(The events of this post take place several weeks after the events of the previous post—sorry, but some events must remain hidden for reasons of operational security.)
I stepped from Shadow into the quiet darkness of the pre-dawn wilderness just outside of our hidden haven. Inside my head, though, it was anything but quiet. Dark whispering voices cried out, expressing their hunger, their pain.
After four weeks of constant forays to locate and retrieve stragglers the Bat Cave was bursting at the seams with people. There were very few areas where there weren’t any cots or sleeping mats laid out for ORC’s or their family members. The Frau had been working hard to find each and every person as much space and privacy as the cramped quarters could provide, but even she couldn’t cast a spell that would create enough space for the nearly four hundred survivors that had been assembled.
I needed an opportunity to be alone with my thoughts and to deal with shattered remnants of those dark spirits that remained inside with me. Their voices had become too loud to ignore, too dangerous for those I cared about to be around me. But those chances had been few and far between of late. That was especially true since our latest raid on the headquarters of Bone Financial had stirred up El Diablito and his allies again.
Ravyn had been the impetus behind that raid—she felt it was vital that we inflict a little damage and inconvenience on our enemies. It had been wildly successful, but retribution against our few remaining agents and allies that hadn’t been hit in the first series of attacks had been swift and severe.
My hard-soled boots crunched on the stony ground of the hillside. Even the thick layer of pine needles and low grasses couldn’t keep my steps from scraping loudly in the stillness of the pre-dawn darkness. But the clamoring inside of those dark souls almost kept me from hearing my own steps.
The air was probably cold at this time, but I couldn’t feel it. I never have to breathe unless I need to say something, but even if I did my breath wouldn’t bring about any steam since my body generates no warmth. Extremely cold temperatures used to affect my inner workings, when I still needed the infusions of sugared soda pop to keep me operating, but ever since my encounter with Ma Grendel, flushing and gushing was no longer necessary—small residual bits of her life essence had fused with my body, providing all of the energy I would ever need to keep working. That same dark energy also healed my body of any wounds I suffered, usually within minutes, depending on how severe the blow had been.
Those things came with a price, however. While I had gained a number of powers and abilities over the Shadow and a huge host of memories from Ma Grendel, I had also inherited a darker side. Most of the time, I was able to control the urges, the hungers, or those evil little voices deep inside, but the more people that I was around for extended periods of time, the more those voices were able to play on my own innate insecurities and darker moods. With the Bat Cave as cramped as it was for the last month or so, I was getting dangerously close to snapping and doing some things that I would’ve regretted.
I turned uphill and began trudging to the summit of the hill, towards the Sacred Circle that mirrored the exact placement of the obelisk in the Shadowland.
Each obelisk was unique, but they all shared some powers. One of those shared powers was that no one, no matter how skilled or powerful in their use of magick, could locate one through the use of magick. Just like Drake had been, each obelisk was invisible to detection through any kind of magick.
John had told me that the obelisk was located at the top of this particular mountain, but that it could only bee seen in the Shadowland. I had to discover for myself though that the thing wouldn’t let anyone or anything approach it within the Shadowland. Even with the amulet that allowed us to use the transportation chamber below, it blocked all approaches to itself within the Shadowland itself.
The closest that I had been able to get to it within the Shadowland was a few hundred yards from the summit where it stood. It stood there in the distance, a towering pillar of obsidian stone that simply radiated power like a radio tower in the real world. It was easily a hundred feet tall and forty feet in diameter at the bottom. It narrowed gradually, coming to a point well above the nearest trees. Even at the distance I had been from it, I had been able to make out strangely glowing and moving runes that appeared at seemingly random points on the obelisk before they shifted shapes and positions, like a foreign language neon sign in Times Square.
I had tried every trick I knew of moving about in the Shadowland, including flying, but I could never approach closer than three or four football fields to it.
So I gave up on approaching the thing within the Shadowland and had decided to hike to the summit. I needed the time alone anyway.
Herne had simply nodded and clapped me on the shoulder when I told him I was going. “Good, you need to get away for a bit.”
“Have I been that bad?”
He nodded. “You nearly took that kids head off last night when he bumped into you. Go, recharge your batteries.”
