“That’s got to be it,” Jack said, straightening up behind me. “I’ve never even heard of them. Run me a report for just that vendor and get me a total. I’ll get the invoices and the cancelled checks and see what we’ve got.”
“I have all the cancelled checks,” I told him as I started the report he had asked for. Reconciling the bank statements was one of the tedious accounting tasks I had retained. “And good luck to you in getting that file from Marla without answering a lot of questions.”
“I’m the boss. I don’t have to answer any questions,” he said pompously. Then he grinned and added, “But I think if I hurry I can get the file out of her area before she gets here.” I laughed at his false bravado and he hurried out of my office.
Approximately sixty seconds later, the new report popped up on the screen. Nate and I leaned forward again as I scrolled to the bottom line.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Holy shit,” said Nate.
Over the course of three years, ARC Electrical Supply had been paid $1,274,596.45. I looked back at Nate. “That’s insane,” I told him.
“Yeah. Jack is going to freak,” he responded.
“I’m already freaking,” Jack said as he came back into the office holding a bulging file folder. “Look at the size of this folder!” He held it up and shook it at us. “Print that report and bring it to my office,” he ordered as he headed that way. “I’m calling Finn.”
Three hours later, Jack was locked in his office with Frank and Al.
He had called Al immediately after talking to Finn, who had assured Jack he could easily get all the necessary information on ARC Electrical Supply – if they were a registered company. He had warned Jack it would be more difficult if they weren’t. Jack gave him the go ahead to find out what he could and gave him the information he had on the company and its bank account.
While we waited for Al to arrive, Jack and Nate helped me to pull all the cancelled checks out of my files. There was quite an alarming pile of them building up on my desk when Al walked in through Jack’s office.
Dressed in khakis and a golf shirt, Al was an older, slightly more distinguished version of Jack. In his late fifties, he was still handsome and fit and his dark brown hair held only a smattering of gray. He was taller than Jack by about an inch, and Jack had Peggy’s eyes, but everything else about him made it easy to see what Jack would look like in thirty years.
“Good morning,” he said grimly to the room at large. We all looked up and returned his greeting as he walked over to me. “Hey, beautiful. How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” he said, pulling me into a hug.
“I’m okay,” I said, returning the hug. “I missed you. How are you doing?”
“I’ve had better days,” he said, pulling away and turning to shake Nate’s hand. “Nate. Good to see you.”
“You, too,” Nate replied. “It’s been a long time.”
“Too long,” Al agreed. “And how are your wife and kids?”
Nate laughed. “I’m not married, Al. You know that.”
“Oh, that’s right. I guess I just thought you might have made it official by now. Gorgeous woman. You should seal that deal before she gets away from you. But we’ll catch up later.” He turned away from a befuddled-looking Nate and said to Jack, “Let’s all have dinner tonight. My treat.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jack said. “Sounds good to me. Luke?”
“Sure, sounds good. Thanks,” Nate said. “Angie? Are you coming, too?”
I opened my mouth to decline, but Al interrupted. “I thought we’d just make this a boys’ night. No offense, sweetheart. You know I love you, but you’d probably be bored with a lot of talk about the old days.”
The old days? He made it sound like the three of them had a long, action-packed history together. Nate and Jack were both frowning slightly, trying to read him. I wasn’t hurt that he didn’t want me to go, but I didn’t believe his reason for it, either.
“I’m not offended at all. I was looking forward to staying in and catching up on some reading. I need a quiet night,” I told him.
“Okay, good,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulder. “I promise Peggy and I will get together with you and Jack another night. Okay?”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Great, then that’s all settled.” He removed his arm from my shoulder and turned to Jack. “Now show me what you’ve got here.”
“Let’s go to my office,” Jack said, scooping up the pile of cancelled checks and leading the way. “Can you guys finish getting the rest of the checks for me? Angie, keep everyone out unless it’s an emergency.”
“Will do,” I said, watching as they entered Jack’s office and closed the door behind them.
Nate and I spent the next fifteen minutes gathering the rest of the checks and quietly exchanging theories about who the culprit might be. I was convinced it was Heather, who I hadn’t seen since the night at the casino. She wasn’t scheduled to work again until Thursday and my suspicions were so strong, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to interact normally with her when I saw her. Then Nate reminded me that if she was the guilty party, she couldn’t have done it by herself. She would need Frank’s help. He was responsible for authorizing all new vendors and he signed all of the checks.
Jack and Al must have reached the same conclusion. Jack’s door opened and he walked out with his cell phone in his hand. “Frank’s on his way in. Take my phone and handle any calls. Stay close by, but don’t put any calls through unless it’s Finn.”
I took the phone from him and handed him the rest of the checks as I heard Frank enter the office and exchange greetings with Al. “Show time,” Jack said under his breath. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” I whispered as he returned to his office and closed the door.
I turned to Nate who was looking as jittery as I felt. “I’m feeling kind of scared,” I confided.
“Yeah. Hard to say how this is going to go. But I have to say, Frank doesn’t strike me as the type to do this kind of thing.”
