Wearing the Spider (A Suspense Novel) (Legal Thriller) (Thriller)

by Schaab, Susan

  “Okay.” Paul accepted the timeline document, gave Alan a look that was hard to read and turned his attention quickly back to Evie and Michael. “I’m also waiting to hear from a Mr. Tulio Tobias and a Mr. Pedro del Torro from Gerais Chevas on the breadth of contact within our firm. Some of the other players from Gerais Chevas have enumerated multiple contacts with Evie, including a man named Adinaldo Rafael. All were either over the telephone or by email, but Evie, you have to admit, this is very strange. Why would they lie about talking and interacting with you? What do they have to gain by pointing the finger at you as the person running this deal?”

  “Well—” began Evie.

  “Evie has stated repeatedly that she had nothing to do with initiating, arranging, negotiating, drafting or guiding the progress of, this Gerais Chevas deal,” Michael replied. “Someone else must’ve participated in those discussions and correspondence, claiming to be Evie.”

  “Hard to believe.”

  “That’s what happened. She is waiting to hear what you discover through your internal investigation.”

  “Fair enough. By the way, the closing for the deal has been delayed due to the unfortunate demise of one of the key people they were dealing with from Romez Nuevo.”

  Michael and Evie could sense each other shift slightly, but they held their forward gaze.

  “The deal has apparently encountered a number of obstacles, but the negotiations have continued … beyond where they were when Evie’s leave began.” Paul leaned forward in his chair glancing down at Evie’s timeline.

  “Evie, please feel free to come back to your office. We will get to the bottom of this. You can check in with me, and I’ll let you know of any developments I discover. In the meantime, I hope you are taking some time to rest.”

  Michael spoke. “So, you agree that whatever one chooses to believe regarding Evie’s prior involvement, this Project Neon transaction is proceeding on a going forward basis, and she has absolutely nothing to do with its evolution.”

  “Yes, that much is certainly clear,” said Paul. Alan sniffed and shifted in his seat.

  Michael responded, “We will honor your confidence, of course, and expect Evie’s email status to be restored. We will wait to hear the firm’s revised settlement offer and when we do, perhaps we can have one more meeting to wrap things up?”

  “Terrific,” said Paul. He got up from his chair and shook Michael’s hand first, then Evie’s. “Evie, I hope you feel that the firm is being fair to you and sensitive to the situation. As I said before, I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this in thirty years of practicing law.”

  “I appreciate the firm’s efforts on my behalf,” said Evie.

  Alan stood, told Michael it was a pleasure to have met him and followed Paul out the door. Michael walked out behind them, leaving Evie in the stale air remaining in the conference room.

  After a number of minutes, Michael returned.

  “Evie, it’s going to be so easy to get a good settlement here.” He smiled, pulling a cassette tape out of a mini recorder in his pocket and waving it in the air. “With their fear of bad publicity and that idiot they’re partnered with, Levenger, they’ve got to be losing sleep over how much this is gonna cost. And, they haven’t seen the visual evidence yet.”

  “I feel terrible about Jack Hanover. I feel like I’m contributing to the worsening of his heart condition.”

  “You have to remember. He had the power … no has the power, to send Alan packing. It’s not as if he’s at the mercy of the circumstances. He runs the place.”

  “I don’t know how much control he has right now from a hospital bed.”

  “Plenty. Believe me. We’ll let them come back with something and continue to collect any information we can.”

  “I wonder how much they know about that Adelio death. It didn’t sound like they knew she was murdered.”

  “At least not openly within the firm.”

  33

  This is getting to be a habit,” said Joe, standing at the front door to Evie’s apartment, this time with a small hanging bag.

  “I like it,” said Evie. She hugged him before he could walk in and put his bag down.

  “You look relaxed. I hope it’s because of me and not him,” Joe said pointing to the federal agent sitting in a chair in the foyer adjacent to the elevator on Evie’s floor.

  “I’m so glad to see you. And, I’m feeling slightly more in control of the situation with the firm. At least certain aspects of the situation are not that scary anymore.”

