The solitude of Ezra's victory did not last long. The allies he had cultivated in his war against David, tools he had believed were under his complete control, now began to stir, eager to claim their share of the spoils. He had paid them for their service, but he was about to learn that with partners like these, the price was never paid in full.
The first call came on the secure red telephone. The shrill ring echoed in the cavernous, empty study, a sound that now signaled not just crisis, but obligation. It was J. Edgar Hoover.
The Director's voice was smooth, almost oily with false bonhomie. "A masterful performance in the Senate, Prentice," Hoover began. "A true tour de force. You've successfully neutralized the Kennedy boy and his little watchdog committee before they could even get started. A great service to the cause of anti-communism."
"I did what was necessary, Director," Ezra replied, his own voice cool and guarded.
"Indeed," Hoover said. "However, your testimony has had one… unforeseen consequence. You've made 'Project Sentinel' a household name, at least within the circles that matter in this town. You've drawn a great deal of attention to our… arrangement." The pleasantries were over. Hoover's voice hardened, taking on the possessive tone of a master speaking to his subordinate.
"The Bureau feels that, given the new public profile of our partnership, all future operational requests will need to be more formalized. More documented. And furthermore," he continued, "the Bureau will require a more… active role in overseeing the security of your domestic industrial concerns. After all, we now know how vital they are to national security. To that end, we'll be assigning a permanent liaison from our New York field office to your Prentice Standard headquarters. Just to ensure our shared interests are protected and our communications are seamless."
Ezra felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. He understood instantly. This wasn't an offer; it was an occupation. Hoover was using the very publicity Ezra had generated as leverage to tighten his leash. He was embedding an FBI spy at the very heart of Ezra's domestic empire, a man who would have access, who would watch, who would report. The powerful, deniable partnership had just been downgraded to a formal, supervised entanglement. The tool he had so brilliantly used to defeat David was now being turned back on him, a weapon pointed at his own chest.
"I look forward to meeting him," Ezra said, his voice a mask of calm cooperation, betraying none of the cold fury he felt.
Before he could even fully process the implications of Hoover's move, Baron von Hauser was shown into the study. The Baron's face, usually a mask of detached amusement, was etched with concern. He carried a dispatch from Europe.
"Our Fire Brigade is proving to be a problem, Ezra," von Hauser began without preamble. He placed a thin report on the desk. "Colonel Dubois. He is brutally effective, I will grant him that. But he is a brute, not a surgeon. He uses a sledgehammer to swat a fly."
The report detailed an operation in Naples. Dubois and his men had been tasked with "discouraging" a rival shipping company that was encroaching on a key Prentice Standard route. Instead of subtle intimidation, Dubois had launched a full-scale gang war against the local Camorra family that was protecting the rival company. The result was a dozen bodies left in the streets of the port, an escalating cycle of violence, and the full, unwelcome attention of the Italian authorities.
"He is creating noise, Ezra," von Hauser said, his voice sharp with frustration. "Loud, clumsy, bloody noise. And noise attracts attention. He is meant to be a deniable asset, a ghost. Instead, he is acting like a conquering warlord."
As if to punctuate the point, von Hauser presented a second, more alarming report. "It gets worse. The retainer we are paying him is vast. He is using it to build his own empire. Our sources indicate he is actively recruiting more men—not just ex-legionnaires, but the worst dregs of the European underworld. He is buying heavy weapons on the black market. He is becoming more powerful, and therefore, more arrogant and unpredictable with each passing day."
The Baron paused, letting the weight of his next words sink in. "He is rumored to be 'accepting private contracts' on the side. Contracts that have nothing to do with our interests. The Fire Brigade, which we created to be our private, loyal army, is rapidly becoming a rogue state, a mercenary kingdom funded by our own coin. A kingdom that can, at any time, be traced back to us."
The beast they had fed was now growing its own claws and teeth, and it no longer answered solely to its master. Ezra felt a surge of anger at his own miscalculation. He had believed he could control a man like Dubois through fear and money, but he had underestimated the corrosive, empowering nature of the vast resources he had placed in the man's hands.
Then came the final, devastating blow. Von Hauser produced a third dispatch, this one a freshly decrypted telex intercept. His face was grim. "And now, Ezra, the beast is threatening to bite."
He handed the flimsy paper to Ezra. The intercept was a fragment of a coded communication between a representative of Colonel Dubois and an agent working for a rival American oil tycoon, a man who had been trying to undermine Ezra's interests in the Middle East for years. The message was short, simple, and utterly terrifying. It was an offer. For the right price, Dubois's "organization" could arrange for a series of "unfortunate labor strikes" or a "catastrophic industrial accident" at a key Prentice Standard refinery in Saudi Arabia.
Ezra stared at the message, the words blurring. The implications were sickeningly clear. The weapon he had acquired in the Belgian steel mill, the savage dog he had leashed to protect his empire, was now for sale to the highest bidder. And it was pointing directly at his own throat. He had paid the devil his due, and the devil had taken the payment and immediately put a knife to his back. His brilliant solutions were unraveling, turning into new and more dangerous problems, leaving him besieged on all sides by the very allies he had empowered.
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