At the hospital, Andy had no more ideas than Eva did. Like her, he narrowed the threads to Bernbach and the Chinese. “But if Bernbach’s dead, what was yesterday all about?” Andy said.
“Leftover orders? Eva asked. Something he put in motion before he died?”
“Possibly.”
“If the Chinese did kill Bernbach, they could be looking to tidy up loose ends.”
“Loose ends like me,” Andy said. “But why Dan?”
“They didn’t try to kill him. They tried to kidnap him. They want something he has, which I’d say is the information about his political clients at JPAC, and the software and algorithms he’s developed for Rakesh’s project.”
◆◆◆
A little before 4:00 p.m., Eva went down to the hospital cafeteria to find a place to talk with Steve Cole. She bought a bottle of iced tea and settled into a booth toward the back. Cole called precisely at 4:00 p.m.
“Hi, Steve. What’s up?” she said.
“Hi. I wanted to check on you after yesterday. How are you doing? How’s Dan?”
“I’m good. Still a little shaken. Trying to figure out what the hell’s going on. Dan came home from the hospital around noon today. He’s doing fine. What’s going on there?”
“I thought we should talk. I didn’t see it until this morning, but we received another email about Dan at the Daneva Tech info@ address.”
“Now what?”
“This one had a video file as the attachment. I put it through a VADS review and VADS confirms it’s an original. No edits noted.”
“Alright. More society mag content or worse?”
“Worse, a lot worse. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to call you, but I had to. It’s a sexual encounter with the same woman from the still photo. A little grainy but very graphic. You’re not going to be happy. At least there’s no audio. I couldn’t just send it to you without calling.”
“Well, I’m already not happy. Just email it to my personal account and delete it off the email server. No, archive a copy first. But encrypt it.”
“Will do. I’ll encrypt the copy I send you and text you the password. I’m sorry, Eva. Call me 24/7 if you need to.”
Fighting anger and sadness as they wrapped around her, Eva looked across the cafeteria. She saw doctors, nurses, staff, new parents, people worrying about loved ones, people grateful for medical care, people about to lose their spouses or parents or even children. She saw herself, sitting alone in the cafeteria, about to lose the man she had loved since high school. She closed her eyes, fighting tears.
Heart pounding, she opened the email from Cole and launched the attachment.
The video showed Dan and the Hope woman in what looked like a hotel suite or maybe a guest house. The woman was naked from the waist up, handing Dan a drink. He was wearing the sport jacket and slacks from the still photo. The action quickly got worse from there. Eva wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Anger overcame the sadness. She watched the video until it stopped. At least the details on the bed were hard to make out. Her first thought was to kill him. Then her mind went clinical.
Eva closed the email and finished her tea. She sent a text to Cole that read: “Got it. No fun. Thanks for being a friend.” She called Andy’s room to tell him something had come up and she’d try to see him after dinner or in the morning. He told her that was OK, his mom had arrived.
Eva walked to the valet station and retrieved her Porsche.
Chapter 58
When Eva got home from the hospital, she found Dan asleep on the porch. “Hey, Dan, wake up,” she said. “I brought Tex-Mex takeout for dinner.” She was determined to seem as normal as possible. “Yours is on the bar. I’m going to eat in my studio. I’m behind in my work after another crazy weekend. Andy looks good, by the way. Still uncomfortable. His mom came in from New York this afternoon. Anything I can get for you before I go to the studio?”
“No, I’m fine, just a little sleepy. The security guard left at 5:00. I may go to bed early.”
“Good idea,” Eva said, carrying her food to her studio.
As she ate, Eva began working down her mental list. Going online, she checked her personal money market account, which showed a balance of $3.3 million. Then she logged into the Vanguard brokerage account for her revocable trust, which showed $11.4 million in liquid investments, mostly in ETFs. She changed the passwords on both accounts and recorded them in her password manager. Moving on, she logged into their joint investment accounts and transferred half of the cash balance of each account into a linked joint account she had set up months earlier. By the time she was done, she had moved $10.7 million into the new linked account. She changed the password on the new account and recorded it. She left the other assets untouched. She wasn’t trying to steal the money. Dan was still on all the joint accounts, including the new one where he lacked online access. It was just a little financial insurance to reduce the risk Dan would do something stupid.
