Silent Partner

by Stephen Frey

  “Relax. You’ll get your answers. I promise.”

  Angela listened as the phone rang over and over. “Dammit.” She ended the call, a wave of fear washing over her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I left Hunter with Liv Jefferson tonight,” she explained. “There’s no answer at her apartment.”

  “Liv is the newspaper reporter?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, she probably just turned the ring down because she didn’t want Hunter to be awakened if someone called.”

  That made sense. “I hope so.” Angela checked the side mirror. The guards were behind them in a van. Also in the van were the two prisoners and several incriminating files she had directed the guards to take from the Sumter location. “I don’t even know what to call you now,” she murmured.

  “Jake. It’ll be refreshing to hear someone call me that again after so long. Especially you, Angela,” he said quietly, slipping his hand into hers and squeezing.

  She glanced over at him. She wanted to squeeze his hand back. She wanted to let him know how she felt, but her mind was still reeling after learning his true identity.

  A few miles down the lonely road, Jake pulled to a stop at the entrance to a driveway. The driveway leading to the farmhouse the Lawrence camp was using as its base of operations near Richmond. Two armed men moved out of the shadows to intercept the Jeep, then waved them on when they saw Jake and he answered their query with the evening’s password.

  When they reached the house, Angela hopped out of the Jeep, trotting to keep up with Jake. He held open the farmhouse door, ushering her inside and directing her down a narrow hall and then into a quaint living room. As Angela rounded the corner into the living room, she stopped short and brought her hands to her mouth. Bob Dudley sat in a large chair near a fireplace, arms folded across his chest.

  “Hello, Ms. Day,” he said quietly.

  Angela turned to run, but Jake caught her, immobilizing her. “How could you do this to me?” she shouted, struggling to break free.

  “Easy, Angela,” Jake urged. “It’s okay. Bob’s on our side.”

  She stopped struggling and looked up into his large brown eyes. “What?”

  Dudley rose from the chair. “It’s true, Angela. Carter Hill and the ExecCom members are responsible for what you found. I wasn’t certain who was involved until you led Jake to that Sumter location.” He took a deep breath. “Candidly, I wasn’t really even sure what, if anything, was going on until tonight. But now I know. My bank has been engaging in some despicable practices,” he admitted dejectedly. “It appears that the documents you obtained tonight prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I’ll need to review the information but, as difficult as it is for me to find out how dreadfully we have treated people, I’m glad to know that it will continue no longer. I owe you a large debt of gratitude.”

  Angela’s arms dropped slowly to her sides as Jake relaxed his grip. “You aren’t involved?” she asked suspiciously, her eyes flickering back and forth between Jake and the Sumter chairman.

  “No, I’m not,” Dudley said firmly.

  “I’ve been working with Bob for months trying to figure out what, if anything, was going on,” Jake confirmed. “And, if something was, how to uncover it.”

  “But you’re the chairman of the bank, Mr. Dudley,” Angela pointed out. “Why didn’t you just carry out your own investigation?”

  He nodded. “First, as I said, I didn’t really know for sure anything actuallywas going on,” he explained. “Six months ago I received an anonymous tip that Sumter Bank was engaging in discriminatory lending practices. And that a company named ESP Technologies was somehow involved. That was it. Though I still don’t know for certain, I assumed the tip came from someone inside ESP. Or, based upon tonight’s events, someone out at the South Side facility you and Jake penetrated.”

  Angela spread her arms wide. “But if you remotely suspected that something was wrong, even just on the basis of an anonymous tip, I still don’t understand why you didn’t carry out your own investigation.”

