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“Actually, there’s more if you consider the fact that the dollar is the world’s reserve currency and any inflation created by the Fed is felt around the globe. Then there’s the fact that the U.S. government also spends much more than it brings in, so we have to make up the difference by selling Treasury bonds. If the Fed increases the money supply, then the dollars bondholders are being paid back with are worth less.”
Harvath shook his head and took another sip of his drink. Wise could tell he was frustrated. “Listen,” the man said. “I know this may feel like it’s not very helpful to what you are doing, but Peaches wanted to make sure you had a grasp of what the Fed was and how it operated. Are there a good number of pretty smart people out there who think the world would be better off without it? Absolutely. Are there a lot who’d be willing to murder to try to get it to go away? I don’t think so.”
“So how do we identify and narrow down who those people are?”
“That part’s simple.”
“It is?” said Harvath.
Wise nodded. “But you have to start with the actual crime itself.”
CHAPTER 21
Wise stepped out from behind the bar and took the stool next to Harvath’s. He offered to freshen his drink, but Harvath politely waved him off. His mind was spi
Refilling his own glass and setting the bottle down, Wise said, “We’ve got five kidnappings and a murder, which are filled with a lot of information. What do they tell you?”
Harvath had been poring over the files ever since his meeting at the Federal Reserve that afternoon. As far as he was concerned, there wasn’t much there. “I have to be honest with you, there isn’t a lot of information. We’ve got next to no evidence.”
“Which is evidence in itself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“As far as physical clues at the crime scenes themselves, there aren’t any, right?”
“So?”
“So that tells us these guys weren’t just good, they were professional,” stated Wise. “And to pull off five kidnappings in different cities all on the same night, there had to be—”
“Multiple teams,” Harvath replied, finishing the man’s sentence for him. “I already know that. That’s not what I’m struggling with here.”
“Just stay with me. Now, whoever orchestrated the kidnappings had to have had access to information, to the actual five names from inside the Fed itself. That’s no easy feat. Couple that with professionals having been hired to actually carry out the kidnappings and now we’re talking serious money. But, it gets better, or more specifically, more expensive because murder doesn’t come cheap.”
“You’re convinced the kidnappings and the murder were all done for hire?”
Wise nodded. “And I’ll tell you why. Per the file and the pictures, Claire Marcourt was beaten to death. Outside of self-defense or a fit of jealous rage, very few human beings are capable of taking another life like that. Then, there are her ears.”
“What about them?”
“They weren’t just hacked off with a pair of shears or a dull pocketknife. The lines were clean and pretty well matched. Someone used a sharp blade, took their time, and knew what they were doing.”
“But if you’re going to beat someone to death, who cares if the lines are clean?” asked Harvath.
“Exactly,” Wise replied. “And while we’re at it, and I think your theory about the Pine Tree Riot is right on the money, why prop up the ears in the photo? Why take the time to display them like that?”
“Because whoever this guy is, he didn’t want us to miss them.”
“They’re ears, for crying out loud. Who’s not going to notice them? Why not just drop them next to that economist’s quote and take the picture? Why go through all the trouble to set it up like it was some sort of an exhibit?”
“I don’t know,” said Harvath. “Maybe this guy’s a sadist and proud of his work.”
Wise tapped the tip of his nose with his index finger and then pointed it at Harvath. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Harvath waited for him to extrapolate, but Wise was suddenly lost in his own thoughts. Harvath rapped his knuckles on the bar top to get the man’s attention. “Knock. Knock.”
Wise shook himself out of his reverie. “Sorry, I was thinking about a Russian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq.”
“What about him?”
“The FSB operatives flown in from Moscow were able to get him back within seventy-two hours.”
“That’s impressive. How’d they do it? I’m guessing it didn’t involve pretty please with sugar on top.”
“No, it didn’t,” Wise replied. “Actually, it was pretty vicious. The Russians focused on the most likely neighborhood, swept in, and started breaking hands, fingers, arms, and legs until they found somebody who knew something. From there, they were able to identify a cousin of one of the kidnappers. Once they had him, they began slicing off his body parts and had a courier drop them off one at a time at the family’s house. After the man’s nose and both ears had been delivered, the diplomat was returned to the embassy unharmed and the FSB agents returned to Moscow.”
“That’s one way of handling things. Especially in that part of the world, but do you really think we’re dealing with the Russians?”
Wise shook his head. “An organization with enough expertise to penetrate the Federal Reserve? Experienced enough to pull off five simultaneous kidnappings without leaving a trace? This is something different.”
“Well, if not the Russians, maybe this is some sort of a currency war. Or maybe the Fed screwed up and ran afoul of the Cosa Nostra. With the kind of money they move, anything is possible.”
“But what’s probable? What kind of group would openly invite the full ire of the United States government?”
“Who knows? Maybe they’re exactly who they claim to be,” Harvath stated. “Why can’t this simply be a group of patriots trying to intimidate the Federal Reserve into shutting down?”
“Because that doesn’t make any sense.”
“None of this makes any sense.”
“What I mean,” Wise clarified, “is that it’s nuts to think that the Fed could be bullied into doing anything, much less closing its doors.”
“Then why do this?” Harvath asked. “What’s the purpose?”
“Maybe the purpose isn’t to get them to close their doors but to generate enough media attention to force a discussion of the Fed center stage, right into the national spotlight.”
“Which is exactly what the Fed doesn’t want.”
“Of course not,” said Wise. “The less people take an interest in them, the better. That’s why you were given this assignment.”
“Then let’s suppose for a moment you’re right. Why would someone want to force a national discussion of the Federal Reserve?”
“Maybe these patriots see the Fed as something so dangerous to the nation that it has to be dealt with. Even if that means using violence.”
It was a provocative possibility, but there was something about it that just didn’t feel right to Harvath. There was nothing “patriotic” about murdering other Americans in cold blood. There had to be something else.
And that something else was the pressure weighing on Harvath’s shoulders, even after he had left Wise’s home that night. Would he be able to figure out what that something else was before someone else was murdered?
CHAPTER 22
FAIRFAX
VIRGINIA
Ryan rode with McGee back to the Farm to pick up her car. She thought about stopping by the grocery store on the way home, but she was wiped out from her jet lag. All she wanted to do was throw on her robe, pour a glass of wine, and stretch out on the couch with a good book until she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore.