âYou might be onto something, Striker.â
âYou think RBN operations overseas are short of cash?â she asked.
âWhy not?â Bolan said. âIt makes complete sense based on the intel.â
âGiven the state of the world economy, itâs likely theyâre starting to see a rapid depletion of funds. They need to get more money from their investors or find new ones. But Iâm thinking the latter would take too long.â
âWhich means theyâd need to get all the financial data they could on those financiers,â Brognola concluded.
âStriker, do you think Godunovâs looking to crack that list?â Price asked.
âI think he plans to have Lutrova crack the New York financial network and suck it dry.â
A tail could make any number of mistakes, and Mack Bolan, aka the Executioner, knew most of them.
This time his followers had been in a hurry not to lose him in Bostonâs morning rush hour, and they got too close in the sudden logjam of traffic caused by road construction. Bolan had spotted the vehicle with two men in the front seat as he left the rental agency at Logan International. But what made him suspicious was when a second vehicle identical to the first, occupied by two different men, came up behind him. With their suits and sunglasses, all four were either government types or trouble.
Bolan bet the latter.
Fortunately, it didnât come as much of a surprise to him. A request from Hal Brognola at Stony Man Farm had brought the soldier to Boston. The President of the United States deemed it of some importance, a fact Brognola had pointed out when briefing Bolan less than eight hours earlier.
âThe man weâre interested in is Bogdan Lutrova,â Brognola had said.
âWhoâs he?â
âHeâs a Russian citizen who was caught by Customs agents attempting to enter the country under a false identity,â Barbara Price, Stony Man mission controller, had answered.
âAnd what we know about him,â Brognola continued, âis much less than what we donât.â
âMeaning?â Bolan asked.
Brognola pulled an unlit cigar from his mouth, an old habit that wouldnât seem to die, and sighed. âWe suspect that Lutrova is a member of the Russian Business Network. Youâre familiar with this organization, I presume.â
Bolan nodded. Yeah, he was more than familiar. The RBN was a multifaceted enterprise with its hands into just about every form of cybercrime imaginable. They ran child porn sites, botnets, spam scams and virtually any other internet fraud money could buy. The RBN had been elusive, nearly impossible to destroy, given their size and wealth. A large number of intelligence sources were keeping tabs on the RBNâs operations, but none ever seemed solid enough to get close to its heart. For some time now, Bolan had considered launching a full-scale blitz again the RBN, but he knew it would have required the full resources of Stony Man, not to mention weeks or even months of surgical strikes against key sites. When Brognola called and hinted at the possibility he might have an alternate way to get at the group, Bolan jumped at the chance.
âWe donât have any proof Lutrova was here on a mission for the RBN,â Brognola stated.
âWhat else might have brought him here?â Bolan asked.
âWell, itâs possible heâs on the run and he came here looking for sanctuary,â Price said.