The Moneychangers (61 page)

What Juanita had revealed amazed and enraged her. Juanita had nervously described the month
old agreement in which she had become the link between Wainwright and Miles Eastin. But recently, Juanita confided, she had begun to realize the risk she was running
and her fears had grown, not just for herself but for Estela.

Margot had gone over Juanita's report several times, questioning her on details, and at the end Margot went directly to Alex.

"I knew about Eastin going under cover."

Alex's face was troubled, as it had been so often recently; he paced the living room holding an untasted scotch. "Nolan told me what he planned.

At first I opposed it and said no, then I gave in because the arguments seemed convincing. But I swear to you
that no arrangement with the Nu
nez girl was ever mentioned."

"I believe you," Margot said. "He probably didn't tell you because he knew you'd veto it." "Did Edwina know?" "Apparently not."

Alex thought peevishly: Then Nolan was out of line there, too.

How could he have been so shortsighted, even stupid? Part of the trouble, Alex knew, was that department heads like Wainwright got carried away by their own limited objectives, forgetting the larger view.

He stopped pacing. "A minute ago yo
u said something about wanting
a whole lot more.' What does that mean?"

"The first thing I want is immediate safety for my client and her child, and by safety I mean placing her somewhere where she's out of jeopardy.

After that, we can discuss compensation." "Your client?" "I advised Juanita tonight that she needs legal help.

She asked me to represent her." Alex grinned and sipped his scotch.

"So you and I are now adversaries, Bracken." "In that sense, I suppose so." Margot's voice softened. "Except you know I won't take advantage of our private conversations."

"Yes, I do. That's why I'll tell you privately we will do something immedi
ately, tomorrow for Mrs. Nun
ez. If it means sendin,
g
her out of town for a while, to be certain she's safe, then I'll approve it.

As to compensation, I won't commit us on that, but after I hear the whole story, and if it agrees with yours and hers, we'll co
nsider it."

What Alex left unsaid was his intention to send for Nolan Wainwright in the morning and order the entire undercover operation terminated.

That would include safeguarding the girl, as he had promised Margot; also,

Eastin must be paid off.

Alex wished fervently he had stayed firm by his original judgment and forbidden the entire plan; all his instincts had been against it and he had been wrong in back
ing down under Wainwright's persu
asion. The risks, in every way, were far too great.

Fortunately it was not too late to remedy the error, since nothing harmful had occurred, either to Eastin or Nunez. Margot regarded him. "One of the things I like about you is that you're a fair man. So you do concede the bank has a liability to Juanita Nunez?" "Oh, Christ!" Alex said, and drained his scotch. "Right now we're liable for so much, what the hell is one thing more?"

19

Only one more piece. Just one more needed to complete the tantalizing jigsaw. A single lucky break could yield it, and ans
wer the question: Where was the
counterfeiter's base? When Nolan Wainwright conceived the second undercover mission, he did not anticipate spectacular results.

He considered Miles liastin a long shot from whom some minor information might accrue, and even that could take months.

But instead, Eastin had moved quickly from one revelation to another. Wainwright wondered if Eastin himself realized how outstandingly successful he had been. On Tuesday at midmorning, alone in his plainly fur
n
ished at FMA Headquarters Tower,

Wainwright once more reviewed the progress made:

The first report from Eastin had been to say "I'm in" at the Double-Seven Health Club. In light of later developments that, in itself, had been important.

Confirmation followed that the Double-Seven
was a hangout for criminals, incl
uding the loan shark, Ominsky, and Tony Bear Marina.

By gaining access to the illegal gambling rooms, Eastin had improved his infiltration.

Soon after, Eastin had made a "buy" of ten counterfeft S20 bills.

These, when examined by Wainwright and others, proved to be of the same high quality as those circulating in the area over the past several months and were undoubtedly from the same source. Eastin had reported his supplier's name and the man was being watched.

Next, a three-pronged report: the forged driver's license; the license number of the Chevrolet Impala which Eastin had driven to Louisvil
le, apparently with a consignmen
t of counterfeit money in the trunk; and the counterfoil of the airline ticket given Eastin for his return journey.

Of the three items, the airline ticket had proven the most useful. It had been purchas
ed, along with others, with a K
eycharge bank credit card, counterfeit.

At last the bank security chief had a sense of closing in on his main objective the conspiracy which had, and still was, defrauding the Keycharge system of huge amounts.

The fake driver's license confirmed the existence of a versatile, efficient organization to which there was now an additional lead the ex-con, Jules LaRocca.

The Impala, inquiry showed, had been stolen. A few days after Eastin's iourney it was found abandoned in Louisville.

Finally, and most important, had been identifying the counterfeiter,

Danny, along with a cornucopia of information including the fact that the source of the counterfeit Keycharge credit cards was now known with certainty. As Wainwright's knowledge had accumulated because of hi
s pipeline from Miles Eastin, So
had an obligation
grown to share what he knew. Therefore a week ago he had invited agents of the FBI and U. S. Secret Service to a conference at the bank.

The Secret Service had to be included because money counterfeiting was involved, and theirs was the constitutional responsibility for protect
ing the U.S. money system. The F
BI special agents who came were the same team Innes and
Dalrymple who investigated the F
MA cash loss and arrested Miles Eastin almost a year ago.

The Secret Service men Jordan and Quimby
,
Wainwright had not met before. Innes and Dalrymple were complimentary and appreciative about the information Wainwright gave them, the Secret Service men less so.

