by Doug Houser
Cheryl thought for a brief moment and said, “Brit would look like that if she had the clothes.”
“Would she be able to charm a Southern preacher or his staff?”
Peeps was curious and asked, “What do you have in mind?”
“I think many churches have booklets with pictures of all their members. We need a copy of the book from that church so that Marcus can pick out the attacker.” KC said.
“Great idea. Yeah, I think she could do that.”
“Ok, get her a false driver’s license and credit card and take her shopping. While you’re at it, get IDs for Cheryl, Davis, and Hopkins. I don’t want to spend a fortune on clothes. Just make sure Brit looks like the wife of a successful business owner who’s looking for a place to relocate his high-tech firm. Borrow a big diamond ring from your pawnshop buddy. Let’s send her as soon as we’ve got the IDs.”
KC was quiet for a few moments, while he thought through some details. When he’d resolved some issues in his mind, he continued, “Cheryl, how’s your aim?”
“Shot expert with the forty-five.”
“Good. I’ll get you a new Glock. I think this would work better if you talked Jasmine into letting you stay with the Williams family until we’re done. I doubt that you will need the weapon for its intended use, but I think that Marcus would be impressed to have an armed, former Marine providing him with personal protection. We’ll go over the details of your approach to the Williams family later. Any questions?”
Cheryl responded, “I’ve got a couple. When do you think I’ll be going?”
“Peeps, how long will it take to get the IDs?”
“I’m on it. Let me go find out. I’ll be right back.” As Peeps got up and left, KC said, “Ok. What’s your other question?”
“How far is the drive? If I am taking a weapon, I won’t be flying.”
“It’s a six-hour drive. When you get there, leave your car at a rental agency and rent whatever car you like, make sure it has in-state plates too.”
Cheryl had one last question. “Will I be going alone?”
“The way I see it, Peeps will reserve a BMW or Mercedes rental for Brit who will fly in. She can pick up her rental car, visit the church and call when she has the membership book. Then, since you will be carrying, you’ll drive down and meet her. She’ll give you the book and then fly back. Davis and Hopkins will fly down, rent vehicles, and find an isolated place out in the country somewhere. Those two will be available to help you convince Marcus if you need them. When Marcus has identified this goddamn son of a bitch, they’ll pick him up and deal with him. When everything’s done, Davis and Hopkins will turn in their vehicles and the three of you will drive back together, in your car. I figure that Davis and Hopkins can handle this unarmed. Like I said before, you’re going armed, hopefully, just for show.”
The phone on KC’s desk rang. He held up a finger, signaling Cheryl to wait a second and picked it up. Peeps, on the other end said, “We can have the IDs in a week.”
“Too long. Sweeten the pot if you have to, but tell him we need them in three days. Also, tell him we’re going to need a lot more in the future, so he needs to streamline the procedure and take care of us properly if he wants our future business.”
“Will do.”
When KC hung up, he told Cheryl, “Peeps will take care of things, so Brit will be leaving in three or four days and if things go well, you should be going a day later. You have to be totally silent regarding this mission. The only people you can talk to about it are the people that are directly involved. That means, the only people who you can speak with about it are Peeps, Brit, Hopkins, Davis, Ol’ Top and me. That’s it. Absolutely. Not your mom, not anyone. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Nodding to the work area, KC continued, “When you go back out there, tell Peeps I need to meet with you, him, Brit, Davis and Hopkins as soon as possible. Thanks, Cheryl. We have to be successful with this.”
“I’m sure we’ll make it work.”
Chapter 24
Jacoby Townsend came on the line, “KC, glad you called. I’ve got some things to go over with you.”
“Good timing then. Are we ready to move money around, in case we come across some?”
“Yep. That’s what I wanted to talk with you about. I’ve got things set up to handle both cash deposits and online transfers. I need your laptop so that I can get it set up. Can you bring it down?”
“Sure. When’s a good time?”
“How about now?”
“I’ll be right there.” On his way out, KC stopped by Peep’s desk. “Have you gotten in contact with Davis and Hopkins?”
“Not yet. Davis is in the gym and Hopkins is out running.”
“Ok. I’m going down to Jacoby’s office. I need to take the new laptop with me.”
“Nothing is set up on it yet.”
“That’s okay. We’re paying Jacoby to take care of this aspect of Special Ops. I’ll have him establish security and protocols for you, me, Cheryl, Hopkins and Davis for this operation. I’ll fill you in on the details after I meet with him. What if the five of us meet in an hour in the conference room?”
“That should work. I’ll have them all there.”
When KC got downstairs, Jacoby’s receptionist smiled brightly and told KC that Jacoby was ready for him and to go right in. When KC knocked on the door frame to Jacoby’s office, Jacoby jumped up from his desk, came around, smiling and shook KC’s hand, vigorously. “KC, glad you could come in so soon.”
“Wow, you surely get friendly when you’re on the clock.”
“Now, now, that’s unfair and unjustified. I’m just glad to see you and to get a chance to explain what I’ve put together for you.”