With this out of the way, she went back to her bedroom closet, speaking with Dan on the way by. “Changing into something more comfortable,” she said. Inside the closet, she reset the electronic access codes on their home safe and the gun safe and tested both. She checked the contents of her Go Bag, which included three days of clothes plus $5,000 in cash in a hidden compartment. The safe contained another $25,000 in U.S. dollars, plus the equivalent of about $2,000 each in Euros, Pounds Sterling, Chinese Yuan and Mexican Pesos. Taking off her sundress, she slipped on a sleeveless black midi tee shirt dress.
Back in her studio, Eva called Mary Ball and gave her the news about the video she had received. Mary was shocked and sympathetic. “What are you going to do?” she asked. “Do you want to come over here? Our guest house is available.”
Eva said, “I’m throwing him out of the house tomorrow. If he doesn’t leave, I may need to take you up on the guest house.”
“What are you going to do tonight?”
“I’ll be OK. I’m working late and he’s going to bed early. I’ll sleep in the guest suite next to my studio.”
Eva’s next call was to Steve Cole. After that, she called Andy. His mom was still there, so she said she’d call back.
Picking up her cellphone, Eva looked through her Apps, wondering whether she should change the passwords or access permissions on any of them. Then it hit her. Unless he had changed it, she had the passcode to Dan’s iPhone. They had memorized each other’s passcodes after the home invasion in case one of them ever needed to use the other person’s phone in an emergency.
Putting down her phone, Eva walked to the house. Dan was in bed, totally out. She went into his closet and found his phone plugged into the charger. Closing the door gently, she picked up the phone and defaulted past the facial recognition to the keypad, where she entered the nine-digit passcode. The screen opened to display the home page apps. Oh, my God. It worked. Now what? she thought.
She paged through the apps. Spotting the Snapchat app, she opened it. No messages, but some of the contacts used code names. Not good. She went to his text messages and scrolled through them, looking for anything romantic or suspicious. She scrolled back further. A few messages with Bernbach and Susan Ward, but nothing unusual.
Watching the closet door, she switched to email. The phone showed his JPAC Outlook account and three personal email accounts—the one she used and two others. She went to the others first, which showed little traffic. Then she went to his primary personal account. There, about a week back, she saw an email with no subject line. She opened it to find an audio file but no message. She forwarded the email to her own personal account, then deleted the forward from his sent messages. She scrolled further. Nothing. Deciding not to press her luck, she moved the phone back to the home page, clicked off the screen and put it on the charger.
She opened the closet door. Dan was still asleep. She made some hot tea in the kitchen and went back to her studio. There, she opened the forwarded email and played the audio file.
A ma
n’s voice she didn’t recognize said, “I thought we should double back on your assignments we discussed yesterday. Why don’t you give me a summary?”
Then a voice that sounded like Dan’s said, “OK. First, you expect weekly reports on Rakesh’s project. Second, you want to be able to use the new technology we’ve developed for him. Third, you want a copy of the software code with the algorithms sent to PaprW8 and one of your Chinese companies. Fourth, you want me to do whatever I can to distance that reporter and the FBI from being interested in you or thinking you have anything to do with China. That includes keeping Eva away from the reporter, which you’ve made clear could be important for her own safety. Is that it?”
The first voice said, “You’ve got it. Anything else before you go?”
Then the other voice said, “Yes. I’ve made arrangements to fly back commercial, so I won’t need the ride on your plane. I have a car coming for the trip to JFK. After sleeping on it last night, I’ve decided I can’t help you with your list. I’m resigning, whether you think that’s an option or not. You can do whatever you want with your photos and videos. Once you play them, they’re played. I don’t intend to betray my business partner. I figure the worst thing that happens to me is Eva leaves me and I end up marrying Tara. On the other hand, the worst thing that happens to you is you go to jail for 20 years, along with some of your friends. I don’t intend to be in there with you. You can decide whether you want your people to keep using JPAC.”
