by Ian Miller
"Yes, but on the other hand, someone is highly likely to have inadvertently left clues. I want you to search every plausible nook and cranny."
"So, how far do you want to go?" Lawton looked hesitant, as if he wondered whether this woman had any understanding of what could and could not be done.
"As far as necessary. You will try to add pressure on anyone you think might respond well to it, and you are welcome to try any form of extortion, but under no circumstances must your efforts be traceable to a US government agency. Understand?"
"That will have repercussions –" Lawton started to say.
"Exactly, which is why I want deniability. The Russians have been hacking all sorts of things in the US, and they deny their government has anything to do with it."
"Yeah, well they would, wouldn't they?"
"So we shall deny our involvement, and to make sure we can do so without being caught out, the NSA will not do this, nor can anything be traceable back to a US government agency."
"Then who?"
"Criminals, of course," the woman said with a smile.
"Criminals? Where do I –?"
"If the NSA cannot find any criminal activity, then why are we funding it?" She looked at his concerned face and laughed. "They don't have to be convicted, and the more respectable they appear the better, but you have to make sure there is a competent hacker there, capable of dealing with the Russian countermeasures."
"Criminals don't do that sort of hacking," he started to explain. "They certainly are not interested in the Russian Defence Industry."
"Then fire one of your own staff, and make him susceptible."
'What a cold bitch,' he thought to himself, but struggled to keep a straight face. "Why are these fired agents going to do this?" he asked, instead of protesting. "The last thing they'll be feeling is charity –"
"Pay them! It must not come out of any NSA traceable account. Here is the key to a private box in a major bank. It will be kept full of banknotes. When you take it out, none of it will go into your pocket."
"Of course, but if we are hiring criminals, accounting for –"
"Irrelevant. I don't care what happens to it as long as none of it ends up in the hands of someone working for the government."
"If I fire an agent and pay him with this, he will really be working –"
"Nobody officially will be paid by the government." The woman clearly was not interested in fine points of logic.
"And what happens if the Russians catch on to what is going on?"
"The President will be most upset."
"But he won't be sufficiently upset to do much?"
"On the contrary, he may well order the NSA to apprehend whoever's doing this, if they make a right proper botch-up. When that happens, you will have to play it by ear. You can give them warning, so they can take evasive action, but if our people mess up too much and don't flee the country quickly enough, I'm afraid they will have to be removed. We cannot have them in jail, telling all. Understand?"
"I understand," he replied, and thought to himself, 'Better not tell them of the final position if it all turns to custard.'
Chapter 1
"Justin, please don't jump!" A young woman's voice, frantic.
The man on the edge of the roof turned to face the young woman who was pleading with him. He looked clearly dishevelled; the knot of his tie was half-way down his chest, his shirt was rumpled and partly torn, his face showed signs of having recently been punched, as shown by a slightly fat lip and a bruised cheek, but more than anything else, his eyes showed pain and despair. "I'm sorry, Janice, but I know what's coming, and I can't take it. Better to get it over with now. Good luck, Janice." He turned and stepped towards the parapet, then brushed some snow off it. He looked down and shuddered slightly.
"She's right, you know. You really don't want to do this." This was the voice of a man who was not supposed to be there. The voice had an English accent.
Justin gave a start, and when he retained his balance, he turned around to face this new voice. "Who the hell are you?"
"Your guardian angel, if you so wish," the man said, as he stepped out of the shadow and into the moonlight. He was strangely average in physical appearance. Average height, very slightly overweight, a very average haircut, and he was dressed in a very average business suit together with a heavy overcoat. In one other way he was anything but average: he exuded self-confidence.
"Nobody can help me," Justin muttered.
"Not if you won't let them," the man said, "but I assure you, there is no need whatsoever to do what you're thinking of doing."
"Please," Janice implored. "Get back from there and at least listen."
"Good advice," the man said. "It's not as if you can't get back up there."
"You've no idea what my problems are."
"Oh yes I do. I assure you, I know what they are a lot better than you do."
"Bullshit. You can't."
"OK, Try this. You two worked as investment bankers for Irving Goldfinch, right?"
"Yeah. Just about everyone knows that."
"And he's one of the greediest and most spiteful men you have ever met. You probably didn't know that then, but you should be starting to recognize that now."
"So?"
"You did some good deals and made him about a hundred million dollars, and you got a total of no more than half a mil each back. How am I going so far?"
"About six hundred k," Janice said.
"Near enough," the man said, as he gave a flick of his mouth to indicate the difference was irrelevant. "You two were his top performers, and you got peanuts, or so you thought. You went out on your own and set up your own investment bank, Ellison and Lamont Investments, but you were undercapitalized. Your problem was, with everything you had, you were too small to make any impact. You needed clients and you didn't get any."
