by Bianca Cole
I stand to my feet and approach him. “Yes, Bryson Stafford, what is this about, officer?”
The man turns back to the door and motions for more officers to come in. “I’m Detective Braxton, of the Wynton PD Fraud division, working in tandem with the Internal Revenue Service and the SEC. We received some crucial information that says your company has been embezzling funds from the payroll of its employees for quite some time now. How do you answer these charges?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting I’ve got something to do with the embezzlement? If so, you are, you’re mistaken.” I glance at Tessa, who steps forward. “Miss Clayton bought my attention to the issue three weeks ago.” I point at Tessa, whose mouth is ajar. “We’ve been investigating who is involved ever since. We didn’t want to bring the authorities in until we were certain of who orchestrated the scheme.”
The detective’s brow furrows, and he shakes his head. “That seems like a rather odd thing for you to say.”
Tessa steps forward. “Why would you say that?”
He looks Tessa up and down in a way that makes me want to punch him in the face. “Miss Clayton, is it? May I ask what your involvement is in this?”
She nods. “Well, a little over four weeks ago, I stumbled upon an expenses sheet related to the embezzlement. Someone sent it to me when it was meant for the third floor.” She shuffles. “I realized something was wrong and tried to take it to my department manager, who told me I’d be fired if I didn’t leave it alone.” She glances at me, and I give her a reassuring smile. “I brought it to Bryson, and since then, we’ve been investigating it together. We have a lot of information, but we’ve been struggling to find who is running the scheme. Whoever it is has covered their tracks.”
The detective steps closer to Tessa than I’d like. I can feel jealousy rising inside of me the way he looks at her. “Oh, you have, have you?”
“Yes, and I’m more than happy to supply you with all the information we’ve accrued over the last few weeks,” she says.
“Yes, we’ll need all the information you’ve found. I’m going to need you to come down to the station as well and make a statement, though.”
“Yes, whatever you need,” she replies.
I step forward. “Yes, we will cooperate.”
The detective laughs and shakes his head. “That is almost as funny as the idea that you were investigating this problem yourself.”
“Sorry?” I ask, confused by what he finds so funny.
“Considering that you’re the one who is conducting the scheme. It’s funny you would cooperate or run an investigation into your own embezzlement scheme.”
My heart sinks into my stomach, and my mouth goes dry. I’ve got no idea what he is saying. “I don’t know what you are talking about, detective,” I say, glancing at Tessa, who looks as confused as I feel.
The detective crosses his arms over his chest. “You know nothing about your own safe deposit box at Wells Fargo Bank, with a half a million dollars in deposits over the last four weeks? You don’t know anything about these payrolls health and wellness deposit receipts with your signature on them for deviation of funds?” The detective pulls out a folder from under his arm and opens it, handing it to me.
I glance down at it in shock, looking over the receipts and deposits. They all started four weeks ago. My head spins. Someone has set me up for the fall, knowing we were investigating it. I shake my head. “I’ve never seen these slips in my life. I’ve got an account at the bank, but I didn’t deposit this money into it…”
Tessa grabs the file from me and scans the information. I can see her mind ticking away. She’s never going to believe me that I’m telling the truth. She’s going to think I kept her busy working by my side to keep the blame off me.
Fuck.
The blood drains from her face as she reads more. I can’t lose her because of this. I don’t even care about this damn company right now. All I care about is her.
21
Tessa
My heart feels like it’s being ripped from my chest as I read over the file. No wonder I’ve been having so much trouble finding who is behind this scheme.
Bryson has been blinding me from finding the truth from day one, keeping me busy chasing my tail. Not to mention, fucking me. Rage bubbles up inside of me as I go over the evidence again and again.
The detective grabs the file from me. “As you can see, Bryson Stafford is behind this scheme, miss.” I glance up at him. “He seems to have been distracting you from ensuring you don’t stumble on the truth.”
I glance at Bryson, whose face is as white as a sheet. He shakes his head. “I swear it wasn’t me. Someone has set me up here,” he says, his voice quieter than I’ve ever heard it. Bryson notices my expression and grabs my hands in his. “Tessa. It isn’t true. Someone has set me up.”
First, I walk in on the secretary kissing him and now this. I should have known he was just like any other man—a liar and a cheat. I can’t believe I let him fool me. He has been using me this entire time, making me fall for him, all to keep the heat off of him.
He can’t expect me to believe a word he says. Every single piece of evidence is against him. I’d be a fool to deny the truth when it’s been set out so plainly in front of me. Numbers and facts never lie, but people do. It’s something that I’d always believed, and as I stood staring at the man who had made me fall, it reaffirmed it again.
“You can tell it to a judge.” The detective unclips the handcuffs from his belt and slaps them on Bryson’s wrists.
I pull my hands from his and take a step back.
Bryson’s eyes glaze with tears as he stares at me, pleading. “Tessa, you have to believe me.”
I shake my head, unable to speak.
“Mr. Stafford, I’m placing you under arrest for embezzlement.” He states, reading his right before closing the cuffs around his wrists.
