The following material is subject to copyright. This is a slightly edited and preliminary version of 'The Acronym'.
The Acronymby
Rebecca Lerwill ©
Chapter 2
An hour later they were on their way. Heading northwest toward the Salt Lake City International Airport to drop Hirsch off; he was scheduled to fly back to Maryland.
Brian and Douglas had been instructed to join an investigation in Mexico to assist the U.S. border patrol and the FBI in the hunt of a Latin American man called ‘el pirata’ - the pirate. Years back someone had shot him in the face and he’d lost his left eye. The black eye patch he wore gave him his name.
He was one of the worst.
Ruthless and very dangerous, he supported the smuggling of illegal south American immigrants into the U.S.
The FBI had received a tip. As usual, the feds had not yet shared all their intel with the Acronym. So far Douglas and his partner only knew that the tip came apparently from a young Mexican woman who had managed to escape an alleged prostitution ring which was supposed to be run by ‘el pirata’s’ vicious group.
Douglas explained what was to be expected of Hirsch after his final briefing in Maryland, so he could be prepared.
“When they’re done with you in Ocean City they will send you to a location in Colorado. As far as I know, your first assignment should begin rather soon.” Hirsch felt excitement creeping up his spine, “Can you tell me what’s involved?”
Douglas’ focus went out the windshield. They had been told to outline the op to him, but he didn’t want to tell him too much.
“As far as we know you will accompany another agent to Russia for observation purposes. But I don’t have the details. Let me give you a brief rundown on whom they’ll team you up with in Colorado.”
Hirsch voiced another question before Douglas could continue, “You guys belong to the team I will be working with?” Leaning forward he looked from one to the other, as if he was trying to figure out, which one of them would spit out more details.
Brian shot Douglas a look out of the corner of his eye. There was no reason not to tell the German that they were indeed, but Brian still wanted to test how easily he could push Hirsch’s buttons.
“Let me explain something to you,” Brian began, “as of now, it ain’t you who is asking the questions. We’ll feed you information as we think is necessary.” Brian sounded borderline rude and he insulted Hirsch further with not establishing eye contact. His view stayed on the road.
To the men’s surprise Hirsch just shrugged again and looked out of the tinted windows. He watched the white Salt Flats along side Interstate 80 fly by and just said, “Okay, understood.”
Douglas knew a lot about Hirsch’s past. What caliber he was and how he had ended up in the States. He had looked forward to meeting this guy and had thought that he would be a good addition. Now, that he saw in person whom the Acronym had recruited he was more than pleased.
Douglas smiled to himself but kept his facial expression aloof and continued, “The Acronym consists of several teams and each team embodies four to six agents, depending on their expertise and assignments. Besides Secona and me, you will be grouped with a very capable man from Cambodia, Bao Shuang and Ludvika Bogden a female from Eastern Europe.”
Female?
Instantly Hirsch laid his forehead in wrinkles. He didn’t say anything but Douglas could see his doubt.
“Don’t let her gender fool you, Hirsch. She is more, shall we say inveterate, than some of the men you have worked with in the past. She’d been with Interpol for several years and brought a long sheet of combat experiences from her native Bosnia.”
Uwe Hirsch didn’t look convinced and Douglas was aware that in their line of work some men had a hard time excepting women. He gave it some thought.
Would Hirsch be trouble? Was he a man who’d let his ego get in the road of being a dependable agent? Hirsch could certainly be proud of what he has accomplished in his life and Douglas sensed that he could trust him and finally continued, “There is one more person you will meet at that time. She usually stays at the location in Colorado and takes care of translations and is responsible for anyone in need of protective custody. She is fluid in four languages but has never been engaged with any governmental institution.”
“A civilian?” The question popped out of Hirsch before he could think.
“At the Acronym we are all civilians, Hirsch. I’m sure that has been explained to you at headquarters,” Douglas said calmly. He remembered his own recruitment by an agent of the Acronym. He had been with the bureau’s hostage rescue team at the time and it had been a tough decision to give up the status of a federal agent.
For the last five years Hirsch had been a SWAT member of the San Francisco PD and very soon, he’d lose that status, too.
“I understand that you guys don’t want me to nose around. But tell me how someone who has not worked in this field ends up with this particular agency?” Hirsch’s question was legitimate and Douglas knew it. The Acronym existed only to the involved agents and a few departments. It was a clandestine operation, highly classified. The taxpayer had no knowledge about it, however, there was someone else involved.
Douglas thought about a proper explanation. He felt a bit uneasy talking about this part of the past. His focus fell on the airport exit as Brian eased the Rover down the off ramp and was glad that his time to explain the situation with Mia Trentino was limited, so he offered, “Mia Trentino was employed by a company that relocated people around the world. Unknowingly to them her company was our cover as we went after a drug manufacturing outfit lead by the Russian Mafia. Let me just say that a chain of events had pointed her in our direction and she stayed with the team. She is a great asset and she is due to testify against the red Mafyia.”
He didn’t want to get more into detail about her involvement with the Acronym, or Douglas himself for that matter. Hirsch would figure it out by himself.
Secona stopped the Rover next to the departure gate and kept his view ahead. “Okay then. I guess I’ll see you guys in a couple of weeks,” with that said the German grabbed his bag and got out. They watched him disappear through the glass sliding doors at terminal two of Salt Lake City’s International Airport. Brian maneuvered the truck away from the curb and merged into traffic.
“So what do you think?” Douglas asked.
“I think you have a hard time talking about your woman in a professional manor.” Brian teased his friend.
“Ahh shit. Is it that obvious?” Douglas looked at him. He knew Brian was picking on him but went along with it. Smiling Douglas said, “What can I say, she has total and utterly control over me.”
Brian laughed out loud. “Is that so? Then let’s get the hell out of here so I can get you back quickly to where you belong.” Brian accelerated and the Rover shot east toward Bangeter Highway and Interstate 15. After a minute of silence Douglas observed, “Hirsch will fit in really well.”
“Yeah,” Brian agreed, “I just hope he ain’t gonna have a problem with Bogdan.” Douglas kicked his seat back and closed his eyes. They had a six hour drive ahead of them to meet up with the second team in Las Vegas before flying to Mexico.
He thought about his partner’s concern. He knew what Brian meant, but Ludvika Bogdan was very capable of changing one’s opinion about her, if one did not immediately accept her as an equal. Douglas grinned, “I can’t wait to see what happens if he does.”
