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Authors: Stephanie Brother

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BOOK: Fraud: A Stepbrother Romance
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Including bankers...

The indiscriminate nature of terrorist
bombings, especially in the London banking districts, had forced the banks’
officers to finally take these steps seriously.

Working in concert with the state
departments of both European Union countries and the United States, the banks
were clamping down.

What made this so frustrating for our team
was that somehow Mr. Robert King had managed to find loopholes.

Shell companies only held his money for a
very short period of time and paid exorbitant instant interest rates to make
sure that the transactions were kept as secret as legally possible.

But we suspected that couriers were used
that would bring bearer bonds into former Eastern European countries, where
they were converted to Russian or other currencies. Once that was done, they
were arbitraged due to the interest rate differences between member countries
and other markets such as China or Korea.

It was a difficult and tangled web to
unravel, and we had the best forensic accountants trying to decipher how it was
being done.

Our team’s task was to find any possible
evidence we could that would be used to indict King.

After several months of surveillance, we
had determined that the “
Disco Inferno
” was a common meeting point for
King and his associates.

Most of our ways of conducting secret
investigations of the ship were unsuccessful.

We finally came upon the plan of attaching
a Limpet microphone to the hull of the yacht. The transmitted sound was
recorded onto a small hard drive in the device. In this way we were able to
monitor conversations held on board the ship. The electronics inside it would
also capture all the radio and cellular traffic within 20 yards of the yacht.
Then it would beam it to a satellite, using an encrypted method.

We had the NSA to thank for this, as they
had developed the technology 10 years earlier for use in Middle Eastern
embassies.

After only a few weeks, we had finally
managed to gather enough evidence to mount the legal assault, and had gone to
Judge Turner for a search warrant.

The Judge was reluctant to issue one based
on the evidence we provided, so we had to go back for one last try.

That’s how I found myself bouncing around
in a small speedboat, acting like a drunken fool, so that I could attach a second
Limpet mic to Kings’ yacht.

 

*****

 

Randy was on duty when we had finished
recording the latest conversation between King and his buddies.

“Derek, I think you need to hear this,” he
said.

I came over to where he was listening and
picked up one of the headsets. I could make out King speaking to several other
men.

“Are you sure?” said King.

“We checked the birth records and other
available documents, and they are definitely connected,” said another man.

“Derek White and Megan Greene were raised
by your current bitch,” he said.

“They are step-siblings. It’s interesting
to note that Megan Greene has never married nor had a serious relationship
since leaving the home to pursue her college and law degree.  We searched all
available databases, and could discover nothing that led us to believe she ever
was romantically involved with anyone. Ever.”

My stomach did a flip flop when I realized
what they were intimating. Megan might be a virgin!

“We think, and our psychologists agree,
that she is in love with her stepbrother,” said the voice.

I could hear King laughing.

My mind was racing, and my heart was
thudding in my chest!

“Furthermore, even though Derek left to
join the Navy almost 10 years ago, we could find no evidence of his being
romantically connected to anyone either. He did have a three-month period where
he was dating an Air Force pilot but she was deployed to Afghanistan. We
discovered that, upon her return to the states, she had moved onto another
relationship,” said the voice.

Randy was giving me one of those looks I
knew so well.

Randy’s specialty was lie detecting.

If he knew something was true, he would
arch his eye, like Mr. Spock used to do on Star Trek. When he was hearing
something that he doubted, he would purse his lips as if he were sucking on a
lemon.

Right now his eyebrows were arching to
beat the band.

If this were true, then Megan loved me as
much as I loved her.

 

*****

 

The discussion on board the “
Disco
Inferno
” continued for almost an hour.

During that time, Randy and I heard
details regarding how the money was being moved.

We had to admit it was ingenious.

But then we heard something that made my blood
run cold.

“What can we do about this cunt, Megan
Greene?” said King.

“Well, we obviously need to remove her
from the situation entirely, Mr. King,” said a voice.

It was a different man speaking now. I
knew the voice well.

It was George Tanner.

The man who killed Sam Parker.

“I have an idea, that will rid us of both
Megan and Derek White, and even that bitch you have sucking your dick, if you
want,” said Tanner.

“Let’s hear it,” said King.

Randy and I listened to how Robert King
was going to solve his problem.

For the first time in my life, I felt fear

But, it was not fear for myself.

It was fear for Megan.

 

*****

 

“What are you going to do Derek?” asked
Randy.

“We have to board the yacht,” I said.

“That puts this operation a whole
different light,” said Randy. “You have to get authorization for this.”

“I don’t think I have the time, Randy. I need
you to back me up on this. What you say?” I asked.

“Dude, you know I have your back, but this
is out of band,” he said.

“You could get a court-martial for this,
you know that?” he said.

One thing I could always count on Randy
for was to come up with the absolutely worse-case scenario.

“It’ll be fun,” I said.

Randy gave me a different look.

One I’d never seen before.

“You’re crazy,” he said.

“Does that mean you won’t help me?” I
asked.

“No, no. It means that I’m just as crazy
as you, I guess,” he said laughing.

I clapped him on the back and we got to
work.

We’d have to get lucky, and we’d have to
be good.

But most of all, we’d have to get lucky.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

MEGAN

 

I was still recovering from my helicopter
ride.

After we had landed, Tanner and King gave
me instructions as to how to arrange the meeting that would lead to Peg’s
demise.

It was brilliantly simple, and even though
I only incidentally would be involved, the entire thing would be videotaped
with cell phones from several angles by their associates.