I shook my head as I walked away. “If only it was that damn simple.” But Herne was right. I had spun around and raised my arm to strike before I even realized it when that kid of fifteen had barreled into me trying to escape his friend. He had gone completely pale as he realized who he crashed into and what I had been about to do.
The kid had stammered his apologies, but I was lost in my own world of dark whispers and a sudden hunger to exact revenge. Luckily for both of us, Cerrydwen had been passing by and rushed over to get between us. She, of all the people I knew, understood the darkness that lay inside of me.
She placed her left hand on my raised fist and spoke softly to me. “Easy, Rusty. Let it go.”
Her simple presence and her quiet reassurances brought me back to the moment. “Damn. What the hell was I going to do?”
She turned to the boy and waved him away. “Go on Darren, Rusty knows it was accident. He accepts your apology. Why don’t you and your friend there head to the library? I’m sure the Frau could use some of your energy to get that place organized better.”
Darren had nodded and ducked out of the hallway, glad to be away from me.
It only took about thirty minutes to reach the crown of the mountain from where I had come out of the Shadow, but in that time the first sliver of morning sunlight had begun to lighten the eastern horizon. The mountain was not particularly tall, but it was tallest of the nearby peaks. Even so, the summit was still crowned with smaller pine trees that leaned to the east from the constant wind. There was one wide area, however, that was barren of all growth. It was a circular patch of ground about sixty feet in diameter, with an inner circle about forty feet in diameter that was clearly marked out by deliberately placed stones, each no larger than a closer fist. The inside of the smaller circle was barren, hard-packed dirt, except for in the very center. In the center was a small set of larger rocks that formed the edge of a fire pit.
I recognized the spot immediately as the exact place where the obelisk stood in the Shadowland. By entering the circle of smaller stones, a person would be simultaneously inside the Shadow of the obelisk and in a place of power.
John had indicated that this place had been sacred to each of the various tribes of Native Americans who had controlled this land, that this was a place that shamans and warriors had come to participate in vision quests without ever knowing of the existence of the obelisk in the Shadowland that stood in that very spot.
As I approached the circle, I could feel the power of this place. The dark whispering inside my head reached a crescendo as they objected to my coming here, crying out in fear and pain, but I pushed them away and crossed the threshold. As soon as I did, they stopped as if a switch had been thrown.
I signed in relief as my mind was finally as quiet and peaceful as the outer world around me. I was alone with my own thoughts and just my own inner voice for the first time in weeks. I knew it had been bad, but now in the total absence of their hounding, I realized just how loud and obnoxious they had become. I needed to come here far more often.
As the eastern sky continued to brighten, I moved to the center of the circle near the fire pit. In the distance I heard the sharp, piercing cry of an angle soaring high above on the warming currents. Glancing up, I saw the majestic bird as it circled high above me before continuing on its own journey.
I smiled to myself and sat down. “Thanks, John. I needed this.”
I felt a tremendous welling of emotion as I thought back to all that John Red Bear had done and all that he had sacrificed for the greater good in a battle that had never been his to fight.
For the first time since I learned of his dealings with Drake, I found myself truly able to forgive him. Now that the dark voices within had been silenced, even if only for a short while, I could begin to appreciate all that he had given up to help Drake bring me to this point of self-realization.
The sun finally rose above the peaks to the east, shining gloriously on the verdant greens and deep rich browns of this magnificent land. I could feel the cleansing burn of the sunlight on my mostly artificial skin as it washed over me. The shadowy spiritual remnants of Ma Grendel and her thousands of victims cringed quietly, hiding deep within the cracks of my flawed and all-too-human Spirit.
This beautiful, peaceful feeling was better than almost anything that I had ever experienced while I had been alive.
Showing posts with label Bone Financial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bone Financial. Show all posts
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Zulu's Message
Dear Rusty,
As requested, here is a brief description of some of the loans that Bone Financial has detailed in its SEC application and promotional material. The material is all part of the public domain at this time, available upon request to any interested party. Quoted sections are taken verbatim from Bone Financial documents.
“The Bone Financial Life Loan is the ideal financial instrument for applicants who are highly skilled, white collar professionals that are working in industries that are undergoing significant economic disturbance, such as the auto industry.”
