by G. R. Cody
Eve instinctually clutched the bag a bit closer to her body, but instantly she felt foolish. She was in a leer jet thousands of feet above the ground with a spy. What choice did she have? But rather than hand it over, one more nagging question came out.
“What does Arthur have to do with this?”
“Arthur works for MI6. At least, I think he does.”
Eve felt her ears burn and her face and chest suddenly flush, just as any woman would having heard such a secret told about the man she had given herself and her trust to.
“So, Arthur’s a mole, too?” Eve queried. “…But why CNC?”
“Well, part of what the CIA and MI6 do now, in fact a large majority, is logarithmic analysis. Divining patterns, in almost everything that happens on earth. One of the things that led to Arthur being assigned to CNC was that the MI6 data analysts were able to divine a pattern between recent unusual Treasury headquarters building access breaches and terrorist attacks. It made sense to have someone in a position to be able to relay events as soon as possible to our network so that Treasury could be alerted in case there was some basis to the correlation between the two events.”
“So, you think what just happened in Atlanta was some sort of diversionary act?” Eve asked.
“Exactly,” Felix said, to which Eve let out a barely audible chuckle.
Felix’s gaze hardened a bit. “Eight terrorist attacks in the past three years have coincided with unexplained thefts of gold from central banks in the U.S., England and mainland Europe. Five from Federal Reserve banks in the U.S., one from the SwissBank vaults, and two in Great Britain from the Bank of England offices in London and Dublin, all within a mile from the banks.”
“But why haven’t I heard of this?” Eve asked. “Why wouldn’t thefts of that magnitude have been all over the news?”
“Why indeed?” Felix responded. “How much do you know about banking, Ms. Pemberton?”
“Not much. Why?”
“The banking system creates money,” Felix said. “Here’s how. Say you have $100 in cash. You put it in a bank, a commercial bank, say Bank of America. The next day, Bank of America informs the Federal Reserve Bank that it now has $100. The Federal Reserve, based on that $100, allows Bank of America to loan out $90 of those dollars, and keep the $10 in reserves. All of a sudden, there is $190 available to be spent, the first $100 of yours, and $90 that borrower got from the Bank of America loan.
“It happens that way in every free economy in the world. The problem is what happens when the borrower who got loaned that $90 can’t pay it back? All of a sudden, you have a situation where you have to uncreate that $90, which during the Great Depression meant that you, the one who put their $100 in the bank, only get $10 back.
“That’s why the FDIC was created. The Federal government created the FDIC to make sure you got back your full $100, regardless of whether the borrower paid back his $90. But, that money has to come from somewhere, right? Well. It comes from the national treasuries of all the countries who have an FDIC, or something like it.
“Also, up until the 1970s, the U.S. and most of the western world was on what was termed the ‘Gold Standard.’ In part, what this meant was that if you wanted to, you could go into any bank where you had deposited money, and demand that amount back from the bank in gold. This gave depositors more confidence that their money was safe in the banks.
“We got rid of the Gold Standard in the 1970s, but kept the FDIC. What we ended up finding out in the most recent crash in 2008-2009 was that if a lot of people got nervous about their money, the FDIC couldn’t pay everybody back their deposits without bankrupting the U.S. Treasury, or at least making the U.S. dollar less valuable and cost the American taxpayers more in interest on the money it borrowed from other countries because we were a higher credit risk.
“So, in 2010, the IMF made an offer to all the central banks around the world. It would act as the central bank for the rest of the world. The Federal Reserve, or any other central bank, could come to the IMF to guaranty their deposits. But in order for the world to recognize the IMF as the new safe haven, the new ‘lender of last resort,’ it needed collateral.”
“The gold!” Eve gasped.
“Exactly,” Felix said. “Every country in the world has some amount of gold reserves. And since the gold standard was abolished in the ‘70s, this gold is just sitting there, unutilized. Every country that uses the IMF as their guarantor is now required to pledge their gold reserves to the IMF as collateral for the loans from those central banks that the IMF has guaranteed.”
“And if that gold is disappearing….” Eve said under her breath.
“….the World economy collapses,” Felix finished in an ominous tone. “So, you see why this missing gold has not made it out in the public yet?”
“The IMF is trying to find it before it gets out. But why Homeland Security?” Eve pondered out loud. “How would they be involved?”
“I think they are under the impression that terrorists are stealing the gold,” Felix said with an incredulous tone.
“But you don’t?” Eve countered.
“No, I don’t,” said Felix. “As far as we can tell, the first theft occurred about six months ago. If it had been terrorists, we would have seen some indication of excess gold hitting the markets. They would have already used some of it to buy weapons, bribe someone or curry favors. But there hasn’t been any increase in gold supplies at all.”
The adrenalin had started to wear off, and suddenly Eve was feeling tired and faint. It was approaching 2AM by now.
“Any chance you have something to eat?” Eve asked.
Felix stood up and searched through cabinets in the galley. He came back with two small bags of pretzels and handed them to Eve.
