“That name doesn’t mean anything to me,” Grady said. “Should it?”
“It didn’t mean anything to me either, so I ran it through our search engine,” James said. “That’s when I got our big hit. Barone is Jenna’s maiden name. Anyone care to hazard a guess what her married name is?”
“You’re such a woman,” Grady muttered. “Just tell us.”
Sophie didn’t give James the chance. “It’s Foley, isn’t it?”
“You stole my thunder, Sophie,” James groused. “You’re right, though. It is Foley.”
“How did you know that?” Grady asked.
“When I wrote the first story about Nate Foley I had to look up his mother’s name,” Sophie explained. “It just popped into my head when James said her first name.”
“Okay, so the account still exists in Foley’s wife’s name,” Grady said. “Why is this important?”
“Because funds are still moving between that account and the sheriff’s department,” James answered. “I have no idea why, but every month ten grand gets put into that account and then disappears in the sheriff’s department’s budget.”
“Wouldn’t that show up on county audits?” Grady asked.
“Kind of,” Sophie said, her mind busy. “When a new draw account is opened for any of the county departments, it has to be vetted by a subcommittee of the county board. This wasn’t technically a new account, though. It was an old account with a new name on it, so it wouldn’t be vetted because the numbers were the same.
“All Morgan would have to do is mark the ten grand as miscellaneous income on the budget sheet,” she continued. “Because the sheriff’s department has people paying fines and tickets, and money is constantly coming in due to seized items auctions, there’s a lot of miscellaneous lines on the sheriff’s budget.”
“Very good, Ms. Lane,” James said, grinning. “You would get a gold star if I had one to give you.”
“So you’re saying that Foley took over Madison’s account to get around the vetting,” Grady said. “To what end?”
“I have no idea on that front,” James admitted. “We obviously don’t have a way of tracking the money once it goes into the sheriff’s department. Morgan could be taking the money for personal gain, just like Madison did, or he could be using it for something else.
“I also have questions about Humphrey,” he continued. “I started this search because he’s been mouthing off to my wife and I want to pound him. Mandy won’t like it if I go to jail, though, so I have to find a legal means to bring him down.
“I’m convinced Humphrey is a part of this, although I haven’t figured out just how yet,” James said. “I called Maverick in to go over the records. He wasn’t thrilled I woke him up, but he always wants money. He also likes ogling the women and I told him Emma would be around.”
Grady snorted. “That will put Finn in a good mood.”
“He’ll live,” James said. “The most important thing for us to do now is narrow down the hows and whys. Why is Foley giving Morgan money? What does he hope to gain? How does Humphrey fit into this? We’re missing something. We just need the final piece to put everything together.”
“Do you guys remember when Humphrey announced he was running in the special election for prosecutor?” Sophie asked.
James nodded. “No one thought he had a chance because he was a smarmy lawyer from Oakland County who only moved over here to run for the position. Then he shocked everyone when he won. Why?”
“When the prior prosecutor announced he was stepping down, it was a surprise to everyone,” Sophie said, searching her memory. “No one knew he was sick. Before that happened, we heard rumblings there was something going on with his finances, but when he announced he was sick and leaving office everyone let it slide. No one wants to be the jerk going after a potentially dying man.”
“Do you think the former prosecutor was skimming, and that’s why he stepped down when he did?” James asked. “I might be able to task Maverick with hacking his medical records. If he’s not really sick we could question him.”
“I think it’s worth a look,” Sophie replied. “When Humphrey took office there was a full audit of the books, but I don’t think it was anywhere near as in-depth as it would’ve been if the former prosecutor was the one on the hot seat. What if the money Foley has been funneling to Morgan has something to do with the money from the prosecutor’s office?”
“It’s an interesting theory, but can the sheriff’s department and prosecutor’s office share funds like that?” Grady asked.
“They have several overlapping accounts,” Sophie replied. “One is for the deputies stationed at the courthouse. The judges are technically responsible for paying them, but there’s crossover from the prosecutor’s office and the sheriff’s department obviously has access to that because they supply the deputies.”
“How would we find that information?” Grady asked.
Sophie shifted her pointed gaze toward James. “We do know a certain judge relatively well.”
“No,” James said, immediately shaking his head. “I will not drag Mandy into this. I’ve done enough to harm her reputation at that office. If I go in there asking questions … .”
“You don’t have to do it publicly,” Sophie argued. “Judge MacIntosh loves Mandy and he thinks you’re hilarious. He told me that himself. If you quietly ask the judge about the things we know, he might be able to point us in the right direction.”
“Why can’t you do it?” James challenged.
“Because I’m a reporter and even though he’s always been friendly and nice, I’ll be putting him in a bad position should this thing blow up,” Sophie answered. “It would be better coming from you.”
“She’s right,” Grady said. “This is a tangled mess that could bring down a county commissioner, prosecutor, and sheriff. It could also land a boy in prison for the rest of his life for causing the deaths of three of his friends.”
“We have two separate cases here,” Sophie cautioned. “Nate Foley is his own case. If Chuck Foley pressured Morgan and Humphrey to do things his way because he has dirt on him, though – and that’s honestly my guess as to what’s going on here – then the cases overlap. They’re still technically separate, though.”
