{"id":1535,"date":"2026-08-19T06:07:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2026-08-19T06:07:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:07:36","slug":"scott-mckays-the-necessary-men-episode-3-la-bala-de-gibara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1535","title":{"rendered":"Scott McKay\u2019s The Necessary Men<\/i> \u2014 Episode 3: La Bala de Gibara"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>elcome back to the world of Mike Holman.<\/em><\/p>

If this is your first stop, here\u2019s what you need to know: Mike Holman is the independent journalist, podcaster, and inveterate maker-of-enemies at the center of Scott McKay\u2019s bitingly satirical thriller series \u2014 four novels (so far) chronicling one man\u2019s habit of ending up in the middle of the very stories the rest of the media is too scared, too compromised, or too incurious to tell. Catch up on the whole series, read past episodes, and find links to every book at \u201cThe Mike Holman Novels at\u00a0<\/em>The American Spectator.\u201d\u00a0Soon<\/em><\/span>, see the video-novel version of this and the previous books at\u00a0MikeHolman.com.<\/em><\/p>

Read more From DSA to Fishback: Why Young Voters Feel Disenfranchised<\/a><\/p>

Where we left off: The plot to free Cuba is taking shape and looks promising with a major backer with a surprising background, but problems on the home front have developed. Mike prepares to take a silent lead on the ground in Cuba, starting with a very key piece to the puzzle.<\/em><\/p>

Here are Chapters Five and Six of <\/em>The Necessary Men.<\/em><\/p>

\n

\"Black<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Chapter Five<\/h2>

Coral Gables, Florida \u2014 March 18, 2026<\/em><\/p>

Stan had known Diego Maceo for probably 20 years, and how they got to know each other was a pretty funny story.<\/p>

Before he sold it to RedGuard, Stan had a hedge fund called Valkyrie Capital. He got out in late 2020 amid all of the COVID hysteria, when he and Trina, his wife, decided they couldn\u2019t stand living in Manhattan for one more minute, and Stan was just done with the Wall Street grind. But prior to that, for a while, Valkyrie had done some TV advertising as they were growing their client base and before they started refining it to filter out the ordinary Joes and hold onto the real high-end clients.<\/p>

The best ads Valkyrie did starred Diego. And they were hilarious.<\/p>

There were five or six of them, and they all revolved around a central theme, which was that Diego was the poor black immigrant ballplayer in the dugout with all the snooty rich guys \u2013 think Corbin Bernsen\u2019s character in Major League<\/em> \u2013 who are sitting there griping about their portfolios. Then one of them asks Diego how his portfolio is doing, as a snooty joke at his expense, and that\u2019s when Diego says his money is with Valkyrie and it\u2019s outperforming all of theirs.<\/p>

What made the ads work was that everybody knew Diego was a superstar businessman who had car dealerships, a bunch of real estate in Orlando, a couple of fast-food restaurants that he was a massive franchisee with, and then later that brewpub in Hialeah which ended up being the launchpad for La Bala beer. His playing the poor immigrant was almost a three-way joke \u2013 yes, he\u2019d been that at one point, but he clearly wasn\u2019t anymore, so he was clowning on himself. And the ads were clowning on the snooty rich guys, which positioned Valkyrie as the hedge fund for the regular guy while they were really chasing the snooty rich guys after all.<\/p>

But more than that, and what really made the ads great, was that they were clowning on the people who treated the poor black immigrants as victims of an unjust system. La Bala didn\u2019t need their help, and he had a big smile on his face while he showed it.<\/p>

When those ads popped in the middle of the Omobba administration, and this was at the peak of Diego\u2019s baseball career, there was sort of a controversy about them. I did a whole podcast on how Diego and Valkyrie were shredding the politically correct weenies for fun and profit and how awesome it was, and I said those ads were the most conservative thing on TV.<\/p>

Stan told me later that while everybody at Valkyrie loved the podcast \u2013 he and I didn\u2019t know each other at the time; we met after PJ and I had moved to Jupiter \u2013 the fact that I\u2019d said those ads were conservative had spooked Diego a bit.<\/p>

Because Diego didn\u2019t want his name associated with politics. Diego was a radical adherent to Jordan\u2019s old line about how \u201cRepublicans buy sneakers, too.\u201d<\/p>

I was pretty sure Diego was a Republican. But he went out of his way not to come off as political. He went to the White House when Omobba was president and shook his hand, and he went and shook Trumbull\u2019s hand. Diego wanted to be known as an all-around good guy. So when I essentially called him a conservative, he just about had a heart attack.<\/p>

And it was too bad, because as a result we couldn\u2019t get him on the podcast.<\/p>

A few weeks earlier, there was a charity fundraiser at Diego\u2019s brewpub and Stan and Trina had brought PJ and me, and that\u2019s when I\u2019d met Diego.<\/p>

And he remembered the thing about the podcast, and he\u2019d said that he loved it but he couldn\u2019t really endorse it because of his public face where politics was concerned.<\/p>

Then I met Essie \u2013 Esmerelda was the name she went by when she was a telenovela actress, but among friends she insisted on being called Essie \u2013 and she said they were religious consumers of the podcast and everything Holman Media.<\/p>

\u201cI really like Colby,\u201d she said. \u201cBut he\u2019s not you.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ll tell him you said so,\u201d I said with an evil smile. And she laughed.<\/p>

So when Stan and I went to see Diego and Essie at their very lavish, impeccably decorated and utterly South Florida mansion on a tree-lined street in Coral Gables, with the fairway of the 8th hole at the Biltmore golf club practically in their backyard, it was not a cold call. In fact, it was a good 20 minutes before we finally got around to the topic of Cuba.<\/p>

