USA, Inc. (A Mike Wardman Novel: Book 1)

by Larry Kahaner

  “I have trouble believing it. He’s done great things for our group.”

  Mike grabbed two more champagne flutes from a passing waiter’s tray. He surveyed the other guests, but kept an eye on Kane.

  In his peripheral vision, Mike saw Kane talking to two men whom he recognized but couldn’t place. He tapped Evelyn on her elbow. “Who are those men?”

  “The one on the left is Sam Rennert, the governor of California, and the other fellow is Rusty Pike, governor of Texas. Is that important?”

  “I need you to do something for me. Can you enter their conversation, then drag Kane away so I can talk to the other two?”

  “Of course I can. But why?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  Evelyn performed her role perfectly, sidling over to the group, introducing herself, and then taking Kane away to meet someone else. The governors were alone.

  Mike couldn’t believe his good fortune, meeting both men in the same place, and sooner than he had hoped.

  “I’d like to introduce myself,” he said, walking up to the two men, “I’m Special Commissioner to UNESCO Franz Glickman. And you are …?”

  The two governors introduced themselves.

  “How nice to have you. Are you personal friends of Mr. Kane?”

  “We’re familiar with Mr. Kane’s work and are here to honor him,” Rennert said. “We’ve become friends, but more like colleagues, I would say.”

  Mike looked at Pike, prompting him to speak. “Well, I’ve known Kane for only a short time, but have appreciated his vision and clarity of thought.”

  “Yes, he is a visionary,” said Mike. “I’ve heard he’s done very well in concrete. Mobile phones, too. At least, that’s what my people tell me.”

  “I believe that’s correct,” Pike said. “And where do you work?”

  “Right here at headquarters,” Mike said. “I’m a desk jockey. I hardly ever go into the field.”

  The governors were starting to move away, but Mike stepped in their way. “I’m just curious. I understand that Mr. Kane’s company also has a security unit. That’s something we’re always interested in for our field personnel. I think some of my colleagues may use him. Do you know anything about it?”

  Rennert started to answer, but Pike interrupted. “We don’t know anything about that.”

  The men turned to leave again, but this time Mike blocked their movement and opened his coat so they could see his badge. “My name is Wardman, and I’m a federal agent. You can complain all you want to the secretary or anyone else later. For right now, I need some answers.”

  He pushed both of them into a corner.

  “What the hell is this?” Pike said. “You’ll pay for this. What did you say your name is?”

  Mike spelled his name slowly and distinctly. “I don’t give a shit who you are. I need some answers now. And I’m going to get them.”

  “What do you want to know?” asked Rennert in a quivering voice.

  “What’s your relationship with Kane? I know you meet with him frequently. What do you talk about?”

  “We talk about—”

  “Sam, no,” Pike said.

  Just then, two armed men surrounded Mike, each pointing a gun in his direction. The rest of the crowd noticed and a hush fell over the room. Mike recognized them. They were the goons from the coastguard base.

  “Nice to see you, Mike,” Hearst said as he entered their space.

  “How the hell do you always show up when you’re least wanted?” Mike said, handing his gun to one of the men.

  “It’s a gift, Mike.”

  Chapter 36

  The adjacent meeting room was empty, save a few metal chairs. The only light came from the exit signs above each of three doors.

  “What are we going to do about this, Mike?” said Hearst.

  “I have an idea,” Mike said. “Have your men let go of my arms. How’s that for starters?”

  “Not yet. First, I owe you something.”

  He punched Mike in the stomach, then nodded for the men to drop him.

  Mike looked up from the floor, holding his gut. “I always pay my debts.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Hearst replied. He nodded at the two men. One lifted Mike to his feet and held is arms behind him, while the other kicked Mike in the stomach. The first man dropped Mike and kicked him in the side.

  Mike lay on the floor like a question mark. He tried several times to make it to his knees, but folded with a groan each time.

  “What now?” he managed, barely forming the words.

  “Now we’ll have that talk I suggested the last time we met. Unlike you, I don’t like looking down on someone when I’m talking to them.”

  He motioned to the men, and they dragged over two chairs. They pulled Mike up and seated him in one. He pushed down the pain as he was plopped into place. Hearst took the other seat and crossed his legs.

  Mike held his stomach and croaked, “Do you still think I killed that guy, Feldstein?”

  Hearst held up his fingers to stop Mike from talking. He said to his thugs, “Get yourselves some coffee.”

  The two big men raised their eyebrows at exactly the same time, swiveled on their feet, and left.

  “No,” Hearst laughed. “I never thought that. Others at the Bureau thought you offed Feldstein, but I didn’t. Remember, I know you. You’re not a shoot-first kind of guy.” Hearst rolled his eyes.

  “So why the callout in the warehouse?”

  “The plan was for me to arrest you, keep you a few days, make your life miserable. Then file charges if we could find a young, inexperienced DA who couldn’t see through the weak case.”

  “To keep me out of action.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Why?”

  “We’ve been watching Kane for a while. He makes most of his money overseas and keeps it there because the taxes are lower. Lately, he’s been bringing money back. Repatriating money is a red flag for us, especially the way Kane’s doing it.”

