Alpha Threat (70 page)

Jackson closed his briefcase and sat back down.
 
He pulled a key from his pocket.
 
He stopped for a second and stared ahead.
 
He never thought he would have to use this key.
 
He stood, strode out of his office and down to the basement.
 
Blocher was burning documents in the incinerator room.
 
Jackson walked past the room and placed his key in a vault-like steel door at the end of the hall.
 

“Dieter, I will be in the armament room,” he yelled back down the hall.
 

“Yes, sir,” came the reply from Blocher.
 

Jackson opened the heavy door.
 
The light turned on automatically.
 
It was a small vault built directly into the foundation of the building.
 
Inside it housed enough arms and ammunition to service a small army.
 
There were assault rifles, handguns and a variety of explosives and heavy machine guns.
 
Jackson perused the gun cabinets for a second and then opened the locker containing handguns.
 
He turned and picked up a leather satchel on the floor and placed it on the table in the middle of the room.
 
He carefully selected four 9mm Glock handguns from the locker and placed them in the bag.
 
Then he placed six boxes of 9mm ammunition in the bag.
 
After thinking for a second, he turned to another cabinet and removed five four-by-four blocks of C-4 explosives in the satchel as well.
 
Dieter walked into the room.
 

“Have you finished burning the records?” asked Jackson.

“Yes, sir, and the case has been packed as well.
 
We are ready.”
 

Jackson reached back into the handgun cabinet and handed Blocher another Glock and a silencer.
 
“Put the silencer on.
 
We may have to use that and I do not want to cause a stir.”
 
Jackson reached back into the cabinet and placed a Walther PPK and silencer into his pocket.
 

“Our emergency protocol is to leave Miami and go to Cancun and on to Havana.
 
There we will meet others and go into hiding,” explained Jackson.
 
Dieter was listening intently.
 

“Will we be able to contact our families?” asked Blocher.
 
“My mother is ill and will be very worried about me if she cannot hear from me.”

“I’m sorry, Dieter.
 
We cannot afford such contact now.
 
Maybe within a few weeks once we settle down in Cuba or someplace else.
 
The people we meet in Cuba will have the final plan of where we will go.”
 

Blocher looked dejected but he understood.
 
“Yes, sir, I understand completely.
 
You can count on my silence.”
 

“Of course,” said Jackson in a rare showing of concern for the young man’s situation.
 
“Get your things together.
 
We are leaving on the jet as fast as we can get to the airport.
 
I will call the hangar and have the jet ready when we get there.
 
Call Hickmann and get the limo here now.”

Within twenty-five minutes Albert Jackson and Dieter Blocher were on their private jet at 15,000 feet leaving Miami airspace headed to Cancun, Mexico.
 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Miami Beach, Florida;
 
10:00 a.m.

The next few weeks were a bit hectic for them all.
 
After arranging for private planes to take the gold back to the U.S., the Brazilian government stepped in to stop them.
 
Once the U.S. government was informed, they too got involved.
 
Both sides wanted the gold.
 
Dane and Hugo steadfastly refused.
 
After a series of negotiations and several not so veiled threats regarding both governments’ knowledge of a Nazi stronghold in the jungle, the governments relented.
 
It seemed that neither government relished the thought of the entire matter being spread across the news headlines around the world.
 
Frankly, the whole story made the governments look like fools.
 

While everyone seemed upset at their actions officially, unofficially Dane and his group of men were profoundly thanked by the governments of both the United States and Brazil.
 
If the Germans had succeeded in their plot to flood the market with gold and throw the financial world into chaos, every country in the world would have suffered greatly.
 
Part of the thanks was the group could keep the gold they “found” and neither government would lay claim nor assess any taxes.
 
So it all went straight into the bank.
 

Armed with the information Dane and Hugo provided, the Brazilian army mopped up the area around the site of Fortress
Alpha
where the
threat
existed.
 
They found few remnants of the once large complex.
 
On the site stood a five hundred foot cinder cone created when the volcano under the Fortress erupted due to Hugo’s explosives expertise. A scant few Germans who survived surrendered without further injuries.
 
Most were in no mood to fight anymore.
 
The hard core Nazis followed the path of the leader of the Third Reich and took their own lives.
 

The U.S. government along with INTERPOL and several Nazi hunting groups scoured the U.S. and the world for the Nazis’ contacts.
 
Armed with information from Dane and Hugo along with information from Nathan Nader, the FBI joined in the hunt.
 
Hundreds of arrests were made, including the persons responsible for the death of Klaus Nader back in Miami.
 

The FBI and the Federal government also struck an agreement with Lily and Nathan Nader ensuring them a comfortable lifestyle for the remainder of their lives.
 
With Nathan Nader’s help the FBI cracked the gold trafficking scheme in Miami, uncovering secret information that lead to the capture of those traffickers around the world.
 
Governments in Japan, Switzerland, Germany and several other Asian countries cooperated fully.
 
Both Albert Jackson and Dieter Blocher had been caught trying to flee to Cuba via Mexico.
 

Everyone was happy… except the Germans.
 
The two governments involved put a cap on the information surrounding the scheme.
 