\n

\"Architectural<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Diego was an absolutely delightful guy to talk to. He was known as the Shaquille O\u2019Neal of baseball, and he earned that; Diego stood 6\u20196\u201d, which wasn\u2019t quite Shaq\u2019s height, but he was still one of the tallest guys on any baseball diamond, and he had the deep voice and jovial laugh and blue-collar wit which made him a media darling both before and after his retirement. Plus, he was in the argument for one of the best pitchers of all time; Diego was 25 when he defected from Cuba\u2019s Olympic gold medal baseball team, and then for almost two decades he\u2019d been the ace of the Red Sox staff. Even when his fastball withered from the 100-mph nightmare down to more like 88-90 mph, he could still locate it expertly and mix in some off-speed stuff enough to survive.<\/p>

And when the Marlins signed him after the Red Sox couldn\u2019t justify La Bala\u2019s contract at past 40 years old, he was still at least an average Major League starter for that last year.<\/p>

Including the utterly incredible moment in an interleague game back at Fenway when a nearly-washed-up Diego \u201cLa Bala\u201d Maceo, his fastball topping out at 89, managed a perfect game against the Red Sox.<\/p>

He struck out the last 11 batters he faced, and the home fans were standing and cheering for him from the seventh inning on.<\/p>

That was one of the greatest moments in sports history. And Grant Paxton, our guy who ran Surge Vision Studios, had been trying to get to La Bala so that we could make a biopic of him.<\/p>

\u201cTell him I\u2019ll think about it,\u201d said Diego, in that deep voice of his, only a faint trace of the Cuban accent left. He turned that accent on and off depending on who he was talking to. \u201cEssie is the one who makes movies, though, not me.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI made TV shows, not movies,\u201d she corrected him, smiling. \u201cBut Diego\u2019s story would make an excellent movie.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSounds like I should have Grant call you<\/em>,\u201d I teased her.<\/p>

She just smiled at me, saying yes without saying it.<\/p>

\u201cCan we talk about Cuba for a little while?\u201d asked Stan. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some concerns about the regime down there and maybe some thoughts you might be interested in, but we want to get your take first.\u201d<\/p>

Essie jumped into that conversation like a lightning bolt.<\/p>

\u201cThe thing to understand,\u201d she said, \u201cis that the regime is bankrupt. You know all about this supposed oil embargo, but of course what you know is mostly lies if you watch it on TV.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHow so?\u201d I asked.<\/p>

\u201cThey say Trumbull is blockading the oil from getting to Cuba. He\u2019s not. Now that they can\u2019t get free oil from Venezuela, what\u2019s blockading the oil is the fact that Candela has no money to pay for oil. They burned through all their currency, they have nothing to sell, and they\u2019ve exhausted all their credit around the world. They have to pay cash for everything and they don\u2019t have any.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI think that\u2019s mostly true,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cAnd they have their useful idiots here who want to make us prop up that regime, but the answer has to be no. Not until they pay what they owe to families like mine.\u201d<\/p>

Essie\u2019s family had been big shots and massive landowners in Cuba under the Batista regime, and when they were run off the island during the Castro takeover, they transferred their sugar empire from Cuba to Florida and, of course, became wealthier than ever. There were lots of people like them, and estimates had it that the Cuban government\u2019s expropriation debt, which under U.S. law had to be settled before any normalization of relations could be had, was more than $300 billion \u2013 a figure that government was never, ever going to be able to pay back.<\/p>

We\u2019d talked about that issue as we were formulating the plan for The Everything Company, or LCTC, and though ideas were still being floated, it was a problem we\u2019d yet to resolve. Pierce had a team of economists and other academics kicking it around still.<\/p>

\u201cI know this,\u201d said Diego, \u201cand I know it because I know Burro\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s an impressive guy,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cYes, he is. And he wants to turn Cuba around and make it free. But he can\u2019t do it. Not now. There is too much\u2026 vientos en contra<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHeadwinds,\u201d Essie translated. Diego nodded.<\/p>

\u201cThe one thing Candela seems to do well is collect shills in the political class in this country and elsewhere in the West,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cHe cannot send the Marines,\u201d said Diego, \u201cthough if he did it would be over quickly. The regime would fall.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe think it\u2019s going to fall soon anyway,\u201d said Stan.<\/p>

Diego nodded.<\/p>

\u201cIt should,\u201d said Essie. \u201cBut it should have years ago. The only reason it doesn\u2019t fall is that Cuba is such a ruin nobody wants to be responsible for it anymore.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat if that weren\u2019t true?\u201d I asked.<\/p>

\u201cWhat you mean?\u201d That was Diego.<\/p>

So I told him.<\/p>

And he and Essie listened, and then they had a quick conversation in very rapid Spanish before both turned back to Stan and me.<\/p>

\u201cOkay,\u201d said Diego. \u201cI\u2019ll do this, but I have conditions.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cGo for it,\u201d said Stan. \u201cWhat have you got?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cFirst, I\u2019ll do\u2026 ten years. That\u2019s it. I\u2019m not retiring there. I\u2019ll help, put the place back in order, make it free, and then that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>

Stan and I looked at each other, neither of us understanding what he was saying.<\/p>

\u201cDiego,\u201d said Stan. \u201cAll we need is for you to front The Everything Company when the mask comes off, so that the regime can\u2019t kick us out.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo,\u201d said Diego. \u201cYou need me to run the country. But like I said, I\u2019m not doing that for the rest of my life. I\u2019ll do it for 10 years and then I\u2019m coming back here.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh,\u201d I said. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhen the regime falls,\u201d said Essie, \u201cit\u2019s going to be chaos. The only thing that can overcome that is a brand everyone can rally behind. Diego is that brand.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThis is more than we expected,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cYou have someone else in mind?\u201d asked Diego.<\/p>

