Reasonable Doubt (16 page)

“It might, but it’s not as crazy as it might sound.”

Ellery tensed. “What are you talking about?”

“They have documents. A power of attorney that grants you authority to act on behalf of WHI in all financial matters.”

“Wait a minute. I don’t know anything about that.”

“Did you know that you’re listed on their IRS nonprofit filings as the attorney for the organization?”

“That’s insane. And, no I didn’t know anything about that. It has to be a mistake. You know I’ve never done any work for Amir’s businesses other than to represent him at a few code violation hearings. I never had anything to do with the nonprofits.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

Ellery stared Meg in the eyes and saw traces of doubt. “Meg, I’ve never lied to you and I’m not lying now.” An idea popped into her head. “Wait a minute, if I was involved, my signature would be on corporate filings, right?”

“Not necessarily. The president of the organization, Amir, can sign the corporate filings on his own.”

Ellery’s hands shook as she tried to process this information. Knowing she was innocent of any wrongdoing didn’t change the fact that someone was focused on implicating her in a horrible crime. That she had no clue why made it worse. She picked up the drive and shoved it in her pocket. All she could think about was doing something concrete and she’d start by examining whatever evidence she could glean from the search warrant affidavit. First step: get the facts. Second step: formulate a strategy. Third step: go on the offense. “I need to see all of this for myself. Thanks, Meg. I really appreciate you getting this for me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

She stood up, but Meg’s hand on her arm stopped her from leaving. “What?” she asked, dreading the answer.

“There’s more. You’re going to want to sit down for this.”

Unable to imagine what could be worse, Ellery hesitated before finally shaking her head and sinking back into the booth. “Spit it out.”

Meg sighed. “The agents took all of our files. They said I’d have to check with the AUSA assigned to the case to make arrangements to make copies.”

Ellery nodded. She had no idea why Meg was telling her this, but she decided to go along. “Don’t count on that being quick. Remember when they tied up that ambulance company’s files for months and then they had to vet every copy service we wanted to use?”

“I do. That’s why a few months ago when Jonas, our IT guy, recommended we start scanning every scrap of paper and backing it up to the cloud, I bit the bullet even though getting it done was extremely expensive.”

“That’s great. So you have all your files?”

“Yes. Everything including a backup of all our computer systems. I had Jonas run some searches early this evening based on what I read in the search warrant.”

Ellery braced for Meg’s next words, knowing she was about to drop a bomb. “Okay.”

“I found the power of attorney form. Essentially the same one that was attached to the IRS filing. This one didn’t have your name filled in, but it did have Amir’s name on the signature block and it granted whoever was to be designated the power to deal with every aspect of the WHI’s financial dealings.”

“I didn’t draft that. Are you saying I did?”

“I know you didn’t. But I didn’t either.”

Meg’s stare threatened to bore holes in her head, but Ellery couldn’t process what she was trying to get her to understand. “But you’re saying someone with access to our system did draft it.” As her mind sifted through the possibilities, she checked them each off the list. A few paralegals. A few associates, but none who’d ever worked with Amir. He’d always been very particular that he only work with partners in the firm. In fact, as much as he liked her now, he’d been hesitant to take her advice in the beginning, preferring to rely on the man who’d handled his affairs for years.

“My father. Are you saying my father drafted the power of attorney?”

Meg nodded. “The metadata shows it was done on his computer. It was dated about six months before the charity was formed. There were other documents as well, documents Amir would have needed to set up the foundation. It wasn’t you, but it was him. I have no doubt.”

Funny she should use the word doubt, because doubt was all Ellery had now. Doubt about who she could trust, doubt about her own judgment. Meg appeared crestfallen at the prospect her mentor might have betrayed them, but Ellery reserved judgment. Simply creating documents didn’t make him culpable of terrorist activity. As much as this information gave Ellery pause, she needed to know more before she could draw any conclusions. “What else should I know?”

