Policeman Jack came onto a lonely girl who was having major problems while out for a trek in a snow-covered woodland. He had the option of outing her right then and there, but he astonished everyone with what he did instead: Alicia, since she had been worried about her life for some time. Everything revolved on her late husband’s company.
She was drawn into his profession, even though she had no desire to be involved in it. She was running for her life now that he was dead. Paradoxically, it all began when a friend of her late husband was getting out of jail. They were all gathered around a grill to celebrate his return. It was then that he began to tell them about the clever scheme he had come up with to fake US cash. At first, everyone laughed at his ideas for fun, but as the discussion got serious, some of the people in the circle began discussing how to actually implement the ideas.
Pushing farther into the mountain, Alicia battled her way through the snow. She pulled the heavy weighted gym bag out from the brush and climbed farther up the incline. Everything that could potentially keep her alive and out of jail was in that bag, which served as her only means of survival. It was evidence and for the moment, it was the most valuable thing she owned.
The process of counterfeiting was predicated on a few straightforward ideas. First of all, Keith’s pal had mentioned that copying the paper was the hardest aspect of making a fake note. When creating paper, most banknotes go through a mold-made procedure where a thread and a watermark are placed. The thread is actually highly complicated despite its seemingly basic appearance; it contains several metallic, fluorescent, magnetic, and microprint features to increase security.
It is quite difficult to duplicate. However, Keith’s friend had devised a clever workaround for this difficult procedure: The size of all US bills is the same. You won’t notice a difference if you stack a $10 bill on top of a $100 bill and turn out the lights. His plan was to gather as many $1 bills as they could find, remove all of the ink from them using a chemical technique, and then print $100 on each blank bill. A freshly printed $100 bill emerged from the opposite end of the process after a $1 bill entered it.
A gully opened up into a lower part of the pine forest just above Alicia, and she could see a rock overhang concealed beneath fallen branches. This was a good place for her to hide out. Weary, she took hold of the bag’s canvas handles with both hands and pulled it up the gully in the direction of the cave. It held all of the currency that Keith had finally printed. After pulling the sack under the rocky overhang, Alicia closed the opening with branches and leaves. Here, at least, she would be protected for the time being. She cursed under her breath when she took in the bag and everything it stood for.
Despite the lack of interest in Keith’s proposal, he had nonetheless moved forward with his scheme. He obtained a great set of plates to print the notes on, courtesy of an acquaintance. His connections with the Philadelphia mob allowed him to assemble a group of twenty individuals whose sole goal was to gather as many $1 notes as possible.
These originated from dishonest bank representatives, accomplices, grocery chains, and one individual at the Federal Reserve. Had individuals not abruptly developed avarice, they may have potentially continued carrying out their scheme undetected for an extended period of time. However, something unexpected transpired next. At first, it appeared to be a godsend, but it soon turned into a curse.
Two transit vehicles carrying tattered and outdated banknotes to be incinerated at the FED were taken over by the mob. All of a sudden, there were enough blanks to grow a fairly small organization into a multi-million dollar business, and that type of growth carried a significant risk. That’s when she entered the picture. Alice was now fleeing for her life because of what they forced her to do. She let herself drop to the floor and attempted to inhale, but her chest felt as heavy as lead. Her mind was spinning; she was scared, and worst of all, she heard the sounds she had been fearing all along: a guy approaching her.
Jack Baker had climbed the peak today, although by a different route. He usually avoided the pine forest and stayed to the open areas during heavy snowfall. However, he entered the trees head-on today and made his way to the summit beneath the verdant canopy. In an underfunded police department, he was lucky to have a week off, and he planned to make the most of it. Hiking up a gully, he came to a taller stand of pines. He saw something strange in the snow when he emerged from the slope. There were footsteps on this portion of the mountain, and whomever left them was hauling a big object; therefore, he wasn’t alone here.
Jack took a close look at the signs. The drag marks suggested the individual was pulling a hefty bag of some sort, and the bootprints were too small to have been made by a man. Jack calmed down and concentrated. When he suspected it was a lady and she might be in trouble, they were at the top of the incline. It was also by no means a hike for the inexperienced. He set out to follow the tracks. It brought him into the edges of the pine area he’d observed before, and through the gully. Jack went to his knees at this point. He carefully examined the terrain and listened for any strange noises. Nothing.
