Generation Lost (Gray Wolf Security #17)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“What now?” asked Ghost.

“We find where that fucking money is going and how it’s being used, and we blow the lid off the entire thing,” said Gaspar. Nine stared at his friend, unsure if he agreed with the approach.

“I think we have to think about this, Gaspar. If we do this, we’ll make enemies of the president, his cabinet, military members, the agencies, all of them. And we may not be able to get out of that. We may become enemies with the very people we currently help, and they may still keep their jobs and come directly for us. All of them,” said Nine.

“We can’t let them get away with this,” said Ghost. “They’ll keep doing this if we don’t find a way to stop it. If our hunches are right, they’re funding this whole thing by working with crime families, arming terrorists inside our country, only to catch them to make themselves look good.”

The men sat quietly for a few minutes, just looking down at the evidence in front of them. They would still need to find the money trail and, eventually, connect it to the POTUS if possible, but right now, it was all speculation.

“You’re right,” said Gaspar. “This will come back to bite us in the ass big time if we’re not careful. But how do we walk away from this?”

“I don’t have the answer for that,” said Nine. “I wish I did. Maybe it’s enough that we figure it out and hold that evidence over their heads.”

“Wait a minute, are they doing this because they want to find the terrorists and make sure they have weapons on them, justifying their detainment or expulsion from the country?” asked Angel.

“That seems to make sense, but we still have to prove it,” said Ian.

“Prove it. We need to prove that our own government is working with crime families, allowing them to have their dirty casinos, their human trafficking, drugs, and counterfeiting, as long as they help with everything else.”

“That’s right, Angel. What’s your point?” asked Ian.

“My point is the families are the ones that go down if they’re caught. Not the government. No one would ever believe a Rizzoli or Xi or St. Pierre against the government. We need to get the families to admit to what’s happening and implicate the government. The public might not believe it all, but it would be enough to cast suspicion. They’d be watched more closely, and the terrorists would be reluctant to buy weapons.”

“It’s a good idea, but how do we do that?”

“I know,” smiled Miriam, standing with Jean. “Tony found where the money was going and how. When the counterfeit bills are passed through the casino, the original bills are sent to an account where it’s distributed to a homeland war on terror account. The customers who were fed the counterfeit bills complain to the casino, the casino files a claim with their bank and insurance, they’re reimbursed, and it cycles through again and again.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” frowned Nine.

“It is, and it’s been working for a while now. What if the counterfeit bills were fed back to the U.S. government? What if, instead of sending the solid cash, we send them the fraudulent cash.”

“So, they would get the counterfeit cash and attempt to deposit it into their own accounts?” grinned Nine.

“Yes. They’re taking in cash deposits now. That’s why this has been so difficult to track and trace. They weren’t accepting actual checks or wire transfers. It’s millions of dollars in cash being filtered through the casinos and then deposited into an account for our use.”

“Our use? What use?” asked Ghost.

“They’re backing the weapons manufacturing sites. No serial numbers, no U.S.-made weapons, nothing to point fingers at our own governments. All funded by counterfeit money, casinos, and a corrupt mortgage lending system.”

“I’ll be damned. She figured it out,” smirked Gaspar.

“With a lot of help,” laughed Miriam. “I couldn’t have done this without Tony, Sly, Pigsty, and Code. And, of course, Jean and the others on our finance team. I also have to say, Seamus and James gave some good ideas.”

“It takes a village,” said Ian. “Or so they say. How do we get this into the light of day?”

“We’re going to turn the light on and the heat on all of them.”