==RAGE Garage, Jdeideh, Lebanon==
The garage was far bigger than it had seemed from the outside. Dozens of cars in various states of completeness were parked or lifted up for work around the area, the sound of welding and sawing echoing even so late in the evening.
When they brought the APC to a halt, a large western looking man with a receding hairline peeked from behind one of the cars. He was in his overalls and wearing large gloves, waiting for the two to get out before nudging his head to the right. "Overr therre." The English accent was decidedly Slavic, getting back to work after giving instructions.
As Nano made her way past the cars, she ended up discovering an unusual sight; a man sitting cross-legged and without shoes, bottle in hand. His droopy eyes focused on the small woman and he let out a sigh, taking a swig from his bottle before pointing his finger down. "Come join me. The floor is nice and cool. Just cleaned. Just look at my socks." The man also had the same accent Nano now pegged as Russian. "You brought in quite the beauty, I heard. A hot commodity, even."
Nano sat next to the man. "I'm looking to offload said beauty if you could help me out." She put her legs as the same position as his, smiling at him.
"Oh, you are thinking of offloading it. A surplus French VAB stolen from the Internal Security Force, that'll be an easy sell. People will just line up around the block." The man's voice is dry and sarcastic, taking another swig. "I was thinking about offloading you off a cliff in your police vehicle, myself. Maybe we can reach a compromise, hm?" The man leaned against the wall and stared at the woman with a half-sneer. Antoine's hand was near his gun. "Who are you and what are you doing in Beirut?", the man then asked with the same lazy voice he had started with. It almost seemed like he had forgotten the death threat he had flung at her.
Nano avoided wincing. “I’m Nano Koy, and I’m looking for someone. I rescued said someone with this thing. Can we dismantle it or something?”
"I'm Hedeon. I know people who know anyone who matters." The man responded lazily and then eyed her with mild interest. "Who is so fucking important you had to go against the Black Panthers and steal their APC to rescue them?" He asked and then looked past her toward where the APC was. "We could strip it for parts, but you'd get maybe five percent of the normal sale value."
“She is worth it…" Nano said in defense of Isabel. "Do you know who I can take it to? I’m not trying to bring you any heat down on you.”
I didn't ask if she's worth it, I asked who she is." Hedeon didn't accept her answer, staring at her with half-lidded eyes that still somehow conveyed that the man wouldn't budge until Nano explained who she had gotten in trouble for. He was looking for context to understand the recent history of both Nano and the APC.
"Have you met Isabel Montoya? She works for me, and she's very special to me and my... business." Nano sighed, and she scooted her knees upwards towards her chin. "Would you be willing to help me get this piece off your property and away from you?"
The man curled his toes inside his socks at the name and sneered. "Tch. I told her she was trouble. I did not think it would be this kind of trouble." Hedeon pushed up to stand, using one hand against the wall for support. He took a swig of his bottle and basketball-chucked it across the room near a trash can, missing it by quite a bit. The bottle shattered with a loud crash, but he didn't seem to mind. Instead, he started walking over to another room with his white socks while waving Nano to follow. "I don't want to help you, I am honoring a shit deal."
The small garage-side office was littered with stacks of paper on desks and cabinets. Hedeon collapsed into an old swiveling office chair by a desk and pulled himself closer to the keyboard. The screen had a bunch of post-it notes on it with Cyrillic letters. "If that thing is driven off in the next few days and gets spotted, then they will go through this area to find where it was hiding. It will stay here. I will look for a customer in Syria. It might take a few weeks, or months, but maybe I can get you half a million American for it. How's that?"
"Deal." Nano nodded with her affirmation. "I'm grateful. Seriously. Call me if you need anything." She pulled a card from her phone wallet and handed it to him. It had her name and a phone number and that was it. "*You are honoring a shit deal for both of us." She shifted her leg, as though it could not move itself, guiding it with her hands. Her pants hid the prosthetic, but the care and struggle the dead giveaway. "My sister has the same manic trust in this woman that you do." Hedeon stated with clear distaste in his voice. "They have been going totally crazy. If I didn't know better, I'd think my sister was dosing on Black too." He typed up a few searches on the computer and clicked on the mouse with his middle finger. He took a moment to read the screen and then looked over to Nano. "Shit has really hit the fan over at the hotel I think you stole the APC from. Hope you got her safe from this." "Yeah, I hope so too. I'm still out of contact, and i'm trying to reestablish it. I'd love to meet your sister." Nano stood to follow him to the computer, but she didn't feel like struggling to sit back down. She resisted the urge to shove her hands in her pockets, showing her palms at all times to show she was unarmed. Which was a lie. "You wouldn't know where those ladies are, would you?"
"You want to meet my sister? You're also crazy." He stated with a dry chuckle, tapping a few keys with one hand before moving his hand over to the mouse for a couple of clicks. "She is not a calm and good person like me." He seemed to work on the computer at a snail's pace, shifting one hand between mouse and keyboard and typing or clicking with his middle finger only. "I can arrange a meeting, but you need a way to move around without ties. I can borrow you a car from my shop and twenty thousand American worth of Lira - I keep this APC as collateral. The home location on the car's GPS will have a location where she is."