“No, he doesn’t. But you’re right - he almost has to be involved. Otherwise, I don’t think this could have got past him for so long.” I hadn’t been taking this whole situation very seriously, putting it on the back burner and allowing my head to be clouded with thoughts of Jack and our relationship. But now I was realizing how ugly it might get and I was worried for Jack and Al’s safety. “You don’t think it will get violent in there, do you?” I asked Nate, nodding toward the closed door.
“I hope not. But you never know how people are going to react when they’re facing jail time.” Nate gave me a grim smile and patted my arm. “Don’t worry. Jack and Al can take care of themselves. You stay here in case they need you. I’m going to take care of some things I have to do in the server room. Then do you mind if I work in here if they’re not finished when I get back?”
“No, of course not. I’ll call you if we need you.”
While Nate was gone, I tried to behave normally as I answered Jack’s calls and emails and kept people from entering his office.
About thirty minutes later, Nate walked back in just as my desk phone rang with a call from the reception desk.
“Hi, Dorothy,” I answered.
“Hi, Angie. There’s a Mr. Finn Brogan here to see Jack.” Her voice was unusually breathy and I tried not to laugh at the effect Finn was having on a 72-year old woman. I could hear some giggling in the background and imagined word of the hotness gracing the lobby was spreading quickly through the female population of the office.
“I’ll be right out. Thanks, Dorothy.” I waited for a response and didn’t get one.
“Dorothy?” I asked.
“Oh. Sorry, Angie. Okay, I’ll tell him.” I was laughing at the distraction in her tone when she hung up on me without saying goodbye.
“Finn’s causing a commotion in the lobby. I’d better go get him before they attack,” I told Nate.
/> “I’ll come with you. I want to see how big of a crowd he’s drawn this time.”
There were a great deal more bodies in the lobby than was usual, with four women standing around trying to act as if they had important work at the reception desk – a pointless endeavor, since the only things they could possibly do there had to do with the mail. Three other women were strolling through casually and I saw one of them snap Finn’s picture as she pretended to raise her phone to her ear.
Finn was doing a pretty good job of giving them all a simultaneous once over when we walked in.
“Hey, Finn,” I said with an amused smile.
“Angie.” He barely acknowledged me before he turned his attention to Nate and shook his hand with a smile. “Hey, Nate.”
What the heck? Did he just snub me? I looked at him as he and Nate shared pleasantries and tried not to let my displeasure show on my face. What was his problem? He turned to see me looking at him and frowned. I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows in question.
Nate’s brow scrunched up as he looked between the two of us, locked in our silent conversation. “Come on, we’ll take you back,” he said, and turned to walk away. I glowered at Finn, whose brooding attitude really kind of got on my nerves, then turned away to follow Nate.
“Ladies,” I heard Finn say in acknowledgment to the women in the lobby, and I pictured him smiling and winking when I heard the sighs and giggles going on behind me.
If I knew him better, I would have stopped in the corridor to ask him to explain the attitude. But I didn’t, so I walked stiffly in front of him, feeling the daggers he was shooting at my back.
Nate led us back to my office and I turned to Finn. “I’ll let Jack know you’re here,” I said curtly.
“Thank you,” he responded with a sneer.
“What the hell, Finn? What’s your problem?” Nate asked as I moved away.
“Just stay here, Nate, and you’ll find out what my problem is.”
I looked back over my shoulder to see Finn scowling at my back. I was angry and confused when I knocked on Jack’s door.
“Come in,” Jack called.
I opened the door to see Jack sitting somberly behind his desk and Frank slumped over in a chair, with his face in his hands. Al was standing next to Frank with a hand clasped to his friend’s shoulder.
I took in that scene and started to shake. It would seem they had found their embezzler. “Finn’s here,” I announced quietly.
“Okay,” Jack said. “Bring him in. And you and Luke come in, too. I want you guys to know what’s going on.”
I turned and went back the way I came to retrieve Finn and Nate. “He wants you and me in there, too,” I said to Nate.
“Yeah, I heard.” Nate led Finn through the kitchen as I closed and locked my office door and shut off Jack’s phone. When I got back to Jack’s office, Finn was standing in the middle of the office with his arms crossed over his chest and Nate was sitting sideways in a chair at the conference table, looking relaxed, with one arm across the back of the chair and the other on the table.
“Have a seat, Angie,” Jack said and I sat down at the table, across from Nate. I clasped my hands together on top of the table and waited.
“Here’s what’s going on,” Jack began without preamble. “One night, about three years ago, Frank was approached by two men – men he describes as ‘thugs’ – as he was leaving a meeting at his church. They told him he would begin immediately making weekly payments to a company by the name of ARC Electrical Supply and gave him a handwritten schedule of amounts and dates and information on where to deliver the payments. Frank laughed at them and refused. And then they beat the crap out of him, breaking two of his ribs in the process.”
I gasped and looked over at Frank. His shoulders were shaking and he didn’t lift his face from his hands. Al patted his shoulder and leaned in and whispered in his ear. Frank nodded, but didn’t look up. I knew exactly when this had happened. Frank had missed two days of work, saying he had been in an accident, but said nothing further about it when he returned, bruised and limping.
