by J. C. Fields
Silence filled the room as Popov stared at the documents. He blinked rapidly, his stare shifting from Kruger to the papers several times. Finally, after five minutes of silence, Popov said, “What do you want to know?”
***
It was approaching 6 p.m. JR’s eyes, blood-shot with fatigue, stared at the computer screen. He did not hear his wife approach his cubicle. Still needing crutches to get around, she managed to pull up a chair and sit down next to him.
In her Texas drawl, she said, “JR, why are you still here? You’ve been at this since yesterday without sleep.”
He did not look at her, but nodded. “I know. I’m missing something. Alexia and I have located all the members of Free America and I know the raids are planned. But once that happens, what stops Orlov from starting all over again? It will set him back, but it won’t stop him.”
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “JR, a long time ago, my Pappy used to read me stories about the Texas Rangers.”
JR frowned and looked at her with a puzzled stare. “I’m not following you, Mia. What has this got to do with stopping, Orlov?”
“Let me finish. After the Civil War, the southern states were devastated. A lot of folks who had nothing, decided to settle in Texas to start a new life. One of the bigger problems they faced were Mexican bandits coming across the Rio Grande and raiding their settlements. The Rangers were in charge of protecting them. Pappy claimed his great-great granddaddy, Roy Brown, was a Ranger. I never doubted him and enjoyed listening to stories of his exploits.”
“Mia, is this going anywhere?”
“Yes, be patient.”
JR nodded, placed his elbow on the desk and supported his head with his hand.
“Anyway, Roy Brown had a problem with a certain Mexican bandito named Cortez. He and his men were terrorizing settlers, trying to make a go of it west of what is now Austin. The Rangers could never catch Cortez, but they captured or killed the men he rode with. The bandito would ride back to Mexico and recruit more men and return. Finally, Roy Brown thought of a solution. He asked for a meeting with the leader of northern Mexico. They met at the Rio Grande. Roy had a group of rangers with him and the leader had protection as well. To make a long story short, Roy convinced the leader that the bandito was stealing more than what he was reporting. After Roy Brown’s visit, Cortez, the bandito, disappeared and was never seen again.”
Blinking, JR was quiet. “Who was the leader Roy Brown spoke to?”
“The legend is he spoke to Emiliano Zapata.”
Smiling, JR nodded. “So, Roy Brown convinced Zapata that his loyal bandito wasn’t that loyal.”
Mia nodded.
“We’ve already hidden a lot of Orlov’s money.” He paused and smiled. “So, if we conveniently let his friend in the Kremlin know where that money is…”
“Very good, JR. I believe you have the skills necessary to make that happen.”
Chapter 45
Toronto, Canada
Two Days Later
Kruger stood next to Bentley Thatcher, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, inside the CATSI security gates monitor room at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Thatcher held a photo of Boris Volkov given to him by Kruger. This was the first time either man had worked with the other. Thatcher, familiar with the legend of Sean Kruger, found the real individual readily likeable.
When they first met, Thatcher’s demeanor indicated he was less than pleased to be a subordinate to an FBI agent from the States.
Kruger put him at ease immediately. “Sergeant Thatcher, I am not here to interfere. I’m here to assist with identification. The suspect we are looking for has violated numerous Canadian statutes as he has in the United States.”
As the men shook hands, Thatcher tilted his head. “Not what I assumed, Agent. I was led to believe you would request immediate extradition.”
Shaking his head, Kruger smiled. “No, sir. I am merely here as a courtesy. The DOJ feels Canada will have better luck prosecuting this individual than the United States. This is your bust, not mine.”
The smile on Thatcher’s face grew.
In the third hour of their vigil, Kruger pointed to a large man entering the security queue, his passport and boarding ticket in hand. “That’s him, Bentley.”
Thatcher nodded and spoke into a handheld radio. “Heads up, lads. Suspect is in the queue. Large man, brown overcoat draped over his arm with a gray suit. Line three. Let him pass through and then we’ll have a chat with him.”
Kruger heard several “rogers,” “got it,” and “about time” from the other members of the RCMP waiting around the security gates. Volkov passed through the gate without incident until he emerged from the security area. As he moved into the terminal, he noticed three men and two women converging on him. His head swiveled as he looked for an escape avenue. None appeared acceptable. With growing concern, Kruger watched as Volkov grew more agitated with the perceived threat.
He said, “Bentley, tell your people…”
Before he could complete his warning, Volkov slid behind a mother holding a young child’s hand and wrapped his arm around her throat. He screamed, “Back off, or I’ll crush her neck.”
By this time, Thatcher and Kruger were out of the security office rushing toward the increasingly disparate scene fifty feet from the security gate. The young boy cried as his mother’s eyes bulged and her face grew crimson as pressure on her air passage increased. She tried to scream, but she did not have the air to do it.
Five RCMP trained their Smith and Wesson 5946 sidearms at Volkov as he held the woman and faced them. When Kruger and Thatcher arrived, Volkov used his free arm to pull the woman more in front of him, creating a smaller target. Since Volkov was already covered by the RCMP, Kruger did not draw his weapon. Instead, he stood next to one of the female Mounties and said, “Give it up, Boris. Popov is talking and Orlov won’t help you.”
Volkov screamed and increased the pressure on the woman neck. Her eyes rolled up inside her eye sockets and she went limp.
A single gunshot rang out. The exposed side of Volkov’s forehead disappeared in a pink cloud of mist and the unconscious mother sank to the floor.
Thirty minutes later, the woman Volkov took hostage was en route to a local hospital with a crushed larynx. Her chance of survival increased dramatically when a traveling doctor did an emergency tracheotomy.
“Who fired the shot, Bentley?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear it. It was the female officer you stood next to.”
“Kind of wondered why my ears were ringing. Thought it was the adrenaline rush.”
A grim smile appeared on Thatcher’s lips. “I should discipline her, but she did save that mother’s life.”
“How is the woman?”
“Emergency room. We will know shortly.”
Kruger offered his hand to the sergeant, “Sorry to cause all the trouble, but I need to get back to D.C. and brief a few people.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Agent Kruger. Next time, come as a tourist.”
The FBI agent replied with only a grim smile.
***
President Roy Griffin and Joseph Kincaid listened to Kruger as he recapped the events of the past several days.
“Twenty-five of the known Free America hackers are in custody, two are dead and three were not at their residences when the raids occurred. Interpol is searching for them as we speak.”
Joseph tapped a notepad with a pencil. “What about Popov?”
“He signed the Witness Protection agreement. He’s giving us details on Orlov’s ultimate plan.”
Griffin stiffened. “What is it?”
“Relatively simple. When he was dealing with Robert Burns Sr., he discovered there were a lot of politicians who had less-than-perfect backgrounds. By buying Rothenburg and Sandifer, he had access to who those politicians were. At first, he wanted to blackmail them, but with the sheer number of important individuals involved, he decided exposin
g them would create more havoc.”
The president stood and started to pace. “What was Free America all about?”
“Popov didn’t know for sure, or at least he won’t admit he knows. But he did speculate it wasn’t really Orlov’s idea. It was forced on him by his friend in the Kremlin.”
Joseph tapped his fingers on the side table. “Why did he feel that way?”
“Don’t know, but I can guess.”
“Indulge us.”
“It was a back-up plan if the first one didn’t work. Orlov panicked and released both at the same time. From what I have seen, it didn’t work too well either.”
Griffin stopped pacing and turned his attention to Kruger.
“It did, but not in the way he intended. Congress is actually working together on this for a change. There is bipartisan agreement we need to step up our cyber security and they finally admit the Russians have been trying to interfere with our elections for almost a decade.”
“Good.”
“What’s next for your team, Sean?”
Kruger gave the president a sly smile. “JR’s working on a little surprise for Orlov. Once he tells me it’s been delivered, I’ll take Knoll and Gibbs and fly to Paris. I want to be the one to tell Orlov about it.”
President of the United States Roy Griffin smiled.
***
“How long will you be gone?” Alexia watched as Gibbs packed his duffle bag.
“Not sure, Alexia. Sean didn’t say.”
“I want to come with you.”
Jimmie Gibbs raised an eyebrow. “Thought you couldn’t step foot in Paris.”
“Alexia Montreal can’t, but Alexia Martinez can. Besides, I want to get married in Notre Dame.”
Gibbs smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You do? To whom?”
“You silly. That way I will be Alexia Gibbs, wife of a handsome FBI agent and soon-to-be mother.”
His smile turned to a frown. “Excuse me?”
She laughed and embraced him. “I’m pregnant with your child, Mr. James Gibbs.”
He returned the embrace.
“Not sure what to say at the moment. This is unexpected. It’s great, just unexpected.”
She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Are you telling me you don’t know how babies are made?”
He laughed and hugged her tighter.
***
“It was actually Mia’s idea.”
Kruger looked at his friend with a quizzical expression. “Huh.”
JR shook his head. “Is that all you can say?”
“At the moment. So, what did you do?”
“I transferred all the money we skimmed on the transfers, plus thirty million Euros from an account in Dubai. All that money now resides in a bank in Hong Kong.”
“So?”
“The owner of the Dubai account resides in Moscow.”
“Who’s the owner of the account in Hong Kong, or should I guess?”
JR did not respond right away. “You heard about the Free America hacker in Stockholm that wasn’t home when they raided his house?”
“Yeah, he’s the last one still at large. Interpol is searching for him.”
Shaking his head, JR smiled. “They won’t find him. He doesn’t exist.”
“What do you mean, he doesn’t exist?”
“I made him up.”
“How did…”
“Easy, Sean. I needed someone associated with Orlov to make the transfer. Someone who could be blamed with what appeared to be ties to the banker.”
“So, who’s going to tell the owner of the account in Dubai?”
“When you get to Paris, let me know. I’ll make sure he gets the message.”
