Trader Jack -The Story of Jack Miner (The Story of Jack Miner Series)

by Neil Behrmann

  I was surprised: 'I'm sorry . . . What about Jacqui? Doesn't she want to be with Hal? Doesn't he want to see her?'

  'Of course! He's crazy about her. He'll have to come to Boston.'

  'Where's Hal?'

  'He's in Mayfair. He moved into his bank's apartment. He's coming to visit tomorrow, before we go to the airport.'

  Maggie went up to Jacqui and helped her climb to the top of the climbing frame. Then it came back to me. Jacqui reminded me of some photographs of my mother as a child. I wished I had a photo on me to confirm it, but they were at home. Yes, Jacqui did look a bit like Maggie, but Maggie was blonde and fair skinned. The child's hair was black. The light blue eyes, small mouth and delicate nose; very similar to those pictures of Mum.

  Jacqui climbed down and ran towards a little boy who was alone on a see-saw. She jumped on to the other side.

  'Your daughter's lovely. Is she . . .?'

  'Adopted? No!'

  Silence for a while. Maggie, wary, turned away from me. Seemed to want to get away. She went towards Jacqui, as if she wanted to protect her. I wasn't going to let go. Had to know regardless.

  'Jacqui's your own child? But in Crieff, Hal said . . .'

  'That I couldn't have children. I also thought so. But it isn't me, it's him!' she suddenly exclaimed with a bitter laugh. 'All our problems, the trauma. Him not me.'

  'Whatever, she's yours. That's wonderful!'

  I watched Jacqui on the see-saw, up, down, up again. Laughing with the little boy. His mother close by, making sure that they didn't fall. Maggie was less fearful, helping Jacqui become more independent. The surface of the playground was rubber and the see-saw wasn't very high. It was quite safe. I made a simple calculation on my fingers. If Jacqui was turning three in May, she was conceived in August when Maggie and I were in Scotland. Maggie noticed me counting my fingers.

  'The loch, the willow tree?' I blurted out.

  'Yes Jack, you, but she's mine,' confessed Maggie, at last.

  My feelings were a mixture of wonder, relief, joy and pain that this was the very first time that I knew I was a father and had never seen Jacqui as a baby.

  Maggie noticed and said firmly with a determined smile: 'Hal's her father.'

  I could see why I had once fallen in love with Maggie. She was beautiful. I wanted to rush over to Jacqui, hug her and hold her high above my head. I stared at Jacqui mesmerised. Her eyes, my Mum's eyes. Jacqui was my daughter, my own daughter. I couldn't believe it! Maggie came up to me and held Jacqui's hand.

  'Time to go, Jack. Say goodbye, Jacqui.'

  'Can't I take you to the nice cake shop in South End Green? It's not far from here,' I pleaded.

  'No thanks, we have to get going,' said Maggie.

  'Please Mummy, I want some cake,' shouted Jacqui excitedly.

  * * *

  The mid-January winter light was fading fast when we left the café in South End Green. Jacqui had a lovely time there and for the first time in days, I felt happy. Maggie, however was tense. Jacqui wanted me to go to their house to see her new rocking horse. Maggie had reservations, but she agreed at last.

  'OK Jacqui, but Jack and Jazz will only stay for a short time,' she said firmly.

  It was a short walk to Maggie's home in Parliament Hill Fields. The large terraced Edwardian house was only a couple of hundred yards away from the cafe. Jacqui helped me pull in Jazz and she proudly showed me her dolls and horse which were in the living room. I read her a story while Maggie cooked her some pasta. Jacqui stroked Jazz and he wagged his tail happily. After she went to bed, Maggie gave me some French bread and cheese in the kitchen and Jazz some scraps.

  'You mustn't let her know who you are, Jack,' Maggie said softly. 'Hal's her father. They are mad about each other.'

  I looked around the living room and saw the suitcases.

  'But you've split. You're going to America. How often will she see Hal?'

  'I don't know. We'll be with my parents. She'll have a family.'

  'Can I keep in contact? Maybe I can be her godfather?'

  'Not a good idea. Hal and I split because of you. It just got worse and worse.'

  'Because of me? Why?'