“Here you go,” Felix said.
“Thanks.” Eve replied.
Felix excused himself and went to the back of the plane. Eve opened one of the bags, ate a couple of pretzels, and looked out the window. They were flying quite low, and all she could see below was ocean. Her thoughts turned to Arthur. She had known him over a year now, but as much as they worked together, they really hadn’t talked about each other’s past. They had never visited each other’s families, she had never seen any pictures of his parents who supposedly lived in Liverpool, or of his sister who supposedly was at the Sorbonne. In fact, now that she pondered it, she couldn’t remember him receiving a call from any family the entire time they had been seeing each other. This made her feel foolish.
She took her iPhone out of the camera bag. No signal, of course. She checked to see if any texts had come in before they took off, but there were none. She wanted to call Arthur, but it was probably best that she couldn’t. It was best to calm down and think through all that had happened before she spoke with him again.
Felix returned and sat back down. Eve had already decided to give him the camera, but before she handed it over, she asked,
“Where are we headed?”
“Somewhere safe, somewhere that no one will think of, at least not right away.” Felix answered. “There’s a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico called Vieques. It’s part of Puerto Rico, so we will still be on U.S. soil technically. There is an old Navy installation there, but it is in the process of being turned into an airport by the Puerto Rican government. I have friends there.”
“And what will we do there?”
“You and I will lay low for a couple of days. I keep you safe, and you show me the video feed. Arthur is flying in from the U.K. tomorrow morning. His flight should leave London at about noon Puerto Rico time tomorrow, which means he should land on the main island around,” Felix lifted his left arm slightly, grimaced, and raised his right arm and looked at his watch, ”around 5 or 6PM tomorrow.”
“And if I am not comfortable with that arrangement?” Eve said flatly.
“Well, I could always turn you over to the commander at the U.S. Naval base,” Felix answered dryly. “I’m sure she would be thrilled t
o turn a wanted fugitive from Homeland Security over.”
Eve and Felix stared at each other for a few seconds. Eve knew she had no choice. She had chosen to listen to Arthur over going to meet with the HSA in Atlanta. She had chosen this path, and so far, she had no reason not to trust Felix or Arthur. Those HSA agents at the airport had not exactly been interested in Eve’s Miranda rights.
Eve reached into her camera bag and handed the camera over to Felix.
“Thank you, Eve,” Felix said, and he turned the camera around in his hands looking at it. “Now, how do I work this thing?”
Eve laughed, grabbed her laptop, a cord, and a flashdrive out of her bag. She held out her hand to Felix, and he gave her back the camera. Within a few minutes, the entire feed was on the flashdrive. She handed it to Felix, and he plugged it into his laptop.
“Well, we should be landing in about an hour.” Felix said, getting up and starting a cup of coffee in the galley. “And I’ll be looking at that feed until we land, and long after, I am sure. It’s about 4AM where we came from. If you want, there’s a Pullman’s cot in the back cabin if you want some shuteye.”
“Thanks, I think I will take you up on that.” Eve grabbed her bag, zipped it up, and proceeded to the back of the plane past the bathroom. The Pullman cot was already opened and made up with a sheet, thin tan blanket and a pillow. She sat on the cot, pulled her Nike’s off from their heels without bothering to untie them, and placed them underneath next to her bag. Then, she went to the bathroom, avoiding the mirror, and returned to the cot. She lay down on top of the sheet and blanket on her back, laid her head on the pillow, but then instantly remembered something.
She rose up and went back into the cabin of the plane. Felix was hunched over his laptop, earbuds in, and his fingers working furiously on the mouse pad and buttons. He had not noticed that she had returned. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Felix paused the feed, took the earbud out of his right ear, and looked up at her.
“I…I just wanted to thank you, Felix,” Eve said, a bit bashfully.
Felix took her hand off his shoulder, and held it in both of his hands. They were rough and calloused, but warm and steady.
“All in a day’s work, ma’am.” Felix said, smiling. “Now, go get some rest.”
Felix let her hand go, put the earbud back in his right ear, and turned back to his laptop.
Eve turned back, lay back on the cot, and was asleep in seconds.
CHAPTER 6
The bright, morning sunlight turned the inside of her eyelids from black to pink, waking her before her eyes had opened. The aroma of sea salt filled Eve’s nostrils, and she felt the soft silk of the sheets on her naked body. She cautiously opened her eyes, and she was blinded for a moment, then made out the ceiling fan above, rotating slowly, making a soft clicking noise on each revolution. She turned her head to the right and looked out the open sliding glass door of the balcony to the azure of the Caribbean. Her ears filled with the tide crashing into the beach.
Eve smiled a bit, but was startled to hear a door open. Her smile returned when she saw Arthur, hair and broad shoulders still wet, wrapped in a towel, walk slowly toward her from the bathroom. His eyes caught hers, and he smiled, moved slowly to the foot of the bed, and crawled up her body over the sheets, losing his towel in the process.
