Promised Box Set

by James Kipling

  “Miss Dunmore?” the man asked, as she pulled her weaponized hand from her purse and held it between them, trying not to be too obvious in her action.

  “Who’re you?”

  “I’m Special Agent Boon.” The man held up an ID card displaying the FBI insignia and his title ‘Special Agent Arthur Boon.’

  “Can we go to your office?” Agent Boon asked.

  “I was just heading out to lunch,” she answered, a little deflated. Her stomach had been anticipating food and grumbled noisily at the possibility of delay.

  “It really is of utmost importance that we deal with the situation you called us about as soon as possible,” he insisted, glancing at his watch.

  Zoe sighed. “I guess I’ll just order in,” she mumbled and double-checked that the doors of her car were locked. “Let me show you to my office.”

  Fifteen minutes later Agent Boon was seated on the sofa in Zoe’s office pulling files out of his briefcase while she was holed up in the adjoining bathroom suite calling for a pizza delivery. After flushing the toilet and turning the water to full power so her guest would be sure to hear it, Zoe returned to her desk. She pulled the report from the auditors out of the locked drawer and handed it to Agent Boon.

  He accepted the file but didn’t open in, setting it aside. Zoe finished rolling her eyes just in time for Agent Boon to turn his intense gaze on her.

  “Do you know an Allan Peters?” he asked.

  Zoe looked at the man in surprise and tried to recall the extent of what she’d reported over the phone earlier. What did he know? She wondered. “I know the name but not the person. I’d like to know more about him given the fact that his name is all over the accounts our company’s money has been siphoned off to. It’s in the report—”

  “Are you sure you don’t know him Miss Dunmore? It would save the FBI a lot of time if you could help us.”

  “I’m guessing this guy is connected to more than just our missing thirty-five million dollars,” she muttered, quickly growing frustrated by the Agent’s attitude. She’d called them for help and he seemed to be treating her like some kind of annoyance.

  “He’s wanted by the FBI and we have reason to believe he is here in Cupertino,” he stated.

  “If you know he’s here, why don’t you just arrest him? What we have against him should be enough for you guys to hold and charge him.” She made a motion to the report from the auditors.

  ‘”It’s not that simple. We don’t have any records of address or phone number here. No credit card activity or driver’s license. He’s a bit of a ghost.”

  “I’ve noticed. So what do you need me for? I don’t have any answers. We had the same problems locating him you did,” Zoe was puzzled.

  “We’ve been searching for this man for twenty years. A few days ago we got intelligence that someone connected to your company was doing a background check on Allan Peters.”

  “Yes. In the course of our audit to trace the funds we were missing, we came across his name several times. A friend of a friend ordered the background check but came up empty. Peters could be a name used by one of our employees or he could be an accomplice… But someone has been taking money from this company for ten years and it would have to be someone inside even if it does end up in Peters’ hands.”

  “So you have no idea who this fellow is?” he asked once more.

  “No,” she repeated emphatically.

  The agent’s face brightened and he said, “Maybe I can help with that. We have a composite of what he would look like today based on a photograph taken twenty years ago. Hold on.”

  Agent Boon retrieved a manila envelope from the pile of papers in his briefcase. He pulled the photo out and held it across the desktop for Zoe to take. She stared at the photo for what felt like ages. The blood drained from her face as she stared into the eyes of her father’s friend, a man she had called uncle for most of her life.

  The photo fell from her trembling fingers. Boon picked it up and was about to put it back into the envelope but Zoe stopped him.

  “You know him don’t you?”

  “His name is David Warner,” she told the agent.

  “No,” jabbing the photo. “His name is Allan Peters. David Warner is an alias, one of the ones we were unaware of.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and his fingers flew, typing a lengthy message to she could only guess how many agents.

  “Are you serious?” Zoe couldn’t believe what she was hearing or seeing.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “What did he do?” Zoe asked, incredulous.

  “Identity theft, insurance fraud, you name it… maybe even murder. And now it seems we’ll have to add embezzlement to the list.”

  The rest of the meeting consisted mostly of Agent Boon issuing instructions and Zoe nodding her compliance. They would need to work together to achieve their objectives. She had to be discreet about what she knew because if word got out, David or David, whatever his name was, would probably run. He had successfully eluded the FBI for twenty years and neither of them wanted to take the chance of him hiding for another two decades.

  Her pizza arrived just after Agent Boon left but her appetite had vanished. With an ache between her eyes and throbbing temples she settled on the sofa pushed against the wall. He hadn’t looked at it but he had taken the copy of the auditors’ report with him when he’d gone.

  So many things were running through her mind making it impossible to relax. The names David and David kept playing repeatedly in her mind. Her uncle’s voice as he laughed with them at dinner; the grin on his face when she and Lucas had left for prom; the encouragement she’d found in his eyes when she looked for him during her first meeting. She closed her eyes against the pain centered on her forehead and tried to sort out the mess in her head. It then occurred to her that her father needed to be told.

  Aiden had told her that her father suspected someone of the embezzlement but hadn’t said whom. She believed it was time she found out what her father knew.

