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Contractors.”
Mary Kate’s face lost its color.
“But according to my friend at the bank, the account has only $50 in it right now. The account was opened by mail, and the address is a post office box in Richmond. There have been a lot of wire transfers to a bank in the Cayman Islands. We can just about kiss that money goodbye.”
“Are you feeling well?” Jase asked in concern.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Jase replied.
“Edward’s middle name is Douglas,” she said as she took a chair in front of her father’s desk. “Did they give you a Taypayer Identification Number on the account?”
Jase looked at his notes. He read back the number.
“That’s Edward’s business TIN,” Mary Kate said.
Harry hit his desk. “I want that man. I want him very badly.”
Mary Kate nodded. “I’m sorry to have brought this trouble to you, Dad. Please forgive me.”
“This isn’t your fault, Sweetheart,” Harry replied. “You’ve been hurt more than I have by this man. But we’re going to stop him. Believe me.”
“What we’re going to do,” Jase said firmly, “is to get Mary Kate a very good bodyguard.”
Missy looked at her brother. “We don’t even know that this Edward character is still around, if he was responsible. If I had stolen a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, I certainly wouldn’t have stayed around waiting to be caught.”
“I suspect he’s still around,” Mary Kate replied. “One hundred and fifty thousand is just enough to whet his appetite.”
“Not a word of this can get out to anyone,” Harry told the three of them. “We’ll call Jack Hunter. I know he won’t say anything to the press until this matter is resolved. This leaking out could damage the business irreparably. Any word on the earlier losses?”
Jase nodded. “The same pattern. Accounts opened by mail. A post office box or a suite address probably a maildrop. Lou will have to look into them. Wire transfers from the bank.”
Missy shook her head negatively. “It’s all too coincidental. What are the chances that two thieves would choose exactly the same way to infiltrate and steal?”
“Pretty slim,” Mary Kate replied.
“Then my gut reaction is that this is the action of one person or group and they’ve just selected a different name, one that has links to Mary Kate,” Missy offered. “I suspect there may be a move to make it
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appear the losses were tied to her. And I doubt Hastings would have been stupid enough to leave his own fingerprints all over this by using his own TIN. It’s too easy to get one of those. You can call over the telephone without any identification and get that number assigned.”
“Now, that’s scary,” Mary Kate replied.
Jase walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. “I agree with Missy that it’s a real possibility. Whoever is doing this has chosen names close to the names of our real suppliers and subcontractors for each stage of the scheme. They’ve only taken the difference between actual costs and the budgeted amount for the project. They’ve never pushed anything over budget. It’s slick. Real slick. We still haven’t been able to find out exactly how much they’ve stolen. It’s over two million in the last three years. Heaven only knows how much further back it goes.”
“I’m still running searches on the previous years. That’s going a lot slower because the data has been archived and has to be imported into the system,” Mary Kate said. “We should know by close of business today just how much money is missing or at least how much is missing that we have computer records for. Doing this search through the old manual ledgers will be very expensive.”
“Too expensive. It’s not worth it.”
“Besides, so far only the three of us know about this. If we got other people involved, there’s no way we would be able to keep this quiet.”
She looked at her father. “This is too big to hide forever.”
“Let’s let the law enforcement people handle this. Look, basically what they’ve done is to skim a small portion off of a large number of projects. We’ve still shown a decent profit each year,” Harry said.
Mary Kate recognized Harry’s quiet tone as a sign of profound anger. She did the same thing when she wanted to explode but knew she wasn’t in a situation where she could.
“The thief is a parasite who has a stake in seeing that the host remains healthy,” Mary Kate asserted. “He isn’t so greedy as to kill off the host.”
“It’s got to be someone inside,” Harry said .
“Not necessarily,” Mary Kate told him. “Considering how loose the security on the computer was, it could have been anyone with a decent knowledge of computers and accounting procedures. An educated hacker with a well developed sense of larceny, is also a possibility.”