The Life Loan is designed to be the main financial product that keeps the company in the public eye. The premise for this loan is that the eligible applicant receives a temptingly sizable lump sum of money that they can anything they want with. They can use it to pay off mortgages, consolidate bills, to take large vacations, purchase businesses or other large ticket items that enable the beneficiary of the loan to seemingly change their lives in a qualitative way. The borrower then has a choice to make either monthly or quarterly payments to pay the interest on that lump sum. The size of those payments is of course dependent on the interest rate assigned to the loan, which is derived using a formula based on a number of factors such as the credit rating of the individual, their current income, their total asset/liability ratio and their expected lifespan.
“The true beauty of the Life Loan, and perhaps its most appealing feature for many borrowers, is that the payments remain relatively low because the borrower only has to the interest during their life.”
The balance of the loan is collected from the estate of the borrower. The borrower is required to maintain a term life insurance policy for the full amount of the loan balance plus a premium of at least 25%.
While the Life Loan is the product that is most prominently featured in their literature, the more puzzling product is almost hidden in dismissive footnotes as a philanthropic outreach program. This ‘product’ is called a ‘pre-mortem purchase agreement’ or a PMPA.
PMPA’s are essentially arrangements where Bone Financial purchases the rights a person’s body after they die. The literature is unclear on exactly why Bone Financial would pay out money to buy the rights to dead bodies, especially prior to the death of the individual in question, but they do make vague allusions to using the bodies for ‘scientific research.’ The customer sells away all rights to their body after death.
As part of the PMPA, the person who is selling the rights to their body receives a lump sum payment—the size of which is based on a formula that the company refuses to divulge based on ‘trade secrets’—that payment though will be reduced if the person wishes to retain the services of a Certified Mortuary Assistant who would plan and conduct the appropriate memorial service for the decedent when that time comes.
As you can see, our friends at Bone Financial have put considerable thought into this set-up and have figured out how to legally acquire a large number of dead bodies to which they will have full legal rights to use as they deem appropriate, although I would anticipate that there will be some local resistance to any facility that will be used as a warehouse for these cadavers.
I will continue to look for information that may be of value to you and your friends, but I want you to keep in mind that you will not have any support from the Bureau or the DOJ, so be very careful.
Take care,
Zulu
As requested, here is a brief description of some of the loans that Bone Financial has detailed in its SEC application and promotional material. The material is all part of the public domain at this time, available upon request to any interested party. Quoted sections are taken verbatim from Bone Financial documents.
“The Bone Financial Life Loan is the ideal financial instrument for applicants who are highly skilled, white collar professionals that are working in industries that are undergoing significant economic disturbance, such as the auto industry.”
The Life Loan is designed to be the main financial product that keeps the company in the public eye. The premise for this loan is that the eligible applicant receives a temptingly sizable lump sum of money that they can anything they want with. They can use it to pay off mortgages, consolidate bills, to take large vacations, purchase businesses or other large ticket items that enable the beneficiary of the loan to seemingly change their lives in a qualitative way. The borrower then has a choice to make either monthly or quarterly payments to pay the interest on that lump sum. The size of those payments is of course dependent on the interest rate assigned to the loan, which is derived using a formula based on a number of factors such as the credit rating of the individual, their current income, their total asset/liability ratio and their expected lifespan.
“The true beauty of the Life Loan, and perhaps its most appealing feature for many borrowers, is that the payments remain relatively low because the borrower only has to the interest during their life.”
The balance of the loan is collected from the estate of the borrower. The borrower is required to maintain a term life insurance policy for the full amount of the loan balance plus a premium of at least 25%.
While the Life Loan is the product that is most prominently featured in their literature, the more puzzling product is almost hidden in dismissive footnotes as a philanthropic outreach program. This ‘product’ is called a ‘pre-mortem purchase agreement’ or a PMPA.
PMPA’s are essentially arrangements where Bone Financial purchases the rights a person’s body after they die. The literature is unclear on exactly why Bone Financial would pay out money to buy the rights to dead bodies, especially prior to the death of the individual in question, but they do make vague allusions to using the bodies for ‘scientific research.’ The customer sells away all rights to their body after death.
