Carter’s eyes narrowed and his forehead creased, sizing up Walker’s reaction. A thick, tense silence ensued.
“Walker, you did a great job with the mob and that’s what you’re going to keep doing. I need you to continue making arrests and curb the activity of the Cosa Nostra in New York. Otherwise, you’re welcome to be relieved of your duties permanently.” He outstretched his hand to end the conversation amicably.
Walker stared blankly. One thing the years of working against organized crime had taught him was to recognize a crooked cop. He had developed a sixth sense to sniff out the traitor. He lacked the necessary evidence to prove his theory, but there was something more happening. The evidence was tampered with and the FBI was not really investigating, more like corroborating. If he really wanted to know, he would have to go solo.
“OK, sir I got you. I’ll get to work.”
He turned around, ignoring Carter’s attempted handshake, and slammed the door shut behind him.
“Matter of national security my ass, the goose chase is over for you. Do your fucking job,” Carter shouted through the closed door.
Walker strode briskly to his cubicle and flopped into his swivel chair. He stared at the yellowing old computer screen, taking deep breaths to calm down. Carter had pissed him off, but this wasn’t a matter of ego. He tapped the blue ballpoint on his desk, milling through his options. He had known Carter for years, why would he take such a risk to play for the wrong side. The majority of crooked cops were driven by greed but usually there was more too it. When you’re charged with the task of fighting the mob or the cartel, you’re effectively getting intimate with the devil. Intimacy is a free-flowing exchange of bodily fluids, likewise the lines between right and wrong can become blurry at the best of times. It usually starts off with one small mistake, then snowballs from there. Before you know it, you’re in so deep, you’ve crossed sides. There is also the constant coercion to deal with, you slipped up once and now we own you. However, Carter was no pussy. He didn’t get to his position by not swinging the bat when it was his turn at the plate.
Walker leaned back in his chair. This was the turning point in his career that he’d always feared: coming up against superior ranks within his own organization. The crooked cops he busted were in a different league altogether. He was the motherfucking FBI, not your standard to protect and serve dummy. Whoever Carter worked for was obviously extremely powerful. Did he really want to open that can of worms? He wasn’t naïve. What could he achieve on a solo mission except wind up dead, wind up in prison, or ruin his career. From the time he joined the FBI he’d always served by the principle that without good people to maintain the law, we’ll lose all our freedoms. One thing he knew for certain was that Voss was in grave danger.
I have to do my duty, goddamn it. I can’t stand aside and let an innocent man die.
He made up his mind. He clicked the pen and began to jot down a plan. For now, it was simple: bug Carter’s phone and office. He would do the same for Voss, if he were to have any chance at saving his life. It wasn’t legal and it wasn’t pretty, but he was the last line of defense. Whoever they were, the FBI was coming.
25
To the Beginning
Kevin woke up before first light, TV still blaring in the background with the same news headline, “The Voss Coin to replace the USD within 2 years.”
The channel was replaying interviews of different financial bigwigs. He rubbed his eyes with a flat palm to stimulate his vision. The financial ticker at the bottom of the screen indicated $10,185 per VC.
Holy shit, it’s going to happen soon.
It had been more than thirty-six months since the inception of the Voss Coin, and it was rocketing in value. Yesterday’s seismic announcement by the Federal Reserve Bank was a bold move and a major step forward for this revolutionary cryptocurrency. However, a continuous volatile climb was unsustainable, especially for a mainstream currency aiming to replace the USD. There were going to be repercussions, such us more stringent regulation and dampening of volatility. The Federal Reserve planned to create new monetary policies that would be applicable to the digital world and reign in the VC’s volatility and annual appreciation. Hence, it was widely believed that the VC was currently realizing its peak and that a stable price plateau was the future. However, the Et Decem had other plans. They had recently begun mining VC using his tailored mining software, and it worked like a charm. Day by day they marginally increased mining volumes but stopped short of destabilizing the market. They had a clear advantage over any other financial institution, including the Federal Reserve. The market contained a perfectly disguised player that could dominate the game at will. When the Et Decem decided that the time was right to mine en masse, no other player would survive. The shit storm was looming, and Wall Street would be bled dry.
If something happens to me, I’ve got Dorothy. She’ll trigger the failsafe and prevent the mining software from accessing the VC network.
His thoughts shifted to her; she was the only leverage he had left. A single pawn, with a key mission. She would ensure that his legacy would remain intact. He would be remembered as a revolutionary, not as the creator of the atomic bomb. He kept their communication down to the minimum of once a week and never by phone or email. She was an extremely punctual lady and every week, at exactly 6 p.m., he would meet her in the office elevator on the way down to the parking lot. Besides a simple greeting and a nod, no additional words were exchanged. She played the part perfectly, as their lives depended on precaution and secrecy.
He turned toward Lucy, who was sound asleep. He stared at her for a few moments. She was such a deep sleeper, almost never awakening for at least seven hours. He was proud of himself for sheltering her from the harsh reality. She slept with a clean mind. He yearned for a good night’s sleep but he knew he wasn’t going to have one anytime soon. He quietly slid off the warm bed and gazed out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a foggy predawn in Manhattan, the bright lights of the city obscured by a greyish haze. The heavy clouds gradually turned a lighter shade, welcoming the pending daybreak.
