Read Online Barracuda by Mike Monahan - Free Book Online Page A

snappers, and sea
bass, to name a few. The scientists were truly amazed at the
diversity of the day’s catch.
    Dr. Collins wished to be discrete with Celestial
and his plans for hiring him and the Hummingbird , so he said
to James, “Let’s come back later when this seafood carnival is
over.”
    ***
    The scientists were enjoying a nice dinner when
one of the Japanese waiters brought Dr. Collins his journal. “Sir,
you left this behind after your lunch. I recognized it because you
always come to be seated with your ledger in hand.” The man smiled
and retreated toward another table of diners.
    “You’re lucky he had waited on us before and
recognized your journal,” James exclaimed.
    “Balderdash!” Dr. Collins cried. “Even if he
hadn’t recognized the journal, he would have known it was mine once
he opened it up. It obviously belongs to a scientist, and since we
are the only scientists here, he need not be Sherlock Holmes to
figure out to whom it belongs. Just look.” He flung open the
book.
    James was laughing until he saw a look of
concern on the doctor’s face.
    “This is a bookkeeper’s ledger, not my journal,”
Dr. Collins said. “This must belong to the hotel accountant.”
    “Let me see it,” James replied.
    The professor was muttering incoherently about
the incompetence of the little man while James perused the contents
of the ledger. The doctor ceased his muddled mumbling when he saw
James arch his eyebrows in astonishment.
    James tried to gain the attention of the waiter
who had brought the ledger to them, but he was unsuccessful.
Suddenly, the maitre d’ appeared and in a thick Japanese accent,
asked, “Is everything all right, sir?”
    “Oh, yes,” James answered. “The waiter thought
this was the professor’s journal, but he was mistaken.”
    “I’ll take it to the lost and found,” the maitre
d’ offered.
    “How about some coffee while you’re at it?”
barked the professor.
    The man looked disdainfully at the doctor and
walked off in a huff. The rude scientist was about to protest when
James growled, “Let’s go to our room. We can order room service if
you’d like some coffee.”
    The doctor mumbled his disapproval and
reluctantly followed James back to their rooms. When they arrived,
he demanded of his assistant, “What was that all about?”
    “Where should I begin—with your rude behavior
toward the maitre d’ or the money laundering ledger?”
    “I wasn’t rude to the…what did you say about the
ledger?”
    “I was curious and looked it over. It shows a
steady inventory of funds being transferred from New York City to
San Francisco, then through to Honolulu and ending up in Tokyo.
Then the same accounts go in reverse from Tokyo back to New York.
Professor, I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that this
is a register of laundered money. The Majuro Majestic Hotel is the
common source here. We questioned the unlikely alliance of Japanese
and Russian hosts here at the Majestic. Well, it appears to me that
the Russian Mafia is in bed with the Japanese Yakuza.”
    “Do you know what you’re saying?” Dr. Collins
already knew the answer to that question. He was aware of James’
background in economics; if anyone could read an accountant’s
ledger, James could.
    The two sat and looked at each other in stunned
silence. The last thing either of them wanted was an unsolicited
distraction from their work. The grant and the discoveries were the
most important things in their lives, but this new documentation
had moral implications that could not be ignored.

4

    Hiroshi Machii was the director of the Majuro
Majestic Hotel and Casino. He ran the resort with an iron fist, a
common practice amongst Japanese businessmen. This trait often made
Japanese entrepreneurs appear to be aggressively rude.
    Hiroshi staffed his hotel with a mixture of his
fellow countrymen, locals, and Russians, insisting that all workers
speak English at all times. He did not tolerate people