\u201cNo, I do not. If you\u2019re willing to take this that far, we\u2019re in business.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cGood,\u201d said Diego. \u201cAnd I have some other things that we can get to in time, but the one you\u2019ll need to be ready for immediately is where your headquarters needs to be.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIn Cuba, you mean,\u201d said Stan.<\/p>

\u201cI think the initial plan was to set up in a town called Moa, on the eastern side of the island,\u201d I said, \u201cbut that wasn\u2019t set in stone the last I heard.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo. Not Moa. What you want is Gibara.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhere is that?\u201d said Stan.<\/p>

\u201cAlso on the eastern side, on the north coast. It has a large bay and should have an excellent port, but doesn\u2019t. Yet.\u201d<\/p>

I pulled out my phone and looked up the town on Google Maps, and I showed it to Stan. He opened the Everything Company document on his phone and looked at the list of towns that LCTC operatives had already made contacts in.<\/p>

Gibara wasn\u2019t on it.<\/p>

I looked at Diego and shrugged.<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do the site selection.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTrust me. I\u2019m your site selector. You want Gibara.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK, but Diego,\u201d said Stan, \u201cCuba\u2019s full of little towns that ought to have nice ports but don\u2019t. What\u2019s so cool about this place?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHow about that it\u2019s where Columbus landed?\u201d said Diego.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s right,\u201d I said, scrolling through Wikipedia. \u201cOr close enough. Plus they have a film festival in July. I imagine we could do something with that. Can\u2019t imagine they\u2019ve got a lot of tentpole features at the Cine Pobre Film Festival just yet, but Blockbusters could fix that.\u201d<\/p>

And then I looked at Essie.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m thinking of one specific film in particular,\u201d I said.<\/p>

Essie smiled at me. She knew I was hard-selling her. Game recognizes game, and so on.<\/p>

\u201cSeriously, Mike?\u201d said Stan, not impressed with the showbiz angle. \u201cDiego, you need to give me a little more than this.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOkay, fine,\u201d said La Bala. \u201cIt\u2019s my hometown.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ll make it happen,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\n

\"Circular<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Stan and Trina\u2019s housemaid was a girl named Marisol de la Villa. She was 19 or 20, cute more than pretty, dedicated, very responsible and reliable\u2026 they loved her to death. Marisol had come to them after her aunt, who\u2019d been the housemaid at their place, broke her ankle and decided she was done working on her feet all day. Aunt Gisela had Marisol fill in for her at the Lynchs\u2019 place, and a year later they absolutely depended on her to keep their house running. Stan even bought her a car\u2026 or, more to the point, when Rich and Caden, the twins, turned 17 and they each got new Cooper Minis for their birthdays, Stan gave Marisol the old Jeep Wagoneer that the twins had shared.<\/span><\/p>

She was happy with that. It was a tank, and Stan made sure it was in perfect working order.<\/p>

And Stan insisted, a couple of days after we\u2019d finally run through all the details of Diego\u2019s involvement \u2013 details which continued to pile up thanks to a steady stream of text messages from Essie \u2013 that we get Marisol involved.<\/p>

\u201cI thought you said she\u2019s Puerto Rican,\u201d I said when he brought Marisol up.<\/p>

\u201cI said she grew up in Puerto Rico. But she isn\u2019t Puerto Rican; she\u2019s Cuban. Her daddy got thrown in jail for speaking out against the revolution, and her uncle got the whole family out. It was a terrible story. They ended up going from Cuba to Haiti\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThat\u2019s the wrong direction,\u201d I said. \u201cDefinitely the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah, well, they walked the length of Hispaniola, got on a boat from the Dominican Republic and made it to Puerto Rico.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeesh,\u201d I said. \u201cYou talk about wanting to get out of Cuba in the worst way; that\u2019s the worst way.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThat was when Marisol was eight. They came to Florida when she was 13. But you wouldn\u2019t know it. Her English is perfect.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhere does she go to school?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t. She got her GED and now she\u2019s just working. She\u2019s the housemaid for us and like four other families in the neighborhood. But mostly us.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK,\u201d I said, \u201cbut what is it that you want us to use her for?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAs an interpreter, mostly,\u201d said Stan. \u201cBut also as, like, a fixer. Marisol is one of those people who just hustles. She finds a way. That\u2019s just her thing. You need people like that for an organization like this, and she\u2019s ready to do something other than cleaning houses. Trina\u2019s gonna kill me for sending her off to do this, but whatever.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSeems like we\u2019re both gonna trash our marriages over this project,\u201d I said.<\/p>

I had more or less moved into a guest room at the Club at Admiral\u2019s Cove, which, as places to go into exile went, wasn\u2019t terrible. But it had been almost a week and I hadn\u2019t even talked to PJ, much less made it back home. In fact, Melissa had come back from lunch at the PGFI offices with two suitcases and told me I needed to put them in my car.<\/p>

\u201cYou went to lunch with my wife?\u201d I asked her. \u201cIs that what this is?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK, you should be glad that I did,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I have intel. And you should be grateful that I do.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSpeak, then.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh my God, Mike. Really?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cLook, I don\u2019t need a buildup, and I don\u2019t need a lecture from you about how I screwed up and I need to go and grovel. I just want to know what the situation is and I\u2019d appreciate a direct answer. OK?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m\u2026 not gonna tell you any of that. From what PJ told me about your fight, you were right. And she knows you were right.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cBut she was, too.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK, what am I right about, and what is she right about?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell, the way she said it, you said that we work for Pierce, and Pierce made these decisions, so, like, you don\u2019t get to pick and choose the things you\u2019re willing to do if you\u2019re gonna enjoy the rides on the Gulfstream, or the house, or the money. Those are all perks you get from doing big things with him. I mean, that\u2019s correct. And she knows it is.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell, Hallelujah,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cAnd she doesn\u2019t like it, but she did agree that our project is worth the sacrifice. Like, in theory. But she really doesn\u2019t want it to be your<\/em> sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m sacrificing my time,\u201d I said. \u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK, that\u2019s the part where she\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh yeah?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah. What has her absolutely furious with you is that you just blew off the fact that this is dangerous. OK? And I still don\u2019t think you appreciate how terrified she is of losing you. You\u2019re her everything<\/em>. God, I wish I had somebody I could love the way this woman loves you.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cShe has a rather unconventional way of showing it,\u201d I deadpanned.<\/p>

