Underwater (25 page)

“What does that mean?” asked Candace.

“Remember our decision to keep both systems in place through the launch, but to have the old one override the new if they conflict? The dual system approach?”

“Yes,” said Ginger. “Erin, are you saying the issues are confined to the old system?”

“Both systems recorded the same production numbers initially. Then changes were made in the old system, but not in the new. However, since we have the old one overriding the new, Phoebe only saw the altered numbers—the ones you’re saying don’t look right. But she’s accessing the old system, because we haven’t changed over to the new one. Like I said, the old one overrides it—the new one isn’t online yet.”

Candace shut her eyes for a second, then let out a deep breath. “Do we have confidence that the new system’s order numbers are correct?”

“Well, no changes have been made in it since Amanda’s team sent their initial orders over. Replenishables weren’t touched in either system.”

“So whoever did this only hacked into the old system?”

“It looks that way.”

“What do we have to do to be sure?”

“We’ll have to look at both systems, carefully. At least, go through the new system’s order numbers in detail, manually. That would be my advice.”

“So, here’s what we do,” said Candace. “Amanda’s team needs to confirm each order received and redo the totals. Then we start back at square one. She sends them over, but this time, I want you working alongside Phoebe, Erin. I want you to compare the numbers to what you say is currently being reflected in the new IT system. If they match up, I think we’re okay—we can disregard the altered numbers. Erin, when Amanda gets in to the office, let me know. I’ll speak directly with her about what to do.”

“Will do,” said Erin.

“What about security in the new system, Erin?” asked Ginger.

“It’s tight. No issues. We have the agreed-upon procedures in place to prevent another hack.”

“So, once we figure this thing out, we can trash the old one,” said Candace.

“Right,” said Erin. “But first, we should investigate further to see if any other security was breached in it, if anything else looks funny. I’d be interested in a full evaluation before getting rid of it.”

“Why?” asked Candace.

“To make sure that our controls are adequate, that we aren’t forgetting anything. Candace, you have a system-generated password in the new system. You know your passwords will be much more cryptic now and will be changed frequently, right?”

“Good,” said Candace. “Just like everyone else?”

“Right. It’s been company policy for some time.”

“Well, I should never have exempted myself from that policy. Better late than never, I guess. Ginger, stay on this. I’ll see you tonight, unless something happens.”

“Got it,” said Ginger. “Great job, Erin.”

Candace hung up and leaned back in the brown leather chair in the apartment’s living room and closed her eyes. Thank God for Erin. While Ginger should have remembered about the dual systems, Erin was on top of it. As COO, Ginger had a lot on her plate. She managed the highest number of SlimZ employees: thirty-five in the warehouse, under Holly, head of fulfillment; eight in production, reporting to Phoebe; five in IT under Erin; and four customer service people.

Candace called David and got his voicemail. “David, we’ve got some serious problems on Arcadia. Charlotte Rivers called me and said that she tried to reach you. I need you to call her as soon as you can, so you can get everything resolved today. Then call me back.”

A text from Jess appeared.
At gate. Waiting for your call.

Candace dialed her assistant’s number.

“Candace? The plane is boarding,” Jess said, her voice uneven. “Should I get on? I’m so sorry I screwed up. Everything is all my fault—”

“Calm down, Jess,” said Candace, chiding herself a bit. She ought to be used to Monty’s manipulation, but Jess had been unprepared for it, and Candace needed her tomorrow. “It’s okay now, we think. Yes, I need you to get on the plane. I’ll update you when you get here.”

“So I’m not being fired?”

“No. Just get to New York, and get to the hotel. We’ll talk when you get here.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

Five minutes later, Candace’s phone buzzed again. It was Erin.
What now?

“Erin?”

“I just wanted to alert you. We found something else that was altered in the old system.”

“What is it?”

“Someone changed the ratio specifications for modulus, weight, and tolerances in the new line.”

Modulus
was the industry term for stretch, or elasticity. “Good God,” said Candace.

“Right,” said Erin. “The product would have been incorrectly produced. The ratios were way off from the ones recorded in the new system.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Erin. Get Shelly to verify them with you, just as a precaution. We can’t be too careful.”

“Of course.”