Their beef was that Wainwright should have notified them sooner as soon as he received the first counterfeit bills fr
om Eastin and that E
astin, through Wainwright, ought to have advised them in advance about the Louisville journey.

The Secret Service agent Jordan, a dour, hard-eyed, runtish man whose stomach rumbled constantly, complained, "If we'd been warned, we could have made an intercept. As it is, your man Eastin may be guilty of a felony, with you as an accessory."

Wainwright pointed out patiently, "I already explained there was no chance for Eastin to notify anybody, including me.

He took a risk and knew it; I happen to think he did the right thing.

As to a felony, we don't even know for sure there was counterfeit money in that car." "It was there all right," Jordan grumbled.

"It's been surfacing in Louisville ever since. What we didn't know was how it came in."

"
Well, you do now," the F
BI agent Innes injected. "And thanks to Nolan, we're all that much further ahead." Wainright added, "If you'd made an intercept, sure you might have got a batch of counterfeit.

But not much else, and Eastin's usefulness would have been ended."

In a way, Wainwright sympathized with the Secret Service point of view. The agents were overworked, harassed, their service understaffed, yet the quantity of counterfeit money in circulation had increased by staggering amounts in recent years. They were fighting a hydra-headed monster. No sooner did they locate one source of supply than another sprang up; others remained permanently elusive.

For public purposes the fiction was maintained that counterfeiters were always caught, that their kind of crime didn't pay. In reality, Wainwright knew, it paid plenty.

Despite the initial friction, a big plus from involving law enforcement agencies was recourse to their records. Individuals whom Eastin had named were identified and dossiers assembled against the time when a series of arrests could be made.

The counterfeiter, Danny, was identified as Daniel Kerrigan, age seventy-three. "Long ago," Innes reported,

"Kerrigan had three arrests and two convictions for forgery, but we haven't heard of him in Sfteen years. He's either been legit, lucky, or clever."

Wainwright recalled and repeated a remark of Danny's relayed by Eastin to the effect that he had been working with an efficient organization.

"Could be," Innes said. After their first conference Wainwright and the four agents maintained frequent contact and he promised to inform them immediately of any new report from Eastin.

All were agreed that the remaining key piece of information was the location of the counterfeiters' headquarters. So far, no one had any idea where that Night be. Yet hopes of obtaining a further lead were high, and if and when it
happened the FBI and Secret Serv
ice were ready to close in.

Abruptly, as Nolan Wainwright meditated, his telephone jangled. A secretary said that Mr. Vandervoort would like to see him as soon as possible. Wainwright was incredulous.

Facing Alex Vandervoort, across the latter s desk, he protested, "You can't be serious"

"I'm serious," Alex said. "Though I have trouble believing you were, making use of the Nunez girl the way you have. Of all the insane notions.," "Insane or not, it worked." Alex ignored the comment. "You put the girl in jeopardy, consulting no one. A
s a result we're obligated to
take care of her, and may even have a lawsuit on our hands."

"I worked on the assumption," Wainwright argued, "that the fewer people who knew what she was doing, the safer she would be."

"No! That's your rationalization now, Nolan. What you really thought was that if I had known, or Edwina D'Orsey, we'd have stopped you. I knew about Eastin.

Was I likely to be less discreet about the girl?" Wainwright rubbed a knuckle along the surface of his chin. "Well, I guess you have a point."

"Damn right I do!
" "But that's still no reason, Alex, for abandoning the entire operation.

For the first time in investigating Keycharge frauds we're close to a big breakthrough.

Okay, my
judgment was wrong in using Nu
nez. I admit it. But it wasn't wrong about Eastin, and we've got results to prove it."

Alex shook his head decisively. "Nolan, I let you change my mind once before.

This time I won't. Our business here is banking, not crime busting. We'll seek help from law enforcement agencies and co-operate with them all we can.

But we will not sustain aggressive crime-fighting programs of our own. So I tell you end the arrangement with Eastin, today if possible." "Look, Alex…"

"I already have looked, and don't like what I see. I will not have FMA responsible for risking human lives even Eastin's.

That's definite, so let's not waste time in further argument."

As Wainwright looked sourly despondent, Alex went on, "The other thing I want done is a conference set up this afternoon between you, Edwina D'Orsey, me, to discuss what to do about Mrs. Nunez.

You can start considering ideas. What may be necessary…"

A secretary appeared in the office doorway. Alex said i
rritably, "Whatever it is - later!
" The girl shook her head. "Mr. Vandervoort, Miss Bracken's on the line. She said it's extremely urgent and you'd want to be interrupted, whatever you were doing."

Alex sighed. He picked up a phone. "Yes, Bracken?"

"Alex," Margot's voice said, "it's about Juanita Nunez." "What about her?" "She's disappeared." "Wait." Alex moved a switch, transferring the call to a speaker phone so that Wainwright could hear.

"Go ahead." "I'm terribly worried.

When I left Juanita last night, and knowing I was going to see you later, I arranged to telephone her at work today.

She was deeply concerned. I hoped to be able to give some reassurance."

"Yes?" "Alex, she didn't get to work." Margot's voice sounded strained. "Well, maybe…" "Please listen. I'm at Forum East now. I went there when I learned she wasn't at the bank and I couldn't get an answer on Juanita's home phone either.

Since then I've talked to some other people in the building where she lives.