\u201cI mean, that\u2019s really not funny. OK? I think that\u2019s what drives her nuts. You\u2019re just so flippant about all this, and she\u2019s over there with a new baby and another\u2026\u201d<\/p>

She stopped herself, and I had a vision, briefly, of Melissa covering her mouth with her hands.<\/p>

\u201cWhat was that?\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cNothing! Anyway, you\u2019re just acting like, oh, I\u2019m moving on to this new project, and PJ is like, his family is his new project!<\/em> And from her perspective it\u2019s not really fair.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell, yeah, but like you said, you don\u2019t get to pick and choose.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah, but Mike\u2026 I think she feels like Pierce steamrolled you and you let it happen, and then you tried to steamroll her on Pierce\u2019s orders, and she hates that.\u201d<\/p>

I took a deep breath and dragged the bags out to the car.<\/p>

And when I came back inside the building, Marisol was waiting by the elevator. She had a tan business suit on that looked like it had arrived in a bag from Amazon and a pair of shoes that\u2026 didn\u2019t quite match it. She was humming some song I hadn\u2019t heard, and it was sort of a reggaeton tune, I guess. Boom-badaba-boom-badaba, that kind of thing.<\/p>

Then she saw me come in the door.<\/p>

\u201cMr. Mike!\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so good to see you!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHey Marisol, looks like you\u2019re early for your job interview.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cStan told me 1:30. I\u2019m here at 1:25. My uncle says always be 15 minutes early. But I got held up.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI think we can forgive that,\u201d I said as I held the elevator door open for her.<\/p>

I gave her the nickel tour of PGFI\u2019s offices and introduced her to the staff, and then we settled into the conference room. Stan and Trent and Melissa made their way in, and Melissa had coffee for everybody.<\/p>

\u201cOK,\u201d said Stan, \u201cfirst of all, Marisol, you\u2019re going to have to do something for me.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSure, Mr. Stan.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell, OK, two things. First, no more Mr. Stan. I\u2019m just Stan from now on. And second, you\u2019re going to have to find somebody to replace you as our housekeeper or else Trina is gonna kill me.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI can do that,\u201d she said, \u201cbut does that mean I get the job?\u201d<\/p>

Trent slid a folder over to her. It had a contract offer, a waiver of liability and a non-disclosure agreement.<\/p>

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to sign all of those,\u201d he said. \u201cThe sticky notes mark the spots to sign and initial.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK,\u201d she said, grabbing a pen from the little cup in the center of the table and signing. \u201cBut this is a\u2026 waiver for what?\u201d<\/p>

So I explained the project to her.<\/p>

\u201cEssentially, you\u2019re gonna become a Canadian, like me, and you\u2019re gonna drop into Cuba, like me, and you\u2019re going to be my interpreter and personal assistant.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHow do I become a Canadian?\u201d she asked.<\/p>

\u201cYou remember the name on your Canadian passport,\u201d said Trent, \u201cand you occasionally call somebody a hoser.\u201d<\/p>

Marisol just looked at him. She didn\u2019t get the joke.<\/p>

\u201cThe cover here is that we\u2019re working for a company called Sino Solutions, and they\u2019re out of Vancouver,\u201d I said. \u201cMy name is Douglas Thibaud, and I\u2019m actually from Winnipeg. But I\u2019m a project manager working for these people, and they\u2019re a subcontractor hired by La Compa\u00f1\u00eda Todo de Cuba to\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThat\u2019s bad grammar,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should be La Compa\u00f1\u00eda de Todo Cuba.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTell that to Pierce,\u201d said Stan with a laugh.<\/p>

Marisol shrugged. \u201cI guess it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnyway, you know that there are all kinds of restrictions involved in American companies getting involved in Cuba, plus the nature of what we\u2019re doing has to stay as quiet as possible. A Chinese state capitalist thing such as this is supposed to be wouldn\u2019t use Americans. But Canadians are a different story; there\u2019s a ton of interaction between Canada and Cuba.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIncluding the guy that used to be the prime minister,\u201d joked Trent. \u201cWe\u2019re talkin\u2019 serious<\/em> interaction.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTrent!\u201d said Melissa. She knew he was talking about the rumors that Justin Trudeau was actually Fidel Castro\u2019s son, rumors which were almost certainly true.<\/p>

\u201cSo we go in by boat, and we\u2019re gonna set up in this town called Gibara, on the eastern side of the island, and for the next couple of months we\u2019re going to be Canadian project managers and we\u2019ll supervise LCTC\u2019s stuff, and you\u2019re gonna double as a research assistant for the book I\u2019m going to write about this whole project.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd you\u2019re not even going to interview me first?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHonestly, Marisol,\u201d said Stan, \u201cthis isn\u2019t exactly a job we\u2019re going to put on Indeed. The amount of trust we need for somebody embedded this deep is such that we can\u2019t just hire off the street.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cStan here vouched for you,\u201d I said, \u201cand when I called Trina and asked if I could have you, and she threw a fit over the prospect of losing you, I knew you were it.\u201d<\/p>

She smiled. And then she looked at the contract she\u2019d just signed.<\/p>

\u201cAy, dios mio!<\/em>\u201d she said. \u201cSo much money!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThink of it as hazard pay,\u201d said Stan. \u201cThere is a small element of danger if things go awry, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe will get out of there lickety split at the first sign of trouble,\u201d I said. \u201cBut in case it gets ugly, the pay is extra.\u201d<\/p>