  'When I fell pregnant, we were amazed,' explained Maggie. 'We had tried for years. Fertility treatment, again and again. Nothing worked. Then it suddenly happened.'

  'Didn't he think that it was him?'

  'He knew that it was impossible. We hadn't made love for three months. The IVF treatment had become such a routine that it put us off sex. We also weren't getting on that well.'

  'So what did you tell him?'

  'Hal forced it out of me. I told him about our fling by the loch.'

  'Surely you told him that it happened by chance? That it wasn't serious.'

  'Of course, but Hal is jealous, very jealous' she replied. 'He resented me right through the pregnancy. Then, when Jacqui was born, he was mad about the baby.'

  'If you didn't want to antagonise Hal, why did you call her Jacqui? After me?'

  'Hal chose the name.'

  'Really?'

  'He wanted me to feel guilty. Remind me what I had done. He changed. Gave the child everything. All his love. Continued to resent me. We argued constantly. Hal would tail me sometimes. Thought that you and I were having an affair, or I was sleeping with someone else. He didn't believe me. Except for you, Jack, I have always been faithful.'

  'I can't understand it. When I met him in Zurich, he didn't seem to remember me.'

  'Oh yes he did Jack! Once when I was cleaning his study, I found a file with newspaper articles about you. How you made a fortune in the coffee market. Of course he remembered you. We had lots of arguments and it would always come back to you. He was obsessed. I think it was more than jealousy. As crazy as it seems, I think you undermined his manhood.'

  'But I came across him several times and he seemed relaxed with me. His bank was the biggest investor in our fund.'

  'He never told me that . . . You said "was".' 'They pulled out in December. He's given us a bad headache.'

  'That was revenge, Jack. Revenge!'

  'It doesn't make sense. Why get involved with me?'

  'He hates you Jack. I can't tell you how much he hates you. Our arguments became violent and he tried to throttle me twice. That's why I decided to leave.'

  I couldn't help myself and put my arm around Maggie. She was first tense and then relaxed. She seemed to need the comfort, allowed me to hug her softly and kiss her gently. It was late afternoon, but it was already dark, so she took me up to her bedroom. Instead of making love, we just cuddled. I was so exhausted from the trauma of the past few days that I fell asleep. Something woke me up. It was Jacqui who came in and snuggled up to Maggie on her side of the bed. She was soon sleeping, her thumb in her mouth.

  I lay there looking into the darkness and began to think of Hal Humford. I had to see him and find out what was happening. The chances were that I was going down. He had to help me put the pieces together. If he wouldn't tell me, I would threaten him. Bring him down with me.

  Maggie had told me that Hal was living in the flat above Banque Discretione's London branch, Mayfair. I slowly got out of the bed and without disturbing them, quietly picked up my clothes and sneaked down the stairs. Jazz and I were soon out of the house. It seemed very late in the winter darkness, but it was only 7pm. I found a taxi driver who was prepared to take the dog. There was hardly any traffic and we were soon in the West End.

  22 - CONSEQUENCES

  Banque Discretione was near the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, but I wasn't sure of the address. I asked the cab to drop me off at Claridge's, one of the luxury hotels where we had given presentations to investors. The concierge found the address and I gave him a pound. No more fivers. I had to economise.

  It began to drizzle again and I ran a few hundred metres from Claridge's to Grosvenor Street. The bank was in a discreet, nondescript building. I rang the bell several times. Eventually the security guard answer
ed.

  'Is Mr Humford in?' I asked.

  'Do you have an appointment?' replied the burly security guard, who had a thick East European accent. I shook my head, but insisted that Humford knew me. He phoned Hal and let me in with the dog.

  Hal's flat was directly opposite the lift on the first floor. I was shocked when he opened the door. Hal had always been immaculate. Not so this time. He was unshaven in a white shirt that had a large yellow stain. He smelt of whisky, his trousers were dirty and his fly was open.

  'Hello Jack Miner, long time no see,' he slurred, staggering back to a large leather chair in the spacious living room. On a table next to it, was a glass of whisky. The bottle was almost empty.

  'Wanna drink?'

  'No thanks. I need some questions answered,' I said, walking across the room. It had ceiling to floor curtains right across the windows. I pulled one of the curtains and peered outside. The flat had a balcony and nearby there were some bare trees. No one was outside. The street, in eerie, misty, yellow lamplight, was empty.