The media was oblivious to most of the story although they had picked up and reported on several of the arrests.
 
The Naders were safe and well.
 
Dane and Hugo were very, very rich men.
 
It goes without saying that Princeton received a hefty endowment and Dana and Randall’s work was fully funded for many years to come.
 
 
Ben, Tim and Lee would only accept the paltry sum of $500,000 each after Dane and Hugo threatened them with their lives.
 
It seemed both of them were very happy to live out their lives in the Amazon they loved.
 
Lee decided to stay with her brother Ben in
Cotriguacu, Brazil, her new home.
 

Miami Beach was still hot.
 
Even for Florida in August.
 
A full five weeks since they left the Amazon, Hugo and Dane drove up Ocean Drive and pulled into the parking lot of the Beach Patrol in Hugo’s jeep parking under a palm tree.
 
Hugo rubbed his side.
 
His wounds were healing well but still bothered him a bit.
 
During the past weeks they had been debriefed by the CIA, FBI, the State Department, representatives of the United States Joint Chiefs and threatened with all manner of ills by the United States and Brazilian governments.
 
But they survived them all and were back in Miami.

 
“Damn, I never thought I would be so glad to be back here at work,” said Hugo loudly.
 
“Yes!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
 
Dane laughed.
 
The door of the Beach Patrol headquarters burst open and Sherrie Knowlton and Wayne Johnson came running out to meet them.
 

“Dane, Hugo!” yelled Sherrie.
 
“Thank God you two are back.
 
Dane, how are Dana and Randall?”
 
She said all of this in one breath.
 
She ran around to Dane’s side of the jeep as he stepped out.
 
“Is it okay for an employee to hug and kiss her boss?” she asked, not stopping for an answer.
 
“Oh, hell, why ask.” Sherrie grabbed Dane around the neck, gave him a warm hug and planted a nice wet kiss on his lips.
 
Her smile was huge.
 
“You have no idea how glad we are to see you guys,” she said with tears in her eyes.
 

“That,” said Dane, “was the best welcome back I could ever have.”
 
He showed his appreciation at being back at home with a broad smile.
 
“Dana and Randall are fine.
 
A little beat up but nothing a nice vacation can’t fix.”
 

“And what about you two?” asked Wayne, shaking Dane’s hand vigorously.
 

Hugo stood up in his jeep.
 
“We, ladies and gentlemen, are very fine!”

“He hasn’t changed a bit,” cried Sherrie, running around to Hugo’s side of the jeep.
 
“He’s still my kind of man.”

“Yes, Miami Beach, U.S.A.
 
The ladies still love me!” yelled Hugo, jumping down to the parking lot and embracing Sherrie and giving her a big Texas-sized kiss.
 

Dane walked around and all four of them stood beside the jeep.
 
Dane removed his dark glasses, closed his eyes and raised his face toward the bright sun.
 
“There is no place like home.
 
I actually got tired of looking up and seeing nothing but trees in the jungle canopy.
 
This sun feels great.
 
I can’t wait to hit the beach!”
 

Wayne was the first to ask what everyone wanted to know.
 
“How was it, really?” he asked quietly.
 
Dane’s smile eroded to a concerned look.
 
He paused as if he were literally going to some other place.
 

“It was hell.
 
Plain and simple,” he said in a monotone voice.
 
“Good people died that shouldn’t have.”
 
He stopped for a second to gain his composure.
 
He put his sunglasses back on.
 
“But we can talk about that later.
 
Right now we both want to quietly savor being back safe and sound,” said Dane, trying to be a bit more upbeat.
 
“I asked Dana and Randall to come down.
 
They should be here any time.”
 

“Great!
 
I can’t wait to see my sister,” said Sherrie.
 
“Well, not my real sister but to me she will always be my sister.”

Wayne told Dane about Nathan Nader and his mom.
 

“That’s great, Wayne.
 
I’m glad everything worked out for them,” said Dane.
 
Dane didn’t mention the solution for the Naders was a key point in their government negotiations.
 

The warm breeze off of the ocean rustled the palm leaves above them.
 
Dane looked up at the palms.
 
“Now, that is music to my ears.”
 
The group laughed.
 

“So how’s things going since we were gone?” asked Dane, surveying the beach.
 

“Same-o, same-o,” remarked Wayne.
 
“Sherrie’s still the Queen of Baywatch and I’m simply one of her loyal subjects.”
  
The group roared with laughter.
 

“After what we have been through there is nothing sweeter than being able to laugh along with you guys,” mused Dane.
 

Before anyone could add anything they all turned at the sound of a horn.
 
A sweet, brand new Melbourne Red BMW Z4 35is roadster turned into the parking lot.
  
It still had the dealer plates.
  

“And there they are now,” said Dane with a big grin.
 
The car slipped in beside the jeep and came to a stop in the sandy lot.
 

“Hey,” squealed Sherrie, almost running over Hugo to get to Dana.
 
Still weeks later, Dana still bore the scars of her ordeal.
 
She had two teeth missing from her once beautiful smile and there was still a slight bruise visible on her right cheek.
 
Sherrie’s smile vanished when she saw her.
 
“Oh, my God, Dana, are you all right?”