“Obviously, I’m not in the position to say what will happen next. I will discuss it with, well, you know who. She will make the decision about how we go forward,” Von-Baer replied.
“Tell her Operation Muscat. Tell her I want the same; she will know what I mean. And tell her we stand together, or we drown together,” Werner had written.
“I have no idea what Muscat is, and it is not a good idea to be using threats, Herr Werner, not a good idea at all, given your present predicament,” Von-Baer said more sternly.
Twenty seconds later, Werner was ready with his message. It covered quite a section of the page. “Listen to me, rent boy. Do you think I do not know about you and the delegate fucking yourselves to death every night? I have contacts you have no idea about. If I don’t get Muscat, then you will learn about it the hard way. I will have someone tattoo the meaning on your cock, except it won’t be attached to your body any longer. And I’ll send it to the delegate so she can get it mounted as a memento of what you both had. Do I make myself clear, rent boy?”
“Crystal, Herr Werner. I will return within the week with her answer,” Von-Baer said as he stood and immediately walked towards the cell door, which was opened by a nurse guard on the opposite side.
Chapter Sixteen
Over the weeks since Cutler first had the meeting with Cheryl, he had laid out his plans in more detail, culminating in a full business plan. One of the main aspects was discussing Cheryl’s level of involvement. After several meetings, Cutler offered her a paid position as a researcher and director of the company. He had been impressed with her determination, and he had a genuine need for her research and audit skills.
Together they advanced the business plan to include human resource requirements; how many people they would need, what expertise and specialties would be required. The only thing that was not discussed was finance. Cutler had sorted it, and that was good enough for Cheryl.
Several days before incorporating the company, Cutler put in his formal resignation to the Secret Service. He travelled to Washington to meet Wyatt Rockman, his recruiter into the Secret Service. He discussed in detail what he was planning, leaving out the financial aspects. Rockman listened and gave advice but was not wholly convinced it was the major problem that Cutler thought it was. Rockman put this eagerness down to the loss of his sister. He assured Cutler that, should he ever want to return to the Service, he would assist him to get back in.
On his return to Florida, he discussed the need for investigators. Cutler told Cheryl he had put out some feelers and had several recommendations. Cheryl recommended Matt Rice, the photographer who had helped her. He was well known in the cruise line circles and could assist them with getting some inside information, and they could use him for his forensic and photography skills.
A photographer would not have been the first recruit in Cutler’s mind, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Cutler was impressed when Cheryl got him Matt Rice’s curriculum vitae. Matt had learned his photography skills as a coroner’s assistant in Tampa; with luck, he would have picked up some forensic skills as well.
Over the next few weeks, Cutler spent a lot of time with Cheryl. He had her join him on trips to Geneva, where they set up a new office for the company, which they had decided to call Marine Investigations Deaths at Sea, or MIDAS for short.
He was not overly worried about the Secret Service or the American government, as they had no idea about the $24 million lodged with a Swiss bank. The only person who knew was Richter, and he would not be popping up anywhere soon, as Werner would surely have a contract out on him.
Cutler was going to leave the main deposit to use to flush out the German politician who had run Werner. He was going to use the interest to run MIDAS, to recruit the personnel he needed and pay the expenses required. He had set aside $5 million in shares and amounts of $250,000 in small banks throughout the world as working capital for MIDAS. The remainder was to be placed in Switzerland. It would generate $1.7 million dollars per year in interest at current interest rates, plus whatever dividends the shares would bring. On the advice of a close friend on Wall Street, Cutler had purchased three thousand shares in a web-based search engine company called Google. This was the first release of shares by Google, and Cutler received the whole allotment of ten thousand Class A common stock shares at $85 dollars a share. Little did Cutler know that within twelve years they would be valued at $577.27. The original outlay of $855,000 would generate $5,770,000; he just had to stay alive for twelve years to enjoy it.
Over the next month, Cutler used all his resources to identify potential new agents for MIDAS. Cutler used his network of contacts in the security services, Special Forces, and specialists in the United States and abroad to identify potential new MIDAS recruits. The process took months of sifting through their backgrounds and interviewing the shortlisted candidates.
With Cheryl’s help, he set up an office in Everglade City. This was an odd place for an office, out of the way, and some two hours from the nearest big city of Miami, but in Cutler’s mind, it was the perfect place. Yes, it was hot, humid, and sticky for most of the year, but it was a one-road town with everyone knowing each other, and tourists and unwanted visitors could easily be identified. Secondly, he