Bryson’s eyes remain fixed on me. “Tessa, please.”
I hold a hand up to stop him. “Bryson, there’s nothing you can say. All the evidence proves you’re guilty.” I turn toward the door to hide the tears prickling my eyes. He has hurt me more than I want him to know.
“Tessa, please, please investigate this. I promise I’ve been set up.” His voice is desperate and sincere.
My heart skips a beat at his insinuation. Who could have set him up for this? I don’t reply to his comment. The pain of betrayal right now is too much to overcome. I can’t process his claim. I storm out of the office, too confused.
Detective Braxton calls after me, “Miss Clayton, we need you to make a statement. I’ll be in touch.”
I don’t stop walking. I can’t. The tears stream down my cheeks as I enter the empty elevator and press the button to the ground floor. My mind runs over everything that just happened again and again.
Could Bryson be telling the truth? I want him to be innocent more than anything. Perhaps that’s why I’m entertaining the idea.
The elevator moves toward the ground floor. I’m not sure my heart could take it if I investigated this to find it was another lie.
Finally, the elevator jerks to a stop and opens into the lobby. I storm out of the building, not even caring what time it is. It’s only two o’clock in the afternoon, but I need to getaway. I can’t spend another second in The Stafford Financial Group building.
* * *
I sit on the couch in the apartment with Elena by my side. It’s her night off. We sip wine together as we watch a twilight zone marathon on TLC. I need time to recover from the biggest shock I’ve had in a while.
It feels like every time I give my heart away. It’s broken. The first time I’d opened myself up to a man since Ted and Bryson stamped on my heart.
Bryson isn’t the man I thought. The attempt to keep my mind off him with TV isn’t working. He’s a criminal and a liar. The one thing I can’t shake is his claim that someone set him up. His words keep repeating in my mind.
I know it may be
desperate, but deep down, I want to believe it. I want to believe that Bryson is innocent. I hold out my empty glass to Elena, who tops me up with more wine. I sit in silence, mulling over the events of the day in my mind. Elena couldn’t believe it when I told her.
I left out the fact I’d slept with Bryson on four different occasions. I’d been too ashamed to tell her what happened the night I’d met him in the bar. Then when we slept together the next night, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that either. The longer it went on, the more I felt I couldn’t tell her.
I’m glad I’d kept the details to myself, as it would have made explaining this to her much more difficult.
How could I have been so stupid to let my guard down again?
“Oh, I love this one,” Elena says, as another episode starts.
“What’s this one about?” I take another sip of wine.
“This is the one where her twin steals a lady’s identity, and by the end, you don’t know if it’s the original woman or her evil twin that has taken over her life,” She explains.
“Oh, that sounds scary.” I snuggle deeper into the cushions and under the blanket.
“Yeah, you know we had a girl that used to work at the bar who had her identity stolen. She almost got arrested. The cops came to the bar and everything,” Elena says.
“Really, what happened?”
“Well, they didn’t take her in once we proved that she was in the hospital having a baby at the time that the other lady committed the crime.”
“That is lucky,” I say, reflecting on the story.
My mind works overtime. Identity theft happens all the time, so it wasn’t impossible that someone had stolen Bryson’s identity. It all seemed a little odd that Bryson would investigate a scheme he was running. If he was behind it, he would have accepted my resignation and allowed me to quit.
Elena continues, “Yeah, we had to prove she was there, though. They had to speak with the hospital and verify everything. They caught the woman posing as her.”
Bryson pleaded with me to investigate this. Something that seemed a little strange was one date and time on the first deposit slip. As far as I could tell, this scheme had been going on for a while. The first deposit was the 13th of May at ten to six. The day Bryson and I went to dinner. What would it hurt digging a little deeper?
I stand up. “I’ll be back in a second. I’m going to grab my laptop.” I head to my bedroom and grab my computer.
Bryson had arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after six, but the branch of Wells Fargo he deposited in was on the other side of town. It would have been impossible for him to travel across Wynton city during rush hour in fifteen minutes. Perhaps, I was clutching at straws, but it felt possible that this was a case of identity fraud. How could he have made a deposit, if he was with me?
I trawl through some data trying again to find more information, but it’s sealed uptight. Whoever orchestrated this knows what the hell they are doing. Although Bryson is intelligent, he’s not the best with numbers or computers to pull something like this off. Another reason to doubt that he is behind the scheme.
“Hey, Elena.” I gaze up at my best friend, who glances at me. “I think Bryson is innocent.”
Her eyes widen. “You do? Why?”
“One deposit was made at ten to six on the 13th of May. The date I met Bryson for dinner at the restaurant. He was with me at five minutes past six. The Wells Fargo branch is on the other side of town. I think someone has stolen his identity.”
“Holy shit. That is crazy. Who do you think did it?” she asks.
“That’s the thing. I’ve got no idea. Whoever did it has covered their tracks pretty well.”
Her eyes widen further. “Wow, what are you going to do?”