  “I didn’t know whom to trust,” Dudley replied. “I had already turned the bank’s day-to-day operation over to Carter Hill, and I had never really been close to the ExecCom members: Booker, Abbott, Thompson. And there’s something you need to understand about being the chairman of an entity as large as Sumter, Angela. You can’t even use the men’s room without the whole bank knowing. My every move is carefully monitored. My fear was that I would do as you suggested, commission my own investigation, and that the discriminatory practices, if they were really being employed, would be covered up by people I didn’t know I couldn’t trust. Or, that they would simply suspend those illegal operations until the storm blew over.” Dudley’s expression turned grim. “I also assumed that they would figure I had a deep throat, figure out who that deep throat was, and do something to that individual. As we now understand, these men are evil. For all I knew they would seek revenge on the whistle-blower. That was something I was not willing to take responsibility for.” He gestured at Jake. “So, I contacted Jake Lawrence.”

  “That’s how you knew I had gone to Wyoming in the first place,” Angela whispered.

  “Yes,” Dudley admitted.

  “But why would you think Jake Lawrence would, orcould , help you?”

  “Our families have known each other for a hundred and fifty years,” Jake explained, before Dudley could answer. “Bob’s one of my closest friends. However, because of the illusion my father created thirty years ago, we aren’t able to communicate much. But Bob was one of the few individuals that my father confided in when he sent me underground.”

  Angela could barely believe what she was hearing. “Why did your father do that?”

  “We were already very wealthy at the time. But my father realized early on that his computer investment with the Harvard nerd was going to take us to a wealth level usually attained only by oil sheikhs and dictators. I was the only child, and he wanted to make certain I lived.” Jake raised one eyebrow. “As you now know, Jake Lawrence is a constant target. My decoy told me you were skeptical when he made that remark to you in the cabin, but it’s true.”

  She nodded. “I do understand that now.”

  “My father and I decided when I was young that I wasn’t going to sit around with all of his money and do nothing. We decided, for better or worse, that I was going to take sides. That I was going to get involved. I’ve pissed off an awful lot of people in the process, and supporters of mine have paid the ultimate price. But they knew what they were getting into, and I have no regrets. Behind the scenes we’ve made a difference in many corners of the world, and I’m proud of that. Sumter Bank is just the latest example. We’re about to win an important battle in the war on racism. I’m not naive enough to think that we can ever wipe it out, but I need to do my part. We all do.”

  “This is incredible,” she said, her voice hushed.

  “I try to make a difference, Angela. I can’t just sit idly by and let the bad things go on. I’ve been given the ability to help. I’m driven to do so. It’s my passion.”

  “How rich are you?” she asked.

  “Let’s put it this way. When the world finds out what was going on at Sumter, the bank’s stock price is going to take a hit. Probably a big hit. Even if it goes to zero and completely wipes out my investment, my financial advisors will barely notice.”

  “Be more specific,” Angela pushed.

  He smiled. “As you might imagine, my net worth changes on a minute-by-minute basis. But, as near as I can tell, it’s close to $500 billion.”

  Angela gazed at Jake, astounded. “My God.”

  He nodded. “A little intimidating, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  Jake chuckled. “I just have to hope that the United States’ budget deficit doesn’t get too bad because they might send somebody to kill me.”

  “Why?”

  His eyes got big. “Estate tax rates are more than 50
percent. Killing me would be a quick way for the Feds to get their hands on about two hundred and fifty billion.”

  Dudley chuckled as Jake explained.

  Angela smiled when she understood. “But why did you need to buy such a huge stake in Sumter?”

  “To make the illusion seem real,” Dudley answered for Jake. “I suspected that Carter Hill would be involved if there was anything to the tip. So Carter couldn’t think that Jake and I were working together.”

  “So I kept buying Sumter shares to convince Carter that Bob really did hate me,” Jake added. “To convince Carter that I might actually be secretly trying to take over the bank, and to put Bob out of a job. And to convince you, as well. You couldn’t suspect the Jake Lawrence connection to Bob, either,” he said, his voice dropping. “You had to believe everything was as advertised. Which was also why I instructed my decoy to make a pass at you in the cabin on the mountain. I needed Carter to believe that you hated me. Otherwise, he’d suspect thatyou and Jake Lawrence were working together.” Jake reached out and took Angela’s hand. “I’m sorry about that.”

