Read Online The 13th Target by Mark de Castrique - Free Book Online

Archer?” The man’s voice was calm, cultured, soothing.
    “Yes.”
    “Sorry to alarm you. Your wife is fine. I just wanted to make sure you’d take my call.”
    “You stole her phone?”
    “No. Temporarily borrowed her number.”
    “What do you want?” Archer’s fear turned to anger.
    “Nothing other than to give you a heads-up. I know you spoke with Amanda Church of the Federal Reserve this morning. And you’ll probably be getting a follow-up visit from someone saying he works with Church. Technically, that’s true, but he’s really a third-party contractor.”
    “And who are you?”
    “Agent Nathaniel Brown with the Secret Service. We’re running a parallel investigation.”
    “Into what?”
    “A possible cyber-crime. I’m with the Electronic Crimes Special Agent Program.”
    “You’re investigating our bank?”
    “No. We believe you’re an innocent victim of an international money laundering operation. One that has assets in place within the Federal Reserve.”
    “Assets? What kind of assets?”
    “Human assets. A person or persons in the pay of a criminal or terrorist organization. Someone who can make what happened happen.”
    “And this parallel investigation is separate from the Federal Reserve?”
    “Entirely. And it’s important it stays that way. Amanda Church and her colleague Russell Mullins are probably innocent, but they are in sensitive positions. I would be remiss if I didn’t first clear them of any involvement.”
    “Mullins? That was the name on the Cayman account.”
    “Yes. Which makes it likely he was being framed.”
    “I see.” Archer stood and paced unsteadily, trying to clear his head. “But why are you calling me?”
    “I want you to cooperate with them. Tell them what they need to know. Technically, they don’t have subpoena power or the authority to make you divulge confidential information.” The man laughed. “They’re not like us, the guys in the black SUVs who can pretty much demand anything and everything.”
    Archer got the point. He needed to cooperate with this guy.
    “We want to see how thorough they are in their investigation. So, assist them as much as you can without revealing your bank’s own confidential matters. Then I’d like you to write up a report of that meeting and any subsequent conversations. By hand is preferable, as it carries more weight in court.”
    “I’ll be called to testify?”
    “If we succeed in building a case. Your role in protecting the integrity and security of our core financial institutions won’t go unnoticed.”
    That was the kind of publicity Craig Archer did want to bring to his board of directors. And to have the FDIC and the Fed in his debt would be huge.
    “All right,” Archer said. “If I can be of service, I’m happy to help in anyway I can.”
    “Thank you. I’ll be in touch early next week. In the meantime, tell no one. Not even your wife. And there’s no need to share your visitor is even from the Federal Reserve. It might make your employees nervous.”
    “I understand.”
    The caller hung up. Archer took the phone from his ear and stared at it as a reality check of what just occurred. For a split-second he considered that Nathaniel Brown hadn’t given him any ID to show he was who he claimed to be.
    But then the man had hijacked his wife’s cellphone number. In Archer’s mind, that was far better proof that he was dealing with the government than any wallet overflowing with credentials could provide.

Chapter Thirteen
    At nine o’clock Friday night, Detective Robert Sullivan read through the autopsy report a final time. Paul Luguire died from a single gunshot to the right temple. Powder burns on his head and right hand were consistent with a self-inflicted wound. Luguire was right-handed. The only other notation made by the medical examiner was the presence of a small dab of aluminum sulfate on a nick under his jaw. The report stated it was most likely residue from a styptic pencil used