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    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords
    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords
    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords
    Ebook218 pages3 hours

    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords

    By Ron Mueller

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    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords

    Ian Sinclair is the Problem Solver who solves problems that are beyond the legal boundary of current organizations and governments.

    Raised on fundamental principles and forged i

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAround the World Publishing LLC
    Release dateFeb 1, 2024
    ISBN9781682239810
    The Problem Solver: Drug Lords
    Author

    Ron Mueller

    About the Author Ronald E. Mueller [email protected] Ron grew up in what is now Flint River State Park in Southeast Iowa. The 170-year-old house Ron lived in is built into a hillside. It faces a 125-foot-high cliff towering over the little Flint River. The house and the land talked to him about; the passing of time, the struggle to conquer the land, the struggles people faced and the wonder of nature. He climbed the cliffs, crawled into the caves, dove from the swimming rock, collected clams from the bottom of the pond, gigged and skinned frogs for their legs. He trapped muskrats for fur, hunted raccoon in the dead of night, and with only a stick hunted rabbits in the dead of winter. His young life was outdoors, and nature tested him. He walked to a one room stone schoolhouse uphill both ways. A stern but warm-hearted teacher, Mrs. Henry was instrumental in shaping his character as she shepherded him from the fourth to the eighth grade. A Montessori before its time. It was a great way to grow up. His experiences inter-twined with snippets of fantasy lend themselves to the adventures he leads the reader through.

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      Book preview

      The Problem Solver - Ron Mueller

      Introduction

      We will never stop the flow of drugs coming into this country as long as there are customer wanting to buy it.

      Prohibition of a specific good has never worked. This is true for the oldest profession, liquor and now drugs. If there is a pull, the flow will continue.

      Many countermeasures to the drug flow have been proposed. It will take a combination of all of them to make any significant impact.

      The biggest impact would come about if there were no customers.

      The next biggest would be that drugs would be so cheap and the margin so low that it would not be a very attractive business.

      This is the story of an action directly targeting the primary businessmen that manage the drug flow logistics. They are family men and women. They are a part of the fabric of the society in which they exist.

      They are also ruthless to those opposing them and even more ruthless to their competitors.

      Their lives are always on the line. They take many lives but often theirs are taken as well.

      The financial rewards are great. The price for these businessmen often exceeds the reward.

      1

      Assignment

      The kids were now all out of college. Ella and family were established in Georgia. Matt was a programmer. Sean was now established in California and had a partner.

      Lesley and he missed having them around the house. They visited often but the two of them had more house than he had ever wanted.

      Ian had come to accept and enjoy the space. He still thought of it as decadent, but he had become accustomed to it and was relaxed and enjoyed the decadent life that he lived.

      He spent a great deal of time in his library office.

      Massive bookshelves held hundreds of the classics and many of his own writings. He had stopped collecting books. He had transitioned into what he called the world of his children. He was a computer nerd. His use of the internet and Google had become common.

      He still loved to periodically pick out one of the books and sit down to read but the majority of his time was on the keyboard of his computer.

      His new i-phone vibrating in his pocket had sent a shiver down his back and raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

      Ian knew the message was no coincidence. As he watched the CNN news cast about the beheading of the policemen in Mexico, the news caster had called for someone to resolve the terrorism going on in Mexico. Ian knew these words were meant for him.

      Call was the text on his personal i-phone that had come up right after the news cast.

      Ian knew immediately this would be an assignment that he would not want. He also knew this was not a call to be made from his personal phone.

      He thought back to two previous calls. One had sent him into the heart of Russia to stop or delay the development of an intelligent missile system. The other call had sent him to the Gaza Strip to eliminate three terrorists being exchanged for one Israeli soldier.

      Ian’s job was to solve problems that could not be addressed in a politically correct manner. His targets often ceased to exist.

      He usually received his assignments directly from a news broadcast when the announcer asked, Who can lead us to a solution to this problem? or some other similar phrase. Such a statement would cause Ian to replay that segment of the news multiple times.

      Usually, he was on his own to respond. He seldom got any directions from his handler. He seemed to correctly respond to most of the calls. He knew this because his bank account always received an appropriate influx.

      Ian sat down in the thickly padded desk chair and opened the bottom left desk drawer of his desk. At the very back was a combination lock box. He pulled it out and placed it in front of him. He keyed in the five digits on the touch lock, lifted the box lid and took out the phone. It was the older phone version that did not have a GPS module. It had only one number stored in its memory. Ian pushed the dial button.

