CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE, HAIRY RISK TAKER

With the help of NSA, Number Woman was able to go undercover as a bank examiner. By visiting the 6 large banks as an auditor, she learned that their presidents met monthly to discuss "bank management techniques". These meetings were not open to the public. As a matter of fact, they were extremely secret meetings. NW suspected that the meetings were used to plan their illegal schemes for bilking their customers. She also thought that who ever was conducting the meetings would have to be the leader of the sociopaths. She shared this information with Hairy who figured out a way to "bug" the next meeting. 

They learned that the Bank of America President was the supreme ruler of the Lords of Finance. His nick name was Slippery Richard. Hairy put a tail on him to find out if he had any unusual activities that could be used to embarrass and compromise him. What he discovered was so bizarre that he hesitated to reveal it for fear it would be too disturbing for the world to know. It was cruel, dishonest, and just plain sick. He asked NW to meet him at his penthouse so he could reveal the awful thing to her. He wanted to know what she thought they should do with the shocking information. 

To be continued... 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR, HAIRY RISK TAKER

When Number Woman arrived at Hairy’s penthouse, she said, “Holy shit, this place must be worth millions!”

 Hairy replied, “Yes, ten million, to be exact. I have done quite well in the insurance business and my connection with Warren Buffet has been very helpful.”

After Number Woman and Hairy got comfortable on the elegant white Wilshire sofa, he poured jasmine tea into some beautiful Oriental cups and asked, “How do you think we should attack the Lords of Finance?”

She said, “I think we have to identify the leader of the sociopathic bank presidents and ‘take him down’. We discredit and humiliate him. We do a tap dance that forces him to resign and promote a non-sociopath to the bank presidency! Then, we threaten the other sociopathic presidents with the same fate unless they resign.”

Hairy said, “Brilliant! I like your plan. Let’s do it. How do we get started?”

She said, “I’ll go under cover as a bank accountant and once I have identified their secret leader, we will meet again to execute the rest of our plan.” NW and Hairy did a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire tap dance routine to celebrate and NW departed.

To be continued…

        HAIRY RISK TAKER'S CHICAGO PENTHOUSE
                           

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE, HAIRY RISK TAKER

                                           
                                              BIG BANKS ARE
                                                 

After their plan failed, the Shadow disappeared and the Freelance Thinker went home to think, but Hairy was not giving up. His motto was, “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” He was not willing to let the big Merry Banksters continue their evil ways. The presidents of the 6 largest banks were stealing billions of dollars and not going to jail because they cleverly struck a cash- for- immunity deal with the Obama administration. The 6 presidents were the epitomes of perfect sociopaths. Each of them was capable of incredible destruction without accountability or remorse. They were predatory bankers and lords of finance.

Hairy decided that he needed help from the super hero who had saved Greece from corruption and insolvency. He knew that Number Woman was ideally suited for this mission. She was the best Krav Maga practitioner in the world, a crack shot with a hand gun, a world class tap dancer, a financial wizard with an extensive background in accounting, and she hated smart-ass bankers. Her alias is Jenny Reum, a mild mannered accountant. Hairy called her and she eagerly accepted the mission. They agreed to meet at Hairy’s  luxury penthouse in Chicago to work out the strategy of their attack on the Lords of Finance.

To be continued…

                                           

                                         THE FAMOUS "NUMBER WOMAN"      

REINTRODUCING HAIRY RISK TAKER

For the benefit of new readers of my serialized blog novel, I am posting a condensed summary of the forward to it. The story can be enjoyed and understood even if you start in the middle but I think the premise of the story is better understood if you have read this introduction:

FORWARD TO THE NOVEL, "HAIRY RISK TAKER"

In the technical jargon of the insurance industry, a risk exposure with “hair on it” is an exposure that is fraught with peril. It is a dangerous operation which is likely to result in huge liability claims. Only a few highly skilled agents specialize in this kind of risk. The hero of this novel is the top one of these agents and an undercover agent for NSA.  His name is “Hairy Risk Taker” He is a super hero with extraordinary skills. He has black belts in six different martial arts, his I Q is so high it is off the charts, and he can tap dance. He is handsome, charismatic, and his cheerfulness and contentment with life gives him a demeanor that exudes confidence. He divides his time between insurance, eliminating corruption in the business world, and neutralizing the enemies of the United States. He has some eccentricities but he is trying to make the world a better place by eliminating unfairness and injustice. So, he is a good guy. Hope you enjoy his adventures!

Chapter thirty-three will be posted soon…

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO, HAIRY RISK TAKER

Hairy, Harry, and The Shadow put their plan into action but the nest of sociopaths at the bank were formidable opponents. Without remorse or guilt, they seemed able to manipulate the public into thinking they were the good guys. They were immune to blame for verdicts of fraud and illegal practices. Amazingly, the President of the bank admitted that they faced losses from legal and fraud matters of $5 billion! But people continued to invest in the Bank because of promises of future profits. The only good news was that for the third year in a row, Bank of America held the dubious distinction of being at the bottom of the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Hairy said, “This is a blatant failure of the Obama Administration to properly regulate the banking industry. Power is maintained by illicit profits used for kick-backs to crooked politicians.”

The Freelance Thinker agreed and said, “Yeah, we need to find an honest, electable, candidate to run for office.” Let’s see if we can get George Teller to run for President.  He is the only one I can think of who could get us out of this mess!”

The Shadow said, “I know what evil lurks in the hearts of men but I can’t seem to do anything about it. Without George, we are doomed!"

To be continued…          

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE, HAIRY RISK TAKER

“Hey, come on, Shadow, stop clouding our minds and let us see you.” Said Hairy.

