The Special Agent Jana Baker Spy-Thriller Series

To Move Money

9

To Move Money

Jana’s mind swirled with questions as she walked to the office the next morning. The meeting with Agent Stone had been disturbing and exhilarating all at the same time. The danger of what she might have to do scared her, but it was the accompanying adrenaline rush that surprised her.

Growing up on the farm in Tennessee, she had become accustomed to such different surroundings. Sitting on her grandfather’s lap as a child while they ate supper on the porch, helping her grandmother cook, and riding the tractor. But by the time she was in her teens, Jana knew the farm was not in her blood. She loved her grandparents dearly, and the farm would always hold a special place in her heart, but she knew her destiny lay elsewhere.

And something else boiled inside her, a recurring thought that one day she would go through a series of trials, trials designed to test her, and the notion was frightening. Where these feelings came from she did not know, but perhaps having lost her parents at such an early age stirred up the perfect undercurrent of drama that set the stage for things to come. Whatever was bubbling inside made her realize an adrenaline junkie was buried beneath her cool, proper exterior. But it was more than that. She also had the feeling that she was meant for something important, and being involved in this case fit the bill.

At the end of her junior year in high school, her application to Georgetown University came as a shock to her grandfather. He had hoped she would stay nearby, perhaps majoring in agricultural sciences. With his wife of fifty-two years, and only child resting quietly in the cemetery of the First Baptist Church just a mile from the farm, the gentle man had always hoped he could pass the land to Jana. But the land was something that needed tending, something that required full-time attention, and in his estimation, it was not in Jana’s heart.

So it was with crinkled eyes and a crooked smile that he hugged Jana goodbye just before she drove away to begin undergraduate studies. He died during the second semester of Jana’s freshman year. As far as having family was now concerned, Jana was alone.

Back in Manhattan, she approached the reflective glass doors of the headquarters of Petrolsoft Corporation and stopped to look up at the building, silhouetted in brilliant morning light. “No backing out now,” she said.

By the time she got to her desk, her nerves were already getting the best of her. “Miss Baker?” she heard from Rune Dima’s office.

“Coming, sir.” Jana dropped her purse on the desk and went in.

The CFO, Jeffrey Dima, who was standing behind Rune, looked her up and down. Jana saw that his eyes stopped and held at her chest. “You look very nice this morning, Miss Baker,” Jeffrey said. Jana felt a slight twinge of repulsion. Really? she thought. Look me in the eye. I’m up here, you prick. But, “Thank you, sir,” was all that she said.

“We’ve got another assignment for you,” Rune said. “You had a minor in finance, correct? And a Series 7 stock broker’s license.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, it’s time for a crash course in banking and investing one-oh-one. Each morning, we’ll hand you a spreadsheet. On this spreadsheet will be a list of financial transfers to be made that day. You will transfer money from our various bank accounts and place the investments in hedge funds you have researched for us. The reasons we are doing this are complex, so I won’t bore you with those. But we’ve set you up as an authorized signatory with our different financial institutions for this purpose. Jeffrey here will give you the details, but essentially you’ll be transferring funds from one place to another so the hedge managers can invest our money. You think you can handle that?”

“Certainly. But, sir? I hope you don’t mind me asking, but isn’t this normally the kind of thing done in Petrolsoft’s finance and accounting group?”

“Typically, yes. But don’t worry about that right now. In fact, it would be best if you didn’t mention your work to them. They might get the wrong idea. In fact, Miss Baker, what we’re doing, these investments, everything is to be treated with utmost confidentiality. If the information about what we’re investing in gets leaked, the Securities and Exchange Commission might construe it as passing corporate secrets, insider trading, okay? I’d hate to see you get into trouble. It’s critical that we not break the trust.”

“It’s not a problem, sir.”

“That will be all, Miss Baker.”

Jana retreated toward her desk and shut the door as she left. Keep this information confidential? Not break the trust? The first thing I’m going to do is break the trust. She went to the women’s room, found the first open stall, and sent a text to Agent Stone.