She ran her finger down his throat to his chest. “Oh, I don’t know. If it means that you’re going to make love to me, please, by all means, show me more proof.”
“I will, as much and as many times as you want me to.”
* * *
Toni and Mack were having breakfast the next morning when Bob arrived. Toni couldn’t help tensing up at the sight of him. It was a morning similar to this one that the good lieutenant had come to arrest her on embezzlement charges.
Mack picked up on Toni’s uneasy vibes. He wanted once and for all to clear the woman he loved. It shredded his heart to see the look of dread in her eyes when she saw Bob.
“You ready, Mack?” Bob asked.
“In a minute. I have to call Marc, then say good-bye to my lady.”
Bob shot him a knowing smile, then turned to go back into the living room.
After hanging up with his brother, Mack pulled Toni into his arms and kissed her. He gazed into her eyes. “You be good while I’m gone and get some rest. No more amateur sleuthing without me. Understand?”
“I understand, but will Mariah?”
Mack grinned. “Her boss is due back soon. He’ll keep her occupied.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Bob said wryly from the doorway.
Knowing his sister as well as he did, Mack had to agree with Bob. When had she turned into such an independent woman? It wasn’t so long ago that she was wearing two long ponytails and being a royal pain in the butt. Now she was this strikingly attractive, intelligent woman. Where had the years gone?
Mack glanced back at the house as he and Bob reached the street. He didn’t want to leave Toni. What he wanted to do was stay here and make love to her all day.
“Let’s go, Romeo,” Bob teased.
“You’ll get yours one day, my skeptical friend, and believe me, I can hardly wait.”
“Watching you is enough to keep me on the alert.”
“If you find the right woman you won’t feel that way.”
“I don’t think such a woman exists, at least not for me. Now, come on. I’d like you to come with me to the crime lab. We have a resident genius who is unbelievably astute in his methods of deduction.”
* * *
Mack had never met a more thorough criminology specialist than Paul Norman. The man checked every piece of evidence with more than a fine-toothed comb. He examined the evidence down to the most minute details. Mack agreed with Bob’s assessment of the man’s talents. If even the slightest inconsistency existed, he believed the man would find it.
By the time Mack and Bob left the crime lab it was afternoon. Bob called Townsend’s to see if Townsend was back in his office. Mack really didn’t see what they would accomplish by questioning him about the murder. According to his wife and his secretary, Townsend had been booked on a flight to Seattle at the time the murder had taken place and he had just returned from his trip today. But maybe it was worth a shot.
Mack could tell that Townsend was not exactly pleased to see him. Oh, he was cordial enough when he asked them to take a seat in his office. The man probably thought he’d seen the last of Mackinsey Jessup after removing him from the embezzlement case.
Mack was still puzzled about his dismissal. It made him wonder if the man hadn’t somehow used him to cover up something. He hated being used. Could Townsend have possibly been the person on the other end of the line the night he met Toni? But why would he steal from his own company?
“My secretary said you wanted to ask me some questions about the unfortunate death of my CEO. I don’t know what I can tell you. I’ve only just returned from a business trip, as I’m sure you already know.”
“How much do you know about your wife’s association with Frank Clifford?” Bob asked.
“You mean her affair with him?” He winced. “My wife is not known for her discretion, as I’m sure you’ve found out. I’ve known about her relationship with Clifford for quite some time.”
“And you’ve done nothing?” Mack interjected, incredulity spiking his voice. “Somehow I find that hard to believe,”
Townsend grimaced wearily as he glanced at Mack. “What would you have me do, Mr. Jessup?”
“Get angry, put a stop to it, divorce her, something.”
The older man smiled wryly. “And are you suggesting that I took steps to remedy the situation?”
“Did you, Mr. Townsend?” the lieutenant asked.
“I know she’s had more than a few lovers and will probably continue to have more.”
“Mr. Townsend, you want us to believe that you didn’t care that your wife was sleeping around?”
“You wouldn’t understand if I tried to explain it to you, Lieutenant.”
“Try me.”
“I realized what kind of woman Nina was shortly after our marriage, but I loved her anyway. My father and everyone we knew said I should get rid of her. What they failed to realize was that I loved her and would take her on any terms I could have her.”
Mack could relate to the man on that level. Hadn’t he himself also been obsessed with a woman to the exclusion of everything and everyone else? Could he condemn Townsend for succumbing to the same weakness? Mack felt sorry for him.
“Getting back to the night of the murder…” Bob cleared his throat. “What time did you leave on your business trip, Mr. Townsend? I need to know the flight number and when the plane arrived in Seattle.”
“That doesn’t pose any problem for me. The plane left at 10:30 p.m. November 25th and landed three hours later in Seattle.”
* * *
“I didn’t think Townsend would be of much help to us,” Mack said wearily as they left Townsend’s. “That leaves Hank Warren and Nina Townsend.”
“And Toni Carlton, Mack.”
