by Martha Carr
Ned knew the money would have to rapidly move thousands of times before finally coming to rest to hide from George Clemente, at least long enough to draw him out.
He began with small wire transfers from a few of the bank accounts that were then routed through other locations where they ended up in blind trusts in the Cayman Islands. There, he left very specific instructions to move the monies to another specified location if there were any inquiries by officials.
In the middle of a transfer his screen gave off a small ping and he could see that Juliette was trying to connect with him. If it had been Jake or Trey he would have ignored it, but not Juliette.
“Hey,” he said, enlarging the picture to a quarter of the screen to get a better look at her. “You okay? It’s pretty late.”
“I couldn’t sleep and was checking my phone. I saw that you were online.”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure, yeah, with me everything’s good. I was worrying about you,” she said.
He could feel his face growing warmer. “Thanks,” he said, stopping for just a moment to look at her face.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Stealing from George Clemente. Don’t tell the others yet. I shouldn’t even be telling you,” he said, typing as fast as he could.
“What?” she said in a hushed whisper, leaning in closer to the camera.
“I found something in those papers Jake sent me and I think Clemente was stealing on top of Jake’s dad. I’m stealing the money back. At least enough of it to hurt him. Hang on, I have to type something.”
Ned could see that the transfers were successful, and he triggered the software he had written that would begin moving faster and faster, transferring the same small amounts, staying in the thousands, but at a much more rapid pace.
He knew that Clemente would soon notice the drain in his account, which was the point after all. It meant Ned had to move fast and along different routes to not only hide the transfers but keep suspicions at any bank down to where they were unlikely to bother to investigate. As long as there was no threat of exposure they wouldn’t look up.
The wire transfers would eventually be lost in the noise of all of the other transactions.
“What are you doing now?” asked Juliette.
“Creating a way for us to use some of the money without anyone finding out.” He was setting up credit cards under different aliases that he could use to draw against the money through shell corporations linked to the trusts. Just like Esther showed him.
“Why, what do we need?”
“I don’t know or at least I haven’t figured that part out yet,” said Ned, shaking his head. “Now that I’m drawing out George Clemente we will need to figure out what to do next and save my dad. We’ll need more help.”
“I’m not sure Jake or Trey would know what to do. Jake has the firepower but he’s in Montana. Maybe we should all gather.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ve also reached out to someone I think can help.”
“Did someone call my name?” It was Jake coming online. “Was up, watching the snow fall and saw you two were online. Figured something must be happening. Am I disturbing anything?” he asked, a grin on his face. Juliette smiled and Ned felt a pang in his stomach. He ignored the comment.
“We need to gather in Richmond. I’ll buy the tickets.
“Using Clemente’s money, can’t beat that,” said Juliette.
“In the meantime, I know someone else we need to ask for help. Hey, Jake, didn’t you say you had a secure way to contact my Uncle with an emergency code he won’t ignore?”
“Yeah, in case of emergencies. I take it we found one?”
“More like we’re the ones creating our own on the fly. We’re going to need reinforcements, and plenty of them.”
“I like it. Do we need Trey?
“Yeah, but we can wait till morning. In the meantime, let me catch you up.” Ned took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “We’re stealing from George Clemente to flush him out in the open.”
“Whoa,” said Jake, his mouth forming a perfect o. “How did you figure that out?”
“It’s a little complicated but let’s just say, you’re looking at the CEO of some shady companies set up in Dubai in the international zone that all lead to different trust accounts in the Cayman Islands.”
“When did you have time to do all of that?” asked Jake, a sense of awe in his voice. “Dude, you didn’t only sneak out of the house, you took a break from the country.”
“Not so much, Jake. All happened from a lot of typing. More like an international virtual breakout.”
“You have been stealing from one of the worst dudes on the planet and you haven’t left your bedroom. That’s deep.”
“I get that George Clemente will notice his money is missing. But how will he know to come look for it in Richmond? I take it you covered your tracks pretty well or bad things would already be happening there,” said Juliette, looking worried.
“He doesn’t have a clue, yet.”
“Then what’s the plan?” asked Jake.
“We leave a false trail that still gets him to come to Richmond but the trail will lead away from us. We set a trap.”
“We don’t know how to do that,” said Jake.
“We don’t, but I’ve gotten help. I went to Esther Ackerman. She’s hooking us up. I need one more person, though and she was a no go for him. We’re going to have to go behind her back. Jake can you give me the secure line to my uncle?”
Tom Weiskopf awoke the next day to check his secure iPhone for any messages that played out over the general radio frequency. There were daily readings from the Constitution that anyone could hear but hid coded messages but that on most days were meaningless.
He looked out his kitchen window at the sun rising across the snow filled plains and thought about how he could help his brother, Norman. He had already been in enough arguments with Esther about risking his life, the Keeper’s life, and therefore the entire well-being of the Circle. But it was his brother, and after Harry’s death, his only brother he had left.
George Clemente had taken enough from his family.