  “You think Kane is funding terrorists?”

  “No, we don’t. What got our attention was that he didn’t bring the money back directly through a US bank. He snaked it through banks in the Caribbean, where we still have trouble getting access. By the time the money landed here, it had been relayed about a half-dozen times in a dozen different packets.”

  “How much are we talking?”

  “At last count, five billion dollars.”

  “Holy shit. What’s he going to do with five billion dollars?”

  “We don’t know. The IRS says he hasn’t filed the necessary paperwork, so we know it’s not for a legitimate purpose. He’s not going to buy a company or build a city; there would be traces of that kind of activity. That’s what makes us think bad things are going to happen. But what those bad things are, we don’t know.”

  Mike sat straighter and grimaced in pain from the movement. Hearst took note.

  “I pulled my punch a bit, but those guys …” he said.

  “Yeah, I really appreciate it. Getting back to Kane …”

  “He’s got all this money in the country, so the question we ask is, what’s his plan? Naturally, we look at who he’s meeting with. We know that he’s been spending a lot of time on his estate on the Chesapeake, but we can’t get close. It’s too remote. We’ve spotted his helicopters coming in and out, but we have no idea who’s visiting or where they’re picking them up. He’s been cagey about the routes, and we can’t just follow them with our helicopters. They’d spot us.”

  “You know about his connection with the Judy Bee and the surveyors?”

  Hearst hesitated before speaking. “Yes. I’m not that big a dummy,” he said, smiling. “We know all about his company contracting the Judy Bee, although we don’t know why. We also know that he had two men kill the surveyors and their supervisor, and we don’t know why.”

  “Why not pull him in?” Mike asked.

  “This was a hotly debated issue within th
e Bureau,” Hearst said. “There were those, including me, who wanted to bring him in along with others in TAI and do what we do best. But there were others that wanted to wait and see what he has planned for the money. These days, among the higher-ups, national security trumps everything, even murder.”

  “And that’s where I fit in.”

  “You were getting in the way. When it comes to Kane, how should I say it … your interests and the Bureau’s interests were not aligned.”

  “Here’s what I don’t understand—”

  “I know what you’re going to say. The guys who beat you up in Rehoboth? We know about that. They worked for Kane’s company, but they also worked for us.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “The Bureau has been using TAI security overseas, and even domestically, for many years. When we need some wet work done, they can do it without implicating the Bureau. We didn’t tell them why we needed you tuned up; they just followed orders. They weren’t meant to kill you, just mess you up.”

  “And the bomb meant for my car?”

  “I’m embarrassed by their shoddy work. Again, they weren’t supposed to hurt you, just send a message. But they weren’t supposed to get caught, either.”

  “You gave them the bomb?”

  “Surplus. We had it lying around.”

  Mike shook his head.

  “I know. It’s crazy. We’re in bed with this company, but we’re also investigating them for something about which we know almost nothing. All we know is that it’s big. Billions of dollars big.”

  “It’s more than crazy. It’s insane,” Mike said.

  “It’s the old adage of keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Not only that, but Kane has some very influential friends. We have to be careful how we run our investigation. He can cut us off at the knees in a heartbeat.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?

  “Because I want you to back off before you get killed.”

  “Or ruin your investigation of Kane.”

  “Whichever comes first,” Hearst said. “I can’t guarantee you anymore that the Bureau won’t consider you collateral damage. Based on Kane’s alleged activities, I can’t guarantee he won’t see you as standing in his way, either.”

  Mike let out a long breath.

  “There’s one more thing that you should know. We intercepted some emails that indicate Kane is not done bringing in money. He’s aiming for eight billion total. He’s on a fast timetable, too. The rest of the money is supposedly reaching the US within two weeks, and there’s no way to stop it unless we file a case against him. Once the money transfer is finished, he begins whatever the project is.”

  “Whew.”

  “Now will you back off, Mike?”

  “I can’t do that, Wally. I made a promise.”

  Chapter 37

  Richard Kane sat behind his desk, surrounded by trophies, plaques, and all other manner of recognition material on the walls, tables, and bookcases. There was not an inch of empty space. He stared directly at Evelyn, who sat in an overstuffed chair slightly lower than his.

  He shifted upright and began. “I want to talk to you about your programs. I know that you’ve been dealing with my staff, but I thought it might be time for me to take a more personal interest.”

  “Are you concerned about something?” Evelyn asked.

  “It’s nothing like that.” He stood and walked around. Evelyn swiveled in her chair to follow him. “My foundation gives to many worthwhile causes. Most of them are environmental, because that’s where I think we can do the most good. Sometimes, we ask for further information so we can better understand what we’re getting for our dollar.”

  “I can assure you, once again, that we’re not misdirecting any of your funding.”

  “Again, I have no concerns. Just the opposite. What also happens when we reassess our funding is that we find something that intrigues us, and we want to know more about it. In your case, something tells me that the work you’re doing with lemurs may have some payoff in the world of medicine.”

