The Dreamer

Chapter 10: Operation Avalanche

Federal Building. January 28, 2005. Friday afternoon.

"You want to take down Rinaldi at the Lynx Mountain Resort? Bring me a plan that's legal."

After Peter issued the challenge, Jones, Diana, Neal, and Travis moved into the conference room to take him up on it. Peter had a full afternoon of meetings scheduled or he would have been brainstorming with them. He'd put Jones in charge. He had a brilliant group to work with and that might be his greatest hurdle. Creativity they had in abundance, but practicality? Peter was counting on Jones to keep everyone firmly grounded in the land of the possible.

When Peter sneaked a look through the glass wall of the conference room, Neal and Diana were in a heated discussion, waving their hands around as if they were speaking Italian. Peter couldn't tell if they were challenging each other to a duel or simply excited. Jones seemed to be having a tough time getting a word in, but he was trying. Travis appeared to ignore them, his eyes fixed on his laptop display as he typed. What Peter saw made him excited to hear what they'd propose.

Promptly at the prearranged time of three o'clock, he knocked on the door. "You ready for me?" He received his answer from the satisfied looks on their faces.

"The breakthrough came when Travis found the serpent symbol from that scrap of paper Mozzie discovered in the Rinaldi mansion," Jones said. "It's listed in an Interpol database."

Travis, his elbows on the table, steepled his fingers in front of his face. "The symbol is part of the emblem for a criminal organization known as Ydrus." He displayed the full emblem on the wall monitor. It resembled a winged serpent. "Very little is known about the group. Reports first surfaced two years ago. Interpol believes Ydrus is linked to crimes throughout the world, but much of their information is pure speculation. The most solid evidence connects them to art thefts in Europe. They first came to Interpol's attention for arms smuggling. Ydrus is also connected to terrorist activities, particularly in Eastern Europe."

"I filed a request for additional information, and was immediately bumped up the ladder," Jones said. "This is the first physical evidence of them operating in North America, although they've been suspected of having a presence here. Interpol has been relying on informants who were supplying third-hand accounts, and they've been unable to verify the accuracy of the reports."

"Any thoughts as to why Rinaldi would be involved with an organization like Ydrus?" Peter asked.

"My bet's on money laundering," Neal said. "Real estate development's a great tool and Rinaldi's one the largest players in the space."

"By linking Rinaldi to Ydrus we can apply for a warrant under the Patriot Act," Jones said. "We can take advantage of Section 213—the delayed search warrant notification—and inform Rinaldi after obtaining the evidence. We'll need to have the legal department weigh in, but I believe our request will be granted."

Peter nodded his approval, confident that if it sounded acceptable to Jones, the legal department wouldn't pose any major hurdles. Turning to Neal, he asked, "Have you heard of Ydrus?"

Neal shook his head. "It's a new one to me. It's believed to have originated in Europe, but they're doing an excellent job of keeping in the shadows."

"You'll contact our shadow dweller about them?"

Neal broke into a smile. "I'll give him a call after the meeting."

Diana passed Peter a sheet of paper. "With the legal justification resolved, we proceeded to work on the plan. This summarizes the strategy for Operation Avalanche."

Peter frowned as he scanned the paper. "Are you trying to jinx it by calling it avalanche?"

"That's what I said," Neal agreed. "We should have named it 'Milk Run.'"