Taking Stock (47 page)

The steady drone of facts was irritating Marty. Whether it was the pace or the message Sarah couldn’t be sure. Undeterred, Pete dribbled out a monotonous flow, building his case piece by piece as he would for a jury.

Marty couldn’t take more. “Where’s this going
?
” he said finally.

“Brad Foster wasn’t alone. He took the money from customer accounts and he went to
Italy
to withdraw it, but someone was helping him connect the dots in between.”

Marty leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone as if he believed his own boardroom could be bugged. “You think someone else inside the company was involved
?
”

“Absolutely,” Pete said without hesitation. A bold statement Sarah couldn’t have made herself.

The words slapped Marty. Not only was his brother-in-law stealing from his family, but another of his trusted employees was in on it, too. “Who
?
” Marty’s pained face suggested he’d rather not know.

“We’re working on that. He needed help covering up customer complaints. That help could have come from client services, IT or internal audit. We’ll start there and work out through Brad’s contacts.”

“Are you talking rank-and-file or leadership
?
”

“Both. At least one of them would be high up in the firm.”

“What about the gun in
Eric
a Fletcher’s office
?
Was she in on it
?
”

“Definitely not. I saw the police video and he was trying to kill her. I have no doubt the gun was planted.”

“What about the money
?
Was that planted, too
?
”

“I believe it was.”

Marty looked at Pete like he was insane, but Pete explained that the thieves had taken two hundred million dollars without a trace. They were too smart to leave ten million in a checking account. Ten million is a lot of money, enough to be persuasive, but not too costly. Deposited in an account with just two transactions,
Eric
a might never have known it existed.

“So what now
?
I can’t leave a criminal walking the halls and I can’t do anything without tipping them off.”

“We’ll start with Brad’s phone records. With your leave, we’ll track every call made from his office, the security room and the computer room.”

“Certainly.”

“We didn’t mention Brad’s apartment,” Sarah offered.   

“What about it
?
” Marty asked.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. They pulled up the carpets, pried the covers off the appliances, they even emptied the food containers. It was incredible. Someone was very worried about what Brad might have left behind and they made sure we weren’t going to find anything.”

Marty nodded and stared down at the table a moment. He was convinced this time. After a long pause he lifted his head toward Pete. “I’ll get you whatever you need here at the firm. Anything you need.”

“Confidentiality is critical,” Pete said.

“Understood. Not a word except to our V.P. of human resources and our V.P. of internal audit.”

Sarah didn’t want to give Herman another chance to change Marty’s mind. She wanted to object, but indicting her boss without evidence was career suicide. Pete objected for her and Marty agreed to leave them out of the loop for the time being.

Marty dismissed them, staying in his chair until they’d gone.

Outside, Sarah congratulated Pete on incredible progress in the last day. He’d taken
Eric
a’s list of suspicious transactions, traced it back two years and followed the money all the way to
Italy
.

She wanted to tell Stan she’d been wrong about him, but she knew where that would lead. They’d be having dinner every Friday for the next two months. That was enough.

They hustled off to get started on Brad’s phone records.

Eric
a imagined a dozen uniformed men storming Gregg’s apartment and finding him bound to a chair, his captors fleeing down the fire escape, guns blazing. She strained to hear the other half of Jan’s conversation with the police captain. When Jan reassured him that this wasn’t a prank,
Eric
a was terrified. She’d called Gregg’s apartment and someone there was hurting him. She hadn’t made a mistake. She hadn’t imagined it. The police arrived ten minutes later. Why hadn’t they found him
?

Jan ended her conversation with an apology, hung up and told Erica they’d found nothing. The apartment was clean and neat. No one was home. No sign of a struggle. Erica was going to have to pay for the damaged door.

They must have gone to the wrong address. The men couldn’t have gotten Gregg out that fast. How could she help him if they had?

When
Eric
a’s cell phone rang moments after the police called, the coincidence escaped her. She answered expecting Sarah, but was greeted by a dreadfully anguished howl. The tortured voice was quickly replaced by a hostile one, yelling in her ear. “Weren’t my instructions clear
?
I said no cops. I meant no cops. A minute ago four men in blue busted their way into Greggie Boy’s apartment. Good thing we weren’t there. Someone could’ve gotten hurt and Lover Boy is first in line.”

They were near enough to see the activity on the street, probably within a block of Gregg’s apartment, but she couldn’t call the police again. They might not go back. If they did and this maniac saw them, he might kill Gregg and take off.

