by Eve Fisher
Kate nodded. She’d heard of the device but had no idea why it seemed to be so vital to businesspeople. “That’s good,” she said.
“Yes,” Matt agreed eagerly. “With the assisted GPS—that stands for Global Positioning System—I can get driving instructions and update them in real time, so even if we make a wrong turn, I can get alternative directions instantly.”
“So where are we headed?” Renee asked, stroking Kisses.
“Casino,” Joe said. “Junius seems to be a gambler. That right, Son?” he asked Matt.
Matt didn’t respond, so Joe tapped his shoulder.
“Huh?”
“Your dad. You said he liked to gamble.”
Matt nodded.
“Maybe you’d better tell us what you can about your dad,” Kate said to Matt as she pulled onto I-40 east.
Matt looked up from his BlackBerry and sighed. “He’s been a gambler for as long as I can remember. Mom and Dad fought all the time about money. I didn’t understand then, but later, when I was in junior high, he...I’m good with figures,” he explained. “When Dad found out, he asked me to work out these algorithms. It was so he could make bets scientifically. You need a lot of information to work out an algorithm for, like, a horse race. Football was easier. I could do football.”
Kate remembered Junius’ version of Matt’s childhood. “Did he bet on the high-school football games?” Kate asked.
Matt nodded. “Big time. When it came out, there was a huge fight. Mom made me promise never to help him with his bets again. She told me it was a crime. I’d never realized it was wrong before,” he explained.
“Well, I never!” Renee exclaimed. “Didn’t know?”
“Hush,” Joe said, nodding toward the front seat.
Renee lowered her voice slightly. “How can you not know?”
“So you never did it again,” Kate said.
“No. Mom told me not to,” Matt said simply. “After that, Dad left.”
“Where did he go?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know, but he ended up in Asheville,” Matt said. “Mom and I were still in Gainesville, Georgia.”
“That’s the accent,” Renee said proudly. “I knew it wasn’t North Carolina, no matter what Junius said. Georgia.”
Kate ignored Renee and asked, “When did you and your Dad get back in touch?”
“After Mom died,” Matt said. “He came to the funeral and said he’d wanted to stay in touch with me, but Mom wouldn’t let him.” Matt almost looked Kate in the eyes. “Do you think that was true?”
“I don’t know, Matt,” Kate said.
“I wasn’t sure. I’m still not sure. But he wanted to be with me, he said, and Mom had told me to try to help him if I could. So when he asked me to move up to Asheville, I did. He said he had an investment firm and that I could work for him. That way we’d be together. He promised me there’d be no more gambling.” Matt blinked a couple of times.
“It’s all right, Matt,” Kate said, looking at his impassive face out of the corner of her eye. “But I should tell you, I’ve talked to Jordan Harnett.”
“Who’s Jordan Harnett?” Renee asked.
“Then you know all about it,” Matt said.
“If someone doesn’t tell me something soon, I’m going to scream!”
“Now, Renee.” Joe tried to calm her down.
“Well, I will,” Renee said. “Here this man’s been carrying on all sorts of—”
“Not all about it, Matt,” Kate interrupted. “But enough to know that you nearly went to trial. And that you settled it.”
“I had to,” Matt said.
“Matt,” Joe interrupted everyone. “Would you mind telling us what happened before Renee wakes up Kisses with all her squirming and squalling?”
Matt sighed. “I moved to Asheville. Went to work for the firm. After a couple of years, I realized that Dad was embezzling money. It took me that long to catch on, because he had his own clients and I had mine. And the bookkeeper was a friend of his. A lady friend.”
“Who was that?” Renee asked sharply.
“Dorothy Lake,” Matt said. “I think she moved to Virginia. Anyway, Dad was gambling away most of the profits. Actually,”—Matt turned around toward the backseat and explained—“it was a very intelligent scheme: He took money from the firm and from the other clients and put it into a series of accounts. Very hard to track. Kept transferring it from place to place until it ended up in another account he’d set up under the name John Matthews—”
“John Matthews,” Kate interrupted. “Junius’ alias.”
