Simultaneously, across town in a high-rise downtown condo, Thomas Kessler was wide awake, sweating through his shirt. He hadn't been able to sleep since seeing the DOD warning screen. He was sitting at his computer, frantically trying to move his hidden, illicit funds from an offshore Cayman account into a decentralized cryptocurrency wallet. He needed to hide his assets and figure out an exit strategy.
He clicked refresh on his Cayman banking portal. The balance, which had read $412,000 just ten minutes prior, suddenly flickered. The numbers rolled downward like a slot machine until the screen read $0.
Kessler gasped, slamming his hand against the desk. "No, no, no!"
He frantically clicked through the transaction history. There was only one outgoing wire transfer executed just seconds ago, routing the money through a dozen shell companies before vanishing entirely. The memo line on the wire transfer read: Restitution, one of two.
Kessler's phone vibrated on the desk, nearly making him jump out of his skin. The caller ID was restricted. He answered it, his breathing shallow. "Hello?"
There was no voice on the other end, just the distinct, rhythmic clicking of a dial on a heavy floor safe being spun. Then a soft, familiar voice spoke:
"You guys really should have checked my references, Tommy."
The line went dead.
The hunters were now the hunted, and the ghost of JSOC had just locked onto his targets.
By 4:15 a.m., the Georgia rain was coming down in sheets, hammering against the windshield of Garrett Riggins's unmarked Dodge Charger. He was parked under the flickering amber glow of a broken street lamp behind an abandoned strip mall in Decatur. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
The passenger door wrenched open, and Thomas Kessler slid into the front seat, soaking wet and looking like a ghost. He didn't bother saying hello.
"My Cayman accounts are zeroed," Kessler said, his voice trembling, lacking all the cynical confidence he had displayed just hours earlier at the cigar lounge. "$412,000 evaporated, routed through twelve different decentralized exchanges in three seconds. He took it all, Garrett."