As part of the PMPA, the person who is selling the rights to their body receives a lump sum payment—the size of which is based on a formula that the company refuses to divulge based on ‘trade secrets’—that payment though will be reduced if the person wishes to retain the services of a Certified Mortuary Assistant who would plan and conduct the appropriate memorial service for the decedent when that time comes.
As you can see, our friends at Bone Financial have put considerable thought into this set-up and have figured out how to legally acquire a large number of dead bodies to which they will have full legal rights to use as they deem appropriate, although I would anticipate that there will be some local resistance to any facility that will be used as a warehouse for these cadavers.
I will continue to look for information that may be of value to you and your friends, but I want you to keep in mind that you will not have any support from the Bureau or the DOJ, so be very careful.
Take care,
Zulu
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Chilled to the Bone
“I’m sorry, Rusty, but Dick Arnold has found some very strong backers within the administration. I’m afraid that there is nothing that we can hang an investigation on at this time.” I could hear the strain in Zulu’s voice even over the phone.
“OK, so I can’t use any Bureau resources, but you aren’t saying that I can’t look into things on my own are you?”
He sighed and took a moment before answering. “Your time is your own to do with as you please, when you are not otherwise on assignment…”
“Good. I’ll keep the Bureau out of this until I come up with something substantial.”
“Rusty…”
“It’s OK. I’m getting pretty damn good at keeping things separate when they need to be, I’ll be careful.”
“Rusty, you need to listen for a moment. This has gone higher than I would have thought possible. I tried everything I could do to get Arnold indicted as part of the cleanup of the Omega Project. But this Arnold has allies at the highest level of this administration. They worked behind the scenes to quash all of my efforts. The firm that represented him is chock full of former prosecutors and Justice Department policy makers, many of them from my former staff. Instead of getting indicted, Arnold has come out of this affair looking like a hero. I don’t know that you are going to be able to bring the Bureau in on this case at any point, especially if you result to any extra-legal means of gathering that evidence.”
“Well, I do know that he is back in business and that he needs to be stopped. Have you seen that damn commercial, that Bone Financial commercial?”
He sighed again. “Yes. It’s playing in every major media market in the country. I am hearing that there are offices scheduled to open in each of those markets within the next 90 days.”
“There’s something really fishy with this whole Bone Financial business. I know that prick, El Diablito, is involved in this as well. I don’t understand how they claim to be making any money at this whole post-mortem mortgage thing, do you?”
Zulu cleared his throat before he spoke. “I’ve seen some of the documents that they filed with the SEC, but I can’t claim to truly understand how this whole scheme works.”
“Can you at least tell me what you do understand?”
“Yes. I’ll e-mail you a summary of the key points of their various products and the spin they place on them in the SEC filings. The information is publicly available, so there is no concern in sharing it with you. Before I hang up though, I want to make it very clear to you, Rusty, that you need and your friends need to be exceptionally careful with any investigation that you engage in. Dick Arnold knows about you and I’m sure that he is taking precautions against any intervention that may attempt. Arnold may well have suspicions about me now. I’m quite sure that Arnold has the money and connections to employ agents of his own who will prove to be formidable adversaries. You will not have the backing or the support of the Bureau, so be careful. I will not be able to bail you or your friends out of any jams. Do you understand?”
“I do. Don’t worry, Boss, we can handle ourselves just fine. Oh, before I go, I do want to give you a heads up about something as well.”
“Oh?”
“You’ve read our report on Drake’s demise, right?”
He paused again. “Yes.”
“Well, I’ve had the task of hearing his damn story, and I can tell you that we’re going to be hearing from his father, Dracaar, sooner rather than later. I’m going to send you a message about some artifacts that are being held in various museums around the world. You might want to see that some extra security is quietly put in place at these places. I don’t know if we’ll be able to prevent them from being taken at some point, but we’re going to need to know when this stuff starts disappearing. That will be among the first signs that Dracaar is getting his bearings and is starting to make his move.”
“I see. I’ll be waiting for that report then. Good night, Rusty.”
“Take care.”
I closed the phone carefully. It was so thin that I had to be very gentle with it. I had already gone through two previous models in recent months. I slipped the phone into the pocket in which I normally kept it and zipped the pocket closed.
