B.B.U.S.A. (Buying Back the United States of America) by Lessil Richards, Jacqueline Richards Read Free Book Online

bum on the street. He reached into his duffel bag and extracted a hundred dollar bill. Kneeling down next to the vagrant, he sniffed the air for the stench of alcohol or cigarette smoke. Not smelling either, he handed the vagrant the bill. “Life is what you make of it, choose wisely.”
    As he walked off he heard the beggar yell back in a hoarse voice. “God bless you, son.”

Chapter 6
    Bob and Ervin stepped out of the cab in front of the airlines entrance. Bob turned around, paid the cab driver, and gave him the extra tip he’d promised. It was busier than expected, mostly businessmen catching early morning commuters to different locations. Bob told Ervin to check the terminal monitors for any flights departing for the Boise/Salt Lake City areas, and to report back to him via their cell phones.
    Bob walked over to a door marked Airport Security and knocked on it. Two young men came out wearing TSA uniforms to see what he needed. He showed the young men his DEA identification, and told them that he was the leader of an undercover drug enforcement investigation, and that he had reason to believe that a rather notorious drug dealer may be boarding an airplane at this terminal at any moment. He requested to speak to the head of security immediately.
    After retelling the story to the head of security, and having his ID scrutinized he was assured by the security manager that he would receive their full cooperation. Within minutes he was looking over the shoulder of a computer operator who was pulling up flight information. With the assistance from security, Leo’s flight ticket was quickly discovered.
    At first Bob was excited thinking that within minutes Leo would be in custody. However, his excitement was short lived when the computer operator declared that they had just finished the final call for boarding. Soon the plane would depart for San Francisco.
    “Shit!” Bob looked at the head of security. “Can you hold that flight?”
    He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Believe me, I’d like to help you, but we have strict orders from Homeland Security not to hold up any flights unless it’s a national emergency, which as you probably know constitutes a bomb on board or an imminent threat of terrorism, not just your run-of-the-mill drug dealers or felons.”
    The room became quiet and no one moved. Bob was clearly annoyed. Finally he cleared his throat, becoming somewhat used to Leo’s trickery. “Well, all is not lost. At least we know where he is and where he is going.”
    The computer operator interjected. “The suspect’s ticket has several layovers. The first is in San Francisco, but he won’t even be able to disembark there as they are only stopping long enough to board new passengers. The next layover is in Denver where he will change flights. You’ll have a limited window of opportunity in Denver as he will only have forty-four minutes to disembark and board another flight at a different gate. From Denver his next layover is in Chicago. There, he will have a two-hour layover, and then his final destination is New York City.”
    Bob was truly baffled by both the final destination and all the layovers. What was he up to? Where was he going? Why New York? He asked for the computer operator to print off two copies of Leo’s itinerary then turned back towards the security manager. “How quickly can you get in contact with airport security in San Francisco?”
    “Pretty fast, but you know how big and busy that airport is, and they operate under the same parameters we do. They too, cannot go around detaining planes filled with people connecting to other flights across the country for anything short of a national emergency. We would, however, have ample time to make arrangements on the ground to detain the suspect during the Denver or Chicago layovers.”
    Bob’s jaw started to show visible signs of his frustration as the muscles at the back of his jaw began twitching. He was mostly upset at himself.