Kat sat across from Zachary Barron, preoccupied with Harry’s prognosis and Dr. Konig’s accusations. And, most of all, the orange juice at Harry’s house.
Zachary leaned back in his leather armchair, hands clasped behind his head. “Find the proof yet?”
“Yes and no.” Kat related the events in the hotel room with Nathan and Victoria, leaving nothing out. “I don’t have the World Institute papers anymore, but it’s all documented in my report.” She’d quickly restored the lost version after leaving Harry at the hospital. She’d be dammed if she would let Zachary delay reporting Nathan’s Ponzi any longer.
“When you get those World Institute documents of Nathan’s back, we’ll discuss the next steps.” Zachary stood to dismiss her.
Kat wasn’t leaving. He couldn’t use the documents as an excuse to delay the inevitable.
“Zachary, you can’t keep pushing this out into the future. You’ve got enough proof without the World Institute documents—they only add another layer. We both know Edgewater’s a Ponzi scheme. You owe it to your investors to report it now.”
“I’m not sure owe is the right word, Kat. Look at this.” Zachary flipped his computer monitor around so Kat could see. “I’m up ten percent since yesterday. Ten percent. I’m trading for my own account, and I’ll use all my profits to replenish the fund’s losses. Give me another week and the investors will have every penny back, and more. I’ll make them whole—like none of this ever happened.”
“Something like this can’t go unreported.” How Zachary could possibly make back billions in less than a week? Even if it was possible, why hadn’t he already done that with the fund previously? None of his previous trades even came close to that kind of return. Or, they wouldn’t have had if they’d been actually executed. “It’s not a game, Zachary.”
“Of course it’s a game. The whole monetary system is a game. Every country’s currency gets manipulated. Surely you’re not that naïve? I’ll report Nathan’s fraud, but only once I’ve made all the investor money back.”
“Zachary, these are real people. With real losses. They deserve to know immediately. Now—not in two weeks.”
“You think I don’t know that? My investment in the fund is bigger than anyone’s.”
So that was the reason. Now Zachary’s about-face made sense. It was all about self-interest.
Zachary walked around the side of his desk. “Look at it this way. As soon as we expose Nathan, they’ll shut down the fund, freeze Edgewater’s assets, and the losses will be permanent. Edgewater declares bankruptcy, and the whole mess turns into years of lawsuits and court battles.”
Kat shook her head. “You can’t be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious. I’ll get the money back first. Nathan’s not going anywhere. He’ll still be charged, but at least the investors won’t be ruined financially.”
“How can you possibly make that much money back in two weeks?”
“It won’t be easy, but it can be done. The whole global financial system is all artificial. My trading. The valuation of each and every country’s currency. Even the World Institute’s global currency, whatever they decide to peg it at. It’s completely removed from the actual value of things, and has been for decades. Look at this.” Zachary pulled his wallet from his back pocket and extracted a dollar bill. He dropped it on the desk. “What do you see?”
Kat played along. “A dollar.”
“That’s what it says on the face of it. But what is a dollar? It’s just a promise to pay. A fancy IOU from the government. It’s essentially worthless.”
“An odd thing for someone like you to say. You trade currency for a living.”
“No, what’s odd is that we exchange our paper money for items of value in the first place. One upon a time that paper was backed by gold. Not anymore. Before gold, we bartered for things. Maybe gold for food. Something of value was given in exchange for something else. It’s different now. This promise isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. The paper money printed today exceeds the value of the assets that back it, by a thousand-fold, or more.”
“What does this have to do with Edgewater and Nathan’s fraud?”
“It’s got everything to do with it. Reporting Nathan’s fraud means unwinding it. We’re talking about a huge sum of money, Kat. So much that it has repercussions far beyond Edgewater and the fund. Money’s been leveraged to the point that no one even knows what’s behind it—what’s going on any more. Any sudden shocks and the whole financial system collapses.”
“You’re exaggerating. Edgewater’s fund is just a fraction of the money in circulation. You can’t seriously think it would destabilize the global financial system. That’s not going to happen.”