I stood up and walked back to the kitchen door of old farm house in Salem Township, a rural area on the edge of Metro Detroit’s suburbs, which I had purchased a few months back. I opened the door and stepped out into the night air.
The moon was full and bright, its shine bathed the wooded landscape in soft white light. Looking towards the west, I noted a storm brewing as a mass of clouds that obscured the stars crawled inexorably closer.
Winter was coming.
The question was, as always, how long and hard would this winter be?
“OK, so I can’t use any Bureau resources, but you aren’t saying that I can’t look into things on my own are you?”
He sighed and took a moment before answering. “Your time is your own to do with as you please, when you are not otherwise on assignment…”
“Good. I’ll keep the Bureau out of this until I come up with something substantial.”
“Rusty…”
“It’s OK. I’m getting pretty damn good at keeping things separate when they need to be, I’ll be careful.”
“Rusty, you need to listen for a moment. This has gone higher than I would have thought possible. I tried everything I could do to get Arnold indicted as part of the cleanup of the Omega Project. But this Arnold has allies at the highest level of this administration. They worked behind the scenes to quash all of my efforts. The firm that represented him is chock full of former prosecutors and Justice Department policy makers, many of them from my former staff. Instead of getting indicted, Arnold has come out of this affair looking like a hero. I don’t know that you are going to be able to bring the Bureau in on this case at any point, especially if you result to any extra-legal means of gathering that evidence.”
“Well, I do know that he is back in business and that he needs to be stopped. Have you seen that damn commercial, that Bone Financial commercial?”
He sighed again. “Yes. It’s playing in every major media market in the country. I am hearing that there are offices scheduled to open in each of those markets within the next 90 days.”
“There’s something really fishy with this whole Bone Financial business. I know that prick, El Diablito, is involved in this as well. I don’t understand how they claim to be making any money at this whole post-mortem mortgage thing, do you?”
Zulu cleared his throat before he spoke. “I’ve seen some of the documents that they filed with the SEC, but I can’t claim to truly understand how this whole scheme works.”
“Can you at least tell me what you do understand?”
“Yes. I’ll e-mail you a summary of the key points of their various products and the spin they place on them in the SEC filings. The information is publicly available, so there is no concern in sharing it with you. Before I hang up though, I want to make it very clear to you, Rusty, that you need and your friends need to be exceptionally careful with any investigation that you engage in. Dick Arnold knows about you and I’m sure that he is taking precautions against any intervention that may attempt. Arnold may well have suspicions about me now. I’m quite sure that Arnold has the money and connections to employ agents of his own who will prove to be formidable adversaries. You will not have the backing or the support of the Bureau, so be careful. I will not be able to bail you or your friends out of any jams. Do you understand?”
“I do. Don’t worry, Boss, we can handle ourselves just fine. Oh, before I go, I do want to give you a heads up about something as well.”
“Oh?”
“You’ve read our report on Drake’s demise, right?”
He paused again. “Yes.”
“Well, I’ve had the task of hearing his damn story, and I can tell you that we’re going to be hearing from his father, Dracaar, sooner rather than later. I’m going to send you a message about some artifacts that are being held in various museums around the world. You might want to see that some extra security is quietly put in place at these places. I don’t know if we’ll be able to prevent them from being taken at some point, but we’re going to need to know when this stuff starts disappearing. That will be among the first signs that Dracaar is getting his bearings and is starting to make his move.”
“I see. I’ll be waiting for that report then. Good night, Rusty.”
“Take care.”
I closed the phone carefully. It was so thin that I had to be very gentle with it. I had already gone through two previous models in recent months. I slipped the phone into the pocket in which I normally kept it and zipped the pocket closed.
I stood up and walked back to the kitchen door of old farm house in Salem Township, a rural area on the edge of Metro Detroit’s suburbs, which I had purchased a few months back. I opened the door and stepped out into the night air.
The moon was full and bright, its shine bathed the wooded landscape in soft white light. Looking towards the west, I noted a storm brewing as a mass of clouds that obscured the stars crawled inexorably closer.
Winter was coming.
The question was, as always, how long and hard would this winter be?
Bone Financial
(A deep throated voice speaks over the image of a harried, middle-aged man pulling his hair as he stares at a pile of bills spread out over a table.)