"No, we didn't," Janice said. "I guess our office was not flash enough and –"
"Goldfinch made sure you got no clients," the man said, this time shaking his head to show disapproval. "Your office was too cheap in some eyes, but that wasn't the problem. Goldfinch spread the word that you were going to be crushed, so nobody came to you. Then you got an offer of investment, supposedly equity, but your lawyer was in Goldfinch's pocket, so –"
"But that's unethical!" Janice exclaimed.
"Of course it's unethical," the man said, "but then again, your taking that tip that you should have suspected of at least being inside information was hardly brimming with ethics, or for that matter, with common sense, was it?"
"We thought it was a good bet, the company information seemed –"
"Cut the crap! You got inside information, and you piled in everything you had and what you could borrow, which by my count, was about ten million dollars. You fell into a trap set by Goldfinch, then you found your lender wanted his money back, and if you didn't pay, he was going to beat the shit out of you, and then . . . Well, use your imagination."
"No need," Justin said. "They already –"
"That's nothing compared to what they'll do in due course," the man warned.
"Which is why I'm going to jump," Justin started in a morose voice. "I've been told that tomorrow I've got to pay up, or they'll –"
"Justin, don't jump. We can disappear," Janice implored. "We can –"
"We can't," Justin said. "They'll find us."
"True, disappearing won't work," the man said. "You haven't the skills to do that properly."
"So what else can I do?"
"You can think," the man said. "The inside tip was actually provided by your ex-boss. You were told that it was shortly to make an announcement that would shoot the shares upwards, right?"
"Yes," Justin admitted. "We bought the stock. We did what we could and the company seemed real, but then it seems that Goldfinch made a massive short, following which the stock price collapsed."
"And we lost everything," Janice added.
"Only on paper, though?" The man asked.
> "If you mean, do we still own the stock, yes," Justin agreed, "but that's because there's no way in hell anyone will buy it, and we have to repay –"
"Or he'll beat the shit out of you, and add to the debt," the man nodded.
"Which is why I'm going to –"
"Hold it there," the man said. "Why did the stock price fall?"
"Because Goldfinch flooded the market," Janice said.
"No. That was only part of it. Goldfinch sold his huge borrow then he organised a rumour that the company was really rubbish and that helped send everything into free-fall. You still have your stock, so when this blows over you'll have the opportunity to sell and recover a reasonable amount."
"If I live long enough, and it would be a poor bet to back that option."
"Yes, but suppose I take the option you fear off the board?"
"What do you mean?" Justin asked, his tone showing he was very doubtful and suspicious of this possibility.
"How do you know all about this?" Janice asked the man, thus giving the man the chance to avoid Justin's question. Justin gave a look of sheer annoyance, as if his small hope was dashed. "It's not exactly public knowledge."
"Good question," the man said, and gave her an approving glance. "Justin, didn't that question strike you?"
"Does it matter?" Justin said, as he glanced back at the parapet and the chasm beyond. "You must work for my ex boss, otherwise –"
"But that is exactly wrong," the man said. "Time to think of something else."
"Like where to get a huge amount of money tonight, with no collateral and other debt sources maxed out," Justin growled.
"Exactly. You might also ask yourself why I am bothering with you?"
"And why's that?"
"I shall advance you your cash, and not only that, I'll send a couple of men around to oversee your meeting with those guys who wanted to beat you up."
"Why would you do that?"
"In return, Ellison and Lamont Investments will thrive, and carry out investments for me under my direction. From your point of view, everything will be legal."
"Then why us? Why not –"
"Because you will be grateful, and you will not try to play against my interests –"
"Not good enough," Justin interrupted. "There are plenty of other places that would be pleased to take your commission."
"True," the man nodded and continued, "but their confidentiality is not guaranteed. I intend to go after Goldfinch, and most would do what I asked them to do, take their commission, then warn Goldfinch. I am reasonably convinced you will not."
"I think you can be assured we have no fond feelings for Goldfinch," Justin agreed. His attitude changed just a little, his head raised just a little, as if a touch of hope had struck home.
"One question," Janice said. "What exactly do you want us to do?"
"Simply trade stock for me, and hide my immediate involvement. And no, it is not that I am afraid, but if Goldfinch knew I was involved he might not fall into the traps he might fall into with you because he seems to hate you for leaving him and he wants to make sure you fail. That leaves him vulnerable."
"Is that all?" Justin asked.
"I promise you, I'm not asking for you to do anything illegal, and if you show me that whatever I want you to do is illegal, providing you return my money you're free to walk away. If I tell you to invest in something, you won't be told why. You simply follow your client's instructions."
"That's not much for getting those thugs off my back," Justin said. "I –"
"That's all I want from you," the man said with a smile. "It doesn't follow that they get away free."
"And when we've done whatever you want?"
"You will get big, and I shall have two good investment bankers who owe me enough that they will be grateful and try and do their best."
"Justin, please. That's better than jumping."
Justin stared down at the street, then turned away again and walked back to the man. "How do I know I can trust you?"
"Here's a starter. Hang onto the stock you think is worthless."
"Why? What do you know?"
