Page 125 of The Atlas Maneuver

“One thing years of bucking authority has taught me is that you don’t stop bucking. I want them in jail too.”

“Was it necessary to kill Townley?”

“He killed Rob. Eye for an eye.”

“The Swiss might look at this another way.”

“Kristin could not care less that that fool is dead. She’s a tough cookie. And I really don’t give a crap what the Swiss think. Their damn banking secrecy laws are what fueled all this. They’re only here now, Johnny-on-the-spot, because the White House has intervened and they don’t want a PR nightmare.”

The men with torches finished their work and removed the keypad from the wall. They then began working on the wiring beneath. Jeanne watched it all from a few meters away, just outside the wash of the portable lights. They’d brought down a small temporary power source to operate the door’s locking mechanism. Once opened they would disconnect the power, hopefully leaving the metal harmless.

Jeanne’s radio crackled.

Neither Cassiopeia nor Koger could hear what was being reported as she wore an earpiece. All they heard wasthank youandmaintain position.

“A contingent of CIA officials are outside,” she said to them. “They are demanding to be allowed inside, claiming any gold found here is theirs.”

“Pretty damn bold,” Koger said, “considering they’ve been hiding their ownership for eighty years. Not to mention that it’s all stolen war loot.”

“Which could work to our advantage,” Cassiopeia said. “Frau Jeanne, do you have media contacts?”

“Many.”

“Perhaps it’s time to alert them to what’s happening here.”

Cassiopeia caught the glint in Koger’s eyes.

He pointed toward her. “I like the way you think.”

“We’re ready to open the door,” one of the men called out.

Jeanne signaled that they should proceed.

One of the men did something that caused a click. A slight hiss of air and the thump of pneumatic bolts signaled a release. The men disconnected the battery, then checked the door with voltage meters, signaling all was safe. One of them swung the metal panel open and motioned for the others to hold for a moment as they cautiously entered the room with flashlights.

“There’s a cutoff switch,” one of the men called out. “It disarms the voltage. I have activated it, just in case.”

Jeanne used a portable radio and contacted more of her team, instructing them to switch the power back on. Lights sprang to life. Fluorescent ceiling fixtures illuminated the vault. The two men again tested the door and the jamb with voltage meters and indicated that all was clear.

Cassiopeia followed Koger and Jeanne inside.

The room beyond was maybe twenty meters square, the walls more stainless steel, the floor concrete. Which brought a measure of comfort since concrete was not an electrical conductor. Wooden crates in rows were stacked five-high. Several hundred, at least. Koger stepped over to one stack and tested the weight of the upper container.

“Super heavy,” he said.

Jeanne motioned and her two men brought the crate to the floor, then pried off the lid, which had been nailed down. Before removing it she dismissed them both and they left the vault.

Cassiopeia understood. The fewer eyes the better.

Koger crouched down and removed the lid, revealing stacks of shiny gold bars. Each stamped with a number. He lifted one out and gave a low whistle that said what they were all thinking.It really does exist.“I was told they smelted down all the Nazi andJapanese stolen gold and made new bars. Each with its own number for inventory. Amazing how careful they were with other people’s wealth.”

Cassiopeia heard the disgust in his voice. “It’s got to be one of the largest caches of gold on the planet.”

“By far,” Jeanne added. “This is a quantity of gold that nations maintain, and only precious few can even do that.”

“Like you pointed out, this gold came from millions of people dying,” Koger said. “It’s blood money. Used by so many, for so long, for God knows what. That’s now over.”

“I will issue a confiscation order,” Jeanne said. “We will take charge of this entire vault. The claims of ownership for all this will be countless.”