Beep Beep, his mobile buzzed with a message. He quickly glanced at his phone.
“THEY’RE COMING FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY IN AN HOUR, LEAVE THE HOUSE NOW BEFORE FIRST LIGHT.”
He didn’t recognize the number.
Who the fuck is that?
He dialed back immediately, trembling.
“Hello, who’s this?”
A machine operated voice answered, “Voss, I’m the guardian angel that’s always watching. You need to trust me and leave now. I’m not sure what they want to do with you but I don’t think you should hang around to find out. They have a team ready to hit your house in an hour. Get out now!”
The line went dead. He stood frozen by the window, undecided about what to do next. Why would they risk losing the mining software by killing him? That was what had been keeping him alive. Unless Dorothy was compromised. There was no way he could check before office hours began. If he was wrong and he called her directly, he would be personally signing her death warrant. That wasn’t an option. The call sounded like a genuine warning, and the mechanical voice disguiser was different than the one used by the Et Decem. He decided to trust his gut instincts and move. He scrambled over to Lucy’s side of the bed and whispered in her ear, “Hey, Lus, get up, baby. We going to Miami.” She stirred awake, half opening her dreary eyes.
“Babe, have you lost your mind? It’s the middle of the night, go to sleep. We will speak about Miami in the morning.”
He bent down and whispered in her ear again, “Lus, last night you made a whole fuss about spending more time together. So, I made a special surprise for you guys and we have to leave now before daylight. Don’t say anything to the boys and don’t pack anything. Everything we need will be waiting for us in Miami.”
She spun around and looked at him sternly. “Are you being serious right now?”
He nodded bravely and gave her a pr
olonged kiss on the lips.
“I overslept, so we need to be ready fast. I’ll organize the boys.”
He ran into the twins’ room and quietly removed the model G5’s. If they were listening, they had to think that everybody was still asleep. He placed the planes in the laundry room and woke up the boys. Within thirty minutes they were ready to go.
Lucy and the boys stood quietly on the sidewalk, still dazed by the sudden early-morning commotion, while he hailed a cab.
“To La Guardia airport, please,” he ordered the sleepy Bangladeshi driver. The Manhattan streets were deserted at this early hour, just a few cars returning from the graveyard shift. After a drowsy twenty-minute drive, they arrived at the airport. He hurriedly paid the driver and rushed them into the departures lounge.
“Lus, take a seat here with the boys. I’m going to check on our flight.”
He did his best to put on an enthusiastic and cheerful expression. They all flopped down on the seats too exhausted to care or muck about. He charged toward the American airlines ticketing desk. No chance he was going to fly private after what happened to Marcel.
“Hi, I need four tickets to Miami. What’s the earliest flight?” he asked with urgency. An anxious brunette yacked away on her mobile.
“Tommy, you owe me on that one. I’m not your bitch,” she yelled in a high-pitched voice. He stared at her, baffled, but she completely ignored him. He waved his hand in front of her face.
“Tommy, hold on one sec.”
She lowered her brow-line glasses, not bothering to disguise her fake politeness with a forced smile.
“Sir, I’ll attend to you in a few minutes. Thank you for your patience.”
Her sudden switch was natural, like she did this sort of thing all the time. She lowered her gaze dismissively and continued to yap heatedly on her mobile.
Fuck it, I’m going to have to do it the old-fashioned American way.
He pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and laid it on her keyboard. She stopped talking abruptly as if he paid for her next words, eyes widening in surprise.
“That’s for you, now Tommy can wait. I’m in a rush.”
She blushed, her slender cheeks radiating tinges of cherry and strawberry.
“Tommy, I’ll call you later.”
She switched off her mobile and slapped the bill on the counter.
“My apologies, sir, the money won’t be necessary. Let’s see, you need four tickets to Miami. Which class is that going to be?”
Fuck, if I pay by credit card they could trace it.
He quickly glanced at how much cash he had in his wallet. “Make that economy, please.”
She typed away energetically on her keyboard, scanning the flight schedule. Kevin’s eyes danced around the busy terminal, sensing that something was going down imminently. “OK, sir, I have a flight leaving in an hour. It’s going to be a little bit tight.”
“Book it and fast, please.”
He paid in cash, grabbed the tickets, and dashed to his family.
Lucy was playing around with her phone and the boys were asleep, huddled on the airport chairs like newborn puppies. He clapped his hands loudly together, trying to sound excited like Barney the Dinosaur. “Who’s ready for a beach holiday?”
The boys sprung awake and shouted, “MEEEE!!”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed, flashing him a look of what the hell has gotten into you? It was no time for explanations. He lifted the boys under each arm and sprinted full pace toward the security checkpoint. He didn’t wait for Lucy, expecting her to keep up. She eventually caught up to them near the boarding gate.
“What’s the crazy rush for and why’re we flying commercial?” she asked suspiciously.