* * *
“So, she found the diversion of funds, as we thought she would,” Gil said into the telephone receiver.
“I don’t see why we can’t just up and leave now,” the woman replied. “The house on Grand Cayman is paid for. We certainly have enough money to live our lives in comfort.”
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should be easier. You know that.” “The next stage is still on for tonight?” “It is.” “I want to leave. We’ve got enough. We can afford to leave.” “Just another few months.” “You’ve been saying that forever. I’m beginning to wonder whether you will ever have enough.” “Now, don’t go getting testy.” “Testy!” she replied. “If you want to see testy, I can certainly show you testy.” “You’re in this as deep as I am. Don’t threaten me,” Gil warned. “You still haven’t answered me. Will you ever have enough so that we’ll be able to leave?” “We haven’t made our goal.” “Goals shouldn’t be engraved in stone. We’re close enough.” “Close enough,” Gil dismissed. “Close enough. Hah. We’re over three hundred thousand down from
our goal.” “Selling covered options for three months will make that up. I don’t want any more complications to
this. I want out of this, Gil.” “Honey, we made our beds all those years ago. We’re going to have to lay in it.” She sighed deeply. “But do we have to mess it up further?” “We’ll have it all resolved soon. Trust me.” “I do trust you. I’ve loved you for so many years. I just want us to have a few years to spend with each
other while we’re still young enough to enjoy the time. Is that so much to ask?” “We have the rest of our lives, my dear. Just be patient.” * * *
As Jase had promised, the restaurant was quiet and intimate, even at lunch time. He held her hand atop the linen cloth. They talked about a variety of topics, always skirting around what they were both a little afraid to discuss.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?” He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “I always mean what I say.” “But do you always say what you mean?” Jase laughed. “So, are you going to give me an answer?” “No,” she said seriously. “Not yet. We both need some more time to really get to know one another.
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Jase looked at her for the longest time. “I don’t understand you.”
“I know. That’s why I can’t agree to marry you,” she told him. “I don’t really understand you either, if the truth be known. Neither of us really trusts the other one.”
“Meaning you don’t trust me.”
“Meaning, we need some time to get to know one another better.”
“I think I’ll still be discovering new things about you when you’re ninety five.”
“When I’m ninety five, you’ll be lucky to be able to discover your teeth in a glass next to our bed,” she replied. “At one hundred and eight, that would be an accomplishment. May we both live that long.”
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Chapter Sixteen
Immediately after an early informal dinner of Jaime’s favorite foods -- fish sticks, oven fries, peas, and ice cream -- served in the kitchen, Mary K
ate locked up, activated the security system, then went up to Jaime’s suite with him to watch his favorite science fiction movie.
Missy had gone to her High School Reunion dinner and dance. Jase should have just about made it to
D.C. for his evening with his old Army buddies. Harry and Audra were going to their regular bridge club. Thea was on her client service trip to New York. Billie was at her sister’s for the evening.
After watching the tape with Jaime, Mary Kate bathed the three year old and put him to bed. Jaime fell asleep before she reached the end of his favorite storybook. Then she retired to her own rooms to take a shower and study some printouts.
Ten o’clock sounded from the grandfather’s clock in the upstairs hall. Mary Kate rose from the chaise in her bedroom and stretched. A cup of herb tea would be nice, she thought as she pulled on her robe and headed, barefoot, to her door.
The hall light was off as Mary Kate walked out of her room. Someone must have come home, she thought, because she distinctly remembered leaving it on after she put Jaime to bed.
Screams from Jaime’s room sent her scurrying up the steps. She flipped on the light in Jaime’s room. Standing there were two people, dressed in black with black knit ski masks over their faces. The men were trying to subdue Jaime who was kicking, biting, punching, twisting, and screaming. One of the men held a folded cloth in his hand. Chloroform, she thought.
