Royal Digs (8 page)

After a few seconds, the spotlights of every
TV station covering the event lit up and their reporters stepped in
front of cameras to announce the Breaking News.

As fast as Grams’ fingers could copy and
paste, she linked the world to our stage and took the message
viral.

I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket. Every
alert I’d set for incoming Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube entries
caused the device to vibrate over and over again. The entries came
from the three-page list of facts I’d gathered for Grams to
use.

Terrific gems like:

There have not been, and likely won’t be, any
federal criminal convictions for crisis-era bank fraud if The
Governor is elected.

Wall Street still paid out $200 billion in
bonuses from 2003 to 2011.

In the three years leading up to the
financial crisis of 2008, JPMorgan made $38 billion in after-tax
profit. Over the three years that followed, they made $48
billion.

Wall Street has spent over $164 million on
the current election, most of it going to Governor Crumley who has
pledged to repeal President Ruvama’s Dodd-Frank backed bill.

The screen rolled up, and the spotlights
shown back on the hay bale, where R now sat.

“A mixture of accounting moves, clearly in
the grey of legality, but definitely in the black of dirty money
and the red of spilled blood for personal gain is what we’re
dealing with here,” R’s steel-edged voice took over and filled the
speakers in the stadium and then all the hand-held devices around
the world.

“If you take a look at The Governor’s
records, those that he’s allowed us to see, of course you see
nothing. No one was ever supposed to find out where all of these
numbers lead. But
we
did
,” he continued.

During the surprise expose, Star Fish
attempted to leave the stage, but Clito stopped him with a quick
jab of his pitchfork into the tip of his mermaid tail. In doing so,
he made good on Bunny’s comment that they needed to harpoon the
whale that was even bigger than the London Whale.

“Like the food we buy in our grocery
stores...if you knew how it was made and what it was made of, you’d
never eat it. This is the situation we face today. As a voter, if
you knew the truth behind what made The Governor the wealthy man
that he is and what that has done and will do to all of you and
your financial futures, you’d never give him your vote. Instead,
you’d have him prosecuted.”

R’s play-by-play continued to feed the crowd,
until nothing more could be heard except chants of Dodd-Frank.
Dodd-Frank. Dodd-Frank.

C
hristmas came early
this year for financial regulators and also for the newly
re-elected President Ruvama.

It came in the form of claw-backs consisting
of up to two years pay for banks whose financial officers had
played risky derivatives games. And it included even closer
criminal looks at the main traders running those games with Star
Fish – aka Giotto Bernini – at the top of the hit list.

“We’re talking litigation in two separate
ways though, right?” I asked Bunny as she perused the morning
papers on her iPad.

“Yep. Against the banks involved as well as
against the traders who controlled it all, like Uncle Giotto.”

“But how are all of the different agencies
and their prosecutors, along with the foreign governments involved,
going to sort out who goes after what?” I asked, seriously worried
that after the prime time talking heads finished with what we’d
started, nothing would get done.

“That’s a great question, my dear. It’s
possible that Giotto could get off the hook on some stupid
technicality. But, that fact aside, the damage has been done on the
world stage at a peoples’ level.”

“I suppose you’re right. In this case, thanks
to social media, in the world court of public opinion, the verdict
has already been reached.”

“Exactly. And the people always get it
right.”

“If they know the truth,” I added.

For the first time, I understood why it was
so important for us to continue to fight against the cozy cash
criminals of the world. This wasn’t about just righting the wrongs
done through generations of Bellesconi and Bernini operations. This
was about restoring the ability of everyday people to be able to
make decisions based on truth and facts, not on what the top one
percent wanted you to believe.

“And the truth is that many of these
transactions originated through subsidiaries of foreign banks, like
those revealed in Box 438 by the likes of big fish players like The
Governor, who could care less if he’s dealing in blood money,”
Bunny said, sipping on her morning Bloody Mary.

“There are sure to be plenty of prosecution
complications. Everyone involved will be facing years if not
decades of attempts at civil and criminal enforcement.”

“They’ll be reviewing emails and voice
recordings for years, I suspect,” Bunny said.

“You got that right.”

“But I don’t think they’ll have much trouble
proving The Governor and his traders, like Uncle Giotto, willfully
violated the law.”

“Hell, they made a sport out of it,” I said,
the reality of which still made me almost physically sick.

“But do you honestly think kingpins like
Giotto and The Governor are going to cooperate? Let alone plead
guilty?” I asked.

“In Uncle Giotto’s case, the wild card is
that he’s a European. So, he can fight extradition and never even
face the charges.”

Bunny closed the cover of her iPad case and
finished off her cocktail.

“But The Governor? Well...the first person to
cut a deal usually gets the best deal. But I don’t think his ego
and money will allow him to deal, period. He’ll be long gone before
then. There are too many powerful people who will be willing to
hide and protect him, for a cut,” she said.

“Hell, he won’t even have to hide.”

“Probably not from the governments of the
countries involved, anyway,” she said, a mischievous although dead
serious twinkle lighting up her eyes.

“He’s flaunted his wealth for years, knowing
he’d never get caught. But also figuring, if he did, so what?”

“Exactly. You’ve got it figured out, Zoey, my
dear. He’ll pay the claw-backs and be on his way to collecting his
hundreds of millions on foreign soil with a posse of Uncle Giotto’s
men right beside him.”

“Whether or not the United States decides to
launch a global rabbit hunt for the big fish like Giotto Bernini
and Governor Crumley isn’t the heart of the matter. What’s vital is
that we may finally be on our way to overhauling Wall Street and
replacing the people who actually own and run it,” I said, hoping
it would turn out to be true.

