Abandoned Treasure
Click-click. Gone.

Spider Monkey’s POV

Arrowhead Lakeside Home

Saturday, May 19, 2019

Vic woke me up from my nap. “Frank and Colletta are here. They want to talk you your team right away.”

I wasn’t ready; looking at the clock, it had only been an hour. My baby was pushing my bladder aside now, making it impossible to get a full night of sleep. “Don’t they need to relax and eat for a while first?”

“No, they slept on the plane. Come on.” I was ready a few minutes later. “I don’t know what they want, but Chase asked me to keep an open mind.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I said.

“It usually isn’t. Come on.” We walked outside in the warm sun before arriving in the Alpha’s conference room. Brian, Rick, Teri, and Claire Bennington were all here, with Frank Donovan standing behind Claire’s wheelchair.

Vic and I took our seats near the Alphas and the Pack leadership. Frank and Colletta Grimes sat at the head of the table, along with Councilman Nehemiah Pensky and Council IT Specialist Lisa Funk. Colletta started the meeting. “I’m sorry to ask you here on such short notice, but a decision is required. I can’t make it for you.” The two laid out what was going on in Washington. I wasn’t shocked at the scope of the conspiracy, not after hacking government computers. “The President is determined to root out this conspiracy, wherever it leads. She doesn’t know who to trust outside of us. Anyone who has been in the Washington machine was suspect. The President wants our assistance in the investigation. If we are to help, we will need everyone in this room to do it.”

Wow. “You want us to go to Washington?”

Frank nodded. “There are multiple options I want to put on the table. The President would get you credentials, clearance, and access to the personnel and computer systems used by the Secret Service, CIA, and FBI. In the first option, we form our own Task Force and perform an independent investigation, using resources here and borrowed from American Packs.”

Vic disagreed. “Frank, you just said the Deep State would not hesitate to take out anyone in their way. Are you seriously thinking about placing our Packs in the crosshairs of the US Government machine? What happens to us if they kill the President? Or loses re-election? You’ve put all our chips on one number.”

“Yes. It is the most straightforward option with the highest chance of success.”

Didn’t we have the same conversation about the Cartel? And now Frank wanted to take on the intelligence services? “I’m not putting our child in danger by openly going after these people. What other ideas do you have?”

Frank’s next idea was shadowing the existing Washington investigation. No one wanted to relocate away from the Pack’s safety. “We’ve got a great team here, but they need to STAY here and stay undetected,” Vic said. “We still have enemies in the Cartels and the FBI. I don’t want us adding more.”

Chase leaned back in his chair. “If they succeed in killing the President, we lose our best ally in the government. It’s not possible to go back into hiding anymore. It is in our best interest to help her.”

“I agree,” Frank Donovan said. “I swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This conspiracy is the biggest domestic threat of our lifetimes.”

“What can we do?”

“We work from the outside in,” I said. “The Cartels, the CIA agents who tried to take Maria, the black site workers, and the weapons. If we uncover something? We act on it or pass it on. Either way, we aren’t working for anyone but ourselves.”

“If you can get us data Spider can’t hack, we can do independent analysis,” Claire said. “We can be a check on the official investigation.”

“What would you need,” Frank asked me.

This part was easy. “Lots of people. Hackers, data analysts, investigators, forensic accountants, former field agents? They need to be discreet and trusted, though. It does no good if we get infiltrated.”

Frank Donovan perked up. “Frank, you and I both know people with extensive knowledge of the Cartels. Good people, now retired, who know how to keep their mouths shut.”

“A budget,” Claire said. “The people we need won’t be cheap, and they’ll have to live and work here at the Pack, preferably in the Beta House.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Money is the least of our worries,” Chase said. “If I know our Spider Monkey, she’ll turn a Cartel investigation into a moneymaking venture.”

They knew me too well.

We broke up the meeting and started our recruiting efforts. My first call? Jade. The President ordered us to dig into the Cartel connection; she was highly motivated to help.

Brian supervised getting the spaces prepared in our home. We added four workstations in my office and twenty-five in the basement. He also installed new servers and workstations for the basement office. It was an upstairs/downstairs kind of deal. The basement was the official investigation. It analyzed available information to trace financial transactions, communications, and monitor the official investigation. My office? It was the Wild West. We broke into everything we could and copied anything we could find.

We filled our guest rooms, though others chose to commute from Two Harbors or Duluth. My team now numbered twenty-seven people, from young hackers to retired agents. Frank shuttled back and forth to Washington, bringing us updated information from the Task Force and carrying back our suggestions. He was our only contact with Washington and the President.

The only exception was Jade. She was here to help but didn’t want anyone but me to know of her involvement. She rented an apartment in Duluth under a false identity, then piggybacked on the internet connection of other residents to do her hacking. I gave her everything we had on the lease of the offshore oil platform by the CIA and turned her loose.

I communicated with her using multiple Omegas driving to Duluth. They’d hike or jog the paths heading north along Lake Superior, hiding a flash drive in a tree stump for Jade to retrieve. She’d leave one for me in a loose access panel to a streetlight. It was spycraft, but it kept her out of sight. Every night, I’d have a trusted Omega leave a flash drive and retrieve another.