      Ian knew he was a problem-solving junkie. He loved to pit himself against the bad guy. He had survived for more than thirty years at a calling that normally meant a short life. He was alive because of his low key, almost invisible way of solving these special problems. When he was in the field his senses were at their height. He could smell and taste trouble. His premonition for trouble was mind blowing. Several times he had gone from plan a to plan b to plan c as the action unfolded. He had always wondered what would happen when he ran out of plans.

      Ian swiveled in his chair and looked out the windows directly at the tennis courts. It was dimly lit by one of the security lights that was on the far side.

      He could faintly hear the water fall from the hot tub to the pool on the other side of the family room as he put in the ear buds and then plugged them into the phone. His mouth was dry, and he wished he had his normal tall twenty-ounce thermal mug of Pellegrino and ice.

      He hesitated a moment, let his mind relax and then made the phone call.

      The silence just before the phone began to Bing, Bing, Bing as it connected was disconcerting. He always imagined this as a call to hell and the person answering it as the devil himself.

      Only Lesley was aware of this alternate world he lived in. The rest of his family did not have a clue. He had to fight the overwhelming urge to hang up. He did not want to get into a long, protracted assignment. He was ready to retire from the role of being the on-call problem-solver. This was not a movie. There would be no flash of light to erase his memories. His memories were clear. His life was the yin and yang, of good and evil, of dark and light. He had willingly participated in both worlds.

      Ian thought again of the two lives he lived. They were polar opposites and in both-worlds, he was the problem-solver.

      It’s been a long time, said a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

      Not long enough, Ian replied as he thought about his last assignment that had taken him into the Heart of Russia.

      This assignment will be tough and perhaps long. We have arranged for a leave of absence from your company. We will provide all the help that you ask for. Your account will cover whatever you need.

      Ian thought about his bottomless million-dollar offshore account. On one assignment he had purchased a multi-million-dollar yacht with no questions asked. The yacht had ended up somewhere in the government system.

      Your assignment is to take out the top leader of every drug cartel in Mexico.

      You have got to be crazy. Me and what army, Ian snapped back?

      Ian was holding onto the edge of his desk as he experienced the world turning black. He was seeing everything in front of him through a tiny white hole that was slowly growing smaller. He was about to pass out.

      He took several deep breaths and slowly the lights came back on. He had a metallic taste in his mouth, and he felt cold all over.

      We know this is a tough one and we have assembled the strongest and best support team you can possibly want. We have also made arrangements to get you included in several key organizations that will give you ample cover.

      Ian remained silent. Backup team! Ample cover! Who the hell did they think he was?

      Great to talk with you, Good Luck, and may the force be with you, the voice on the other end said in a formal manner.

      Then the phone went dead.

      Ian looked at the silent phone in his hand.

      Who the hell do they think I am, superman?

      He slowly put the phone into the box, locked it and put it in the back of the desk drawer.

      He got up and slowly walked to the kitchen where he knew he would find a cup of coffee.

      Ian knew that he would accept the challenge. There was some part of him that loved to pit himself against the bad guy. This assignment would be the ultimate challenge.

      He wondered whether this would be his swan song. He hoped not, he had visions of sitting in front of his fireplace with Leslie snuggling next to him reading.

      His mind was already kicking into high gear. He could feel his heart beating a little faster and he could smell the leather of his chair as his sense of smell sharpened.

      He thought that he could taste the mountain air in the coffee he was drinking.

      This primordial reaction to a challenge that would involve eliminating his opponent always came as a surprise. His energy level immediately hit a new high and he knew it would stay high until the letdown that always came at the end of an assignment.

      Do any of these supporting team members have names, Ian had inquired?

      No and you know better than to ask. So, I take it that you have accepted and are ready to go, the devil’s voice had responded.

      You knew the answer before I returned your called, Ian had replied.

      Ian knew he would need a workplace outside of his home to prepare for this assignment. In his mind there would be at least six to eight months of research and planning.

      He went online to find office space that would be close to home but secluded enough that he would not be noticed.

      His search took him to a twelve hundred square foot, second floor office area with windows around three sides of the room. The windows were modern, triple layered gas filled. The floor space was for an open office layout.

      Ian laughed as he thought about the open office layout aspect. There would be no one else but he and his computer in the office. But it seemed to be what he needed.

      He called the listing realtor and made an appointment to meet him at the location and walk the office space.

      The tree lined parking area, the well-kept green area, and the office space itself made for a very comfortable work arrangement. After the walk through, Ian bargained with the realtor on the length and the price of the lease. He got eggshell colored, simulated wood vertical hanging blinds for the windows thrown in as part of the contract.

