Landslide

by Robin Mahle

  “His code is 343758. Can you find out if that was the code used to get in that night?”

  “I’m on it.” Vance headed towards the main terminal where a member of the computer forensics team waited. “343758.”

  The man proceeded to punch in a few commands, with the help of Erik, who knew the system well. “That’s the one.” He turned to Vance.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. Mr. Hart was right on the money, wasn’t he?”

  “Seems like it. The manual override was entered at twelve fifteen, and timed to shut the system down a few minutes later. Then it rebooted itself and went back on line about twenty minutes after that.”

  “Long enough to leave the building unnoticed, wouldn’t you say?” Vance asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We know it was Frank Winslow who accessed the room and, at this point, can only assume the person who programmed it was Chris Goyal. No one else presumably knew how to do it,” Detective Vance continued.

  “It’s a fairly complicated system. Top of the line. The guy knew what he was doing.”

  “Well, I’d say we owe Jim Hart for this one.” Vance turned his attention to Erik. “Your colleague deserves a lot of credit for this. I’ll see to it that he receives that. And, thank you, too, for your help.”

  Erik smiled at the unexpected pat on the back. “Does this mean that Frank Winslow will be arrested?”

  “Not yet. But he’ll certainly be questioned on the matter.” Vance turned to leave. “I’m heading down to the marina. Call me if you find anything else.” He radioed Sanchez again. “We got it, Gordon. It was Winslow’s code that was used. Have one of my guys bring him down to the station for questioning. I’d have Abbott come along too. They were the last ones to see Monroe. It’s a start.”

  “Hold up, I’m coming with you.” Huffman arrived on the lobby floor in time to catch Vance before he left.

  Agent Sanchez gave the officer the directive. They had enough to bring the men in for questioning, but that was it for now. He quickly caught up with Huffman and Vance before they left, jumping in the car and starting up the engine. “It sounds like we’ll get cooperation from Liz Sherman. My guess is she’ll give us enough to connect anyone else who was involved. Frank Winslow was scared shitless when I went up to see him. It’s only a matter of time before one of them gives up Winters.”

  “You’re sure the guy was involved in stealing from his own company?” Huffman asked.

  “I don’t think he was robbing his firm. I think he was robbing his clients.”

  CHAPTER 20

  DUSK WAS THREATENING to extinguish the sun, which was already low on the horizon. It had to be approaching 4:30, maybe even 5:00. Claire wondered how long it would be before Colin would try to call, if he hadn’t already. He would wonder why she hadn’t checked in with him, considering everything that was happening and the fact that Anna was home sick. But she had no phone and felt completely cut off from everyone she loved.

  Now that she was alone with Evan, out on the open water, what had he planned for her? Claire pulled her jacket tight in the cool air that seemed to grow even colder the further away from shore they got. She had nothing left to offer Evan to keep herself or her family safe.

  “Well, I’d say this has turned out to be a fairly pleasant day. Don’t you agree, Claire?” Evan emerged from below deck, wearing a vile grin. “But you don’t seem very happy about it. What can I do to change that?”

  “You can take me the hell home. I already told you I’d keep quiet about whatever the hell you’ve got going on with Abbott and whoever else.” Her strength was just a front. Inside, she wanted nothing more than to fall apart. But that was not an option and it would only further entice him. Claire was learning that he thrived off of controlling others, instilling fear in them.

  “I’m afraid we can’t do that just yet. The problem is, Claire, that you have no idea what’s going on. Oh, you think Lucas and Charlie were stealing from Sea-Tech. But this goes much deeper than that.” Evan approached a small cooler beneath the bench where she’d been sitting. “Can I get you a drink? I’ve only got a few waters and sodas in here, but I can always whip up a nice cocktail for you in the galley.”

  “No.” She second-guessed her curt reply and added, “Thank you; I’m fine.”