“I want to get on the plane in time because we’re not just flying commercial, we’re flying economy!” He chuckled, trying to ease the tension.
Her mouth gaped in surprise; ever since they met they had never flown economy.
“What has gotten into, really? You’re taking this too far. Cattle-cart flights! What’s your next big family surprise?”
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled meekly. She made it sound like National Lampoon’s Vacation. In some sort of sick way, she was right. It was a disaster vacation, but funny it was not.
“I want the kids to value what we have, Lus. See how the common folk travel and understand what it means to be a regular person.”
She rolled her eyes and puffed her rosy, aggravated cheeks. The way he answered her silenced their argument.
The boys gradually became rowdier as their early-morning drowsiness wore off. They were excited about boarding a big airplane with so many people on board, asking Kevin all sorts of questions. Normally, he would be irritated by now, but today it helped him take his mind off the imminent dangers. The boys, noticing his unusual patience, bombarded him with questions. He gladly navigated the verbal flood until they finally boarded the plane. He sank into the stained-grey upholstered seat and buckled the seatbelt, looking around for anything unusual. The boys went quiet, enthralled by the view of the wings and the engine, their little faces plastered to the cabin window. Suddenly, he felt an intense rush of blood to his face. He coughed hard to clear his scratchy throat, chest heaving up and down. The physical symptoms of anxiety spread through his body like a midsummer wildfire. He tapped his foot nervously in attempt to defuse the excess adrenaline. Doubt crept into his mind, and he feared that he made a fatal mistake. He didn’t take a private jet because he knew they would bomb it without any qualms. However, bringing down a commercial airliner with over 200 people on board was a different story. Or was it? Pablo Escobar didn’t have a problem taking down the Avianca flight to kill one man.
Why the fuck did I think that they won’t do it? They’re much more ruthless and dangerous than any cartel.
He shook periodically as waves of impending doom washed over him.
The plane edged toward the runway, and the stewardess rushed through the safety briefing. He glanced at Lucy and the kids, they seemed so happy and excited.
This could be it; I can’t let this happen.
He got an insatiable urge to get up and scream, “There is a fucking bomb on the plane.” That was the only way to stop the flight and save everybody on board. His heart throbbed in his chest, pupils dilated in fear. Tiny droplets of sweat accumulated on the surface of his skin.
I have to do this now before it’s too late.
Suddenly, Lucy’s sharp nails stroked his tensed forearm.
“I didn’t know you had a fear of flying, baby,” she said sympathetically. She leaned over and kissed him affectionately on his barren lips.
“It’s OK to feel vulnerable.”
He held her hand and exhaled heavily.
This is no time to lose my shit. If we get off the plane, we’re fucked either way. They’ll pick us off at the airport. Better to take a chance. If it happens, then a plane crash is better than being murdered.
He decided to play the odds, a form of Russian roulette with a bomb instead of a bullet. The plane’s engines roared to life, rapidly tearing down the runway. He turned to face his family, measuring his final words.
“I love you guys with all my heart. I’m sorry that I was unable to protect you.”
He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes just as the plane’s nose was airborne.
“We love you too, Daddy. This is so fun,” the boys cheered happily.
He remained frozen in his seat, fearing the end, the twins chattering eagerly about the sky and different cloud formations. Lucy placed her thumb and index finger on his chin and twisted his face toward hers.
“That was creepy, Kev. I think your work has really screwed you up and you should consider professional treatment to deal with the stress. Hopefully this little vacation will help.”
He opened his gleaming green eyes.
“I doubt anything can help me. It’s all about you guys now.”
26
Miami
The airport’s clear automatic sliding doors whizzed open. A humid breeze and warm sunshine engulfed him. He flicked on his shades, took a deep breath, and looked up at the palm trees. Miami always felt like home.
If I survive this shit, I’m moving down here.
The boys bounced around the pavement, playing a rough version of tag. Lucy held up a small makeup mirror, pouting her lips and lavishly applying lipstick. He ordered a cab for the short drive to Miami beach. While they crossed the bridge connecting to the Miami Beach area, he rolled down the window and took in a breath of fresh ocean air. On either side people were cruising about in Jet Skis and yachts, enjoying a day out on the ocean. There were few things in life that he loved more than the ocean and the sun. The endless expanse of wide ocean blue always gave him a sense of something more powerful. In some unexplainable way, he wished to connect to that godly power.
“Daddy, can you take us Jet Skiing?” the boys pleaded.
“Sure, guys. Why don’t you ask Mommy if she remembers the time I took her Jet Skiing?” he said, laughing.
Lucy twisted her lips and slightly tilted her head, “Let’s not remember that one, shall we.”
He laughed heartily, recalling the old memory. They had been dating for a few months and took their first vacation together, to the Bahamas. He particularly remembered her tiny black bikini, comprised of no more cloth than a small handkerchief. One sunny morning, he rented a Jet Ski from a typical coastal Rasta man and then spent the better part of an hour convincing her to join him. He could hear her voice in his head like it was yesterday.
“You not going to go fast, right?” she asked him anxiously.
The Voss Coin Page 20