Eve closed her eyes as he kissed her lips softly and pressed his body into hers. Eve breathed deeply through her nose, the clean smell of soap and shaving cream filled her head. Arthur kissed her more forcefully, making Eve’s arm hairs stand on end. Arthur pressed the whole of his body onto her now, and she could feel his fingers start to caress her face.
Slowly, Arthur’s hands moved down to her shoulders. Then, without warning, Arthur pressed his palms down forcefully, pinning her shoulders against the bed. Eve tried to move, but Arthur’s weight was too much. Eve felt her stomach jump, her heart began to beat in her throat. She began to scream, but Arthur had already moved his right hand to her throat, and her breath was cut off.
Eve stared up at Arthur, a look of fanatical focus in his face. Eve began to try and kick, but it was as if her entire body had been locked in place. She was unable to move any part of her body, and panic fully set in.
As Eve continued to try to struggle, she thought she heard her name being said, calmly and quietly. Eve looked over Arthur’s shoulder, and she saw Felix standing over them, looking into her face, and very calmly saying her name.
“Eve?” Felix said again. Why was he not doing something? It was as if he was blind and couldn’t see what was being done to her. She heard it again…
“Eve?”
Eve felt an invisible hand softly shake her left shoulder.
Eve’s eyes snapped open, and she gasped deeply. Arthur was gone, and Felix’s face was above her. Above his head Eve saw the ceiling of the leer jet.
“Eve, we’ve arrived in Puerto Rico,” Felix said, and he raised up and turned away, walking back to the front of the cabin.
Eve’s heart was still racing from the dream, and she attempted to catch her breath. She lay there, stock still, for about a minute, and then swung her legs around and sat up on the bed. Blood rushed to her head, making her feel faint and bringing on an intense pounding for a moment, but it quickly subsided. Brilliant sunlight was flooding in from the forward of the cabin down the narrow hall, and she guessed that the door to the jet had been opened. She could still smell sea air.
Eve rose, and quickly went into the small bathroom. She retied her pony tail, rinsed her face with cold water, and returned to put on her shoes. She grabbed her camera bag, and walked into the cabin to find Felix where she had left him, sitting at the table, his laptop still open, the flashdrive still sticking out from the side, sipping from a coffee mug.
“Was the nap worth it?” Felix said as he rose up, plucked the flashdrive from his laptop, deposited it into his inside coat pocket, and closed his laptop.
“Not quite sure yet,” Eve answered, raising her hand to her forehead and squinting from the increase in sunlight in the compartment. “I could use a bit more sleep.”
“Car’s just on the tarmac,” said Felix, pointing at the open door, “and the hotel isn’t a ten minute drive.”
“Thank Heaven for small favors, I suppose?” Eve quipped.
Felix smiled broadly, put his laptop in a briefcase, snapped it shut, and put his mug back on the counter in the galley.
“Let’s go then,” and he gestured for Eve to proceed in front of him out the open doorway and down the metal stairs, at the end of which Eve saw a dark blue Lincoln Towncar waiting for them, the back passenger’s door open, and a driver in a traditional cap standing with his hands folded in front of him.
The Puerto Rico air was heavy, but a steady breeze from the ocean made the heat bearable. Still, Eve wanted a shower, and she also needed to call her father. Once in the car with Felix, she extracted her iPhone from her camera bag. She had three texts. One, as she had expected, from her father, just checking in; one from Jerry, about 30 minutes after she was supposed to arrive at CNC headquarters the night before, asking how long she would be; and one, just an hour hence, from Arthur. It only said, “Here you are safe and with F. Can’t say more. We’ll talk soon.”
“Eve,” Felix said, looking at her sideways, “I know I have no way to force you, but it would not be a good idea to call or text anyone. It could give our location away.”
Eve looked at Felix for a moment after he said this, and had to stifle the urge to argue. But, he was right, of course.
“Well, I guess that my family will have to wait?” she half stated, half asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Felix responded. “But I will see if there is a secure way for us to get a message to your parents when we arrive at the base.”
“Thank you,” Eve said.
“Oh, and also,” Felix continued, “Please, don’t use your credit cards, or use the phone in your room unless you’re calling within the hotel.
”
Eve nodded her understanding, but she added, “Well, what am I supposed to do for clothes?”
Felix, who based upon his noticeable hesitation, obviously had not considered this. After a brief silence, Felix said, “Well, there’s a shop in the hotel. Not a huge selection, but get a couple of days’ worth and just charge it to the room. It’s on Uncle Sam,” and he smiled broadly.
By now, they were pulling into the circular shell driveway of the Belgico Hotel. It was mostly stone with red, stucco roof tiles. It reminded Eve of pictures she had seen of seaside villas in Portugal. The car came to a stop at the large double doors, the driver got out, and opened Eve’s door.
Felix came around, and they walked into the lobby.
“I have a suite reserved for you, and my suite is on the other side of the hall. They are the only two rooms on the top floor.”