The men were momentarily blinded by the sudden brightness. Jaime wrested himself out of their grasp and darted away into his bathroom. One of the men went after Jaime. The other came towards her menacingly.
Mary Kate heard the click of the lock of Jaime’s bathroom door. At least he was safe for the moment. Mary Kate drew a deep breath. She had no option except to face these men. It was too late to run.
She shouted, “Jaime, call 911!”
Faintly, she heard the boy acknowledge her order, “Yes!”
The man at the bathroom door began to strike at the door with his shoulder in an effort to force the door.
The other man reached out and grabbed her long braid as it hung over the front of her left breast. She
leaned into his grasp, then kneed him hard in the groin. He cursed at her as he loosed his hold on her. She stepped back to give herself room to operate. A satisfying crunch accompanied her sidekick to his knee. The man fell to the floor, screaming in pain. If she hadn’t broken his knee, then it was, at the very least severely dislocated. He wasn’t going anywhere under his own power for quite a while. He reached for her. She kicked
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The other man turned around from the bathroom door as Mary Kate approached.
“Jaime?!” Mary Kate called.
“Help’s coming!” the boy shouted through the door.
The second man launched himself at Mary Kate. She grabbed his arm, rotated her hips, and using his own momentum against him, threw him onto the floor.
“Stay on the phone. Don’t come out!” Mary Kate yelled.
The man was stunned for a moment, but only for a moment. Mary Kate stepped towards him. He rose up and faced her, angry and cursing. He walked towards her, drawing a big knife from his belt.
“Now you die, bitch!” he growled at her.
Mary Kate backed away, keeping her eyes on the man while trying to think of anything in Jaime’s room she could easily use as a weapon.
He laughed. The sound sent chills down her spine.
The man came at her several times with the knife, catching her robe sleeve, but only grazing her skin as she danced away from him. She kicked his hand, knocking the blade from his grasp. As he bent to pick it up, she kicked him in the face. Blood spurted through the ski mask. She quickly crossed the distance between them. Using both her hands, fingers laced together to form a double fist, Mary Kate struck him on the back of his neck.
The man fell face first to the floor. Mary Kate retrieved the blade. It may have been wishful thinking, but she thought the sound of sirens were audible in the distance. Suddenly, the man grabbed Mary Kate by the right ankle and pulled. Mary Kate lost her balance and hit the floor, losing her hold on the blade. The weapon skidded away out of her reach.
He struck her chin with his fist.
The next thing she knew, she was lying on a white, starched sheet on a gurney. “Good, you’re awake,” a chipper female voice said. “How do you feel?”
Mary Kate yawned. She felt so groggy. Her right shoulder burned. Her right arm was bound to her body. Fluids from an IV drip cascaded down the tubes into her left arm. An uncomfortable sensation told her she had been catheterized. The back of her neck was bandaged. And her jaw felt funny. “I’m alive. Either that or I’m in hell,” she croaked. “At the moment, I’m not sure which. Water?”
The nurse laughed as she came into Mary Kate’s field of view. “Just take it slow. You don’t need to be sick on top of everything else,” she offered as she lowered a straw to Mary Kate’s lips. “Is that better?”
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Mary Kate nodded and yawned. “Yeah.” “I’ll tell the doctor you’ve come out of it. The police are waiting to talk to you. Do you feel like seeing
them?” “Sleepy,” Mary Kate replied as she closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, Jase was standing over her. His expression was as hard and cold as
diamonds just removed from a freezer. “Just what the hell did you think you were doing confronting those men by yourself?” Jase demanded. “Protecting Jaime,” Mary Kate answered as she fought off sleep. Jase stated, his voice harsh, “They could have killed you! Didn’t you realize that?” “Yeah. They could have. But they didn’t,” Mary Kate stated with a yawn before she closed her eyes. It
was just too hard to stay awake.
