Fatal Fraud: A Fatal Series Novel

by Marie Force

  “Thanks. That’s really nice of you.”

  “No problem.” There were few perks to her job, but being able to summon a ride for someone in need was certainly one of them.

  “I’ve admired your career,” the woman said shyly. She had silky dark hair and pretty brown eyes. “I’m a senior at American, studying criminal justice. I want a career like yours someday.”

  “That’s nice to hear, but sometimes a career like mine means having to deal with dickwads like him. It’s not as glamorous as it seems.”

  “Oh, I know, but I still can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

  “You sound like me way back when. Do you have LEOs in your family?”

  “My dad and grandfather.”

  “Ah, so it’s in the blood, then. Was for me too.”

  “I was sorry to hear about your dad.”

  “Thank you. It was a tough loss. He was my buddy.”

  “I could tell that from the way you talked about him.” She smiled. “I’m a little obsessed, and now you’ve come to my rescue, completely justifying my massive girl crush.”

  Sam laughed. She liked this kid. “What’s your name?”

  “Valerie Southern.”

  “Nice to meet you, Valerie.”

  “Very nice to meet you too, Lieutenant.”

  “You can call me Sam.”

  Valerie fanned her face. “You’re going to have to give me a minute.”

  Sam laughed as an idea hit her. “You want to come with me to HQ to hang out for a bit? Check out the front lines?”

  The young woman stared at her, eyes agog. “Are you for real right now?”

  “Sure,” Sam said, feeling unusually generous. She also wanted to make sure the younger woman wasn’t bothered again by the guy who’d hassled her. “If you want to. No pressure.”

  “Of course I want to.”

  “Do you have somewhere to be?”

  “Yep, but I’ll get out of it.” She got busy texting on her phone and let out a laugh. “My friends are freaking out. They know about my girl crush.”

  “You should know I’m very happily married.”

  “My crush extends to him too. Coolest couple on the planet.”

  “I don’t know about that…”

  “I do. Take my word for it.”

  “If I must,” Sam said, amused by the woman’s moxie.

  “You must. Who’s the dude over there glaring at you?”

  Sam glanced over her shoulder to find Vernon right behind her. Whoops. “Um, well, he’s a Secret Service agent they put on me after the whole damned world freaked out about my husband’s decision not to run, and truth of the matter is, I forgot about him. I think he’s pissed.”

  “I was crushed when I heard your husband isn’t going to run. You have no idea how many people I’ve talked to who are devastated. Everyone I know was hoping he’d be president.”

  Sam winced. “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “The thing is, I get it,” Valerie said, sighing. “I’ve read about his upbringing and saw his effed-up mother spouting off again last night. I think it’s cool he wants to be with you and your kids.”

  “I do too, but don’t tell anyone I said that.”

  “I never would. Meeting you is the sickest thing to ever happen to me, and even though you don’t know me at all, you can trust me. I’ll never repeat anything you say to me.”

  “That’s a good quality to have. Usually takes people a lot longer than their senior year in college to realize they get further in this world if they just keep their damned mouth shut most of the time.”

  “I agree. I’m forever telling my friends to stay the eff off Twitter and just live their lives, for crying out loud.”

  “Never spent one full minute on Twitter, and I’m doing just fine.”

  “You’re doing better than fine. Do you have any idea how many young women look up to you?”

  “Um, no?”

  “Thousands. You’re our spirit animal.”

  “Ah, what’s a spirit animal?”

  Valerie looked at Sam like she was crazy or from another planet. She was probably both. “A spirit animal is like a teacher or a guide for others to emulate. Usually in the form of an actual animal, but since you’re a mammal, you count.”

  “Ah, good to know. I’m often animal-like first thing in the morning when not yet caffeinated.”

  Valerie cracked up. “Me too.”

  The train pulled into Gallery Place. Freddie had told her to switch lines there, but she’d had enough of the Metro.

  “This is our stop,” Sam said. “We’ve a bit of a walk from here.” Which she wasn’t looking forward to in the brisk wind.

  “Are you in a rush?”

  “Always.”

  Valerie tapped around on her phone. “I ordered us an Uber. It’ll meet us on the street.”

  “You’re good to have around.”

  “So are you. Thanks for what you did with that weird dude.”

  “No problem.”

  “What about your Secret Service agent?”

  “What about him?”

  “Don’t you have to stay where he tells you to?”

  “Nope. I don’t want him following me, so it’s up to him—and his partner—to figure out how to do it. I’m not about to make it easy for them.”

  “Even though they’re fellow LEOs?”

  “Don’t make me feel like a jerk.”

  Valerie put up her hands as they rode the escalator to street level. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m just wondering.”

  “Now I feel like a jerk.” Exasperated by delays on top of delays, Sam held up at the top of the stairs and waited for the agent to catch up. “We’re taking an Uber to HQ.” Then she turned and continued walking toward the curb. “Happy now?” she asked Valerie.

  “It was very nice of you to tell him.”

  “I do what I can for the people.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  As they walked, Sam withdrew her phone to call Freddie and was annoyed when his voice mail picked up. “Damn it, Freddie.” He ought to have something by now. She called him again, and again it went straight to voice mail. “What the hell?”