If that dampened Marisol\u2019s enthusiasm, she didn\u2019t let on. She was beaming from ear to ear.<\/p>

Read more What Is a True Friend?<\/a><\/p>

\u201cAll right, then, honey,\u201d said Melissa, sliding another envelope over to Marisol, \u201cthis is for you, but you can\u2019t use it here.\u201d<\/p>

It was a Visa card under the name Selena Jimenez, with Sino Solutions on the company line.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve\u2026 never had a credit card,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201cWhen we get to Vancouver you\u2019ve got to use it,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll fill you in when we get there.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re going to Vancouver?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOn Friday, yeah. Staying the weekend in a Sino Solutions apartment, then on Monday we catch a flight to Toronto, then one to Nassau, then a puddle jumper to a place called Duncan Town, on Ragged Island, where we have a staging area for the equipment and humanitarian aid stuff we\u2019re bringing in\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI actually know where that is,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201c\u2026and then we go into Gibara by boat.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd then I do all the translations for you and tell you everything you aren\u2019t seeing,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201cThat\u2019s basically it.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOkay,\u201d she said, her face lighting up in an adorable smile.<\/p>

I instantly liked Marisol. I understood why Trina was so pissed off at losing her.<\/p>

\n

\"Line<\/figure>\n<\/p>

My beard had finally stopped itching, largely thanks to this beard oil Melissa had found. She was dating a guy who was a chef at a fancy seafood place in West Palm Beach who she\u2019d found on Bumble, and the guy had suggested it. It smelled like hipster, but two days\u2019 worth of using the stuff and I was good.<\/p>

And that beard had filled out nicely.<\/p>

Around the office they were calling me Fidel, which I took as the insult it was. My beard was much, much nicer than Fidel\u2019s had ever been. I was starting to be proud of it.<\/p>

Then the AI-generated photo that was going into Douglas Thibaud\u2019s Canadian passport showed up on Melissa\u2019s email, and she threw a fit.<\/p>

\u201cNo, no, no, NO,\u201d I heard her say. \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to work at all.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d I said, poking my head into her office.<\/p>

She got up and looked me over, very closely, and she scowled at me.<\/p>

\u201cWhat?\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t match,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201cWhat doesn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThis beard. Your hair. It\u2019s just\u2026 wrong.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat? A passport photo? Nobody cares about that.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNobody cares because nobody is impersonating somebody else,\u201d she said. \u201cStay here. Don\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>

And she grabbed her purse and started to leave.<\/p>

\u201cMelissa, I\u2019ve got to get out of here in two hours,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ll be back!\u201d she hollered as she made for the elevator.<\/p>

Forty minutes later I was in my office chair, a towel wrapped around my neck and another one draped on the top of the chair behind me. Melissa had slathered my beard and hair with a nearly-black Just For Men dye gel mixture and I was letting it sit.<\/p>

And in came PJ.<\/p>

\u201cWhat on earth?\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201cHey,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u201cWhat are you doing? Is that dye? In your hair?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cDouglas Thibaud has black hair,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m Douglas Thibaud. Nice to meet you.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWho is Douglas Thibaud?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cProject manager. Sino Solutions out of Vancouver, Canada, eh?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou\u2019re going to Cuba. In disguise. Oh my God.\u201d<\/p>

I gave her a defiant smile. I figured that was as much of a risk as I was willing to take.<\/p>

I knew she was coming. Mary told me she was coming. Mary had called me because PJ had called her, and Mary had done what she does.<\/p>

Conflict resolution. She\u2019s literally the best there is at it. It\u2019s one reason she does so well making those international trade deals. But this was at least the second time she\u2019d had to step in pro bono to fix her daughter\u2019s marriage, and both times involved me doing these PGFI projects. I told her I needed to file that away for further thought.<\/p>

\u201cFor the record,\u201d Mary said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been more entertained in my life than when PJ told me about Peter\u2019s role in all this. He deserves every second of what\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t think that was really what made PJ mad,\u201d I said. \u201cIn fact, I actually get it now.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cGet what?\u201d asked Mary. She already knew, but she asked anyway.<\/p>

\u201cMelissa let it slip that PJ is pregnant again. And here I am going to a hostile foreign country to do cloak and dagger things. I didn\u2019t realize what I was getting into having that fight with her.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo the way through this is for you to acknowledge that there is some danger here, and to ask her to accept the risk involved in it when the potential reward is making a better world for your children,\u201d said Mary.<\/p>

\u201cAnd she\u2019s going to react well to that and not bite my head clean off?\u201d I asked.<\/p>

\u201cIt probably depends on your definition of \u2018react well,\u2019 but I can confidently state that you and your marriage will survive the exchange.\u201d<\/p>

So with PJ standing in front of my desk, a judgy look on her face, I started to say my appointed line.<\/p>

\u201cPJ, I\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOK,\u201d said Melissa, bursting in. \u201cYou\u2019ve had that goop setting for 12 minutes, which should be enough. Go shampoo it and\u2026 oh, hi PJ!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo you\u2019re<\/em> responsible for this?\u201d PJ asked her.<\/p>

\u201cHis Canadian passport photo has really dark hair, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ll be right back,\u201d I said, heading for the bathroom and grabbing the bottle of color-preserving shampoo Melissa held out for me.<\/p>

