Julia interrupted. “No need to get your knickers in a twist. I think you’re right. What’s the big deal if you used the card for uh, women and trips and things like that?”
“I should have known better than to brag about it to you. Back off! Hear me? Back off!”
There was a brief silence. Then Bruce said, “By the way Miss Holier Than Thou, what about your massages and other expensive beauty treatments. How do you think it would look if I suggest they audit your spending habits? What are you? The pot calling the kettle black as that old saying goes.
I took a few deep breaths willing myself to stay calm. I was safe, my door was locked and they couldn’t possibly suspect me.
Matt’s soothing voice came over the speaker, trying to diffuse Bruce’s anger. “Hey, man, I’ve done it too. I’ve got a friend with a clothing store who puts the charges through as business travel. We all dip a little. No big deal. By the way, who the hell is Avarice-2? Why did Julia call you that? Was it a pet name or something?”
Bruce’s voice again. “Look, I have no friggin idea what this Avarice-2 business is. All I know is that you’d better think long and hard before threatening me again.”
When Julia spoke I realized she had finally caught on to what Matt was doing. Since Bruce had no idea what she was referring to with the Avarice-2 threat, [email protected] couldn’t be him. If it was, he would have gotten our email, too and Julia and Matt wouldn’t have thought Avarice-2 was him.
So if he wasn’t [email protected], who was?
~44~
It was obvious nothing was going to calm Bruce. At one point, his voice even became so menacing I could envision him taking a swing at Matt and a real fight breaking out. Thank goodness I was wrong and it didn’t happen.
At last he calmed down and stopped yelling. Julia’s soft voice broke the silence. “I never should have left that phone message, but someone really has been threatening me and I stupidly thought it was you. I’m so sorry.”
With Bruce under control, Julia joked about how many of the GS15’s, who enjoyed high credit limits, regarded their government IMPAC card like a bonus gift certificate. Matt continued to support her by blathering on about how so many abused it with no questions asked.
There was a bit more chit-chat until Bruce said he had to get back to D.C. Within 45 minutes he was gone, headed to the airport, and things were back to normal—sort of.
Right after Bruce left, I unlocked the door and ventured out in time to see Matt slam out of the office, carrying his briefcase. When the coast was clear, I gave it a few more minutes, then called Nathan’s private line using my cell so there wouldn’t be a company record of the call. He answered on the second ring.
“Mr. Attorney General, have I got a story for you. Bruce isn’t Ghost and quite frankly I don’t have a clue who the third crook can be. When they got our email, Julia thought Bruce was Avarice-2. It turned out Bruce was more afraid she was going to turn him in for charging huge personal expenses on the IMPAC card. There was even something mentioned about hookers. It sounds like good old Bruce used his card as a personal piggy bank.”
Nathan’s “Uh huh” on the other end was followed by a chuckle. “And how did you happen to hear all of this?”
“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m turning into a regular Agatha Christie. Bruce asked me to order some breakfast using the phone in the conference room, so I managed to hit the com line button to my office before I left and I heard every word they said.”
“You’re amazing. To think I was worried about you—well, actually I’m still worried about you. I really like you Kimberly and I certainly don’t want anything to happen to you. Good job, though. By the way, please call me Nate.”
Okay, so did “really like you” just mean he thinks I’m pretty nice, or dared I hope it meant more? Before I could conjure up a vision of Nathan giving me adoring looks, he said, “Listen, I should be hearing something about what was found in the warehouses pretty soon, maybe even later today. I’ll call you when I know more. Don’t get too carried away playing sleuth. I want you in one piece the next time I see you. Take care. We’ll talk later.”
I found myself thinking some pretty hot thoughts about our Attorney General and they had nothing to do with the current investigation. I closed my eyes and wondered what it would feel like for him to kiss me. Really kiss me, not one of those perfunctory pecks on the cheek or forehead. A tongue thrusting, long hot kiss followed by—
My intercom buzzed. Julia wanted to see me in her office. I put that image of Nathan in a safe place in my addled brain, grabbed a notepad and went down the hall to her office.