He reached over to one of the papers on the stack and pulled some sort of an official looking document from it. Grabbing a ballpoint pen, he then wrote down a few bullet points with a shaky hand. "The Barber Shop Jbeil is a good bar. You go there if you need bearded Arabs who like miscellaneous work without questions. Hiring locals is important. Your tiger face friend will make people not want to talk to you." Antoine grit his teeth, but said nothing. "The Swan is a club, open on Fridays. Ask to be VIP seated 'away from the bar' and you will get to meet my acquaintances who know everyone who matters and know most things you'd want to know. For a price. Don't overfeed them with money."
He then wrote one last address. "This is my cousin's house in Jisr al Wati. You can stay there with no questions. Just drive up to the garage, it will open to my car. ISF stays clear of the place and anyone else trying to snoop around will decide to leave the country very suddenly."
Hedeon slid the paper over and then reached down to one of the desk drawers. He pulled out a massive wad of cash held together with rubber bands and counted three stacks the size of a brick on the corner of the desk near Nano. "Oh, you might need a bag." He leaned down under the desk and emptied the paper bin on the floor. He then pulled the trash bag off it and put it on the table next to her. "That's all. Any questions?"
Will you marry me? Nano coughed and got back to the matter at hand. "All very good advice." She took the sheet, folded it and stuck it in her pocket along with her knife. She also took the trashbag. "Thanks, Hedeon. I'll see you later. I've got a friend to find."
---
"This really the place? I think we might get turned away at the door." Antoine stated and showed an ad reel from his phone as they were driving the very nice black BMW they had been given from the garage toward downtown Beirut.
The valet came to meet them as they pulled up. He looked through his phone, smiled and welcomed them in Arabic, French and English. He then said that there was an elevator down the lobby that'd take them up to the lounge and asked if he could park the car for them. He had probably checked the license plate to know who was arriving and where to direct them.
Antoine was weirded out by the older man in formal uniform and vest, but let Nano lead. The marble floors did indeed lead to an elevator and up to a somewhat busy lounge area. They had a pianist on a grand piano. Fireplaces, cushy seats. The bartender noticed them and made a small gesture, pointing with his entire palm flat to a direction.
Nano took the invitation to sit. She looked impatiently at her phone, then at Antoine. She elbowed him. “Be polite. Try not to stare while you’re here.”
The sound of high heels on marble approached the two from around a corner, a striking figure turning a corner and adjusting her jacket. She had a very Arab countenance that was emphasized by her make-up and attire, though if one squinted she could've been a dark-haired Russian as well. The woman moved over and first looked to Antoine, before realizing the hierarchy between the two. She didn't extend a hand to shake, instead seating herself down on the seat opposite to Nano. "Good evening. My brother informed me that we have a mutual friend. I wonder if we're talking about the same man?" It was a test to see if Nano was who she had said she was. The woman's smile was a practiced curve of an exact angle, her British English sounding like she had studied it rather than learned it naturally.
“You must be confused. Last I checked she was female.” Nano leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, not in the mood for games. Maybe a drink would help chill herself out. She sat up and waved an arm to flag a waitress.
"Temper of a crocodile." The woman answered pointedly at Nano's less than diplomatic statement, but didn't seem to be offended. She waited for the American to order and once Nano had gotten her order the woman talked again. "I'm Zahra Presnyakova." Arabic first name, Russian surname. "I am not unsympathetic to your circumstances, but clearly you are more Hedeon's speed when it comes to doing business." Zahra seemed to think Nano's style of business fit the underground garage more than the banking district hotel lounge. "Is there something in particular that brings you to me tonight, Miss Koy? Nano had to admit she was right. “Hello Zahra. It has been weeks since I have heard from my second in command. I hear you two know each other.” The waitress brought a scotch glass with a clear liquid in it. Nano sniffed it before taking a sip. She sighed contently. “I apologize for my brashness. You can chalk that up to being an American.” She offered a pleasant smile.
"You make it sound like you're running a military organization. That does seem very American." Zahra stated with no real indication that she was making a joke. "I am acquainted with the woman whose name you refuse to say out loud, yes. She came to Lebanon with no understanding of the level of operational security needed here. She barely made it out of the airport and got flagged in several national security systems. We kept an eye out for her, thinking she was someone far more notorious. When she was about to get kidnapped for wandering in South Beirut alone at night, I had my people pick her up and show her the ropes. Many different organizations showed interest in her, so it was beneficial for me to help her look like someone far more dangerous."
Nano sighed with relief. Isabel got lucky. Real lucky. “i just finished getting her a window with which she could escape the ISF. Is Isabel okay? Do you know?”
Zahra quirked a brow at Nano's comment and reached into her jacket's pocket to get her phone. Manicured nails tapped in a message deftly and after a moment there was a muted notification sound. "Yes, it seems like her new friends have made contact with her. They're on their way to Bekaa Valley to lay low. The government has much less authority there." Zahra let out an exhale that sounded like she was almost disappointed at the development.
