“I get it.”
“Right. And talking about lawyers, I have another mission for you. This time with Three and Four.”
One twitched in surprise. “What about Two?”
“Not ready. I want the three of you to rifle the lawyer’s office. I’ve got the address. Do it within the week. At night. Then put everything back, exactly as found. No trace.”
One seemed confused. “Of course. But what are we looking for?”
Hess flashed a grin. “Treasure.” One’s eyes glittered, and Hess continued, “Not in a chest. In file cabinets. They’re full of cases: Jones versus Boeing, Hernandez v. Toyota, like that.”
“What about computers?”
Hess fleered. “Waste of time. Full of passwords, codes, and other gibberish. But lawyers seldom put real security on their front doors or locks on their file cabinets. Idiots.”
“What cases are we looking for?”
“Those with wealthy corporate defendants. And big, important legal issues that could cost the defendants a fortune.”
One looked worried. “But how will we know?”
Hess snapped his fingers. “Easy. You look at the case folders labelled ‘Pleadings’ and ‘Discovery’. Use our high-speed cameras. Click away on the latest ‘Complaint’ and latest ‘Answer’ under Pleadings. That way, we’ll know the issues, who the defendants are, the courtroom, and what judge is involved. Then photograph the ‘First Set of Interrogatories’ and ‘Defendant’s Responses’ in the Discovery folder.”
One, trying to write everything down, squinted. “What are interrogatories?”
“Questions to the corporate defendant. The responses will tell us what we need to know about the corporation. And the person who signs and verifies the responses will be our primary contact.”
“Contact?”
“Right. If the case is big enough. To see if they’re interested in our services. If so, we negotiate a price, work on the judge, and get the right decision for each client. Like goddamn lawyers, we can’t have too many good clients. This is a great, new way to generate them. When it works, and it will work, His Eminence will be pleased. Then, we can raid law offices all over the state. Hell, all over the country. We’ll develop more lucrative clients and efficiently target judges. To maximize income.”
One was overwhelmed. His eyes bulged and he swallowed hard. “I see.”
Hess slammed his fist on the desk. “Remember One, this is still a business. With more money, comes more control. With more control comes more power to change the shit system we have today. It’s for the greater good. A grander America. To fulfill our vision, our destiny.”
“Sir, this is fantastic. I get it. But I have just one related question.”
“Go head.”
“How did you learn so much about legal cases, complaints and the rest, to come up with this plan?”
“Early on. Got involved in a case. About wrongful deaths. Needed to be straightened out. But that’s a story for another day.”
“Understood. Will that be all for now?”
Hess placed his hands flat on the desk. “No. There’s more. It’s time I explained other aspects of the operation. Everyone needs a backup, even me. I plan to go on to greater things in the organization. Someday, maybe soon, I’ll need a replacement.”
One stared at Hess. “I’m honored. Truly honored.”
“Then shut up and listen.”
As if backhanded, One lowered his head. “Of course.”
“Head up,” Hess commanded. “I took you on the Flynn mission for training, and I’m sure His Eminence will be pleased with the results. He’ll also love my scaring the shit out of that lawyer on Sunday night. Perhaps, I hope, that’ll make up for the bad news. About the teenagers. But I swear, people will fuckin’ pay for those delays.”
“Won’t His Eminence understand the delays?”
“They’ve never been this bad. For five years, like clockwork, every three months I’ve selected at least six teenagers from the various sources. Runaways, orphans, the kidnapped, the homeless, the lost, the abandoned. I have contacts throughout Los Angeles who provide the best healthy ones—most between 15 and 19 years old, like His Eminence wants.”
One looked up toward Hess. “Did your sources quit?”
“No way. Every one of them was carefully recruited and well-paid—workers at hospitals, funeral parlors, foster homes, and orphanages, even some cops, pimps, and yes, petty criminals. Until recently it all worked. I kept a steady flow of candidates coming. I indoctrinated each group myself. Then I would always bring the best to His Eminence, who with my help divided them into three categories: Objects of sexual pleasure, physical trainees, and rejects.”
“I was slated for the PT group at first,” said One proudly.
“That’s right. And those in the PT group go on to become mercenaries, bodyguards, and private police for dictators, oligarchs, and anyone one else who can pay our fees. Or Russian-roulette players in the betting parlors of Asia. Even kickboxers in fighting rooms around the world, where people bet 24/7 on who will live and who will die. On the other hand, the candidates talented enough, in different ways, go on to first-class escort businesses, private massage rooms, sex clubs, internet sex services, brothels, even wealthy homes to serve as sex surrogates for the well-to-do. The dark web makes this all possible. Even easy.”
“What about the rejects?” asked One.
Hess flinched a smile. “We find them places, especially in Asia, as field hands, miners, and servants. Regardless of group, though, no later than ten weeks after arrival, I make sure all of them are moving in the global market. Human trafficking has become big business in the 21st century—thanks to the web, porous borders, nonstop corporate and private air traffic, container ships all over the globe and easy-to-obtain high-quality fake documentation. In our case, most of our product is shipped to South America or Asia. But all are used up, all that is, except the few, like you, chosen each year for security training.”
One looked directly at Hess. “Thank you for that honor.”
“Certainly. I choose well in every category. For example, His Eminence always seems happy with those I earmark for escort services. But—and this is highly confidential—it worries me that sometimes he reaches out to certain ones before we can get them into global traffic. But then rank has its privileges, I guess.”
“A lot of Presidents have shown indiscretion in that regard,” said One.
Hess lifted the corners of his lips trying to smile. “No doubt. But look—you also need to know, in addition to security and training, I directly supervise Three and Four. They do all the accounting related to the human trafficking. Both, it turns out, left home at sixteen after private schooling, met on the road and love numbers. And let me tell you, each year profits have increased, making His Eminence more and more pleased. Last year, alone, it brought in millions. Millions. Even the rejects were sold for top coin in certain countries.”
