Book 1 The Rogue Trader: Lion The Leo Hennessy Series, #1

By Kurt Theodore

A stockbroker is secretly stealing billions from a bank. The bank's CEO begs Hennessy to get the money back – without anyone knowing – including the thief. So Leo persuades an FBI friend to get a young hacker out of Leavenworth to help them. But when Leo uncovers a string of murders and a psychotic computer genius, he finds himself –unarmed – facing a madman who is about to execute the hacker, the agent and him before disappearing with the billions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kurt Theodore
• Release date: Jul 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516366859

Book preview

Leo

New York was in shock.

THE LION QUITS THE JUNGLE.

The Times worried. Leo Hennessy has made $6.8 billion by taking risks and turning them inside out. Why has the man some call ‘the last of the honest bankers’ decided to call it quits?

Bloomberg TV wondered. A small army of clients and friends has come to count on Hennessy’s ‘ingenious’ solutions to ‘impossible’ problems. So the question is: Will he turn off the ‘miracles’ in retirement?

Even Page Six chirped. As a widower of fifty-three, the man who invented the Risk- Reverse is New York’s most eligible goldmine. How risky is that?

What the media never knew was that Padraig Liam Leo Hennessy had learned – in Hell’s Kitchen, in the Marines, in the CIA and in too many Fortune 500 board rooms – to sense danger the way an animal can sense a coming earthquake.

And right now, Leo could sense danger in the frozen smile of his one-time colleague and long-time adversary James F. B. Pierce, walking toward him with a large brass trophy, as 650 dinner guests in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria rose in standing ovation.

Thanks, Jim. Leo flashed the famous Hennessy smile as he accepted the Wall Street Leader award. Then, turning away from the audience, What’s wrong, Jimmy?

Can we talk? Pierce muttered through clenched-teeth as the audience cheered and the cameras clattered. Leo nodded and turned again to the crowd to give his retirement speech.

Which was vintage Hennessy. My grandmother used to say, ‘We were so poor for so long, we got good at it.’ And made his roughhouse-to-riches rise sound easy, never mentioning the hard work, the long hours and the close calls with a world full of dangerous people. It was humble, thankful, and over in three minutes — while, in the back of his mind, Leo calibrated what could have frozen Jim Pierce's eyes with such fear.

Leo hadn’t called him Jimmy since their falling out fifteen years ago. And, much as he disliked the man's arrogance, he couldn’t ignore that look of helpless dread.

More applause as Leo bowed off the dais and found Pierce. Let’s go Jimmy, I’m not so good at being fawned over.

But first, of course, Pierce insisted on showing off his new trophy. My wife Charlotte? A hairdo in a tight dress, who measured Leo from shoulders to knees, until she realized he could see through more than just her dress, and turned away.

Pierce leaned in to kiss her. I’ll be late... but she was already talking to someone else.

Follow me, Jimmy. Leo brushed through the gathering crowd with brief smiles, quick handshakes, and thank-yous — until he was stopped short by a pretty young redhead, closely followed by a too-handsome thirty-something in a tuxedo.

Dad! Dad, you were great! As usual. Leo kissed her and turned to Pierce, Jim Pierce, this is my daughter, Elizabeth. Liz, Jim Pierce.

Oh Daddy! I remember Mr. Pierce...

Pierce gave her an air kiss. You were just a little girl...

Leo tried to hurry on, but Liz pulled him back. And this is Joel...

The tuxedo pushed forward and grabbed Leo’s hand. Joel Greene, Leo, it’s a pleasure...

Daddy! Listen! Joel and I are going for drinks with some movie people and we thought...

Sorry honey, Mr. Pierce and I have some urgent business.

Joel hung on to Leo’s hand. It’s a very exciting opportunity...

Leo squeezed back, hard, and glared. Sorry Joel. The movie business is a little too high-wire for me. Then gave his daughter a don’t-do-this-to-me look. I always figure, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the volcano. He winked at Liz, See ya, hon, and pulled Pierce with him toward the exits.

Only to be stopped again, this time by a well-built blonde in a beige business suit and a young black man — basketball tall — in a dark suit. Mr. Hennessy, very cool! The blonde shook his hand, while the young man reached over her, Really a class act, sir.

Come. Leo dragged the two of them along as he introduced, Jim Pierce, I want you to meet my new bodyguard and my new assistant.

Pierce shook the woman’s hand. What part of the business will you be running, Miss...

Campbell, sir, Mary-Alice Campbell — people call me Mac.

Leo interrupted with a laugh. Mac is my bodyguard, Jim. She’s a Marine, ex-Secret Service. With a wink, She just looks young. It’s Wayne here who’s the real youngster.