“I thought he was a client. That’s what Dad always said. John Matthews, a special client. A recluse, a man who lives alone and doesn’t like to come out and meet people.”
“But, in fact, John Matthews was Junius Lawson,” Joe said.
Matt nodded.
“What finally made the red light go off?”
“Huh?” Matt asked, bewildered.
“How did you find out about the deception?” Joe asked.
“Oh. It was when Dorothy quit. I think Dad dumped her or something. She was really mad, so she gave me the books. She said I should look them over. I did, and I could see where monies had been transferred from one account to another in an inappropriate manner. She told me that these were the real books that she’d kept on the side.
“You know, there were two sets of books. The fake books Dad gave the IRS and me, and these real books that Dorothy kept so she could have a handle on Dad. I double-checked all of it, of course, but it was all true. So I went to Dad and asked him what was going on. He tried to bluff his way out of it, but I showed him the bank statements, and he finally admitted to what he’d done. He had to. I had the figures right there, and figures don’t lie. I think that’s why I like them so much. They’re secure. Trustworthy.”
“And your father isn’t,” Joe said.
There was a long pause. “It turned out he’d embezzled about fifty thousand dollars from Mr. Harnett.”
“Fifty thousand!” Renee cried.
“Oh, it could have been a lot worse,” Matt assured her. “All of it came out just as he was about to liquidate Mr. Donnelly’s account, and he was worth about a quarter of a million. I could never have paid that back.”
“Fifty thousand,” Renee repeated.
“So that wiped out Mr. . . . uh...What was his name?” Joe asked.
“Harnett,” Kate answered. “Franklin Harnett. I found the newspaper article that reported on the settlement.”
Matt nodded.
“The only question was whether it was you or your father who was guilty...or both.”
“I’ll bet Dad told you I was guilty,” Matt said, turning toward Kate.
“He told me a story,” Kate said carefully.
Matt turned away and looked out the side window as he said, “He did that before. Back in Asheville, one of our clients came in to complain about his investments, and Dad told him that I’d mishandled them. Made a poor investment and lost the lot. The worst part of it was that the client believed him. Everybody believes Dad. He’s got...something.”
“He’s got personality,” Renee said.
“Renee!” Kate scolded.
“Well, he does,” Renee retorted. “But personality isn’t everything. Honesty’s a lot better, Matt, and don’t you ever forget that. But why on earth didn’t you tell everybody this before?”
“He’s my dad,” Matt said simply.
When they reached Sevierville, Kate stopped to get gas and let everyone stretch their legs. While Renee took Kisses over to a little plot of grass to do his business, Kate used her cell phone to call Paul. There was no answer at home or at the church, so Kate left a message on each answering machine, telling him where she was headed.
“Paul not there?” Joe asked.
“No,” Kate said.
“Probably over at Amanda’s,” Joe replied.
Kate nodded. She wasn’t worried about where Paul was. She was
worried about what they were going to do once they got to Cherokee. She looked at her posse: Joe and Renee, both elderly, even though Renee would never admit it, and herself and Matt. None of them likely candidates for Junius to listen to, much less obey. How were they going to get Junius back to Copper Mill? Why hadn’t she thought this out instead of just taking off like that?
Kate pulled out her phone and dialed.
“Amanda?” Joe asked.
Kate shook her head. “Sheriff Roberts.”
Joe raised his eyebrows.
“Sheriff’s office.”
“Rosalie? This is Kate Hanlon. Is Sheriff Roberts there? It’s urgent.”
“Just a moment, Mrs. Hanlon,” Rosalie replied. She could hear Rosalie whisper something to somebody and winced.
“Kate.” Alan Roberts’ voice came on the line. “What can I do for you?”
