The intercom on Doug’s desk buzzed. “Mr. Carter, there is a Ms. Gwendolyn Pierce here to see you.”

Momentarily perplexed he responded, “Send her in. Thank you Denise.” The door immediately opened and Gwen marched right up to his desk, dropped a large folder on it and planted her hands on her hips. Glancing down at the folder before returning his eyes to hers he said “It’s nice to see you too Gwen, what brings you into this neck of the woods?”

“Open it.” She said bluntly, a slight sneer on her lips.

Looking down he opened the folder. Inside were pages and pages of reports about recent large corporate espionage crimes that had all taken place within the last six months. “I recognize this one, we sent it to your office in New York, can’t say the same about the rest though. Instead of having me try to figure this out, why don’t you summarize for me.” he said gesturing at the folder. Gwen had always been a bit of a hot head, but she was good at what she did. She had always had an eye for the details most agents overlooked.

“Every business in that folder is owned by the same man. Every one of ‘em.”

Doug’s eyes went wide; he went back through the paper work briefly. “I don’t see-“

“Look”, She interrupted him flipping to a page and pointing out a single name swimming in a sea of them. It was circled in red. She turned to the next report and found the same name surrounded by many more. Again and again she pointed the circled name out. It was never listed as anything other than a standard employee but it was listed for every corporation in this folder, nearly a dozen of them.

“So who is this James Malaki?”

“That I don’t know, I’ve got my team looking into him.”

“Ok, so why are you here in my office?” Doug asked confused “If you have a lead, why not follow it? We’ve hardly talked in years.”

“I need permission to move on this, I have a really strong feeling that this guy is responsible for these thefts. Goens, however, doesn't care how compelling this is, he won't even listen to me. In fact he's trying to fire me.”

Doug was surprised for a moment; but then Tomas Goens was one of the most short sighted men he’d ever met. How the man managed to become head of the New York office he’d never know. This also explained why Gwen was now standing in his office. Technically he outranked Goens. If he did this he’d be stepping on a lot of toes, but she had a point, this was awfully suspicious in his eyes, and giving her the permission she needs to follow through with this will countermand anything Goens had in motion to fire her, temporarily at least.

“Why is he trying to fire you? Doug asked

“Because he's a prick and because I have these" Gwen said grabbing her chest

Doug blanched, “Gwen, please".

“What? He's sexist and he is trying to paint me as careless, incompetent and negligent.”

Doug rolled his eyes at the absurdity. He sighed and said “Ok ok, I’ll have you temporarily assigned here and you’ll work under me. You said your team was working on it too?”

“Yes”

“I’ll start on the paperwork, you get started on this and send me everything you have so far. If this leads a bust though, it's your ass.”

“Thanks Doug.” She winked at him before leaving.

****************************

“I just got off the phone with her.” Pops said, his voice breaking up slightly as it came through the speakers of the white rental car.

“Man, Goens is such an asshole.” Pete said, shaking his head. “There's the turn, slow down, you're going to miss it.” He said to Bobby, pointing excitedly at a turn off.

“Pete chill, I see it. Pops what does Gwen want us to do now?” Bobby asked.

“She still wants you to go check out Malaki. But instead of coming back to New York when you're done, you're going to fly to DC and meet us. Ronald and I are packing up the office now and we'll fly down there in the morning. I should go help him, if you need any help give me a call.”

“Sure Pops, have a good flight.” Bobby said

“Bye" Pete echoed before Pops hung up. Pete stared out the car window and the car fell silent for several minutes. He watched as they passed by tree after tree for what seemed like an eternity. There were no houses, no side streets, nothing but trees the entire way. “Bobby, are you sure we’re not lost? We’ve been on this road for nearly a half hour.” He said with an impatient sigh.

“Pete, I'm just following the GPS. But have you seen anywhere to turn around or stop at all? According to the satellite images this dude lives in the podunk ass end of nowhere.“

The car crested a hill and Pete finally saw something besides trees, it was a gate. An eight foot high double thick chain link fence topped with barbed wire disappeared into the trees on either side. “Well I guess you're right this must be a private drive.” As they got closer they saw a small security shack standing just in front of it.

Bobby slowed the car and rolled down the window as they approached. The shack door opened and a security guard dressed in black stepped out waiting for them to come to a stop. “Can I help you gentlemen?” The guard asked.

“Yes, I’m Special Agent Shoemaker, this is Special Agent Gibbons, we’re with the FBI; we’re here to speak with Mr. Malaki.” He said as he put the car into park.

“Are you expected?” the guard asked

“Uh, no. I highly doubt it.” Bobby answered, holding his ID for the guard to see.

“Okay, hold on just a sec.” The guard said before dashing back into the shack and picking up a phone. After a brief exchange he hung it up and returned to the car. “The estate keeper says that Mr. Malaki isn’t in at the moment but you're welcome to come in and speak with him.”

Bobby looked over to Pete and raised a questioning eyebrow. Nodding, Pete said “Don’t want to make this trip a total waste, he might be able to shed some light on Malaki“.

“Okay, ya sure. We’ll talk to him.” Bobby said to the guard.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Alright I’ll phone ahead to the estate keeper to let him know you’ll be coming. He said he’d meet you at the main entrance if you were.” The guard returned to the shack closing its door.

