Corrupt Practices

by Penelope L'Amoreaux

  “Hey, sorry. I shouldn’t have brought anything up.”

  “It’s ok. We needed to pass the time.”

  “You don’t have to stay here. I can finish this up and let myself out, you know.”

  He shook his head. “I am still mad I didn’t know you were here to begin with. I’m definitely not leaving a staffer alone here.”

  “Because of all that espionage I’ll be doing?” Mariel joked.

  “Because I want to know the office is safe. And if you’re here, I’ll need to know you’re safe.”

  The words were like adrenaline, filling her until she thought she’d burst from joy.

  They continued in silence. Mariel watched as Dallas fought sleep. Eventually, though, his eyes closed. She enjoyed the relaxed, boyish look on his face as he slept. To keep herself awake, she started reading the reports she was about to shred. It was more of the same, but it kept her awake.

  And then she picked up some accounting papers. The dates were current; these were records for the campaign everyone was working on. The amounts on the paper were a little disturbing, too. Large amounts of money were coming into the campaign, that was to be expected. Roger Taylor had always been a good fundraiser, and with his family’s old political ties, it hadn’t been hard for him to keep well financed. But there were debits, here and there, to bank accounts instead of campaign costs. Bank accounts that looked suspiciously like they were foreign.

  Scrambling, she rushed to Dallas and shook him awake. “Look at this.” When he realized what he was looking at, Dallas jerked up.

  “You were shredding these?”

  “I was about to. I was reading some of the stuff I was going to shred. This seemed out of place to me.”

  Dallas pushed himself up and began to pace, looking at the numbers over and over. “It sure as hell is out of place. We are supposed to hold on to financial records like these indefinitely. These numbers, too. I don’t recognize these accounts. Or why we’d be moving so much into them. Shit. There’s…” he did some calculations in his head, his mouth moving as he tallied. “At least five hundred thousand dollars being moved. I mean, our campaign runs on a few million, and that is no insignificant amount.”

  “And you’re only looking at a quarterly statement, Dallas. Who knows if any money was moved last quarter? It wouldn’t take much to add up to a lot, and quickly.”

  “Where did you find this? Some asshole is going to have a bad day for putting the wrong box in here.”

  Mariel showed him the box. It had been mixed in with other older papers. Most of the papers in it were older papers, not financials. The financial papers weren’t even clumped together. They found only a few sheets of them, here and there, staggered in the remaining boxes. It was obvious that someone had not just placed the box in the wrong place. Someone had taken the time to hide the financials in with older things, making them hard to recognize in all of the shredding.

  They were only able to find five other reports--all of them from the current campaign. The amount of money being moved was staggering.

  “Two and a half million dollars,” Mariel gasped.

  “Fuck. Fuck!” Dallas ran a hand through his hair. “If we get audited, and we will with this much money missing… E.B., that’s a big deal. Like, criminally big.”

  She bit her lip, nodding. “You know what it looks like, of course.”

  She didn’t need to say it. Wide eyed and pale, Dallas knew exactly what she was hinting at. “It looks like Roger is laundering money.”

  That control, carefully crafted and used like a wall around Dallas, began to crumble. Mariel knew because for the first time since she had met him, he looked helpless

  Chapter Ten

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  His hands held the papers, shaking. At first she thought it was despair. But when their eyes met, Mariel realized that Dallas wasn’t crying; he was raging. It was more terrifying to her than despondency.

  “Do you think Roger knows?”

  He exploded at her suggestion, surging up and punching the wall. “Of course not! We don’t need money! I know that’s an asshole thing to say, when you just told me about your childhood. But trust me, we’re taken care of for the rest of our lives.” There was a trace of distaste in his voice. Mariel couldn’t know what it was like to be secure financially, but she could understand that for Dallas, being seen for more than his family’s wealth was important.

  “I had to ask. I don’t know Roger like you do.”

  “No, you don’t,” he spat.

  She held up her hands-- she wasn’t trying to fight. “But if I don’t know him, and I had to ask, what do you think the public would do with this knowledge? The media? This is enough to bury Roger. Possibly even land him in jail.”

  When he said nothing, just stared, she continued, her words rushing out.

  “Ellen was the one who sent the e-mail, Dallas. She made shredding these documents sound monumentally important.”

  “It can’t be Ellen, either. She’s too infatuated with my brother to hurt him.”

  Infatuated with Roger? Mariel recalled how passionately Ellen had been arguing with the stranger at the fundraiser. The woman had looked more than defeated after; she had despaired. She wondered if Ellen had been defending Roger. If she was in love with him the way that Dallas thought she was, then it would account for her reaction. The stranger might be someone they could start investigating.

  Which was a laugh, because how do you investigate a man whose face you’ve never seen?

  “We need access to Bill’s computer.” Mariel hated the thought of spying on the nice accountant, but when there were financial crumbs, they always started with accounting.

  “Ok.”

  Even though she had a total right to be in the office, Mariel suddenly felt wary, scared of the dark hallways and empty rooms. Before, when she had thought she was alone, it had been exciting and fun. When she and Dallas were together it had been a bit taboo, erotic. But now they really were sneaking, about to spy on their colleague.