The young man reached out to shake Pierce’s hand. Wayne DuPre, sir. I’ve been a fan of Pierce & Pierce since college.

Pierce finally took his hand. What college?

Grambling, sir.

Basketball?

Never played, sir, then, with an impish grin, but Grambling does have a pretty fair pre-law program.

Leo hurried a little faster, Let’s cut to the chase, Jim. Wayne was summa cum laude, Law Review out of Columbia Law School, and it took a helluvalot to get him to come work for me and not Pierce & Pierce, so don’t get too chummy.

As they worked their way through the crowded lobby, Leo spotted a woman in a white dress surrounded by several beautiful young men. He stopped and pulled Mac’s arm to him, Don’t look, but the woman in white straight ahead of you...

"I know her, sir. Kathleen Cameron. Editor of Cachet magazine. One of the ten most powerful..."

Yeah. She’s going to bump into me so she can say, ‘Oh Leo? So nice to see you. Sorry I can’t stay and chat. Ciao!’

Leo moved forward again and the woman-in-white turned away and then back, to look up at him in surprise.

Oh Leo! she touched his extended hand, So nice to see you! Congratulations!

Kathleen.

Sorry I can’t stay and chat. Ciao! She moved away quickly, her entourage prancing after her.

Watching the woman disappear, Mac shook her head. So what’s up with her?

Leo whispered. Rumor has it, she thinks that she and I would make a lovely couple. With her magazine and my connections.

You mean your money.

So. As of now, Kathleen Cameron is one of your assignments. Be polite, but keep her away.  Change her mind. Tell her I died.

Got it.

Leo hurried his small group through the crowd, out the exit under the Waldorf marquee, and into the glittering sundown of Park Avenue. What a relief! He turned to Mac and Wayne. Jim and I have something private to talk over right now, so I’ll see you guys in the morning.

At the curb stood a white 1968 Daimler DS420, with the passenger door held open by a chauffeur in classic grey livery. Motioning Pierce into the car, Leo introduced the driver. Peters here is an old friend, and resident expert on anything you’d care to mention, right Pete?

That is the one question to which I have yet to find an answer, sir.

We’re going straight downtown, Pete, but don’t hurry.

As Hennessy looked over the line of limos behind them, he caught a glimpse of his daughter and her date, Joel, who was smoothly giving the women in the crowd a chance to admire his supermodel looks before ducking into their car.

Leo frowned — then beamed as he joined Pierce in the Daimler.

***

The car door closed and the silence was palpable.

Beautiful antique, Leo.

Don’t let it fool you. It’s essentially brand new.

But it’s The Queen’s limousine. Why such an ostentatious choice?

Simple. You can steal any car in the city and blend into the traffic a block away. But this baby is a one-off. Easy to spot. Even from the air. Risk of theft? Zero.

The classic white car slid silently among the other limos while Leo sat back, eyes closed, ignoring Pierce’s nervousness until...

So!

Leo launched the conversation, eyes still closed. An inside job, right?

What?

Somebody inside the bank. A trader. A broker. A manager. A guy you trusted. All of a sudden he’s ripping off the firm and the customers. Right?

You don’t know that! Nobody knows that!

Not even the board of directors, right?

God dammit, Hennessy! Who told you?

Just a guess. That stuff happens all the time these days. And anyway... he turned to look at Pierce, you and I haven’t said more than hello in fifteen years. Now, suddenly, you’re whispering, his fingers mocked quotation marks, ‘Can we talk?’

I knew it! Pierce sat up, red faced. I knew it! He reached for the door handle. You’re still bitter about what happened!  

"What happened?"

"I fired you!"

Leo closed his eyes, I think you don’t want to talk about that right now, Jim. I think you want to talk about the real reason you’re here. Tell me about this guy.

Well... Pierce sat back, I just can’t understand why any employee...

"Someone who should feel honored to have the privilege of working for Pierce & Pierce..." 

Exactly! Exactly! Who the hell does he think he is!

"And now he’s not just biting the hand that feeds him, he’s making you look like an incompetent ass!"

"God dammit!" Pierce started for the door handle again.

"Relax, Jimmy. All I’m saying is that that’s what the media will say. This guy did whatever he did on your watch. And the buck stops... Leo pointed a bottle at Pierce. Scotch isn’t it?"

Yes, thanks. Pierce sank back again, his long thin fingers shaking as he reached for a glass.

So how’s he doing it? Scamming? Embezzling?

I think he’s using the computer system.

How much has he taken?

Don’t know exactly. It could be several million.

Leo shook his head as he poured them each a drink. How long’s he been with the firm?