Deep in the back of her overhang, Alicia had heard the man before she saw him. A cough followed by whistling reached her ears. Everything appeared to originate from the gully’s mouth below. The noises of snow crunching intensified, and she became aware that a guy was trailing her. She couldn’t identify the person and had to presume it was one of the goons from the mob who had followed her. There was nowhere to go. It would take only a few minutes for the man to notice her or hear her as he was too close for her to manage to escape via the opening in the overhang. She was only able to retreat farther into her hiding place’s semi-darkness. With her back to the rock face, she curled her fingers around a firm branch. It might also be used as a club if necessary.
Jack nearly failed to notice the opening leading to the rocky overhang; it was purposefully concealed by dense underbrush clumps. This, he thought, aroused his interest. When he pulled on one of the larger limbs, a shower of dead branches, snow, and pine needles fell. A woman emerged from beneath the overhang, howling like a banshee as she approached him.
With a four-foot piece of pine held above her head, ready to crush his skull, she was fully charged. Jack quickly sidestepped her and took hold of her wrist. He twisted it till she dropped her club on the way down, and then he used the leverage to push her onto her butt. “Whoa, that guy over there,” he exclaimed. He doubted that he had ever seen so much suspicion in the eyes of anyone. “Do you always attack friendly strangers?” he said.
The woman gave him a long, hard stare. Her breathing hurried, her lips curved into a nasty snarl. She still had too much adrenaline in her to let go. Jack believed that Alicia was uncertain about this man. Although he didn’t have the usual criminal appearance that Keith’s buddies had been exhibiting, he might be a hired assassin or a freelancer who was paid to murder her and dispose of her body. She had nowhere to go and was stuck. He also had a quarterback-like build. If she had to square off against him, she wouldn’t stand a chance. There would need to be a wit-war in this. The odd thing was, that guy didn’t seem to be carrying a weapon.
Jack made another attempt to talk to the terrified woman. “Saying, ‘Let’s start over,'” he spoke. “I’m Jack. I was on a hike when I came across your tracks. I figured you may be in trouble, so I followed them, and they led me here. Now, your turn.” Alicia wasn’t prepared to take the man’s words at their value. It made sense that he would be a liar if he was a mafia. She was a little taken aback that he didn’t kill her right away, but perhaps he had more sinister intentions.
Perhaps there was a reason he wished to keep her alive. He could hold her captive here for as long as he pleased because they were deep in the mountains and remote from any kind of civilization. Alicia didn’t even want to think about all the options. She said, “I’m Alicia,” a little nervously. She was about to say anything more, but changed her mind. It was best if the man didn’t know anything about her. The man questioned, “What are you doing way up here in the mountains, Alicia?” “Hiking,” she repeated, without providing any more details.
This is going to be tough,” Jack thought to himself. During his years on the force, he had developed the sixth sense that was necessary for most successful law enforcement careers. He was able to tell when someone was lying or hiding something, and this woman was most definitely lying. He said, “You have blood on you. Would you mind if I looked at it?” Alicia looked down at her left side, and he produced a first aid kit as soon as he opened his backpack.
The man was right; her shirt was saturated in blood, and now that she was concentrating on it, the wound throbbed like if somebody was jabbing it with a hot coal. It had been hurting for some time, but she hadn’t paid any attention to it since she was too busy trying to survive. “Let me look at it,” the man repeated, holding up the first aid kit to reassure her that his intentions were good. The girl, unsure, stepped forward and undid her shirt to allow him to see the wound, and Jack kneeled in front of her, cleaning, disinfecting, and bandaging the area around the gash on her side as best he could.
She was running on pure nervous energy. “You need stitches,” he stated. “We need to get you to a doctor.” Now that she was getting to know the stranger, Alicia was starting to feel more at ease with him. Why would he go to the trouble of healing her wound only to kill her later? That didn’t make sense. She was starting to think he wasn’t with the mob, that he was actually just out for a hike and happened to stumble across her trail by accident. She was about to tell him she was okay. “What are you doing up here, and why are you carrying that thing with you?” he said, gesturing to the bag, but he spoke first.
