Read Online Jungle of Deceit by Maureen A. Miller - Free Book Online

static, but either the connection was very clear or it had already been severed. He didn’t speak. He waited.
    “ Hasslet?”
    Nicholson. The last time he heard the man’s voice, Mitch was barely coherent. His jaw had been throbbing and he benefited from the bucket of ice nestled in the back seat of that limo. In those brief moments he had been cajoled and manipulated, but now his head was clear and his blood pressure was topping the scale.
    “ This is not what I signed up for.” Mitch started in, making sure that Alex was still occupied on the other side of the market. “You said I was to integrate myself with Dr. Langley’s outfit. You never let on that it was a woman. Do you know what’s going on down here?” he continued before the intake of breath on the other end could form into words. “Who the hell am I kidding? You know exactly what’s going on. You know what’s in that compound we stumbled on. You don’t need me to identify the people involved in the heist. What do you need me for? Why the hell did you send me down here? I don’t like being a pawn. I don’t like it at all.”
    Alex glanced at him over her shoulder as if she sensed his agitation, but the distance combined with the sounds from the town square precluded her from the conversation. Mitch was confident enough to continue.
    “ You implied I was looking for Franklin Langley. You never said anything about it being his daughter . She’s in danger here. You need to get her out. Yank the grant. Do whatever you have to.”
    “ Are you through?” Nicholson cut in with composure.
    “ Not by a long shot.”
    “ I suspect the compound that you stumbled upon in that jungle is the ultimate destination for my hijacked artifacts.” Nicholson explained.
    “ Wow, going out on a limb there.”
    “ But I can’t prove that now until a visual is made on any of my pieces, which I had uploaded to your SMC card. Or—” In the background a man interrupted the conversation but Nicholson could be heard angrily dismissing him. “−or until you identify someone as having been on that dock in Newark.”
    “ And then what?” Mitch fired. “So I identify someone? You already knew your shipment was coming here. There was no tracking as you had me believe, was there, Phillip? You knew from the second those helicopters left the dock where the artifacts were bound for. So why the hell go through this whole damn ruse?” Mitch turned around to face the wall and added, “Why did you send me here? Who the hell are you?”
    There was a long delay, to the point that Mitch thought he’d lost the connection. Over the shout of men herding chickens in the courtyard, he heard Nicholson sigh.
    “ Look…” Nicholson’s voice was resigned, and much softer as Mitch pushed the receiver tight against his ear, thinking he might catch some godforsaken jungle disease from the previous clients of this device.
    “ Yes, I had a good idea where the stolen shipment was heading. And it’s a delicate matter that can’t be handled by the authorities. I needed you to confirm my suspicions. To tell me for sure that the compound you speak of is occupied by the men only you have made a visual contact with. I needed you because I know the episodes you’ve dealt with in your career, and that combined with your interaction with these guerillas, you were my best bet to accomplish two things.”
    Nonplussed, Mitch prompted, “Which are?”
    “ Identify my shipment…and get Alex out of there.”
    “ Excuse me?” he coughed and leaned in closer to the wall mount. “As of twenty-four hours ago, I had never heard of you. I had never heard of Alexandra Langley. And you had never heard of me, although I’m beginning to doubt that fact. What’s with all the manipulation, Phillip? I want out of this.”
    Mitch sliced a look into the market to make sure he was alone and then hunched over the mouthpiece. “You knew what buttons to push with me. How could you have possibly known about