About three years. We hired him as a trader.

So, he’s a trader?

No. We’ve just moved him up to Senior Fund Manager.

Woah! That’s some jump! How’d he manage that?

I blame Uncle James.

Really? Leo stared at his scotch. I know you’re uncle is getting on, but from what I hear, he’s still sharp as a tack. How’d this guy get past him?

My uncle claims he doesn’t know how it happened. I let him handle the hiring — all those boring résumés — I deal only with our clients.

But isn’t your uncle James still Chairman?

Not for long if I have my way!

"Okay, let’s not get into that right now, just tell me how this guy got his hand into the money jar — from the beginning."

Leo leaned back and sipped his scotch while Pierce began. Three months ago we lost one of our Senior Fund Managers. And before we could even begin to look for a replacement, this young punk went directly to Uncle James. Said he knew these clients. Said he was more than qualified for the job.

And was he?

That’s the surprise. He was! He’d been trading the clients' accounts for three years, so naturally, he knew them. But, even more mystifying, he showed HR the résumé he had given them — and Uncle James — three years ago. Astonishing!

What d’you mean?

According to the résumé, he had a degree in computer science from Berkeley, and a PhD from Caltech.

"And nobody noticed all that when they hired him three years ago?"

I immediately asked Uncle James to step down.

Leo just shook his head and let Pierce continue.

Well, Uncle James refused to step down. He and I had quite a row.

Meanwhile, what about this guy with the PhD?

"He claimed the PhD was always there on his résumé. Of course our copy of the résumé had gone missing, and while we were searching for it, he threatened to sue. Said he was tired of being underrated and underpaid. Meanwhile, I had HR double-check the colleges. They assured us he was listed! We finally had to go along with promoting him —for fear of bad publicity."

Well, that’s the smartest thing you’ve said so far.

What do you mean?

"Jimmy, this just had to be a set-up. The guy obviously knew that, when he made his move, he would have you over a barrel. What happened then?"

Within a week of taking the job, the performance of these funds began to move. Not too much, but consistently one-or-two basis points above the average.

So, what makes you think he's taking millions?

He has fourteen accounts. I thought perhaps he might be planning to siphon off one million from each account.

You looked at the accounts? Checked the computers?

That’s another astonishing thing! As far as we could tell, everything squared with the firm’s computers. They all show up on the network. But when we tried to analyze them, they all seem to be locked.

Of course! And you can’t ask your IT people to look into them, right?

Good god, no! We might as well tell the whole world!

Leo closed his eyes again. Well, you have to confront this guy then! Order him to unlock those accounts! Find out whether he was lying three years ago or is he lying now!

But we’ve checked his college records.

Obviously they’re fake. Maybe digital forgeries. He could have hacked their networks.

We can’t prove that! He even provided us with photographs of him at Caltech.

"Right. Right. And the more questions you ask people about him, the more they’ll want to know why you’re asking, right?"

That’s the trouble, Leo! We can’t afford the publicity.

"And talking to this guy is too risky, right? Once he knows you’ve found him out... and you didn’t do anything about it? Suddenly you’ll be implicated, complicit, part of the cover-up. People will ask ‘Why didn’t you expose him from the beginning?’ "

Well... yes.

So he’s got you trapped!

Well...

"Listen to yourself, Jimmy. You’re saying this guy just flew in under the radar, took an entry-level job three years ago — and then suddenly popped up with a PhD? And that didn’t set off any alarm bells? The fact that he says he had a PhD three years ago, and when you offered him an entry-level job — he took it? That didn’t send your BS Meter into the red? None of this made you start thinking that this was a set up?"

Well...

"And instead of trying to spot some sort of pre-planned criminal conspiracy, you reacted by pointing the finger at your own people! Blaming it all on the Chairman! The head in the firm! The cornerstone of your corporate reputation!"

That’s not true...

"Don’t you get it, Jimmy? This was the trap the guy set for you. And you walked right into it! And now he has you so worried about the embarrassment, the publicity, the idea that you could get involved in his crime!"

Hennessy turned away and talked to the window. "This guy is counting on you to try to avoid publicity! But publicity’s exactly what you need!

No, Leo...

You’ve gotta come clean, Jimmy! Blow the whistle! Turn this guy in — to the cops, the Feds, the SEC, everybody at once! It’s the only way to go! Make the announcement yourself! Bring in the black jackets! Take the guy away in handcuffs! Make an example!

Leo...

It’s the only way!

Leo... It will ruin us...

It’ll ruin you if you don’t stop him!

Leo, a scandal could destroy us.

