A Taste For Danger Read online

  Jack kept his eye on what he could see. “Yeah.” He started whistling again.

  Carolyn unclicked the lighter. “It’s not burnt all the way through, but I think you can break it now. Jack struggled against the one strand. It didn’t budge.

  “You’re going to have to burn more of the strands before that will work,” he said.

  Over the next half hour, Carolyn and Jack worked at burning through the various strands of rope around his wrists.

  “We had to get the guy who knows how to tie knots,” Jack complained.

  After the fourth strand Jack tried again. He tugged and rubbed and eventually the strands came loose.

  He was still tied to Carolyn though. Using his free hand he palmed the lighter from her and burnt the other rope. Hands freed, he quickly untied his feet and then Carolyn’s hands and feet.

  They sat on the ground and looked at one another. Carolyn was sweating. He helped her up. He could tell she was shaking too. That was her MO. Calm during emergencies, react later.

  Jack put his arm around her. “You did great, kid.”

  “Thanks,” said Carolyn recovering her composure.

  “Now what?” asked Carolyn. “We’re both in this up to our necks.”

  Jack thought. “We need to lay low so they don’t know we’re gone yet. As soon as they find out, we’ll be in danger all over again.”

  “Unless we’ve caught them first,” declared Carolyn.

  Here was the woman he knew. “So we’ll need a trap.”

  “Yes, but how about one that doesn’t threaten either of our lives?” suggested Carolyn, with emphasis. The last trap Jack set used himself as bait and if Carolyn hadn’t found the shooter in time, who knows what would have happened.

  “Deal.” Jack had no use for martyrdom. Plus he wanted to keep Carolyn safe. It was his fault, after all, that she was even involved.

  “Your boyfriend is going to have my neck when he finds out what happened,” said Jack.

  “Jack,” said Carolyn seriously, “you and I both have a taste for danger. We thrive on it. That’s a part of me that Evan is going to have to accept.”

  “Okay,” said Jack, satisfied.

  As they brushed themselves off, the warehouse door opened. Both Jack and Carolyn looked up in surprise. Three men in street clothes walked toward them.

  “There will be no trap setting from you two,” said the first.

  “Yes,” said the second. “You’ve done quite enough.”

  “Who the hell are you?” asked Jack

  “CIA. When we lost contact with Carolyn mid-phone call and heard the scuffle we knew something was wrong. So we followed you, following them here,” said the first man.

  “Then why didn’t you come out when, you know, Carolyn was being held at gun point, or say I was being knocked out by the enemy?” exclaimed Jack.

  “You were never in any danger. We had the place surrounded. Your actions needed to be natural and play out as authentic,” said the second man.

  “That’s the CIA for you,” mumbled Carolyn to Jack.

  “We couldn’t endanger the operation any more than it already has been,” said the first man.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Jack.

  Out of the bushes stepped two riflemen and...Bob?

  “Bob! Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “No, Jack. You stepped into an operation that took us two years to put into place. We’re all lucky it wasn’t blown to hell.”

  “We’ve had key people in place to make sure that the plans Cheryl received each time were dummies,” said the third man.

  “But we were and are still after her higher level contacts. The man with the hat is just a shill. Those plans and her op come from very high levels. We’ve been trying to get up higher,” explained Bob.

  “I see,” said Jack, suddenly tired.

  “So what happens now?” asked Carolyn.

  “We’ve got a team following them by satellite and there will be a team at whichever airport they decide to go to. Because of you they’ve decided to close up shop and get out,” said the first man.

  “Not necessarily a bad thing,” said the third man.

  “Right. If we have to, we’ll take them down at the airport,” said Bob.

  “But if it works out right, we won’t have to do that, and one of our own will also be on the plane. We still plan to catch the higher-ups,” said the first man.

  “In China?” asked Jack, incredulous.

  “We have a little agreement going at the moment,” said Bob.

  “That’s all you need to know,” said the first man.

