?") was noticed. Other indians who were at the colony also gathered to witness events.
"My friends, you will want to hear this immediately," the Chief said.