  “For the record,” Dallas whispered, “I don’t think it is Bill, either.” The fact that Dallas was whispering meant he felt it, too. Her nerves were screaming in anticipation as Dallas quietly unlocked Bill’s office.

  Mariel took a seat and booted up the computer. It was password locked.

  “I don’t suppose you have an administrator password?”

  He shook his head. “No, Mark takes care of all of our IT and computer stuff.”

  “Does Bill have a wife? Children?”

  Dallas began to rattle off details of Bill’s life. Names of family members. Church he attended. Sports teams he liked. Each time Mariel would try a password variation of the names, but each time she was rejected until finally she was locked out.

  “We’re going to need Mark.”

  “I don’t know, E.B… I don’t want the person who is doing this to know I’m looking. There’s no one in this office I don’t trust; I’ve handpicked them all, since the beginning.”

  Knowing she was going to say something he wouldn’t want to hear, Mariel grabbed his hand in both of hers, stroking his palm. “I know, and I believe you believe that. But someone in this office knows about this, because this is some seriously shady business. You have someone in this office who is pilfering a very large amount of cash, and we don’t know where it is going.”

  “But what if it’s Mark? If we ask him to help, couldn’t he just erase the evidence?”

  It was true. Mariel was comfortable with computers but no expert, but she was certain that Mark would be able to eliminate the trail they were on if he was in on the action. “We’ll have to trick him. Let me. I’ll get into Bill’s computer tomorrow and see what I can find, ok?”

  Dallas was stiff but managed to nod his head. “I hate not knowing, Mariel. I feel like I’ve lost control somewhere. I’m failing Roger.”

  “You haven’t failed him yet, Dallas. And if we can get to the bottom of this?
You’ll be saving his career.”

  They left, trying to put everything back the way it was. Mariel moved the incriminating papers to her small office and hid them by putting them in a folder and taping it to the underside of her desk. Dallas’s office was probably safe, but no one would think to look at the intern who was the coffee girl of the office. Finally, despite being that awful combination of exhausted and wired, they finished the shredding, making sure to not shred any other important papers. The room was clean.

  “I’m going to get some sleep,” Mariel muttered.

  “It’s four in the morning, E.B. The metro is closed and I’m not letting your stumble around in the dark.”

  “I have to sleep somewhere, Dallas, and get a change of clothing.”

  He grabbed her hand, ignoring her protests, and took her to his office. There was a long, brown couch with a pillow on it. The pillow was an embroidered duck.

  “What’s up with the duck, Dallas?”

  He laughed. “My father said voters like ‘manly outdoors’ men--that whole Teddy Roosevelt thing. So he got it for Roger. Roger hated it. He’s never been even been camping. So I kept it, because it makes me remember that Roger refuses to just play the politician, even if it risks him losing voters. Get some sleep. ”

  Mariel wanted to protest more, but the day and long night’s adventures were hitting her. As soon as her cheek pressed against the ridiculous pillow, she was out.

  A gentle knock woke her up.

  Opening her eyes was painful; it felt as if she had just shut them. Her body screamed in protest as she rolled to sitting; she couldn’t have been asleep for very long. When she glanced at a clock, she realized it was because it was seven in the morning.

  Paige stuck her head in the door, a knowing smile on her face. “Hey there, sunshine!”

  Mariel wasn’t hung over, but the over-abundance of cheer and delight on Paige’s face made her feel like she was. “Oh God, Paige, it’s too early.”

  “That’s what happens when you have too many late nights. I think I understand now, maybe, why you called out before, hmmm?”

  Mariel shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “We don’t have time to, anyway, though you should know I will corner you soon and require all of the details of how you ended up on Dallas Taylor’s couch. Here.” Paige thrust a bag into Mariel’s hands. “A change of clothing. And I put some tea on your desk, with some croissants. I wasn’t sure what you liked for breakfast.”

  “Thank you.” Mariel’s smile hurt her cheeks; she hadn’t realized how much she had needed a friend.

  She stood and stretched before beginning to undress.

  Tea. The small touch reminded Mariel of her former morning ritual, something she’d abandoned since beginning her internship. If it was only seven, she had a few moments. She could change and sneak out of Dallas’s office, looking like she had been getting him coffee or something.

  There weren’t any windows. She wondered if that was because he preferred being secluded or if he was rarely in here. Or if he let Roger and his staff have all of the nice offices. The last idea felt the most plausible to her, and it made her smile.

  Stripping to her underwear, she quickly began to warm up with some sun salutations. The yoga stretches felt good after sleeping on the couch, as comfortable as it was. Her muscles ached in delighted protest as the blood began to flow through, waking them. She’d missed this.

  She was in the middle of her third downward facing dog when the door opened. Oh shit. She should have locked it.

  “What are you doing?” The rough, grizzled voice made her smile. She didn’t need to look or try to explain. Because really, how does one explain doing yoga in your underwear in your boss’s office?

  “Waking up.”

  “There’s people here, this is the time to be meditative. Also, you have an important job today.”

  Mariel finished her salutation while listening. She caught Dallas watching her. The look in his eyes was dark and promising. Her body heated in response.

