Sins That Haunt

by Lucy Farago

  “She was never the same after that episode,” Maggie told her husband, taking a seat beside him on the opposite sofa. The women had opted for tea and Maggie sipped hers.

  “She was in there a long time,” Shannon said. “But if you saw her now, well, I’ve never seen her look so …”

  “Sane?” Maggie filled in the blank.

  “I guess they finally found a medication that works.” They’d tried so many, Shannon had lost count and given up hope.

  “So,” Christian said, “besides making sure West wasn’t lying, what’s next?”

  “I don’t know.” What did she know about raising children? “But how do I drag some innocent kid into everything that’s going on. Maggie?”

  “I agree. Christian can help find her later. Right?”

  Christian scratched his head. “I … already called Monty. Sorry, Shannon, I figured you’d want to know. He has to finish his case but said he’ll get to it as soon as he can. But he’s doing a search on Arnold West as we speak.”

  “Something tells me he’s not lying. And if the little girl is safe where she is, that’s where she stays, at least for the time being. I’ll worry about the rest later. Thank you.” If anyone could find her, Christian or one of his buddies could.

  “For now let’s deal with whoever wanted what’s on that.” Maggie pointed to her laptop in the middle of the coffee table.

  After they left the golf course, they’d headed to the bank and retrieved the flash drive.

  If Noah hadn’t been happy about being kept out of the loop, he said nothing. “First things first. Let’s get the name of that cop.”

  On their way back from the bank Maggie called Horace and told him about the missing file. He’d called earlier and, as expected, the man responsible for the accident was clueless as to who had hired him. He was to get the file, then leave it on a table in a predetermined coffee shop. Which he did. Money was then deposited into his account. End of story, although not the end of the charges he’d have to answer to.

  “I wonder how many dirty cops there are?” Maggie asked.

  Maggie, aka Mother Teresa, didn’t have much of a stomach for liars. Shannon could only imagine how she felt about bad cops.

  “Cops are human. They are not infallible and make mistakes. Some we can forgive,” Noah said, punching the computer keyboard. “Others … Wow, that’s a long list of names.” He nodded toward the computer screen.

  “Did you think I was exaggerating when I said JJ was responsible for hundreds of people losing their life’s savings?”

  “No, but you just don’t realize how many until you see something like this.”

  “I also wrote down anyone JJ came into contact with. At least the last few years I was with him. Before that I hadn’t really paid attention. There were people like the Keyeses, people he used more often, and I added those to the file after I ran. I was able to get some of the bank accounts but certainly not all. JJ stayed under ten grand, but the insurance fraud was the biggest I ever saw him attempt. It took a lot more power and cover-ups. The cop should be on the next page.” She watched as he scrolled down. “There, Officer Dan Petry.”

  “Wow, you even have a description of him.”

  “I wanted to get everything I could. It was your idea.” She remembered how grateful she’d been when he’d suggested it. He’d tried to tell her she was as much a victim as those her father stole from. Up until that point she hadn’t really trusted that Noah believed that.

  “I know. I just didn’t think you’d be this thorough. Ever think of joining the force? I’ve seen police records less detailed.”

  “Back off, Noah,” Christian said, winking at Shannon. “I’m calling dibs. I’ve seen you in action,” he said to her. “You’d be a welcome addition to the team.”

  He was kidding of course, but Maggie smacked him anyway. He, pervert that he was, pushed her down on the sofa and kissed her as if they were alone in the room. Shannon hated to admit it, but a small itsy-bitsy part of her was jealous. She bit back a smile. She wouldn’t give either of them the satisfaction of knowing how nauseatingly cute they were.

  Noah’s eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head to watch Maggie unsuccessfully pummel her husband to get him off.

  “Ignore them.” Shannon rolled her eyes. “They’re still in the honeymoon phase.”

  Maggie finally succeeded in dislodging herself. “Why is it,” she said, giving Christian another smack, this one upside his head, “that everyone is always trying to embarrass me?” She jumped off the couch before he could go for a repeat performance.