  She nodded, then shook her head, impressed. “That’s one hell of a plan.”

  “Yes,” Dudley piped up. “Right down to me getting into that public spat with your reporter friend Liv Jefferson at the Richmond University business forum. Carter, or whoever was responsible, had to believe that I wouldn’t have cared what they were doing anyway. I made Carter believe that I wouldn’t be looking for the operation. I knew that if the tip was accurate, someone would be watching me.”

  “But there was a memo.”

  “A memo?” Dudley prompted.

  Angela nodded. “Yes. I found it behind a shredder in Ken Booker’s office a few weeks ago. It alluded to the discriminatory practices.” She pointed at Dudley. “It was from the chairman to Booker, Abbott, and Thompson. Carter Hill wasn’t mentioned anywhere.”

  “I assure you,” Dudley replied coldly, “that memo wasn’t from me. Whoever used the term ‘Chairman’ was using my authority as a cover.”

  “Did you pass that memo on to Liv Jefferson?” Jake asked.

  Angela nodded. “Yes.” She glanced at Dudley—his expression was serious but not unkind—then looked back at Jake. “You were telling me the truth about not being Liv’s contact. You weren’t the one in the parking garage the other night. The one who told her about Mr. Dudley being from Birmingham. About him owning a consulting firm named Strategy Partners in Birmingham?”

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  That person had also conveyed to Liv that Dudley was using Strategy Partners to defraud Sumter. And that Dudley was a Klansman. Now that she knew the extent of Jake’s relationship with Dudley, it was clear to her that Jake hadn’t been the contact. All of the information the contact had provided was intended to incriminate Dudley.

  “Strategy Partners?” Dudley asked.

  “Yes,” Angela responded, still trying to figure out who Liv’s contact had been. Or, at least, who they were representing. “The person met Liv in a downtown parking garage one night last week and told her you were using a firm by that name in Birmingham to defraud Sumter. That you owned it and that you were having Sumter pay the company significant sums of money for doing nothing. There were wire transfers. Ten million dollars’ worth. I’ve confirmed that.” She was certain now who was responsible for those wires. And, by extension, who Liv’s contact was. “But now that I understand what’s going on, I’d be willing to bet a year’s salary that Carter Hill was responsible for those wires. That the whole thing was an effort to frame you.”

  “He would have been able to arrange that,” Dudley confirmed. “And he certainly had the motive.”

  “He wanted to run the bank,” Angela said. “He wanted you out. He confided that to me at one point.”

  “Yes. He knew I wasn’t going to recommend him to become my replacement when I stepped down as Sumter’s chairman. I had told another board member that, and it clearly got back to Hill.”

  “It’s all beginning to come together,” she said quietly. Then she frowned. “What about Cubbies, though?”

  “What about it?” Jake asked.

  “I went through the client records at ESP and Cubbies never licensed their software. But I did some research and found that one of your entities did buy the chain.”

  “My decoy threw you that one at dinner to whet your appetite. You’re right. Cubbies was never a client.”

  Angela glanced at Dudley, then back at Jake. “But why me, Jake? Why wasI involved?”

  “I needed someone who knew the bank,” Jake explained. “Someone who could move around it without creating a stir. Someone who had witnessed racism from a front row seat, too.”

  “Sally,” Angela murmured.

  “Yes. And I needed someone with incentive,” he continued.

  “Hunter.”

  Jake nodded. “You have my word that I will continue that battle. And that you will win it.”

  A thrill coursed through her. Jake was one of the most powerful men in the world. Sooner or later he would prevail.

  Jake smiled. “Plus, you’re damn smart and you don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” He leaned down and kissed her hand. “Bob and Iboth owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  When Jake rose back up she stepped toward him and slipped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you. You have an incredible resolve about you. It is inspiring.”

  She stepped back, looking up at him. “Does Bill Colby know who you really are?”

