Department of Student Loans, Kidnap & Ransom

by Christian Hale

  *****

  Marv’s unsmiling face appeared on The Executioner’s phone, the video having been rerouted through various proxies and encrypted and unencrypted several times in the last second. Marv had news that couldn’t wait. And he was, as always, old school. He wanted to talk to a face on a screen.

  “Let’s get to it,” said Marv, not wasting any time. “I told the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes that they had a leak, and that the person was going to leak info again soon.”

  “You burned my source?” asked The Executioner, incredulously.

  “Your source is BS, son. Seriously, you are too trusting sometimes. I figured 50/50 that it wasn’t genuine, and that your leaker was probably an anarchist infiltrator or a Blue Team informer. I told them the sort of info that had been leaked and the sort of info that I suspected would soon be leaked. Anyways, they used an old tactic that’s been around forever. They spread a rumor online that said they knew who the mole was. They sprinkled it with info about the first leak that only you, the leaker and the anarchists or Blue Team would know. Then they watched to see which employee ran for it. And an employee did in fact run. But they didn’t get far.”

  “They’re sharing this info with you?”

  “Yeah, it’s the reward for bringing this to them,” said Marv. “And this doesn’t even come close to paying me back. I have to thank you, having the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes in my debt is a hell of a coup for me.”

  “So it’s a trap? This guy Larson is being used as a trap? That’s not a huge surprise,” admitted The Executioner. He was truly not surprised at all. Just disappointed and now very worried.

  “It’s not only that. You are not going to like this. But their interrogation of the wayward employee was quick and efficient. Not much of a committed anarchist, I guess. The deal is, Michael Larson doesn’t have any serious money. He has a modest stash that quickly disappeared into some blind transfers. But his savings are nothing that would be worth your time. The anarchists exaggerated his savings to attract you. And, obviously, it worked.”

  “Right. OK.”

  “So I would forget about Larson and, uh…do your best not to get killed by anarchists if you can.”

  “Well, that’s not so easy. My guys grabbed Larson late last night.”

  “Well, get rid of him,” said Marv with a shrug.

  “Yeah.”

  “OK, if anything else comes up, I’ll let you know. For now, just send me an update occasionally to let me know that you’re alive.”

  “Sure.”

  The video call ended and The Executioner sat and thought about his situation. After a while, he silently asked himself why he wasn’t crushed that he would not be collecting over $10 million in cash. This was supposed to be his early retirement fund. This would be his key to leaving behind debt collecting. It should all be a massive disappointment that weighed heavily on him. But instead he felt nothing. He felt completely neutral, and slightly numb.

  The Executioner stood up and started to focus on his next chore. It was time to go meet Mick.