Chapter 46
Paris, France
Well-hidden by the crowd milling around the street vendors across from Orlov’s office building, Kruger watched as the banker exited and turned to the northwest on Quai de Montebello. Stopping in the small café on the ground floor of his building, he bought a coffee in a tall paper cup and continued his walk toward Rue de la Cite.
The number of midday tourists making the trek to and from Notre Dame Cathedral made the sidewalks crowded and the going slow across the Seine. Once in the courtyard of the ancient church, Orlov walked to his favorite bench and sat down.
Kruger followed, staying behind Orlov as they approached the center of the courtyard. A quick survey of the area found Sandy Knoll standing in the middle of a crowd of tourists at the cathedral’s entrance. Gibbs maintained a twenty-yard distance behind Kruger making sure no one disturbed the meeting about to occur.
While Orlov stared at the statue of Charlemagne, Kruger appeared next to him and sat down several feet from the banker. Orlov turned to see who arrived and recognized Kruger immediately.
Without a change in expression, the Russian returned to looking at the statue. “You have been a resourceful adversary, Agent Kruger. Congratulations.”
Kruger sat with his hands in his leather jacket and remained quiet.
“What do I owe this visit to, Agent? I am sure you did not fly across the Atlantic to just sit next to me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well?”
“Actually, I wanted to bring you up-to-date on the results of your—uh—activities in the United States.”
“How thoughtful.”
“Yes, I think so.”
“So, tell me, exactly what were those events and what were the results of these so-called activities?”
“Did you know that all members of Free America are either dead or in custody in various jails around the world?”
The Russian blinked rapidly several times, but did not change his expression. “Not sure who you are referring to. I have never heard of this Free America group.”
“Ahh….” Kruger nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket. “For someone who has never heard of them, you certainly were generous to them. Since the sixteenth of June of this year, you’ve transferred over twelve million Euros into their operating account at the Credit Suisse Bank in Geneva. Want to see the bank records?”
He held the paper, now unfolded, so Orlov could see it.
Orlov glanced at the paper, turned his attention to a tourist boat moving upstream on the Seine, then turned back to Kruger. “You have me at a disadvantage, Agent. You say I know something about events I know nothing about. How do I defend myself against these false accusations?”
“No need to defend yourself. I am merely pointing out facts. You don’t have to say anything. Just listen.” Kruger’s tone sharpened and he narrowed his eyes while he made the next statement. “The cyber-attacks carried out by Free America accomplished one thing, although I doubt it was what you expected.”
“What did I expect?” His eyes were now cold as they stared at Kruger.
“You expected them to push the citizens of the United States into a panic and cause Congress to once again fall into dysfunction. It did, at first, at least until we determined where the attacks were originating. Once it was known who instigated them, President Griffin received a mandate from Congress to stop the interference. Our technology sector is working overtime to build new safeguards against cyber-attacks. A friend of mine’s company is right in the middle of this endeavor.”
Orlov snorted. “Fantasy.”
“Is it? Special Forces from four European countries and the United States identified locations and stopped your hacker buddies.”
Orlov stood and stared down at Kruger. “I am done listening to your delusions.”
“SIT DOWN.”
The Russian frowned, but returned to sitting.
“We discovered a security camera shot of Boris Volkov talking to a man who later murdered Peter Yanovich while he was in custody at the Arlington County jail. Volkov’ tried to fly out of the Toronto airport, but unfortunately met with an accident.”
Orlov stared at his coffee cup, but did not raise i
t to his lips.
Kruger continued, “You made one huge mistake, Dmitri.”
“And what might that be, Agent?”
“You sent the Frenchman to try and kill my wife and me. The big mistake he made was also hurting the wife of the friend I just mentioned. It became personal to both of us. Not smart at all.”
“Please tell me when you are finished telling me these delusional accusations. It is becoming quite tiresome.”
“I understand certain individuals in Moscow are questioning your effectiveness and loyalty.”
Silence was Kruger’s answer.
“Know where that came from, Dmitri?”
The Russian stared across the Seine at his office building but did not answer Kruger.
“My friend.”
Orlov glared at Kruger with his face turning crimson.
“You see, cyber-attacks can go both ways.” Kruger glanced at his watch and then back at Orlov. “The problem is, my friend is better than those amateurs you hired.”
The sound of screeching tires could be heard from across the river. Orlov’s eyes widened as he watched three cars skid to a halt in front of his office and three men from each car rush into the building.
Kruger stood and pointed toward the newly-arrived cars on Que de Montebello. “If I had to guess, those gentlemen are probably here to escort you back to Moscow.”
Orlov also stood and stared Kruger in the eyes. “What have you done?”
“I didn’t do anything. You see, my friend in the cyber security business is also one of the best hackers in the world. He made sure all of your screw-ups were revealed to your friend in Moscow. Who, by the way, now thinks you are a thief. I doubt he is very pleased with you right now.”
Orlov turned away from Kruger to attempt an escape and ran straight into the chest of Sandy Knoll, who growled, “Going somewhere, Dmitri?”