  She got up and went to her private bathroom where she rummaged in the cabinet for aspirin. She found a sealed packet and took two, downing it with mineral water.

  ****

  Dunmore Corp was located on Stevens Creek Boulevard. It was a five story building acquired by Steve about ten years earlier. When Steve started his business, he’d operated from a small office in the shopping district. While Zoe’s office was on the fourth floor, the President and MD occupied the fifth floor.

  The secretary was typing away when she entered. She took a moment to raise her head and see who it was while Zoe patiently waited. When the women saw her, her eyes widened and she quickly buzzed her through.

  Steve was sitting at his desk reading what seemed to be his copy of the auditors’ report. “Hey Daddy,” she called and he raised his head. Wire-framed glasses perched on his nose were hastily removed. His eyes creased in a smile when he looked at her.

  “What brings you to my humble abode?”

  She laughed at his attempt at a joke. The laugh was shallow for she wasn’t feeling much cheer.

  “I’m going to need to borrow yours and make a photocopy,” she said with a nod to the report he held.

  “What happened to yours?”

  "I just gave mine to the feds. Do you have some idea about who’s been taking the company money?”

  His gaze was steady on hers. There’s no getting around it, he thought to himself and came clean to his daughter.

  “My best friend was Butler, not David. David lived in New York and came here on business a lot. Lucas’s mother wanted to return to Cupertino and he was looking to bring his business out here to please her. That was how we met.”

  Steve got up from his desk and walked to the cabinet where he poured a scotch for himself and a mineral water for his daughter. He handed her the drink and went to stand by the window. Zoe patiently waited for him to continue.

  As he spoke he looked o
ut over the city. “His wife was a friend of Charles’ wife. That’s how we all became friends, but it was always Butler whom I trusted most. Never once did he let me down. Now, the man I’ve relied on all these years, the man I treated like a brother, whom I gave a job when the relocation failed and his company went bankrupt, has cheated me and my company out of millions of dollars.”

  Steve downed his drink in one gulp which told Zoe her father was deeply affected by the betrayal. He wasn’t a drinking man and usually nursed a drink for a while, never quite finishing a glass. She watched while he refilled his glass, and offered her another mineral water, which she declined.

  “You knew?” she finally asked.

  “He was the one constant in everything. His lifestyle, though he was handsomely paid, was getting increasingly beyond his income. At first, I thought it was Henry but she almost lost her home and family because of her husband’s gambling debts. I had to help her. She’s just barely getting back on her feet and they found out her husband has cancer; I knew it couldn’t be her.”

  “It’s bigger than just embezzlement, Dad. There’s more than the money,” she said hoping to ease her way into telling him about her meeting with Agent Boon. “The FBI showed me a photo of Uncle David, only his name isn’t David.”

  “The FBI? Why… Whose photo was it?”

  “Allan Peters!”

  Steve’s glass stopped in mid-air. He spun around to face his daughter with a bewildered look on his face. “I’m confused,” Steve said, his face betraying his confusion. “Are you saying that David is Allan Peters? The same Allan Peters who’s all over these phony charities? I thought David was the inside guy and David was an accomplice but this is…” He dropped himself in his chair and placed the glass on the desk. His shoulders sagged. “What is he wanted for?”

  “Fraud, identity theft… Maybe murder. I can’t believe it, Daddy. I don’t know what to think!”

  “Zoe, you have to remain calm and don’t stress,” he said in a distracted and offhand way. Like that’s ever going to happen, Zoe thought examining her father’s face. “There is something I need to take care of,” he told her, putting his glass away and ushering her out of his office. He knew she wanted answers but she would have to wait. “You’ll know soon enough.”

  She left the office feeling drained, moody, and in no state of mind to do anything but take a bath and snuggle under the covers. She was depressed and she wanted to wallow in it. This was not what she had expected when she returned to Cupertino several months earlier. She had expected to learn the everyday running of things in order to take over when her father retired. Now everything had turned into a big mess.

  She had started seeing Lucas again for no real reason and she had no clue how she would ever face him without seeing what his father did; if she was hesitant to break things off with him earlier, she was more determined to do so now but had less idea how to accomplish it tactfully. She was angry. He had benefited from the money David took. She remembered all the times he bemoaned the car he was driving and insisted his father buy him a new one. Had the pressure of Lucas’s reliance pushed David to steal the money, or only to steal more and more?

  Then there was Barbara, the wife who lived to spend her husband’s money. Only patronizing the most expensive restaurants, taking cruises around the world, requiring both a personal tennis instructor and personal trainer. She couldn’t visit a regular gym like everybody else. Never wearing the same outfit twice. The anger simmered below the surface and Zoe needed to vent, but she was tired.

  The ride home was uneventful aside from the conflicts running through her mind. She was sneaking up the stairs when she realized there was no one in the drawing room. Wearily she stripped off her dark grey suit, ran a hot bath, and slipped into the water trying to relax. She put on some music and sank beneath the warm relaxing bubbles.

