The Luckiest

The Luckiest

-

Jeff looked rapidly from the scratch and win lottery ticket in his hand, to his best friend, Roberto the youthful manager of the Gasmart. He beamed at Jeff and said, “this certainly is your lucky day!”

Jeff still really couldn’t process. Twenty thousand dollars! It was as if he had been here before, like déjà vu. A feeling that the universe had aligned in his favor somehow, Roberto continued in a lower voice. “Have you checked the news recently? Lilli is telling me to put half my money into gold, half into crypto, and head home to the Dominican Republic, before the economy collapses.”

Jeff was surprised to hear his friend talking like this. Roberto was a positive person. It must be serious news to dampen his robust joyful nature. “That sounds like a big deal.” He replied nonchalantly, “Is she back in the U.S.?” A bit of a grin crossed Roberto’s face restoring his usual countenance. His tone was teasing. “I remember, you have a thing for my cousin Lilli.”

He continued in a more serious tone, “she is state side, out west somewhere. She is some sort of risk auditor for the government.” Jeff grunted, blushing slightly, “Lilliana is like a chess computer with her data analysis” he said in a slightly worshipful tone. "Was she serious about the money?” Roberto’s tone was flat as he replied, the light in his eyes dimming, “Yes she was very serious. Called this morning, to give me a heads up. Said possibly the whole economy could tank.”

Jeff wanted to sit down. Lilli was the most skilled and competent data scientist Jeff had ever known. When she and Jeff graduated from MIT, Lilli had been recruited to work for a United States government special project in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Jeff hadn’t seen her since graduation, although he had thought of her often in the intervening years, especially since he was best friends with her cousin.

A sensation of vertigo came to him as he looked at Roberto. He felt like he was 13 again and finally tall enough to ride the Apollo Launch ride at the carnival. Strapped to a foam seat rocketing hundreds of feet into the air, pausing, then falling with tremendous speed back toward the ground.

Literally a dream come true. He stood with the brightly colored ticket in his hand, worth twenty thousand dollars. Like it had always been meant to be. Then precipice of meaning in Roberto’s words, the nauseating descent. If anybody could predict an economic apocalypse, it would be Lilli Ramirez. Jeff felt a cold sense of dread begin to turn his stomach. Lilli wouldn’t exaggerate, not about something like this.

-

Special Agent Lilliana Ramirez of the United States Treasury Department was an alternate currencies expert. Her job consisted of exploring and interpreting the holistic data of large corporations, to find ghost finances. In recent weeks, one company in particular, Kellum Research had begun to ring alarm bells. Surveillance, along with rigorous investigation, had revealed an extensive network of illegal buying and selling. This was accomplished with a pseudo currency of amphetamines and opioids, produced illicitly in the research laboratories at Kellum. This was a major discovery for her taskforce. The State Department wanted to move forward with arrests. It would make her career, but Lilli was not done. Everything fit from a distance, but up close there were strange discrepancies

Lilli had completed a complex hack and forensic sweep of the Kellum hard drives. She uncovered resources being subtly diverted to an outside contractor. At last she found what had been missing from the larger picture. Someone in the upper echelons of Kellum Research was trying to be like a real-life Bond villain. They were going to try to disable the Hoover Dam! The investigative information she knew allowed her to calculate the odds , was too late to stop it.

Lilli contacted her cousin Roberto and told him to prepare for the worst.

-

Stanley Swift had always liked his name, the alliteration of his first and last name were like a comic book hero. He chuckled softly to himself, sitting in his plush office, surrounded by rare wood paneling. “Peter Parker ain’t got nothing on me” he thought, “I can save the world an make a profit too!”

The only item on the massive mahogany desk where he sat, was a small plain black book, bound in leather from some exotic creature. Stanley stared at it with a mix of pride and trepidation. The book was a record of his ideas, intentions and justifications, it was his manifesto of purpose, the blueprint for his ultimate triumph.

Stanley led an incredibly successful life by any standard. He assumed the role of CEO at the tender age of 25 after his father’s murder at the hands of the Las Vegas criminal underground. Establishing a reputation as a ruthless operator with no scruples, he had dominated the business world, buying politicians and judges as he ascended. This fervent energy for power though, was not all it seemed. The motivating factor in his life was not accolades and prestige. No. The animating energy that drove Stanley Swift was the oldest of motivators in the human animal. Revenge!

He pressed a button on the underside of the desk and spoke through the intercom to his secretary, “Ralphie, bud, have ‘em bring around the Range, and take the rest of the day off.” Stanley rose from his chair, tapping the panel beside the massive window which looked out over Lake Michigan. It swung outward, and he removed a satellite phone and a small parcel of documents. Carefully he placed the items, and the small black book into an attaché case. Stanley Swift, CEO of Kellum Research looked around the cavernous office. Smiling, he gave a small bow like a triumphant actor, and strode confidently into his private elevator.

