Jacked Up Part 2
Of course, we didn’t just knock on doors and ask if there was a strange person living there. We used drones from a distance to see the normal days for each house. We were able to eliminate about forty this way, the residents being larger groups were seen together and touching.
We then concentrated on the ones left, doing background checks and finding out how many normally lived in the house by talking to the local gardening and cleaning firms. One stood out for me. Ingrid Farsio was a member of a well-known local criminal family, with connections to the drug trade, human trafficking and sex workers. She was notoriously aloof and had been almost a hermit for several years now, due to a case of breast cancer when she had both removed. Best of all, her house backed onto the lake edge.
All of our surveillance on her house gave no idea of who lived there. She had her food delivered and the deliveries were put inside a closed porch and we could not see who collected them. We did put one of our guys on the delivery run and he reported that there was a camera in the porch so taking our own there was out of the question. We were able to mount a small camera in a tree, some distance from the house, which gave us a good view of the drive and front door.
We then sat back on this one while we worked with the other suspect houses. One by one we were able to tick them off as just normal shy folk or criminals keeping their heads down. We did amass enough information to make about six raids once our main objective was reached. It became boring just watching for Ingrid to make a move. If she didn’t we would have to make a raid and suffer any consequences.
In the third week we had a break when a car drove into the property and pulled up. A big guy got out and went into the porch. He came out an hour later with a suitcase and put it into his car before driving out again. By the time he left we had a file an inch thick on him. He was Julio Farsio and was an enforcer for the gang. He was a regular traveller to Canada but there was nothing anyone could pin on him at this time. He was carefully followed by drone and CCTV to an apartment in the city that was close to Michigan Avenue. When the ownership was checked we found out it was owned by a shell company.
A week later he did the whole thing again, leaving with another suitcase. On the following Monday a very nice car came around the side of the house and left the property. Our camera picked up that the driver was Ingrid and she was dressed as if she was going to travel. I was sent to look around near the apartment and I was lucky enough to catch Julio leaving with a bag on each hand. I reported the event to the AIC and followed at a safe distance.
He walked to the Rosa Parks Transit Centre and put the bags down near the Tunnel Bus stop. It looked as if he may be going somewhere. Our guys who were following Ingrid reported that she had pulled into a parking garage not far away. She left the car there and started to walk towards the bus stop. I got the message through my earpiece that she had just walked away from the car, leaving the keys in the ignition. It looked as if it was her that was planning to leave.
I kept my cool waiting at another stop as I saw her walk towards Julio. I pulled out my phone and acted as if I was speaking to someone while live streaming the scene back to the office. She approached Julio from behind him and, before she tapped him on the shoulder, she took a tablet out of her bag and swallowed it with a sip of water from a small bottle. The next few seconds were surreal as I realised that I had observed a switch. Julio simply staggered a little and then bent down and picked up the bags, taking them to the Tunnel Bus that had just pulled in. He was well away from Ingrid when she staggered to a nearby bench and sat down before keeling over as if she had suffered a heart attack.
I told the AIC that I was going to follow Julio and went to the ticketing booth for a trip to Canada. He had supervised getting his two bags stowed in the under lockers and had joined the short queue to board the bus, seemingly oblivious of the paramedics now attending Ingrid. Certain that I was now following the Switcher I tried to keep my cool when I got on the bus. I knew that I would have to have a chat to the guards at the other end about carrying a couple of weapons and wearing a bullet proof vest under my leather jacket but I had my ID and I was sure that the boss had already advised the Canadians that we were coming.
When I got on the bus I saw that Julio had taken a seat near the back and had spread himself out to discourage other passengers joining him. I took a seat nearer the front and again took out my phone and mimed a call. I knew that the office could see where Julio was now sitting. I heard the AIC in my ear, telling me to keep my cool and that he would organise a welcoming committee in Windsor. Just before the bus was due to leave I saw a very good looking woman ready to get on the bus. At the same time a guy who had sat in the back got up and rushed by me and jumped off, almost bowling her over before heading into the terminal. As she got on I noticed that she not only looked good but also looked lethal as I could tell she was carrying. I got up and smiled at her, offering her my seat as I could then go to sit behind Julio.
The bus had just pulled away from the stop when I felt a sudden pressure on my back, forcing me to fall on the girl. Then there was a tremendous blow to the back of my head and everything went black as we fell together. I had heard stories about near-death experiences from injured guys in the army. They had reported choirs of angels singing soothing songs, brilliant lights and even the whiff of sulphur if they were less than good. No-one had said that there would be total blackness and no sound whatsoever.
As my senses came back to me I felt that something was wrong. I felt like I had been in an explosion and then realised that it probably had been. The guy who had rushed off the bus was probably the bomber and he had left something under the seat as he left. I had to give him the timing. What he didn’t know was that he would be in full view when I sent my pictures of Julio. I expect that the Switcher would be now dead and no longer a problem. I had seen his last switch. I did not feel like me, yes, I know I was probably injured and should feel bad but realised that I was laying on my back and there were only a few spots there that I could feel dressings on. If it had been an explosion my back would have caught the brunt of it. When I tried to move my fingers they felt different and when I curled them it felt like I had grown talons. Oh No! I have died and become a devil or, maybe, an imp!
There must have been a monitor on my heartbeat as all of a sudden I felt a rush of something nice and fell into a deep sleep. I have no idea of how long I was out but, when I did come back into awareness, it was no longer totally dark and I could hear some sounds; mainly a regular beep and some voices talking. Someone was talking about a girl called Anita and I wanted to tell them that she will be all right as I had not seen her during my time in the nether worlds. I must have been really drugged up to think of something like that. At this thought I gave a little giggle and a guy with a face mask leaned over me and said something about being glad I was back in the land of the living.
If this was living I thought that I would be better off with the alternative but kept my peace. He took hold of my hand and asked me if I could squeeze and, when I did he said “Good, now I am going to ask you a few questions and you just need to squeeze once for yes and two for no. Do you understand?” I squeezed once.
He then asked his questions –
“Do you know your name?” One squeeze.
Is it Anita Marianne Jackson?” Two squeezes.
“Is it Jack Ryan?” One squeeze.
He then thanked me and did something to a drip that caused me to fall into another deep sleep. However, during this sleep I had some vivid dreams where I was a girl, growing up in a military family and dating boys. I dreamed of pets that I had loved and a family I had loved even more. And then my dream took me to a horrible place when my whole family had died in a terrorist attack while they were flying across the Middle East. This was weird as my parents were still alive, last time I looked, and I had never owned a pet in my life. When I next woke I could feel the tears in my eyes and I wondered who I really was now.
Marianne G 2021