And when I got back, PJ was waiting in my office.<\/p>

\u201cWhere\u2019s your luggage?\u201d she asked.<\/p>

\u201cCan\u2019t check a bag. I\u2019m flying as Mike Holman, no luggage, then Mike Holman disappears. I\u2019m Douglas Thibaud when I buy all my gear for Cuba in Vancouver, and then I\u2019m Douglas Thibaud when I fly to Toronto, Nassau and Duncan Town, and then I\u2019m Douglas Thibaud when I get off the boat in Gibara.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cGibara?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cDiego\u2019s hometown where we\u2019re going to headquarters this thing.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo this is actually, really happening.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI was wrong just dismissing the risks of all this,\u201d I said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my plan to approach it that way. I just got mad when you sort of called me Pierce\u2019s stooge because that\u2019s a pain point, and then it all just came out wrong. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d said PJ. \u201cI knew I was wrong when I was arguing with you. You\u2019re right. We owe everything to Pierce, and this is a good thing you\u2019re doing. You will help a lot of people. Even if it goes wrong, you\u2019ll help a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cStill. I don\u2019t think this is super-dangerous, but like you said, this is a heavier lift than the Blockbusters thing was. Instead of trying to give you assurances, I should have asked you to accept the risk. And I know that\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo you talked to Mom, too, huh?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou know I did.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh, God. Mike, I love you so much I can\u2019t stand it. And I\u2019m gonna worry myself sick while you\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI won\u2019t be gone the whole time. And besides, you can come and see me.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIn Cuba? Yeah, I\u2019ll pass.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNot in Cuba. In the Bahamas. Hopefully, Ragged Island is a little nicer than it sounds.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI love you too, you know.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI accept that I lost the argument about this project of yours,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m gonna reserve the right to bitch and complain incessantly until it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYour terms are acceptable.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd can I tell you how much I hate this beard and this dye job? Mike, seriously.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh, come on. I\u2019m going to Cuba. I\u2019ll fit right in.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHoney, you have never looked less Cuban in your life.\u201d<\/p>

Just then, Melissa poked her head in.<\/p>

\u201cI hate to say it, but Marisol is here and you do need to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>

I sighed. So did PJ.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ll be waiting for you,\u201d she said.<\/p>

So I hugged her, and she hugged me back, hard enough that my ribs hurt a little.<\/p>

And I whispered in her ear as I put my hand on her still-flat belly.<\/p>

\u201cI know about the baby,\u201d I said. \u201cI feel terrible that I\u2019m leaving. Can you forgive me?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOnly if you come back,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\n

\"Minimalist<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Chapter Six<\/h2>

Gibara, Cuba \u2014 March 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>

\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will not do.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSecretary Pupo,\u201d said Cabrillo, \u201cthis is a very good deal. It is a deal which will help your people. All across the country I have concluded arrangements like this one with our Chinese partners in La Compa\u00f1\u00eda Todo de Cuba, and the money has begun flowing.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThey don\u2019t even have the name correct. It should be La Compa\u00f1\u00eda de Todo Cuba.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAs you say. It is a foreign enterprise. But our Chinese friends are sincere in their desire to assist their Cuban brothers, and this offer that I have for you is proof.\u201d<\/p>

Pupo scowled, and Cabrillo leaned back in his chair.<\/p>

He didn\u2019t want to be here, in this rotted-out little town. And to have Aldo Pupo, a pathetic little man in a dirty white seersucker suit with a blue t-shirt and espadrilles, who looked like an aspirational Sonny Crockett of the American Miami Vice<\/em> TV show but for the bad combover, stomp his feet and reject the same arrangement two dozen other local Communist Party bosses in cities and towns across Cuba had scrambled to sign off on, was far past the point of irritation for him.<\/p>

This was supposed to be an easy job; it paid even better than his work for the cartels had, and he now had Chinese protection for when the regime collapsed \u2013 which he was more confident than ever would happen. Cuba\u2019s power grid had continued to deteriorate for lack of fuel and the predation of scavengers of various sorts, and shortages of everything were multiplying. Rioting was commonplace, though the world outside saw little evidence of it, and law and order had broken down. Cabrillo\u2019s arrival in the towns and small cities away from the capital had been greeted with celebration; he was bringing the only source of hope any of these people had seen in years.<\/p>

And yet nothing much had come.<\/p>

He\u2019d been told by the American, Peter Chang, who was the CEO of LCTC \u2013 Chang operated out of Hong Kong, but he had set up shop in one of the obscene five-star hotels for foreigners in Havana, and Cabrillo found it peculiar that a Chinese humanitarian effort would be fronted by an American.<\/p>

But Chang said that it was an inspired move, and Cabrillo would come to understand this in time. He also promised that the infrastructure of the effort was coming together. LCTC had hired a Chinese-owned company out of Canada, a firm called Sino Solutions, to serve as the project manager; Sino Solutions had at the last minute asked Cabrillo to negotiate terms with the local leadership in Gibara, for some reason.<\/p>

So he was doing it. As a favor to Chang, more than anything else, but also because Chang had noted that Beijing was losing confidence in Candela. There would be an opportunity for someone else to stand up as the next leader of the country, and as Chang told him, \u201cevery place in Cuba that you stand up an operation in, that\u2019s a political machine you\u2019re building for what comes next, if something does come next.\u201d<\/p>

Cabrillo didn\u2019t find Chang trustworthy. He came off as desperate, and he seemed to see his job as that of a front man and carnival barker more than to run anything. Chang\u2019s office in Havana was staffed mostly with Chinese who spoke no Spanish; Chang\u2019s Spanish was largely unintelligible and Cabrillo\u2019s communications with him were almost completely in English.<\/p>

It was a fly-by-night operation.<\/p>

But Cabrillo fulfilled his contract anyway, because the money which landed in his Cayman Islands account on the 1st and 15th of each month was real, and there was a large amount of it, and the work was easy. All he had to do was to build out the network, and then he would sit at a desk and collect wire transfers as a liaison between LCTC and his clients in the boondocks.<\/p>

And as Chang said, and he wasn\u2019t wrong, build a machine by keeping those people happy.<\/p>

