Matt absently stroked his mustache and seemed jumpy. He was usually so calm and collected. Although Matt generally drank Merlot, he downed the last of a Scotch on the rocks. So much for our sharing a bottle of wine. With two empty glasses sitting in front of him, he ordered another Scotch so I ordered a glass of wine.
I pointed to his fresh glass. “Tough day at the office? I’m not used to seeing you drink the hard stuff.”
He nodded.
It was hard to keep a straight face when I said, “Well, Lena almost knocked me down as I was leaving. I didn’t know she ever left Paradise, and, of course, I know how much you adore her. It would be enough to make anyone’s day take a turn.”
Then I added. “Geeze, Matt, if anyone heard our conversation they would think Lena was some hot babe enjoying the best life has to offer—a woman in paradise.”
Normally, that would have elicited a laugh. It didn’t. He just stared into the fresh Scotch and shook his head. He was definitely rattled, and I tried to picture what was going on with Julia and Bruce right now. “Earth to Matt—Lena? What did she want?”
“Oh, her? You know what a bitch that woman is. A visit from her is enough to depress anyone, even me. Yeah, she did come storming in with some bone to pick with Julia. Man, one look that that ugly puss and I made an excuse to get out of there as fast as I could. I felt kind of bad abandoning Julia, but after the day I had, Lena was the last person I wanted to deal with.”
His left eye twitched when he said that and he kept stroking his mustache. I could see he didn’t intend to say anything else about the unexpected visit. I went for broke. “Um, Matt, I felt so bad for everyone when they saw how little they got. To tell the truth I’m pretty upset myself. I know you say it will all work out, but now every one of us has to wait three more months to get what we’ve already earned. That doesn’t seem fair. How in the world could something like that happen? I don’t know much about computers, but it seems a glitch like the one Julia described would have thrown everything out of whack, not just select orders.”
His eyes narrowed. Had I gone too far? No, it was okay. He flashed his engaging smile and said, “You know, Babe, I don’t understand computer programs all that well either, but I hear you. Here’s a piece of advice. Don’t spend so much time worrying about everyone else. They’ll be fine, the program will get straightened out and we’ll be back on track in no time. How about another wine?”
All of a sudden, the shoe was on the other foot so to speak. As he peppered me with seemingly harmless questions, I realized Matt was pumping me to see how much I knew. Was I still confused about how the HRF “gratuity” payments worked? Did I understand how important it was to keep my concerns within our own office and not yak about them with any of the others? I pulled it off, told him basically nothing and prayed he didn’t have even a hint of a suspicion about what we were really up to.
By the time the evening was over, the only thing I’d learned was Matt was seriously distressed. I spent a restless night and awoke with dark circles under my eyes. It took more makeup than usual, but eventually I achieved a “natural” look that only took half-an-hour to apply. God bless those geniuses who develop cosmetics that mask just about anything. At least I can still afford their concoctions.
By ten I called Cami and we got Kate on the line. I usually spend Saturdays running around doing errands, but today would be different. I reported that I hadn’t found out much from Matt but was sure our Avarice-2 email had set off a bit of a firestorm. I told them I probably wouldn’t be able to assess the full impact until Monday.
Later I thought about going to the office. Maybe I could find something that tied into what Cami had seen at Superior Moving. I wasn’t sure how I would do that since Julia seemed to keep all of the accounts she said she handled personally under lock and key, but it wouldn’t hurt to poke around. She did get careless sometimes.
Cami said, “I called Nathan at home last night,” then paused to let us digest that. “Right before I called, I decided I wasn’t going to tip my hand just yet about why we want to see him. He was delighted to hear from me after so many years, and we had a good chuckle about his mom still trying to be a matchmaker. She had called him and told him there was still hope. He said she advised him to wine and dine me while I’m in D.C., and made sure to tell him that I’m still single and wanted his number. He’d just gotten off the phone with her when I called. Aunt Fannie is such a love.”
