Who is Firaro?

It had been four years since I had infiltrated the gang. 

So far, I had known about their cash transports, their kidnapping methods, their dens and their communication systems. 

Six high-profile people had been kidnapped in that time and ransom had been paid for them. One, a teenage son of a millionaire had gone back home without three fingers because his father had initially refused to negotiate with terrorists. The incident had shocked the country. 

Previously, those whose ransom had not been paid had been killed. 

There was just one major thing left in the operation. I hadn't met the boss. I needed to meet him to confirm that the notorious Firaro was its leader. We knew about him but we had failed to obtain a face or a description even. I also needed to provide evidence for this. I had been scratching my head trying to figure out how I could do this. 

If we got to cut the head, the operation would die. That was our aim. And it had proven hard to reach so far. That's why I had to go undercover after a source had told us that the gang was looking to go legit. 

My experiences with the gang so far had filled me to my brim. Sooner or later, they would start noticing my apathy towards their actions. I had truly reached my elastic limit and I wanted out. Desperately!

And so I made the bold step. 

I asked for an audience with the boss. I told them I had a contact who would supply the latest springs for the mattress factory. The springs would be smuggled into the country. The mattress factory was the gang's way of rinsing their cash. 

No, they didn't use me to do their evil work, as a business and tax expert as they had seen from my LinkedIn, they needed me to help them go fully legit. The boss was seeking salvation it seemed and he intended to bring the whole gang with him. A life of crime is always a dead end. 

They also knew that the police were on their trail. The latest incident with the millionaire's son had drawn too much attention to them.  

What they didn't know about me however, is that I was also an undercover police officer. My low fees and my willingness to cross lines should have been a hint. But greed can be really blinding. And criminals work with other criminals, right? They had gotten my contact from another crook that I had helped rinse money for. And they had shown me their terror to instil fear in me. Only a dumb person would dare cross them. So far, I had passed their gruesome tests. 

Now, I needed to find a way to nail the boss. Who was he really? And how could I meet him? I had insisted that my contact wanted direct information and that time was running out. The contact was threatening to find another buyer I had told them. 

" Santa, at 8 pm, we are going to Crossway supermarket. We need to go check out the mattresses there to study their quality," Han my handler at the Kulo gang had called and told me. 

I wondered whether this was code for something but I couldn't say no. I couldn't take chances though. In this line, you need to always be alert. So I messaged the operation saved as "wife" on my phone. 

"Honey, I'll pass by Crossway supermarket at around 9 PM. Anything I should bring?"

"Nothing honey, we have everything at the moment."

The reply came after a few minutes. They had gotten the message. In police code, you mentioned the time as an hour later. I just hoped Hans' time had not been a code. 

At the supermarket, we went straight to the mattress section to check them out. I was intrigued. The competitors had been making really good ones. If we wanted to survive, we had to improve, that was certain I had noted to Hans. He had agreed. 

As I discussed more with him, an elderly woman with grey hair and a walking stick approached us. Her wrinkly face held a polite smile. She looked like a warm and lovely grandmother who had a cabinet full of rich passed-down family recipes. On her lilac sweater was fur that looked like a cat's. 

She started pressing the mattresses asking which one she should get. I suggested that she purchased one from our store and we would deliver it to her the next day. I figured getting one from the supermarket would have been too much of a hassle for her. I was also trying to quickly dismiss her as I didn't want her interrupting the operation. 

"Oh, you are not too shabby of a salesman for a tax person," she told me. 

I was taken aback. But I tried to remain calm. This elderly woman was Firaro! She had to be! She was the leader of the deadly Kulo gang. But how? She seemed so lovely and weak… How could she be the leader of an operation so brutal?

We quickly went to the discussion about the mattress springs. I wasn't paying too much attention to it as I was hoping the police operation to unmask the gang's leader was going on at the moment. For the sake of my safety, the team had always spared me the details and left me to my devices. Tact had come in handy each time. 

I imagined they had tapped the security cameras of the supermarket and the mall. Or were they masquerading as shoppers and recording our meeting? 

The meeting was brief. We had agreed on a price. I would discuss the finer details with Hans the old woman had told me, and then we would proceed from there. 

"Let me escort you to your car," I offered when it was time to leave. 

"I am fine tax man," she politely declined with a smile. "My nephew over there will take me."

"At least let me escort you to the doors then."

She agreed. 

I was hoping the mall cameras from outside the supermarket market and from other shops would capture me with her in case those inside it had been tampered with. I wasn't taking chances. 

At the doors, three muscled men surrounded her and together they went in the direction of the parking lot. 

I then rushed to my car and messaged my "wife".

"Sure you don't want me to bring anything? I'm still at the supermarket."

"Come home darling. We are fine. We have everything." 

I went home and slept. 

The next morning I received a call from the police boss. 

"Turn on the television!" he shouted. 

I did. I was relieved. I was free!

There on the television was footage of the old woman as she exited the supermarket. Everything surrounding her had been blurred. They had finally unmasked Firaro!

" You know what?" my boss continued. " Somehow they had tampered with all the core cameras in the entire mall. They didn't record anything..." 

"And how did you get the footage that I can see on television?"

" You see that aquarium outside the supermarket? Remember the guy that was cleaning it? He was recording it for us." 

I don't remember seeing the guy. It must have been a minor detail in the crowded mall. But that guy was my hero. He saved me from the hell of a life I had been living. 

Following the unmasking, I was sure the mattress operation would come to a halt. It would be too risky for them to continue and much of the gang's effort would now be spent trying to hide harder. 

I was free! Finally! 

I was pulling my duvet trying to go back to sleep when a message came in. It was from Hans. I read it. 

"If we go down you also go down!"

"Let's lay low for a while. It's dangerous to talk at the moment."

I sent the message and covered myself with the blanket. My assignment was over. The next day I would go back to my state.

I was free!