  The goal was not to think while she relaxed her aching muscles but the first thing not work-related that popped into her head was her kiss by the fountain with Aiden. For the past twenty-four hours she had been forcing herself not to think about it. She had even made sure not to run into Aiden by avoiding all the places she was most likely to find him all day.

  Now Zoe allowed herself to think of Aiden’s arms as they had encircled her waist, his lips as they touched hers before the kiss deepened and their tongues met.

  “No!” she shrieked. “Get out of my head!” She sat upright and slapped the side of her head, hoping to slap some sense into it.

  Since avoiding thinking about work wasn’t going the way she planned, she turned her mind back to the case but Aiden kept popping into her head. Then she remembered he was coming over Saturday, which happened to be less than sixteen hours away. She felt like kicking herself for inviting him over. The case was basically solved. She was of a mind to call and cancel but she had promised Jack a surprise.

  I know, he can just drop Jack off, but then… We still need to find those employees, at least to help build up the case. She wasn’t sure if she was speaking aloud or she’d thought the whole thing but a knock at her bedroom door interrupted her.

  She quickly toweled off and put on a robe. Taking a deep breath she pulled the door open to see Lucas standing there. He looked as if he’d been drinking. “Lucas, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you call first?”

  “I have been calling!”

  “And I didn’t answer so you just showed up and what, forced your way into my house?” She was furious.

  “I told Richard you were expecting me. Why didn’t you answer?”

  “I was in the bath. Eew, you reek. Go downstairs, let me change, and you can tell me why you’re here.”

  Softly she closed the door and gritted her teeth. What’s he doing here? she thought. I don’t want him here. Argh! “This is too much stress for me,” she muttered to herself as she pulled on shorts and a t-shirt.

  Lucas had neglected to go downstairs and was leaning against the wall when she opened the door. She glared at him and told him to follow her. She didn’t want him inside where the smell was overpowering so she took him outside. That way he could say his piece and leave before her father saw him, if he hadn’t already.

  As soon as they were out the front door she turned to face him. “What is it Lucas?” her voice betrayed her venom.

  “I saw you Zoe,” he coolly stated.

  “You saw me, when?” she was trying to decipher what he meant.

  “Last night,” he looked at her but it seemed she still did not comprehend. “At Cali Mall, by the fountains. You were kissing that guy. How could you do that to me?”

  “Lucas, you need to leave,” she stated flatly.

  Lucas stood motionless, “What?”

  “I said, leave. Let’s not see each other again.”

  “I don’t understand. Are you seeing that guy?”

  “Did you follow me to Cali Mall Plaza last night?”

  He hesitated. “Well, I was coming to surprise you at work but you were leaving so I thought… That’s not the point!”

  “What makes you think you can show up to surprise me? Are we exclusive?”

  “Zoe…” He protested, but she cut him off.

  “You have to leave Lucas. This isn’t going to work. I should never have agreed to go out with you again to begin with. It was a mistake. Please, leave.”

  Zoe closed the door and bolted it, just to be safe, leaving Lucas alone on the front porch. She was reminded of when he left her standing in that little church in Las Vegas and somehow it seemed fitting.

  Chapter 12

  She didn’t sleep well that night. The turmoil plagued her subconscious. She had no idea what her father was up to and was scared to death David would get away if he caught on to them. Zoe felt bad about Lucas but she had little choice. She had no desire to be with him anyway. She wasn’t sure what she wanted and found herself thinking about Aiden more than she cared to. He was popping into her mind at the drop of a hat latel
y and there was little she could do to control it.

  She spent half the night trying to figure out what the company’s next move should. Her father was leaving for New York in a few days and she wanted to have things settled by then. This new venture of his could not have come at a worse time but she was sure when the FBI had successfully taken Uncle David into custody and she could think of other things again, she would be excited about either buying or merging with this new company. Agent Boon had said that they would be putting David – that is, David – under surveillance to assess the threat and devise the best way to take him into custody. It should all be over by Monday and he’d promised to call her when they had him. In the meantime, everyone who might suspect David needed to continue as they normally would, say nothing to tip their hand. Since that was just Zoe and her father at the moment, she wasn’t too worried. She would probably tell Mason as well – he only knew David from their brief introduction at the managers’ meeting anyway.

  Still the most prominent thing on her mind was Aiden because in a few hours it would be Saturday and he was coming over. They could still try to locate the former employees whom David had set up over the years. It wouldn’t hurt the FBI’s case to have any testimony they could provide.

  She wondered how she would react when she and Aiden saw each other, how he would react. Would he remind her of the kiss? As far as she was concerned, the solution was to forget it had ever happened.

  She got out of bed around seven. She’d lain there for hours and couldn’t go back to sleep. No use to keep trying with the sun so high in the sky. Aiden and Jack would be there at nine so she’d better start her day. Because of everything with Lucas, she had skipped dinner but since her stomach was still a bag of nerves, she doubted she would be able to keep anything down. Coffee was the only thing she knew that could make her feel better so she had a cup of that.

  Mason was already up when she went downstairs. He was having breakfast on the back porch. She joined him with her coffee. “Hey.”

  “Morning. We haven’t seen each other in a while. What’s up?”