Kate bubbled, “Tell us everything. What happened?”
Cami answered a question with a question. “Kate, when will the presentation be ready? I think all of us should go to D.C. That way if there is a spark, he can’t be looking at me and trying to figure out how to get me into bed. More important, each of us knows a different part of what appears to be happening right under the noses of the Department of Justice. After all, FACR is a division of his own department. I’m sure when he hears about what seems to be a nonexistent factory receiving millions in payments from the government and a commercial shipper that doesn’t handle commercial jobs but stencils government initials on boxes in their warehouse, he’ll be interested.”
Cami was right. It would take all of us. “I wish I knew a little more. Still, considering his crusader spirit, I’m pretty sure when he sees what we have we should be able to convince him it warrants an investigation. $38,000.000 isn’t exactly pocket change. It would give me no end of pleasure to see Bruce trade a $2,000 suit for one of those stylish orange jumpsuits. He’s such a smug bastard, not to mention her Royal Highness Julia.” I mused, “We could say, ‘Boy, have we got a new battle for you, Nathan—a nice inside fraud that’s grabbing millions of dollars right under your noses.’”
Cami whistled into the phone. “Calm down. Here’s what I’d like to do. Can both of you fly into Reagan National in D.C. next Friday? Make up some excuse to be out of the office. I’ll make reservations at a hotel near the airport and let you know which one. We can meet in the lobby at 6:00, D.C. time. I’ve already made a tentative dinner date with Nathan for Friday night. What he doesn’t know is that he actually has a date with three hot women and a smokin’ hot file.”
~38~
On Saturday afternoon I went to the office, feeling like I’d taken enough precautions for a stealth mission. At first the building was so quiet, it felt creepy. I hate to confess this, but I almost changed my mind. You know that sensation—the one that feels like something crawled up your spine? It hit me in the elevator as I rode to our floor. But, hey, I was a woman with a mission and besides what kind of a spy wimps out so easily? If there was anything about Superior or Alaric that wasn’t under lock and key, I was determined to find it.
I stepped into the empty corridor. Dim energy-saving weekend lighting added to my already jangled nerves. I unlocked the door to our suite and pushed it open slowly, almost expecting to find someone there. My mind raced with possible excuses, but there was no need. I keyed the code into the security pad on the wall just inside the door, then heard two beeps confirming the alarm was disarmed.
As a precaution, I called, “Julia? Matt?” while I moved toward Julia’s office. No answer. Her door was slightly ajar and the light was on but I didn’t hear any sound from inside. I had no idea if she was there or not, and almost left. Then I rationalized she might have forgotten to turn the light off when she left the night before. Besides, if she was there and had heard me, it would look suspicious if I just left without saying anything.
So, I knocked and called her name again. Still no answer. On impulse, I opened the door cautiously. The room was empty. Piles of papers sat neatly stacked on each side of her desktop just the way she always leaves them. My forehead and blouse grew damp with perspiration as fear set in. Something felt off. My attention shifted to her computer. It was on. A loud sound from the corridor practically gave me a heart attack. Could I get out before she blasted back into her office?
That was all I would need—to be caught red-handed in Julia’s lair.
&n
bsp; I stepped out into the hall and, with my voice shaking, called tentatively, “Is someone there?”
A gravelly voice answered, “Jes the janitor, Ma’am.” An old man stepped into the hall, clutching a polish bottle. He held it out toward me. “After I finished up the other offices on the floor, I realized I’d left my granite polish on this here fancy desk.”
With my heart slamming against my ribs, I managed to smooth out my voice. “Well, you scared the hell out of me. Next time if you see lights on, call out even if you don’t think anyone is here, okay?”
“Hmmm. That’s just what the other lady said when I was in here cleanin’ before. She was kinda angry-like, stormin’ out like a hurricane. She told me she was goin’ out for a few hours but would be comin’ back later and said be sure to set the alarm when I left. I knowed I set it but it weren’t on when I came back in jes now. Thought maybe she changed her mind and came right back.” He shook his head.