“That may be, but you can be assured that I’ll remind you of that the next time I stop by just to say hi. In fact, I’m going to drop in, sometime, just to expose your true nature.”
Laughing, Jacoby said, “All right, enough. Here’s my true nature. No more small talk. Let me have the laptop.”
“Finally, we’re down to business!”
KC handed over the laptop. Jacoby opened it and pressed the power button. While they waited for it to boot up, Jacoby gave KC a summary of the money moving process. “I set up this system with two goals in mind. One, to do exactly what you asked regarding legitimizing the source of any funds that may come your way from interactions with individuals of questionable character. Two, in the event that said characters become emboldened once contact with your group has been broken and they either attempt on their own or engage some elements of law enforcement or governmental agencies in an attempt to recoup their funds, it’s set up so that it will be impossible to do so. This also includes any attempt to trace funds beginning at your end and going back to their source. The path has absolute dead ends built in that ensure the funds will be untraceable, by anyone. The old law enforcement adage of “follow the money” won’t work with this system.”
“That’s great. But, how can you guarantee the elimination of traceability?”
“It’s a complex process, but here’s the gist of it. It all begins by opening a program that only those whom you authorize can access. We’ll get to that in a minute. Once the program is open, the account number and password for the account from which funds are to be transferred are entered. It’s up to you to obtain this information, by whatever means you need to use. You then enter the amount to be transferred. The funds are instantly deposited into one of several ghost bank accounts that I have established. It might be a bank in Singapore, Dubai, Panama, Hong Kong, the Caymans, or somewhere else. Then, the funds are instantly forwarded to a temporary web account that immediately forwards them to their final home, somewhere. Here’s the good part. Immediately upon forwarding the funds, the first bank account is closed and all traces of the transaction are erased fr
om the bank’s computers, servers and cloud storage. As soon as the funds leave the temporary web account, that account ceases to exist.”
“Ok, so now the money is “somewhere.” How do I get to it?”
“Whenever you want to use some of the funds, or all of them, for that matter, you log in to another program. You, or whomever you designate, types in the amount of money you want to use. A bill is generated and sent to a dummy client, electronically. It is automatically entered into accounts receivable in your accounting system. Funds are then transferred to your cash account, receivables are credited and the money is ready for your use. Except for providing the initial source and generating the billing, everything else is automatic and untraceable.”
“Wow, that’s great. What happens if we obtain cash?”
“Cash is a little slower. It goes into the same system, eventually, but needs to begin its travels differently. You take the cash to Alvin, across the hall. He’ll then have it deposited into various banks at ten thousand dollars per month per bank. Right now, he can deposit one hundred fifty thousand per month. If you need that to be higher, let me know and I’ll set it up. Once the funds have been deposited, they follow various paths to their final home just like in the funds transfer system. It’s all automatic once Alvin makes the deposits.”
“I would love to have the requirement to deposit more than a hundred and fifty thousand in cash in a given month, but I doubt that will happen. How much does all of this cost?”
“The main system of transfers will cost two percent. Cash will cost four percent. The cost for final transfers to your system is included in those percentages.”
The computer was booted up and ready to go. Jacoby typed on the keyboard and then waited for the programs to electronically download. He then turned the computer toward KC. “Run your left index finger past the fingerprint reader.”
KC did as Jacoby told him and a new page came up.
Jacoby said, “This is the authorization page. Think of a user code and password. Make it unique. Not anything you use for email or any other accounts you access. Type those into the fields on the page.”
Again, KC did as he was told.
“Now, run your right ring finger past the fingerprint reader.”
When KC had done this, Jacoby said, “Ok, now using the codes you just entered and your two fingerprints, you can authorize others to access the two programs. When you do this, you will be prompted to authenticate the authorizations even though you are already logged in to the authorization page. You must do this with the two fingerprints run over the fingerprint reader in the proper sequence. Got it?”
“Yep, got it.”
“Each time you think you might be able to persuade a bad guy to allow you to transfer some of his funds, you will need to authorize someone to run the transfer program. Assuming, of course, that you won’t be present. At the end of the operation, you should remove the authorizations. Once you’ve authorized someone to execute the billing program, they will be able to run it at their desk. The transfer program can only be run from this laptop. Any questions?”
“I’m curious about one thing. Are the number of steps in a transfer always the same?”
“No. The program determines the transfer protocol randomly each time it’s run. The number of transfers is capped, but you won’t ever know what route the funds have taken, nor will anyone else, including me.”
“Well, now let’s see if we can find some money, somewhere, to test the system. Thanks, Jacoby. I appreciate your help with this.”
“My pleasure. Go get some money so I can get paid.”
“That would be good for both of us. Wish us luck. Thanks again.”
Chapter 25
Peeps, Davis, Hopkins, Brit, Cheryl and KC were gathered around the conference table with the laptop open and booted up. KC looked at former Marine Sergeant Jerome Davis and former Marine Sergeant Billy Hopkins. Addressing the two former Marine NCOs, KC said, “Cheryl, Brit and Peeps already know what this is about. Has anyone told you guys what’s up yet?”