Bobby rolled the window back up and a moment later the gate began to slide open. Putting the car back into drive, the two agents passed through it and continued down the wooded road. After about ten minutes the road curved and finally left the woods. Opening up immediately into a loop with a garden in the center and behind it a large four story wood paneled mansion. A small drive left the loop and headed around the right side of the mansion, presumably leading to the kitchen delivery entrance and garage. Rounding the loop Bobby stopped in front of the main entrance to the house.

Both agents climbed out and stretched cramped muscles, they’d been driving for hours. Bobby took the steps slowly enjoying the fresh air. Just as he was about to knock the door swung inwards and he effectively almost punched the old man who had opened it. “I’m sorry” Bobby said

“Good afternoon gentlemen, I am Walter Barons, I am the estate keeper. My sincerest apologies, but Master James is not in at the moment. Perhaps if we had known of your visit ahead of time it might have been possible for you to speak with him.” He said with the faintest hint of a smile.

Bobby studied Barons, the man was tall, in his mid to late sixties and his accent reflected a very formal education. His grey hair still had flecks of a dark color here and there and even though it appeared to be a twinkle of humor about his person, Barons’ eyes betrayed him. In them Bobby could see that this was a shrewd calculating man.

“Hello Mr. Barons, my name is Special Agent Peter Gibbons, this is Special Agent Robert Shoemaker. We’ve come an awfully long way to speak with him, do you know where he is or when he will be back?”

“I do not pretend to know my employer's schedule.” Barons replied, “It's been over a month since I’ve seen him last.”

Pete’s eyebrows went up. “Over a month? So he goes off and plays with his money leaving you in charge of the house while he is gone?”

The old man smiled, “That’s one way to put it.”

Pete pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket. ”How many are employed at this house?”

“Six,” Barons said. “three housekeepers, a landscaper, a chef and myself “

“What about the guard?” Bobby asked.

“They work for a service; none of them have ever been through the gate.”

“What do you know about Mr. Malaki’s activities?”

Barons eyes focused on Pete. “Mr. Gibbons, Master James has not asked my permission or counsel on anything since he was a young child. Since the day he was adopted Master James has always been an incredibly driven individual. He does not find it necessary to keep me informed of his plans and I do not ask.”

“He was adopted?” Bobby asked

“At the age of twelve" Barons replied

Scribbling in his pad Pete didn’t look up but asked “So you’ve known him for a long time then?”

“Yes, I worked for his parents before he was born. When they were no longer able to care for him I adopted him. I controlled the estate and served as Master James’ guardian until he was of legal age.”

“How did his parents die?”

“They didn't. His father has late stage ALS and his mother became an unhinged alcoholic trying to care for them both. She was ultimately hospitalized at Winston Fulsom Psychiatric hospital and his father is in a home with a full time nurse.” Barons was looking like he was starting to get tired of the questioning.

“Mr. Barons, it's been a long ride. Do you mind if I use your restroom?” Bobby asked

“Not at all,” Barons said, swinging the door wide into a marbled foyer and inviting the two in before directing the agent towards the restroom.

Pete continued to question the estate keeper. “What can you tell me of Mr. Malaki’s companies he owns?”

“To my knowledge Master James doesn’t own any companies” Barons said guardedly.

“Really? Then where did all this come from?” Pete asked

“Robert Malaki was a successful Investment banker, he amassed a substantial savings before succumbing to his illness.”

"Did you know that James Malaki is listed as an employee to more than seventy Mega-Million and over three hundred Fortune-Five Hundred. Companies.”

“I know he is very active with the stock market, perhaps that has something to do with it.”

“No Mr. Barons, owning stock in a company is not the same as being an employee for a company. Eighteen of these companies that he is employed with have filed for reparations for corporate espionage in the last ten months. Eighteen. Now while that is a large number, I‘d like to ask him how he manages to work for almost four hundred companies at the same time.”

Barons’ face had turned to stone and the hint of a smile was gone. “As I said, I know nothing of Master James’ activities or about his ownership of any companies.”

Bobby returned saying “Wow that’s a nice bathroom.” He looked at Pete who nodded.

“Would you happen to have a number with which we can reach Mr. Malaki with?” Pete asked.

Stepping to the side of the front door he reached out and pulled a small business card from a tray, then handed it to Pete.

Pete took the card and said “Thank you Mr. Barons.” as he shook hands with the man.

“Not at all,” Barons said, opening the front door.

A few moments later Pete and Bobby were back in the car driving through the gate and headed back to the hotel.

“Well?“ Bobby asked, growing impatient.

“Well what? Ya the old guy knows shit, no the old guy didn’t say shit.” Pete replied “Did you expect anything different?”

“Figures, I’m gonna kill Gwen for sending us out here, she’s always doing this kinda crap. We could have just called and it would have been enough, but no, we have to surprise them, to catch them off guard.”

“Business card is crap too, can't get anything from it” Pete said looking it over before tossing it into the backseat. I recognize the company, it's a generic answering service. We'll never get him on the phone with it.

The car grew quiet as Pete slumped into his seat and Bobby focused on the twisting road.