“Listen carefully this time,” he said. “Go to your apartment. There’s a checkbook taped under the middle desk drawer. Get it and go to the Bank of America on
Dartmouth Street
. I’ll meet you there.”

“I don’t have a checkbook under the desk.”

“It’s there and it’s got quite a balance.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Listen. Go home. Get the checkbook. Go to the bank. Now!”

What was he talking about
?
If the checkbook was there, he could get it himself. Would she be incriminating herself by going to the bank
?
Was this Brad’s last ditch effort to blame her
?
It was obviously a setup. They wanted her not the checkbook, but what choice did she have?  

Before the man hung up, he rattled off a string of warnings. They had Gregg and they’d be watching. If she asked for help from the police or anyone in the bank, Gregg would get a bullet to the temple.

She put the phone down and took two steps toward the door.

Jan jumped up to block her, but
Eric
a pushed past and left her open-mouthed on the steps. She couldn’t risk another call to the police. Motoring back into the city, moving steadily deeper into the caller’s trap, there was no question that this was the right thing to do. A year ago she never would have imagined risking her life for a man, but Gregg had awakened something in her that went beyond compassion; something she’d never known.

This is what her mother had done for her. She could have left her father anytime, but getting away with
Eric
a proved difficult. She had sacrificed so much and
Eric
a had been less than appreciative. As a child, Erica had belittled her mother’s efforts to provide for them. She realized now that there had been plenty for one. Caring for
Eric
a had complicated her mother’s life from the day she was conceived.

She shook off her embarrassment as she parked and walked up the stairs to her apartment. She had to pull herself together by the time she reached the bank. They’d call her and tell her what to do then. She needed to be thinking clearly. These people had planned this through. They’d be leading her into a situation she was never expected to survive. No doubt they’d underestimated her, but she’d need a miracle to get Gregg out unharmed.

The old door pushed in, sticky as always. The apartment was dark and quiet. Most of the neighbors were at work. Weeks ago at this hour, Melanie would have been chopping vegetables to the sounds of some band
Eric
a had never heard of. She missed her. The bond between them had been financial at first; a way for
Eric
a to help someone who needed a boost. Melanie had her degree now and
Eric
a would probably never see her again.

She kneeled in front of the desk and patted the underside of the drawer. The bulge was about where she expected. She ripped down the large envelope and found a brand new plastic case inside. She fanned the crisp pages. Nowhere had it been written on.

The hair suddenly straightened on the back of her neck. Her shoulders stiffened and she had the conflicting urges to scream and to hide. Her body sensed an invisible danger. The urge to turn around proved irresistible and as she did the man on the other side of the counter slowly came into view.

He hadn’t made a sound, yet here he was in the middle of the apartment with a gun trained on her. The muzzle looked oddly thick and as he side-stepped the counter, she saw the silencer. The man could shoot her and leave her here to die and no one would be the wiser.

“Finally obeying orders I see,” he sneered.

It was the voice from the phone.

She gave a faint grunt as he approached. He didn’t look like a thug. He was big enough. A good five inches taller and about a hundred pounds heavier than her, but his fair skin and wispy hair gave him a delicate appearance. He told her to stand up. The calm depth of his voice was more menacing than if he’d barked the command.

“This withdrawal’s the only thing standing between me and payday. If I were you, I wouldn’t do anything to screw it up.”

His focus on the blue checkbook belied the fact that he’d done nothing to hide his identity. If he planned to let her and Gregg go free, he wouldn’t have allowed such a clear view of his face. If he wanted the checkbook he could have taken it and gone. He might want the money, but he wanted her more.

He ordered her hands on the desk, feet spread apart.

She complied, put the checkbook on the desk and felt the silencer press against her temple.

“Let’s not get silly. I can easily find another dark-haired chick to carry your license into the bank.”

They both knew she’d never been to this bank. She wasn’t sure if she dipped her head and signaled submission or if he knew she’d realized the position she was in, but then she felt his belly press into her back and his free hand brushing over her ribs. If she’d thought to bring a weapon, his groping would have uncovered it. He lingered pleasurably over his work probing every inch of flesh. When he was done he took a step back and she turned to face him though she couldn’t meet his eyes.

“So far, so good. Keep it up and you’ll live.”

She was convinced he intended to get his money and kill them both. There was too much at stake. The whole scam was too well planned to leave behind someone who could identify him.