“You can bet your ass on it.”
And he wasn’t kidding. One sign of trouble and Darryl Jackson was gone.
Chapter 45
Ryan Sharpe took the call, despite it originating from a satellite phone, as indicated by its prefix. He had news for Karl Berg and had previously left a message asking him to get in touch.
“Karl, this is Sharpe,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I have some information to pass related to the favor you requested.”
Berg sounded flustered. “Yes. Sorry about that. My phone was stolen a few days ago. I was required to remotely deactivate it, for obvious reasons. You’ve found Sokolov?”
“I wouldn’t say we found him, but a report out of Libreville fits the bill.”
“As in Gabon? Africa?”
“Of all places, right?”
“Actually, it’s not surprising, if this is him,” said Berg.
“Here’s what we have. A local organized crime informant reported the purchase of small arms with ammunition, a few sets of body armor, and an expensive four-wheel-drive vehicle by two Russians that flew into an airport on the outskirts of the city.”
“This is unusual in Libreville?”
“Russians aren’t uncommon in Libreville, but filthy ones flying into sketchy airports and liaising with Gabonese crime syndicates in the middle of the night are apparently very unusual. Enough for the informant to file a report.”
“Filthy?”
“The two men smelled and looked like they had walked out of the jungle,” said Sharpe. “That’s right out of the report.”
“Like they’ve been on the run.”
“And headed somewhere in a hurry,” said Sharpe. “I hope this helps.”
“It does. Thank you,” said Berg. “Is there any way for me to get more detailed information? Perhaps a place to start an investigation if we were to put some discreet assets in Libreville?”
“The Saint De Marquis market west of the city.”
“Perfect. Thank you,” said Berg, a long pause ensuing.
Sharpe could sense something else brewing and wasn’t surprised at all when Berg continued.
“I stumbled onto something that… let’s just say I have no idea how to present this without coming across as paranoid.”
“Sounds promising.”
“I know. Not exactly the best hook, so I’m just going to be blunt,” said Berg. “Have you ever heard of a company called Ajax Global?”
“Sure,” said Sharpe. “We’ve lost a number of agents to them over the past few years. They become law enforcement consultants, whatever that means. Same thing used to happen with Brown River, but that slowed down. Pretty much stopped, actually.”
“Interesting. That fits what I uncovered.”
Sharpe didn’t really have time for CIA conspiracy theories, but he had to admit that Berg had him intrigued. If anything, he might be able to pass something on to the Human Resources Branch that could help them stem the tide of departing agents.
“What’s on your mind, Karl?”
“Ajax doesn’t exist,” said Berg.
“Of course it does,” said Sharpe.
“Just hear me out. Ajax exists in name, but not in substance. I have evidence directly suggesting that employees who left Brown River for jobs at Ajax have continued to be paid by Brown River, for up to two years in some cases. On top of that, Brown River payroll indicates close to four thousand new hires in the past six months, but a senior Brown River executive swears they’ve been in a hiring downswing for three years. The payroll numbers add up to nearly a billion dollars for fiscal year 2009, a big number for a company that has never been valued at more than a billion dollars.”
“Sounds like a Treasury issue to me. IRS?” said Sharpe.
“I think they’re raising a small army under the radar,” said Berg. “Just look into this, discreetly, and get back to me if you want to hear the rest of the story.”
“The rest of the story?”
“Be very discreet. I can attribute two domestic kidnapping attempts to employees on this mysterious Brown River payroll.”
“That’s sounding more like the FBI’s jurisdiction,” said Sharpe.
“You have no idea. I’m going to email you a file with the payroll information, all packaged for your consumption.”
“I’m sure there’s a federal warrant associated with the acquisition of that data.”
“Sure. I’ll send that along later today,” said Berg. “Promise me you’ll do a little digging and get back to me.”
“I’ll take a look,” said Sharpe. “Is this a good number for you?”
“Let me give you a different number,” said Berg. “It’s a redirect. I’m serious about being discreet, Ryan.”
“Understood.”
“Be in touch shortly,” said Berg, ending the call.
Sharpe stared at the phone. That was by far the most intriguing call he’d taken all year. He rubbed his chin. What to do with this one? Seriously. The side investigation into Sokolov hadn’t uncovered any earth-shattering reason to explain why Shelby and Berg were keen to find him, other than what they knew from the start. Former Eastern Bloc commando turned mercenary. Dime a dozen, really. He’d turned up in an interesting location, but that was about the extent of it.
Now Berg was talking about “off the books” domestic paramilitary groups on a kidnapping spree? Cooked books, perhaps, at one of the largest international security corporations in the world? Why not? It wouldn’t take Dana and her team long to substantiate enough of Berg’s claim to decide whether to look further.
Sharpe got up from his desk and opened his office door, making his way toward Dana’s office. He knocked on the door frame and stepped into the opening.
“Busy?”
“You know I’m not,” she said. “Come in. What’s up?”
He stepped inside, closing the door. “I just passed along the Sokolov news to Berg, and he hit me with something else.”
“You were just talking to him?” she asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Probably nothing, but remember when we tied Sanderson’s original Argentina location to various land holdings owned by Ernesto Galenden?”
The memory of that exciting moment came with a bitter taste. He paused a little too long. Hesterman had originally discovered Sanderson’s headquarters.
“Sorry. I didn’t even think of the connection,” she said, touching her scar. “I kind of wear a constant reminder of Eric.”
“It’s not your fault. Sometimes it just hits me like a hammer,” said Sharpe. “Usually when I’m least expecting it. Galenden?”
“Murdered yesterday in his Buenos Aires office.”
“That’s big. How did you come across that?”
“I activated every possible reporting protocol linked to Berg when you had me look into Sokolov. Same protocols that helped us narrow our search for Sanderson to Argentina, adding everything else we’ve ever connected to Sanderson. Came up in my feed this morning. I thought it might be something you’d want to pass on to Berg, to tell Sanderson. We know he played a major role in funding Sanderson at one point.”
“Probably still does today. I’ll give Berg a call when I get back to my office. Any suspects?”
“I didn’t dig any deeper,” she said. “I can call our liaison at the embassy.”
“No. I have a direct line to a senior federal investigator there,” said Sharpe. “I need you to look into something else.” He explained Berg’s call.
“Wow. That’s one hell of a conspiracy theory,” she said.
“It’s probably nothing, but be discreet.”
“This won’t take long. You can’t hide a company,” said O’Reilly. “Especially one with four thousand new employees.”