  “Should we have them sign forms?” asked the third man. “They’ve basically just been read in...”

  “No,” said Bob. “As far as I’m concerned, this never happened.”

  “Check.” said the first and second man. The third man nodded.

  Jack threw Bob the camera with the photos on it from Atlantic City. “Every little bit helps,” said Bob.

  As the men gathered themselves to go, Jack pulled Bob aside. Completely disconcerted, Jack said, “Bob? Are you going to be at work on Monday?”

  Bob laughed. “Jack, from what I know, you have a few more surprises planned up your sleeve and I wouldn’t miss them for the world.”

  Jack had no idea how to react to that. He looked at Carolyn. “Can you make the other calls? He wasn’t sure how many agencies she’d gotten to before the disconnect.

  Bob laughed again. “She doesn’t need to. I’ve already taken care of it.”

  Jack stared at Bob. “Both things?” he hinted.

  “Both things,” said Bob. “Yeah, we know about Tom now.” He patted Jack on the back. “You just make sure you’re there Monday. Although, Jack—”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t think I’d be planning a career there after tomorrow, if I were you. Just my two cents.”

  “Halleluiah,” said Jack, “I can’t wait for this to be over.”

  Bob gave Jack a sly look. “Really? I think there are at least a couple people who will miss you.”

  Carolyn looked at Bob. Then she turned to Jack and slapped him on the back. “Why Jack, you old dog!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  When he finally arrived home, Jack ripped his phone loose and threw it out the window. On Sunday he rested up. The knot on his head throbbed. He looked forward to going to work on Monday on what would probably be his last day there. Everything had changed. Not even sure himself, he couldn’t wait to see what happened. He didn’t bother to bring in a new suit for the door.

  Early Monday morning, Jack sat in his car inside the garage for the last time. He drove in early on purpose. Sneaking into the suite unobserved, he walked fast, straight to his office because his hands were full. Then, looking out into the hallway to make sure no one wandered about, he headed towards Eddie’s office. There he left a big bag of butterscotch candy along with his contact information. Next he tip-toed to Cindy’s office. Empty. Even she hadn’t yet arrived. He put a vase of flowers and a note on her desk. The note said: “Thanks for sharing the adventure.” Errands done, he crept back to his office and checked his computer for emails. An email from Bob flashed bright. The email said:

  Expect excitement around 9:30

  Bob.

  Around eight, groups of employees began to trickle in. Jack stayed in his office, mostly playing solitaire on the computer, waiting. At 8:30 something peculiar happened. Felicia the secretary began running up all the halls, peaking into each office, yelling with urgency “Frank and Ron are coming! Frank and Ron are coming!” When she yelled this to Jack, he asked, “Is that unusual?”

  “Yes!” yelled Felicia back. “They never come to Little D!” Frank and Ron were the CEO and CFO, respectively.

  The clock only said 8:00, and Jack doubted Bob would get the time wrong so he had no clue why the two biggest Heads decided to visit today, now. It excited him though. He turned off the solitaire game on
his computer. Felicia was a one-woman Paul Revere. She apparently found out when the two Heads drove into the garage. She must have a network of gossips.

  With everyone forewarned, in minutes the office changed from Monday doldrums to an electric air that crackled with life. Employees typed furiously on their keyboards. Others walked the hallways with files in their hands. Still others gathered in the conference room to hold a meeting. Only Cheryl’s door remained closed. Felicia sat at her desk sounding important on the phone. Little D was sufficiently prepared. In his office, Jack laughed.

  Five minutes later, two sharply dressed men entered the suite. After saying good morning to Felicia, they headed to Jack’s office. When Jack looked up and saw them, his eyes widened. He had no clue why, today, the two biggest Suits wanted to see him. Unless they know...then it would make sense.

  “Would you like to have a seat?” Jack offered.

  Silence. The CFO took a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to Jack. It said, ‘We had the place swept for bugs over the weekend. Your phone and office have bugs.’ Jack shook his head. Why wasn’t he surprised?