Then the first voice said, “You stupid asshole! Are you crazy? Why would you possibly think Tara would swap her life up here for some guy like you in Austin, Texas? You’re not Jeff Bezos. You can’t do this.”
The other voice said, “Well, I’m doing it. I don’t have your money or your experience in business or politics. I may be out of my league, but I’m calling your bluff.”
The first voice said, “You’re making a huge mistake. You don’t want to burn these bridges.”
The other voice said, “Maybe not, but neither do you.”
Stunned, Eva re-played the audio file. It’s clearly Dan. The other man must be David Bernbach. Bernbach’s blackmailing Dan. Dan’s refusing to play. Bernbach’s threatening to release photos and videos of Dan, probably the ones with Tara Hope. Dan’s calling his bluff.
She listened a third painful time. Dan’s basically throwing me under the bus. Does he really mean he’d marry her or is it part of his bluff?
For a minute, she almost sympathized with Dan for trying to stand up to Bernbach’s threats. Then she remembered. Whether he was set up by Bernbach or not, he was in the video, in bed with her.
Eva closed the computer screen and put her head in her hands. The file was what she needed, but it was not what she wanted. Sadness overcame anger. She closed her eyes and cried. When she recovered, she compiled a typed transcript of the audio file. She designated the speakers simply as Person 1 and Person 2. The work was painful, but she knew it had to be done.
By the time she was done, it was too late to call Rakesh. She’d reach him in the morning. She went to the bar and poured a glass of Zinfandel and walked back to her studio. Late or not, she called Andy. Fortunately, his mom had gone to her hotel. Eva dumped her anguish on him for almost an hour.
Chapter 59
After sleeping in the guest suite next to her studio, Eva awoke early, knowing this Monday was not going to be happy. Dan came out as she was eating breakfast at the bar in the kitchen.
Dan said, “Sorry I was so out of it last night. I didn’t even hear you come to bed. Are you going out? That doesn’t look like your usual Happy Monday outfit.” She was wearing a blue and yellow print midi dress with a high neckline and bare shoulders.
“Yeah, I was running some ideas by Andy on the phone last night. I want to go by and see him and also talk to Valerie and Rakesh. Are you still planning to work here this morning? I should be back by noon at the latest.”
“Yes, I’m working from home all day.”
◆◆◆
Eva was at the Jain’s house by 8:20 a.m. As Valerie and Rakesh were already aware of the Saturday events, she gave them a brief update on Dan and Andy. Then she told them about the video of Dan’s infidelity and the audio file. She gave them both copies of the audio transcript she’d prepared.
Rakesh said, “Things just keep coming, don’t they?”
Valerie said, I’m so sorry for you, Eva. Have you confronted Dan?”
“Not yet,” Eva said. “I plan to talk with him today and ask him to move out. I wanted to let Rakesh know about the audio recording first, in case he needed to deal with any security matters before I spoke with Dan.”
Rakesh said, “Thank you for doing that, Eva. As soon as we finish here, I’ll be in touch with our security and legal people. If you could give me an hour before you tell him, I’d appreciate it.”
“Yes, of course. He’s working from home today. I won’t speak with him before 11:00 a.m.”
Valerie said, “This has to be so hard for you and Eva, so disappointing.”
“Betrayal of any kind is hard,” Rakesh said. “The timeline and the depth and breadth are always difficult to assess. You never know for sure when it started and whether it’s ended or how bad it was. I expect Eva has the same questions I have: When did it start, has it stopped and was this the only time?”
The meeting lasted 23 minutes.
◆◆◆
From the Jain’s house, Eva drove to the hospital to see Andy. He introduced Eva and sent his mother off to the cafeteria for coffee. After Eva’s brain dump on the phone the night before, there wasn’t a lot to talk about. She gave him a copy of the audio transcript. She told him she’d briefed Valerie and Rakesh and planned to tell Dan later that morning and ask him to move out. Andy said he was sorry and gave her a weak one-armed hug.