Julia was really upset. She made some lame excuse for Bruce’s tirade and Matt’s sudden departure, but I think she really called me into her office just to have someone to talk to. She attempted a bit of totally ridiculous small talk, but soon clammed up with her arms folded protectively across her ample chest as her eyes flitted around the room, looking for a place to rest. Finally she looked back at me. I said nothing.
Panic had definitely taken over. It was clear Julia knew their entire house of cards could come crashing down any time now that she was faced with trying to solve the mystery of Avarice-2. Someone obviously knew what they were up to. Abruptly rising from her chair, she said, “I’m taking the rest of the day off. I’ve got a lot of personal things to attend to.” She walked toward the door and I followed. Midway to the door she must have realized she hadn’t even picked up her briefcase and doubled back to her desk to grab it.
Julia was totally unhinged.
~45~
The clock on my computer read 11:30. I closed the file I’d been working on, and walked down to the lunch room where I poured a cup of black coffee, then brought it back to my desk. I remembered my cell was still off. When I turned it on, the screen read “voicemail waiting.” Nate’s message was short and sweet. “Call me the minute you get this.”
I keyed in his number. “What’s up?”
“This thing is getting ready to blow up, that’s what. Separate teams hit four of the key warehouses at 8:30 this morning and I just got the last of their reports.”
“Okay, you’ve got my attention. What did they find?”
“First of all the number of boxes didn’t come anywhere close to the amount shown on the bills of lading, but that’s minor. If this was a normal situation, that would just mean they’d been requisitioned. What’s more important is that all of the investigators picked up something subtle in the warehouses. Instead of a tight grouping by manufacturer, which is the way stock is usually arranged, these cartons were actually spread in a flat line against a back wall off in a remote area of each building,.”
“Why do you suppose they did that?”
“Because, that way the suspicious cartons were completely covered up by those of other manufacturers. The investigators had to insist the warehouse managers find the ones they were looking for. Each one had markings that looked slightly different than the regular FACR stamping. Even with pass-throughs, it’s a requirement that everything is shipped bearing the official FACR logo. That way it isn’t apparent the merchandise wasn’t made in a prison.”
“No wonder they hid them behind other stock. I’m surprised they goofed on that detail. It seems everything else was so carefully orchestrated.”
“Well, Kimberly, that’s not really the smoking gun, so to speak. The stampings weren’t different enough to grab anyone’s attention unless they were looking for something like we were. Because of the way they were strung out, the guys decided to open a few. That’s when we saw how ingenious this scam really is.”
Nathan’s voice had taken on an almost amused tone, so I asked, “What did they find? Old junky beat up furniture or something?”
“Close. They found packing debris plus scrap metal and wood for weight, but not one stick of furniture. At first they thought there had to be a mistake, so they opened every carton in the group at all four warehouses. Nothing but junk. If it hadn’t been for you three, n
o one would have been the wiser. My guess is they would have gotten away with it.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or let loose with a triumphant shout. What a scam and we were the ones who discovered it. I wondered who came up with the idea of packing junk in phony FACR cartons as pass-through orders instead of hauling debris to the dump. Their take had to be way more than we originally thought. After all, how much could the payoffs, cartons and junk amount to? A few million would be a lot.
As though he had read my mind, Nathan said, “I figure they probably netted at least $35,000,000. We’ve got Julia and Matt red-handed, but we still don’t know who Ghost is.
“Well, I’ve got some ideas about how we can find out.”
“Look, you three will not be finding out anything nor concocting any more risky plans, do you hear me? You’ve done your part and I don’t want you involved from now on. We made sure no one in the warehouses can tip them off, because we brought all of their stooges in as material witnesses and they’re scared stiff. We’ll hit the other warehouses tomorrow. Even if we don’t find the same thing in every one, we’ll know who was on the take.” Hopefully we’ll be able to recover some of the money.”