Meg shook her head. “That’s a loaded question. I’m running searches on the documents we have just so we’re prepared for whatever the feds find. I can only pray there are no more surprises like this one, but you can bet there’s a lot more to this. The feds executed searches using this same warrant on Amir’s home and the mosque where WHI has their offices. I tried to call him to discuss it and he wouldn’t take my call. My guess is he’s moved on to other counsel since we’re under a microscope right now.”

Her words were injected with a heavy dose of anger and Ellery ducked the weight of it. She had enough of her own stuff to be angry about, but she wasn’t going to vent here. She stood up. “I’d buy, but all my money’s frozen.” She patted her pocket. “Thanks for this. I’ll find out what I can and be in touch. You do the same.” She didn’t wait for a response before leaving. Meg would have to find someone else to share her pity party. Ellery was going to focus her efforts on finding the truth because the truth was the only thing that would set her free.

*

“Sure I can’t get you a real drink?”

Sarah looked up from her watered down glass of tonic. The bartender was tall like Ellery and had the same color hair, but the likeness ended there. She looked at her watch. Twelve fifteen. It was time to face the fact Ellery wasn’t going to show up, but the question remained: had she ever intended to? She found it hard to believe Ellery would have stood her up on purpose, but it wasn’t like this was a date. Maybe her father had put a bug in her ear and convinced her a late night meeting with a federal agent was likely to do more harm than good. And he might’ve been right. Sarah found it difficult to resolve all of her personal observations of Ellery with her training to root out evil, but she could tell Ellery was hiding something. The question was whether that something had anything to do with the bombing, and it looked like that question was going to go unanswered tonight.

She set her glass on the bar and asked for the check. When the bartender waved her off, she tossed a ten on the bar and made her way to the door. To her it was late, but judging by the line outside, this place was just starting to heat up for the night. She acknowledged a few appreciative glances with a nod, but nothing was more attractive right now than the thought of her bed and a good night’s sleep. She slid into her car, and raced the short distance home.

She collected her mail from the box and slid her key into the door, but stopped before turning it as a slow sense of dread shuddered down her spine. The door was unlocked and no way had she left it like that. She leaned close and listened, hearing nothing but the light sound of the air conditioning whirring in the distance, but she knew without a doubt someone was inside. Inside, where her weapon was locked up in the safe in her study. How quickly she’d gone from the habit of carrying her trusty Glock everywhere to hardly ever carrying it when she was off duty. Unlike serial killers, con men didn’t usually pose the threat of serious bodily injury.

She paused to think the situation through. The sound of her key in the door was enough to alert anyone inside that she was home. She could turn around and leave or burst through the door and hope she was fast enough to beat their obvious advantage. The decision only took a moment. She wasn’t about to abandon her home to an intruder. She calculated that if someone were waiting for her, they would be sitting in the living room that was situated directly in front of the entryway. If they were burglars, they were probably busy stuffing whatever they could find into bags. Either way, if she acted quickly, she might have a chance. In one solid movement, she twisted the doorknob and shouldered the door open, bending low to gain momentum as she dashed over her threshold and into the study to the right of the door.

She’d barely made it to the safe, when she heard a familiar voice. “You run like you’re out of shape, kid. What the hell kind of work are you doing that you don’t have time to get to a gym?”

Damn. Sarah bent over as the adrenaline coursed out of her body and all the exhaustion of the day came roaring back. When she finally got her breath, she stood up and faced her intruder. “What the fuck, Trip? A little warning would be nice.”

“Just testing your skills. Making sure that desk job didn’t make you go all soft.”

She punched him on the shoulder on her way to the kitchen. Time to have that drink she’d passed on at the bar. Head in the fridge, she called out, “Beer?”

“Always.”

She opened a bottle for him and fixed herself a stiff gin and tonic. As she handed him the bottle she said, “You don’t deserve this. Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?”

He took a long pull off the beer and then settled into her favorite chair. “I was thinking you’d be happy to see me and glad I didn’t ask you to pick me up from the airport. What’re you all dressed up for?”

She looked down at her dress. She felt foolish knowing she’d dressed up for a woman who was not only not interested in her, but was in the eye of a huge shit storm. “Drink your beer. I’ll be right back.”

