B.A. Hammer Returns Ch. 02

I called Ahmad on my way back to my office to tell him to have his family at Alee's office in the morning. He was very thankful, but it dawned on me he might never see his family again. He promised to have them there.

When I got back to my office I called my attorney, Percy Blackstone.

"Brick, I need to see you."

"Come on up." He has offices on the floor above my office. His friends have always called him "Brick", he won't tell me why.

I went through his private door to find him behind his desk. I settled into his couch. "I have a troubling case. It may involve your friend Senator Minton. I wanted to fill you in."

He stopped what he was doing and sat very still. "You'd better fill me in."

I told him about what Ahmad had told me. When I was finished, he sat back, thinking.

I spoke up first. "We don't know if Minton is involved in anything. It is probably just his chief of staff. I just must find out why they were so afraid of Ahmad seeing him. Do you want to talk to Minton, or just wait?"

"No, we will wait. If he is clear, there's no hurry. If he's not, we don't want to warn him." I agreed and went back to my office.

I gathered my team. I have Stevie, my expert on all things New York business community, Liz, who by now is very good as a computer hacker. I only need Zorro now for the real difficult things. Ike was also here. I don't know what I will need him for yet, but I was pretty sure we would eventually need muscle. I asked William Pennington to step in. He is the company's accountant, but more importantly, he is a forensic accountant. You give him a set of books and he can find every hiding place and crack in them.

I convened the meeting by laying out our basic job. We were going to investigate Redthorne and AID to find out as much as we can. We will need to find a deal between them that will need government cover. This will be difficult, and we will have to be careful. They certainly go to great lengths to hide what they are doing.

"Stevie, I need you to sniff around Wall Street to see if there are any rumblings about Redthorne working on something big. Be careful. We don't want them tipped."

Stevie looked hurt. "Aw, boss. I'll float through their dealings like a ghost in the night. They'll never see me coming."

I had to laugh. Stevie is the sensitive sort. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Liz, I would like you to try to get into as much of their business as you can. I want to cross-check them and AID for deals they are working on jointly. I don't have to say anything about their booby traps, do I?"

Liz wasn't as hurt as Stevie. It might have something to do with the presence of her husband, Ike. 'I'll be careful. Can I read Homer into this if I need help?"

Homer Arthur was a computer hacker that had taught Liz everything she knows about hacking. He is very good at this sort of thing. He is why I have been able to leave Zorro alone. Besides, Zorro owes me because of the money he made from our little Police adventure. I'll save him for taking apart the deal once I know what it is.

"Homer is a good idea. Could you have him come by and see me? I have something I need him to do."

We had a plan of action. Everyone went off on their assignments. As it was late, I went to the theater to see Mary. She is still in "Chicago" for a couple more months. She was in her dressing room when I arrived. She jumped into my arms when I entered her room.

"It is great to see you, honey. I was thinking about you this afternoon."

"It's always good when you are thinking about me, sweetheart. Good thoughts, I hope."

"The best. I am more than three months along now. I am thinking of turning this role over to my understudy in a couple of months. I can spend the final four months getting ready. How does that sound?"

"You're asking me? You can quit now if you want. That is up to you. It will be good for you to stop working nights and get the proper rest you need."

She nodded. I kissed her goodbye and headed to the box they use for company executives and family members. The play was great, and I took her home after the performance. She has taken to using taxis instead of driving.

We stayed in bed until nearly noon, but it was mostly for rest. She is tired and does need to stop doing the play. She said she would think about quitting earlier.

I was in my office shortly after lunch. While I was waiting for information to start flowing in, I sat and thought about what we had.

Why had the head exec of Redthorne freaked out and ordered Ahmad out?

Had he not done that, Ahmad would not have thought anything about it? He would just have translated whatever it was they wanted and forgot about it.

What was Minton's chief of staff doing there? Was he conveying something from Minton, or on his own?

Whatever this is, Ahmad was right to be careful. Something is definitely wrong.

Stevie was the first to return. He is good at this. "Okay, boss. Something is up. You know, with the new President we have, everyone in Afghanistan is nervous. This guy is, let's just say "erratic". He's only been in office for a year, and he is talking about just leaving Afghanistan. The military is nervous, but that is nothing like what is going on in weapons companies. They make billions selling hardware to the US military, the Afghan military, Pakistan, and India. Whatever Pakistan gets, India wants. Some people in the Pentagon are afraid he will just get up and leave. These companies don't want the spicket turned off. They are looking for fresh markets. Some of these markets have, shall we say, "entanglements" concerning some US laws. Ever since Russia moved into the Ukraine a couple of years ago, Ukraine has been trying to get their hands on weapons to defend themselves. NATO has been "slow" shall we say to provide. They are willing to take whatever they can get without asking any questions. There are rumblings that Redthorne may be working on a way for Ukraine to get some hardware without the NATO "entanglement"."