“But don’t you even want to hear my idea?”
“I do not. Listen to me. Leave it to us or you could be guilty of obstructing justice.”
“What! You wouldn’t have any justice to obstruct if it wasn’t for us. And, what about Bruce? Even if he’s not involved, he’s not going to get away with his little credit card game, is he?”
“Don’t worry about that. His financial records and credit card charges will be investigated thoroughly. I’m sure we’ll find enough to bring embezzlement charges against him.”
“I can’t wait to tell Kate and Cami. Who ever thought it would turn into something like this?”
“Well, one thing is for sure. The way the public loves government scandals, as soon the media finds out about this, and you can bet they will, reporters will be knocking at your door. You know, on one hand I hate to have this in the news, but I guess it does show the DOJ is diligent. I’m going to have to instruct the three of you on how you answer reporters. I’ve gotta go now, but I wanted to bring you up to date. Can I call you at home this evening?”
“Sure, any time after 8:00.” I clicked off the cell, leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Kimberly Martin, undercover detective. What a swindle!
Not even a year had passed since I was thrilled to be named Woman of the Year at the Pacific Northwest Technology Conference. My future had seemed so bright until my boss torpedoed the company and my sleazeball boyfriend ripped me off. I guess that old saying is true: Life is what happens to you while you’re waiting for it to be the way you planned it.
Then there was Nathan Hartman, Attorney General of the United States. Did I have even a slim chance with him? Although he seemed to like me, after Ryan’s betrayal and almost getting involved with Matt, I was afraid to read anything into someone’s actions. Particularly someone as important as Nathan.
Trying to work was useless. By 2:00 Matt hadn’t returned and I decided I would take the rest of the day off, too. Nothing was happening and there was no one to say I couldn’t. I packed up my stuff and stopped at the reception desk.
“Listen, I’ve got a ton of things to do on the outside, so I’ll be gone the rest of the day. Just take messages and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Um, this has really been a strange day, Kimberly. Mr. Payton storms in, Matt and Julia storm out and now you’re leaving for the day. Is there something I should be worried about?”
I shrugged and shook my head. “No, but you’re right. It has been one very strange day.”
I drove toward my condo lost in thought. Things were all falling into place nicely, leaving very few loose ends. I planned to listen to Nathan and keep my nose out of anything further to do with what we uncovered. Like he said, let the FBI do their job.
A blaring horn shook me out of my daydream. Alert now, I sped up a little. A yellow light changed to red and I slammed on my brakes. My mental watchdog screamed “Pay attention!” as the driver behind my car narrowly missed rear-ending me. I sat there drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change and saw the other driver’s reflection in the rear view mirror. He was throwing me a finger. I switched from the classical music station I loved to something louder—something that wouldn’t lull me into wandering through memory lane. Classic oldies. Led Zepplin. Perfect.
The light turned green, and I joined the line of cars heading to the freeway, then glanced at the clock on the dashboard and changed my mind. Only 2:30. Time to kill an hour or so at Nordstrom and treat myself to something extravagant.
~46~
I sincerely believe shopping does something for the soul. It never fails, particularly if you find an unexpected bargain. When I lucked into a fantastic leather designer jacket at 70% off, I told myself it was a sign from above. Good things were about to happen.
After I hung my beautiful new jacket in the closet, I placed the conference call to Kate and Cami. I wanted to tell them everything that happened before Nate called.
“They found what?” Cami’s voice vibrated with excitement. I could hear Kate exhale deeply in the background.
“Yep, they stuffed the boxes with nothing but packing junk, wood and metal scraps. Can you imagine? Either this whole thing was Matt’s idea—he is awfully creative and clever, you know—or Julia has more smarts than I gave her credit for.”
Kate finally said, “Or Ghost is someone to be reckoned with. Whatever it turns out to be, they pulled it off right under the noses of the Department of Justice. What should we do next?”
