But FDIC hacks had given China granular access to our financial system in an entirely different way. What could they do if they were inside the system? Pretend to be US citizens. Open bank accounts.
Markets were an experiment in mass psychology. In a volatile market, enough reactions by fake account holders could show up on consumer confidence polls. Enough polls with down-trending numbers could convince actual US citizens that something was seriously wrong with the economy.
What else could US citizens do with bank accounts?
Receive social security payments. Transfer money in and out. Engage in automatic payment of bills. But all of that eventually involved spending money, which would be helpful to our economy. That would seem at odds with a goal to ruin it.
What else, beyond buying things, could US citizens do with money?
Invest in the markets. Support a charity. Donate to a cause. Only US citizens, for example, could contribute to a political campaign.
There were a lot of ways in which China could use personal information and fake bank accounts, but I still couldn’t make anything fit together. None of it lent any clarity to the investigation.
Leo came inside, bringing the scent of gasoline and freshly cut grass with him. He disappeared into the kitchen. While he banged things around, I sank back into my books. Soon the scents of garlic and basil began to make my mouth water.
Eventually the garlic and the basil turned into a pizza. He brought it out to the table in the pan and split it right down the middle. Half for me, half for him. He slid mine onto a plate and set it in front of me.
“You made this?”
“I did.”
“From scratch?”
“Mostly. It’s your classic tomato pie courtesy of The Italian Store.”
The Italian Store. It was a place I aspired to, a bastion of Italian goodness in two locations in Arlington. It wasn’t a splurge for most people, but it was for me.
“I use their dough.”
I took a bite.
“And their sauce. And a few other things. But I put them all together on the pan.”
“That’s good enough me.”
He ate his half from the pan. I ate mine on a plate that also served as a paperweight to my study guide.
It was nice to be with someone who wasn’t trying to control me, who wasn’t trying to change what I wore or how I presented myself. With Leo I found myself wearing my jeans and a baggy T-shirt again with no guilt. No second thoughts.
“Are you guys any closer on Cade? Or the killer?”
“Getting there.”
“Because something’s been bothering me.”
“There’s a lot that’s been bothering me.” He muttered the words.
“The FDIC insures individual accounts.”
“Right.”
“But only up to $250,000.”
“Yep.”
“The Chinese have invested billions in our country.”
“True.”
“But it’s not in $250,000 bank accounts.”
“No.”
“It’s in research and buildings and government debt. So where’s the FDIC connection? I can’t see one.”
“Neither can I.”
But I couldn’t stop trying to make the pieces fit.
The conversation with my father had also been bothering me, so after dinner I called him.
“You want to hear about my plan?”
“Tell me everything.”
“It’s this new money. Crypto.”
“Cryptocurrency?”
“That’s right. I met a guy, says you can make a fortune off it if you time it right.”
I had a passion for cryptocurrency but not as a core part of an investment plan. Especially not for someone near retirement. “Some people have made money off it. But that was when it first got started. And it’s people generally who’ve been holding it for a long time.”
“Well, this guy’s mining it. You know what that is? You get a computer, get a program, put it to work solving puzzles, and it’s like finding Easter eggs.”
My unease was growing by the moment. “Where did you meet this person?”
“Through Frankie. Kind of a friend of a friend from bowling.”
Warning bells clanged in my head. “You haven’t given him any money, have you?”
“Frankie and I are going to talk to him tomorrow night. He’s in town for a few days.”
“Promise you won’t give him any money before you talk to me.”
“Sweetie, don’t worry. I’ve been around the block a time or two. The bankruptcy took almost everything, so it’d just really be nice to goose the retirement fund. Otherwise, it’s going to be you.”
“What’s going to be me?”
“My retirement plan. If I can’t take care of myself—” He broke off. “But don’t worry. That’s plan B. Plan A is I figure out how to make a bunch of money fast.”
“That never works, Dad.”
“It does for some people. Why can’t some people be me for a change?”
Because it didn’t work like that in real life for people like us. Although to some extent, my dad was right. People who had money weren’t necessarily better or smarter than the rest of us. They were just lucky. Lucky to be born into the right circumstances and lucky that bad circumstances had never touched them the way they had the rest of us. “Dad, you can’t build a plan around luck. Please. Promise me you won’t invest any money until after you’ve told me what their pitch is.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Please, Dad!”
He told me he loved me, tried again to reassure me, and then he hung up.
Cryptocurrency might be new, but human nature hadn’t changed. Money in any form was still money and there would always be people willing to scam others to get more than their fair share.
Chapter 38
Monday morning, I took my attaché instead of my backpack to work. I also took my interview shoes. Leo promised me a ride to the storage unit to pick up my other interview suit and then a ride into DC for my interview.