Candace hung up and shook her head. What an asshole Monty was. Thank God he hadn’t figured out that a dual IT system was in use. She wouldn’t let him know that the chaos he had tried to create was dissolving. Not yet.

Helen tucked Adele into bed for her afternoon nap. Lately, the little girl was on the verge of giving up her nap for good; she could probably push through the afternoon and go to bed early at night. But Helen was trying to keep her daughter to her nap schedule for the next few weeks. Today in particular, she needed some time to herself, even if it meant Adele would be up a little late tonight.

Helen walked into the kitchen, sat down, and looked at her notebook. She had written down everything that she had learned about Rachel Benton, and about Monty, before dropping off the clothes at the cleaners—the iPhone was back in the raincoat pocket where Monty had left it.

Rachel Benton lived in a condominium in Midtown. Helen had discovered the address, Rachel’s age (twenty-five), and what she did for a living (interior designer). She looked up the condo’s owner, purchase price, and date: Montgomery Carawan; $535,000; and October 15, 2009. Ten days earlier, his sister had cosigned the $500,000 home equity line of credit that he and Helen had secured on the house on Arcadia.

How could I have been so stupid?
Evidently, Monty had diverted the loans Candace had already made to them and then drawn on the HELOC to buy the condo. He had probably also spent some of the loan funds to furnish and maintain it. The reason he hadn’t paid the contractor’s and vendors’ invoices was because he was using the money to support a separate life. With Rachel.

The one thing Helen hadn’t been able to figure out was whether Monty had a job. There were no emails, texts, or phone calls from a Jeremy or a Mack. If Monty was earning a paycheck, he was doing it at the condo, because that’s where he went for most of the day, according to what Helen had learned so far.
If he wasn’t working for some Dutch company, where was he getting the cash he was depositing in their account every Friday? Was he just transferring money from some other account, like the text implied?

Monty hadn’t set up his regular email address—the only one Helen had known about—on the iPhone. Maybe he
was
working, and he corresponded with Mack and Jeremy using that address, not the Gmail account on this phone. Helen could do more research on his laptop when she got a chance, later tonight.

20

Threats

M
onty sat down at his desk in the condo, opened his laptop, and pulled up the SlimZ IT system.

He had worked out at the gym this morning and then met Chip for lunch. Chip was leaving town this afternoon to spend the long weekend at his lake house with the family and had invited Monty to join them and to bring his own family. But with Helen’s condition, that was impossible. Since her sister was arriving tomorrow, Monty planned to spend tomorrow and Sunday here at the condo with Rachel. He’d tell Helen that his employers were having a company retreat in the north Georgia mountains, where there was no cell phone reception, and that he would be back Monday.

Her phone call earlier had unnerved him. He wasn’t ready for a trip to the hospital yet, especially with Dawn in town. The twins weren’t due for six or seven more weeks, and though Helen probably wouldn’t make it that long, he couldn’t deal with unnecessary distractions right now.

Candace was probably spending today up in New York getting ready for her wedding, and he doubted that she had an inkling of what he’d done in the company computer system. Even if she’d been in touch with the office today, there was no reason she would know about issues with the new swimsuit line. With the boss away on a Friday, the SlimZ bitches would likely all be taking advantage of it, going to get their nails or hair done.

When Candace got back from the Pacific two weeks from now, it would be too late for her to solve the production problems Monty had caused without it costing her a lot of money. He didn’t want to wait that long to get what he deserved. He needed her to pay him now, before her stock price fell. Once she did, he would fix things, but if she didn’t, what he had done so far was just the beginning. He had newspaper clippings from the accident that he wouldn’t mind sharing with the press. If that didn’t work, he knew where the warehouse was in Secaucus, New Jersey, and he wasn’t opposed to committing arson.

It was only fair of her to share a small portion of her millions with him, to butt out of the house on Arcadia, and to put it in his name, free and clear.

He picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“What’s up, Monty?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to wish you happy wedding.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you decided whether to accept my offer?”

There was a pause. “What offer?”

“You really don’t know?”