It took us weeks to dig through the mess. The CIA slush fund used to lease the black site prison moved through multiple offshore banks. It was time to update everyone on what we found. “Hey, guys. Sorry we’re late.”

Brian Steele sniffed and laughed, and the human hackers blushed. I had that obvious ‘just fucked’ look to me, and Vic didn’t let me take a shower. “We know what you two were doing. You’re in your third trimester, Spider Monkey! You’d think Vic would realize no one is taking you from him.”

“He does like me covered with his scent,” I agreed. “I would have taken a shower, but then he’d drag me back to the bedroom to make it obvious to humans. It’s easier to come in here smelling like sex. ”Vic looked proud of himself. “How are we doing?”

“I’m still working on hacking the records of the Antigua bank,” Brian said. The company leasing the black site oil rig was out of the Cayman Islands. We’d traced the bank transfer for the lease payment to a bank based in the Seychelles, then Panama, then Antigua. We had no idea how many more banks were between this account and the CIA front company. With every link, we were closer to the people behind it.

Others were looking into the backgrounds of the men captured and killed in the operations against Maria. They had good lawyers and didn’t roll on their bosses. We were unraveling how they got paid, but it was just as tangled. We suspected their families were still getting paid, so that was today’s job for me.

It took almost a week before we came to the end of the money trail. Banco Mexico was a state-owned institution, which shocked me a little until I realized how rampant corruption was down there. The bank’s official function was to support Mexican companies in the import-export market. A little digging showed these exports included cocaine, marijuana, and Fentanyl. What better bank to use to launder billions in cash?

The money trail included off-the-books accounts under the control of the CIA Station Chief in Mexico City. The audit we did on the bank records we found was troubling; for over five years, the CIA had been secretly funding their operations by aiding the Sinaloa Cartel in their smuggling and intelligence operations.

We had options, but all of them had risks. It was time for another meeting of the leadership.

“I didn’t invite Frank Donovan intentionally,” Chase said. “The downstairs group will not be involved in this part unless we agree to bring them in.” The illegal shit all happened in my office, where only trusted Pack members and hacker friends of mine were allowed in.

Frank Grimes looked at me. “I heard you found something?”

“I traced the money used to lease the offshore oil rig back to its source,” I told him. Jade had been a bulldog on this, hacking or bluffing her way through enough banks to find the sources. Financial transfers revealed a web of shell companies and banks, ending with laundered funds in Banco Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and CIA accounts. “In the past five years, the Cartel has transferred almost two hundred million dollars into accounts controlled by the CIA. The Agency then uses the ‘off the books’ money for covert operations and enrich those running the show.”

“How are they doing this?”

“The Cartel has to launder billions in cash.” They all remembered the pallet of cash we’d taken from the Sons before it could cross the southern border. “They use dozens of CIA front companies to bring the money to the banks. If there are any questions, the CIA uses its contacts in Mexico to shut them down. The front companies then ‘buy’ goods from Cartel businesses, and the bank transfers the money. I’ve just scratched the surface. It’s a big operation. The best part is if the DEA or anyone else gets close, the CIA stops the investigation and shuts down the companies involved. Nobody ever asks where the money is coming from or where it is going.”

Chase shook his head. “I can’t believe the CIA partnered with a drug cartel.”

It was more than that. The CIA was laundering money and using its power to protect the Sinaloa Cartel. The money the operation generated funded black ops and made the leadership rich. If we didn’t stop it, they’d try to kill President Kettering again. Chase looked at me. “Spider, what exactly have you gained access to within Banco Mexico?”

“I’ve got access to the account records,” I replied. Jade had penetrated the Banco Mexico system yesterday, so I laid it out. The CIA had a numbered account.Laundered funds would enter the account each month. The CIA would keep their cut then forward the rest to Cartel accounts. Three men have account access; one is dead, and another is a ghost. The third was the CIA’s station chief in Mexico City, Henry Consuellar.

We talked for twenty minutes about our next move. If we gave it to the authorities? We had no confidence the CIA leaders involved would be arrested and convicted. We’d obtained the incriminating information illegally and without a warrant. We considered sending warriors down, but that meant kidnapping and murder in a foreign country. In the end, I said I’d keep hacking. “If I can access the CIA account, I can do what I did with the Sons. The money will disappear, and no one will ever find it. That’s over fourteen million dollars in off-the-books cash gone in a keystroke. With more time? I could bust into the Cartel accounts as well. They have billions in assets.”

Vic didn’t like that a bit. “The Cartels would kill us all if they found out.” He wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t planning to stop because of the risk.

Frank was on Vic’s side. “The Cartel would stop at nothing to get the person who took their money. Eventually, they would find you, and they would destroy us. Even if we limit ourselves to the CIA money? It’s international bank fraud in an allied country. I can’t defend that. I don’t have a get-out-of-jail-free card for you, Spider.”

