Counterfeit Lies

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

As he started the Range Rover, Jake heard his backup cell phone, the one Katie used to carry, chirp in the door pocket. He pulled it out — saw the caller ID was blocked — and answered with a curt “Hello.”

A voice he recognized said, “It’s Grizzly Six. If you’re not alone, just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ ”

Jake smiled. No one who ever served with Peter Newman would ever forget his radio call sign.

“I’m alone. Good to hear your voice, sir.”

“And yours, Jake,” said the retired Marine major general. “I’m calling because I just left a meeting where your name came up several times.”

With a hint of levity, Jake said, “I hope you weren’t meeting with bill collectors or IRS agents.”

“No,” Newman replied. “Unfortunately, it was much worse than that. Do you have a few minutes?”

Now serious, Jake said, “Yes, sir. I have time — but we’re on an open line. And I’m in bad-guy territory.”

“I know where you are; I’m looking at the GPS locater on your phone. But this is important and time is not an ally today. How long before you can call me back from a secure phone or a hard line so we can have a ten-minute conversation without committing too many security violations?”

Jake pulled over to the curb to give the call his full attention. He looked around, saw the Marine recruiting substation in the strip mall less than a hundred yards from where he was parked, and said, “I’ll call you back, collect, in five from a hard line.”

“Good,” said the general. “But use the 800 number I gave you. It’s direct.”

“Roger that, sir.”

It took less than three minutes for Jake to flash his Marine Corps League membership card, his FBI credentials, and the promise of an FBI baseball hat for him to be seated in Gunnery Sergeant Barry Simon’s office. He dialed the 800 number. The general answered on the first ring.

Newman got straight to the point. “Since we talked a few weeks ago, CSG has been contracted to do vulnerability evaluations for a bunch of three-letter organizations back here. I just left a damage assessment meeting — where you and another of my Marines were prominently featured. You with me, so far?”

Jake knew his former commander had retired as a major general when the Senate wouldn’t approve his third star — and that he had taken over as the CEO of a company called Centurion Solutions Group. But other than hearing about CSG being awarded some classified contracts with CIA, NSA, DIA, and the FBI, Jake didn’t really know much about the company’s business. In response to the general’s “you with me?” query, Jake responded, “Yes, sir.”

Newman continued: “You know about Gabe?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have the people you’re working for told you the op you are on is being shut down?”

“I was told just a few minutes ago the plug gets pulled at midnight tonight.”

“Were you told why it was being shut down?”

“I was told it’s because of what happened to Gabe and for my safety. But I think there’s more to it than that.”

“There’s a lot more to it,” interrupted the general. “DOJ and State are probably telling your boss out there it’s about safety. But the real reason the operation is being shut down is because the White House does not want it to become known the DPRK is working with the IRGC to build nuclear weapons and ICBMs.”

Jake was stunned. “Are we talking about the same case? I’m working a counterfeit goods violation and a kidnapping. My targets are Korean gangsters moving containers of illicit merchandise into the United States.”

“Yeah, I know,” Newman continued. “But what nobody bothered to tell you is Pyongyang and Tehran have found a way to skirt compliance with this new nuclear arms agreement by having the North Koreans build nuclear warheads and ICBMs for the ayatollahs.”

“How does that connect with the California Korean Mafia moving containers of knockoff jeans, watches, and cigarettes into the States?”

“Here’s the short form,” Newman said after a brief pause. “The Senate has to ratify the so-called International Agreement on Iranian Nuclear Research and Development in the next thirty days. If it becomes known North Korea is doing uranium and plutonium enrichment and ICBM R&D for Tehran to avoid detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Senate will vote down the treaty.”

“But how do containers full of counterfeit goods and drugs play into the North Koreans building nuclear weapons for Iran?”

“The North Koreans oversold their own nuclear fuel enrichment and ICBM R&D capability — and Tehran bought Pyongyang’s BS. Now agents for the DPRK are scurrying all over the globe, buying up advanced centrifuge components, nuke warhead electromechanical technology, and high-tech industrial robotic machinery for building ICBMs.”

“But that stuff has to cost a whole lot more than they can raise with a few dozen containers of phony Rolex watches and the other stuff I’m seeing.”

“You’re right,” Newman replied. “That’s why there’s a flood of Supernotes here in the United States and all over Europe. The North Koreans are paying for all the illicit technology with counterfeit hundred-dollar bills.”

Jake pondered the information for a moment, then said quietly, “All the more reason why the right thing to do is keep this case going, not kill it.”

“This isn’t about right or wrong, Jake. It’s about institutional arrogance. The nuclear arms deal with Iran is the only diplomatic claim to fame this White House has left. If this treaty goes down the tubes, so does the president’s legacy as a great statesman.”

“So justice doesn’t matter. Gabe’s torture-murder doesn’t matter. And Iran cheating on a nuclear arms treaty doesn’t matter. All that matters is the ego of—”

“Stop, Jake. You’re preaching to the choir,” Newman interrupted. “Here’s something else that matters to me: not losing another of my Marines — meaning you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“At the meeting I just left, the Agency rep described how Gabe was brutally tortured before he was killed. Langley is convinced he was compromised by someone inside the operation.”

“That’s possible,” said Jake. “It could have been Cho Hee Sun, the guy they called Sonny. He was killed out here last week. But it could have also been Sonny’s brother in Hong Kong. There are a lot of different agencies playing in this sandbox — and way too many people with a ‘need-to-know’ who don’t know anything.”

“Well, here’s a little of what I know from the NSA rep on this damage assessment team: This fellow Park Soon Yong that you have contacted is the big gun for the DPRK. Park is in charge of disbursing counterfeit currency in the United States and buying the high-tech toys the North Koreans need to make good on their deal with the Iranians. He’s apparently waiting for a large shipment of cash — real or counterfeit, nobody seems to know — so he can purchase the items on Pyongyang’s shopping list and ship them back to North Korea. And finally, the Agency seems to think Park is somehow involved in Gabe’s murder. I hope you have someone to cover your six — because Gabe didn’t.”

“Many thanks for the intel, General. It’s good to know since I will apparently be off this case at midnight. You just gave me more straight scoop than I’ve gotten from the Bureau since this op began—”

“Oh yeah, since you mentioned the Bureau: do you have a fellow by the name of Hafner in the FBI office out there?”

“Yes, sir, he’s the ASAC. Why?”

“Well, he was on the secure video link for part of this damage assessment meeting. Hafner said you were being pulled off the case and sent back here for a psych eval. I took the opportunity to tell him that it would be a waste of money. Anybody who leaves the Corps to join the Bureau has to be certifiable.”

“Thanks, General,” said Jake with a smile. “I’ll continue to use you as a reference in my ongoing search for meaningful work. Please give my fond regards to Mrs. Newman.”

The sign-off was classic Newman: “Keep your head down, Jake. Call if you need a QRF. You mean a lot to me. Semper Fi, Marine.”