  “What’s wrong?” Valerie asked.

  “My partner isn’t answering his phone.” Sam wasn’t sure if she needed to do something about that, or if he was maybe on a call or in a dead zone. She’d try him again in a few minutes. He’d better pick up or else. In the meantime, she shot him a text. Answer your fucking phone or you’ll be a grasshopper forever.

  “That’s our car,” Valerie said, pointing to a black sedan.

  “Mrs. Cappuano,” Vernon called out to her.

  Sam turned to him.

  He gestured to a black SUV. “We’re happy to provide transport wherever you need to go.”

  “Thank you, but I’m all set.”

  “We’d prefer that you ride with us.”

  “I understand that, but I’m good.”

  The agent stood with his hands on his hips, annoyance coming off him in tangible waves.

  Sam took Valerie by the arm and headed toward the car. “Hurry, before he does something stupid like try to force me to go with him.”

  “You have to deal with this every day?”

  “Nope. Just today and yesterday. Hopefully, they’ll be gone by tomorrow when the fuss dies down about Nick not running.”

  Valerie followed Sam into the car. “Um, I don’t think it’s going to die down that fast. You really have no idea how upset people are, do you?”

  “I tend to operate on a need-to-know basis, and that falls into the category of don’t want to know. I understand people are disappointed, and I certainly get why, but it’s what’s best for him and us right now.”

  Sam’s phone rang with a call from Malone. “Excuse me. This is my captain. What’s up, Cap?”

  “Gonzales has been released from rehab. He’s on his way home with Christina now and expected here at zero nine hundred tomorrow to me
et with me, the chief and Faith Miller.”

  “Am I invited?”

  “That’s why I’m calling. Thought you might want to be there.”

  “You thought right.”

  “I also pulled the Worthington file. It’s on your desk.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Finally, I have two very unhappy individuals who’ve been on ice since yesterday, their lawyers here and charging by the hour, just waiting on you.”

  “I’m ten minutes out, and they’re first on my to-do list. Do me a favor?”

  “Anything for you,” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

  “Ask Patrol or Montgomery County Police to check on Cruz? Whatever is quicker.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s not answering his phone, and he should be.”

  “Calling him now, hang on.”

  In the background, Sam could hear the call go straight to voicemail. A chill of fear chased down her spine. “Let’s get Patrol out to check on him. He’s got my car in Potomac.” She gave him the address. “He was going to see the wife of Mark Townsend, who was one of Ginny McLeod’s victims. We decided to split up so I could get back to HQ to interview the husband and Realtor.”

  “I’m notifying Patrol. Hang on.”

  Acting on pure fear, Sam leaned forward to ask the Uber driver if they could divert to Potomac.

  “He can’t really do that,” Valerie said.

  “Can you pull over, then?”

  The driver pulled to the curb.

  “Come on,” she said to Valerie.

  On the sidewalk, Sam waited for the Secret Service vehicle to come to a stop and then got into the back seat, moving over to make room for Valerie.

  “I need to get to Potomac as fast as you can,” she said. “It’s urgent.”

  As Vernon made a U-turn in traffic and activated flashing lights, Sam prayed that Freddie hadn’t done something stupid like leave his phone in the car while he interviewed Mrs. Townsend. She’d promised Valerie some time on the front lines and could only hope she wasn’t taking the young woman into a nightmare.

  The woman eyed Freddie with suspicion. “Tell me why you’re here.”

  He sat on a sofa in the living room while she paced and waved the gun around.

  “Did Mark send you?” She had stringy brown hair that hadn’t been washed in a while and was so thin, her collarbones stood out under a loose-fitting T-shirt. Her hazel eyes were big and wounded, her cheeks sunken in, her complexion sallow. Once upon a time, she’d probably been stunning. Now she appeared unwell.

  “What? No. I’m investigating Ginny McLeod’s murder and—”

  She shocked the shit out of him once again when she slapped him across the face. “Don’t you dare speak that evil woman’s name in my house!”

  Freddie rubbed at his face. “Ma’am, assaulting a police officer and holding him at gunpoint are both crimes punishable by years in prison.”

  “Do you honestly think I care about that? My life is already ruined. What the hell difference will it make if I ruin your life too?”

  Freddie knew he should’ve been afraid before then, but he’d figured he’d find a way out of this the way he always did. The possibility that she might kill him just because actually scared him. “It’ll make a difference to me, my wife, my parents and friends.”

  “You shouldn’t have come here.” She stared at him with unseeing eyes that indicated a serious departure from reality.

  “I realize that now.”

  “Mark is fucking her.” She tightened her grip on the handgun and glared at a spot on the wall behind him. “That bitch Tina. He’s fucking her.” She turned her glare on Freddie. “Did you know that?”

  Freddie wasn’t sure whether to admit he knew or pretend he didn’t. He made a snap decision. “Who’s Tina?”

  “The woman my husband is fucking! Her husband killed himself, and now she’s stolen my husband. And Ginny… It’s all her fault! None of this would’ve happened if she hadn’t taken the money. She did this. She needs to pay.”

  “Do you know who hurt Ginny?”