“Nothing. Nate said his men will do the rest and he wants us to stay out of it.”
Cami said, “And we would do that because—?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
No one said a word for a few moments. Finally, Cami broke the silence by saying, “That’s not the way I see it. We really need to send another email, make it more threatening and try to set up a meeting. That should smoke Ghost out. If they agree, one of us will pretend to be Avarice-2. I’m not quite sure how we should play it yet, but we’ll figure that out.”
“But Nate said—” Beads of perspiration dampened my forehead although it was cool and comfortable in the condo. My hands shook just thinking about it. “We should—“
Kate broke in. “I agree with Cami. It’s time to turn up the heat and unmask Ghost. Don’t be such a worry wart. We’ll be careful. If it makes you feel better, I promise we’ll call in the FBI to back us up. We’ve come this far. Come on, Kimberly. Where has your spirit of adventure gone?”
“Um, deep into the back of my closet? Look you two, I’m really scared, and you know Nate is right. He said we could be charged with obstructing justice. We sure don’t need that.”
Cami’s voice was shrill.“ Hey, he wouldn’t do that to me and you know it. He’s just trying to keep us out of it. Well, we’re scared, too, and he may be right, but I can’t see us sitting back twiddling our thumbs when we’re so close. Don’t forget they wouldn’t have anything without us.”
I tried to protest one more time but Cami grew more insistent. “Look, I’ve known Nate most of my life. It’s his nature to be cautious, and he should be. After all, he’s the Attorney General. But he isn’t my boss and he isn’t yours. Let’s all agree right now. I’ll send the email to those slimeballs and forward a copy to both of you. What do you say? Killer Kate? Kimberly?”
While Kate was busy agreeing, I shouted over her, “No, I don’t agree! Listen to me. You want to get into something we have no business being involved in. We did what we could. Leave it up to the FBI.”
My heart thudded right to the floor when Cami said, “Oh, that’s just what we expected from you, Kimberly. That’s why Kate and I composed an email this afternoon. You’re too late. I just sent it. Avarice-2 has asked for the meeting already.”
&
nbsp; “How could you? Cami, you shouldn’t have done that unless all of us agreed.”
While my head throbbed with fury, Kate did her persuasive best to calm me down. “It’s not all that bad. Look at it this way—majority rules. You know, two out of three. You’ll see. It will all work out. Ghost will have no choice but to react, and then, if they agree to the meeting, we’ve got them. I still can’t get over the junk in the cartons. I figured it would be simple embezzlement.”
Stay calm. I took a deep breath before answering. “Look, I’m not happy about this at all. It’s not the way I would have done things. Do you at least agree we should let the FBI take over now? And that Avarice-2 should be one of their people, not one of us?
Cami sounded a bit hesitant as she said, “Um, I guess that makes sense. After they lambast us for butting in, they could send one of their people to the meeting.”
Kate added, “Look, Kimberly, I’m sorry we went behind your back, but we were sure you would never agree. Am I right?”
I knew they were right. Never in a hundred years would I have agreed to the email. But it was done and there was nothing I could do about that. When I finally calmed down, I said, “It’s just too dangerous for us. As long as we don’t do anything else, I’ll forgive you for sending the email, but you have to promise not to do anything like that again. We can’t take any more ridiculous chances. Are you coming to Seattle soon?”
Cami sounded almost apologetic. “We figured once contact was made, things would move fast and they would agree to the meeting—no more than a couple of days at the longest. Of course we have to be there, so my flight gets in at 9:30 tomorrow morning and Kate’s scheduled to get in at 9:45. We’ll grab a taxi and should be at your house between 10:30 and 11:00. No need for you to pick us up. Just take the day off.”
My laptop dinged signaling that an email had arrived, so I clicked while talking and scanned it quickly, still feeling somewhat resentful at them for double-teaming me.
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