Spark: A Novel by John Twelve Hawks Page A

connected with foreign banks as well as shell corporations that are only a wisp of paper in a lawyer’s office. Everything is well run and well organized, but our clients do have one significant problem.”
    “They’re breaking the law?”
    “Not relevant.” Miss Holquist flicked the fingers of her right hand as if she was brushing away a housefly. “Let’s say you’ve given black money to a stockbroker or that you’ve purchased a share in a business venture. And let’s say that some unethical person embezzlesor steals your investment. What are your options? You can’t go to the police. In some countries, you would become a target for extortion. In other countries, you’d be arrested for tax fraud.”
    “I guess you’re out of luck.”
    “That’s the way it’s been in the past, but several years ago a Russian bank … one of our competitors … organized a ‘Special Services Section’ to deal with this problem. Other banks imitated this move and we had to follow the crowd to stay competitive. I am currently in charge of our company’s Special Services Section. This service isn’t free, Mr. Davis. Our clients have to pay an additional fee for each assignment. Most of our clients never use our service, but everyone likes the fact that we exist.”
    “So people steal money and you have them arrested?”
    “We aren’t police officers, Mr. Davis. But we do have warm relationships with police departments all over the world. The Special Services Section tracks down offenders and neutralizes their future actions by ending their lives.”
    Miss Holquist kept smiling and staring at me, but it felt as if she had suddenly become harder, colder—like a pool of water frozen into a slab of ice.
    “And you do this yourself?”
    “Of course not. You definitely have the wrong impression. I graduated magna cum laude with a degree in chemistry from a well-known university, worked in the government sector, and then went to business school. I’m on the board of several charitable foundations and I’ve raised two children on my own … two lovely young ladies.”
    “Then who—”
    Miss Holquist began to tap her right forefinger. It sounded like she was pinning certain words onto the surface of the desk. “I’m
management,
Mr. Davis. I hire and supervise our contract employees. But during my first year in charge of Special Services I discovered that it was very difficult to find competent and reliable workers. Most of the people my predecessor had hired were criminals with substance-abuse problems. They couldn’t follow orders and they weren’t discreet. I suppose I could have accepted an unpleasantsituation, but the Q-scanner changed everything. Are you aware of this technology?”
    I shook my head.
    “Q-scanners fire a burst of undetectable laser beams that are able to penetrate clothing and provide molecular-level feedback from a distance of fifty meters. They were originally restricted to airport security stations, but now they’re used by police departments and corporations all over the world.”
    “So it’s like a body scan?”
    “Much more than that. The laser beam is imperceptible and provides virtually instant data. It can sense drugs, explosives, and what you had for dinner. With certain adjustments, a Q-scanner can also measure the adrenaline level in your body. When most people are about to attack someone, their adrenaline spikes. On two occasions my enforcers were detected before they could finish their assignments. And that …” She tapped her finger on the desk. “That was
very
annoying. The Q-scanner created a problem that had a negative impact on our efficiency.”
    “I don’t know how you could get around that. A scanner could be built into a doorway. You’d never see it.”
    “That’s correct, Mr. Davis. And ordinary people will always be tense or frightened if they have to neutralize someone. But then I came up with a solution to the problem. I was reading the