It would guarantee that I would be held
responsible should I say anything.

My head ached with trying to figure out
ways I could tell somebody or warn Peg.

Even though I didn’t like her, I couldn’t
bear to think of her being killed like that.

King was tossing her away like a worn-out
rag.

I’ve never come across anybody as callous
and unfeeling, or as selfish and narcissistic.

I shook with anxiety and rage.

And I was scared.

Not for myself, but for Derek.

 

*****

 

I fed Nigel, and then I took a shower to
try to calm down.

While I washed my hair I was thinking of
options.

The water felt wonderful, but I was still
very tense, trying to use my legal mind to come up with solutions.

Nothing seemed concrete or sure enough
that it would work.

I got out and toweled my hair dry.

I wrapped the towel around my body, and
then sat down on the toilet to shave my legs.

And, then, I started to laugh.

I laughed for a few minutes, then I began
to cry.

I wept uncontrollably.

I was caught by King’s horrible plan, and
Derek would only stay out of prison unless I allowed King to kill my
stepmother!

I was powerless to do anything. There was
nothing I could legally do to …

Suddenly, I stopped.

Slowly, I turned, and looked into the
mirror.

“I am an attorney, and my highest duty to
my profession is the ethical pursuit of justice within the confines of the
legal system,” I said to my reflection.

“What you are thinking is not legal,
Megan. Do you want to go to jail yourself? What if you fail? Do you want Derek
to die?”

I looked at the mirror, but there was no
answer.

But, I knew what she was thinking -

“Stupid bitch!”

 

*****

 

I decided I would simply just not
participate with the killing of Peg.

My plan was as simple as they come.

1) Get a gun.

2) Set up a meeting.

3) Shoot the bastards.

4) Kill myself.

Only in that way could Derek be totally
safe.

Fuck Peg.

I really didn’t care if she lived or died,
but I wanted no part in it.

I was tired of not being able to have
Derek, and this way I could die, proving to myself, at least, the extent of my
love for him.

Although he’d never find out, I hoped the
Universe would be more kind to him.

He deserved to find true happiness.

This way, with me out of the picture,
Derek could live and find love.

My eyes watered when I thought of how
noble and selfless this was.

“Derek, my one true love! At last you can
be free!” I told myself.

But, there was still Nigel.

Oh, poor little doggie!

What would I do about him?

 

*****

 

After my epiphany, I found I was ravenous.

I guess all that throwing up finally
caught up with my stomach.

I needed some food, so I took out a frozen
dinner, one of those fancy Weighty Watch things from the Diet Club or whatever.

Reading the instructions, I started some
water to boil for some frozen spinach.

Then, I turned on the television, to catch
up on the news.

While I made dinner, I could hear the
latest news wench on Channel Ten going over the latest.

Suddenly, as I was putting my Veal
Provencal into the microwave, I heard something that made my blood freeze.

“Captain Derek White, former Navy SEAL,
Medal of Honor recipient, and the man who saved his team mates from dying in
training exercises four years ago has apparently been killed in an accident
during maneuvers off of the Dry Tortugas.”

I dropped the dish I was carrying and it
crashed onto the floor.

“Derek! Oh, no!” I screamed.

I fell to the floor, on my knees, the pain
as if someone had stabbed me with a knife straight through my heart.

The television report was light on any
further details, but I listened in horror as the anchor droned on.

I lay there moaning and wailing my grief.

I accidentally knocked Nigel’s water dish
over, and the water spilled over the floor.

“That can’t be true!” my mind cried out.

And, suddenly, another part of me felt
immense relief.

A part I hated.

The cowardly part that told me that now
King had no power over me.

His trump card had been played, and the
Joker had taken him out of the game.

There was no way he could use Derek to
hurt me now.

Oh, my poor, darling Derek!

As I lay on the kitchen floor, dying from
grief, the water boiled and the frozen spinach melted all over the counter.

Nigel came up, panting, and yipped.

He sat down on his rear, and watched me
grieve for my lost love.

 

*****

 

I eventually came back to my senses.

My dinner was completely ruined, but I
wasn’t hungry anymore.

Nigel licked my nose, and then jumped on
my head.

I stood up.

Taking the now empty pot off of the stove,
I carefully put it into the sink.

Turned off the stove, being careful not to
burn myself.

Threw the Weighty Diet meal straight into
the garbage.

Nigel nosed around for a minute, but he
couldn’t get into it.

He yapped at me, and I just took a handful
of dog treats and threw them into his bowl.

I refilled his water dish.

Then, I took out my bottle of white wine
from the refrigerator.

I unscrewed the cap, and just started to
drink.

Nigel ate his treats, took a few laps of
water, and then curled up next to me.

 

*****

 

I woke up on the couch, sometime around
dawn.

Nigel was resting against me, nestled in
among my breasts.

The light came in from the ocean, and I
opened the drapes and looked out at a sunrise that would make anyone’s heart
sing.

It made me want to just jump off the
balcony.

I fought the urge.

I had unfinished business, with Mr. Robert
King, and that fucker of his, George Tanner.

My plan wasn’t all that bad.

Nothing had really changed.

With Derek gone, they no longer had
leverage over me.

But, I was going to make sure they would
pay, that the world would pay, for stealing Derek away from me.

And, when I was finished, at least then
Derek and I would finally be together.

In Death…

BOOK: Fraud: A Stepbrother Romance
2.99Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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