Bullshit! You could put up fourteen-million dollars out of your own pocket! Show some real class! Expose this guy for what he really is!

Leo...

He’s a thief! He goes to jail, where he’ll be appreciated by other thieves — end of homily.

You said it yourself, Leo. We’ll look like morons letting some punk pull off a scam of this magnitude, gaming our own computers right in our midst! It’s the embarrassment! Clients will pull away. We’ll bleed to death — slowly. I can’t let that happen.

So you’re trapped!

Well... Pierce shuddered. "I know. That’s why we can’t do it."

The Hennessy’s smile turned rueful. "You can’t do it, right? He took a thoughtful sip of scotch and waited for Pierce to answer, and when he didn’t, Leo answered for him. But I can!"

Well...

So, tell me how that works, Jimmy?

You’re an outsider, Leo. He can’t implicate you. You can deny it. You have a good reputation...

So have you!

For god’s sake, try to understand!

"I understand completely. You haven’t got the imagination — or the balls — to handle this, so you want me to do it for you!"

You have nothing to lose.

Nothing but my good name.

Oh, please! You come from a background... you have connections... resources...

Leo glowered. So! Now it comes out! I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen! Came up the hard way! All that crap! Doesn’t matter if I risk my reputation to save the Pierces of Boston and Newport!

It’s not me asking, Leo.

Who is it then?

It’s Uncle James! He’s in a panic! The prospect of a scandal! The embarrassment! He's frightened! He begged me to ask you!

Really? I still can’t believe your uncle James missed this guy. It’s not like him. It had to be a set-up. And now you say Uncle James is in a panic? That doesn’t sound like him, either. Sounds more like you!

Pierce sat forward and leveled a look at Leo that he hadn't seen before.

Hennessy. If there is a scandal! I won’t hesitate to sacrifice Uncle James!

Leo looked down and studied the Daimler’s carpet. It was a shade that Rolls-Royce called biscuit. He closed his eyes. Counted five heartbeats. Then quietly.

All right. I understand. So who is this guy?

I can't tell you his name. Not right now.

Leo nodded with a tight smile.

––––––––

Hennessy Tower. 8:30 p.m.

The Daimler gleamed under the lights at the entrance to a gracefully curved, 60-story white-onyx high-rise at the tip of Manhattan’s luxurious Battery Park City.

As the two men entered the glass-enclosed lobby, past a phalanx of security and onto the elevator, they continued their conversation as they.

Your uncle James gave me my first job in banking, did you know that Jimmy? Lured me away from the high-visibility-low-pay of the DA’s office.

I’ve heard that story too many times.

And he gave me the greatest gift...

Well, certainly... the Pierce name is a great credential on any résumé.

It wasn’t the Pierce name, Jimmy, it was the man. The man who everybody in the firm called ‘Uncle James.’ That’s a rare gift.

Really? It drove Father crazy. Till the day he died, the idea that his brother — a Pierce! — enjoyed giving away valuable advice and letting everyone call him Uncle James! Spare me the accolades! He’s a demented old man! He’s been driving me crazy...

We're here!

The elevator stopped at the 60th Floor and Leo led Pierce into the Hennessy penthouse — a two-story glass-over-steel mansion with office and living space, surrounded by large planted terraces — a tower-upon-a-tower, like a lighthouse at the river’s edge.

Two house-staff members greeted the men, but Leo waved them off with a polite Good night, thank you. Mr. Pierce and I will just be out on the terrace. He guided Pierce out to a planted terrace that felt like ground level, with unobstructed views of the river, the Statue of Liberty and the city spreading out around them.

Quite impressive, Leo.

Hennessy poured them each a glass of scotch from a hidden bar. Margaret designed it. He took a small sip staring into the class, I wish she could have seen it... then downed the rest and poured again, not waiting for Pierce to speak.

But, you’re right, Jimmy, you will have to do something about this guy — before anyone else finds out.

Exactly!

Leo looked out across the river to the sunset sky. Bastards of the Universe.

Don’t you mean, ‘Masters of the Universe?’

"That’s what they call themselves. I call them Bastards. Illegitimate puppies. They’re like con artists playing Three-Card-Monte with two cards. They find new ways to skim numbers off the market without caring about the value underneath. And they’re rotting the economy from the inside."

"Well, they’re not all that bad."

They’re the reason I quit the business.

I thought you retired.

I could feel the bubble getting thinner and thinner every time some genius would salt the conversation with words like ‘creative,’ ‘entrepreneurial,’ ‘algorithm,’ when all he was talking about was just a black box to keep everybody in the dark while he picked their pockets.

Well... the technology...

"Technology? Jimmy, nothing is too complex to explain. If you can