It’s a good question. I can’t march into the police department and demand they had it wrong until I had concrete proof, which meant trying to find the person behind the scheme.
Although it was unlikely Bryson had made it across town in fifteen minutes, that wasn’t concrete evidence. I need to find the perpetrator and evidence. That is what I intend to do first thing in the morning.
22
Tessa
My heart beats in my chest as I gaze up at the looming building in front of me. The Wells Fargo sign in gold is proudly displayed across the building.
I know I’m about to break the law, as I adjust the police badge I borrowed from Elena’s room. She found it at the bar one night and has had it ever since. It was the only plan I could think of.
The intention is to walk into the bank and pose as a police officer to access their CCTV footage. If someone else deposited into Bryson’s account, then they would be caught red-handed.
With one last adjustment to my blazer, I step through the doors and into the bank. A lady is sitting behind the reception desk in front of me. I walk up to her, trying to be confident. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” She glances up at me and clocks the badge on my lapel. “How can I help you, detective?” She smiles widely at me.
I clear my throat. “I’m working on a fraud case. I need to take a look at your CCTV from the thirteenth of May, please.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, I see. Please wait for a moment.”
I nod in response as she dials on her phone. Before I know it, the manager of the bank is heading right over to me, and it makes my stomach churn.
I hope they don’t know I’m not a cop. “Good morning, detective. I’ve been informed you need to check over some CCTV. If you would follow me, please.”
Some tension eases from my shoulders. For a moment, I thought I was about to be called out for impersonating an officer who could get me some jail time or at least community service.
I’m not even sure what this crime warrants. I hadn’t checked it out before I came here. I can’t believe I’m doing this to prove a man’s innocence, knowing my luck I’ll probably find Bryson depositing the CCTV.
The manager scans his badge and opens a back door into a room with some computer screens and one computer. I can’t quite believe how he let me in here, I mean, he didn’t even check my credentials. “You can search through any data you need. I hope there is no scandal I need to worry about, detective?”
“No, I hope not, sir. It’s just a precaution we are taking with a case we’re working on at the moment. Nothing to worry about.” I take a seat in front of the main computer.
He nods. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Let me know when you’ve finished.” I watch after him as he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.
I’m not familiar with their security system, but after a few minutes, I get the hang of it. My fingers are shaking as work to find the footage from the thirteenth of May, and fast forward to the time I want.
I watch as a tall, dark-haired man enters the bank in a sharp suit. If you didn’t know Bryson Stafford, you could take the man who walked in as Bryson. They are very similar looking. However, I know Bryson, perhaps too well. The man walking in isn’t him. It’s Theo Stafford. It all makes sense.
The competition his father set for him and Theo’s desperation to become CEO. A flood of relief spreads through me. This was worth the risk, coming here and finding out the man I’ve fallen for isn’t a criminal.
I stick the USB drive into the computer and download the footage of Theo signing a slip and then making the deposit at the exact time Bryson was supposed to be there. That son of a bitch set up his brother to get the company. I can’t believe it.
I head out of the back room and find the manager waiting for me. “Detective, is there anything to worry about?”
“It’s difficult to say. I’m going to discuss it with my colleagues, but we will keep you informed,” I lie.
As always, all these companies ever care about is their reputation. “Thank you, detective. Have a great day.”
I nod and get the hell out of there. How did that even work? I clutch hold tightly to the USB, which proves Bryson is innocent. I detach
the badge from my jacket and stuff it in my inside pocket, before flagging a cab. A man slows and lets me in.
“The police department, please.”
“Right away, miss.”
I sit back in the seat. My mind is a mess as I go over what I’ve just seen. Bryson is telling the truth about not being involved in the embezzlement. It’s a relief, but it doesn’t mean he was telling the truth about wanting to be with me.
I’ve risked everything to come here today and prove he is innocent, and I know why. I’m in love with my boss. The question is, does he feel the same? I sigh. Or is this another one of his many flings? I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.
* * *
The cab comes to a halt in front of the police station. I pay the man and step out, glancing up at the looming building in front of me. The USB is still in my grasp. I walk up the steps into the building and head for the front desk.
A woman glances up as I approach. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see detective Braxton about the Stafford Financial fraud case. I have some information for him.”
“All right, give me a moment.” The woman picks up the receiver of the phone on her desk. “Detective Braxton, I have someone here for you. They say they have information on your fraud case.” The lady hangs up the receiver. “He’ll be out here in a moment if you’ll just wait right there.” She points to a few seats in front of the desk, but I can’t sit.
I step away and tap my foot on the floor, waiting for him to arrive. The echo of footsteps behind me draw my attention, and I find the detective coming my way. “Miss Clayton, what a pleasure to see you again.” His gaze travels the length of my body.
I ignore it. “I’ve got some information for you if we can speak in private.”
He nods. “Follow me.” I follow him through a set of swing doors into the precinct. We head down a long hallway, passing a lock up and through a maze of desks before arriving at his office door. He opens it and gestures for me to take a seat in front of his desk. “Can I offer you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water?” he asks.