“How long ago?”
“How long ago, what Ma’am?”
“How long ago did she leave?”
He shrugged. “No more’n 15 minutes ago I reckon. Maybe not even that. I’ll be goin’ now.” He headed for the door and I started back down the hall.
I called over my shoulder, “Hey, turn the alarm back on and lock the door on your way out, okay?”
With the alarm armed and the janitor gone, I figured I could risk poking around in Julia’s office for 10 or 15 minutes. She probably went to grab a bite of lunch or something. Throwing caution to the wind, I went back into her office. First I tried file cabinet drawers in the lateral file I’d seen her take the spreadsheets from, but every one of them was locked. Well, that wasn’t surprising.
Next I moved to her desk. Focusing on the computer, I brought up her emails. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary in her inbox, so on impulse I clicked “recently deleted.” Right at the top of the deleted messages was one from Bruce, and although somewhat cryptic, I was sure it was pay dirt.
As I read, I thought, “How stupid to even hint at something like that in writing.” But who ever said Bruce was overly clever?
Julia,
Got your phone message. If that was a threat, it won’t work. I have ways to get things done. Don’t underestimate me. B.
I read it twice, then hit the print button. On second glance, it really didn’t say that much. It could easily be interpreted to relate to some procedure Julia wanted to implement. But, knowing what I did, his note had a totally different meaning for me.
I looked at the time stamp. That tingling sensation I’d felt earlier wasn’t misplaced. She must have left right after deleting it—probably furious, too. I might even have passed her going down in the other elevator.
The mere thought scared the hell out of me. Maybe our email had panicked her to the point she was threatening him to save her own skin.
I shoved the copy of Bruce’s email into my purse while running down the hall, made sure the alarm was set and locked the door. She could be back any time. I really wasn’t cut out for this cloak and dagger stuff.
Some people would have needed a drink after that. I needed a sweet fix and stopped at the Frozen Delight Ice Cream Parlor two blocks down. I treated myself to two scoops, one Chocolate Dream and one Tropical Coconut, topped with generous dollops of hot fudge, whipped cream and nuts. I savored the mix of flavors, while thinking about Bruce’s email. One thing was certain. We definitely couldn’t wait until next Friday. We had to move faster than that.
I dialed Cami’s number on my cell while driving back to the condo. She answered on the first ring. “What’s up Kimberly?”
“A lot. I went to the office this afternoon. Couldn’t get into any files, but I found a deleted email from Bruce on Julia’s computer, and it wasn’t friendly. Oh yeah, apparently I just missed her by minutes. That’s scary in itself. I’m afraid we might have opened a hornet’s nest. Do you think you can set it up with Nathan for Tuesday instead? I don’t think we should wait any longer.”
“Uh, sure if he doesn’t have other plans. I don’t see a problem. It’s probably easier for Kate and me to get away. We just need to list dummy appointments and no one will know we’re gone. It sounds like you’re driving right now. Want me to call Kate?”
“Yeah, that would be great. Don’t worry about me. I’ll calm down and figure out how to be out of the office for a few days without Julia suspecting anything. Cell phones and email makes that a lot easier these days.”
• • • • •
By the time I got home, there was an email from Cami and one from Kate. Everything was set. Cami had reserved three rooms at an airport hotel in Arlington. She said since we would probably be flying back to our respective homes the following day there was no point in actually going into D.C. Nathan had been fine about changing the time and planned to pick her up at the hotel at 7:30 Tuesday evening. Boy, he was in for a surprise.
Kate emailed us that she had completed putting everything together. She added that a person would have to be blind not to see this had turned into something that appeared to be a colossal ripoff. She asked me to scan the note from Bruce and email it to her so she could include it with everything else. All I had to do now was book a flight and figure out why I was going to be out of the office.
It came to me in a flash. I must admit, this whole caper made me pretty good at lying.
When I went in on Monday, I asked Julia if we could talk privately. She looked confused but agreed.