“Monty, get to your point—”

“Candace, you’re so impatient, and so forgetful. Don’t you remember? You pay me ten million, give me the house on Arcadia, and pay off the bank, and you get your swimsuits produced. You don’t, and you lose at least a hundred million, your image, and your reputation.”

“How do
you
decide whether I get to have my swimsuits produced?”

“I guess you can’t be bothered with what’s going on over at the beehive. So let me be clear. You’re leaving the country soon. While you’re gone, production of your new line is going to implode.”

“Bullshit.”

“Go ahead, call my bluff.”

“You’re an idiot. You can’t do anything to me. Forget about the house. I’m not giving it to you. When it sells, the bank will be paid, and then we’ll talk about the rest. I’m not paying you ten million dollars. Trying to extort money from me is a crime.”

“Fuck you, Candace.
You’re
the criminal. You
killed
someone—right after you told her you wanted her dead.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I was in the back seat that day, and I heard it all. I
heard
what you said to Mom: ‘I hate you! I wish you were dead!’ Then you swerved in front of a truck, hit a tree, and got your wish. You were jealous of my relationship with her and angry that she hated
you
. You killed her, and you ruined my life!”

“You need help.”

“
You
should have died that day. If you had died instead of Mom, my whole life would have been different. Now you’re going to make up for it. If you don’t pay me—if you’re so rich that you don’t care about losing a fortune on your precious swimsuits—then I’ll kill you myself.”

“Stop threatening me.”

“And then I’ll inherit
all
of your money.”

“You’re not named in my will, and you never will be.”

“But I should be, just like I should have gotten
all
of Dad’s money. I’m your closest blood relative, and I’ll contest it after you die. What’s-his-fuck that you’re about to marry has his own fortune.”

“Listen to me. I don’t
care
that you’re related to me. Your life would have been different only if you weren’t too lazy to work. If you had a job, you wouldn’t need to make threats.
You’ve
made your life what it is, Monty. Stop blaming your problems on other people.”

“I can prove what happened on that day, Candace. I have the documents, and they’ll be valid in court. You’re guilty of murder—”

“
You’ve
broken the law, not me. You hacked into my company’s computer system—”

Monty huffed. “You have no proof of that.”

“You’ve tried to extort money from me, and now you’ve threatened to kill me. I didn’t murder Mom. There
are
no documents. The accident was long ago, and it was just that—an accident—no matter what my last words to her were.”

“How do you live with yourself?”

“I’m hanging up, now, Monty. I’m calling Helen to tell her about our conversation, so she can protect herself. You’ve become unhinged, and I don’t know what you’re going to do next.”

“Don’t you dare call my wife.”

“Helen needs to know who you are. I’m also calling my lawyer. You’re not going to try to hurt me or my company ever again.”

“If you call Helen and she goes into early labor, you’ll be the one responsible. But then, you wouldn’t get that, since you’re not a real woman.”

“Your feeble insults and accusations aren’t working. If anyone’s going to stress your wife physically, it’ll be you, not me.”

“Watch your back, Candace.”

He hung up and slammed the laptop shut.

Candace took a deep breath. She had to call Helen. If she didn’t tell her about Monty’s threats, and if he took out his anger on her—it was just too frightening to imagine. Candace couldn’t let anything happen to Helen or Adele; if something did, she would feel she was to blame.

She dialed Helen’s number, then left a voicemail. “Helen, I just talked to Monty, and I need to speak with you right away. Please call me when you get this. I don’t care what time it is.”

Candace hung up and put a hand to her forehead. Here she was in Manhattan, about to host a dinner party the night before she and Rob were to get married, and then fly halfway around the world. Helen was in Atlanta, eight months pregnant with twins and married to a deranged man, the father of Candace’s niece. Since he couldn’t physically attack Candace, would he go harm his wife and daughter?

Candace couldn’t take that chance. The situation was out of control. Even though he had done no permanent damage to the company, she knew that he was capable of violence.

Come on, Helen! Call me back!

Candace sent her a text message asking her to call. Then she called Rob, who didn’t answer. She tried to push thoughts of her brother out of her mind, but it was no use.

Her phone rang.

“David. Have you talked to Charlotte?”

“Just got off the phone with her. I’m still in the airport.”

“Have you called the contractor?”

