“Why?”
“When you fell off the bed during the rescue, a broken rib punctured your lung.”
“Yeah, probably when I blacked out,” she muttered.
“You did more than black out. You were dead on arrival, but against all odds, the doctors managed to revive you.”
She smiled at him. “I couldn’t die… I have unfinished business.”
He frowned and gave a subtle shake of his head. “We’ll discuss your unfinished business later. A great deal has happened.” He walked away from her and stared out the windows.
“Are my trees okay?”
Her question caused a harsh bark of laughter or pain to burst from him. She wasn’t sure which.
“Your trees are fine. In fact, once the doctors declare you mentally competent, the new governor is ready to approve your land donation, although there may be some alterations to it.”
“Why?”
“Well, all your money is gone. So the funding you planned to give is no longer available.”
She frowned. “Are you sure?”
He returned to her side. “All your money is gone, so yes, I’m sure.”
“All three of my accounts are empty?” No way could Sheriff Cobbs have such hacking skills. So now she had to question if he’d even received the money she’d sent him.
“Three? You had more than the billion-dollar account?”
She relaxed and smiled at his question. “Yeah, I gave the lottery one away, but I should still have the monies for the land donation and my personal account.”
He relaxed for a moment but then frowned. “When did you do this?”
“After I was rescued. I decided if I didn’t get rid of my Lottery Curse, I wasn’t going to make it.”
Steve rubbed his temple. “You haven’t been near a computer since you were rescued.”
“No, my first rescue…from George. He was working for the Campinellis.”
Clearly, by Steve’s wide eyes and raised brow, he had yet to realize George was his problem.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Was she? Did she trust Sheriff Cobbs? Yes. But did she have any evidence other than his word, which Steve would never accept?
What the hell was she going to do now? It’s not like she could say “never mind”, and he’d drop the matter.
Then recalling an earlier comment, an idea came to mind. “I don’t know…it’s weird. I’m sure he worked for the Campinellis, but I don’t know how I know this. In fact, I can’t recall much of anything. I know the van rolled, and I was knocked out of it…and someone rescued me and took care of me…but I can’t remember details.”
Steve flipped open his phone. “I want an updated profile done on George. Search for any connection between him and the Campinellis.”
He hung up the phone and stared at her. “If you’re right, it would explain why nothing went our way for the last two weeks, but I hope you’re wrong.”
“I don’t think so. I can’t tell you why, but the part of my brain still working is very certain George worked for the mafia and had the van not rolled and someone saved me, I’d be dead now.”
“Do you remember anything about the person who saved you?”
“Not much. I remember liking the person.”
“Male or female?”
“I think male…although I’m not sure. I remember soft fingers on my forehead.”
“What else do you recall?”
“I was in a lot of pain, so I slept a lot.”
“About the person?”
“I’m certain I’d be dead now without their help, but I’ve no details.” She hated lying to him, but if she told him the truth, he’d focus on the sheriff rather than George, and George was his problem.
When the doctor arrived and ran her through a great deal of memory tests, he thankfully supported her lack of detail recollections. “Meg is lucky. All she appears to have lost is her most recent memories.”
“Is there any chance she’ll recall those later?”
He sighed. “Perhaps, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
Once the doctor left, Steve did as well, leaving her greatly disappointed. It’s not like she expected hugs, kisses, and declarations of undying love, but a caress on her cheek would have been welcomed.
Was Sheriff Cobbs right? Was his focus solely on his job? Did he only flirt to keep me obliging and obedient?
The idea hurt the only organ still working properly: her heart.
She closed her eyes, hoping to hold off the tears, but it didn’t do any good. They flowed down her cheeks all the same.
Meg woke to a familiar caress of her cheek. She looked up and smiled at Steve. He did still love her.
He retrieved his hand and turned away.
Or not…
“Are you up to checking on your other accounts? I need to know if they got it all. If they did, I’ll need to start filling out paperwork to get you covered by the government.”
“Help me sit up.”
“No can do. The doctor says you must remain horizontal for the next three weeks.”
“Then put the PC on my chest.”
“And possibly re-puncture your lung? No ma’am.”
“Then how am I supposed to do this?”
“I will either hold the laptop above your chest for you to type, or you can verbally lead me through it.
“We’ll try the first. I don’t like letting strangers know my passwords.”
His eyes narrowed at her words, but he remained silent as he lifted the computer and held it above her chest.
“You have to tilt it so I can see the keyboard,” she complained.
The keyboard tilted.
Within seconds of holding her hands up at an angle, they trembled and ached. Upon confirming the money for the trees was still there, she gave up. “I’m exhausted. I’ll check the other one later.”
She closed her eyes and feigned sleep to avoid further discussion with him. She sensed he continued to stare at her for several minutes, then the sense of his presence faded, and moments later, she heard the soft click of the door.
***
When Meg woke, he sat in the chair by her bed. “Morning.” His brow furrowed with worry.