  “So, as I was saying,” Evan retrieved a bottled water from the cooler, “the problem with corporations today is that regulations get tougher every year and much harder to maneuver through. It makes earning a decent profit that much more difficult. And don’t get me started on the SEC. All I was looking for was a way around it. And so when Paul Higgins and I started talking one day in the not-so-distant past, we figured there had to be a way to get ahead in this world. And guess what? We found one.”

  “So, you started stealing from our clients? How does Envirotech fit into that?”

  “It was so much more than that, Claire. Give me some credit. We falsified accounting records, invoices, contracts, etc., as a way to boost our earnings, and make a little cash on the side for those who made it possible.

  “Most of our clients don’t take much notice of the fact that we’re billing them for more services or hours than they actually received. We’ve even altered some of the contracts to reflect higher totals than what had been originally agreed to. It was shockingly easy, actually. Busy lawyers, trusting clients.

  “The problem occurred when our young Lucas accessed Sea-Tech’s accounts through our IT department and doubled the amount billed. Invoices that had already been processed for payment were now essentially double the already approved amounts. Well, that didn’t go unnoticed, and that’s where our Beth Graves discovered the problem. Unfortunately, she came to you, since you were in charge of that client. Hence, the situation we now find ourselves in.”

  “I still don’t understand. Where does Paul Higgins fall into this?”

  “He’s looking to invest in WFC. Then, when the time was right, say a year from now, offer shares up for sale. With our inflated stock value, based of course, on boosted revenues, he could stand to make a great deal of money along with me.”

  Evan gently pulled Claire back down onto the bench. The boat’s engines were no longer running and they were essentially adrift in Puget Sound. “When I heard you’d become involved, I told Frank just to let you go, make up some reason to have you fired. But then, I looked up your file. There was something about you, Claire, and I knew it the moment I saw you. I just can’t believe it took this long. But then, I don’t often concern myself with mid-level staff.

  “After that, I had a talk with Charlie. You’d worked for him for some time. I discussed the possibility of bringing you on board. Keep you happy until I had time to figure out exactly how to do that. I thought the promotion would divert your attention and so did Charlie, even if he was reluctant and didn’t see a need to further complicate our situation. It seemed to serve its purpose, for a while.” He started caressing her hair. “But then things started to get out of hand. Beth wasn’t going down without a fight and she was taking you with her. I had to put a stop to that.”

  “You threatened her and her kids?” Claire asked.

  “No. Not me. Never me directly. You see, I’ve been able to keep this from tracing back to me, until you came along. And then, of course, Charlie seemed to have a change of heart. I couldn’t get him to do what needed to be done. I underestimated his attachment to you. So, now, here we are.”

  Claire looked directly into his eyes. “You said you needed assurances. What did you mean by that? Look, Evan. I swear to you, I’ll resign and leave quietly. I’ll tell Agent Sanchez that I did the best I could for him. Please, I just want to be with my family.”

  “If only I’d had more time. I know I could have convinced you to be mine. Damn it, Claire. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this. Now, you’ve left me with no choice.”

  “Please, Evan. Please don’t hurt me.” She tried to pull away from him, wondering if he would just toss h
er overboard. She wondered if that was what he’d done to Charlie.

  “I have no intention of hurting you, Claire. I could never do that.”

  The thought of that night in the hotel sprang to the forefront of her mind. Hadn’t he already done enough to hurt her?

  Evan brushed her arm, a tender smile appearing on his face. “If you leave me, you will be arrested for embezzling from the firm. I’ve seen to it that you now own bank accounts in which deposits have been made with some of the missing Sea-Tech money. I’ve ensured they are easily traceable and that you, yourself, authorized the withdrawals from our own company accounts.”

  “I never authorized anything.”

  “No. But I made it possible that it appears you have.”

  “And if I stay?” The idea of continuing on with him, which she was sure was going to be a part of the deal, made her stomach turn.