Kate took a deep breath and began the long explanation of why she was pursuing Junius Lawson. Sheriff Roberts listened silently. “So, you see, I’m not quite sure what to do when we get there,” she concluded.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do,” Sheriff Roberts replied. “Why didn’t you come to me with the evidence and let me deal with it? You say you have evidence?”
“Yes, I have evidence. So does Emma Blount. She’s got copies of the canceled checks. And you can talk to Amanda.”
“Believe me, I will. I was going over there later anyway. And you say Matt’s with you?”
“Yes,” Kate replied.
“I’ll need to talk to him too.”
“But meanwhile, Junius is in Cherokee, North Carolina.”
“You mean you think he’s in Cherokee,” the sheriff corrected.
“Well, that’s where Matt says he always goes.” Kate was beginning to wish she hadn’t called. “Is there anything you can do to help us out?”
There was a long silence.
“Well,” Sheriff Roberts finally said, “none of this is proper procedure, but I’ll call Sheriff Granville over in Cherokee. Ask him to meet you at the casino. I’m not sure what he can do; the jurisdiction’s complicated by tribal law. This number you’re using, is it a public telephone or your cell phone?”
“My cell.” Kate gave him the number.
“Somebody will call you. If not Granville, then me.”
“Thank you,” Kate said gratefully.
“You’re welcome,” Sheriff Roberts said and hung up.
Chapter Sixteen
Half an hour later, they turned onto Route 441 and into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road was a thin ribbon of asphalt that wound through the towering mountains. Sheer cliffs and long rock slides, from where the road had originally been blasted, alternated with thick, untouched forest. Here and there a mountain stream plunged down a cliff, running through a culvert under the road to come out the other side and race down yet another cliff. Birds darted back and forth before them, while hawks played on the thermals high overhead. It was all absolutely beautiful, but Kate wished that someone else was driving so she could enjoy it. Each spectacular vista meant riding a knife edge, with a slim guard rail between themselves and a chasm, whose bottom she certainly couldn’t see.
“What time is it?” she asked, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Long shadows were spreading across the road.
“Six twenty three,” Matt said. He hadn’t been paying attention to the scenery or the road but had kept his eyes fixed on the GPS map on his BlackBerry the whole time.
“It shouldn’t be getting dark this early,” she exclaimed.
“It’s the mountains,” Joe said. “Always gets darker a little earlier up here.”
“Look! Deer!” Renee called.
Kate didn’t dare look. All her concentration was centered on the endless succession of switchbacks and drop-offs.
Kate’s phone rang as they came out of the mountains and into the outskirts of Cherokee. She quickly pulled into a gas station and answered.
“I talked with Sheriff Granville,” Sheriff Roberts said without preamble. “He said when you get to the casino, you should go talk to John Henderson. He’s in charge of security. He’ll help you out.”
“John Henderson. All right,” Kate replied.
“By the way,” the sheriff continued. “I talked to Emma Blount. She confirmed your story about Ada’s money. Showed me the checks. Definitely talk to Henderson before you do anything else. A man in Lawson’s shoes might be feeling a bit desperate, and you never know what a desperate man will do.”
THE CASINO LOOKED LIKE a small lodge, mostly because the adjoining hotel was fifteen stories tall. But as the four of them walked in, they were dwarfed by the forty-foot-tall entrance. They walked between the massive stone pillars that held up a network of wooden beams over a walkway done in a Native American basketry design. And then they stepped into the casino proper and looked out at an endless sea of gaming machines, all of them beeping, blipping, or ringing, their lights flashing, racing, pulsing.
Kate felt overwhelmed. She glanced over at Joe, who looked as stunned and bewildered as she felt. Matt, on the other hand, simply scanned the crowd. She glanced past him to Renee, who was craning her head in all directions.
“Let’s go find Mr. Henderson,” Kate said, recovering her wits at last.
But where to start...There didn’t seem to be any security around. The group wandered through the aisles for a bit, then asked a cocktail waitress, who directed them to the customer-service desk.
“Can I help you?” asked a young Native American woman with long, straight jet-black hair and warm brown eyes. The nametag clipped to her white oxford-style shirt said Rhoda.