  The CEO motioned for Jack to follow them. They went to the conference room where three of the Heads were in the process of pretending to have a meeting. Ron knocked on the door, then explained courteously, “We need to use this room. Could you move your meeting to someone’s office?” The three Heads couldn’t say yes fast enough. The room emptied.

  All three men sat down. The CFO—Ron— started. “There was a bug here too, but we had it removed.”

  Jack was impressed. Getting a professional team of sweepers was no small feat.

  The CEO—Frank—continued. “That team will be back next weekend to remove all the bugs around here. There are quite a few. Some from our side, some from the Chinese.”

  “So you know...” Jack said, stunned.

  Ron smiled, although his face remained tense. “We have our contacts too.”

  “I’m sure you do,” said Jack. “What do you need from me?”

  Frank looked over toward Ron, who looked Jack in the eyes. “Your trust,” he said.

  Jack was taken aback. Then as he thought about it, he realized that it was true, he never could figure out how high the wrong-doing went. He knew the men had nothing to do with Cheryl’s case, but the problem of the malfeasance and the embezzling, well that could easily go right to the top.

  “I don’t know what to say to that,” said Jack.

  “That’s okay. We’d just like you to hear us out,” said Frank.

  “Sure.” This is one for the records.

  Ron spoke. “At 9:30 this morning, the SEC and FBI will come here to arrest the three people responsible for corporate fraud.”

  “So you know what they did?” asked Jack.

  “We do now, after our friends at the SEC contacted us.”

  “They rigged the reinsurance and took on thousands of new investors in a push to cover the losses they already knew were imminent from insurance policies about to come up from the BP Oil spill,” said Jack. The information in Cindy’s files damned the company on this issue.

  “Yes,” said Frank. “And then there’s Tom.”

  Ron spoke on this one. “Tom acted without my or anyone’s knowledge. I know that must be hard to believe since I’m the CFO, but I am the one who found the discrepancies and both of us,” he indicated Frank and himself, “sincerely believed that Tom hired people to find the culprit. But today at 9:30 also, the FBI will converge at Big D and take Tom away. He had accounts in the Cayman Islands where he funneled the money he skimmed from investors. He skimmed just enough not to be noticeable to us, but the FBI has his wire transactions.

  That’s a damn rich company when 250K can be skimmed unnoticeable. Jack still had no clue why the two men told him all this.

  Ron spoke again. “You’ve been instrumental in bringing all three of the cases to justice.”

  Then Frank added, “At the same time, these cases deal the company a powerful blow. One which I’m not even sure we can recover from, but I plan to try.”

  “We’re going to downsize our operations, back to a manageable portfolio where oversight can be sustained,” said Ron.

  Frank continued. “At 11:30 I’ve called a press conference. By then the arrests will be known. I’m going to disavow all knowledge of these criminal acts and discuss my plan for change at the company, as well as apologize to the public and the members.”

  “What about the hundreds of people who have been calling Victoria over their losses from the BP charade?” asked Jack.

  “We’re going to have to use our reserve,” said Ron. “We’ll account for the unlimited liability they were suckered into and reimburse the members. We think we can do this and still stay afloat. But it’s going to be a tough few years.”

  “We’re here,” said Frank, “because we want your support.”

  “I want to believe you, but after all the stuff I’ve seen...”

  “I understand. That’s why I made some calls,” said Ron. “Jack, I wasn’t always a CFO and Frank wasn’t always a CEO. I know many of the same people you do from the squad houses, from the neighborhood beats, from the detective forces...they’ll vouch for me. I would never in a million years skim from our constituents. I have a number of character witnesses that will say the same. If our word is suspect, I hope that the words of the people you know and trust will change your mind,” said Ron.

  “Really? You know the same people?” asked Jack, dubious.

  Ron proceeded to name quite a number of Jack’s closest friends and co-workers from the past. He also provided information that only those people, and Jack, would know.