  “As Ronnie always says, you look pretty in pink,” Shannon said.

  At the mention of Rhonda’s name, Maggie and Christian exchanged troubled smiles. Damn, she hadn’t meant to bring her up. The day after Maggie’s wedding, Rhonda and Christian’s best man, Blake, had gone into hiding. Someone had tried to kill Blake in the hotel with Rhonda in the next room.

  “They’ll be fine,” she assured them. “It’s Rhonda. That girl is like a cat, always landing on her feet.”

  If Maggie was getting reports, she wasn’t talking. Apparently, the less anyone knew, the better. So Shannon hadn’t done her usual poking of Maggie for information. She’d tell her when she could.

  Noah opened the Internet browser and logged into the secure FBI site. “I won’t have full access to these kinds of records because it won’t recognize Maggie’s URL, but I should be able to pull Petry’s file.” He continued to tap away until he found what he was searching for. “Okay, Boston PD, served fourteen years …” He looked up from the file. “Sorry, guys, he’s dead, six months now. Not our man.”

  Maggie let out a loud breath, drawing everyone’s attention. “What? I can’t help it. I mean, it would have been great if this guy was still a suspect, but the idea of a dirty cop doesn’t make me happy. How did he die?”

  “Suicide.”

  No one said it, but from the looks on everyone’s faces, they were all thinking it. Had his sins finally caught up to him?

  “What next?” Shannon asked.

  “We do some searches. We’ll go through all the names on the lists, the victims and the perps. Shannon if you’re okay with it, I’ll send Cooper a copy and, bear with me, Boston PD?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  Noah understood the question was rhetorical so he didn’t answer it. Nor did he tell her that Captain Lapheridy wouldn’t appreciate finding out one of his own had been dirty. Dead or not, it meant an inquiry. They’d have to negotiate terms before handing over the file, the main one being Shannon’s name was to be kept out of their investigation. He could and would tell the captain that Shannon refused to hand it over without those assurances. He was sure the man would cooperate. There was nothing to gain by dragging Shannon’s name through the mud.

  What concerned him more was that Shannon hadn’t told him the accident centered on the file. Why hadn’t she trusted him? But he’d save that question until they were alone.

  “Christian, I can’t give this file to you. It’s evidence.”

  “It’s my file,” Shannon protested, yanking the flash drive out and tossing it to Christian. “And he can do things you can’t.”

  “Maggie, darling, let’s find another computer.” With a grin, Christian took his wife by the hand and led her out of the room saying, “I’m not sure how long this will take.”

  Noah told himself Shannon didn’t understand. He couldn’t knowingly give Christian a copy. And it made sense that she’d be upset by his evident refusal to cooperate with ICU. But it hurt nonetheless to think she’d rather have Christian’s help. Twice now she‘d shown she didn’t trust him.

  “Do you want me to help find your sister? It shouldn’t be that hard,” he said. “I can keep it discreet.” She might not want to see her now, but sooner or later Shannon would have to deal with her half sister and quite possibly another of JJ’s screwups.

  “No. I’ll let Christian do it. I wouldn’t want to waste
police resources on something like this.”

  His temper flared. She didn’t owe him anything. But no way was he going to allow her to shut him out—again. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

  “With what exactly?”

  “With you. All of sudden it’s like you don’t trust me. First you blow up at me in the hospital. Then you don’t tell me about the file. And it sure as hell looks like you’d rather have Christian help you than me.”

  “Oh please, don’t tell me you’re jealous over Christian.”

  “Of course not. He’s very happily married to your best friend. And I see how you look at them when they act all goofy and in love.”

  “How’s that?” she snapped.

  “You’re happy for her.”

  “She’s my best friend,” she said, toning down her sass. “Of course I’m happy for her.”

  “And jealous. You want what she has.”

  “Every woman wants what she has.” Then she tried to backtrack. “Except me.”

  “You don’t want to be happy like that?”