  There wasn’t time for that, though. As she stood, she waltzed over to him, stood on her tip toes, and gave a quick kiss-- with a little tongue.

  Oh, she wished they had a little more time and a whole lot less to worry about. She wanted Dallas, but she knew that the quickest way to his heart was getting to the bottom of what they had found last night. Protecting Roger.

  Pulling away from him, she put on the clothing Paige had brought her and stuffed yesterday’s outfit into the bag.

  “There’s staffers out there now, you know,” Dallas challenged her.

  “I know. Be sure to berate me as I leave your office. What’s the next crappy task you were going to give me, anyway, before all of this?”

  “How do you know I wasn’t going to invite you into the intern’s office?”

  She raised her eyebrow, knowing bullshit when she heard it.

  He smiled. “I was going to have you sharpen pencils.”

  “Ok, well now you know what to demand as I leave.”

  She opened the door and he didn’t hesitate. “E.B., when I want your opinion on something, I’ll ask for it,” he called loudly. “And when I’m ready for you to work a different task, I’ll give it to you.”

  Dallas slammed the door behind her. Mariel felt her body tingle in shame, despite knowing the game they were playing. Her eyes darted around at the staffers already in the office. They all looked at her with pity. All but Paige, who winked at her through her open office door.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mariel needed a reason to get Mark to hack Bill’s computer.

  As she crossed by Bill’s office, trying her hardest to appear normal, she heard him cursing. Taking a deep breath, she tried to school her features into a mask of calm. Then she turned and walked in. “Hey Bill, what’s up?”

  He was scowling at his screen. “I’ve been locked out. It says I’ve tried my password too many times, but I haven’t tried to log in since yesterday!”

  Mariel began to bite her lip and quickly quit. “Huh. It looks like an old machine, it’s probably just being ornery today.”

  “Old? You’ve got that right. This piece of shit was probably made before you were born.”

  Not entirely true, she thought, but people always assumed she was younger than she was. “If you want, I could talk to Mark about it.”

  Bill’s face sagged in relief. “Really? I’d love that. I’ve got too much to do to be tied up with this crap,” he gestured at his computer.

  She hurried, looking for Mark. She caught him at his computer, his fingers frantically flying over the keys. The tap-tapping of his fingers was almost a hum.

  “Hey, Mark?” He jerked as her voice yanked him from whatever he was working on.

  “The fucking database. I wish those morons would stop releasing their pages without testing them first.” His eyes strayed back to the screen. Mariel wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but he obviously wanted to get back to it.

  “I’m...sorry?”

  He relaxed a little, his palms pushing into his eyes, rubbing out the stress. She smiled in sympathy; it was the beginning of the work day and he was already stressed out. He returned her smile asking, “What can I do for you?”

  “Do we have any spare computers? Maybe models less than three years old?”

  Mark nodded. “Sure, I usually have four or five for interns that get hired. But Dallas said you weren’t ready for a new computer. Which, by the way, is stupid . The way he treats you is complete bullshit.”

  She wasn’t cut out for this-- she was sure her guilt was painted on her face. Her new shirt already felt damp, sticking to her thin sheen of sweat. She managed to stay calm, though, shrugging her shoulders. “He’s a dick. But one day, you know?”

  “Yeah. Sorry I can’t help you out.” He started to swivel back, fingers at the ready.

  “Oh! You can, though. It isn’t for me, it’s for Bill in accounting. In fact, I was thinkin
g if he had a newer laptop, I could take his old machine. Dallas can’t complain about me running such an old computer. I just need it for company e-mail. My personal computer has been getting banged up as I bring it to work every day. What do you think?”

  Mark smiled. “I think you’re a genius who likes to provoke Dallas Taylor. Let’s do it.”

  Mariel helped Mark gather the necessary supplies. They spent the morning hooking Bill up with a new computer. The accountant couldn’t have been more delighted. Mariel noticed that Bill didn’t seem too concerned with leaving a copy of his computer’s files on the old computer.

  In less than an hour Bill’s old computer was set up in Mariel’s closet office. Mark was fidgeting and kept glancing at the door. He’d probably already spent more time on this than he’d planned.

  “Hey, if you just want to log in as an admin, I can wipe the hard drive. I know you probably have a ton of work.”

  “I’m really supposed to stay while it erases…” Mark was looking down the hall, his eyes full of longing.

  Mariel decided to push a little harder. “Of course, I get it. I just know how Dallas can be when things fall behind. He’s mad at me all of the time, I figured there was no need for him to be angry with you as well. You looked like you were super busy.”

  His shoulders tightened, perhaps at the memory of Dallas’s anger. Mariel wondered, not for the first time, how much Dallas’s control hurt instead of helping Roger. How many spirits had he broken that might have been beneficial? This time, though, it was the threat of that ire that got Mariel what she wanted.

  “Ok, I’ll log in. Just let me know when it’s done, ok, so I can log it and no one gets in trouble for this.”

  She nodded, trying to shove her excitement down so it didn’t show.

  Once unlocked, Mark quickly disappeared.

  Mariel was on a timer, she knew. She would need to wipe the hard drive or Mark would know she had been snooping through Bill’s old files.