“We’re trying to find John Henderson,” Kate said. “We understand he’s with security?”
“Yes, he is,” the young woman replied, a worried look on her face. “Is there a problem?”
“There might be,” Kate said. “If you could tell us where we could find him?”
“I’ll call him,” Rhoda said. “Please, have a seat.”
Kate and Joe sat down on a couple of tan chairs tucked into the recessed corner and waited. Renee placed Kisses on her lap, while Matt paced up and down the room. People came and went around them, a few stopping to cash in their winnings. Beyond them, the casino pulsated with lights and noise. It was beginning to give Kate a headache. She watched as an elderly lady in a navy suit stopped at the service desk, a short, nondescript man behind her.
Matt leaned toward Kate and said, “I hope he doesn’t take too long. I’m getting hungry.”
“Mrs. Hanlon?”
Kate looked up at the nondescript man and said, “Yes.”
“John Henderson,” he said, sitting down next to her. “I talked to Sheriff Granville earlier. It sounds like we might have a thief in the place.”
“Yes,” Kate replied. “Junius Lawson.”
“He’s my dad,” Matt added.
“Sorry to hear that,” Henderson said. “You wouldn’t happen to have a photograph of him, would you?”
Matt reached for his wallet, pulled out a photograph of Junius, and handed it to him. Henderson took it and looked at it for a minute.
“I know him,” Henderson said. “He’s a high roller. He had car trouble last time he was up here, and I sent Bob out to help him. But he didn’t use the name Lawson. Matthews. That was the name he gave.” Henderson shrugged. “Lots of fake names around here. You mind if I show it to the cashiers?”
Matt and Kate shook their heads.
“Back in a minute.”
“He doesn’t seem too upset,” Kate commented.
Matt shook his head. Once again Kate reminded herself that Matt didn’t understand small talk.
Henderson returned with the photograph and gave it back to Matt. “They scanned it and sent it to all our security personnel on their cells. Someone will spot him if he’s here.”
“Did any of the cashiers remember him?” Kate asked.
“Denise did. She cashed a
check for him about a month ago. A couple of thousand, made out to cash. She remembered it because it was a third-party check, and she had to get special permission from the manager.” Henderson shrugged again. “He’s a high roller. They get special favors.”
Henderson looked at them and grimaced. “This may take a while. Stay here, and I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
Kate nodded.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.” Henderson winked at her and walked out to the main room of the casino.
Everyone in the group tried to be patient, but with only the beige walls to look at, they soon began to get restless.
“What on earth is taking them so long?” Renee asked. “What time is it, Kate?”
“It’s seven thirty,” Kate said. “We only got here an hour ago.”
“They should have caught him by now.” Renee looked around. “I think we should go find him.”
“Mr. Henderson asked us to stay put and wait for him to come back,” Kate said.
“Fiddle-faddle. I didn’t come all this way just to sit,” Renee said scrambling out of her seat.
She picked up her shoulder bag, jostling Kisses awake enough so that he stopped snoring. “Come on, Kisses. Let’s go find the bad man.”
“Renee!” Kate got up. “Please, let’s just wait.”
“Nonsense! I’m not the type to sit around and wait for things to happen.” Renee turned on her heel and marched off, clutching her handbag and Kisses.
“Come on, guys,” Kate said, sighing. “Let’s go after her.”
The three of them followed Renee, emerging from the relative quiet of the service area into the cacophony of the casino. Renee was standing at the entrance, looking out at the cavernous space.
“Well, where shall we go, Renee?” Kate asked.
Renee glanced at her with a strange expression in her eyes. “Maybe we should all split up and take a section. Divide the search,” she suggested.
“We do that, we’ll never find each other again,” Joe said. “This place is as big as Bristol Caverns. And I bet it’d be about as dark, if you switched off the lights.”
“Joe’s right,” Kate said. “If we’re going to look for Junius ourselves, we need to stick together.”