  “Drop it. I’m not getting into this with you.” Grimacing, she stood and scrubbed her hands over her face. “I’m stiff. I think I’ll go take a warm bath.”

  It wasn’t right, his drilling her. She needed some rest after yesterday, but he wanted to know. “Okay, but first tell me why you left me out of the loop about the file being in your car.”

  Her shoulders rose and fell as she drew a breath. “I didn’t want to put you in a position where you’d have to lie to your team.”

  “How so?”

  “Dan Petry. What if he’d been responsible for my accident?”

  “I’d have arrested him myself. Do you doubt that?” She couldn’t possibly think any obligation he had with the force would prevent him from protecting her?

  “No.” She took a seat on the opposite couch. Away from him. “I would have asked you not to say anything to your team until we’d learned his name.”

  “And?”

  “I didn’t want to compromise your job. JJ knew about the file. You and I knew about it. And your team knew. In fact, you told me they wanted to see it. There’s nothing in it of real value to the FBI … except the name of that cop. Statute of limitations doesn’t hold for a dirty cop.”

  He nodded, now understanding. “What if JJ had called Dan Petry and he was a member of my team. That was your logic?”

  “It was possible.”

  What she didn’t understand was that if she’d asked him, he’d have kept the information to himself. He wasn’t reporting back to his team with every detail of Shannon’s life, especially if it had nothing to do with their case. But in her mind she was protecting him … just like when she’d taken off with Maggie.

  “And the flash drive? Do you not want me to have the file?”

  She scrunched her face. “What are you talking about? He’s gone to make a copy. Christian told me the feds don’t cooperate with ICU so I gave him the flash drive. Your hands are clean. When he gives it back to me, you can have it.”

  He smiled, appreciating her looking out for him and wishing like hell she’d cut it out. “That was thoughtful, but from now on let me decide for myself.” He knew what she was doing. She figured she’d screwed up so many lives she wasn’t going to screw up his. “If I make the wrong choice, it’s on me. Not you. I’m not the guy buying into a lottery scam or giving my credit card number over the phone. Do you trust me, Shannon?”

  “Yes,” she said, making him thankful she hadn’t hesitated.

  “Then trust that I know what decisions work for me. Okay?”

  She got to her feet and nodded. “I do trust you. But you have to understand how hard it would be to watch you mess up your career because of me. Thirteen years ago I made the right decision … for both of us. Those first few years I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. But my life could’ve easily gone south instead of north. And you wouldn’t be who you are today.”

  “Who do you think that is?” Exactly what was it she thought he’d done with his life without her in it?

  “Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? All I know is what I see—a good man.” She left the room without a look back.

  As much as he wanted to, he didn’t follow her. A bath would do her good. She could relax and let go of some of the shit from the last week.

  *

  Christian and Maggie offered to pick up Indian food for dinner. It was Shannon’s favorite and the best place in town didn’t deliver. Noah used the time to check in with Damon.

  “We have an appointment with John Hyatt,” Damon said.

  “Do we?”

  “Like we told Santos, we’re thinking about expanding our operation to San Francisco. We’ll need capital.”

  “You think he’ll push through a loan? Won’t prove a thing.” They needed Hyatt on Santos’s payroll.

  “Sure it will, what with us overextending ourselves and no bank in Nevada or California willing to increase our line of credit. You see, we haven’t proven ourselves, and our own bank would like to see a few more years under our belt before loaning us more money.”

  “That’s our story and we’re sticking it to him?”

  “Got the documents to prove it,” Damon said by way of answer.

  If he was legit, he’d ask a whole lot of questions. If not, he’d push through the loan. But it still didn’t prove he was on the payroll. Damon anticipated his next question.

  “Look, first things first. The team checked him out. He’s not just some bank loan officer. He’s chief financial officer. He’s also a family man with a wife, two teenage daughters. I pulled his file from their HR department. Born in Maine, he moved west with a promotion, one of many. And he has a fancy house in the northwest of Vegas.”

