The Missing Dead

by Karlous Naderi

  “I don’t know if it was the element of surprise, or the gods of war protecting us from above, but we knocked them down one by one. Through the chaos Melvin recognized the short, chubby man who was at the cabin, trying to set him up with his fingerprints on the gun, and Jack said, ‘That’s Mr. Andrews next to him!’ He started calling out his name. When we got closer the old man freed his arm from the tight grip of the chubby man who was trying to force him into the helicopter and ran towards us. From less than ten feet away, the chubby man took one of his guards’ pistol and, before we could disarm him, pointed it at the old man’s back and fired a single shot. We continued engaging him and his men, but unfortunately most of them got away in the chopper, leaving Mr. Andrews behind, face down in a pool of blood, together with two of the guards we had injured.”

  When Chief stopped Abby felt a wave of sadness and nausea wash over her. She calmed herself and asked, “Is he alright?”

  When Daddy, Jack and Melvin all avoided direct eye contact with her, Abby knew the worst had happened. Her heart sank to her stomach, and her thoughts wandered. Not only did she feel bad about the death of the old silver-haired billionaire, but she also had to face the cold reality that she would never learn the truth about what she had witnessed that day at the hospital. She sighed deeply and looked at Jack. The fire in his eyes had subsided to a dark cold coal, much like her sinking heart.

  “Well, Abby, I’m so sorry I had to be the one to bring you this bad news,” Chief said. “But in spite of your kooky ways, I’m also here to tell you that you’re not going crazy.”

  Eyes frozen, Abby maintained her sad expression, but her curiosity ran like a busy hamster on a turning wheel. She fixed her blue eyes on Chief and listened to him say, “Yes, according to one of the surviving guards named Lorenzo, the dead, silver-haired billionaire that you witnessed at the hospital was definitely Damian Andrews.”

  Now Abby was really confused. She really couldn’t comprehend how the dead man at the morgue had come back to life, only to get himself killed for the second time in Italy.

  “Well, the fact is, he didn’t get killed twice. The man that we saw in Italy was his lost twin brother, Peter Iliescu from Romania.”

  Not believing her burning ears and with her mouth open, Abby looked around at Jack and Melvin. They both nodded for second and third confirmation. When she turned back to her left, Chief did the same and calmly said, “Yes, the two brothers were both World War II survivors. Their Jewish mother Sarah lost her husband at the hands of the Nazis and she knew she and her babies were going to be next. She passed Peter to a mixed American-Romanian couple name Iliescu and two-year-old Damian to a wealthy American family name Andrews. We don’t know all the details of his childhood, but sometime in his early twenties, Damian joined this Foundation for a New America. He was drawn to the powerful men who did great works around the world. Over the years he moved up the ladder, making a name for himself as well as building his connections and expanding his bank account. When he was thirty he lost his father and five years later his mother. Before dying she told him about his true identity, about his Jewish mother and about how he had been adopted. If that was not a kick to the gut, he also learned that he had a twin brother named Peter who was given to a Romanian couple. Years after his mother’s death, his curiosity about his heritage grew. He converted to Judaism and continued living life and moving up the ladder in the Foundation. At age fifty, after going through midlife crisis and divorcing his second wife, perhaps feeling lonely and needy, he began wondering about his lost brother and hired a group of private detectives to locate him. Years and years passed along with the thousands of dollars he spent on his quest. Just when he had given up all hope, he was informed his brother was still alive and well but homeless. His wife had passed on and he was taking care of their teenager daughter Anya on the streets of Romania. We don’t know exactly why—if the old man was over his midlife crisis, or because of the lack of love he felt for his estranged brother—but he decided to close the case and leave things as they were. At the age of sixty-one he became the CEO of the Foundation for a New America and expanded their charity operations across six continents. For over a decade and half everything sailed smoothly, until six months ago when the board members, Argentinian banker Ronald Plomaz and European billionaire Arnold Manse, came under investigation for lewd acts with under-age girls, as well as other international charges. As you guys read in that Swiss article, Chris Jackson and Damian Andrews were both going to have a sit down with the investigators to provide them with whatever was necessary to bring an end to their charges.”

  “So that’s what this has all been about?” Abby couldn’t believe her ears.

  “Well, yes and no. According to Lorenzo, about two months ago the real Mr. Andrews received a word from his close friend Chris Jackson. He told the old man he should take all his money out of all his accounts and build a trusted network of men that could transfer him to different countries in case he had to live in secret. Those words only confused and startled the old billionaire and raised more questions. When he pushed for an explanation, Mr. Jackson told him he was scared that if these detectives started looking more closely into their Foundation and the board members, they might learn that the Foundation was nothing more than a cover for a group of men with shady backgrounds and evil intentions. After refusing to tell more, he gave Mr. Andrews two word of advice. He warned him to quietly make plans to go into hiding, because if the word got out that their Foundation was going to go down in flames with everybody in it, they would all lose their money and mansions, and serve jail time. Most importantly, he warned him never to mention their conversation to any of the board members since he couldn’t be sure who to trust.