  “Because of their ability to eat cyanide without getting ill?”

  “Exactly. I have a medical researcher, an MD, on my staff, who flagged it for me as something with possible humanitarian benefits. What I’d like is for you to send any findings directly to him.” He wrote on a piece of notepaper and handed it to Evelyn. “I realize that your main allegiance is to the United Nations, so I’m not asking you to tell us first—only that we hear from you more often. Okay?”

  “I can do that,” Evelyn said.

  “One more thing. Did you enjoy the party last night?” asked Kane. “You were with that … what’s his name? Agent Wardman. I didn’t think it appropriate to bring up our personal—”

  “I know. It’s not as if we—”

  “Not at all. Nothing more to discuss,” said Kane.

  “What happened, as I’m sure you know, is that he was talking to some people one minute, and the next minute he was being led away at gunpoint. I’m guessing it was some kind of misunderstanding.”

  “I’m sure it was.”

  “I didn’t see any of this. I was talking to some other people at the time. When I inquired if anyone had seen him, they said he’d had to leave quickly, something work-related. He’s a federal agent, you know.”

  “We met briefly. You introduced us. What do you know about Special Agent Wardman?”

  Evelyn let her face drop and settled back into her chair slowly. “I know that he’s a law-enforcement agent for NOAA.”

  “I see,” said Kane.

  Evelyn suspected that Kane knew everything, and to lie now would be useless. She took a tissue from her purse and held it in her closed hand. “He and my sister were very close. She worked for NOAA as a fishing-boat monitor. On one of her routine jobs, she and the crew of a fishing boat were murdered. Well …” Evelyn patted her eyes. “She lived a while longer and died in the hospital.”

  “Oh, my. I’m so very sorry.”

  “Agent Wardman is one of several people investigating the case. So far, they don’t know who did it.”

  “Evelyn, I hope that this doesn’t come off sounding conceited or intrusive on my part. If so, forgive me, but I am a man with some influence. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “There is one thing. Last night during your speech, you talked about how much the human race could prosper and advance if we all worked together instead of fighting each other.”

  “That’s something I truly believe. The power within each of us has no bounds. We have to get past our petty disagreements and work as one. It’s not easy for many of us.”

  “Mike keeps me up to date on the progress of the investigation because I asked him to. He doesn’t tell me anything confidential, of course.”

  “How I can help?”

  “One thing he did mention is that the FBI is also working on the case. In fact, it’s really their case, and they’re supposed to share what they learn with Mike. I’m not sure how these things work. Anyway, he said the FBI wasn’t working with him as closely as he’d expected. I know this sounds crazy, but he got the feeling the FBI wasn’t telling him all they knew.”

  “Really?”

  “If you have some influence, you know, with the FBI higher-ups, they might listen to someone like you and be more willing to work with Agent Wardman. Like you said, if people set aside their petty disagreements, there’s no limit.”

  Kane pushed back in his chair and stood, extending his hand. “Let me see what I can do,” he said, smiling.

  Chapter 38

  “You put me a tough spot, Mike. You can’t just barge into a United Nations party and interrogate governors without proof they did anything wrong. Even then, they’re fucking governors!”

  Burke’s words echoed off the walls of his office. That was a first.

  “I didn’t barge in. I had a ticket.”

  Burke rolled his eyes. “That’s not the goddamn point. You embarrassed this a
gency. You embarrassed the service, and Secretary Wickersham is really not happy.”

  “Kane is dirty. I know it.”

  Burke took a deep breath, let it out. “Where’s your proof?”

  “Kane’s bringing billions of dollars illegally into the country for some secret project.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “Hearst told me.”

  Burke’s face turned red. “Are you kidding me? That schmuck! What the hell does he know about anything? C’mon Mike. I thought we’d agreed on his idiocy a long time ago.”

  “I know, but I think he’s right about this.”

  “He’s screwing with you.”

  “Why would he do that?” Mike asked.

  “Have you lost your mind? The man has been fucking with you since you were together at the Bureau. He got you fired, or don’t you remember? He’s done nothing but impede our murder cases, and now you believe he has a line on this Kane character—who, I found out today, is friends with … let’s see … the president of the United States.”

  Mike stared straight at Burke.

  “Okay. Let’s say that Kane is bringing in billions of dollars in brown paper bags. What does this have to do with our cases?”

  “I don’t know yet. There are just too many coincidences,” Mike said calmly. “I don’t believe in them.”

  “Not now,” Burke yelled, to a woman walking into his office. He turned back to Mike. “What else did Hearst have to say?”

  “He said that the FBI has been working with Kane’s security company for years, and they do jobs the Bureau doesn’t want to do themselves.”

  Burke’s eyes widened. “Shit. Really?”

  “He also said that these guys were responsible for tuning me up—”

  “What?”

  “I guess I never mentioned that to you. Not important now.”

  Burke squinted at Mike. The wrinkles around his eyes grew deeper.

  “Is there any solid evidence that Kane himself gave any of the direct orders here?” Burke asked.

  “No.”

  “And the governors. Any evidence that they’re bad actors?”