“I should get released tomorrow, he said. “My parents still want me to go to New York for a week or so. A few days there might make sense. I feel bad about leaving you here by yourself after all you’ve been through and what you’ve done for me. Not too many people save your life twice in ten days. Thank you again, by the way.”
“You’re nice to say that. I’ll miss you. I have to decide where all this goes next. At least the audio recording adds weight to your theories about Bernbach, PaprW8 and some Chinese connection. It also makes me believe some of this craziness will go away now that Bernbach’s dead.”
“I agree. At this point, I’m chalking up Saturday to leftover instructions from Bernbach. I hope I’m not being optimistic.”
“Have you decided whether to go back to the Sentinel Observer?”
“I’m going back. The question is what I do with this story. My dad wants me to give it up. He’s got my mom scared to death I’m going to get killed. I’m still worried myself. Bernbach’s gone, but the Chinese are still out there.”
“You need to listen to your dad. I’d like to think I’m done shooting bad guys for you.”
◆◆◆
Eva was back at the house by 11:00 a.m. Dan was in his study. Eva walked in and said, “We need to talk. Can we do it now?” Dan agreed. She remained standing.
“I’ll make this as short as I can. I have five points. First, I received a copy of a video of you and Tara Hope having sex. VADS has checked it and it’s real. Second, I have a copy of an audio recording of you and a man I assume is David Bernbach discussing your rejection of some demands he made. Rather than play it here, I made this transcript for you. You’ll notice I highlighted the sentence where you said the worst thing that happens is I leave you and you marry Tara Hope.”
She handed him a copy of the transcript and paused. He read it and looked up.
“Third, I gave Rakesh and Valerie a copy of this transcript this morning because it seems to involve JPAC. Fourth, I expect you to move out of this house by tonight. You’re welcome to come back and get your things as you need to, but I expect you to call or text me in advance. Don’t just show up. You can take the Suburban. Fo
r now, I’ll keep the Porsche and the Tesla. Fifth, if you want to talk about any of this or anything else, we can arrange a time. I intend to seek legal advice, but I’d like to avoid communicating through lawyers if that’s humanly possible.”
Dan said, “Can we talk about this now? Can I explain how all this happened?”
“No. We both need some time to think. I bought a sandwich. I’m going to eat in my studio. If you need help with packing anything up, let me know. I meant what I said about moving out. You’re not sleeping or living here anymore. Whatever you have to say, this isn’t my fault. It’s yours.”
Chapter 60
That evening, sitting in his room at a Comfort Suites in South Austin, Dan sent a Snapchat message to Tara Hope: “Important we talk tonight. Can I call you?”
A few minutes later, Hope called his cell.
“Thanks for calling,” Dan said. “How are you doing? I’ve missed your Snap photos.”
“I’ve had a hard time since David died. So unexpected.”
“I was wondering if I could find a time to come up or we could meet somewhere.”
“Um, Dan, I don’t think it’s going to be easy for us to see each other now that David’s gone.”
“What do you mean. Why? I can fly commercial.”
“I don’t think you understand. You don’t think…. You don’t think I was getting attached to you….”
“Well, I thought we had a pretty good time when we were together.”
“Dan. Oh, Dan. I was dating David. Had been for about a year. He couldn’t give me all the sex I had with my poor husband. So, he’d set me up from time to time with some of his business acquaintances. He got to show them what it’s like to be rich and I’d have a little extra fun. And you were a lot of fun.”
“But David’s gone now. That leaves you with nobody. What about me?”
“Oh, Dan. You don’t get it, do you? You think I could actually care for you, have a relationship with you. We had fun together. You were good in bed and nice to talk to. But you’re from a different world than I am. My husband left me $2 billion. You and I are from different…. What’s that they call it in India? Castes. We’re from different castes, Dan. There’s no way we could be together for more than a night or two at a time. You’re my icing, Dan, not my cake. And I couldn’t just take advantage of you like that. It wouldn’t be fair to you since David’s not here to hold up his end of whatever bargain he made with you.”
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