Malice
Page 23
I entered the room where he sat alone. He looked up when I walked in yet held his tongue.
“William.” I took a seat across from him.
“Agent Monroe. And to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have to tell you a few things before the authorities arrive.”
“So you aren’t the authority?”
I smiled. “Not that particular kind. I don’t know how soon you’ll be allowed to speak with Pam, so I’m here to tell you about last night.”
“Last night? What happened last night?”
“Ed broke into your house. He was the Scenic View Serial Killer.”
“Jesus Christ. Is Pam okay? I have to see her.”
“That isn’t going to happen, William, and it’s time for you to face reality. Pam is fine, and she’s at her mom’s house with the kids.”
He let out a long sigh.
“Ed is gone, as in dead. He was taken down by law enforcement as he was about to kill Pam. She’s a total wreck, though, and you know the SEC is going to freeze all of your assets. Does she have anything in her name alone?”
“I don’t know, I can’t think. Will the SEC seize my other holdings?”
I nodded. “It’s likely they will. What does Wipast Holdings stand for?”
“It’s a combination of my name and Pam’s. Two letters from William, two letters from Pam, and two letters from Stewart. It’s just an acronym, nothing sneaky about it.”
“Understood.” I wrote that down.
“Pam has a key on her key ring. It goes to a safe deposit box at our local bank. She has no idea what it’s for. Tell her the box number is 43. Please, that’s all you have to do.”
“If it isn’t in her name, I doubt they’d let her gain access to it.”
“It’s in the kids’ names. I was saving it until they were older, but they need it now. Pam just has to show Lucas and Missy’s Social Security cards to access it. Please, Agent Monroe. You won’t be doing anything illegal. They can’t take things that belong to the children. My name isn’t on it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I pushed back my chair to leave.
“Agent Monroe?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” William stood and stuck out his hand. “You really aren’t a bitch. It was me all along being the typical jerk I am.”
I smiled and shook his hand. “Good luck, Mr. Stewart.” I walked out and returned to the conference room.
J.T. glanced up when I entered. “I think we’re about done here, Jade. Our reports are complete, and everything is checked off our to-do list.”
“Give me just a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure thing, partner. Is everything okay?”
“Yep, no problems.” I stepped out into the hallway and found a quiet area. I needed to make one more phone call.
A half hour later, J.T. and I were saying goodbye to Omaha’s finest. Under different conditions, I could easily see these men being close friends. A few snickers and jabs got the group going. I offered to buy everyone a beer, but they refused since they were all on duty.
I chuckled. “Why do you think I offered?”
J.T. and I gave our usual round of hugs, shoulder punches, and handshakes then headed out to the parking lot. We’d check out of our barely used hotel rooms and drive to the airport. I made the call to Spelling and told him to expect us that afternoon.
“There is one thing I’ll miss about Omaha.” J.T. climbed in behind the steering wheel and turned the key in the ignition.
“Yeah, are you going to tell me or just sit there with a stupid grin on your face?”
He patted the dash. “I’ll miss the Explorer. This beast was one fine ride, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, I guess it was okay. Kind of a manly vehicle, wouldn’t you say? Personally, I’m more of a speed freak.”
“Right, like I didn’t know that.” He gave me a suspicious grin. “You’ve never gotten a speeding ticket?”
“Nope. I can outrun the cops.”
We both laughed.
“You’re nuts, Monroe.”
“Yes I am, so remind me to get a Snickers bar after a while.”
Forty-five minutes later we boarded the jet back to Milwaukee, and quickly took to the sky. I watched J.T. as he leaned back his seat and stared out the window.
“I’m sorry there wasn’t time to visit Curt’s brother.”
“Yeah, me too, but maybe next time. I’m sure we’ll be sent here again.” J.T. turned his head toward me. “I’ll call him when we get back and see how he’s doing.”
“That would be nice.” I reclined my seat and closed my eyes. Hopefully, J.T. was respectful enough not to take pictures of me while I slept. Amber and I had entire albums in our cell phones dedicated to blackmail pictures of each other. Sometime when he wasn’t watching, I’d check his cell phone to make sure.
“Jade.”
I felt a push against my shoulder. “What? I was having a perfectly good dream, thanks.”
“We’re going to be in Milwaukee in ten minutes. I thought you might want to wake up and splash some water on your face before we land.”
I smiled. “Thanks, dude. Good idea, especially since I’m the one driving us to the office.”
We landed at two thirty and waited for the steps to be secured to the aircraft. I gathered my briefcase and purse, and J.T. slung our go bags over his shoulders. We exited the plane on the tarmac and walked to my Mustang.
J.T. groaned when he climbed in. “Damn, I didn’t realize how comfortable that Explorer was until now.”
“Get used to it, mister. Your Camaro isn’t any better.”
“Yeah, I know.”
It took a half hour to get to our office in Glendale. I was glad to be back, and I hoped we’d be able to keep our feet on the ground for at least another week. I missed my sister and our pets. I pulled around to the back where our parking lot was.
“Aw, there’s that beautiful hot rod Camaro of yours. Haven’t you ever named her?”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t use those kind of words.”
I laughed and killed the engine. We climbed out of my car, and I grabbed my briefcase from the trunk. J.T. grabbed his go bag. I tipped my head to the third vehicle beyond J.T.’s car. “Check it out. Somebody is about to piss you off.”
J.T. popped his trunk and threw his go bag inside. He peered around the other cars. “Damn, I wonder who that belongs to. This car is killing me.”
I shrugged. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”
J.T. swiped his card, and the door lock clicked. We walked through, and he headed to our shared office.
“I’ll be right there.” I stopped at the front counter and pocketed what Diane had just handed me. “No problems?”
“Nope. They said they’d call you tomorrow.”
I gave her a wink and thanked her then headed to my office.
J.T. sat at his desk and went over the last four days with Spelling, who was leaning against the doorframe.
“Welcome back, Jade.”
“Thanks, boss. That was quite an intense case. Unfortunately, nobody came out a winner.”
J.T. interrupted. “Not to change the subject, but who does that new Explorer in the lot belong to?”
Spelling shrugged. Maria, Cam, and Val walked in and grinned. Diane peeked around the door.
“What the hell is going on?” J.T. looked at me, his face glowing red.
I dipped my hand in my pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Here you go, partner. It’s yours. You have forty-eight hours to decide if you want it. The dealership promised to give you top dollar on the Camaro as a trade-in.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m as serious as a heart attack, which I’ll have if you aren’t driving something that’s comfortable for you. The Corolla is gone, the Camaro will be soon enough, and you, J.T. Harper, deserve to drive something you really want. I won’t even give you shit about it.”
“How? When? Is that why you mysteriously walked away to make a call this morning?”
I mimicked zipping my mouth closed. “My lips are sealed.”
J.T. leapt from his desk. “Like I said earlier, you’re nuts, Monroe. Come on. Let’s check it out!”
I shook my head as I followed J.T. outside. “Men—they’re just like kids.”
THE END
Thank you for reading Malice, the last book in the Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Series. I hope you enjoyed it! Keep your eyes open for my new series coming out soon!
Follow the complete Jade Monroe saga starting with the Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series. The books are listed in order below:
Maniacal
Captive
Fallacy
Premonition
Exposed
The Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Series follows on the heels of Exposed, Book 5 in the Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series. Currently available books are listed in order below:
Snapped
Justified
Donors
Leverage
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