In her bedroom, she dug sweats out of her dresser drawer and tugged them on. She left her dress in a pile on the floor and stepped into the bathroom to scrub her face. Monday, she’d take the dress to the cleaners and then hang it back up in the closet where it would probably hang for months. Her brief dip into the Dallas scene was over for a while. Barefoot and comfortable, she joined Trip back in the living room.

“Now, that’s the Flores I remember.”

His words made her grimace. “Yep, the one who won’t be getting dates anytime soon. I’m guessing you didn’t fly all the way out here to toss me off this case.”

“Not a chance. But you’ll need to work on the down low. I told the director you already have an in with the attorney and he wants you to do whatever you need to get as close as possible, but it’s important you don’t tip anyone off. Pretty sure the folks over at HSI would have a hissy if they knew we were stepping on their toes.”

“Wait, you’re telling me BAU is officially on this?”

“‘Officially’ is not exactly the word I would use.”

“What you mean is the director ordered it, but will deny he did if whoever is assigned to this little project gets caught.”

“Exactly. But you’re too good to get caught. I’ve already got a call in to Robert Mason. When he calls me back, I’ll let him know that I need you to finish up some work you were doing on the Atlanta case. That’ll give you some autonomy in the office.”

“Why don’t you just yank me out of my new job altogether?”

“Too suspicious. I hear that attorney’s pretty smart. If you’re going to get close to her, you’ll need to be one step ahead.”

“Hold it right there.” Sarah held up a hand. It was time for her to let Trip know she had no intention of working on his little scheme. “I left the unit for good reasons and those reasons haven’t changed. You’re going to need to find someone else to play spy.”

He cocked his head. “You’re kidding, right?” He set his beer down. “Who else are we going to find? You know any other agents with your level of training who also happen to have access? Don’t think I don’t know where you were tonight. Look, we don’t know if she’s involved in the bombing or not, but we do know she was the lawyer for the folks that may have been behind it. People tell their lawyers things. Things they won’t tell anyone else. She may know something even if she doesn’t realize it. All you need to do is get close to her and find out what she knows or encourage her to find out what she doesn’t. Piece of cake.”

Still angry that he’d had her followed, Sarah stifled the impulse to tell him off. Of course, he had eyes on her. It was part of his job and Trip was all about the job. She used to be too, but look where it had gotten her—mid thirties and single with no prospect of that changing in the foreseeable future. Besides, Ellery standing her up at the bar was a clear signal she wasn’t as good at this as she used to be. “If you know what I was doing tonight, then you also know Ellery promised to meet me after the event and she didn’t show.”

He nodded. “Something happened. She was headed your way and then she turned the car around.” He showed her a picture on his phone. “She met with her old law partner at a place on lower Greenville. I hear they used to be a thing. Maybe it was a booty call.”

Sarah tamped down the mental image of Ellery hooking up with the gorgeous redhead in the picture. Would Ellery really have abandoned the opportunity to learn more about the case against her for a late night rendezvous? Maybe celebrating a successful show had seemed more important than criminal charges. Sarah tried hard not to compare herself with the woman in the photo, but it was hard. “I guess whoever you had following her wasn’t good enough to find out if she blew me off for business or pleasure.”

“She left alone, but she hasn’t gotten home yet. I called off the tail. Late night, not much traffic. No sense getting made. Besides, we have a tracker on her car.”

Sarah wondered if they had a warrant for the tracker. She was definitely going soft. She wouldn’t have given the method a second thought when she was at BAU. Whatever it took to bring in the bad guy was the mantra there. As long as they had enough legally admissible evidence to make the case, a few cut corners here and there wouldn’t get in the way of a closed case.

“Who knows? Maybe she blew off the redhead and doubled back to meet you.”

Maybe she had, but it didn’t matter. Her attraction to Ellery was both strong and completely unsustainable. If she agreed to do what Trip wanted, it would have to be because of the job and not her attraction to Ellery. A good BAU agent had focus and objectivity. She had neither when it came to Ellery Durant, not to mention that diving completely into this project meant breaking the promise she’d made when she moved to Dallas.