But trying to solve the problem of what he could do had kept him up all night. He glanced down at his phone and saw the message and smiled.
‘The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republic Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion, and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.’
“Seems my nephew has found a way to force everybody into the open,” said Tom, smiling. “Good for you, Ned. I’ll be right there.”
Chapter 18
Ned waited till he saw his mother pull out of their driveway till he called for an Uber car to come and get him.
“Airport,” he said, as he got in the back of the Volkswagen Golf.
It had taken him most of the night to complete the transactions but it was done. He had successfully stolen well over nine hundred million from George Clemente and parked the money all over the Cayman Islands in several different trusts. The money was routed through enough companies that he’d set up online that he was reasonably sure Clemente couldn’t trace them to him, easily.
It was so many zeros, it didn’t even feel real. “Stealing is a lot easier than people let on,” he said.
“What?” asked the driver. “Kid, you picking up relatives?”
“Yeah, my uncle,” said Ned.
“Oh, that’s great. Christmas is a time for family. I have five kids myself. Looking forward to Christmas morning.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” said Ned.
“You gonna’ need a ride back?”
“No, thanks, we’ll be renting a car at the airport.”
“Sounds good. Merry Christmas kid. Nice of you to go all the way out there to meet him. Here’s my card, just in case. Name’s Phil. You need another
ride, you can call me direct.”
I’ll figure out what to do with the money once his father was safely back at home, thought Ned. Until then, he was going to leave the driver an enormous tip on George Clemente.
“I’m close, I know it,” he had said to Juliette after Jake had gotten offline. “I’m going to get my Dad back.”
Doubt was creeping in though while he rode in the back of the Uber, looking out at the Christmas lights that sped by his car window. There was so much at stake.
Juliette said she’d tell Trey about the plan and they would find a way to the airport. He wanted to tell her something more but couldn’t quite find the words. In the end, he told her thank you, and wondered what his dad would tell him to do.
He walked into the airport when his phone suddenly rang, making Ned jump. He pulled it out of his pocket, hoping it wasn’t his mother, just yet. He didn’t want her to find out what he’d done till after she was let in on the plan by others. That had already been put into motion as well.
The phone number was blocked.
“Ned Weiskopf.”
“Yes?” Ned knew the voice but he couldn’t quite place it. He had heard it only once before.
“This is George Clemente. I think you have something of mine and I have something of yours.” There was a short silence and he could hear someone fumbling with the phone.
“Ned? Don’t get involved. Let your mother handle it.” It was Norman, breathless, speaking as fast as he could into the phone.
“Dad? Dad?” yelled Ned. “Are you alright?”
“He’s fine for now, young Mister Weiskopf. You have a very talented family. We really should work together.”
Ned tried to remember what Esther had told him. Stay calm and negotiate.
“I have nine hundred million things of yours. You want them back, you deliver my father. Unharmed,” he said, looking at the guards standing all over Richmond International Airport.
“Something can be arranged, I’m sure.”
Ned saw the men coming toward him just as he saw his Uncle Tom coming down the long escalator. Watchers, he thought. The quick shake of his head made Tom look over and he saw them too.
George Clemente’s version of Watchers.
They were closing in as Ned took off for the security line, getting in behind a family struggling with their luggage, helping them to right them all again.
The family was too busy trying to drag three small children toward the conveyor belt with all of their luggage to wonder who the young teenager was who was standing so close to them. The people behind them assumed they had one more child who had shown up at the last moment. Even the TSA agent seemed to miscount, letting Ned pass through with the family. He tossed his shoes into a grey plastic bin, along with his coat and the change in his pocket and stepped forward to be scanned.
The Watchers stood just outside of security talking on their phones, while one of them tried to argue with an agent. By then, Ned was all the way through security, blending in with the crowd moving toward the gates.
He circled back around and came out a different exit as his phone rang.
“Juliette! Are you here?” he said, not sure if his heart was beating faster because he was being chased or because Juliette was closer.
“We’re by the baggage. Are you here?”
“I’m in a little bit of a jam. I’ll meet you outside by the taxi pickup. Trey and Jake with you?”
“Yeah, we’re all together. What’s wrong?”
“I think Clemente is on to us. Keep your eyes open. I don’t think he has any reason to look for you guys but I can’t be sure. Gotta go,” he said, as he noticed two Watchers coming down the long, open hallway. He slipped into a Hudson newsstand, sliding over by the magazine rack, looking back to see if he had been spotted. He grabbed a blue George Washington University hoodie and dropped his coat. He pulled on the sweatshirt, putting up the hood around his face.
The Watchers walked swiftly past the store, glancing inside but didn’t see him.
Ned quickly paid for the hoodie, leaving his coat tucked back behind the trail mix rack and headed for the exit. He texted his uncle, ‘be outside near taxi stand’, and kept walking as quickly as he could without actually running.
He was trying not to draw attention to himself.
Just as he was closing in on the exit he saw them coming from both sides. He wasn’t going to make the door.