"I know the police are about to take down the fraudster who's in Goldfinch's pocket, and I know almost all the assets will be recovered and returned to the company. I also know the company really is sound, and so the price will bounce back, and as a sweetener, I'll give you another hundred k to buy more of them before it does."
"Buy more?" Janice looked curious.
"Currently they're rock bottom. Just think of what happens if they double their price to not quite at rock bottom?"
"That's very generous if it's true," Justin said, "but I still have to face tomorrow, and I can't."
"Make them an offer. A million down, and the rest in instalments."
"They'll take the money and still beat me," Justin said gloomily. "They said, all or nothing."
"In which case it could well be nothing," the man said, "but nobody will beat you."
"And why not?"
"Because I shall see to it," the man said in a quite dispassionate voice. "You won't be the only one going to this meeting, although I doubt you will see most of the others."
"And where do I get a million?"
"I shall see it turns up," the man said. "No problem."
"And why do you want to give me a million? I can't –"
"Don't worry about that. I shall get it back rather quickly. Now, conditions. You will work for me. I shall advance you money, and you will make investments as I direct, for twice the standard commission. Interested?"
"Who are you associated with?" Janice asked. "I mean, you are hardly doing this on your own bat."
"Why not? But right now, you don't need to know any more than you do now, and you might be better off not knowing because I don't want you muddying the waters with Goldfinch. I want Goldfinch to be running around wondering how you do it."
"He may forget all about us," Janice pointed out. "Once he's back to making money . . ."
"He may, but that's so out of character I really doubt it. We shall see."
"I'm still curious to know why you want to advance us so much money," Justin said.
"I'm not really losing anything," the man said with a smile. "Since I knew what Goldfinch was doing, I covered his bet, so overall, I make quite a bit on the overall transaction. Also, those guys who you're afraid of have no right to the money, so I shall relieve them of it as soon as you are away."
"Well, that's good to know," Justin muttered.
"Anyway, time to decide. Work with me, or go jump. Your choice."
"If what you say is true, you could be worse than those other –"
"In one sense, you're right," the man said as he nodded in agreement. "Cheat me, and you will wish you were never born, but do what I have just outlined, be honest with your accounting, keep everything you learn from me confidential, keep sober, and you will live to enjoy a ripe old age. You do not want me as an enemy, but I truly reward people who work honestly for me."
"Please, Justin." Janice said.
"All right. I suppose I don't have much choice."
"Excellent. Now, get away from that parapet, and we can go and have a drink to celebrate our new working arrangement."
"Who are you?" Janice asked. She looked a little embarrassed, then added, "We have to call you something."
"Frederick Rutherford. You can call me Fred once you've done your first job. In the meantime, Mr Rutherford."
"Fine," Justin said, not calling him anything.
"Now, tomorrow you will go to this meeting in an old car with one of my men. The money will be on the back seat. You will go into the building and make the offer of a million down, saying you can't get more in cash at such short notice. Don't get close to them if you can help it. OK."
"OK," Justin said. He looked as if he were anything but.
"Don't worry. Just do what my man says, and try to look frightened."
"That shouldn't be hard," Justin muttered.
Chapter 2
Justin Lamont's hands were shaking as he opened the door to the derelict theatre. He had been promised help, but he was alone. Not unreasonably, the other man remained in the car, guarding the million dollars, if it were a million dollars. For all he knew, it could be old newspaper. He wanted to run, but he knew that would not do him any good, so he kept going. He glanced around to see old spider webbing hanging everywhere. All seating had been taken away, together with anything else that was not part of the building. There were a number of upstairs stalls, but the railings were pushed almost to the horizontal, or were missing entirely, possibly a consequence of somebody making it easier to lower any seating, and the stalls looked anything but safe. There was grime everywhere, but enough of the original architecture showed through to indicate this was once a grand old place. He knew there would be thugs in there, and he had been assured that Rutherford would deal with them but he was still frightened. Suppose Rutherford lost?
Everybody involved in the theatre believed they were alone, but they were not. Graeme Middleton, Goldfinch's fixit man, had hired the thugs, and he wanted to know what happened. He had some surveillance cameras planted, and was monitoring these from the other side of the road. He had just arrived to turn them on. He knew there was likely to be violence this evening, and it would be just as well that he did not record his men arriving. For that reason, he was not monitoring the interior of the theatre itself, but merely who was coming and going. The light enhancing quality was barely adequate, but the image in front of him clearly showed Lamont walking towards the main hall. He was recognizable, which was good. Lamont walked through a door, and was hence out of sight.
Lamont closed the door behind him and turned towards the centre of the room where four thugs were obviously prepared to enjoy themselves.
"So he turned up," one laughed.
"Empty handed, too," another laughed. "Time to be tenderised, you little banker."
"You were told to bring the money, or else," the leader said. "It looks like, or else. Get yourself ready for the hiding of your life."
"I can't get all that in one day," Lamont said. He knew the script, and he had to sound frightened. That was easy; he was frightened. "I have a million in cash, and it's outside, waiting."