Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

world rests on our shoulders doesn’t mean that we can’t have a good time with each other, right?”

Chapter 57
    “Mr. Karlsson?” The girl’s voice whined in the telephone speaker on Lars’s desk. Unlike The Group’s support staff, members of the administrative support team that worked at Credit Suisse First Boston’s London office were always changing. Lars Karlsson could only imagine what life would be like if he worked for the kind of slave wages that were paid to these people. Lars had been born not only with the spoon, but the entire silver service in his mouth. But, as he no longer had to remind himself, he was part of the world’s elite, the true ruling class that ensured the very survival of the planet. That responsibility warranted his considerable wealth.
    Lars answered her pithy whimper with an abrupt, “Yes?”
    “Excuse me sir, but there is a Mr. Barrett Bradbury on the phone for you.”
    Lars knew no man named Barrett Bradbury. But he did know the initials. BB. It was The Group’s coded language.
    Bilderberger.
    Lars had written the name of his latest executive assistant down on a legal pad, and he glanced at it now. Then he said, “Thank you, Bridget. Put him through.”
    He heard a series of clicks. Lars didn’t know or care if Bridget or anyone else was listening in; all members of The Group knew the protocol for using unsecured lines.
    “Mr. Karlsson?”
    Even though he was disguising his voice with an American accent, it took only those two words for Lars to recognize the voice of one of his trainees. It was Stefan Taber.
    “Yes?” Lars replied.
    “Mr. Karlsson this is Barrett Bradbury. I don’t know if you remember me, but I am one of the consultants your company hired to analyze fraudulent activity as it pertains to the executive accounts.”
    Lars needed only seconds to break down each chunk of the message. Taber was well aware of the situation he was in. He was AWOL from The Group. But it seemed that he had a good reason and wanted desperately to clear his name. Lars Karlsson had only one soft spot in the thick armor that he had developed over his lifetime, and it was for Stefan Taber, the captain of The Group’s security force. Taber had come into The Group’s fold after four years with MI-6 in England. His young wife had complications during the delivery of their daughter. Both mother and baby died on the delivery table, which sent Lawrence Stilson into a tailspin. The same had happened to Lars Karlsson; his wife had died while giving birth to their stillborn son decades before the day he offered a new existence to Lawrence, complete with the new name of Stefan Taber.
    “Refresh the memory of an old man,” Lars started. “Which company are you with?”
    “Kemper Turlington, sir.”
    K.T. Taber had already disclosed that he was in the United States by using the accent. Now, he narrowed it down further. Lars assumed that Taber had heard about the news report on Danny Cavanaugh and had probably flown on the first available flight to Knoxville, Tennessee.
    Lars was very aware of The Group’s policy on failure. He wrote it himself. Failure met with expulsion from The Group, and expulsion meant death. No exceptions. Still, Lars’s heart outweighed his head for the son he never had. He refreshed his computer screen. He was linked into the Bank of America checking account page of Daniel James Cavanaugh. The link had been provided by one of The Group’s associates, the president of Bank of America’s European Division.
    Lars squinted as he read the last line one more time.

    W ithdrawal —$500.00. ATM—2217
Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917

    “Yes, of course. Kemper Turlington. I was mistaken for a moment, but now I remember. I trust you have all the information you need to carry out your next task.”
    Lars was now sending his own code: You made a mistake, but I trust you, Stefan. I’ll tell you what you need to finish your job.
    “Actually, sir, that is the reason for my call. We’ve finished reviewing all the existing accounts to date, but I need to know if any new accounts have been opened and by whom?”
    “Yes, in fact, there has. A new account was recently opened by an American executive by the name of Weldon Donald Chapman. His is a special case and needs to be handled with the utmost sensitivity. I don’t have the time now, but let me make an appointment to talk with you further about this situation.”
    When they had settled on a time, they would both be