Primal Deception

by Robin Mahle

  “Of course it is.”

  “The children are in the backyard playing. I checked on them only minutes ago.”

  “Thank you and, please, go ahead and rest. I’ll sit out back with them until it gets dark.” Lacy slipped off her shoes and began to walk toward the living room where the French doors overlooked the backyard. She spotted them playing on their swing set that Jay had put together for them last Christmas. It was the first time since the attack that she’d seen them outside at all. It was a welcomed sight.

  Lacy was about to join them when her cell phone rang. “Hi, Will.”

  “Lacy, hi. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

  “Not at all.” She gazed out at the children.

  “Listen, about that number. You were right. It’s a bank account number.”

  Her mouth turned to cotton in an instant. “Is it Jay’s?”

  “It appears so—yes.”

  “Is there money in it? Do you know where it came from?”

  “It was an account at a bank in Panama, but I don’t know the full details yet. I’m working with the bank to release the information per the global information exchange. Secret offshore bank accounts stopped being a secret a while ago. They’ll be releasing the information to us within the next 24 hours.”

  Her heart dropped into her stomach. “So he was taking money from someone. Was it Nova?”

  “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions until the bank releases the information and you shouldn’t either.”

  “What does this mean in terms of the attack?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t say it means anything. That was the other thing I wanted to mention, though. A group that goes by the name of the Army of Islam has claimed responsibility. They have ties to Bahrain and it’s only a matter of time before we connect them to Ferran Basara.”

  This news hit her fast and hard. She’d only been there an hour or two ago and now they knew who was responsible for the attack. Lacy considered mentioning the flash drive and Aaron Hunter, but given the news about Jay’s private bank account, she couldn’t risk throwing fuel on the fire. And she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on her husband who, regardless of everything else, had still been murdered. She had to keep her faith in him alive in the face of his death. “Thank you for looking into this, Will. Please let me know when you hear back from the bank.”

  “I will. Goodbye, Lacy.”

  She cast a blank stare outside, hardly noticing the toing and froing of the kids as they raced around the yard. There was something she needed to do, something that would only take a moment. Lacy ran to her office and turned on her computer. She logged into their cell phone provider website and looked at Jay’s recent calls, taking note of the numbers she didn’t recognize. There were several because he also used that phone for business. However, in addition to that, she could do one other thing. Lacy logged on to the app that showed where Jay’s phone had been over the course of a period of time specified in the search. They both had the app and had agreed to install it because of the kids and because of her job. Jay always felt she could somehow be in danger and it made him feel better, so she willingly agreed. She checked his whereabouts in the days prior to the attack. He was either at the office, at a restaurant, or on the golf course. Except for the day he went to the mall. Two hours prior, he’d been at a place she didn’t recognize. She jotted down the address and the duration and logged out. “That could be Aaron’s place.”

  Lacy made her way back down the stairs where she spotted Celeste heading toward the backyard. “I’m sorry; did the kids disturb you?”

  “No, not at all. I couldn’t really rest and thought I’d sit outside with you.”

  The look on her face brought embarrassment to Lacy. She’d been gone most of the day and it was the first time she’d been gone so long since they lost Jay. Without intention, Celeste had put her in her place where the kids were concerned. “I’ll go out there with you.” She glanced at the slip of paper with Aaron’s address. “This can wait.”

  The kids heard the door open and smiles appeared on their red, overheated faces.

  “Mommy!” Jackson shouted as he raced toward her, propelling himself into her arms. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone all day.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry about that.”

  Olivia was a little slower and appeared slightly less forgiving than her younger sibling. “You said you would only be a couple of hours.”

  “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. There was just a lot for me to take care of, but I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.”

  ♦♦♦

  Lacy arrived at the address early the following morning. She tried to slip out before the kids woke up because she didn’t want to have to explain why she was leaving again. She knocked on the door and waited.

  A man opened it and a smile spread on her face. “Aaron Hunter.”

  “Lacy?” Aaron pulled open the door further. “Come in, please. It’s so good to see you. “Wow. How long has it been?”

  Lacy stepped inside. “A long time. I’m sorry for dropping in unannounced, but…”

  He stopped her before she could continue. “Hey, how’s Jay? I saw him the other day and he was supposed to get back with me, but I haven’t heard from him.” He walked toward the kitchenette. “You want some coffee? Just brewed a fresh pot.”

  “Sure, thanks. That’s why I’m here, actually.” She had to gather herself once more. “Jay was killed in the mall attack.”

  He stood frozen with the carafe in his hand.

  “Aaron?”

  “Sorry. Did you say he was at the mall when the attack happened?”

  “Yes. He was there.”

  “Oh my God. Lacy, I’m so sorry.” He set the pot back on the counter and moved to embrace her. “I saw him that day, for God’s sake.”

  “I know and that was the other reason I wanted to reach out to you. Aaron, the FBI took his computer and tried to get into it, but it was too damaged from the explosion.”

  “Here, come sit down.” Aaron led her to the sofa. “Why the hell would they do that?”

