Page 74 of Nash Falls

After this truly eye-opening discussion with his daughter, Nash wanted to tell her all that was going on with the FBI. But he knew he couldn’t. It might get them all killed.

“Dad, you okay?”

Nash looked at her, saw the worry in her features.

He gripped her hand. “I’m just enjoying the moment, sweetie. That’s all. Moments like this you need to hold on to. Because tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.”

CHAPTER

36

NASH KNEW HOW TO MOVEmoney around. The U.S. government had deposited the funds into a special account. Before he left for the office the following Monday he transferred those funds into another account that he had set up and to which only he had access. And then, to be sure he left no trace of the funds, he moved it to yet another account he had also set up because, for him, the philosophy of belts and suspenders was a way of life.

With that done, he contacted Agent Morris on the secure messaging app.

He told the agent that he had business meetings in New York the following week that would require an overnight stay. He gave him his travel info and requested that a meeting with the FBI take place.

Nash then drove to his office and ran into Barton Temple in the hallway outside his son’s office.

“Walt, long time no see, how the hell are you?” said Barton, extending a hand.

The men shook and Nash said, “Fine. It’s good to see you. I… I suppose Rhett has filled you in about… things?”

“Come on, Walt, I don’t know how we’ve kept you this long. A man has to look out for himself. And he told me about your daughter. Hard to believe she’s an adult. And as pretty as her mother.”

“Thank you. Are you here to see Rhett?”

“Yeah, it’s my time to kick him in the ass on his numbers. Don’t let me keep you. Just go on and keep making me money.” He added a laugh and a hard slap on Nash’s arm.

Nash went to his office and closed the door. He suddenlyloathed this place and everyone in it. And although the FBI had not mentioned Barton Temple’s involvement in criminal activity, Nash instinctively knew that if Rhett was working with Victoria Steers he was not doing so without his father’s knowledge. Rhett was not that smart, tactical, or strategic, while Barton was all of those things. He was also not above bending rules or breaking laws if it served him.

If Barton got himself and his son into business with Steers, the question was why.

Firmly ensconced on theForbeslist, Barton Temple was one of the four hundred wealthiest people in the world.

Or was he?

The issue was that Temple had legions of companies, spread across the world. Only he really knew the status and fortunes of each, and how it all came together—the intricacies, the entanglements, the shared debt loads, the source and flexibility of cash flow, the strength of various markets, the under- and overexposure to certain asset classes, the labyrinth of accounts, blank walls, and shell companies pretty much immune to any official scrutiny or oversight. Nash’s access was limited to planet Sybaritic. The rest of this financial universe belonged solely to Barton Temple.

But you could do some sleuthing on that, Nash.

He got to work.

Barton eyed his son over the width of the desk for so long that Rhett finally exclaimed, “What?”

“Saw Walt out in the hall. He looks happy.”

“He should be. I just off-loaded a bunch of money to the guy. Just like you told me to.”

“Best investment you’ll ever make, trust me.”

“Come on, granted he’s good, but you make it sound like he’s Warren Buffett 2.0.”

“In my mind he’s better.”

“You’re not serious,” sputtered Rhett.

“Taking nothing away from the Oracle of Omaha, but he mostly sticks to the tried-and-true companies and just sits on them. What Nash does is find the new crown jewels before anyone’s heard of them. In the last fifteen years over seventy percent of the companies he invested in or acquired outright have either gone public or were sold for a ten-bagger,” Barton said, referring to a thousand percent return. “His clear misses?” Barton held up one hand and bent down two fingers. “This many. Name me anyone else who’s done that in our industry where the failures far outweigh the wins.”