“And we certainly couldn’t have done that
with one of the big fish benefactors residing in the White
House.”

“Cheers to that,” I said, taking the next
round of Bloody Marys off the tray that Bunny’s butler had just
delivered.

“Cheers to that indeed and cheers to
Clitopatra, who saved the day,” Bunny toasted.

“Who would have ever thought a Drag Queen
would save the United States Presidency?” I asked, holding my glass
once again high in the air.

Queens rock
!

THE END

Welcome Back to my Cozy Cash Mystery World! I
so hope you enjoyed Book Four in this Series.

Writing this book got me to thinking a lot
about the social commentary elements that make up a big part of
this series and my writing in general.

For example, THE ROYAL DIGS asks several
story questions that have huge social impacts such as:

1. What if a Drag Queen determined the United
States Presidential Election?

(discussing alternative lifestyles and the
issues faced by people living those lifestyles)

2. Does it matter that we’ve got a
presidential nominee who keeps a majority of his money offshore to
avoid paying taxes on it?

3. Does it matter that said nominee has
earned his massive wealth, thanks to the money of cartel kings -
whether coffee, cocoa, casinos, or cocaine (and other drugs too) -
who make their living via the death squads they employ and the
people whose rights they corrupt or snuff out?

Tough questions, right? With answers that
have huge effects on our lives.

I love to write these kinds of “ripped from
the headlines” stories because they engage all of us and instantly
feed on topics that are easily recognizable, emotion-packed and
quite possibly figure into our daily lives. In other words, we
relate to them.

And in our Epublishing World, where we can
publish our books at a much faster rate than via Traditional
Publishing avenues, we’ve got our stories out to you when these
themes and questions are still very much a part of our social
collective minds.

I’ve found that even those critics who don’t
like my writing style still appreciate and are moved by the social
commentary in my stories. And that’s what it’s all about for
me...writing stories that connect with you, as readers and as human
beings.

For my Cozy Cash Mysteries, I’ve explored the
following topics:

1. Ponzi schemes (Madoff-style) – THUG
GUARD

2. Fashion sweatshops in Naples (controlled
by the local mobs and making many a pages in today’s best fashion
magazines and red carpets) – LIP GLOCK

3. The gem trade (as in blood diamonds and
stones) – CARATS AND COCONUTS

4. The money trail of our current Republican
nominee for U. S. President – THE ROYAL DIGS

5. The real owners of Wall Street - coffee,
cocoa, casino and cocaine (and other drugs too) cartels – THE ROYAL
DIGS

6. Banking, hedge funds and derivative
trading – THE ROYAL DIGS

I use these topics to write Ebooks that are
along the lines of what New York Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer
calls “factual fiction” in which many of the plot elements I use
are factually based. (For example, all of the Tweets Ross created
for Grams in THE ROYAL DIGS are facts). But then, true to my own
sense of humor, I give my books my own quirky-crazy fictional
twists and cast of characters.

Thanks so very much for being a part of D. D.
Scott-ville and for exploring these topics with me while having
some LOL fun too.

The Best of D. D. Scot-ville Humor with Heart
Wishes —-

D. D. Scott

I’m over the moon to treat you to a Sneak
Peek at where you’ll next be able to catch-up with my Cozy Cash
Mystery Cast and Crew!

Coming this holiday season, you’ll get Ross
Bellesconi and Giavani Rancic’s story in a fabulous new Holiday
Romance...

THE BILLIONAIRES’ CHRISTMAS CLUB

What’s so exciting about this book is that
I’m co-writing it with one of today’s Superstar Authors...

The A-mazing
Theresa
Ragan

I’ll be writing Ross and Gia’s story, and
Theresa will be treating you to a story featuring her billionaire
Grayson Hawk.

Ross and Grayson have made an interesting bet
this holiday season...but can there be two winners instead of just
one?

Here’s the first chapter...Enjoy!!!

THERESA RAGAN and D. D. SCOTT

F
ashionably late.
Perfect.

As if this crowd cared when the biggest names
on their guest list arrived. All they wanted was the money those
guests brought with them or sent in their places. And before the
night was through, they’d get it. Billions of pretty pennies and
then some.

Roswell “Ross” Bellesconi and his buddy
Grayson Hawk had more cash than everyone else invited to this gala
put together. If the organizers had to wait on both of them to
arrive before starting the soiree, so be it.

Always preferring to go it alone, Ross
avoided the hostess set-up and headed toward the front row of
tables, knowing he’d find some fancy place card with his name on
it.

Sure enough, there it was. Front and center.
Roswel “Ross” Bellesconi. To be seated next to Grayson Hawk

What if these charitable groups took the
money they shelled out on these galas to instead actually do
something for the people they were created to help? There was a
novel idea, he harrumphed.

He took his seat then checked his Tag Heuer
to see exactly how much longer he’d have to sit here. Noticing a
small smudge on the dial, he used the corner of the table linens to
swipe at the surface.

“Doesn’t your butler see to those kinds of
things?”

Ross heard Grayson’s good-natured tease
before he saw him.

“I gave him the night off,” he said, standing
up to shake hands with his childhood friend. “Wish we had the night
off.”

Grayson disliked these events as much as he
did, although they shared differing opinions as to why.

“Look at it this way, my friend. At least
it’s the last one for the year,” Grayson said, taking two glasses
of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray and handing one to
Ross.

“Cheers to that,” Ross said, toasting
him.

“So what’s this one for anyway?” Grayson
asked, reaching for the program on top of their place settings.

Ross chuckled to himself while shaking his
head.
Typical Grayson
.

“What? Don’t tell me you actually pay
attention to this stuff instead of just having your accountant
write the check?”