The next time she woke up, she was no longer on the guerney. She lay in a bed in which the head was elevated somewhat. It was clearly a hospital room. The smell was of disinfectants. Her right arm was still strapped to her chest. The IV drip continued to flow into her left arm. Her head felt strange, and her neck hurt. The pain in her shoulder was very pronounced. The pressure of the plastic tube said that she was still catheterized.
The room was darkened, but there was a soft light coming from a panel in the wall. Two people sat
silently in chairs not ten feet from her. A third figure stood by the window. “Who’s there?” Mary Kate demanded in a fierce croak. “Thank God,” Harry stated as he rose from the chair and turned on the light. The other seated person
was Steve Anderson. Jase stood by the window. “How do you feel, darling?” Harry asked. “Dad,” Mary Kate demanded, “Is Jaime okay?” “Better than you are,” Jase interjected. “He’s fine. Scared, but apart from a few bruises, he’s fine.” “Thank God,” she said. “Water?” Her father poured her a glass of water and placed a straw into the glass before he lowered it to where she
could drink. “Had enough, Sweetheart?” Harry asked gently. “For now.” “How are you feeling?” Harry asked, concern in his voice. “I’m in a lot of pain. So I guess I’m alive. Did the police get them, Dad?” Mary Kate demanded. “One of them. Jaime said there were two?” Jack Hunter questioned from the doorway.
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“Crime rate so low here that you can afford to spend this kind of time at the hospital waiting for me to wake up, Chief Hunter?” Mary Kate asked the officer.
Jack nodded. “Well, you’re feeling better. That acid tongue is back,” he acknowledged. “Now, Jaime said there were two men?”
“There were... The one you got had a dislocated or broken knee and a few broken ribs?” Mary Kate asked with a yawn.
“Broken knee and broken ribs,” Jack replied after a brief hesitation.
“Too bad,” Mary Kate said cynically. “I’m just sorry I didn’t take out both of his knees.”
Steve laughed. “What did you do to him?”
“His knee snapped when I kicked him, so I thought I had broken his kneecap. From the way the leg lay, I knew I had to have at least dislocated it, and th
at he wasn’t any further threat for the moment,” Mary Kate said with a yawn. “Why does my shoulder hurt? And why is the arm strapped down?”
“Sweetheart, you’ve had surgery to repair the stab wound,” her father said . “They’ve immobilized your arm so that you can give the shoulder time to heal.”
“He stabbed me?” Mary Kate asked in horror.
“You don’t remember?” Jack demanded.
“We had been fighting over the knife. He had drawn it from his belt. He said he was going to kill me... I struck him. He was face down on the floor. I think I broke his nose. I know his nose spurted blood, even through the ski mask. The knife was on the floor. I picked it up. He tripped me. I dropped the knife. But the last thing I remember was his fist coming at my face.”
“You were lucky. This will heal with a minimum of scaring,” Harry said.
“Scars don’t bother me. Will I have full use of the arm?” Mary Kate asked, real fear in her voice. “Was there nerve damage?”
“The doctor says he doesn’t think anything serious was involved. You should regain full use of the arm,” Jase told her.
“But you’ll have to take it easy for a while,” Jase added.
She sighed. “Therapy?”
“When you’re ready,” Harry stated gently. “It will be a few weeks before we even think about that. We have to let the wound heal.”
She looked at Steve. “I guess our next tennis match is off.”
“Not off, just postponed,” Steve promised. “I do expect to see you on the court facing me as soon as you’re feeling more like yourself. Although playing you when you’re recuperating might be the only way I’ll
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be able to beat you.”
Mary Kate yawned. “I don’t know about that,” she replied with another yawn. “I feel really fuzzy.”
“Do you mind if I tape this conversation?” Jack asked as he removed a mini recorder from his pocket.
“I guess not,” she replied with a yawn.
“This is Jackson Hunter. I’m interviewing Mary Katherine Devlin. Also present are her father, Harry Devlin, her fiancee, Jason Wilton, and the county prosecutor, Steve Anderson,” Jack said into the recorder.
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