-

Jeff sometimes wondered to himself what he had done to have a friend as good as Roberto Ramirez. They had met shortly before his graduation from MIT. When Roberto had gotten out of the Marines a few years later he had moved to the Chicago area and they had been looking out for each other ever since.

Jeff smiled as he swung open the door to the Gasmart. There were several people in the aisles. An older woman with a cane was at the register paying, and two kids. They looked far too young to be drinking the powerfully caffeinated drinks they were standing in line with. Roberto emerged from the back room as the bell sounded. From his disheveled appearance, Jeff surmised that he had been deep cleaning the stockroom. The friends walked out into the sunlight outside. As they left, Roberto held the door for a man in a dark suit with a slim attaché case who was walking in. The man entered the GasMart without a sideways glance. Roberto shared a glance with Jeff and shrugged, “what’s good carnale? To answer your question, yes Lilli called”. Jeff tensed, but before he could speak, Roberto continued. “She wanted me to use my contacts in the military to review contracting work by a laboratory in Chicago called Kellum Research.” The two had almost reached the street, when a sound like a diesel backfiring cut through the mild spring air. It was repeated, and it didn’t come from the street. Roberto reacted immediately, before the first sound had faded he had tackled Jeff to the ground. Yelling for him to “cover his head” and “get behind that SUV,” Roberto headed toward the GasMart at a sprint. It dawned on Jeff that a very large gun was being fired very close. He was frozen at first, his mind going blank, muscles paralyzed. He felt a sensation, like he had been here before. Then his muscle function returned, and he ran after his friend, toward the gunfire.

The shooting was over by the time Jeff crossed the parking lot and burst through the doors, it had been a robbery, but the place looked like a war zone, Roberto kneeled in one of the aisles, the biggest revolver Jeff had ever seen on the floor beside him. He was tying a tourniquet around the bloody leg of the suited man whose attaché case had burst open. Papers were strewn about the floor.

The preteens were in silent shock gazing blankly at the scene. The caffeinated syrup from their ruptured cans mixed with the blood from Roberto’s patient, flowing into a floor drain. The clerk was dialing 911, her face gray, knuckles white from gripping the phone. The old woman was emitting a gasping coughing scream. She was scooting away from the unconscious body of a young man. His emaciated form and face scarred by long-time methamphetamine use identified him as the robber. Jeff hurried to his friend. As he drew closer the ornate letterhead on one of the scattered papers caught his eye. Shifting his action, he began gathering the papers. Still inside the case was a small black book. He looked at Roberto and said, “you sure Lilli asked about Kellum Research?” Roberto nodded and grunted one syllable, “yep.” His confusion was evident, at Jeff’s question in the midst of the shambles that surrounded him. Jeff shook his head in wonder, “you’re not going to believe me” he shook his head in silent wonder. He held up the embossed papers, He nodded at the suited man “this is the CEO of Kellum, Stanley Swift, I think you need to give Lilli a call.”

-

When Lilli received the call from Roberto, she was skeptical. The statistical process of her mind did not believe what he was saying. As he described the papers and book that had been left by the injured man, she felt a rising excitement, the black book could be the key to it all if it contained the information she suspected it did! She had to act! “Roberto, I’ll secure a flight to O’Hare, I’ll be landing in less than five hours.”

Jeff and Roberto met Lilli at the airport, and they went to a nearby 24-hour diner. The men ate ravenously as Lilli pored over the little black book. She looked up at last. Jeff swallowed the large bite he was chewing and wiped his mouth self-consciously. Roberto continued to chew enthusiastically. She said with a bit of awe in her voice “You two have to be the luckiest guys in the universe! This information is enough to save the world economy from an unprecedented collapse!”

-

Stanley Swift had just climbed out of the fog of painkillers sufficiently to think of his missing briefcase when the federal agents walked into his hospital room. They flashed badges, and the woman, who seemed to be in charge, said in an even, slightly accented voice. “Stanley Swift you are under arrest, the initial charges are racketeering, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit terroristic acts”. She then continued in a softer voice, “we intercepted the mercenaries you sent to the Hoover Dam”. Stanley looked back at her mutely. One of the agents with her chimed in, “hold Las Vegas for a ransom, from its criminal syndicates by taking over its source of electricity. That’s the most original idea I’ve heard in my 22 years in law enforcement. Haven’t you ever heard of collateral damage ? A stunt like that would crash the stock market, destroy the economy!”. Stanley blinked, this had to be a nightmare. The female agent spoke again. “Secure this room, I’m late for dinner with an old friend.” Then she turned and left the room. The two agents moved toward the bed. The tall one remarked to the other, “That is the smartest woman I’ve ever met.” The short stocky agent gave a wry grin “yessir”, he replied, “a genius , and gorgeous too! Whoever she’s meeting for dinner has to be the luckiest man alive!”