She knew nothing about what happened with Ryan so it was easy. I pasted a sheepish expression on my face and said, “I need a few personal days off. This is a little embarrassing, but before I started working here, I was involved with a guy who turned out to be a completely different kind of person than the man I thought he was.” I allowed my eyes to water up. “He…he took me for a bundle and quite frankly, that’s one of the reasons I needed this job.”
Did I actually see a spark of sympathy in those stone cold emerald eyes? She nodded. “Go on, Kimberly.”
“Well, it turns out I wasn’t the only one he ripped off. They caught up with him at the home of his latest victim in Boca Raton. I promised to testify. I hope you understand.” I allowed a tear to slide down my cheek.
She bought every bit of it. “Take the time you need Kimberly. Sometimes we just can’t trust men, can we?” There was a tightness in her face as she said, “I hope it turns out okay. When do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow, and I’ll probably be back by Thursday or Friday at the latest. This isn’t a pleasure trip, Julia, but it’s something I have to do.”
Now that part wasn’t a lie.
~39~
By the time I arrived at Reagan National, I was so burned out I wasn’t looking forward to the trek to pick up my luggage. My feet hurt, my eyes burned and all I wanted to do was rest. The liveliness of a busy airport hummed around me. I willed one of those carts and drivers to come to my rescue and couldn’t believe my eyes. A cart appeared as if by magic, but wasn’t at all what I hoped for. The full cart breezed right past me as it whisked a smiling pair of oldsters to their gate. Resigned to my fate, I took off my shoes and trudged barefoot in the direction of the signs pointing to Baggage Claim.
The last few days had taken a toll on my energy. When I’d checked flights, Alaska Airlines was the only one with a non-stop from Seattle to National. I’d left my house at 6:00 in the morning to make it. Only one other flight would have gotten me to D.C. in time for the meeting. True, it was half the price but required a connection, so it almost doubled the traveling time. I would have had to leave my house around 2:30 in the morning.
The shuttle dropped me at the hotel with enough time to take a short nap and freshen up. Neither Kate nor Cameron had checked in yet, so I left notes saying I would meet them downstairs at 6:00 as planned and requested a wakeup call. I’d just hung my jacket in the tiny closet when my cell phone rang. Plopping down on the comfy king-size bed, I pushed the answer button without
checking the Caller ID.
“Kimberly? Glad I caught you. Hey, Julia told me what happened.” Matt! Just what I needed. He was the last person I wanted to talk to.
“Um, yeah—” For a moment, my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember exactly what I’d told Julia. Then it all came back in a rush. Of course—Ryan had supposedly been caught in Boca, so the phony hearing I dreamed up would probably take place in Ft. Lauderdale. Other scraps of my lie made their way into my consciousness fast enough for me to answer Matt. “—uh, I’m actually at the airport picking up my rental car right now,” I lied.
I adjusted a pair of fluffy pillows under my head, then said, “Oh, wait a minute,” followed by, “Listen, they’re signaling me that the paperwork is ready. Can I call you tomorrow? I’m totally beat and can’t wait to get to the hotel.” Not having a clue about flight schedules from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, I hoped I was making sense.
“Sure, Babe. Listen, you give him hell when you testify. I hope he gets what he deserves.”
Ironic. If Nathan decided to investigate, depending upon what happened, Matt could be about to get what he deserved as a result of our testimony and all the evidence we had gathered.
Snuggling between the covers, I prayed for sleep and it must have worked. The telephone jarred me awake an hour later.
A pleasant mechanical voice greeted me with, “This is your wake up call.”
Half an hour later, after enjoying a quick shower, applying fresh makeup, then using the flattening iron on my hair, I definitely felt much better. Sporting a pair of sleek gray pinstriped slacks, a red cashmere turtleneck, light gray blazer and ankle boots to die for, I added heavy gold hoop earrings and a gold coin on a chain I’d gotten in Greece when I was still flush with money.
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