“No, it doesn’t. She’s not your killer.”
“You need to keep things in perspective. It doesn’t look good for Toni.”
“I know that, but—”
“But you believe in her innocence. I know, I’ve heard it all before. But, Mack, you’ve got to be prepared for the possibility that she may be lying.”
“I’ll never believe that. I’ll find a way to clear her. You’ll see.”
Mack saw the expression on Bob’s face and knew he wanted to say more, but he resisted the impulse.
CHAPTER TWENTY
When Mack got home that evening he found Toni in her bedroom, standing in front of the window looking out. From the doorway he stood watching her, wondering what was going through her head. She obviously hadn’t heard him enter the house.
His Toni was so beautiful and she loved him as much as he loved her. Frustration tore at him. He had to find the person who helped Frank Clifford frame her and who also, in all likelihood, killed the man. If he didn’t, the woman he loved would be lost to him.
“How long have you been home?” Toni asked, turning around.
Mack blinked, pulling himself out of his distressing reverie. “Only a few minutes. You were so deep in thought, I guess you didn’t hear me.”
“You’re right, I didn’t. I’ve been thinking. There must be something I’ve overlooked.”
“You’ve gone through all the records over and over again.”
“Still, there has to be something.” She walked over to the dresser and picked up her purse and rummaged through it.
“Toni? What are you doing?”
“Looking for my keys. I have to get my computer from the beach house.”
“I’ll take you.”
* * *
Two hours later Mack helped Toni set up her computer in the guest bedroom.
“What now?”
“I don’t know, Mack. I keep thinking if I go over this enough times I’ll find the answer.”
“If you don’t find it, it won’t be because you haven’t tried.”
Toni hacked into the Townsend computer, but found she could not bring up the business program. She probably had Hank to thank for changing the access code since
he had taken over as CEO. Of all the rotten luck.
It suddenly occurred to Toni that what she sought might not be in the business program at all. She’d been focusing her attention on that particular feature, going on the assumption that her former boss had hidden the evidence of his scheming there.
Mack watched Toni’s face and saw the moment her expression changed. “Toni, what is it?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to run a listing of all the companies Townsend uses as exchange centers to circulate bonds and securities to other cities, states and countries. Knowing Frank Clifford, he was too smart to run the risk of having all the money he’d stolen confiscated. He would have been very careful. Why didn’t I think of this before?”
“Think of what? You’re not making any sense.”
“I will in a minute. Be patient with me a while longer.”
He watched her bring up the various companies. Several hours passed as he watched Toni scan the listings.
“How many names are on this thing?”
“Hundreds, even thousands, I should imagine.” Toni smiled. “You should have some idea. Mr. Townsend did hire you to find the thief.”
She was right, he had been hired to do just that. “Because there were so many I only concentrated on the files that had been tampered with, leading to lost funds, or those that seemed to follow the initial pattern established by the thief. Townsend took me off the case before I could complete my investigation. You know that.”
“How close were you to exposing the real thief?”
“I don’t know. I continued studying the files after Townsend took me off the case. You see, I’d made extra copies to examine and—”
As Toni glanced up at Mack, she saw him arch his brow and stare at nothing, as though recalling to mind something important he’d forgotten until that moment.
“You remember something?”
“I may be able to help you narrow your search.” He left the room and returned a few minutes later with two disks. He put them on the desk.
“What’s on them?”
He sat down on the bed. “That’s what we’re going to find out.”
She looked disheartened after bringing up the search screen on the first of the two disks. “Mack, at the rate we can scan them it could take days.”
“Maybe not, I’d gotten as far as the M’s.” He pointed out where he’d stopped. “I’ll call Marc and tell him I’ll be late coming in to the office.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
He rose from the bed and stepped over to her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them. “I know I don’t, baby.” He kissed her neck. “I want to. All right?”
She flashed him a devastating smile. “All right,” she said softly, covering his hand with hers.
For the next few hours they searched the disks without finding anything out of the ordinary.
Toni sighed wearily. “Sifting through this is like reading an unabridged copy of The Never-Ending Story in superscript.”
“Wasn’t it you who told me patience has its rewards?”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Come on, let’s start on the T’s”
* * *
Toni glared at the screen. There was still a lot of information to scan. Mack had finally had to leave and go to his office. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost six o’clock. Mack would be home soon. She’d hoped to be able to tell him something positive for a change.
“Don’t look so depressed,” Mack said from the doorway, and did a rendition of “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile.”
“Al Jolson?” Toni laughed “You’re a certifiable nut case, Mackinsey Jessup.”
“I cheered you up, didn’t I?”
“You did that, all right.” Her laughter died and a serious look replaced it. “I haven’t had any luck at all with this, Mack.”
“You’re not giving up, are you?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t. After dinner I’ll help you.”