  Jake shook his head. “No. As a matter of fact, I was getting worried that Colby was catching on to me a few months ago, so I used you to convince him I was a traitor, and not even close to the real Jake Lawrence.”

  “How did you do that?”

  “Through connections of mine, I commissioned a former CIA officer to assassinate Jake Lawrence. He’d become a soldier of fortune and was willing to make the hit. I had this individual shadow you with orders to kill me when I showed up on your doorstep.” Jake laughed. “But the pictures I gave him of the supposed Jake Lawrence were fuzzy as hell and of no one even remotely related to our camp, so I doubt he could have actually identified anyone. Of course, you never know what those guys are going to do. Anyway, we apprehended this man on the lawn of the house across from your apartment and brought him here to be ‘interrogated.’ During that interrogation, and after, I’m fairly certain I convinced Colby that I was helping this man. And, in the process, that I wasn’t the real Jake Lawrence.”

  “Where is Colby now?” Angela asked.

  “Protecting my alpha decoy.”

  “But what about the men who showed up tonight at the Sumter location? Wouldn’t Colby have had to know about them? Wouldn’t he have given them the order to follow you?”

  “I keep an elite five-member force outside of Colby’s purview. Men who know what the real deal is,” Jake explained. “They operate within Colby’s regular group, and he believes they are no different from any of his other men. That they report to him. But, on a covert basis, they report directly to me. Actually, I think that he began to suspect that there was a group within a group, andthat was what led him to believe that I might be the real Jake Lawrence. I had to shut down that suspicion immediately. So I created the incident on the lawn across the street from your apartment.” He hesitated. “I call on those men when I need them. Three of them tailed us tonight just in case, and they’re in charge of this location this evening.”

  The room fell silent for a few moments, then Angela grinned. “This is incredible.”

  Jake nodded. “Yes, and now I think it’s time for us to go to the authorities.” He took Angela’s hand once more. “I’m going to ask you to take the lead on that. As you can imagine, I don’t want the publicity. It will be as if I was never there tonight. Okay?”

  She understood. Finally. “Yes.”

  “There is one thing that bothers me, Jake,” Dudley spoke up.


  “What’s that?”

  “Before you two arrived, I called the Sumter individual who is in charge of site maintenance in the Richmond metropolitan area. He’s a low-level ops guy, and I was fairly certain he would not be involved in Hill’s conspiracy. Anyway, I woke him up and asked him what he knew about that location on the South Side where you two went tonight.” Dudley paused, glancing at both of them. “He told me that Sumter doesn’t operate any site in that business park. Given that information, it’s possible that the people who staffed the office weren’t actually Sumter employees either.”

  “So what does that mean?” Angela asked.

  “Carter Hill obviously makes a nice buck as Sumter Bank’s president,” Dudley answered, “but not enough to support an operation like the one you two discovered tonight. Neither he nor his wife are from a great deal of money.”

  “Then there has to be an outside money source,” Angela reasoned. “More people involved.”

  “I believe that’s right. Which, if true, has some fairly serious implications.”

  Angela’s eyes narrowed. “We need to find out who pays the rent on the space in the business park.”

  Dudley nodded. “Excellent thought. One I had as well. I ordered the ops guy I called to find out exactly that and he was able to do so. Turns out the business park where you all were tonight is owned by a group called Sage Capital.”

  Angela’s mouth fell slowly open. “Sage Capital?” she whispered.

  “Does that mean something to you, Angela?” Jake demanded.

  “Do you know a man named Dennis Wolfe?” she asked Dudley.

  Dudley snorted. “Of course I know Dennis. He worked for me for several years. He was a man I trusted. Then he went to work for your former father-in-law at Albemarle six years ago.”

  “You don’t—”

  “Don’t care for Chuck Reese?” Dudley asked, anticipating her question. “No. In fact, I’m probably the only person in Richmond who hates Chuck Reese as much as you do.”