“Are bills mounting up faster than you can pay them?”
(A new image flashes, a soccer mom looks plaintively at her beat up minivan as smoke rolls out from underneath the hood of the vehicle.)
“Have you hit a bump in the road to prosperity?”
(The two now sit together wistfully looking at colorful brochures for a blissful cruise that they tearfully toss into a garbage can before they collapse back into their worn couch.)
“Don’t give up on your dreams just because life has thrown you a few curveballs.”
(A new day has dawned; the now happy couple is seen walking out the door of a cheerful looking building with Bone Financial writing in golden letters across the top of the doorway. The husband is clearly holding a check in his hand. As they are walking hand in hand from the building, he shows it to his wife.)
“Let Bone Financial show you a new way to the financial freedom to enjoy the one life you have to live.”
(The scene shifts to a young, fresh faced man with an earnest expression as he sits down on the edge of a neat desk. He begins to speak in a different voice than has been speaking up to the present.)
“Bone Financial is offering a suite of financial products that no one else can offer, no matter your credit history. We can help make your dreams come true. Come see a Bone Financial Advisor today to see what we can do for you.”
“Are bills mounting up faster than you can pay them?”
(A new image flashes, a soccer mom looks plaintively at her beat up minivan as smoke rolls out from underneath the hood of the vehicle.)
“Have you hit a bump in the road to prosperity?”
(The two now sit together wistfully looking at colorful brochures for a blissful cruise that they tearfully toss into a garbage can before they collapse back into their worn couch.)
“Don’t give up on your dreams just because life has thrown you a few curveballs.”
(A new day has dawned; the now happy couple is seen walking out the door of a cheerful looking building with Bone Financial writing in golden letters across the top of the doorway. The husband is clearly holding a check in his hand. As they are walking hand in hand from the building, he shows it to his wife.)
“Let Bone Financial show you a new way to the financial freedom to enjoy the one life you have to live.”
(The scene shifts to a young, fresh faced man with an earnest expression as he sits down on the edge of a neat desk. He begins to speak in a different voice than has been speaking up to the present.)
“Bone Financial is offering a suite of financial products that no one else can offer, no matter your credit history. We can help make your dreams come true. Come see a Bone Financial Advisor today to see what we can do for you.”
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
A Blast from the Past...Part 2
Jim leaned forward, his elbows braced on the table. “The second article discussed a new financial instrument that an obscure little company was trying to get approval for, post-mortem mortgages.”
I couldn't resist interrupting. “Post-mortem mortgages? How the heck would that work?”
“Well, the article was a little fuzzy on the details of how exactly these things would work. But essentially, this new little company, Bone Financial, was offering to pay out substantial lump sums to ‘well qualified applicants’ who agree to sell the rights to their bodies after death.”
Ravyn looked exasperated. “What kind of company would buy the rights to dead bodies?”
Jim nodded. “I was curious about that as well. In some countries, viable organs for transplant have some economic value, but in this country it is currently illegal to sell any organs from a deceased person. However, an interesting person from this Bone Financial was quoted as saying that the bodies would not be used for organ donation, and in fact, these applicants were not in any way discouraged from donating their organs, should they so choose to. The name of that person was what caught my interest. It was a guy by the name of Leto, Mr. D. B. Leto, to be precise.”
“Could that be the same…?”
Jim nodded at my question. “It gets worse. I also noticed that there was one final note about how this new company, Bone Financial, was ‘a member of the Mercury-Unlimited Group family of companies.’ Once I put all of that together, I was able to do some research on the Net. I was able to pull up a photo from the Bone Financial website of this D. B. Leto, who is listed as the President of the company. It looks an awful lot like our friend, El Diablito.”
“Son of a bitch! When did you learn all of this?”
“I was just putting all of this together between the games today. I was going to call you and let you know tomorrow, after I had a chance to do some more research on MUG and Bone Financial.”
“Do you know where this Bone Financial is headquartered? I think I may need to make a road trip.”
Jim held up his hands. “Hold your horses, Rusty. I’m still gathering the information on these two companies. Let’s not rush into anything blind. Let me put together a full dossier of all available information on these new companies, then we can get together again, in the real world this time, and then we can plan our next moves.”