  I asked Hal for a glass of sparkling water. He staggered to the kitchen, returned with a small bottle and gave it to me. His eyes were red. It wasn't only the booze. It looked as if he had been crying. Once again he slumped into the chair, his back facing the curtains.

  'What are you going to do about Jacqui when she's in the States?' I asked.

  'How did you find out about Jacqueline?' he growled, glaring at me.

  'I saw Maggie with her in the playground today. Found out that I'm Jacqui's father.'

  'I'm her father, not you. I've done everything for her since she was a tiny baby. I love my daughter. You have no claim whatsoever.'

  'Maggie's left you. They're going to live in America. It's Maggie's decision, not yours,' I snapped.

  Humford pulled himself out of the chair and tried to be as threatening as possible. Jazz began to bark viciously. I held back the dog and changed the subject.

  'Maggie told me that you couldn't stand me. Why did you invest in our fund?'

  'Take your dog away. I can't talk with all that barking.'

  I pulled Jazz's lead and put him in the bedroom. Two open suitcases, filled with clothes, were on the bed. I closed the door and went back to my chair and sat directly in front of him.

  'Going somewhere?' I asked aggressively as I faced him eye to eye.

  'They could get me.'

  'Who are they? Did they kill Aram Zabkian?'

  Hal's face froze when I mentioned Aram. He tried to get up, but I pushed him down. His hands were shaking.

  'Now I'm certain. Unless I get away, they'll kill me too.'

  'Why Aram? What did he do to them?'

  He didn't reply. Instead he picked up his glass and gulped down more whisky. The bottle was now empty. Hal went to a cupboard and took out another Jack Daniels. I snatched it from him, took hold of his arm, dragged him to the kitchen, put on the kettle and poured him a cup of coffee. I had to make him as sober as possible, get some sense out of him. Back in the living room he slumped in his chair and sipped his coffee.

  'You screwed my wife. You were a boy. Sixteen! Imagine how I felt.'

  'It happened only once. It was a chance meeting.'

  'Quite a coincidence that you know about Jacqui.'

  'It was the first time I had seen Maggie since Scotland. I swear it.'

  'When I found out that you were the father, I decided to teach you a lesson. I couldn't find where you were. Then I read about your coffee trading. Trader Jack, the Teen Trader. Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal. A celebrity. Not for long! I would crush you.'

  He then told me about his bizarre revenge.

  'I joined Banque Discretione about the time you made money in the coffee market,' he said. 'Yevgeny Faramazov has a major stake in the Russian bank that owns Discretione.

  'Faramazov is a major investor in the Russian hedge funds that lost billions in the coffee market. His company owns Horoshi Kofia, the Russian coffee manufacturer that also lost a lot of money.'

  'Borodino and Veruschka? It's not my fault that the Russians sold short and lost. We were bullish on coffee so we bought. What's wrong with that?' I said.

  'They weren't terribly pleased with you, Miner.'

  'Why didn't they bump me off then?' I asked, trying to joke about the possibility, though the thought terrified me.

  'They needed you.'

  'Why?'

  'I told them that you would be useful. That they should use you.'

  'How?'

  'Russian and foreign natural resource companies in oil, gas and mining are their main investments. Faramazov and his friends wanted to make the companies profitable and list them on international stock exchanges. Faramazov's hedge funds also had big bull positions in oil, gas and other commodities. But prices were depressed at the time. My plan was to push up those prices. If we could do so, it would be win for the resource companies, win for their hedge funds, win for Faramazov and win for Banque Discretione.'

  'And win for you!' I muttered. 'What was the plan?'

  'First spread the word to banks, analysts and others that major shortages were on the way. That demand from China, India and emerging nations would overwhelm production.'

  'So where did I come in?' I asked.

  'When prices were depressed few believed us. So the second phase of our strategy was to encourage international hedge funds and other big time punters to push up the prices of oil, natural gas, metals and other commodities. Make prices treble, even quadruple. Aquarium would lead the way.'

  'Why Aquarium? There are much bigger funds. Why me?'