Cabrillo was waiting for word from Chang on the second round of local hubs for the network. Clearly there had to be one; if they were adding Gibara they would be adding others. He\u2019d asked Chang about that and received a noncommittal answer.<\/p>

Again, it was a fly-by-night operation.<\/p>

But the more he saw of Candela\u2019s Cuba \u2013 Cabrillo had mostly been away from his country over the past two decades, serving in Venezuela for the bulk of that time and all over Latin America with his most recent job until signing on with LCTC \u2013 the more he realized that fly-by-night was the best this benighted country was going to get.<\/p>

Everything was falling apart. The cars, the roads, the water infrastructure, the power grid, the once-vaunted healthcare system, particularly as the regime was now farming out its doctors to \u201cmedical missions\u201d abroad, paying them slave wages and policing them with party apparatchiks while billing their foreign hosts handsomely in order to generate hard currency.<\/p>

The telecommunications system was holding up rather well; that was somewhat recently built by a consortium of Chinese companies, and it would have been a bright spot but for the fact that there was no power to run most of it and, naturally, it was built more for surveillance of the population than actual telecommunications. Cabrillo had seen the Chinese spy station at Bejucal, south of Havana; it was impressive. But he knew the Americans had far more impressive facilities which were aimed at delivering entertainment to the masses, and he tried not to think about what judgment that comparison offered between capitalism and communism.<\/p>

He\u2019d spent most of his career in Venezuela. Venezuela was a disaster in and of itself. Venezuela was nevertheless far better off than was Cuba. Mexico and Panama looked like paradise in comparison.<\/p>

This Pupo, though, somehow had higher standards than did the two dozen party bosses who had enthusiastically agreed to go on the payroll for the one potential bit of salvation Cuba had available.<\/p>

Cabrillo had some indication of why.<\/p>

He\u2019d been told by his friends in Colombia that the party secretary had a side hustle. It involved a go-fast boat, and it was in keeping with his regrettable Miami Vice<\/em> persona. Pupo was transporting loads of cocaine to Exuma in that boat once a week; his nephew was flying those loads in from Sincelejo, landing them at the airport in Holguin a half-hour away.<\/p>

And Pupo and his nephew owed the Colombians a very large sum of money thanks to his having panicked and dumped a shipment before the Coast Guard could stop the boat. But that was the point of a go-fast boat \u2013 it would outrun the Coast Guard.<\/p>

As drug-runners went, Pupo was below average. But as a negotiator, he was better. And this irritated Cabrillo.<\/p>

\u201cPerhaps we are going about this wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems that you require\u2026 special considerations.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI am not some hillbilly, as los Yanquis<\/em> call them,\u201d said Pupo. \u201cOthers may take this pittance you offer. In Gibara we operate differently.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou have power two hours a day,\u201d said Cabrillo. \u201cI checked at the hotel; there are two guests. Two! If you operate differently, I would say that means you are even more desperate than the others. Perhaps you should think of more than just yourself.\u201d<\/p>

Pupo held up his hand and opened and closed it vigorously.<\/p>

\u201cAll I hear is talking,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I do not hear is an offer.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAhhh,\u201d said Cabrillo. \u201cYou would like me to square things for you and your nephew with your Colombian friends, yes? How much do you owe them?\u201d<\/p>

Pupo just looked at Cabrillo, his mouth agape.<\/p>

\u201cOr perhaps you would like me to call Havana and let them know you are trading off-the-books? You\u2019d like to be Ochoa\u2019ed?\u201d<\/p>

General Arnaldo Ochoa had been a Cuban military hero who was tried and executed in 1989 for trafficking cocaine with the Medell\u00edn cartel. Everyone knew the Castro regime was involved in drug trafficking; Ochoa was made a scapegoat just before the U.S. invasion of Panama because he was acting independently of Havana. Ever since then it was known, but increasingly ignored, that if one was to deal in contraband pharmaceutical products it paid to have connections up the chain.<\/p>

Pupo didn\u2019t have them.<\/p>

He shifted his attention to the television in his little office, which may have been the only room in Gibara with constant air conditioning thanks to the propane generator humming away in the little courtyard just outside the window. Most of the local party bosses had no televisions; the ones who did had ancient boxes sitting atop cinder blocks.<\/p>

Pupo had a 70-inch screen mounted on his wall. And somehow he was watching an American channel. MS NOW, the chyron said. Cabrillo recognized the speaker on the television. It was a congresswoman \u2013 Dolores Gramsci-Ramos, the woman from New York, and she was castigating the American President Trumbull for his intransigence toward Cuba.<\/p>

\u201cHands off Cuba!\u201d she was shouting. \u201cHands off, Donny!\u201d<\/p>

\n

\"Black<\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cShe is very spirited,\u201d Cabrillo said.<\/p>

\u201cIt is too bad that she is a lesbian,\u201d said Pupo. \u201cShe comes to Havana often through the Nuestra America<\/em> programs, you know. I admire her very much. Perhaps someday I will meet her.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Cabrillo, making an extra effort to control his irritation.<\/p>

\u201cI am not so easily intimidated,\u201d Pupo said, turning his attention back to their negotiation. \u201cYou may have hand-fed Lopez-Magara in Guardalavaca, that simplon<\/em>. He runs product out of the little airstrip there; he fools no one. Not me. One phone call to Havana and there goes one of your stooges. You\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>

Just then, a man burst in, soaking wet \u2013 the sky was cloudless that afternoon \u2013 and coated in mud from his shoulders to his rubber boots. He was holding a handful of moldy rubber sheeting, and he reeked of sweat and\u2026 something else.<\/p>