  “Not knowing what to make of those ominous warnings, Mr. Andrews contacted his old group of detectives with a new quest. In a matter of months they came back with their findings. They learned that his organization back in the twenties was called International Chemical Plus, which was owned by a wealthy Swiss bank that also owned many other businesses. During World War II, one of the companies they owned manufactured some of the poison gases that Hitler used at the concentration camps, while their other companies assisted the Third Reich with weapons. During those days, the bank was where many top Nazis hid their money and all their wartime stolen goods, but also where many wealthy Jews parked their valuables in case they made it through the war. When the war finished and the survivors or other family members of the Jews went back to claim their belongings, the bank told them they couldn’t hand over anything to them unless they had the proper identification forms and documents which, of course, they didn’t. Sometime in October 1947 the bank went through a change and renamed some of their companies. Now International Chemical Plus became this Foundation for a New America. Instead of manufacturing poisonous chemicals they initiated their so-called charity works. The Foundation, financed by the Swiss bank, began covertly paving the way for many of the top Nazi war criminals to escape to South America, the US, and the Middle East, laundering their money through the Vatican and other corporations that they owned around the world. According to Lorenzo, the old man Andrews recently learned that damn near all their board members were descendants of ex-Nazi escapees, and all these years they had been quietly building the Forth Reich with the stolen money kept in their Swiss bank. They were just using him as a figurehead to push forward their evil agenda. That information startled the old man to his core, and I guess he was getting ready to go to the FBI with what he had learned, so they had him killed at his mansion. His housekeeper of ten years found him by accident and called the paramedics. When the word got out, they had to quickly move him from the hospital before the autopsy could prove that he hadn’t died of a heart attack but was murdered. They didn’t want the Foundation involved with a murder investigation. This might have unearthed their decades-old secrets.”

  “So they had Doctor Phillips take him?” Abby could hardly believe her ears.

  “Yes. P
erhaps the old doctor, with some help from others, removed Mr. Andrews’ corpse from the hospital while other members of the Foundation located his twin brother Peter in Romania and kidnapped him. Their plan was to force him to take his brother’s place. Unfortunately that’s not all. On my way over here, I also learned that the horrible school bus accident that you witnessed that day at the hospital might have been orchestrated by this Foundation for a New America to provide Doctor Phillips with the distraction he needed to remove the body of Damian Andrews without being detected.”

  When Chief stopped, Abby again felt the giant wave of sadness and nausea wash over her. Her mind drowned beneath the implications, and she thought she might puke everywhere. She couldn’t believe that all those screaming, innocent little boys and girls that she had assisted—their bloody mangled bodies—were used as pawns in a sick game, just so these monsters could cover up another crime. Her anger grew. If she didn’t control her emotions she was going to burst out crying. Not wanting to do that in front of company, she took a deep breath, held back, and changed her thoughts from the innocent dead to the living. “What about Margret and this Miss Davis? Any positive update on them?”

  “We’re not too sure about them. But we believe that before Chris Jackson made his move he helped Margret and her family to hide. Unfortunately Lorenzo didn’t know anything about Miss Davis in her coma, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were also behind her unfortunate accident. Let’s not forget they forced Mr. Andrews’ twin brother Peter to tell Melvin that he was friends with the mayor and the chief of the police. If that’s accurate, this organization might have long tentacles, extending high up into many different agencies. Which might also explain the missing 911 call for Mr. Andrews.”

  “So now what?” Jack cut in from the side.

  “Now you two knuckleheads go back to your lives and wives, while me and the boys look more deeply into all this madness and see what’s really going on.”

  Abby cracked a small smile and turned her powdery blue eyes on Jack. “Is this Chief’s nice way of telling us we need to butt out and wait?”

  “I think so, baby.”

  She giggled and looked at Melvin, Tania, and back at Chief. He wore a serious expression that told her he wasn’t playing. She gave him a bigger smile, which in her way said, “Maybe we’ll see about that.”

  She turned that same expression back to Jack. “You love me, soldier!”

  “Always, my blue eyes, always.”

  End of The Missing Dead

  By Karlous Naderi

  Thank you so much for reading my story The Missing Dead. I greatly do appreciate your support.

  If you enjoyed The Missing Dead please consider leaving me a positive review. Your reviews will greatly encourage other readers to take a chance on this conspiracy mystery adventure.

  Make sure to download, Invisible Island. A conspiracy sci-fi action mystery adventure, a spin off from The Missing Dead, or read alone.

  Read Chasing Hitler, a historical conspiracy adventure that would have you second-guessing history.

  If you like reading about religion conspiracy thrillers and secret societies with a nefarious plot of New World Order, than you must download my five star short story Mark of The Beast.

  Sincerely Yours,

  Karlous “The Blind Scribe” Naderi The Author of Conspiracy - Mystery - Sci-fi - Action – Adventures

  Acknowledgements

  The Missing Dead has arrived at publication only through the combined efforts and assistance of a few interns and colleagues. I want to thank Philip Newey at All-read-E for his decisive copyedit/proofread; and 100 Covers, for the beautiful cover. Thanks to all past and present volunteers, and especially you who support the Karlous Naderi Movement.

  COPYRIGHT 2019