  “Because of the connection between Argus Solutions and Nova Investments, the owners of the mall. Jay’s company provided cyber-security and the FBI said they needed to rule out any connection to the attack.”

  “Lacy, I have to stop you right there. You need to know something. Jay came to see me that day. He suspected Nova Investments of conducting backroom dealings with someone at Argus. And it turns out, he may have been right. He came to me for help and asked if I could hack into Nova’s server and locate emails from a man named Tom Neville. And so I did. But before you judge me, you should know that there was evidence that Neville was working with someone by the name of Owen Ballard. I found several emails and in fact I copied them onto a flash drive for Jay.”

  “The FBI found the drive, but it was damaged. Aaron, I just got it back from them last night and I saw the glider. I knew it had to be you.”

  “The glider,” Aaron began. “You remembered.”

  “How could I forget? I need to know what you found.”

  “Do you think Jay was targeted?”

  “I don’t think so. But there are some other things that I need to ask you about. Things that put Jay in a pretty bad light.”

  “And you believe these things?”

  “Right now, I don’t know what to believe. That’s why I needed to see you. Can you meet me at Verona’s later this morning, say ten o’clock? I need to take care of a few things first.”

  “I’ll be there. I remember the place.” He paused again. “Lacy, I’m so, so sorry. Jay was a good friend. We all used to be good friends.”

  “I know. Thank you, Aaron. I’ll see you later.”

  9

  Northeast Washington, not far from D.C. proper, was the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Nearby was a small café where Lacy, Jay, Aaron, and a few other friends would meet. Th
e last time Lacy was there was in October of 2011, shortly before she left Argus Solutions for the FBI. So when she arrived there again, a flood of memories washed over her. Happier, more carefree times. It wasn’t until she spotted Aaron with his still-shocked expression that she remembered why she was here.

  Aaron stood on her approach and opened his arms for an embrace. “Hey there. Right on time.”

  “Isn’t that just like me?” Lacy pulled out a chair and sat down.

  Aaron returned to his seat. “You want a coffee or tea or something?”

  “No thank you.”

  “Right.” He swirled the stick in his drink. “I imagine you’d like to know why it was that Jay came to see me that day?”

  “I know we haven’t seen each other in a long time and it just seems odd that he chose that day to reach out to you.”

  “I honestly don’t think he knew what else to do.” Aaron paused for a moment. “Did he mention to you that he’d had some concerns over a client of Argus’?”

  “He did. He wasn’t comfortable with Nova Investments and Argus’ relationship with them. He suspected they were rooting around for information on the employees.”

  “He wasn’t wrong, Lacy.” Aaron retrieved a flash drive from his pocket. “I made another copy of the original files Jay had in his possession that day.” He slid it across the table. “It looks like Nova Investments, and in particular, Tom Neville, was collecting personal information on not only Argus employees, but contractual information on some of Argus’ other clients, who just happened to be Nova’s competitors. One of which was an account Jay managed, the Dalian company.”

  She reached for the drive. “Why? To what end?”

  “The competition aspect of it makes sense. If Tom Neville was wanting an inside track on how his competitors were handling their security measures. How much they were spending, etc. I mean, I can’t give you an acceptable reason why, but it was clear Jay felt he had to bring this to someone’s attention. Take a look at the files. It does appear as though there was collusion on the part of an employee at Argus. Someone by the name of Owen Ballard.”

  Lacy closed her eyes. “God damn it. I knew he was involved somehow. He came to see me the next morning and he was acting strange.”

  “No one, to my knowledge, knew that Jay had received this information. I can only guess he would’ve said something to you about it that night—if he’d had the chance.”

  Her eyes reddened again, but she inhaled deeply and pulled back. “I’ll take a look at the files. Thank you for bringing this to me and thanks for agreeing to meet.”

  Aaron reached for her hand that rested on the table. “Lacy, if there’s anything I can do…”

  “I know. I’ll send you the details on the funeral. It’s Saturday.” She rose from the table. “Thank you, Aaron. It really was very nice to see you again. I’m just sorry it had to be like this.”

  ♦♦♦

  As she drove back home, theories about what Jay was doing, how he was involved in this again overshadowed her grief. If she’d only known more, she might’ve been able to help him. But he had reached out to her and she dismissed his concerns. Now he was gone and it was time to face his parents who would be devastated if they thought he’d done something or had been tangled up in this mess. She wasn’t particularly close to them, even though they lived less than an hour away. Since that night—since she lost him—they’d been wrapped up in their own grief. Her parents had flown in earlier today and were the reason she had to see Aaron first thing this morning. She’d picked them up at the airport and went to the Gardens after dropping them off.

  Lacy spotted all of them sitting on the front porch with the kids. At first glance, were it not for the fact they were all here for a funeral, the image sparked comparisons to that of a Norman Rockwell painting.

  As she stepped out of the car, Jackson and Olivia rushed to greet her. “Hello, sweethearts.” She kissed each on top of their heads. “Come on; let me go say hi to the grandparents.” She piloted them back to the porch where she was greeted with sympathetic gazes.