  “Feel free to call any of them, Jack. In fact, a number of them wish you would. Some of them haven’t heard from you in quite some time.”

  Jack looked down. Ron spoke the truth. Since going on his dive of self-destruction, he’d lost contact with many of those to whom he was closest. He looked up at the two men. Their faces were strained and sincere. He didn’t envy their next forty-eight hours, or their next couple of years. But they seemed determined to turn this around.

  “You have my support,” said Jack. “I know that things can turn around.” They certainly did for me.

  “We appreciate that, Jack.”

  Frank looked at his watch. “Ron, we need to go. It’s 9:00 and we need to be at Big D when they come for Tom. Plus I need to prepare for the press conference.”

  The two men stood up. “Jack,” said Frank, “can you make sure that things stay orderly here? It’s not every day that people are arrested.”

  “Of course,” said Jack. “You can count on me.”

  The two men left. Felicia hung up her phantom phone call. The rest of the office proceeded to gossip. No one could figure what the men wanted with Jack. A couple of people even stopped by and hinted that they wanted to know, but he ignored them. Cindy and Eddie stayed in their offices. He had emailed them to stand by for 9:30.

  At 9:30 on the dot, two men from the SEC and three FBI agents came through the door. They didn’t stop at Felicia’s desk. Walking fast they headed straight for Victoria White, Head of Managing Agents; Rance Masters, Head of Claims; and Dick McLellan, Head of Reinsurance. The agents already knew where to go and did not stop for directions. Soon all three employees were in handcuffs and paraded through the suite. People stood at their doors gasping. A few cried. For her part, Victoria yelled to high heaven that they were wrong, and she planned to sue. Rance and Dick just walked through with heads down. As quick as they came, the entourage left. No words, no explanation to anyone.

  Jack found himself with a throng at his door. “Watch the Devonshire Press Conference at 11:30 a.m. was all that he would say. When the crowd had diminished to gossip in corners elsewhere in the office, Jack snuck out. He left his mobile and security card on his desk with a letter of resignation concerning what he hoped would be his first and last corporate job—at least from the inside.

  Ja
ck made it home in time to watch the press conference on TV as well as the news on the captures. Broadcasters said nothing about Cheryl Wong or the Chinese. Jack didn’t expect them to. After a healthy lunch, he drove out and bought a new phone. Apartment complete again, Jack knew exactly what he planned to do. He picked up the phone. She answered on the third ring. “Cindy, it’s Jack.”

  “I didn’t expect to hear from you,” she said.

  “Yeah well, it’s true, I no longer work for your company.”

  She laughed. “You left quite a bit of fallout in your wake.”

  “Just doing my job.”

  “Oh, I think you did a little extra.”

  Jack smiled. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

  There was short pause. “Why, yes, I think I’d like that.”

  Jack smiled again. Things were looking up. It was going to be a good year after all.

  If you enjoyed reading A Taste for Danger, you may enjoy these other Breathless Press titles:

  A Taste for Killing

  Eyes Only

  All For A Dead Man’s Leg

  All For A Fist Full of Ashes

  Jinn and Toxic

  Available at Breathless Press

  www.breathlesspress.com

  Biography

  H.K. Sterling is an author with Breathless Press known for stories with imagination, intelligence, a kick, and twist endings. She likes to focus her writing on romantic suspense, science-fiction, shorts, and anything that is spicy and unexpected. Sometimes her books may even go dark. H.K. lives in Virginia with her husband who graciously puts up with her passion for writing. H.K. currently has a Short Spy Romance out called Eyes Only, a Mystery/Thriller titled A Taste For Killing, and two short stories in the Breathless Press Anthology, My Bloody Valentine. H.K.’s books are suitable for 18+.

  Catch up with H.K. Sterling on the following media:

  Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/hksterling

  Twitter: @HKSterling

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/HK-Sterling/426989014069244

  Email: [email protected]

  HK Sterling “Undercover Blog”: http://hksterling1.blogspot.com/