Chapter 331: Negotiations
The next morning Alex had breakfast with representatives of the Iranian Military Industrial complex, and much to his surprise, Jasmine’s father was there to negotiate with him. This was not something which Alex expected, but it was a welcome surprise to be sure.
Because of this, Alex was on his best behavior as he shook the old general’s hand before sitting down at the proper place that had been reserved for him. Once he had done so, the General spoke to Alex with a suspicious tone in his voice.
“So you’re Alex Smith, huh? From what our intelligence reports, you are a Billionaire Playboy, professional cage fighter, a member of the British Peerage, and despite all of this we are also supposed to believe that you are also secretly the infamous La Madre’s right-hand man?”
Alex was a man with a certain sense of humor, and because of this, he was quick to point out a few unofficial titles he had given himself to the rather serious Iranian General.
“You left out the part about me being a philanthropist and the world’s greatest lover. But other than that, yes, that is all correct, including the part of my involvement in the cartel. You can consider me La Madre’s personal representative, and by that extent, the representative of the mysterious El Cucuy as well.”
The Iranian officials looked at one another with a look of uncertainty in Alex’s statement. Though Jasmine’s father wanted to say something, someone else beat him to the chase. Pounding his fist on the table while yelling at Alex with a heightened tone, dragging attention from all of the restaurant’s patrons to themselves as he did so.
“Don’t play around with us! El Cucuy is a myth, a legend that Sicarios tell their victims to inspire fear among the general population, nothing more! Our intelligence has confirmed this!”
Alex simply smirked when he saw this, using his fork and knife to cut into the meal that was prepared for him. There was a conceited look on his face as he took a bite before responding to this claim. But not before praising the chef for his work.
Clearly Alex had hit a nerve as the man who accused El Cucuy of being a myth jumped out of his chair. His face had turned completely red, and it was clear from his facial expression that he was clenching his teeth. And that wasn’t the only thing. The man’s fists were balled up as if they were ready to throw a strike at Alex at a given moment.
However, before the man could lash out, Jasmine’s father shouted at him, reminding the man of his place as he kicked him out of the meeting.
“Ahmad, that’s enough! Must I remind you that we are in public? If you can’t keep you temper in check, then go sit in the car and wait for us to finish this meeting!”
The man named Ahmad stared at the General in complete and total disbelief, but once their eyes connected and he could see that the General was serious, he stormed off out of the building. Leaving Alex in bewilderment.
“Yeesh, that was unpleasant, wasn’t it? Anywho now that ugliness is out of the way. How about we get down to business, shall we?”
Judging by the look in the man’s eyes, Jasmine’s father was not necessarily pleased with Alex’s antics, and explained why Ahmad was so upset with a pleasant tone in his voice, one that was obviously forced.
“Please forgive Ahmad for his outburst. He works in intelligence, and though I know you did not mean it, you insulted him on a deeply personal level by saying that he and his colleagues are incompetent. Now I know that you have come here on behalf of La Madre to purchase weapons for Los Zetas. Just what kind of hardware are we talking about here?”
Alex did not hesitate to ask for what was needed the most. After all, there was only one way Los Zetas could hang on if an actual war broke out between Mexico and the United States. Things like Tanks were completely and utterly useless in comparison to the might of American Armor and air superiority, and thus Alex was quick to make this clear.
“If the United States invades Mexico, our only chance of victory is through guerilla warfare. As a result, we are more interested in weapons platforms best suited to such tactics. So obviously small arms and personal equipment are a must. As well as MANPADS, RPGs, ATGMs, and Mortars. SHORAD systems that can be mounted into the bed of a pickup truck are also heavily desired.
We would also like to purchase land mines, automatic grenade launchers, and just about anything else that can either be carried on foot, or, as I previously stated, mounted into the bed of a pickup truck.
You can keep armored vehicles and aircraft. As even if we knew how to properly operate such vehicles, American Air Supremacy would see them overwhelmed within the first 24 hours of the conflict.”
Jasmine’s father was honestly surprised by Alex’s answer. He thought for sure now that Los Zetas was the last major cartel south of the American Border, one that effectively controlled Mexico they would want to order armored and air-based weapons systems in an attempt to project an image that they were a legitimate military one that needed to be taken seriously.
Instead, Los Zetas appeared smarter than he initially thought. They opted for weapons that best suited guerilla tactics, which was the most practical form of warfare the cartel could take if they wanted to fight against an American invasion.
Because of this, he was quick to sing praise to La Madre, who he believed came up with this idea.
“It would appear that La Madre is smarter than I gave her credit for. Very well, these weapons are much easier to smuggle into Mexico without the United States knowing, anyway. I think we can come to some form of deal, assuming you are prepared to pay a proper price for the equipment in question.”
Knowing that the deal was essentially done with, as the cartel had a massive military budget now that it was unified under one banner, Alex reached out and accepted the conditions that the General stipulated. At the end of their negotiations, they all got up from their seats, fully satisfied by the meal they ate. Where Alex only then corrected the General on one thing.
“Oh, by the way… It was not La Madre who came up with the idea of acquiring these weapons with a focus on guerilla warfare. She wanted to buy as many tanks and fighter jets as possible…”
This surprised the General who looked at Alex with a curious gaze as he demanded to know which cartel mastermind had convinced La Madre to abandon such a foolhardy strategy.
“Oh really? If not La Madre, then who? I doubt anyone would have the ability to convince that woman to go with a different plan than what she had in mind….”
Alex then gave the man a dumbfounded look, as if the answer to his question was the most obvious thing in the world. He then pointed to himself and blurted it out in a tone so natural the General and his advisors had no choice but to believe Alex.
“It was me….”