The Financial Terrorist

by John Gubert

  Maria looked over as they passed the spot. She knew. She realised what he was thinking. Her hand took his with a gentleness that was not usual and she stroked it rather than squeezed it. Her body moved closer to his and he felt her calming warmth. The gentle swell of her breasts pressed against his arm. She woke him from his reverie as they sped down that fated highway.

  Maddy, in front next to Douglas, was watching them keenly. She sensed something had happened here and they needed each other as companions rather than lovers. And she was sensitive enough not to want to intrude.

  Moving into the city through the deep tunnel and into mid town Manhattan, Charles took the phone. Jacqui’s mobile did not answer, but Delaney’s did. She had gone to hospital. He had had her transferred to one in Paddington. It was easier to guard. Nobody had identified any sign of trouble but they were keeping a close guard on the house, Carrie and the hospital. Delaney called. His man would contact them at the hotel. They were gradually getting the final pieces into play.

  Charles called the hospital number that Delaney had given him. The nurse said she could not pass him to Jacqui. She was in labour. They expected she would give birth soon. It all sounded so clinical. The nurse clearly disapproved of the husband whose business took him away at such a time. She told him he could ring in an hour or so and she would tell him how things were.

  They pulled in at the Pierre. They had a suite and two rooms, which all interconnected. Maria and Charles took the bedrooms and Maddy the suite. It was a sort of present for someone who was on active service for the Empire for the first time. Charles’ room adjoined her bedroom and Maria’s her lounge. They would keep the doors unlocked in case they needed to move together in the event of attack.

  They checked plans. In reality, there was little they could do until they had set up the shipments on Monday, so Charles called his father and ran through the actions needed to put the bank into play.

  Loan proceeds were safe in their hands. Companies were waiting to be placed in default so that the banks took their hits.

  The portfolio of overvalued shares and phoney investments had all been sold on to the funds. The cash from them had long since been washed around the world into their secret accounts.

  They had sold shares in the bank, and then unloaded some more as the market and the shares continued to rise.

  Jack Ryder was also selling other shares they did not own in the markets, in anticipation of the inevitable fall out that would occur when the bank went into default. But that was like their normal day to day activities. Taking advantage of insider information but ensuring they left trails good enough to avoid discovery by even the most expert forensic auditor.

  Charles called the hospital. The news was unchanged. He got the frosty nurse again. Jacqui was in labour. She was fine. He could get a message to her but not talk. He sent her his love. He called Delaney. Everything checked out. There had been no suspicious action. All was quiet on all fronts. They had placed guards on Maria’s house and put the bank’s main office under surveillance. He told him that the contact was in play and would be known to Maddy under the code name of Galileo.

  Charles told Maddy. She said he was good, an older agent, trustworthy but not too reliable if the action got over hot. That was the right man to act as go between for them with the US secret service. Charles needed to keep a careful barrier between them and him. There were too many friends of Di Maglio on the US side for his liking. Nor was he sure of the scale of the Di Maglio web of corruption.

  He called the hospital where Di Maglio was being treated and Aldo came to the phone. He said the hit had been unexpected. It happened in a restaurant in Little Italy. Attackers had opened fire with sub machine guns. Two bodyguards had been killed. Di Maglio had been hit several times. He was still unconscious. The prognosis was not favourable. He could be wheelchair bound if he was unlucky. He was still at risk.

  Charles hung around another hour or so. He called the London hospital again. He was father of another little girl. Jacqui and baby were fine. Jacqui was resting. He insisted that the mobile was given to her. Her voice sounded fine. He asked about the baby. She looked like Juliet at birth. Blond hair and grey blue eyes. She weighed eight pounds and was perfect. Jacqui had been in labour for six hours. She was tired. He told her about her father and said they would be acting this week. He promised to call the next morning to see how she and the baby were.

  They talked on for a few minutes in that strange language of love spurred on by the birth of a child. They talked again of the island. They knew they needed it badly.

  Charles walked into Maddy‘s room to tell her and Maria the good news. Maddy wasn’t there but he heard her singing to herself in the bathroom. The door was open and she was lying under a sea of foam with just her face and her mop of hair visible above the water.

  He told her about the baby and she blew him a kiss. She looked at him with a soft smile as he seemed to gaze at her body, hidden under the foam. “This calls for celebration,” she announced. “We should at least have a dinner tonight. Let’s go somewhere special. See if Maria is game.”

  Charles walked across the lounge area and through the connecting door into Maria’s room. “Jacqui’s had a girl. They’re both fine. How about a small celebration tonight? Maddy is keen.”

  “I’m willing. But we can’t go anywhere too visible. How about the Village? There’s a little place I know there. It seats about thirty. It’s easy to guard. It’s down a small alley that ends in a cul-de-sac. It’s only good for a suicide attack, so we should be safe.”

  He agreed. They needed to relax for an evening and he wanted to celebrate the baby. If he’d been in London, he would have left Jacqui by now. And he suspected he would have done the same thing, so the very idea made the day seem more normal again. They all wore dark jeans, part of their standard battle dress. He went downstairs and found an open news-stand. It sold I love New York T-shirts and he bought three. He took them upstairs and showed them to the girls.