  “Ginny is hurt?” Now her eyes glittered with what could only be called glee.

  “Ginny is dead.”

  “Good. She didn’t deserve to live among decent people.”

  “Did you hurt Ginny?”

  “What? No. I wanted to, but I haven’t left the house in months. I can’t… She… She took that from me too. She took everything.”

  Freddie kept his gaze fixed on the gun, waiting for an opportunity. His cell phone had been ringing repeatedly, which meant Sam or hopefully someone else from work was trying to reach him. He hoped it was Sam. She would do something about the fact that she couldn’t get an answer. For a fleeting second, he thought of Elin, but when despair threatened to overtake him and cloud his judgment, he forced himself to focus on Mrs. Townsend.

  “What’s your name?”

  “My name? It’s Hattie.”

  “I’m Freddie. Freddie Cruz. I’m a detective with the MPD, and I’m married to Elin. We just got married a little over a month ago.”

  “Marriage is for fools.”

  “Maybe so, but I like it so far. I love my wife very much. I waited my whole life to meet her, and when I did, I knew almost immediately she was meant for me. I love her, and she loves me, and if you kill me, you’ll ruin her life along with mine. I promised her I’d never let that happen, and I don’t want to break my promise to her.”

  “You can’t trust her. The minute something goes wrong—and it will—she’ll forget all about why she ever loved you in the first place.”

  Well, that was a rather depressing thought… “It doesn’t always work that way.”

  “Yes, it does. We were fine until Ginny stole our money, and Mark decided if he was going to be poor, he was going to be poor with someone else. That never would’ve happened without her taking everything from us.”

  “Why did you decide to invest?”

  “Because! She made us an offer no one could refuse. One hundred percent return on investment? Who wouldn’t do that?” As she spoke, she waved the gun around in a way that added to Freddie’s anxiety. “I know what you’re thinking. We were stupid to be taken in by her, but you would’ve done it too. Double your money in two years? Anyone would’ve done it!” She came closer to Freddie, the gun aimed at his face.

  He couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d come to ask her some questions and had gotten pulled into a nightmare.

  “Tell me the truth. You would’ve done it too, wouldn’t you?”

  Staring at the gun, he said, “Absolutely. Anyone would have. You’d be crazy not to.”

  His answer seemed to please her. Thank goodness. She dropped the gun to her side as his phone rang again.

  “If I don’t answer that, they’re going to come looking for me.”

  She seemed to think about that for a second. “Get rid of whoever it is.”

  Freddie released the deep breath he’d been holding while waiting for her to give him permission. He grabbed the phone from his back pocket and took the call from Sam, giving thanks to the Lord above that it was her. “Hey.”

  “What the fuck? Why weren’t you answering?”

  “I told you before.” He made an effort to keep his voice calm and flat. “I don’t care about you. I never have. Stop bothering me with your lies.”

  “Freddie… I’m coming. We’re coming.”

  “That’s good. That’s what needs to happen. Now don’t call me again.” He returned the phone to his pocket. “All set.”

  “It’s already happening to you too. People from outside your marriage will want to ruin it. They’re jealous because you have something they want. That’s what happened to us. Other women wanted my husband, but we were fine until that bitch stole everything from us. Mark never looked at anyone else until Ginny ruined us. And now…” She paused, blinked, her eyes full of tears as she looked at Freddie with utter desolation. “What am I suppose
d to do now?”

  “You turn to your family and your friends to get you through it, and you rebuild your life. It’s what people do when things don’t work out like they hoped. They start over.”

  “I don’t want to start over.”

  “You have to. It’s the only way forward. Things didn’t work out with Mark. So find someone else who will love and appreciate you.”

  “How can I do that when I can’t even leave the house? That never used to be a problem, but now…”

  “What did you do before?”

  “I owned a bookstore, but after Ginny took the money, I couldn’t afford to stay open. I had enough for a year, but when we realized the money was gone and the investment was a scam… That store was my whole world, and then it was just gone. Fifteen years of work, just gone.” Her helpless shrug tugged at him. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Yes, you do. You get a therapist to help with the agoraphobia. You get a lawyer to help with the divorce. You sell this beautiful house and get yourself a nice cozy little apartment you can easily afford on the proceeds from the sale. Then you set up an online profile, and you meet other people who’ve been disappointed in past relationships and find your happy second chance. You can do it, Hattie. I know you can.”

  “That sounds really nice,” she said with a small smile that softened her demeanor. “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It won’t be easy. It’ll take a lot of hard work and emotional upheaval, but at the end of it, you’ll come through stronger and more able to face whatever happens next. And you’ll be rid of a husband who dishonored you by turning to another woman. Think about how amazing that new life will be and how vindicated you’ll feel when you pull it off without him. He doesn’t deserve you, but there’s someone out there who does. You just need to find him.”

  “You really think I can find someone else?”

  “I really do, but first you have to give me that gun and let me go. Otherwise, you’re going to end up in really big trouble. We can chalk this up to a misunderstanding, but only if you give me the gun.” He held out his hand while giving her a pleading look. “Please, Hattie. Give yourself a chance to be happy again by doing the right thing. Give me the gun.”