“I’ve left him a message—”

“David, we can’t have this. Charlotte told me she had a very interested client who wants to see the house tomorrow.”

“I know. I talked to Ken Samuels on Wednesday, and he assured me that all would be finished by today. Some of the things Charlotte described on the phone were new, though.”

“What do you mean, new?”

“The list of items she gave me the other day didn’t include everything she just outlined to both you and me. But I’ll chase Ken down and get him to handle it all. Whatever it takes.”

“It better not take more money,” said Candace. “These kinds of issues at this late date are inexcusable, David. You assured me we wouldn’t have any problems with this guy, and here we are, down to the wire. I’m very upset.”

David paused for a second. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it taken care of, even if it means I have to fly back to Atlanta and hunt him down. I’ll direct him to get his team back out there today. Worst case, if they’re still working during the showings, Charlotte can tell her clients they’re just doing the final touches.”

“I don’t like it, but I see I’ll have to accept it. This is not what I wanted to be dealing with the day before my wedding.”

“Nor did I. As for the landscaping, though, we’ve had a lot of rain during the last few days—”

“So? That should have already been done, and not just in the last few days. Once you get through to Ken and know something, call me.”

“Of course.”

“That’s all for now.”

Candace hung up and put the phone down. A few minutes later, Rob called.

“I know it must be important, since we’re to see each other so soon,” he said.

“It is. Monty called me and threatened me again. Not just threats against the company. He said he was going to kill me.”

“Good Lord.”

“Rob, he’s gone berserk. Our conversation deteriorated and then he hung up on me. I’m worried that he’s going to do something to Helen or Adele, or both.”

“Did he indicate that?”

“No, but he sounded—violent. He’s a lunatic. He’s desperate, and I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

“Does Helen have anyone that she can go stay with?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I called and left her a message to call me. Wait. I think her sister is coming down from Chicago this weekend. She may already be there.”

“Perhaps Helen has gone to the airport to collect her?”

“Oh, Rob. I have to calm down.”

“You do. I’ll be home soon. Let’s talk about it then.”

“One more thing. Monty brought up the accident. He accused me of wishing to kill my mother, and reminded me of the last thing I said to her—”

“Candace—”

“And he said that I should have been the one killed. That when Mom died, his life was ruined.”

“That’s not true. No matter how much she did for him when he was growing up, he always believed he was too smart to have go to work like other people do. It’s who he is. Has he ever seen anything through to the end, start to finish?”

“Rob—no, he hasn’t.”

“I dare say that, had she lived, he would have caused your mother as much pain and disappointment as he’s caused everyone else. You have to know this, Candace. His life was always going to be what it is.”

“I—wait, Helen’s calling.”

“Yes, take it,” said Rob. “I’ll see you when I get home.”

At just after eight o’clock, Helen got Adele down for the night. Then she sat on the sofa and picked up her notebook. She needed to outline her thoughts and decide what to do.

She’d still been in shock about Monty’s betrayal when she talked to Candace this afternoon. At first, Helen had just listened, unsure of whether to divulge what she’d discovered. But after Candace recounted her conversation with Monty, Helen had decided to tell her everything she had learned.

She’d told her that she believed he was lying about having a job and that he was moving funds to pretend he was being paid. What Candace told her was more alarming, though: he’d hacked into her company’s system, was trying to blackmail her, and had threatened to kill her if she didn’t meet his demands.

Candace had pleaded with Helen to get out of the house and protect herself and Adele, or even call the police. But Helen had said she thought Monty had just lashed out at Candace in the moment, something she’d seen him do many times. She assured her that he would never follow through on his threat or do anything to hurt her or Adele. When it came down to it, she didn’t think he had the courage.

She told Candace that instead of running, it was time for her to stop living in fear. She didn’t know when she’d do it, but she felt she needed to confront him—maybe even tonight. She was angry, and she was tired of his lies. Things had to change before the babies came and her life got crazy. Monty needed come clean about everything and to end it with Rachel. He would have to prove to her that he was working—she would demand to meet his boss. He would have to sell the condo, pay Candace back, and forget about Arcadia. If he didn’t, and then Candace took a hit on the property, she would be enabling Monty’s lies and secret lifestyle.