  “You work directly for me. You keep your mouth shut and do exactly as I say. In a year’s time, when it’s likely we’ll sell, you and I can go our separate ways. But of course, my hope is that over the course of time, you’ll see that I’m not the monster you think I am.”

  “I don’t.”

  He stopped her. “I can see it in your eyes.” He swept a strand of hair from her brow. “As I was saying, after such time, provided that you stay quiet, you and your family can go on about your lives, never to hear from me again. However, any hint that the authorities are on my back, I’ll know you sent them and then we’ll have a problem.”

  “I swear that won’t happen.”

  “Can I count on you, Claire?”

  ***

  The agents arrived at the pre-arranged location at the marina. A team of local police were already attempting to locate Winters’ boat.

  “Tell me what we have so far.” Vance, having arrived shortly thereafter, questioned his colleague.

  “Earlier, around one o’clock, wait staff and a chef, who we’ve already spoken with, served Winters and a guest lunch on his boat. They don’t know who the woman was.”

  “I’m sure it was Claire,” Huffman replied.

  “After they served lunch, Winters instructed them shortly thereafter to leave the boat. That was at about 3:00 p.m. We talked to a few people who work at the marina and one gentleman saw Winters’ sailboat pull out of the slip around that time. Now, we’re attempting to get a location on him.”

  “I hope to God Claire’s still on that boat,” Sanchez said. “If I have to tell Mr. McKenna we couldn’t keep our promise…”

  “Let’s get a positive ID after the boat docks before we talk to him. Detective Vance, why don’t you have your men hang back a little? I don’t want to spook the guy.”

  “You heard him.”

  The patrol officers moved back, choosing to find less conspicuous locations to await further instruction.

  It was almost twenty minutes later before a dock worker approached the slip and began setting up the lines.

  “Excuse me, sir? What’s going on?” Huffman asked, knowing virtually nothing about sailing or docking boats.

  “Got a call on an incoming vessel. I help ‘em dock.”

  The sun was barely visible above the horizon now, although its rays still reflected off the murky waters. The sky was clouding over, rolling in with the lunar tide. It would be difficult to see the boat returning to shore unless its lights were on. But in the distance, a faint light appeared.

  They waited as the boat drew closer. The dock worker started signaling the vessel, appearing to ensure it was positioned correctly to slide in.

  Winters would see all of them standing on the dock, no doubt. Sanchez only hoped their presence wouldn’t set him off. He really had no idea what he was dealing with in Winters. Vance seemed a little too jumpy. His palm rested on top of his revolver.

  “Just cool out. We don’t know anything yet,” Sanchez said to Vance.

  The worker started moving quickly now as the boat entered the slip. He tied off the lines, signaling which direction to turn.

  Winters was steering. They could all see him, but there was no sign of Claire. It seemed the man had been too busy focusing on not crashing into the docks to notice the three men standing on the boardwalk, only twenty feet away.

  The dock worker formed the “OK” sign with his thumb and forefinger. He’d finished with the lines, gave a brief wave, and headed back, nodding as he passed the agents and Detective Vance.

  Winters disappeared from view momentarily. Soon, he reemerged with Claire, who appeared unharmed. “Gentlemen,” he shouted over the noise of the waves crashing against the dock. “It’s a surprise to see you here.” Evan turned to Claire. “Looks like we have some company.”

  Never had she been so grateful to see the FBI or the police. This nightmare was over, but another one awaited.

  “Mr. Winters.” Agent Sanchez was the first to move towards the boat. “We’ve been trying to locate you for some time.” He didn’t want to mention that it was Claire he really needed to find, concerned about her safety. “I’m afraid we need to talk.” Sanchez looked at Claire. He could see the relief in her face. In fact, he thought he spotted a tear form in the corner of her eye. “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. McKenna.” He had to assume their relationship remained a secret, but in any event, didn’t dare allude otherwise.

  “Hello.” Claire stepped down until she reached the loading platform. Sanchez extended his hand to assist her onto the dock. She did not say anything further.