Pointing at the duffle, Alicia winced a little. Even though she knew it held the key to her freedom and possibly even her life, it still felt as though it held all of her issues, and she wasn’t quite sure how to handle them. Jack inquired, “What do you have in there anyway?” Alicia buried her face in her hands, as he appeared truly concerned for her. “That bag contains an entire story,” she remarked. “My life is in there, and possibly my death too.” “That’s mysterious,” Jack remarked. He extended a flask of steaming cocoa towards her.
Start at the beginning, tell me as much or as little as you want, and we’ll see if we can find a way to get you off this mountain.” Alicia made the decision to notify him about the counterfeiting enterprise without hesitation. She told him, without giving too much away, that everything had gone wrong and that she was now running for her life. “I require more,” Jack remarked. Alicia said, “Why are you in trouble?” before deciding, “What the hell?” They needed a way to get the counterfeit currency into the mainstream when the guys started to make big money when the counterfeit notes became more than any person could spend in a day,” she explained. Jack questioned, “And that’s where you came in?” Alicia gave a nod.
The mob guys organized a job for me at a big store. I was responsible for preparing the daily cash-up for three of the biggest branches in the country. My sole purpose was to switch cash.” “You exchange the fake notes for real ones,” Jack shot back. “After that, bags full of real money would be included in the store’s daily deposits, together with the counterfeit currency. Very clever, in fact,” Alicia gave another nod. Jack raised an eyebrow and asked, “The trouble is,” she started, “I got caught. The store took no more than six weeks to realize what was going on. They want to kill you now that I named people when I was brought in, I assume so,” she responded. “The assembly never forgets.
I just started to run. And I’m still going strong. In addition, I don’t now have a plan, but I soon will,” Jack thought this over swiftly and carefully. He asked, “What’s in the bag once more?” Alicia held back. Eventually, she went on, “7 million in counterfeit cash, and it can all lead to the plates in the main counterfeiting operation. I also have notebooks with names, dates, locations, persons, techniques, networks of distribution, and other information in them.” Jack whistled a little and quietly, “7 million,” he said, sounding surprised. “See, I believe I can keep you safe.
Avoid running away in fright. However, I work as a detective and a local police officer. My recommendation is that you be taken off this mountain, have the wound examined, and be placed under protective custody right now. Forever hiding,” she said in a sarcastic manner. “Sounds like fun,” Jack explained. “Counterfeiting is a federal crime, and it’s handled by the Secret Service. Those guys don’t play around. We’ll get them in, you tell them the whole story, and we take the whole gang down. Then we can decide on the next steps.” Alicia got to her feet. The discomfort in her side made her wince. “I have no more options,” she murmured. “You’re the only one I’ve got. Let’s do it.”
Once back in town, things moved quickly. Jack’s friend, a physician, attended to Alicia’s wound at home. He made the required calls and kept her presence a secret. He was informed that three agents from the Secret Service would reach their destination the next day. Meanwhile, Jack put certain security measures in place. Alicia was placed in his basement and kept out of the way of all the windows. The Secret Service agents came in town the following afternoon.
They headed directly toward Jack’s house, where he directed them to park the unremarkable government sedan around the back of the building. They spoke with Alicia for three days, examined her journals, and heard her justifications. No one was the wiser when calls were placed and an operation was organized. When the car finally drove away, one of the agents turned to face Jack and said, “This is probably the safest place for her to stay while we start a takedown in the coming week.
Could you keep her here for a few days?” National publicity was generated by the Secret Service’s takedown of one of the most successful and elusive counterfeiting enterprises with mob connections in US history. A week later, the A-list of organized crime was among those arrested. Almost immediately, the dominoes began to fall, and the names read like a list from a gangster movie. Alicia was most afraid that she would have to give a statement. If it came to it, the Secret Service advised her to do it on camera without ever leaving the city.
And she could testify without running the risk of death because she had Jack’s hand firmly in hers. Four months later, the legal case was over. Jack announced the news, handing out hefty prison sentences and informing the Secret Service that Alicia was no longer in immediate danger. “That means you can go your own way now,” he continued.
You’re not a prisoner anymore.” Alicia said, biting her lower lip, “Are you ready for me to leave?” With a slow shake of his head, Jack replied, “No, I don’t. What I want is to take you out to dinner, and maybe we can move your stuff from the basement when we get back. There’s a story now where things looked hopeless, but they turned out to be totally successful.”