“Fine,” James said, blowing out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll go over to the courthouse before lunch and see if I can get the judge alone. If this somehow hurts Mandy, though, I’m going to be really ticked off.”
“James, Mandy loves you and she understands about justice,” Grady said. “She’s leaving her job in September. If something happens and she has to leave earlier, but it results in justice for those dead kids and an end to county corruption, I guarantee she’s going to understand.”
“That’s great for everyone else,” James said. “That’s not great for my wife. I think she should be able to leave that place on her own terms.”
Grady was surprised. “Since when? You’ve been whining about wanting her out of there since you got together.”
“That’s for me, though,” James said. “She wants to leave in September. She’s been through so much. I want one thing to work out for her the way she planned, because let me tell you something, she didn’t plan on delivering Avery and killing Lance Pritchard. She didn’t plan on everyone in the building whispering horrible things about her because I can’t keep my hands to myself. She didn’t plan on some smarmy lawyer dropping a body in her trunk and making everyone think she was a murderer.”
“Then be really careful,” Grady said. “I wouldn’t hurt Mandy for anything. You know that. We need this information, though.”
James pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and sighed. “I’ll talk to Judge MacIntosh. If she shuts me down, though, we’re walking away from anything that could potentially hurt Mandy and getting our information someplace else. Agreed?”
Sophie and Grady nodded in unison. “Agreed.”
“What are you two going to do?” James as
ked.
“I’m going to the hospital to see if I can nose around about Nate Foley’s condition,” Grady said. “Even if I can’t, I might be able to sweet talk a nurse into giving me gossip. After that I’ll go back to the office and help Maverick.”
“You just want an excuse to flirt,” Sophie said, shaking her head.
“I only want to flirt with you,” Grady countered.
“As long as you come home to me, I don’t care who you flirt with,” Sophie said. “I’m going to the sheriff’s department. I’m confronting Morgan head-on. He’ll be the easiest one to crack, and if we can get him to confess to what’s really going on, it will ease everything else.”
“Okay,” James said, resigned. “Everyone keep in touch. Let’s see what we can do.”
22
Twenty-Two
“Hey, baby.”
James poked his head in Mandy’s office, offering her a small smile as she glanced up from her computer screen.
“What’s up?” Mandy asked, confused. “Did something happen?”
“I just wanted to see you,” James said, immediately hating himself for the lie.
“Why are you really here?” Mandy knew James well enough to read his expression. He was upset, and whatever he had to tell her wasn’t going to be pretty. “There’s no need to play games. Just … come out with it.”
James walked into the office and moved to shut the door before thinking better about it. “I don’t want anyone to think I’m doing anything dirty, so I’m leaving this open,” he said. “I am here for another reason. For the record, though, I always want to see you.”
Mandy blew out an exasperated sigh. “Tell me.”
“I love you.”
Mandy didn’t want to smile, but she couldn’t help herself. “I love you, too. Now, tell me.”
James laid it all out in excruciating detail, and when he was done, Mandy was flabbergasted.
“Holy crap.”
“Do you think Judge MacIntosh would be willing to talk to me?” James asked. “If so, do you think he would have any insight? I won’t go to him if you ask me not to.”
Mandy took James by surprise and hopped out of her desk chair and moved toward the hallway. “Come on. There’s only one way to find out.”
“THANK you for seeing me,” Sophie said, settling in the chair across from Morgan’s desk and fixing him with a tight-lipped smile. “After you dodged me for hours on Friday, I wasn’t sure how long you would let me sit in the lobby while pretending to ignore my presence.”
“I’m not ignoring you,” Morgan said, resting his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers. “This may come as a surprise, but I have more on my plate than just the Nate Foley case.”
“Well, I guess it’s good that I stopped in then,” Sophie said. “I’m not here about Nate Foley. Or, to be precise, I’m not here solely about him. I’m here to talk about a few other things.”
“I see,” Morgan said. “What would that be?”
“Well, for starters, I want to know why Jenna Barone has taken over John Madison’s old account,” Sophie said, refusing to pussyfoot around and instead getting to the heart of the matter. “I want to know why Chuck Foley’s wife is going by her maiden name and ten grand is being put into that account every month.”
Morgan’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Don’t play games with me,” Sophie warned. “I’ve been racking my brain for why you would back down on your statements regarding Nate Foley. All I could think was that Chuck Foley had something on you. You’ve worked too hard to clean up your image to flush it down the toilet for no reason.”
“I don’t have the evidence to prosecute Nate Foley,” Morgan protested. “Why don’t you understand that?”
“Because I’m not an idiot,” Sophie said. “You have more than enough evidence to turn over to the prosecutor’s office. I’ve heard rumblings you were forced to stand with him at that press conference, even if you didn’t agree with the decision.
“Now, I haven’t gotten all of this worked out yet, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but I believe once we get all of the financials sorted out we’re going to find a clear connection between Chuck Foley, Eric Humphrey, and yourself,” she continued.