  Evan proceeded to disembark. “It must be important for you to have tracked me down here. Sheri must have mentioned that Claire and I had decided on taking lunch. It’s been very difficult at the office these past few days, what with our concern for Charlie Monroe.”

  Sanchez waited for him to step onto the dock. “We’ve had some recent developments as it relates to not only Mr. Monroe, which Detective Vance over here will be able to fill you in on, but also as it pertains to our initial investigation into your firm.”

  “Oh?” Evan appeared undaunted by this news.

  “Yes, sir. We’d like to ask you to come with us, Mr. Winters. Our agents have been at your office most of the afternoon, confiscating files.”

  “I’m sorry?” Confused, but still no sign of panic in Winters’ face.

  But Claire had heard correctly and wondered what had happened while she spent the past several hours under the control of this man.

  “Claire, are you all right?” Agent Huffman asked, well out of earshot of the others.

  “I’m fine. I seemed to have lost my cell phone; would you mind if I called my husband from yours? I’m sure he’s worried.”

  Huffman retrieved his phone and handed it to Claire.

  “Where are we going, Agent Sanchez?” Winters asked.

  “To our field office.”

  “Of course. I’m happy to oblige.”

  The men continued on as Claire motioned to Agent Huffman to hold back while she contacted Colin.

  “I’m fine, honey. Please don’t worry. I won’t have to go back there anymore. I promise you. As far as we’re concerned, this is over.” She could hear the sigh in Colin’s voice and smiled, knowing this nightmare was almost over. The plan Evan had painstakingly laid out for her had just ceased to exist. The building had been raided, files taken. It was only a matter of time before they arrested Lucas and, hopefully, Winters. Claire still needed to know exactly what was happening with regards to Charlie, but so far as she could tell, the case was about to be declared a homicide.

  “I’ll be home very soon. I just need to speak with Agent Huffman and he’ll bring me home.”

  Claire ended the call and returned the phone.

  “Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked.

  “Yes. But there’s something I wanted to give you.” Claire watched as Sanchez and Vance led Evan to Vance’s car. “I found this.” She pulled out the ring. With all his brash confidence, Evan had forgotten she had the ring. “It’s Lucas Abbott’s and I found i
t in in Evan’s office this morning. I believe he was also there the night Charlie went in to see Winters.”

  “We have some video to that end, Claire and we’re working on the connection, or rather, Detective Vance is. We’re continuing our efforts on the embezzlement case.”

  He wasn’t getting her meaning. “Then maybe this should go to Detective Vance. There could be something on this ring. Some sort of evidence that could suggest a struggle. Lucas never took this ring off. If it came off his finger, it wasn’t voluntarily.”

  Huffman smiled at Claire. “You’re a very smart woman, Mrs. McKenna. Remind me never to piss you off.”

  CHAPTER 20

  FRANK WINSLOW TAPPED the heel of his Italian shoe on the polished tiled floors of the police station. The nervous tick seemed to irritate the man sitting next to him. A panicked call to Winters remained unanswered, but Frank knew who to call next. Mr. Augustine, the corporate attorney who also served privately for Winters, was due to arrive shortly.

  The small interrogation room, painted a mossy green, seemed to make Lucas feel as though it had begun closing in on him.

  Vance leaned next to the door, waiting for the lawyer, and watched the kid for any signs that he might snap under the pressure. He’d done this a thousand times and it seemed each suspect, or in this case, person of interest, handled it differently. Lucas appeared unflustered, but his eyes darted nervously around the room, refusing to land on Vance.

  “Detective Vance, I’m Hugo Augustine and I’ll be representing Lucas Abbott. I understand you’d like to question my client as it relates to a Mr. Charlie Monroe?” Another officer had shown the attorney to the room.

  Vance moved to shake the man’s hand. “Yes. If you’d like to have a seat, we can get started.”