      He would have had the blinds put in anyway, but he wanted the realtor to feel as if he was doing his job and that the customer was truly trying to get the best deal possible.

      Three days later, Ian carried in seven flip charts and easel stands. The four-by-eight-foot walnut desk and large black leather office chair was scheduled for delivery between twelve and two. He had also ordered several office tables and half a dozen chairs.

      He would pick up his Dell 36-inch, 128 TB hard drive, computer and monitor at the store after the desk arrived. It was an all-in-one computer where the monitor and the computer was one unit. This would be the computer to search the internet and to research his intended targets.

      Ian walked around the perimeter of the office as he thought about how to lay out his meager office furniture.

      He was on his second walk and about ready to put up his easels when he realized his thinking was antiquated. He had envisioned using the seven easels as the media to organize the information and to display the plans for the interaction with each of the drug cartels.

      He realized he was thinking in yesterday’s terms. He realized that he should be setting up a separate computer systems for each cartel.

      His personal goal was to survive this problem-solving assignment. To do so he would need to be at the top of his game. He scolded himself and told himself he had better sharpen his thinking and shape up fast. He could not be a fossil but needed to leverage all the latest technology.

      He immediately called the store where he had bought the Dell and asked for seven similar but lower end computers. The store clerk said he had just what he needed. They would all be all-in-one computers and he would send them along with the one that was already scheduled to be delivered and everything would be put on one bill.

      Ian interpreted the enthusiasm in the clerk’s voice ensured that he would get what was needed.

      All the equipment arrived as scheduled. Ian had the deliverers put the computers on the tables he had set up around the room. Afterwards he set everything up and made sure everything worked.

      Ian knew he had to create the connection from each cartel focused computer to a central control computer.

      Ian called his on-line support group and asked them to guide him in setting up an in-office network.

      With step-by-step guidance, Ian was able to set up the network in one afternoon. The internal network was not online. Only his main computer would connect to the global internet and the main computer would not connect to his internal network. His internal network would be totally isolated.

      Seven-thirty the next morning, Ian parked his ten-year-old, dark green sedan with a black leather interior that his Leslie made him park immediately in the garage and close the door when he arrived home.

      This was one item he had refused to upgrade. He always bought used cars and refused to drive any of the luxury cars that were par for his neighborhood.

      It was one thing to have lucked out in buying the grand palace they called home, but it was another to compete with the neighbors to see who could drive the most expensive car to show who had the most money.

      Bullshit! was what went through Ian’s mind each time he attended a neighborhood party and listened to the conversations of condescending, haughty, pompous attitudes of superior mental midgets with their hand waving and the rolling of eyes as various groups gathered to impress each other.

      The office building was one of several in the industrial park. All seemed to be duplicates of each other and had a row of evergreen bushes around their perimeter.

      The gold 2032 printed in the horizontal glass across the top of the doors to his office building provided the only means of telling the difference between the other six buildings in the complex.

      Maple trees were the dominant species surrounding each parking area. Two rows of six-inch diameter trees ran across each lot. Except at high noon the parking areas were always shaded. His parking area, specifically meant to be for his building, usually had one car parked in it. He was the only current renter of floor space in his building. He had the entire floor, but he was the only person working there.

      Ian, carrying his light brown leather briefcase that featured a flap buckled on one side, walked slowly toward the office. He pressed his key-fob and listened for the beep of the car horn letting him know that it was locked.

      Stupid habit since there was nothing in the car worth stealing, he thought as he looked up through the heavily leaved branches of the maples to a clear blue morning sky.

      His family had no clue as to where his current work location was. Long ago he had given up having a landline office phone. All calls, whether business or personal, came to the same phone. He had made sure to turn off his GPS and turned off the sharing location feature.

      It was time to get started on the overall plan for this assignment. After that he would begin the research into each individual cartel.

      The parking lot ended about one hundred feet from the building’s double doors. He stepped up from the black top surface to the worn, heavily pebbled cement walk that was obviously sealed in some plastic sealer. The pebbles were preventing an otherwise deteriorating surface from getting any worse. The sealer gave the walk an old nostalgic look.

      The newly planted yellow and gold marigold flowers edging the sidewalk on the building side provided an elegant touch to an otherwise plain office area. Ian looked down past the two additional buildings in this section of the park and was pleased with the harmony the flowers, trees and bushes provided.

      Damn, Ian exclaimed as the right-hand door remained closed when he tried pulling it open. The left-hand door responded easily to his pull. It seemed to him that every

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