“The first payment of $15,000 was scheduled to be made about a week later. Frank ignored it and that night his wife was run off the road, a mile from their house. She was scared, but not injured.”
“Jesus,” Nate whispered.
“That same night, an envelope was delivered to Frank’s house,” Jack continued. “In the envelope were pictures of all of Frank’s kids and his grandchildren – at home, at work, and at their schools. And right after he got the pictures, he got a phone call. He was told they were ‘not fucking around’ and warned him against going to the police. They very specifically threatened his youngest daughter, who was away at college, and his granddaughter. And the threats were very detailed and very ugly.”
“Oh, Frank,” I whispered. I was not close with Frank at all – but the horror of what he must have gone through made me unexpectedly want to run over and hug him.
Finn’s head twisted in my direction and he looked pissed off. “Is that how you’re going to play this, Angie? Sweet and innocent – like you don’t know exactly what’s going on?”
“What?” I straightened in my chair in confusion and stared at Finn while I heard gasps from around the room. Even Frank finally looked up and turned his reddened eyes in my direction.
“What the hell are you talking about, Finn?” Jack pushed back his chair and stood up in one movement, his hands clenched at his sides. Al released Frank’s shoulder and took two angry steps in Finn’s direction at the same time Nate swiveled around in his chair and stared at me.
“Explain yourself,” Al commanded Finn, getting right in his face and looking every bit as pissed off as Finn did.
“Back off, Al,” Finn said. “And I’ll be happy to tell you what Angie has been up to.”
Al backed off and all eyes turned to me. My mouth was hanging open in shock and I just sat there, shaking, not sure what I should be defending myself against.
“I was able to get the information you wanted on ARC Electrical Supply.” Finn stopped and pulled a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket. He stared at me while he dramatically unfolded it and read, “ARC Electrical Supply, established January 2010, all taxes and filings paid and up to date, owned by one Angie Kathleen Richards.” And then he rattled off my social security number.
“What?” I repeated in a whisper. I had never been so frightened. Then it dawned on me. Finn had to be kidding. There was no other explanation. This had to be one of Jack’s more elaborate pranks. I’d kill him. I relaxed in my chair. “This is a joke, right?” I looked at Jack and smirked.
Jack’s jaw had dropped, along with every other jaw in the room, except for Finn’s. Finn just looked smug. “No, Angie. Not a joke.” Jack said, the serious expression on his face indicating he was telling the truth.
“Then you’re making this up!” I accused Finn, as I shot out of my chair. “I would never steal. Especially not from Jack!” Now I was more angry than frightened. “Why would you do that?”
“The question is – why would you do that?” Finn countered. “How much did you pay those guys to rough up Frank and threaten his family?”
“I did not pay anyone anything!” I shouted. I turned back to Jack. “Jack, I swear. I did not do this. You know me better than that!” I glanced frantically around the room – at Finn, whose self-satisfied face I wanted to slap; at Frank, who was looking wounded; at Nate whose widened eyes were darting between me and Jack; and at Al, who was inexplicably smiling.
“Al?” I moved towards him, pressing my hands against the queasiness building in my stomach. “You believe me, right?”
He didn’t answer but turned his smile to Jack. Jack nodded at him and they both started laughing.
Laughing! They were laughing! Angrily, I narrowed my eyes at Jack. “Jack, if this is your idea of a joke, I will kill you. With my bare hands. And don’t think I won’t!”
Still laughin
g, Jack came around his desk and put his arms around me. I stood there stiffly and didn’t return his hug. “No, honey, it’s not a joke at all. But don’t you see?”
“See what?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Whoever has done this doesn’t know that you and I have a personal relationship.” My eyes shifted to Frank who managed, even in this situation, to cast a disapproving glance in my direction, probably picturing us having sex on Jack’s desk.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Jack’s relaxed posture made me loosen up and the trembling eased.
“Angie, think about it,” Al said, coming to stand beside Jack and me. Jack pulled back and put his arm around my shoulder, staying close. “These people went to great lengths to set you up. They assumed if their plan was discovered, all trails would lead to you. There would be enough evidence pointing to you so that we’d never look any further. You’d go to jail and they’d walk away scot-free.”
“Oh my God. Who would do that to me?” I really couldn’t think of anyone who would hate me so much. Or maybe they didn’t hate me - they just saw me as a convenient patsy.
“Someone who doesn’t know that you and I are close,” Jack said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Someone who doesn’t know my dad and I would never believe it for a minute.”
I looked up at Finn. His arms were crossed over his chest again, but his face had relaxed and he was assessing me from a distance.
“So who is it, then?” Nate asked, turning to Frank. “Do you have any ideas?”
“No,” Frank said, shaking his head. “In the beginning, I only dealt with those same two guys, and I don’t know who either of them are. Then they forced me to hire Heather and, since then, I’ve only dealt with her. I give her the check every Friday and she gives me new pictures of my family every couple of months – at the same time she updates the picture of my granddaughter on her desk.” His head dropped back down into his hands. “Oh, God,” he whispered with a shiver. “I’m so scared.”
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