As he gradually appeared, The Shadow said, “Just having a little fun with you guys. Can you see me, now?”

 Both Hairy and Harry indicated that they could see him and they all began working on a master plan to identify and neutralize the sociopaths who were causing trouble in the financial industries. Hairy was able to convince the NSA Director to tap all the phones of the top corporate officers in the Fortune Five Hundred Companies and secretly access all their e-mails. With that information, The Shadow, using his psychic powers, could identify all the sociopaths. Then, Hairy Risk Taker would teach them how to “tap dance”.

Harry, pleased with their plan, could hardly wait to put it into action. He suggested they start with the Bank Of America Corporation. It is not only the largest bank; it is also the most crooked bank in America! The government saved it from ruin by pumping $45 billion of taxpayer money into it. Supposedly, this was done to prevent a depression. Since then, the Obama administration has looked the other way as the bank committed an astonishing variety of crimes—some elaborate and brilliant in their conception, some so crude that they’d be beneath your average street thug. It has cheated investors, insurers, depositors, homeowners, pensioners and tax payers. Bank of America is a Crime Syndicate! (Author's opinion)

To be continued…

CHAPTER THIRTY, HAIRY RISK TAKER, A NOVEL

Hairy said, “What can we do? By definition these monsters are impossible to recognize before they do their evil deeds.”

Harry answered, “There is a guy by the name of Lamont Cranston who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. With his help and your connections at NSA, I think we can neutralize these evil bastards!”

 “Great,” said Hairy, “how do we get in touch with Mr. Cranston?”

“He has a secret identity known only by his girl friend, Margo Lane. I’ll call her to see if she can get a message to ‘The Shadow’.” Harry dialed her number and when she answered, he said, “Hello Margo, this is Harry, The Freelance Thinker. I need to get in touch with The Shadow. Can you help me?”

Margo said, “He is pretty busy with his never-ending battle against crime but I will see what I can do. Can you hold for a minute?”

Harry said, “Sure.” In precisely a minute, a deep voice said, “Hello Harry, this is the Shadow. I know what’s on your mind and I like it.”

“Yikes!  I forgot about your psychic powers. Can you join Hairy and me at Iwan Ries & Co. for some brainstorming?

A mysterious voice, emanating from the empty chair between Harry and Hairy, said, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. The Shadow knows. Ha, Ha Ha.”

To be continued…

THE SHADOW                            MARGO LANE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE, HAIRY RISK TAKER

Hairy and Freelance Thinker agreed to meet at America’s oldest gentleman’s club, Iwan Ries & Co., located at 19 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL... Since 1857, the third floor of Iwan Riese has served as a quiet sanctuary for the brainstorming of men of distinction. Hairy was a long standing member with a private locker filled with Cuban cigars and rare single malt Scotch whisky. After they were settled in comfortable leather chairs in a secluded corner, clinked crystal whisky glasses and lit some very fine cigars, Hairy said, “Tell me more about ‘Sociopath Insurance’.”

Harry replied, “It’s a fascinating concept that could make you rich and famous; and help improve the World’s quality of life, if you can make it happen. It might even make you a hero. Mental health professionals refer to sociopathy as a non-correctable disfigurement of character that afflicts 4% of the population. These people have no conscience and are capable of extremely immoral acts. They are masters of manipulation. The problem is that a sociopath is almost impossible to recognize before they have hurt you, and sometimes, before they kill you!

Hairy said, “My God, these people are hidden terrorist!"

“Yeah, and not only that”, said Harry, “They wreak havoc on our economy.”

“How the hell do they do that?” asked Hairy.

“Simple, because they have no conscience, they are good at stabbing people in the back and rise to the top of the financial services industry where they do harm. Consider this: U S bank JP Morgan Chase has agreed to a record $13 billion settlement for misleading investors during the housing crisis. Although the settlement concludes the government’s civil investigation, a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice is continuing! And consider this: The European Commission has fined eight banks a total of 1.7 billion Euros for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rates. 

Big banks and big insurance companies are almost always run by these insane Sociopaths. We need to do something about this!”

To Be Continued…     

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT, HAIRY RISK TAKER

As he flew back home, Hairy was thinking about the Director’s instructions, “Go back to Chicago; maintain your cover as an insurance agent.” He was thinking that he was bored with the insurance game. He wanted something new to break the monotony. He had done it all, from Terrorist Insurance to Kidnap and Ransom Insurance and everything in between. He wanted to invent a new kind of insurance but he couldn’t think of one. He decided to call his friend, the Freelance Thinker. He hit the speed dial button on his secretly coded satellite phone and when the Freelance Thinker answered he said, “Hello Harry, this is Hairy”.
“Yeah Hairy, what can I do for you?”
 “I need some creativity help. I want to invent a new type of insurance but can’t think of one.”

“Well, my friend”, said Harry, “Considering that there are four thousand insurance companies and thousands of insurance types already in existence, that’s not going to be easy.”
 “Yeah, I know” said Hairy. “That’s why I called the famous Freelance Thinker. Help me out here.”
 “Okay, I do have an idea that might work for you. We will call it Sociopath Insurance. It will indemnify a policyholder for damage, loss, or injury caused by a sociopath. This is a real need in our society but no one has come up with protection for this serious loss exposure.”
 Hairy asked, “What the hell is the lose exposure?”
 Harry answered, “Sociopaths are dangerous people in our midst who sometimes destroy the lives of others. They are charming, manipulative, have no remorse for hurting others, lie to get what they want, and have no concern about the welfare of other people. They will secretly do horrible things to promote their self interest.”
 Hairy said, “Wow! I could use some of that insurance!"

To be continued…