THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS (Volume 1 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 43

Three government-issue, dark blue Fords slowly rolled into the parking area of Mike's office at precisely 10 a.m. the following day. One stopped to block the entrance to the lot, and another blocked the exit. William Dare and two muscular agents emerged from the middle car and marched to the front door.

When Mike saw the three cars through the window of his office, he went directly to the front door and opened it. "May I help you?" he asked.

Dare stepped forward. "Are you Michael King?" he barked.

"Yes."

Dare immediately removed his badge and held it up for Mike to see.

"Mr. King, my name is William Dare. I'm an inspector with Canada's Security Intelligence Service. We have sufficient reason to believe that you and your company have been involved in unlawful activity. In that connection, we have a warrant authorizing us to search this premises, and to seize whatever material we deem necessary to support that belief. I would strongly advise you to cooperate with us in every way possible, sir. If you refuse, you will do so at your peril."

Dare replaced his badge, and then showed Mike the warrant.

"May I ask what the sufficient reason is?" Mike asked, staring at the warrant in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not at liberty to disclose that to you at this time," Dare replied. His face was stone.

Adrenaline rocketed through Mike's blood vessels. "May I ask what you're looking for? Maybe I could save you some time."

Dare's eyes narrowed. "Mr. King, could you confirm that you are the sole owner of XG Petroleums?"

"Yes."

"Could you also confirm that XG Petroleums has recently been purchasing gasoline from a company by the name of Reserve Oil?"

"That's correct."

"Do you have records of those purchases?"

"Yes."

"Where would those be?"

"Everything related to those purchases is in a filing cabinet in my office." Mike led Dare and the two agents to his office. "In there," he said, pointing to a gray metal cabinet against the wall behind his desk. Dare's two agents opened the cabinet and removed all paper related to transactions between XG Petroleums and Reserve Oil. As each file was removed, it was placed on the floor in one of several growing piles. When the cabinet was emptied, the stacks of invoices and files were bundled and taken out to the waiting cars.

Dare interrupted Mike's deliberations. "We've completed our work here, Mr. King. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you. As you can see, we've found it necessary to remove some of your files. If you require the use of such files while they're in our possession, please contact me at this address in Toronto." He handed his card to Mike.

"How long do you plan to keep them?"

"I'm unable to answer that question at this time, but I will contact—"

"Mr. Dare!" Mike interrupted. "I'm a tax-paying citizen of this country and I have never knowingly broken the law! What you and your agents have done here today is a travesty and a violation of my rights!"

"I'm sorry if we have inconvenienced you, Mr. King. I can assure you that we have operated entirely under the process of law," Dare said. He turned and left Mike's office with his two agents following.

Mike waited until the door closed behind them, and then rushed to his desk and placed a call to Marc Peterson, a partner in the large and prestigious law firm of Turner, Peterson, Greenwell, and Worthy. "I think I'm in some kind of trouble, Marc. I need your advice. I had a visit by five CSIS agents this morning. They just came in here like Nazis and took my files."

"All of them?"

"No. Only the ones related to our deal with Reserve Oil."

"Did they tell you why?"

"No."

"Can you speculate?"

"The point man, William Dare, said they had reason to believe that me and my company were involved in unlawful activity."

"Have you?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then it sounds like a typical fishing expedition. I suggest you try to cooperate with them in every way. Absolutely the worst thing you can do is to alienate those guys. They can make your life miserable."

"Do you have any idea what the hell I should do?"

"I'm a commercial lawyer, Mike—this situation is outside my area of expertise. I think any further advice should come from Dan Turner...he eats this stuff for breakfast. Hold for a second. I'll transfer your call."

Dan Turner was an internationally renowned and respected litigant specializing in the area of government-business interface. After graduating as an engineer from MIT, he worked in private industry for three years in Connecticut before obtaining a law degree from Yale. Before entering private practice, he had spent six years serving the Canadian government in External Affairs.

"Turner," he said in deep baritone voice.

"Dan, it's Mike King. Marc—"

"Yes, Marc just told me. From what little information he's given me, I think his advice was correct. We could harass the hell out of the feds at his point, but I think we should conserve that option. I want you to stay in close contact with me on this—it's vitally important that we stay on top of it. Don't say another thing to these men under any circumstances. I'm going to contact CSIS now. Unless you disagree, I plan to advise them that you have retained me as counsel."

"I agree."

"Good. Marc told me the contact is William Dare. Is that correct?"

Mike confirmed and gave Dare's telephone number to Turner. "What happens next?"

"I'll talk to Dare. Then I'll have my secretary call you to set up an appointment. I want to see you here as soon as possible."

Mike hung up, feeling only slightly more comfortable. He had a heavy hitter in his corner, but now the meter was running. Gnawing on his mind was the knowledge that he had no idea who, or what, his opponent was.