Chapter 18

Elk City soon became a madhouse. There were more Federal authorities than letters in the alphabet poking their noses into anything and everything. All that official attention caught the attention of the news media, and they also descended on the town.

At first, it was just the local news stations. But then the word got out, and people started showing interest. That got the bigger city outfits’ interest, and they started showing up. That got the attention of the nationals and even a couple of foreign agencies. The feds were unhappy about all the attention, but the Elk City businesses were in retail heaven.

The media were just as intrusive as the feds in interrogating anybody who might have anything to do with me. They even went so far as to start interviewing tourists. None of them had a clue about what was going on but were more than happy to spout off in front of national TV cameras.

The feds insulated me from the media wolves as much as they could. They were claiming that it was an ongoing investigation. But that did not stop them from grilling me about what happened. They even went so far as to bring in a Blackhawk and flew me over the avalanche to describe what happened.

Eventually, the clamor for interviews got too loud for even them to ignore. When they realized that keeping me quiet fueled the media’s interest, they reluctantly allowed three of the biggest national agencies to have a press conference.

The Feds were holding me in one of Paul’s cells. They assured me I was not under arrest but that I was being held as a material witness. Which I knew was being under arrest without the rights of being under arrest.

Late one night, one of the Feds woke me up.

“Mr. Reynolds, sorry for the intrusion, but I wanted to have a private word with you.”

“Who are you? Which three-letter mob do you work for?”

He smiled and chuckled. “That’s not really important. Let me say that it’s our government, and I’m not here.”

My parents had not raised a fool. I had a good idea of what agency was involved now. “Aren’t you guys not allowed to work inside the borders?”

“Very perceptive, Mr. Reynolds. Not that it really matters, but if I was asked, I would say that I was not here and was currently in Paris talking to a delightful man interested in buying some adult toys for a certain country in Africa. He is an ambitious man who desires a more important position in that country’s government.”

“A roundabout way of answering and at the same time not answering my question. My next question is, why are you not here, not talking to me.”

“The main reason I am not here is to let you know that we know who you were dealing with. We have been watching them for several years. We have even utilized their services in the past.”

“Your actions have caused a certain furor in the back rooms of my world. Some of my colleagues are very upset with you. Upset to the point of talking about revenge. Others are not upset and have offered that this could be a great opportunity for us.”

“I see, and you are here to express that displeasure?”

“Oh, good heavens, no. I am an optimist when it comes to situations like this. You see, this allows us to step into the vacuum you have created. Before, we were in a position of playing second fiddle. Now, we can be the big boys on the block. The intelligence value alone is staggering. Think of it, we would have complete control of all the petty little conflicts worldwide. We would know who has what, where, and how much.”

“So, nothing will change other than the names of the players?”

“True, True. But I prefer to think we will be better able to handle the situation now. Rather than leave it up to the more unethical people out there.”

“And you are telling me all this why?”

“I guess you could say it was vanity on my part. I wanted to thank you and assure you that there will be no repercussions for your actions. As far as we are concerned, this is a closed book.”

“That’s all well and good, but what about the cartel? Are they going to ‘Close the Book’?”

He stood up and started walking towards the door. “Unfortunately, we have no control over those folks. We’d like to, but they are a tight-knit and protected organization. For the time being, they will continue as before. Hopefully, this will change in the future. But not now.”