  Lacy greeted her parents as they stood. “I’m sorry I had to leave you here earlier.”

  “That’s perfectly fine, sweetheart. You have things to take care of,” her mother said. “We’ve just been chatting with Frank and Alice.”

  “Oh, honey.” Alice rose to embrace Lacy first.

  “Hi, Alice. I’m so sorry I haven’t been to see you in the last few days.”

  “We’re the ones who are sorry, Lacy. You and the children deserved to have a full life with Jay and you’ve been cheated out of it because of…” Alice’s voice trailed off, quivering in the process.

  “Can I get anyone something to eat?” Celeste read the room perfectly, as usual.

  “I’d like to go and put my things down first, but I think we could all use some food.”

  ♦♦♦

  The morning light seeped into Lacy’s bedroom with generous vitality. Lacy forced herself out of bed, glancing again at the empty space next to her. The kids had opted to sleep with their grandparents and they willingly agreed. She had missed them in the night and it had been the first night alone in her bed.

  With a few hours before they were to be picked up by the limousine, Lacy made her way downstairs to enjoy the precious few moments before the door would be shut on a life she had known and loved for the past twelve years.

  “Good morning.” Lacy entered the kitchen to see the grandparents drinking coffee and reading the papers while the kids stabbed their forks at the pancakes and bacon Celeste had so kindly made.

  “Good morning, honey,” Audrey began. “Did you manage any sleep?”

  “A little bit, yes.” Lacy leaned in to kiss her mother’s cheek and poured a cup of coffee. “Can I get anyone a refill?” With her first sip, she turned her attention toward the kids. “How are you guys doing?”

  Olivia looked up from her plate of food that she had merely pushed around. “We have to bury Daddy today, don’t we?”

  Lacy caressed Olivia’s long, wavy brown hair. “Yes, baby, we do.”

  “I don’t want to go,” Jackson said. “I’m not going to the funeral.”

  “Sweetheart, you should say goodbye to Daddy.”

  “No. I won’t go. I won’t say goodbye.” Jackson threw his fork to the floor.

  “I need you there, Jack, and so does your sister. You’re the man of the house now and Daddy would want you to be strong.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to be strong. I want my daddy.” He jumped from the stool and ran upstairs to his bedroom.

  “Just give him some time, Lacy. He’ll come around.” Alice approached. “This will get better in time.”

  “How do you do it? He was your son and you’re being so strong.”

  “I only look strong, believe me.” Alice smiled and put her plate in the dishwasher. “I’d better get cleaned up.”

  ♦♦♦

  Lacy adjusted Jackson’s tie and brushed the sleeves of his button-down shirt. “There, now don’t you look handsome.”

  Jackson’s mouth turned down. “I told you, I don’t want to go. Why are you making me?”

  “Because, sweetheart. I need you there. Can you do this for me, please?”

  He nodded reluctantly.

  “Thank you. Now go tell your sister to come down. The car will be here soon to pick us up.”

  “It’s here.” Lacy’s father reached for his hat.

  “Okay. I guess we’d better go now.” Lacy opened the front door and waited for everyone to file out. A final check inside and her chin began to quiver. For a moment, she saw him standing on the stairs, smiling at her. She squeezed her eyes shut and closed the door.

  ♦♦♦

  The car arrived and the family emerged, walking inside the church that neither Lacy nor Jay ever attended, though she wished they had now.

  A volunteer led her and the children to the fron
t pew and seated behind them were her parents, Jay’s parents, and his sisters. Lacy was an only child, which in this moment made her feel like the loneliest person in the world. In retrospect, which was always the point of view when tragedy struck, she regretted not having a closer relationship with Jay’s sisters and their families. They lived in New York, but distance was an excuse for those who just couldn’t be bothered.

  The church began to fill with family, friends, coworkers from Argus Solutions, and Lacy’s department at the FBI. She spotted Agent Caison lingering in the back and nodded her acknowledgement.

  Michelle soon approached. “Hey. How you holding up?”

  Lacy eyed the children, who were quiet. “We’re hanging in there. Thank you for coming.”

  “Of course. We’re all here for you, Lacy.”

  “Thank you. By the people here, I can see how much he was loved and how much he’ll be missed.”

  Michelle nodded and returned to her seat.

  Aaron also approached for brief respects, but as he was about to walk away, Lacy stopped him. “Why don’t you sit here, with us? That is, if you don’t mind.”

  He turned back in mild surprise. “Of course not. I’d be honored.”

  Finally, Lacy spotted Owen and Julianne only minutes before the services were about to begin. She eyed them as they made their way to the middle of the church. Her burning gaze wasn’t lost on him and Owen averted his attention and disappeared among the guests.

  ♦♦♦

  The funeral was over and, at Lacy’s insistence, her parents had flown home the next day. They weren’t much for traveling and she knew they needed to get back, even if they wouldn’t admit it. And Jay’s parents, who didn’t often spend time with the children, suggested they stay with them for a while, but Lacy rejected the offer for purely selfish reasons. She didn’t want to be without them nor did she want to be alone in the house.