They both shook their heads no.
KC repeated the story for them. When he was done, simultaneously Davis and Hopkins exclaimed, “That goddamn son of a bitch!”
The other four snickered and KC was quick to say, “Guys, nobody thinks there’s any humor in this. It’s just that every person in this organization that hears the story says the exact same thing. I know I speak for everyone here when I say that we’re going to find this rotten bastard, AKA that goddamn son of a bitch, and make him pay for what he’s done.”
Everyone nodded in unison.
KC continued, “Let me go over the outline of the plan that we’ve put together, such as it is at this point. Jot down any questions or suggestions you come up with and we’ll discuss them when I’m done. To begin with, Peeps is getting false drivers licenses and credit cards for all of you. I know you’ve already been downstairs and had your pictures taken. They should be ready in a couple of days. As soon as they are, Brit will fly down there, rent an expensive looking car and go to the church that Keisha was attending. I’m counting on them having a booklet with pictures of all the church members. When Brit has a copy of the book, Cheryl will drive there and Brit will hand off the book to her. That reminds me, Peeps, don’t forget to get that big glam ring for Brit, it will help her look the part of the rich wife. Brit will then fly back here.”
Glancing at Cheryl, KC kept going. “Cheryl will approach the Williams family with the intent of gaining their trust and convincing Marcus that it is safer for the family if he identifies the attacker for us than if he doesn’t. If at all possible, Cheryl will stay with the family until the operation is over. She’s the only one that’s going armed. That’s why she’s driving. Davis, you and Hopkins will fly down there while Cheryl is driving. Rent a couple of four-wheel drive vehicles and then stand by to assist Cheryl if she needs help convincing Marcus. No matter when Marcus finally agrees to help us, Cheryl will introduce you guys to the family as a couple of her best friends from Marine Corps days. The idea is to reassure them that with the three of you protecting them, they won’t be harmed.”
KC looked at each person at the table, then continued. “As soon as Davis and Hopkins arrive and rent vehicles, you two will rent an isolated cabin or lodge. We need a place that doesn’t have any close neighbors and is a good distance out of town, say, at least sixty miles. When you check the place out, make sure cell phone reception is good and make sure the laptop has good online communication from there. This will be the place where we will hold the attacker until we’ve got his funds transferred, and we’ve identified and captured his driver and transferred the driver’s funds too. After all of that has been accomplished, the three of you will drive back together. Ok, any questions and comments?”
Cheryl was first to speak. “Did you mean that even if I can get Marcus to identify Keisha’s attacker, I’m still supposed to introduce him to Hopkins and Davis?”
“I think that it will go a long way toward making the Williams family more comfortable if they know we’re providing them with serious protection. Remember, from their point of view, they are in this alone. They don’t trust the police. Also, they are surrounded by rich white people that resent them and as we’ve seen, will do them harm. We need to show them that they have friends helping and to convince them that those friends are capable of keeping them safe. Of course, you may need to introduce Marcus to these guys before he’ll identify the attacker. What else?”
Davis asked the next question. “You said transfer funds. What does that mean?”
“The laptop on the table will be used to transfer the funds. Here’s how we do it. You have to get the attacker to give you the user ID and password to his brokerage account or accounts. It will depend on how much money is in the first one he gives you, whether or not you will need to use a second or additional accounts. When we’re done
here, I’ll show you how to use the computer to transfer his funds to us. We’re going to make this guy pay for his crime in dollars. Let me tell you what I have in mind and then you can all comment. I figure that this guy is very well off. I want him to donate enough money to secure Keisha’s education, as far as she desires and is capable of taking it. I want him to do the same thing for Marcus and I want him to provide Jasmine Williams with a house and enough money so that she can train for whatever type of work she wants to pursue. In addition, he’s going to provide us with money that we can use to fund future operations, ones where the bad guys don’t have any money to donate. And finally, he’s going to donate enough money so that everyone in this room can be paid a nice bonus upon successful completion of the operation.”
Peeps then asked, “How much do you plan on taking from him?”
“We won’t know that until we have a look at his accounts. When we know how much liquid assets we can get to, we’ll decide how much to punish him. But, no matter how much we can get, the priority for payment will be Keisha first, then Marcus, Jasmine, our fund for future operations and lastly, our bonuses. Does everyone agree?”
All heads nodded in unison once again. “Ok. Once Marcus has identified this guy for us, I imagine it will be a pretty basic process for Davis and Hopkins to pick him up and take him to the isolated lodge out in the woods. I think one key thing will be to persuade him to give up his accomplice quickly. We wouldn’t want the second guy to learn that the first one is missing prior to getting picked up by us. That might introduce complications we don’t need. What else?”
Hopkins had a question and began, “You mentioned that we would persuade him. What methodology would you suggest?”
“I think you know that I have a thing about messing with eyes and this guy did just that. So, I suggest we turn it around on him. You guys remember the character, Popper, don’t you?”
Hopkins and Davis both nodded in the affirmative.