“You’re a treasure hunter,” he continued. “Yet you retain the soul of an archaeologist.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the psychoanalysis. Now, it’s my turn. You’re a wealthy executive who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. People are pawns to you. You think nothing of kidnapping an innocent man and holding him against his will. In short, you’re a powerful man. Yet you retain the soul of a coward.”
He leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs. “I see that I owe you an explanation. I’m the founder, owner, and CEO of a small security-consulting firm named ShadowFire. We’re headquartered out of Manhattan. I’m also the acting Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.”
I laughed. “The MTA? New York’s MTA? You must be joking.”
“It’s not a joke. The previous chairman passed away less than a month ago. I’m assuming the reins until a more suitable replacement can be found.”
“So what do you want from me?”
“I want to hire you.”
“Pass.”
“That’s too bad. Because I think I can help you.”
“Help me? You must be out of your mind.”
“You have hefty legal charges pending due to the, ah, incident. I can make that disappear and provide you with a generous stipend to boot. In other words, I can give you a blank slate. How does that sound?”
“Too good to be true.”
He smiled, a bit too widely for my liking. “I know what you’re thinking but I can assure you there’s no catch. Upon successful completion of the assignment, my lawyers will negotiate with the necessary parties to clear your legal record. In addition, we will provide you with a substantial dowry. One million dollars to be exact.”
One million dollars. That was mouth-watering, life-altering money. But I didn’t like the strings attached to it. “Not interested.”
“Just hear me out.”
Obviously, he wasn’t going to give up. And anyway, I wasn’t in much of a position to bargain. “Okay,” I replied after a moment. “I’m listening. What’s the assignment?”
Chase lifted an old color Polaroid from the desk and passed it to me. The faded image depicted a strange-looking fellow, with puffy eyes, a bulbous nose, and misshapen shoulders.
Sort of like the love child of an ostrich and an ape.
“His name is Dr. Karl Hartek,” Chase said. “He was a German physicist during the Second World War.”
“What happened to him?”
“He emigrated to the United States in 1945, shortly after the surrender of Nazi Germany. He was a part of Operation Paperclip.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It was a program designed by the Office of Strategic Services. With the war coming to an end, America was already looking ahead to the Cold War. So, they recruited former Nazi scientists to come to America. After several months of interviews in Cape Canaveral, Hartek was relocated to Manhattan. He vanished a few years later.”
“So what?”
“My researchers have linked Hartek to the Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, or ODESSA. ODESSA was a postwar network designed to help SS members escape the Allies. It also enabled those same SS members to transport Nazi resources out of Germany.”
I shrugged. “Does this story have a point?”
“I’m getting to it. Although he was just a scientist, Hartek apparently held influence within the SS. As such, ODESSA entrusted him with a substantial treasure after he was forcibly immigrated to America.”
“What happened to it?”
“Nobody knows for certain. However, two months ago, a man walked into a Manhattan pawnshop. He attempted to sell a gold bar, which displayed the markings of the Deutsche Reichsbank. Naturally, it raised the proprietor’s suspicions. The proprietor called the police, but the man fled before help could arrive. Eventually, the story came across my desk and I was able to confirm that the serial number on the bar matched that of a gold bar distributed by ODESSA to Hartek many years ago.”
“Do you have a lead on this man?”
Chase passed me another photograph. The lines were fuzzy and it lacked color, but I could easily make out the picture of an older man. He exhibited good posture. A fierce scowl was etched across his face. His hair looked dark and bushy. Although clearly advanced in years, his eyes maintained a spark of vitality that gave me pause.
I frowned as I passed it back to him. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you have a lead on him?”
“Fingerprints at the scene confirmed his identity as Fred Jenson. He served during World War II. After the war, he returned to Brooklyn for a short while before going off-grid. This is the first time he’s surfaced in decades.”
“Off-grid? Where does he live?”
“Underground,” Chase replied with a wily grin. “About one hundred feet under the streets of Manhattan, to be precise.”
I tightened involuntarily and then forced myself to relax, cursing myself for being so transparent. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“So you want me to find him for you?”
“Obviously, we’ve done our research on you. In your previous life, you conducted an archaeological study of New York’s subway tunnels, did you not?”
“Well, a section of them. But —”
“Then, you’re the perfect man for the job.” He paused to take a breath. “According to the pawn shop proprietor, Jenson said that he knew where to find more gold bars. He indicated that they were very close to where he lived. I want to hire you to find him as well as Hartek’s treasure.”
I held up my hand. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking. New York has hundreds of miles of subway tunnels and thousands of miles of sewers. And that doesn’t even include naturally formed underground spaces.”
“I know it won’t be easy. That’s why we’re willing to pay you handsomely for your efforts.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to spend the next few weeks dodging trains just so you can get a little bit richer.”
“I’m not going to keep the treasure. On the contrary, I’m planning to return it to its rightful owners.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say I have an interest in righting the wrongs of the past.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that.”
He sighed. “My father was an American soldier. He died during World War II when I was just an infant. I think he’d appreciate my tiny effort at obtaining justice.”
His face betrayed his steady voice. There was something else driving him, a reason he didn’t want to share. I considered pressing him on it but ultimately, decided to forget it. “Aren’t you worried I’ll steal the treasure?”
“I doubt you could, even if you wanted to. We believe that ODESSA supplied Hartek with nearly half a ton of gold.”
The staggering figure swirled in my brain. “How do you plan to conduct a treasure hunt under New York anyways? The moment the news gets out…and it will…you’ll have a full-fledged riot on your hands.”
“A solution is already in place. Now, will you take the assignment?”
A breeze passed through the room, chilling me to the bone. I tried to return Chase’s stare, but the cocky smile that adorned his face was too much to bear. He was pushing all the right buttons with ease, playing me like a stupid keyboard. Instead, I looked over his head and for the first time noticed a window on the opposite side of the room.
A window covered with bars.
I needed the money. And a blank slate would go a long ways toward putting the incident in the past. But something about Chase bothered me, even beyond the fact that he’d kidnapped me. “You don’t need me for this kind of work. Why don’t you call in some locals? I can give you a few names if you like.”