  “We don’t want to wear full battle gear. And we need to do some shopping tomorrow before we start working. We’ll need to get ourselves some work clothes. I think I’ll need to get into the bank. I’d like to see if everything’s OK.”

  Maria looked at him with a slightly mocking expression. Maddy did not react. For her, it must have seemed a fairly normal request. Maria knew better. She realised he wanted to give yet another example of the duplicity of his colleagues.

  Then, quite calmly she pulled off her dark shirt, undid her bra and pulled on the T-shirt. Maddy took up the challenge and pulled off her shirt as well. Like Maria, she realised that the black bra would show through the light material of the T-shirt. So looking at him calmly straight in the eyes with the hint of a smile on her lips, she languidly undid her bra, eased it gently off her shoulders. Then, as if in slow motion, she pulled her new T-shirt on and pulled it tightly into her trousers. The outline of the breasts pressed against the taut material as if they wished to burst free.

  Now there was a hint of a smile from Maria as well. She saw competition and enjoyed the thought. In a strange way, the tussle for attention, with Charles as the quarry, brought the two girls together.

  Maria booked dinner for seven thirty. Dinner starts early in New York. It was already gone seven and so they called one of the drivers. Douglas had already been given a well-deserved break. The car sped through the empty streets of Manhattan and down into Greenwich Village. The restaurant that Maria had chosen was bright and airy. The clientele was relaxed and noisy. They would fit into this group with ease.

  Maria ordered a drink. Charles heard her ask for champagne. She was right. That was the only drink to have at a time like this. The waiter returned and whispered something into her ear. He suspected that she was out to buy some of the best champagne they had. She smiled at the response and nodded her head. The man disappeared with alacrity, only to return a minute or so later with a magnum of vintage Bollinger. The bottle was o
pened with a satisfactory pop and the contents fizzed up to be caught neatly in a large goblet. The three glasses were filled and the bottle placed in a giant ice bucket.

  “To baby Rossi,” called Maria and emptied her goblet in one go. Maddy inevitably took up the challenge and did likewise. Charles had no choice. The waiter swooped back and replenished their glasses. The six glasses had accounted for well over half the magnum.

  “To Jacqui,” called Maria and again everyone’s goblet was emptied as they drank her health. Once again the glasses were refilled. “To Charles,” called Maria and the act was repeated again. This time Maddy giggled as she finished off her drink and spilt some down her chin. She caught it with her hand and then wiped her chin clean with a napkin. The waiter appeared with second magnum. He filled their glasses again and Charles raised his to the girls. “To our success,” he said. They all drank the goblet dry.

  He realised that this was becoming quite serious drinking. They hadn’t been there long and were already on their second magnum and their fourth goblet. And each goblet looked as if it were a couple of normal glasses of champagne.

  They ordered food. It was the sort that you get in those small smart restaurants. It had an artistic look; there were slightly spicy sauces to contrast with some quite bland, but perfectly cooked, food. They ate and they drank, moving on through their second magnum. Maria was drinking faster than Charles and Maddy was drinking almost as fast. Both girls were joking and making gentle fun of each other. There was no maliciousness in their fun. It was friendly to the extreme.

  They moved to the main course and then onto ice cream with strange sauces. Charles was amazed that the girls remained sober. Maria, he knew from past experience, could drink most men under the table. But he had never realised that Maddy had the same ability.

  Charles heard the noise first. There was the sharp rattle of a sub machine gun and the return of fire. He ducked down to table level. His hand grabbed the gun from his leg holster. He moved quickly to the door. If it opened he would have a good line of fire and an excellent chance of gunning down anybody before they ever caught sight of him.

  Maddy had pulled her gun from her bag. He noticed it was a small one. It would be powerful enough to kill. Maria was moving to the other side of the door, taking cover behind the overloaded sweet trolley.

  She called out, “Keep calm,” with little effect to the other diners whose noisy enjoyment had ceased when they heard the sound of guns outside. The firing continued and Charles eased to the door, gently opening it as Maria carefully covered him. They saw that their two man escort was slowly retreating down the cul de sac, carefully keeping out of the line of fire, as they faced up to their attackers. The force that opposed them seemed to be seven or eight strong. Charles realised they had to intervene if only to balance the odds or the escort would simply be overcome by force of numbers. He eased himself out and crouched in the doorway. Maria joined him standing just behind him. Maddy was still inside.

  Two men broke cover, their machine guns spitting out a hail of bullets at the escort. They ran closer to the restaurant and two others moved into their places firing all the time, ensuring the escort were pinned down behind a line of parked cars. They, in turn, ran forward and another group took their place. The four men at the front then moved towards the restaurant, obviously unaware of Charles and Maria’s presence in the doorway.

  They did not expect to be challenged then and were unaware of what hit them as they fell. Two more men jumped out of the cover and headed their way. But Maria and Charles had reloaded and were able to stop them.

  Both they and the escort now moved forward. Maddy appeared and Charles signalled her to be careful. She knelt behind a car and watched the street. Then, suddenly, there was the roar of an engine. The gunfire seemed to move away in the distance and then there was quiet. It looked as if the survivors among the attackers had fled in their getaway car.