Nano cocked her head, setting the glass down in front of her. "Your brother is helping me a great deal while i'm here. What do you mean by 'new friends'? She's resourceful, and makes contacts where it's important. That's why I sent her here in the first place." What group were these new friends in? Watch it be Hezbollah. She took a deep breath and let it out, echoing the disappointment Zahra had displayed.
Zahra made a vague hand wave at the mention of her brother. The two didn't seem to get along too well. This might've been the 'shit deal' Hedeon had mentioned, the two helping each other when it came to business. "The contacts she made after me seem to have taken her attention away from our original arrangement. I am still hoping she will come through with her part of our agreement, but it seems more and more likely that she is interested in avenues of profit I don't want to be involved with."
Nano wrinkled her nose at the mention of the agreement and looked at Antoine, as if to say then why did she need me to get her out? She looked questioningly. At Zahra.”Dare I ask what kind of agreement you made with her? Who has she run off with?”
Zahra considered what to reveal and then gave an indication on the nature of the agreement. "She managed to get into a position where she had access to an item an acquaintance of mine would very much like to possess. She reported acquiring this item covertly, but has been unable to drop the item off for almost a week now due to her involvement with her new friends."
The Russian-Arab woman took a pause and glanced at Antoine before focusing back on Nano. Since this was interfering with her arrangement, Nano might've been able to help her get the item from Isabel. "Her friends are in the business of nootropics - cognition-enhancing drugs. They acquired a large shipment that I suspect was originally stolen from a Turkish military research laboratory. Modern day war amphetamines - now with less shakes and even more delusions of superhuman intellect and invincibility." The woman's voice was sarcastic, showing her disapproval with a clearly faux-pleasant tone. Shocked at the news of Isabel’s new friends, she blinked at the floor for a little while. “That doesn’t sound all that friendly,” Nano said. “What if they’ve been using her as a Guinea Pig?” Zahra blinked slowly at Nano's comment and disagreed with a tight smile. "Isabel Montoya is not a victim, she's a vicious opportunist. 'Black' has been distributed in the Levant since the start of the year and is already starting to rival the mythical status of pink amphetamine among users and vendors. Isabel's involvement has ramped up its distribution in Beirut explosively. They're handing out samples at clubs and selling initial batches at massive discounts to the influencers of the underground party scene. That, Miss Koy, sounds very American to me too." “You’re not wrong . Isabel was last seen partying. This doesn’t bode well.” Nano flicked her eyes from the floor to look at Zahra. “I'm still not confident about them being friends, though." She leaned over to make her point, but she reached for her glass instead. She took a long sip, polishing it off. It caused her to make a face and cough at the burn down her esophagus.
Zahra didn't respond, simply staring at the American and waiting for her to explain what she meant with that.
Nano tried to clarify. “It does sound American, and maybe it is. Isabel may be caught up as distribution for whatever this Black stuff is. I wouldn’t put it past them if she’s a mule for them.”
It reminded her of her origin, looking down at her fake leg.
Zahra followed her gaze to notice that Nano's leg was a little unusual before returning her attention back at her. "I have no interest in getting involved. I simply want her to hand over the item she acquired and then, for all I care, she can go drown in her smart drugs. If I do not get from Isabel what we agreed on, I will have no choice but to send a message." Zahra knew where Isabel was and she knew about the operation Isabel and her new friends were running. Zahra seemed to be against drugs and likely felt betrayed by Isabel. Nano had harbored similar feelings toward Isabel very recently. If Zahra didn't get what belonged to her, she'd make an example out of Isabel.
'Honestly, Isabel brought it on herself,' Nano thought. She cleared her throat to speak. “I expected her follow through with our agreement, and when she didn’t, I flew over here to find her. I’d like to think we can help each other.”
Zahra considered the proposition and dipped her chin. "Yes. We are both looking for accountability. You seem like you can handle yourself. Can you bring the item to me if I tell you where Isabel is?" "Yes," Nano said without missing a beat. "Give me a detail on the object and a drop point and i'll get it to you."
Zahra pulled out her phone and sent a few messages. She indicated that she was waiting for a response with a lifted finger. Once the phone let out a soft sound, she nodded. "Their car is in the town of Chtoura, about an hour's drive from here. Near the hospital on Chtaura street."
"I'll put together a team and go after her." Nano stood and dug in her back pocket pulling a card from her phone wallet. "You can get a hold of me at this number. Is there anything else you need from me before I go?" She looked at Antoine, saying she was ready to go with just an expression. She stared at he card for a moment and then lifted a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. The long exhale was one of disappointment. "Do not use your phone for anything around here. Once you acquire the item - and Isabel will know what it is - bring it here and leave it to the receptionist. I do not want to get a hold of you, or have any associations or ties to you. That is better for both of us."
"That's fair. Receptionist it is. Well met, Zahra." With that, Nano stood and paid for her drink at the bar, and then made her way to the door, Antoine in tow.
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