“You could get one,” I told him evenly. “The President doesn’t need to know specifics, just that I hurt the ones responsible. The Cartels are not innocent in this if they supplied the missiles.”

“I’ll pass that along to her privately,” Colletta said. “For now, I think it’s best if your team focuses on accessing account records and tracing the money transfers. Stealing from accounts is a risk we don’t need to take quite yet.” That was the end of the meeting.

That night, I left a message for Jade to meet with me in person. I passed along the reservations my team leaders had about stealing the money. “I didn’t come here to hope the Justice Department would make some arrests. We need to unite governments and rival cartels against the Sinaloa Cartel until they cease to exist. Anything short of that? My family is screwed.”

“What do you suggest? The only person with access to the account is a CIA station chief. We can’t exactly force him to do this.”

“Then we will have to do it for him. Look, there are two sides to an account user verification. The owner has the account number and password, backed up by biometrics.” Banco Mexico used a thumbprint. “If we can’t get the owner, I’ll get the information from the bank account verification system.”

“How? The banks bury that information under so many layers of security that you’ll never find it!”

“That’s my problem,” she said. “Wish me luck. I’m off to Mexico City.”

I didn’t ask her what she did, but when she returned three days later? She had the account numbers, passwords, and thumbprint data for the CIA and Cartel accounts. “I can’t do the next part,” she told me. “The banks have cameras, and the Cartel would recognize me in a heartbeat.”

She’d risked enough. I didn’t want to know what she’d done to get the information, but she’d gone above and beyond. “Go home,” I told her. “Be with your family and be seen. Make it obvious you aren’t a part of the theft. Cooperate with the Cartel until they implode.”

Jade nodded. “Do it soon. The next big deposit is coming on June 1.” That was Saturday. “The Station Chief will go to the bank late on Monday to make the transfer to the Cartel. If you beat Henry to the bank? You can take ALL the money and make the Cartel think the CIA crossed them.”

It would be epic. I wished Jade luck.

We used a 3D printer to make silicone thumbprint overlays to match those of the account owners. I had the numbers memorized and the overlays in my purse. Our hacking activities were over, and my team was destroying evidence in case anything traced back to Arrowhead. The data that proved CIA involvement was on a flash drive in my purse, ready to give to Frank to pass on to the Justice Department.

Stealing Cartel money would take permission, though.

Colletta, Frank, Rori, and Chase were waiting for me.“I have full access to the CIA and the Cartel accounts,” I told them.

“What has to happen for you to make the transfers?”

“I need to access a Banco Mexico computer at any of their branches and log in,” I told them.“After that, I can transfer the funds anywhere in the world.I’ve set up automatic transfers through a series of offshore banks.It will be near-impossible to trace.”

“Well done,” Frank said.“Is there any chance the IT administrators at Banco Mexico caught on?”

“I’m the best at what I do, but I never say never. We need to decide if it’s a go right now. All it takes is one password change, and I’m locked out. All evidence could be gone in another twenty minutes.”

Colletta stood up. “We better get going then. There is a Banco Mexico branch in Washington, DC. Frank, you get the plane ready. I have to make a phone call.”

Now for the hard part. “Vic will demand to come. He won’t let me go anywhere without protection.”

“He’s packing a bag for you now.” He’d be furious, but the Alphas needed it done, and we were Betas. Getting shit done was our job.

Chase walked me back home. “If it’s too dangerous, I want you to back off. What we are doing is important, but nothing is more important than your safety and the safety of the Pack. We can always get money, and I don’t need you up at night worrying about if someone found you.”

“I know, Chase. But I also know who was on Air Force One that night. These guys aren’t just traitors; they tried to kill your MOTHER and the leader of your kind. The Cartels would deserve everything they get, especially if they funded the missiles.”

Frank and Colletta had to coordinate our transfer with picking up the CIA Station Chief. He handed me a burner phone and instructions on where the stolen money should go. My eyes got wide, but he was in charge.

I had my disguise on when Vic dropped me at the Banco Mexico branch in Washington at four. I found a banker at one of the desks and got her attention. “I need to access my numbered account,” I told her.

“Of course, Ma’am.” She led me through a door to a secure area. “Your thumbprint, please,” she said when I reached the door where an armed guard stood. I had the thin printed thumbskin over my own, placing it on the reader. The light flashed green, and the electronic lock opened. Inside the small room are a desk, a computer terminal, and a chair. Six minutes. I logged into the CIA account first, noting the $24 million deposit credited this morning. I’d already changed the final destinations, so I set up the transfer to the first intermediary bank.

At exactly four-fifteen, I made the transfer and then changed the password. Logging out, I put on the second thumbprint and logged into the Cartel account. Soon, the Cartel money was gone and the password changed. I left the bank, and Vic was waiting outside. “We good?”

“Perfect,” I said. I took out the burner phone, texted ‘Done’ to Frank, then broke the phone in half. In five minutes, I’d stolen hundreds of millions of dollars and placed it outside the reach of the Cartel and the CIA black operators.

I didn’t relax until we were at our hideout in Ocean City.

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