“I’m not talking about Edgewater itself, Kat. Look where the stolen money went. To a secretive organization that wants to replace the world’s currency. If people get wind of this, they’ll lose faith in all their governments, all their monetary systems. They’ll cash in all their investments. A run on the banks. There’s not enough money in the world to stop it.”
“You can’t be serious. And don’t use this as an excuse to delay the inevitable.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying—everything’s connected.”
“You’re telling me the global monetary system is just created out of thin air?”
“Basically. It’s a very big poker game. Everyone thinks theirs is a winning hand. As long as that’s the case, they hold, and everything’s good. The minute they fold we’re in trouble. We can’t have everyone cashing in their chips at once.”
“But Nathan robbed Edgewater. You yourself said you wanted to ruin him.”
He said nothing.
At that moment, Kat saw that Zachary wanted exactly the same thing Nathan did—absolute power. He just had a different means of getting it. Nathan wanted to control the monetary system itself. In contrast, Zachary used trading as a means to exploit it. Both had the same end result. Values manipulated for their own personal gain.
“I am going to bring him down. But not at the expense of the markets and my livelihood. I’m getting the money back first. Then I’ll report it. Don’t shaft Edgewater’s investors, Kat. You’ll be ruining it for yourself too. For everyone.”
“Who’s ruining it? Sooner or later they’ll have to pay. Waiting just makes the inevitable more painful.”
“Nothing’s inevitable.” Zachary turned the monitor back. “How many Ponzi schemes do you think are going on in the world right now?”
Zachary didn’t wait for her answer. “Hundreds? No—thousands. All over the world, big and small. Most will never be uncovered unless and until there’s a cash shortage. As long as returns, money supply, and investors keep growing, no one ever knows.”
“It’s the same with the global monetary system. The assets backing it are a fraction of the paper money circulating. It relies on everyone not cashing in their chips at once. As long as no one panics, enough stays invested and everything works. Money stays in the banks, and investors keep their money in our funds. If that’s not a game, I don’t know what is. It’s dangerous to call a bluff when things aren’t in your favor.”
“I don’t get it, Zachary. What happened to exposing Nathan?”
“He’ll get what he deserves. After I recover the losses.”
Kat jumped as her cell phone rang. She checked the call display. It was the hospital. She’d deal with Zachary later. “I have to take this.”
The woman on the phone sounded in a hurry. “I’ve got a patient here—demanding to see you. How soon can you get here?”
Uncle Harry must be feeling better. This nurse sounded decidedly more polite than the two from last night. She probably didn’t realize Kat had been the one that brought Harry to the hospital. “How is he doing?”
“Not bad. A little incoherent, though. Muttering something about globalization and money.”
Odd. Harry usually tuned out her finance discussions. At any rate, she was sure he wouldn’t remember them.
“I was planning to visit in a couple of hours,” she said. This nurse’s demeanor was quite a departure from the supervised visits and suspicious glares. What had changed their minds?
“I’m hoping you can get here sooner, maybe calm him down. He’s threatening to leave, and I can’t stop him. He really needs medical care.”
“It’s the dementia,” Kat said. “He’s easily agitated in unfamiliar places.” Kat was surprised that Harry even remembered the World Institute and Nathan Barron, let alone talked about them.
“Dementia? I don’t think so. He appears normal to me.”
“He seems okay at first, but within a few minutes he’ll repeat himself.” How could a medical professional miss the signs? Harry would appear confused within minutes of striking up a conversation.
“He hasn’t so far. I guarantee you this guy does not have dementia. At any rate, he’s far too young.”
“Too young?” Uncle Harry could pass for years younger than he was, but he was still a senior. “He’s eighty.”
The nurse laughed. “Eighty? I don’t think so. Are we talking about the same guy? ” She didn’t wait for Kat to answer. “He doesn’t have any identification. Just a cell phone. That’s how I got your number. It’s programmed into his phone as an emergency contact.”
Kat’s heart skipped a beat. “Brown hair, blue eyes? Six-three or so?”
“Sounds about right.”
He’s alive. “His name’s Jace. Jace Burton.”