  “Exceeding his paycheck?” Noah pulled Maggie’s laptop forward.

  “Nah, it’s mortgaged to the hilt.”

  His fingers hovered over the keyboard. “Why are you telling me this, then?”

  “Why would a guy who owes a fortune on his house buy a boat?”

  “He bought a boat?” He punched in Hyatt’s name and hit Search.

  “Last month; nice one too.”

  “So he likes to carry debt. Doesn’t prove a thing.” First and foremost, the Internet listed him as the chief financial officer with West-Lights First National. Then his LinkedIn profile followed. He wasn’t on Facebook and didn’t appear to have a Twitter account. “In fact it proves the opposite of what we want.”

  “He also picked up a new BMW Z4.”

  “Well, no wonder he’s in debt.”

  “Yeah, he and Santos like their toys. Want to know what else they have in common?”

  “No, I don’t.” Even though Damon couldn’t see it, Noah rolled his eyes.

  “They like to spend money on blondes.”

  Noah did his best to stay calm. Shannon was safe.

  “Mrs. Hyatt gives Silicon Valley a new meaning. That stuff’s not cheap.”

  He could see where Damon was going with this. “So you think Hyatt needs money?”

  “He spends more than he earns,” Damon said. “Say Santos stumbled across Hyatt. He learned the guy was giving out loans with no assets to back them up. The loans never got repaid, but he needed to keep them off the books. So he had to create new loans to cover up the delinquent old ones. He could use real names, fake ones, names of the deceased.”

  “This guy could set up all kinds of bullshit businesses, real or otherwise, to siphon fraudulently obtained loans.”

  “Right. They met and struck some kind of bargain. We need to look at the loans he signed off on. Santos could be using him to bankroll his payroll. He could have gotten loans to who knows how many people who wouldn’t normally qualify. Then Santos set them up in businesses that can launder his money. Like a new car dealership in San Francisco.”

  If their suspicions were correct, Damon needed to give himself a pat on the back. “Hyatt would be creating a vicious circle and
one hell of a paper trail. Hopefully one we can follow that will lead directly to Santos.”

  *

  The appointment was for noon the next day. That would give him time to go through the file and do homework on the names Shannon had collected, with or without Christian’s help, but he was leaning more toward with. His boss might not approve, but finding JJ’s killer wasn’t part of a federal case, so thinking on it now, cooperating with ICU wasn’t a no-no. And even if it was, he didn’t give a shit. Shannon’s life could be in danger. Her life trumped the rules.

  As it turned out, Shannon needed her rest. She didn’t come out for dinner. He’d wanted to bring her a tray, but Maggie suggested she do it. Christian agreed.

  “She likes to play matchmaker. If she thought it was a good idea to push you two together, she’d be the first one to butt in.”

  That earned him a scowl that would have had another man shitting his pants. Not Christian. “What? I’m just saying you have a sixth sense. You know Shannon wants to be alone.”

  “Nice try,” she said, grabbing the tray. “Guess who else wants alone time?”

  Christian grinned at Noah as Maggie left the room. “She’s all bark.”

  “I heard that,” she yelled.

  “Love you, darling,” he yelled back in a thick southern drawl.

  “Up yours” was her answer.

  Yeah, Shannon wasn’t the only one who wanted what these two had. Could he have it with Shannon?

  *

  Irritated with tossing and turning, Shannon grabbed her robe and opted to catch the sunrise; better that than staring at a dark ceiling. Summerlin was a beautiful community; she might as well take advantage of it, now that she was awake. Maggie had chosen to build here because travel time to either the club or the apartments, where she helped house her dancers, was short. There were lake views, mountain views, and desert views, sometimes all three at once. If you were inclined to get up early enough, Maggie‘s place afforded a spectacular sunrise over the mountains. Her girl pal had tried to talk her into buying a place out here, but this was too domestic for Shannon. She spent more time in her office and car than in her high-rise penthouse. She, unlike Maggie, didn’t do home and hearth.