Page 73 of The Devil's Ransom

“Okay. Okay. Is Wolffe there?”

“Stand by.”

On the floor, Rodavan said, “What are you going to do with me?”

I said, “I honestly don’t know. Maybe you’ll end up like your buddy here. Maybe not.”

I then realized he had heard everything I said on the phone. Up until this point, it was something he already knew, but the next part of my conversation would be with my command. I said, “Veep, take him to the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the shower.”

Veep nodded and told Rodavan to stand. He led him to the back of the Vrbo and closed the bedroom door. I didn’t have noise-canceling earphones, but the bathroom should do.

Wolffe came on the phone and said, “Pike, thank you for the work. The Oversight Council will be kissing your ass. I don’t want to sound like I’m unappreciative, but I have a live operation going on in Dubai right now. What do you need?”

I have to admit, I was a little bit miffed that I wasn’t the only game in town. Although I was sure with this operation, I was the only game that mattered.

I said, “How is that working out? Now that you have control of our computer assets? Is it going okay?”

He laughed and said, “Okay, Pike, touché. What do you need from me?”

“I have one guy dead and another alive. What do you want me to do with the breathing one?”

I heard him inhale, then, “You have a dead guy? Pike, I told you this wasn’t sanctioned as DOA. No killing.”

“I didn’t kill him. We were attacked after we’d locked down the place. Our entry was clean. We were clean. But he’s dead nonetheless. It was the same assholes from Zagreb. I’m sure of it.”

“You got attacked after you locked the place down?”

“Yeah. Same guys. They aren’t from Turkey. They’re from Afghanistan.”

“Wait, wait. The guy killed in Zagreb had a Turkish passport. How are you making this leap of logic?”

“Remember I told you about the two teams running around? One was after Jahn, the other was after the treasure that was stolen. These ransomware guys have something to do with the Bactrian Treasure, and those assholes from the Badr Battalion are still hunting it. I think they’re looking for the leader of this whole gang. Branko.”

He said nothing for a moment, then said, “You have a live guy and a dead guy?”

“Yes.”

“Let the live guy go. Give him the fear of God about doing ransomware again, and let him go. Let him spread the word that our reach is great and their business model has changed. It’s no longer just losing money from the FBI stealing their bitcoin. It’s now life or death.”

I heard that and thought it was stupid. I said, “You want me to let him go? How about we bring him back to the United States and wring him out? Then go after everyone else he knows?”

He said, “That’s not from me. That’s from POTUS. He wants to send a signal, and he might be right about that. Do what I’m asking. Scare the shit out of him, then let him go.”

I said, “Okay. I can do that, but these guys were working for a Russian. I don’t think we’ll be putting the fear of God in him.”

“He can’t do anything if he doesn’t have people willing to risk their lives. That’s the point. That’s precisely the point. Sanctioning the Russians doing this stuff hasn’t worked. POTUS wants to send a signal to the men working the keyboards.”

Which actually made a little bit of sense. I said, “What about the leader of this whole gang? You want me to hunt him?”

“No. We’re clear of the ransomware. Let the leader hear about it and wonder if we’re hunting him. He won’t start up again after this hit.”

“And the Afghans running around? What about them?”

“Whatever they’re doing has nothing to do with U.S. national security. They want to hunt a treasure and kill that guy in the process, fine by me.”

“Maybe we should ask the old Afghan national security advisor about that. See what he thinks.”

I heard Wolffe sigh, then “Pike, he’s dead. Assassinated in Switzerland.”

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