I’d arranged for Maddie to come in early to cover part of my shift.
Corrine and I worked together—briefly. It always took me a while to hit my full stride in the morning, but Corrine was one of those people who always took life straight up. And she could multitask too. Somehow she was able to take orders, pull shots, and keep up a running conversation. That morning was no exception.
“If I had a dollar for all the men who come in here just to look at you? I wouldn’t be here anymore. I’d be on a beach somewhere in Tahiti.”
Everyone always talked about beaches in Tahiti, but had anyone actually ever been to one? Was there anything to them, were they truly beautiful, or was it all just hype? “Let’s review. Of the most recent, one was an ex-boyfriend. And one might be a cold-blooded killer. I wouldn’t wish to be me if I were you. Come to think of it? I don’t wish to be me.”
“Forget about those guys. There’s a new one.”
“New one what?”
“New guy. He was asking about you Saturday.”
“When?”
“After you left.”
“How long after?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Before three, right? Because that’s when my shift ended.”
“The problem with my life right now is that there are too many men. And they’re all causing trouble. I don’t need another one.”
“You might like this one though. I like this one.”
She liked everyone.
“I’m just trying to help you out, that’s all. After what you told me about the face thing.”
“I’m not interested.”
“But he’s interested.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to be.”
“I told him all about you.”
Shaking my head, I turned back to the espresso machine. It wasn’t until I’d pulled a couple shots that the implications of her words sank in. “Cor
rine?” I raised my voice so she could hear me over the hiss of the machine. “What exactly did you tell him?”
“Him who?”
“The guy who asked about me Saturday.”
“Oh! That you’re super smart and super nice. And you aren’t dating anyone.”
Who needed a dating app when she was around? “That’s it? You didn’t tell him anything else?”
“Like what?”
“Anything about the murder?”
“You know? You don’t have to let it all hang out up front. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it, but I’d say, give it a couple dates and then work it in. Like, ‘Oh, by the way, I found a dead body.’ Because people who’d date you because of that, you wouldn’t want to date anyway. That would be creepy.”
I went back to pulling shots.
She slid past me on her way to the mobile pickup counter. “And I might have maybe sort of mentioned your face thing. Because I didn’t want him to feel bad if he came in sometime and you didn’t recognize him.”
“But I told you that in confidence!”
“It was for a good cause.”
“Considering that it’s my information to give out, could you not give it out in the future?”
“Okay, yeah. Sorry. It was just me trying to do you a favor.”
I let it go. It was all that I could do.
* * *
On my break, I discovered that Mrs. Harper had left me a voice message.
I called her back. “Mrs. Harper? Is everything okay?”
“No. But it’s my own fault, isn’t it? Once I get this cast off, I should be fine. Jess has a check for you. We wanted to put it in the mail, but we don’t know where to send it.”
I gave her Leo’s address.
She repeated it back to me.
“That’s right.”
“Wonderful. I’ll just— Hold on for a second. Jess is headed out. I’ll ask her to take it with her.”
I heard some talking off-line. In a few moments, Mrs. Harper came back on. “That’s fine then. It’s all taken care of.” She spent the next few minutes telling me about what life was like with a cast and how she’d watched her grandchildren swim at a meet over the weekend. “Oh—and you’ll never guess what happened. I found that package!”
“What package?”
“The one that nice young man delivered. I was packing for the trip Doris and Helen and Irene are taking without me when he came by. Wouldn’t you know? I must have set it down in my suitcase and then put a sweater right on top of it. I just found it this morning. So we’re mailing that to you too.”
Leo and I had already decided that there never had been a package. That it had just been a ruse to gain entry to the house.
“Are you sure it’s my package?”
“It has your name right on it.”
“Is there any way you can tell me who it’s from?”
“Let me check with—” She paused for a moment. I heard her call her daughter’s name. She soon came back on the line. “Jess is already gone. She took it with her when she left so she could mail it. I’m sorry. But how long can it take to get from Loudoun to Arlington?”
It couldn’t come quickly enough!
Leo came by early. I told him about the package after he ordered his coffee.
“You mean there really was one? Huh. And she didn’t know who it was from?”
“No idea.”
“We should find out in the next couple days.”
He ordered a coffee and then took it over to a table. He sat there pretending to read the paper as he waited for me. I don’t know if anyone else realized he was pretending, but his posture was too rigid, too stiff to believe he was absorbed in the articles.
As we left for the storage unit, I saw the guy with the sling again. He crossed the sidewalk in front of us and stumbled. I put a hand to his arm.
“Sorry.” He righted himself.
“You okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine. Sorry.”
At least he wasn’t carrying an armful of papers this time.
Leo had his SUV back. He helped me into it.