The Frau sat back and stretched her arms. “I agree with Jim. Let’s not be too hasty. Let’s make sure we go into this next case with as much information as possible. I’m very curious as to how this Bone Financial can actually be planning to make money by paying out money before people die for their bodies, especially if they aren’t selling the organs. My guess is that there are a lot of hidden aspects to this scheme that we will need to puzzle out before we can really see the whole picture here. Jim, keep us informed when you have your research done. Rusty, you need to go finalize your little deal with Drake.” She looked knowingly at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Ladies, we have our own little project to finish, agreed?”
Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen nodded their agreement to the Frau.
I was curious. “Just what are you gals up to now?”
The Frau stood up, walked over behind me and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s women’s business, Rusty. When everything is ready, you’ll know. Until then, you’ll just have to guess.” With that, she walked to her portal, opened the door, and left.
Cerrydwen was the next to leave, simply nodding to each of us, although she did flash a brief, conspiratorial smile at Ravyn as she nodded towards her. She was at the door and out so quickly it was as if she had run.
Ravyn flashed a smile as she hugged Jim and I and bounced out to her own door.
I looked at Jim. “Any idea of what they are up to?”
He shrugged, downed another mug of Diet Pepsi, and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably best that way too.”
I couldn't resist interrupting. “Post-mortem mortgages? How the heck would that work?”
“Well, the article was a little fuzzy on the details of how exactly these things would work. But essentially, this new little company, Bone Financial, was offering to pay out substantial lump sums to ‘well qualified applicants’ who agree to sell the rights to their bodies after death.”
Ravyn looked exasperated. “What kind of company would buy the rights to dead bodies?”
Jim nodded. “I was curious about that as well. In some countries, viable organs for transplant have some economic value, but in this country it is currently illegal to sell any organs from a deceased person. However, an interesting person from this Bone Financial was quoted as saying that the bodies would not be used for organ donation, and in fact, these applicants were not in any way discouraged from donating their organs, should they so choose to. The name of that person was what caught my interest. It was a guy by the name of Leto, Mr. D. B. Leto, to be precise.”
“Could that be the same…?”
Jim nodded at my question. “It gets worse. I also noticed that there was one final note about how this new company, Bone Financial, was ‘a member of the Mercury-Unlimited Group family of companies.’ Once I put all of that together, I was able to do some research on the Net. I was able to pull up a photo from the Bone Financial website of this D. B. Leto, who is listed as the President of the company. It looks an awful lot like our friend, El Diablito.”
“Son of a bitch! When did you learn all of this?”
“I was just putting all of this together between the games today. I was going to call you and let you know tomorrow, after I had a chance to do some more research on MUG and Bone Financial.”
“Do you know where this Bone Financial is headquartered? I think I may need to make a road trip.”
Jim held up his hands. “Hold your horses, Rusty. I’m still gathering the information on these two companies. Let’s not rush into anything blind. Let me put together a full dossier of all available information on these new companies, then we can get together again, in the real world this time, and then we can plan our next moves.”
The Frau sat back and stretched her arms. “I agree with Jim. Let’s not be too hasty. Let’s make sure we go into this next case with as much information as possible. I’m very curious as to how this Bone Financial can actually be planning to make money by paying out money before people die for their bodies, especially if they aren’t selling the organs. My guess is that there are a lot of hidden aspects to this scheme that we will need to puzzle out before we can really see the whole picture here. Jim, keep us informed when you have your research done. Rusty, you need to go finalize your little deal with Drake.” She looked knowingly at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Ladies, we have our own little project to finish, agreed?”
Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen nodded their agreement to the Frau.
I was curious. “Just what are you gals up to now?”
The Frau stood up, walked over behind me and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s women’s business, Rusty. When everything is ready, you’ll know. Until then, you’ll just have to guess.” With that, she walked to her portal, opened the door, and left.
Cerrydwen was the next to leave, simply nodding to each of us, although she did flash a brief, conspiratorial smile at Ravyn as she nodded towards her. She was at the door and out so quickly it was as if she had run.
Ravyn flashed a smile as she hugged Jim and I and bounced out to her own door.
I looked at Jim. “Any idea of what they are up to?”
He shrugged, downed another mug of Diet Pepsi, and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably best that way too.”
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