  As the escort stood guard against any renewed attack from the road, Charles edged forward with Maria to check whether their attackers were dead or injured. Maddy covered them from behind. There was a sharp crack of a gun. Charles whirled round. It was Maddy, her mouth wide open in horror and her gun still smoking. One of the men lay on his back, his staring eyes bearing testimony to the accuracy of her aim.

  “He waited till you passed and then moved to his knees with a gun pointing at you. He was shamming death.” Maddy looked at him reproachfully, “Watch out. This isn’t a game.”

  And then she lent back on the car next to her and started giggling uncontrollably. They knew that this was the affect of champagne and the excitement of the kill. Charles ignored it as Maria and he checked out the others. They were definitely history. The escort told them to leave. They would organise the restaurant and the police. It would only complicate things if they stayed.

  And so, carnage behind them, they drove to the Pierre. And, thankfully, they got there without any further incident.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  They all got into the lift. Maria started laughing. That was unlike her, she must have drunk more than Charles had realised. This put him on edge but he let it ride. He knew that it was wise always to overestimate the opposition, yet she derided them and said contemptuously, “They were so stupid. They must have realised we would have security. That was a suicide mission. The Russians couldn’t run an Empire like Di Maglio’s. They couldn’t do it even if they had the best of managers.”

  “Let’s wait till we get the report,” warned Charles. “I have a suspicion that they’ve adopted a typical Di Maglio ruse. Hire a few stool pigeons as cannon fodder and make a botched attempt. That way they signal to us that they are serious. And they don’t risk killing us and screwing the deal. If the dead guys were Russian it was stupidity. But if they were local hoods, we should be warned. The bastards are watching and tracking us.”

  Maddy asked, “When will you know?”

  “I’ll call our contacts tomorrow morning. They’ll give me the police reports. But I bet they were local hoods.”

  Maria laughed. She sensed something in the tone of his voice. She realised she had overstepped the mark. And she was sufficiently scared of him to correct her mistakes quickly, “Well, that shows they’ve learnt one thing. I guess we should be careful. Lock our doors tonight and be doubly vigilant”

  Maddy giggled. “Yes, and everyone is gated. Nobody is allowed to leave their room, unless there is an attack.”

  “That’s a stupid rule,” replied Maria. “I want another celebratory drink. We left half a magnum in the restaurant. We need to finish on a high note.”

  Charles glanced over at her and noticed the look in her eyes. She knew he wanted her even if her earlier attitude had annoyed him. He knew she wanted him. It had always been like that when they faced danger. And it was especially like that if that danger involved any killings. Charles wondered if Maddy felt that need as well. She had killed today. However, he hoped they all realised that today was not such a day. Despite the killings, he wanted to be alone. And he only wanted to be with Jacqui.

  They entered the suite with their guns drawn and checked it over room by room. Maria looked through the fridge and rejected all the drinks there. She called for room service and ordered yet another bottle of Bollinger. She had obviously decided that another magnum would be a bit excessive, even if there were three of them. Charles had definitely drunk less than both the girls. At times, they appeared quite sober. At others, they appeared less so. In any case the bottle arrived and they told the waiter to leave it unopened.

  Charles opened the bottle with a gentle pop and poured them each a glass. He raised the question of their plans for the morning. They agreed that Maddy would work with Maria and arrange the multi-million dollar shipment. They would meet again in the afternoon to go over the plans. Meanwhile, Charles would head to the office and catch up on work out of London. He was still debating if anyone would warn him about the bank’s problems. He definitely wou
ld not prompt them.

  His glass empty, he decided to make a move. He stood up, kissed each girl on the cheek and headed off to bed. He suspected, given how much they had drunk, that there could be fireworks later. He knew that Maria would be an eager participant, although he was not sure of Maddy. He wondered how he would deter them.

  He stripped off and went to bed, lying there thinking through the events of the day. A baby had been born on the other side of the Atlantic. A botched murder attack, yet again, on this side. An evil old man, perhaps dying in a hospital, was not that far away.

  And suddenly, he felt lonely. He felt isolated. He was lost in the muted silence of the hotel. The pipes talked. The corridors echoed briefly with distant voices. A door creaked somewhere in the distance. A phone rang. Then there was silence again. He thought again of Jacqui. Again he cursed Di Maglio and his world for keeping him away from her at a time like this. He shut his eyes and he slept.

  The next day, Charles left before either of the girls were up. He had plenty to do, and some of it was not going to be done in the office. From the lobby downstairs he called Delaney.

  He explained he could not depend on Galileo for all his needs. He had to ensure that Di Maglio didn’t leave the hospital. He had nobody to trust. He needed someone better and more dependable than the FBI.

  Delaney didn’t react to Charles’ desire to see his father-in-law have an accident. He would be indifferent to the fact that he was a relative. For him, the man was one of those evil people he worked to destroy.

  “As you’re going down to Wall Street, you need a contact place nearby. That’s quite easy as nobody watching is likely to be surprised at a chance meeting there. You know people and so, even if you were recognised, it wouldn’t matter. Where could you meet?” asked Delaney.