“You haven’t noticed anyone different?” he asked as we drove to the storage unit. “Anyone new around?”
“How would I know?”
“Good point. Anything unusual, then?”
“The guy with the sling.” I said it before I put any thought into it.
“The what?”
“That guy with the sling.”
“The one who almost tripped over us?”
“Yeah. He ran into me last week. He was carrying a notebook full of papers and dropped them all over the sidewalk.”
“You’d never seen him before last week?”
“I might have. But I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I only recognized him by the sling.”
Leo let a few moments go by before he responded. “When was this?”
“It was Wednesday? Maybe. I think.”
“Time of day?”
“As I was leaving work.”
“Same place?”
“Last week he was in front of the Blue Dog heading toward the metro.”
“Are you sure?”
I thought back to when I’d first met him. “I don’t know. That’s the direction he was going. He asked if I could do him a favor, but my car pulled up right then. I had to go.”
Leo grunted.
“Why?”
“Anyone you’ve noticed around that coffee shop in the past couple weeks has got to be considered a suspect.”
My face went numb. My vision blurred around the edges. “The guy was wearing a sling. He might as well have been helpless.”
“You can wear a sling even if you don’t need one. Makes a good disguise. And you can never be too paranoid.”
“He seemed like a nice guy.”
“Never said he wasn’t. You remember what I told you, right? Never go anywhere—”
“Without someone else. I know.”
“Not until we figure out who the killer is.” He sighed. “I wish we knew what that favor would have been.”
Chapter 39
While we were driving to the storage unit, my dad called.
“Hey, sweetie. I’m sorry about yesterday. I just really need this to work, that’s all.”
“But your friend who introduced you to—”
“Frankie.”
“Your friend Frankie. How well do you know this friend?”
“Well. Very well.” There seemed to be a sort of warning in his voice.
“Okay.”
“You know things were rough for me after your mother died.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do. And that’s okay. You weren’t here, so you couldn’t see it. And I’m glad you didn’t. But I can’t live in that space. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? I loved your mother. I still do. But I can’t love her any more or any less now. She’s gone.”
It’s true that I’d never lived in the house after Mom had died. He must have been haunted by all the memories. I should have thought of that before now. I should have said something. Should have suggested that he sell the house. If he’d done it sooner, maybe he could have paid off some of those bills. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I know, Dad.”
“So I’m making some choices.”
“Okay. I understand. I just want you to be safe.”
“I know you do. You’re a good girl.”
“I’m glad you sold the house.” Or I would be, once I had the time to process it. “It was time. And I understand the need to invest. It’s just that no one knows what’s going to happen with cryptocurrency.” I had my hopes. I knew what I wanted to have happen, but there weren’t very many rules in place to govern it yet.
“No one knew what would happen with desktop computers or cell phones either. New things are always risky. But I’m willing to take a chance. What do I have to lose?”
When I was growing up, my father had always known ev
erything. And he’d always been right. I didn’t know how to let him be wrong. “Can I just ask you—can you limit your exposure? They say if you gamble you should only bet as much as you can afford to lose.”
“That’s good advice. Thing is? At my age? I have to gamble. I don’t have enough years left to do things the right way. Listen, whatever happens, I won’t hold you responsible, okay? I asked for your advice. I choose not to take it. That’s all I wanted to say.”
I told him good-bye and tried to push him out of my thoughts so that I could shift my focus toward the interview. Second interviews were good. Third interviews were better, of course. I told myself the only thing I had to do that afternoon was get invited back for the next round.
Leo drove right up to the gate guarding the storage units. He asked for my access code and got out to punch it in.
The gate opened.
We drove up to the unit. Leo stood beside me as I unlocked it, and then he rolled up the door for me.
“I just kind of threw everything in there. I can’t remember where my things are exactly. It might take a few minutes to go through every—”
The door had risen far enough for me to see inside. Nothing was there.
He gave the door a shove that rolled it up to the top. “Are you sure this is your unit?”
It had to be, didn’t it? I double-checked the number. “This is it. This is where I left everything.”
Leo had taken me by the arm. He was pulling me away. “Leave it.”
“But—”
“We’ll have to dust everything for prints. I don’t think there will be any, but—” He walked around the car with me and opened the door, then went around and got in on the driver’s side. “Time to talk to management.”
* * *
I didn’t waste any time telling the manager what had happened. He nodded along until I got to the everything-is-gone part.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He pressed his palms to the counter. “He said you sent him down.”
“He? He who? You told me I was the only one who would have access to my unit. That’s what I put in the paperwork. I didn’t give permission for anyone else to access it.”
“He said you were busy, asked him to come by and take care of it.”
Everywhere to Hide Page 21