“Morning,” she replied cautiously.
“There’s a Federal Internal Affairs agent outside who wishes to ask you a few questions. They might be of a personal nature, which are not meant to impugn your character. The only character being judged is mine, so please answer truthfully.” He then rose and walked outside.
A man in an ugly brown suit came in and smiled at her. “Miss…” He glanced down at the open file in his hands. “Williams… Are you any relation to Agent Williams?”
“I don’t think so. However, I may have subconsciously chosen his name because he was the policeman who got the FBI to provide me with a new identity.”
“Policeman?”
“Yes, the first time I met him, he was a policeman. Later, I learned he was FBI.”
“And how did you learn he was FBI?”
“He showed up in Iowa after the first attempt to murder me occurred. He said he’d been assigned the case, and I challenged him. Why would the Danville police send a man to Iowa to investigate an attempted murder outside of their jurisdiction? He explained he was FBI.”
“Did he tell you why he’d been undercover?”
“It seemed the large donation I had given the Danville Police caught your attention.”
“Anything else?”
“Not that I recall, but I seem to be weak on some of my details since I died.”
His head popped up. “Pardon?”
“I evidently had stopped breathing by the time I reached the hospital. The doctor says I may or may not get back those memories, but I should consider myself lucky because I could have been brain dead.”
He wrote a considerable amount on his pad, more so than she had told him. In fact, he wrote so long she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“M
iss Williams!”
She opened her eyes and stared at the annoyed man in the ugly brown suit. “Are you still here?”
“We haven’t completed the interview.”
“Okay. Can you speed it up? I’m really sleepy.”
He sat down and opened the file. “Have you and Agent Williams engaged in sexual intercourse?”
“What?” she yelped. “No!”
“Has he ever touched you?”
“Touched me how? Sexually? No.”
“Then he has never touched you in any manner?”
“I’m pretty sure he gripped my elbow and possibly placed his hand on the small of my back when leading me from cars and through doors.”
“Can you state the details around these incidents?”
“Sorry, I’ve just got vague memories.”
He thumped his pen in agitation. “Then how can you be sure he didn’t touch you sexually?”
“Seriously? Agent Williams is a hunk. You don’t think I’d remember if he hit on me? Trust me—any woman would take such a memory to her grave.”
“So he’s good in bed?”
“I’m assuming he would be, but I have no firsthand knowledge since he remained completely GI Agent with me.”
“But you can’t remember…” he challenged.
“I’m having trouble with details, but I seem to have general memories. For example, I can’t remember the details, but I am certain the FBI agent who drove my van, George, works for the Campinellis.”
“What proof do you have?” the agent demanded.
“I have no detailed memories.” God, this guy had some nerve challenging her memory when he couldn’t remember the simple fact her memories lacked precision.
“Did Steve tell you George was mafia?”
She sighed. “I have no idea. Are we done? Because I’m really tired.”
“No, we aren’t done.”
She closed her eyes and fell asleep. She faintly heard him yell her name but chose to ignore it.
The next thing she heard was Steve ordering him to leave. “What the hell is wrong with you, yelling at a person in her weakened condition?”
“She refused to answer my questions!”
“She’s been asleep the entire half-hour you’ve been in here?”
“No, she was awake at times.”
“And did she answer any questions while awake?”
“Not to my satisfaction, no.”
“Did you ask her the key question to your investigation?”
“And what do you think that might be?”
“Did you ask her if we had any form of sexual contact?”
The man huffed. “I did, but I’m not at liberty to divulge her response.”
“She’s a very honest, forthright woman, so I know her response. This charge is bullshit, and if the person who claimed it was George Cooper, then I’m pretty sure it was to get me pulled off the case so he could assassinate Miss Williams with ease.”
“So you’re the one who told her George worked for the Campinellis?”
“No, she told me George was my problem. Since she had no proof, I requested his profile be updated with a close eye for contacts to the Campinelli family.”
“That wasn’t your call to make,” the man yelled.
“The hell it wasn’t! I have the right to have any man or woman on my team investigated at any time.” Steve snorted in contempt. “For a guy paid to seek out bad agents, I find it odd you aren’t asking me if I found anything.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. He’s been wired nine thousand a week for the last year from a numbered account.”
“You’re just trying to deflect your troubles onto George.”
“We matched the numbered account to one belonging to Campinelli’s lawyer.”
The guy’s eyes darkened. “I’ll check it out and see if there’s any truth to this claim. Then I’ll let you know if we’ll be pursuing this serious accusation against you.”
“You do that!” Steve snapped. Meg heard the door click.
She opened her eyes to see Steve smiling at her. “Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep. Jerks like this guy don’t give up just because they’re wrong.”
She’d barely closed her eyes when the door opened and Steve asked, “What now?”
“Why is it you didn’t profile your team before now?” the Internal Affairs agent asked.