* * *
It was close to midnight when Toni finished studying the companies that commonly traded securities. She’d checked the warrants, units and mutual funds index Mack had provided. Still nothing. She took a breather, then returned to the computer to run the options listing. These were the companies known by the layman. She came across a company she hadn’t heard of, ValueCorp International, and punched issue description, expiration month, the strike price and the letter. The cursor blinked, “Please wait!” Then the words “Confidential—password required” flashed on the screen. To leave this listing engage escape key.”
“I think I’ve found the dummy corporation, Mack.”
“How can you be sure?”
“It’s locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Have you ever heard of ValueCorp International?”
“No, but there is one way to check on its authenticity.”
“The address. It’s located in Santa Clarita.” Toni frowned and repeated, “Santa Clarita? There’s nothing there that I know of.”
“Why didn’t anyone think of checking ValueCorp International before?”
“It isn’t one I was assigned to work on.”
“Who handled it, then?”
“Probably Clifford. Or Hank, I suppose.”
Their eyes met in mutual realization that it could be Hank.
Mack hated to crush her hopes of being exonerated on the embezzlement charges, but he couldn’t let her lose sight of the realities involved.
“Don’t get your hopes up that Warren is the one who killed Clifford and was the partner helping him steal from the company by framing you, because it doesn’t necessarily follow.”
“I know you’re right, Mack, but—” He held her close. “I know, baby.”
“What do we do next?”
“First thing in the morning I’m going to check out a few possibilities. Now, my love, you’re coming with me.”
“And where are you taking me?”
“I’ll give you three guesses.”
Toni barely had time to shut down her computer before Mack was shuffling her out of the room and down the hall to his.
* * *
“Mack, the handsome Lieutenant Barnes is here to see you,” Daphne cheerfully blared over the intercom the next morning.
“One of these days, Daffy…Send him in.”
Mack could tell by the set look on his friend’s face he had something to tell him that he wasn’t going to like.
“To what do I owe this visit?”
“The coroner has finished his findings.”
Mack braced himself. “And?”
“The cause of death was not from the gunshot wounds, although the loss of blood from the shooting probably expedited his death.”
“All right, Bob, let’s have it. Tell me why you came here. You could have told me that over the phone.”
Bob’s mouth quirked into a wry smile. “Still sharp as a razor’s edge, aren’t you, Mack? The indomitable Mack attack.”
Mack laughed at the name his colleagues had pinned on him when he was on the police force. “Did you expect my brain to atrophy because I’m no longer with the department? What was the real cause of death?”
“You remember Paul Norman from the crime lab?”
Mack nodded.
“He matched up the findings from the coroner’s office with the DNA report, using a special computer program he’d written. He found trace patterns that closely resemble those of a cardioplegic drug.”
“Cardioplegic drug?”
“A drug often used to freeze the heart during surgery. In small doses it can be given as a medication for certain heart conditions.”
“Go on.”
“Clifford died from a heart attack, not the gunshot. I checked with his doctor and found out he didn’t have a heart condition and had never been prescribed a cardioplegic drug.”
“Are you saying this cardioplegic drug acted like a poison in his system and gave him a hea
rt attack? My next question is, why did you come all the way over here to tell me this?”
“If I were you, I’d get Toni a good criminal attorney.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Come on, Mack. The fact that her father is a doctor, not just any doctor, but a heart surgeon, did not escape our investigation.”
“He’s retired, Bob. The bottom line: Are you going to arrest Toni?”
“I haven’t been ordered to do that—yet. The information we have so far isn’t enough to arrest her.”
“That’s not to say that you won’t find something else that could at a later date, right?”
“Mack, I—”
“Let’s not pussyfoot around. You think it’ll come to that, don’t you?”
“Look, Mack, you’re an ex-cop. You know as well as I do that an overzealous D.A. could take this and run with it. I just thought I should warn you.”
“I’m sorry, Bob. I appreciate you coming here, man. What do you think will happen now?”
“A more thorough investigation will be conducted on all the suspects. Now that it’s been narrowed down to probable method, that changes a few things.”
“You already have probable motive and opportunity, now possibly method, where Toni is concerned. What you need to find out next is whether any of the other suspects had access to the drug.” Mack knew that he needed to question Toni’s father about the drug before the police did. By telling him about the drug now, his friend had given him time to do it. He realized what a good friend he had in Bob. “I appreciate this, Bob.”
Bob grinned. “That’s what friends are for. Hey, I’ve got to be getting back to the station.”
“When do you think you’ll be—”
“You’ve got till this afternoon. It’s all the time I can give you, Mack. After that…”
“I understand. And thanks, man.”
“No problem.” Bob turned and left the office.
Mack searched through the Townsend files and found the number for Toni’s father.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Toni was past frustration in trying to find the password to get into the confidential information file of ValueCorp International. She was sure that her boss had implicated his accomplice in it. He had been a cruel, devious man, one who wouldn’t hesitate to blackmail a partner who wanted out of his scheme. Frank Clifford had been greedy and arrogant enough to want all he could get, and on his own terms.
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