Benson and Maria protest but can't fight back as he gags their mouths, their complaints muffled by the thick fabric. Moving a nearby chair into the corner, Witch keeps watch on the CIA spooks and the door at the same time, showing her tradecraft.
With their charges secure, Alistair has the quiet he needs to bring the folder to Benson's desk, utilising a fairly standard espionage cypher to crack the code and discover the secrets within. Deciphering the letters, he transcribes them onto a piece of paper, writing out reports lodged by Benson. Except they don't seem like official reports, and closer to rambling. Filtering out those that don't seem relevant, he focuses on a few key reports.
February 10 - My man in Maribel's organisation managed to slip me photos of a ledger the other day. The little bitch's organisation is making hundreds of thousands - in a few years, maybe even millions. That's a lot of cash for a slip of a girl like that. I'm the ranking officer here in this country. You think she'd give her superior a bone, but she says she doesn't have to, since she's not part of my command structure. Slut even said she had 'connections' at Langley. How dare she threaten me?
February 15 - Donaldson's boys hit one of Maribel's cash transports last night. I'm gonna make it rain tonight, baby. Maria might be a frigid bitch, and Marisol might think she's too good for me, but ol' Benson's gonna have some fun. Marisol's pissed, but she can't prove anything. Donaldson is a professional, old school type of guy. He made sure there were no witnesses.
Donaldson? Alistair thinks to himself - he knew a merc named Donaldson during the war, running an outfit not unlike the Canaries. A sociopath, but good at his job, doing assassinations and robberies for hire.
March 12 - Damn it, I can't figure out what Marisol's doing with her money. Donaldson got a few shipments of cash, but now it seems like Marisol's gotten someone to handle her financials for her and keep hold of her money. Have to find out who this 'banker' is and beat the location of the money out of them. They can't be a local - I'd know them.
May 16 - Got word that Maribel's trying to smuggle something out of the country besides powder. Something she shouldn't be. If I can just get my hands on it and find out what it is, I can seize the whole operation. I'll send Donaldson's boys to grab Maribel and bring her here for a nice 'chat', along with whatever it is she's moving. My contacts tell me she's doing it out of that crazy Brit's airfield. Donaldson and his boys will make the snatch for me - just have to remember to pay 'em extra not to rape Marisol. That bitch is mine.
The 'crazy Brit' must be Nadine - the former flyer of the Canaries back during the war.
May 17 - What the fuck is going on? I got to the site a couple hours after Donaldson's boys dropped contact. They're fucking dead, and Donaldson isn't responding! Marisol's gone, along with whatever she was transporting, but the plane was still there on the runway. Without Donaldson, I have no muscle down here. Need to make new contacts. And figure out what the fuck is happening. Did Marisol kill those guys and go into hiding? Did she get snatched by her own people, or maybe some of the other smugglers in the area? Crap, no use speculating. Need to remind Maria not to bring any guys in off the street. Bad enough she won't put out for me, but she's risking a security breach by fucking in here, and I'm worried someone could target us next.