“I follow protocol. My team gets an updated profile every year.”
“But you said he’d been receiving this money for over a year, which means you didn’t get him profiled.”
“No, it means the profiler missed this, and when I get back to my office and look up the profiler’s name, I will be requesting their dismissal. And if it’s your name, I’ll be requesting a full-out investigation.”
“Threatening Internal Affairs is a very bad career move.”
“I didn’t threaten you. I just told you my plan of action depending on what agent failed to do his or her job. Miss Williams could have lost her life due to the missed information, so I consider this a very serious matter.”
“Look, you are obviously a dedicated agent who maybe had a moment of weakness. I understand. She’s a gorgeous woman—”
“How would you know that?”
“She’s right there.”
“True, but in her current condition, I can’t imagine anyone calling her gorgeous.”
“I must have seen a picture of her.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know!”
He grabbed the file the man held and opened it. “No picture here.”
The jerk yanked the file from his hands. “The information of a witness is privileged. You could lose your job if I report what you just did.”
“I didn’t read a damn word. All I did was look for a picture.”
“My bosses won’t care. Which puts both of us in a really bad spot. So maybe we can make a pact. I won’t mention your violation of the rules if you’ll just fail to pursue who did George’s update in March.”
“So it was you?”
“Yes. But I didn’t know he was connected to a mafia family.”
“You would have if you’d done your job.”
“I was swamped with profiles. And I knew George. So I gave him a clean update and moved on to the next one. I swear to you; I didn’t know he was dirty.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You really want to be fired for looking at my file? It won’t matter to my bosses whether you are innocent of the accusation or not. They hold witness testimony sacrosanct. And you opened my file. I own you, Stevie. While you may have passed the lie detector on the sexual assault charge, you won’t on my new charge. So you need to decide how much you want to stay in the FBI? And the first payment is letting the profile mistake lie dormant.”
Steve slammed the man’s face against the wall and handcuffed him behind his back. “You’re under arrest.”
“You’re making a big mistake. My bosses will eat you alive.”
“Let ’em try,” Steve growled and took out his phone. “You get it all? Good. Come get this piece of shit out of my sight.”
A moment later, two of the guys she had fed a billion years ago entered and nodded her way before removing the ugly brown suit.
Steve smiled at her. “Sorry about waking you, but this room is under heavy surveillance to ensure you remain alive. I really needed him to confess his sins on video.”
And now she understood why Steve had been so aloof. “Knowing that makes me feel so much better.”
Chapter 18
Three weeks later, Meg’s new lawyer had reviewed and changed certain sections of the land donation document. Not surprisingly, it had been badly rewritten by her prior lawyer, Joe, and would have allowed the state to cut down as many trees as they wished. The new governor had received the revised document bearing Meg’s signatures this morning. For her protection, she would attend the event via her computer from her hospital bed.
The former Lt. Governor Sanders, now governor, greeted her warmly on her PC. “Miss Williams, I am sorry circumstances did not allow me to meet and thank you in person, but let me say this donation is a gift the people of Iowa will treasure for generations. In attendance today are Mr. Jefferson, our Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Barkman, the head of the Parks Department.”
Mr. Barkman waved at the camera. “It’s a pleasure to see you, Miss Williams. When I read through your visions for this park, it was as if you’d taken my dreams and put them to paper.” Since he had told her this before, she suspected it was spoken now to assure the new governor he was a hundred percent behind the project. Smart move on his part.
Evidently missing the limelight, Mr. Jefferson spoke up. “I must say, when I first read your vision, I felt a little ill because I knew we didn’t have the money to support your grand ideas. So when I got to the financial details and discovered you planned to cover the two major costs associated with the project through trust funds, I almost wept with relief because I didn’t want to be the one to tell a woman who nearly died giving us this land that we lacked the funds to fulfill her vision for it. And given the way the trusts have been created, the monies can never be used for anything but this park, so there should be monies available ’til the end of time.”
The head of road construction wasn’t as joyful over the project. “Fixing those roads is going to be a nightmare and incredibly costly, but the truth is we’ve needed to repair them for twenty years. And with the funds you’ve set aside, I can finally justify doing this. Now you do realize it will take years to complete both roads leading to those woods and adding the two other entrances Mr. Barkman wants?”
“I’m hoping you’ll have at least one road passable for next year.”
“Yes, Mr. Barkman is planning a parking lot in a section very close to Highway 52. We should have the section completed by next summer.”
While it seemed a long time to Meg, she had no idea how long road construction took, and since the man seemed very proud of himself, she had to guess it was as fast as anyone could hope for.
Then they turned off their monitor, so she could still see them, but they could no longer see her, and the press was allowed in. Steve sat in a chair beside her and studied the press as they entered the room with their cameras and mics. One of the reporters turned, looking about the room instead of at the governor. He even checked inside a closet door.
A Fortune to Die For (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 1) Page 18