  'You made a name for yourself in the coffee market,' said Humford, glaring at me. 'You also gave excellent presentations to pension funds and other investors, telling them that energy, other commodities and natural resource shares would boom. We passed the word around that Trader Jack, the coffee star, was buying oil and gas. That encouraged others to follow and prices took off.'

  'You mentioned Aram. What about him?'

  Hal's smile looked more like a sneer. I could tell that he thought I was naive.

  'I had met Aram some time ago. So I approached him and encouraged him to be your partner, even though the two of you didn't get on. I promised that Discretione would put a lot of money in Aquarium on one condition. The fund had to keep buying to keep the momentum going, keep prices on an upward trend.'

  'I thought that it was Cy Grobnick who persuaded you to invest.'

  Hal sniggered: 'That Jew! No way. We made a deal with Aram.'

  'I suppose you are anti Blacks and Muslims also,' I said with disgust.

  He seemed to find that funny. Coffee dribbled on to his chin while he giggled stupidly.

  The racist. Made me feel sick.

  Wiping the bottom of his face with his hand, Humford continued: 'Poor Aram! At first he bought in good faith when I told him that energy prices were cheap and they were at the time.'

  'Discretione put hundreds of millions into Aquarium. You were our biggest investor! Why?'

  'Our clients were the investors. Not the bank. The more investor money you had, the more gas and oil you could buy.'

  'Did you encourage Aram to borrow money as well?' I asked, biting my lip.

  'Yes. I helped him get credit lines from American and French banks. This enabled Aquarium to buy even more commodities and securities.'

  'What was your deal with Aram?'

  'We made him financially secure. Aram had money problems when I first approached him.'

  Hal staggered to the bathroom and I did some serious thinking. Whether I liked it or not, I was caught in a scam. A scheme that encouraged investors to climb aboard a hot-air balloon that would inevitably burst. Pension funds and other investors were going to get badly hurt. Companies would fail and workers would lose their jobs. Worse still, Humford had succeeded in tainting me. He had associated me with the Russian mafia.

  Hal came out of the bathroom. He looked a bit better, now that he had washed his face. He went to
the liquor cabinet, opened a bottle of red wine and filled two glasses. Several newspapers were in a magazine rack. He pulled out a Wall Street Journal and passed me a glass of wine.

  'What was Faramazov's role in all this?'

  'Faramazov headed the operation.'

  I thought about the Russian mafia coffee deal with the Colombian cocaine barons.

  'Is Faramazov involved in drugs?'

  'I don't know anything about that side of the business,' said Hal.

  I didn't believe him. The drug chain probably laundered money through Discretione.

  'Pearl Fleecer. How did she figure?'

  'You mean Petrovna Fleshnikov. She changed her name. She's an employee and former lover of Faramazov. He owns her public relations company. Useful. Your own private, apparently independent, spin doctor. Faramazov and her father Ivan Fleshnikov were former KGB officers. Their association goes back a long way.'

  'Petrovna Fleshnikov! Talk about sleeping with the enemy,' I whispered to myself.

  'Surely you now realise that Pearl didn't meet you by accident,' said Humford sneering. 'You're probably bitter, but the irony is that she saved you. Believe it or not, she was very fond of you. You're still alive because of her and me!'

  I shuddered. Pearl - Petrovna Fleshnikov - the girl I once loved. A daughter of a KGB officer! It beggared belief. I downed my wine quickly and glanced at the Wall Street Journal. On the front page was the headline: 'Oil & natural gas slump - Manipulation fears.' The article was by Israel McTavish. I snatched the paper from Hal to see whether McTavish had written about me.

  'The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the UK Financial Services Authority are investigating unusual activity in the oil and natural gas markets. Jack Miner's Aquarium Fund and other hedge funds were big buyers, but Miner was unavailable for comment,' it said.

  The article didn't mention any connection with the Russians. I sighed with relief.

  'After Aquarium and other suckers bought, what was the next phase of your operation?' I asked.

  'When prices rose to satisfactory levels, Faramazov listed his companies on the Russian and London stock exchanges. Their shares trebled within months. Faramazov and his friends made a lot of money. Our clients did well too. Soon there was such euphoria that prices rose way above our expectations. Naturally Faramazov's hedge funds began to take profits.'