“Your best course of action is to be the first to state your case,” Sophie said. “If you don’t, then you’ll go down as hard and fast as the other two.”
Morgan was dumbfounded. “I don’t know what you think you’ve found, but you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“So you’re saying you have a rational explanation why Jenna Foley has been putting ten grand in an account your department has access to?” Sophie lifted a challenging eyebrow. “Can you account for where that money is going?”
“What are you trying to do here, Sophie?” Morgan asked, clearly frustrated. “What is it you want?”
Morgan rarely used Sophie’s first name and Sophie was convinced it was a slip. His cheeks flushed with color and she could see tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Things were beginning to collapse, and he knew it.
“Eric Humphrey has done nothing but make a bad name for himself since his election,” Sophie said, opting to try a different tactic. “You campaigned for him in the fall, which took everyone by surprise because no one thought he had a chance until you threw your support behind him. That seems to indicate a prior relationship.
“Now, we haven’t tied Humphrey to you financially yet, but we all know the sheriff’s department and prosecutor’s office have overlapping accounts,” she continued. “When I file my story – and there will be a story – what kind of audit do you think you’re going to be looking at?”
“I am not responsible for whatever Eric Humphrey said to you,” Morgan snapped. “I know he has certain personality … quirks … but there’s no reason to make this unnecessarily difficult.”
“Personality quirks?” Sophie fought the mad urge to laugh. “You think he has personality quirks? He’s said sexually suggestive things to half the women in the courthouse and they’re seriously considering grouping together to file a complaint. The things he’s said to Mandy Avery-Hardy alone could get him slapped with a civil suit.”
Morgan rubbed the tender spot between his eyebrows. “And what has he said to Amanda Hardy? Is that what this is all about? Are you fighting your friend’s battles?”
“I’m not fighting any battles for Mandy,” Sophie replied. “Her husband is the one who started all of this because he’s upset about the way Humphrey has been going after her, though. Taking on James Hardy after hurting the thing he loves most in this world is a bad idea, no matter who you are.”
“I’ve noticed,” Morgan said dryly. “What exactly has Humphrey been doing to Mrs. Hardy?”
“You were at the press conference,” Sophie argued. “You heard what he said to her. He’s been calling her a slut because she has sex with her husband, a murderer because she protected Emma and Avery from a vicious killer, and then cast aspersions on James and suggested he cheated on her. Did he really think James was going to let that slide?”
“So James Hardy is the one stirring up all of this trouble?”
“You’re missing the entire point, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Sophie said. “James Hardy went looking for dirt on Humphrey. The way he’s been acting tipped everyone off that he had ties to Chuck Foley. They widened the search to Foley, and that’s when they stumbled across your ties to Foley.
“I’m going to be honest. I’ve been looking at you as a weak man who trusted the wrong individual,” she continued. “I thought you were trying to climb out of this mess and make something better of yourself. You’ve made things so much worse.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Morgan seethed. “You think you know what’s going on so you’re making up scenarios in your head that aren’t even close.”
“So, enlighten me.”
“I can’t enlighten you,” Morgan replied. �
��This is my department. I don’t have to discuss interdepartmental matters with you. That’s not part of my job description.”
“Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Sophie said, pushing herself to her feet. “Just for the record, though, I’m not letting this go. We’ll figure all of this out before it’s all said and done – like we always do – and then it will be too late for you to do the right thing.”
“And what is the right thing?”
“Nate Foley killed three of his friends,” Sophie said. “I’m not saying it was with malice, but he still did it. He should be held responsible. By letting his father bully you into a decision you didn’t agree with, you set all of this in motion. I hope you enjoy the outcome.”
“SIT DOWN,” Judge MacIntosh instructed, gesturing toward the chairs across from his desk. Since it was the lunch hour, his robe rested on the nearby couch and his afternoon meal sat open on his desk.
“This is a bad time,” Mandy said, studying his half-eaten salad. “We can come back.”
“We can,” James confirmed, moving to get out of his chair.
“Sit down, Mandy,” MacIntosh ordered, shaking his head. “Well, this must be a good one. She’s a bundle of nerves and you look as if you want to throw yourself on a grenade to protect her, James. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m sure you’re aware of the Humphrey situation,” James said, choosing his words carefully. “I’ve had words with him a few times and he’s said some … unpleasant … things to my wife. This place is fat with gossip, so I know it hasn’t escaped your attention.”
“No, it hasn’t,” MacIntosh confirmed. “I’ve sent a formal complaint to the Michigan Judiciary Committee complaining about Humphrey’s behavior, and not just with Mandy. What he’s said to her is unconscionable, but that’s hardly the end of his bad behavior.”
Mandy was surprised. “I didn’t know you did that.”
“You didn’t ask,” MacIntosh said, his eyes twinkling. “So this meeting has something to do with Humphrey? What did he do now?”
“It’s not directly him,” James clarified. “Not yet, at least. It’s just, well, I ran a background check on Humphrey. Because of what he said to Mandy, I was determined to take him down a notch or two. I don’t want him around my wife.”
Deadly Memories (Hardy Brothers Security Book 18) Page 17