"Thanks, Stevie. I knew I could count on you. Do you have anything about AID being seen in Ukraine?"

"I haven't checked on that yet, but I will work on that next." Stevie got up and went in to see Liz on his way out. They have become friends over the years. I watched them as I was walking down the hall.

"Hey Liz. You're as pretty as ever. Marriage seems to agree with you. Where is your hunk now?"

Liz blushed. She liked Stevie's flattery. She knows he's harmless, but it is still nice to get a complement every once in a while. "He's at his office. You ought to bring your wife to dinner with us. I would like to meet her."

"We'll have to do that sometime. How's the hacking coming?"

"Slow. I must be careful. These companies are serious about people not peeking into their business. Homer is helping me. We'll see."

"My money is on you, sweetie." He laughed as he left.

Homer came by to see me shortly after Stevie left. "Hey, B.A. You want to see me?"

"Yeah, I need you to look at Watson Carrington's books. Anything you can find about him. He's Senator Minton's New York chief of staff, and we saw him in a meeting with Redthorne and AID recently. I need to see if he has any "private" accounts. I'll bet he has money stashed somewhere. We need to see the extent of this. William can analyze whatever you find."

"You bet BA. By the way, Liz and I are running into real sophisticated fire walls at Redthorne. I don't want to trip anything, so I am going slow, but you may need Zorro on this."

"Okay, let me know." Homer headed over the Liz's office to check on her.

Brick dropped by late in the afternoon. That is not normal. I can't remember that last time he just "dropped" in unannounced. "BA, got a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Minton is coming to town tonight and he wants to see me for dinner tomorrow. I'll see if this is a social call, or if he has something on his mind. I'll let you know what I find out." I nodded and he was off. That's interesting.

I sat in my favorite soft chair in my office and ran through this case so far.

I will need to find a way to communicate with Ahmad without arousing suspicion. I need to see how he is doing, but I'm sure they are watching and listening to him.

I think I will contact Zorro tomorrow about Redthorne. I will move Liz to something else. I am sure Redthorne has several sets of books and first-class ways of hiding everything. Zorro will get in if anybody can.

I need Ike to check on the movement of AID's men. I wonder if they are moving anyone into Ukraine. His security company could check without raising too much dust.

The next morning, I made a call to Zorro. I had not contacted him for a couple of years. Maybe he has moved on from his old business or he is done with me. However, within fifteen minutes I received an address by text. I was told to be there in one hour. At the designated time I arrived at another non-descript warehouse. I waited as the first security man searched me and pointed to a door. Once inside, the next man was there and we repeated the same process, except he also scanned for any electronic devices. Finally, I was with Zorro.

"I thought I was the fuck done with you."

"How can you mean that after all we've done together, all the money you've made off me?" I handed him my old burner phone. He tossed it in the trash.

"What is it this time?"

"I'm sure you've heard of Redthorne and American Independent Defense?"

"Of course. Wholesale slaughter for profit by one and making sure no one interferes by the other."

"That about covers it. We both know Redthorne's books would fit in the fiction aisle of the library, but I'm not worried about that now. I have a source inside that says they are branching out with the new President and Afghanistan falling apart. We believe there is a new venture so dangerous they may be masking its entire existence off-books. I wonder if you could look for something that is loosely connected. You know, your specialty, finding what people desperately want to hide. Who knows, maybe you can find a way to profit off that, too?"

"First of all, I don't need any more money. You think you are the only customer that I am profiting from? I don't do this for any idealism. I don't give a shit about this world. It is burning down, and none of us can stop it. I intend to end up on a deserted island that doesn't have internet or any connection with anybody. Secondly, these people are serious about being left alone. This will be difficult."

"Please, you can get in the world's banking systems and take whatever you want, we both know that. You can make it look like someone else is looking instead of you. That is something else I might need."

"Turn allies into enemies in one easy step?"

"Precisely."

"Lucky for you I do owe you a little, and I've been bored for a while. You are the only one who seems to bring me anything interesting. I'll have a look around and let you know." He handed me a new burner phone and had me escorted out.

That was fun. He is always a little unsettling. I really believe he doesn't give a shit about anyone or anything. He must care about something, or someone, but that is not my problem right now. He will work his magic.

Now it is time to move on to my other problems.