Trouble And Money #50

Warsaw, Poland - The American Embassy

There is a barebones staff left at the American Embassy in Kyiv due to the bad habit of the Russians dropping explosive ordinance from time to time.

 The city shows damaged areas, and electricity is a luxury that you cannot rely on.

 I walked up to the closed reinforced gate, and one of the Gyrenes on watch stiff-backed to a portal section.

 "Semper Fi, my brother."

"Oooh Rah," "Two tours Fallujah and two in the Helmand province in Afghanistan."

 The grunt was on duty, so he was not impressed with my resume.

 "What can I do for you, sir?" He asked.

 "Nobody can accuse me of being a 'sir' Corporal."

 "The name is Conrad Grange."

 "I know I can't just walk in and talk to the Ambassador or the Chief Of Station. I have an important note that needs to be passed on to someone competent."

 "It's a potential shitstorm that the right eyes need to see."

 "Could you please pass this on to someone who matters?"

 My brother took the envelope and said he would "send it up the food chain."

 Two minutes later, a dog was sniffing the envelope, and it was x-rayed.

 I miss Gator and Tammy.

Lukyanivska Prison - Kyiv, Ukraine - Present Day

Lukyanivska has been a prison in Ukraine since the 1800s.

 The prison conditions, food, labor violations, and treatment of prisoners in the old SIZO#13 make any prison in the U.S. seem like a luxury time share condominium.

 It's a terrible place to be in.

 Jason Defalter's Russian was getting better.

 Donetsk, Ukraine - November 2024

He was two days into being held in a Russian army unit in the Donetsk area and it was clear that the Russians did not trust him.

When he walked into the camp in civillian clothes it was obvious he was not from Europe.

It set up immediate distrust among the troops. Jason was big and strong like a well fed American.

Jason looked at the components of this conscripted Army.

They were young. They were not happy. They were hungry.

Two guards immediately ripped apart Jason's backpack and viewed all the items.

Peppered beef jerky, energy bars, a few apples, and a bag of Laffy Taffy were confiscated and disappeared while arguments happened over who got what.

Jason's phone was taken. Then any clothing in the Nike backpack, including his jacket, that had Western branding was quickly possessed but not searched. The young man couldn't help but see the Russians as uncivilized as they argued and fought over the carcass of his possessions.

It would have made a great Tik Tok he thought.

He still had the clothes on his back and an airtag deep in in his shoe.

He thought about this for a second. If they find out, they may call him a spy. They would think he was sent here so his signal could be locked onto for a missile strike.

 The first chance he got, Jason would try to bury the tag.

 He was placed in a bunker with one other person and a guard standing on top near the entrance.

Jason started to think that he fucked up.

(Jason, What were you thinking? - Conrad Grange - BTW it gets worse.)

Trouble And Money is published Monday through Friday. It is a free serial fiction detective story with characters you will love. Read the adventures of Conrad Grange as he solves cases and contends with a harsh world.

Please give until it hurts—see below 😄 This is a labor of love, but a cup of coffee would be nice.