“Gun!” he yelled. “Don’t shoot!” He pointed at the men on his left. “Don’t shoot!”
The crowd scattered, pushing him forward toward the door as the guards quickly grabbed the two men. Ned looked back and saw that the guards were already confiscating the guns they were wearing. He twisted around to see where the other men were and saw them at the back of the crowd, trying to push in his direction.
Outside the crowd was running across all lanes of traffic, stopping the cars as people on the street turned around and were yelling, “What’s happened?”
Ned sprinted for the taxi stand just as he saw two more Watchers coming from the direction of the car rental parking lots.
“They’re tracking you too easily, Ned.” Tom ran up to him and was patting him down, trying to find the bug on him. “It’s your phone! It has to be your phone!”
Ned didn’t hesitate. He dropped his phone into the oversized bag hanging over a woman’s shoulder as she opened a taxi door, anxious to get away from the airport. Everyone was trying to make a hasty exit from whatever turmoil was suddenly happening inside. She never even noticed.
Tom dropped his phone in a nearby trashcan and grabbed Ned’s hand.
“Wait! My friends,” he shouted. He turned to see Jake, Trey and Juliette running to catch up with him.
“A crowd is going to be a little harder to hide,” said Tom, frowning.
“No choice,” said Ned.
“We can’t go back for the rental car,” said Tom. “It’s going to be tricky to get out of here.”
“Hold on,” said Ned, “Jake, can I borrow your phone?” He sent a text as they ran through the large parking structure across from the main terminal. There was still a flood of people running all around them, helping to hide them.
The phone gave a loud tweet and Ned looked down as he kept running.
“We have a ride,” he said, “but it’ll be a little tight. The good news is the guy is far enough out that we can probably drive out of here. The bad news is we have to run a couple miles to the cell phone lot.”
“I can do it,” said Trey, “and hello. But I’m not sure about the old guy, here.”
“Worry about yourself,” said Tom, huffing. “What the hell happened back there?”
“I was planning to tell you this after I explained a few things,” said Ned, still running. “I stole about a billion dollars from George Clemente to bargain for my dad. I think he’s figured that out.”
“Best thing I’ve heard in well over a week,” said Tom, slapping Ned on the back as he tried to keep up with them.
“Can I take that for you?” asked Juliette, grabbing Tom’s backpack.
“Did I just blow the whole thing?” asked Ned, feeling like he could throw up.
Tom stopped running for a moment and leaned over to catch his breath. “No, nephew, not at all. You have been the most resourceful one of all of us. Well done.”
“There’s Phil! Phil!” yelled Ned, waving his arms over his head. The Volkswagen Golf pulled up alongside them and the boys all piled into the back with Juliette squeezing onto Ned’s lap. He was still breathing hard from running and sweating under the hoodie. It was the closest he had ever been to a girl. His uncle slid up front.
“Hi Phil,” said Tom. “Can you get us out of here?” There was a high-pitched sound that passed through the car as the side window cracked into the shape of a spider web.
“What the fuck!” yelled Phil. “Was that a bullet? What’s going on?”
“Hit the gas!” yelled Tom.
“You want a Golf to
outrun bullets?”
“They’re not shooting to kill,” yelled Ned. Tom twisted around to get a better look at him.
“They sure seem like they are” shouted Phil, weaving in the road.
“How can you know that? Esther is going to be so pissed off,” said Tom.
“Because I’m the only person who knows the bank account numbers. I die, nine hundred million goes up in smoke.”
“Nine hundred million?” said Phil. “Who are you people?”
Ned heard the whine of another bullet. “Drive! Make it harder,” he said, as Phil sped up, weaving in and out of traffic. There was a long line waiting to merge onto the highway as Phil drove up onto the grass and around the line, dropping back onto the highway with a hard jolt. Juliette grabbed Ned’s hand.
“We’re going to be okay,” he whispered to her, as much for himself.
Juliette turned and looked at him. “I know,” she said, “and so is your dad. We’ll get him back.”
“Where exactly am I driving to?” asked Phil, leaning into his steering wheel, as if he could get the car to go faster.
“Good question,” said Tom. “Head into the city. I know of a church where we can hide. There’s an enormous tip in it for you.”
“Should I call my mother?” asked Ned.
“No, not at all,” said Tom, quickly. “We don’t know how much Clemente has figured out and her phone could be bugged. She’ll figure out where we’re headed,” he said, “She’s meeting with Esther and Harriet, right? They have their ways.”
Wallis sat in her car in the parking lot of Book People with no idea that her house sat empty or that Ned was in trouble. She was waiting for the wave of grief to pass over her enough to let her move again. A week had passed since Norman was abducted and each day she felt herself struggling harder to maintain her composure.
No one outside of the family and a few Circle operatives knew Norman was being held hostage. Wallis told everyone at work that he was under the weather and to reschedule his court appearances and appointments till the following week.
Every day she went into the office and headed straight for the stairs to her office, not stopping to chat with her assistant, Laurel or Norman’s secretary, Patty.