\u201cPupo!\u201d he said, waving the rubber sheeting at the commissar. \u201cI told you the repair on the water main break wouldn\u2019t hold without a proper repair clamp. And I was right! Will you do your fucking<\/em> job and requisition one like I asked you to do two weeks ago?\u201d<\/p>

Pupo looked at Cabrillo and back at the man, who Cabrillo assumed was el jefe de obras<\/em>, the public works boss \u2013 no one else would talk to the party secretary this way \u2013 and stood up at his desk, drawing the hairs back across his scalp to restore his meager combover. Pupo drew in his breath, almost like the ocean undertow pulling back the surf in preparation for a wave.<\/p>

Then it came.<\/p>

\u201c\u00a1Co\u00f1o! \u00a1No me rompas los cojones ahora mismo! \u00a1Vete pa\u2019l carajo, singao! \u00a1Resuelve!\u201d<\/em><\/p>

El jefe de obras<\/em> drew back his own breath, and for a moment Cabrillo expected a real show. But instead the man simply turned away, muttering under his breath.<\/p>

\u201cShut the fucking door on your way out!\u201d said Pupo. And the man did.<\/p>

\u201cNow,\u201d said Pupo, smoothing his combover again as he sat back down, \u201cWhere were we?\u201d<\/p>

For a moment, Cabrillo considered whether to press the advantage the interruption gave him. In a less dysfunctional place, he knew, he could shame a functionary like Pupo into signing on, because a repair clamp for a water main was a promise he would have no difficulty delivering on.<\/p>

But Pupo knew this as well. He also knew that item was a crucial need. And yet he still made demands beyond the standard compensation two dozen of his colleagues were happy to accept.<\/p>

What Cabrillo knew was that it was as likely as not that Pupo had requisitioned the repair clamp. It wouldn\u2019t have mattered if he had. El jefe de obras<\/em> also knew this, and yet he interrupted the boss\u2019s meeting with an important-looking stranger to dress him down about the water main.<\/p>

This man was hated by the people of the town, Cabrillo judged, and it was mutual. And of all the places he\u2019d been on this recruitment campaign, Gibara might have been the one most in need of LCTC\u2019s arrangement.<\/p>

They had entered the phase of the negotiations he had been hoping to avoid, and, miraculously, had managed to, so far.<\/p>

Namely, the paying of bribes.<\/p>

It should have infuriated Cabrillo, and it did, but for a moment he considered that, so long as the price was within limits, he might actually be doing some good paying off this silly pendejo<\/em>.<\/p>

There was a sizable fund in place for just this purpose, but Cabrillo had installed himself as a recipient of its resources. Why shouldn\u2019t he? Other than a few trinkets and baubles to smooth his way, he\u2019d left that fund untouched \u2013 at least, as to its intended use. That Cabrillo was taking a commission, admittedly a very large one, was only fair, he thought.<\/p>

Peter Chang didn\u2019t strike him as the kind of boss who would lose his composure because of a skim. Or even bother to notice.<\/p>

But if this soft little man in front of him was greedy enough, his demands might just cut into Cabrillo\u2019s rake. And while he\u2019d decided to be magnanimous in the face of obvious need, the idea of coming out of pocket in Gibara wasn\u2019t acceptable to Manuel Cabrillo at all.<\/p>

But first, some theater.<\/p>

Cabrillo stood. \u201cIt appears you have bigger issues to handle,\u201d he said. \u201cPerhaps I will come again some other time.\u201d<\/p>

Pupo\u2019s demeanor changed instantly, and Cabrillo knew the posturing was over. For better or worse, he was about to conclude his 25th acquisition for La Compa\u00f1\u00eda de Todo Cuba.<\/p>

So long as the cost of the acquisition was borne by LCTC and not Manuel Cabrillo.<\/p>

\u201cNo, no,\u201d said Pupo. \u201cPlease, sit down. Would you like some rum? I have an icemaker. It\u2019s in the back.\u201d<\/p>

Cabrillo took his seat again.<\/p>

\u201cWhat is your price, Pupo? I have a long road trip ahead and I tire of this p\u00e9rdida de tiempo.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

\u201cOne hundred thousand. U.S.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cFifty. And for that, I get your Exuma run.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cEighty.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSixty, and not a dollar more. Give me the keys to your boat.\u201d<\/p>

Pupo smiled.<\/p>

\u201cLet me get you that rum,\u201d he said, pushing the wisps of his hair back across his balding scalp yet again.<\/p>

And Cabrillo waited until the apparatchik left the room before rolling his eyes and giving a satisfied sigh. He wouldn\u2019t reach Havana until very late that night, but he would do so with his skim intact.<\/p>

If barely.<\/p>

\n

\"Line<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Coming Saturday, August 22: Episode 4 of Scott McKay\u2019s <\/em>The Necessary Men.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Catch up and follow along at \u201cThe Mike Holman Novels at\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The American Spectator<\/strong>.\u201d Signed copies are available for pre-order at\u00a0MikeHolman.com!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Read more Who Is the Mother? Surrogacy Battle Erupts After Woman Refuses Abortion<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A most wonderful article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-necessary-men"],"yoast_head":"\nScott McKay\u2019s The Necessary Men \u2014 Episode 3: La Bala de Gibara - National Logistics Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scott McKay\u2019s The Necessary Men \u2014 Episode 3: La Bala de Gibara - National Logistics Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A most wonderful article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Logistics Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T06:07:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c26e98d6fd9a038e8d4a788b6742c2e4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"198\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"41 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc\"},\"headline\":\"Scott McKay\u2019s The Necessary Men \u2014 Episode 3: La Bala de Gibara\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T06:07:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535\"},\"wordCount\":8236,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8a05815e940815b456f9805340c8f51f.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"The Necessary Men\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1535\",\"name\":\"Scott McKay\u2019s The Necessary Men \u2014 Episode 3: La Bala de Gibara - 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