  “Are you sure you want me to spend the night even though you’ve got an armed guard out there?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She kissed him softly and took his garment bag to her room to hang up.

  “Michael was great today, but he’s really angling for the big payoff.”

  “That’s what you’re paying him for.”

  “No, not really, but I guess if it turns out that I can’t continue with the firm, I could use a bit of financial independence.”

  “You can do whatever you want. You don’t have to practice law anymore.”

  “Well, funny you say that. I am considering some other options.”

  “No more firm?”

  “Even if this all gets cleared up and my reputation is restored, I don’t know if I can trust these people anymore, even Jack. I do have an affection for him. He’s done a lot for my growth as a lawyer, but I don’t know if I could ever be partners, legally bound with these people.”

  Joe followed Evie into her bedroom. She hung his garment bag in the closet and they walked to the kitchen to find something for dinner.

  “It’s not clear to me that these guys don’t have the inside story on what Levenger’s doing,” said Joe. “They all may be in on the take. If so, they may have even rationalized their way around it, especially if they’ve engaged in questionable practices before.”

  “That’s hard to imagine. I’ve never seen anything like this the entire time I’ve been with the firm.”

  “Take the insurance industry, for example. Some people have come out and said that the type of contingency agreements that Babcock & Sherwyn was investigated for have been common in the industry since the seventies. Corruption can be so ingrained that it’s not viewed as corrupt anymore.”

  “Speaking of corrupt. Even though Paul encouraged me to continue to use my office, laptop and email while on leave, I haven’t been able to receive any new email messages for several days. Paul said he thought it must be due to a technical glitch, but I think Alan did something. Possibly, to keep me from seeing emails that he’s creating in my name.”

  “Well, let me see if I can tell what’s going on.” Joe took her laptop and she followed him to the kitchen where they set it up and Evie traversed the electronic course for logging on to her firm’s network.

  “They agreed to fix it this afternoon, but I guess the order hasn’t gone through or technical support hasn’t yet had the chance.”

  After a few minutes and a series of commands that Evie couldn’t follow, Joe looked up from the screen and said, “It looks like your IP address has been manipulated through the firm’s operating system.”

  “More of Alan’s chess game, I guess.”

  ~~

  Monday morning, Evie flipped on the light switch in her office one more time. Her office already had that abandoned feel to it, although she realized it was probably just her imagination. She’d been at her desk for less than two hours when her BlackBerry rang mocking the silence of her desk phone.

  “Evie?”

  “Yes, Michael.”

  “Paul called and said he’s ready to provide the firm’s revised offer. He’s ready to deal and really wants to wrap this up for obvious reasons. Can you be here this afternoon? There’ll be federal agents escorting you in a government car.”

  “Sure. This is so odd … being here in the offices while you’re negotiating on my behalf with someone a floor away from me.”

  “I
know it must be uncomfortable for you being there. If you could manage to get anything else tangible to throw the feds, that with Schedule B7 and all your statements would likely be enough for them to get a search warrant and take it from there.”

  “You know, it’s interesting that Paul failed to follow up on that expense report. I couldn’t have been at two hotels at the same time.”

  “I think they all know perfectly well what’s going on, but they don’t want to make any admissions to a potential adversary.”

  “Oh, so you think they’re just waiting me out, assuming I’m going to want to leave the firm and they won’t have to give me any answers.”

  “Yes, and then they’ll figure out how to handle Alan without you around.”

  “Almost makes me want to stay.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I said almost. I was doing some reading at the bar library. Michael, what about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? Does it apply here?”

  “That Act makes it illegal to bribe a foreign government official to get business under the jurisdiction of that official. It may apply to Gerais Chevas if its stock is listed on the NYSE, but again it’s a law enforcement issue. It certainly won’t apply to our civil action. Some of those other criminal acts have corresponding civil remedies that we will make good use of. There are some juicy crimes here, though.”

  “I really do want to get out of here and pave the way for the feds to clear my name.”

  “Try to find anything you can while they still think you’re benevolent toward the firm. But, be careful.”

  “Okay. I’ll try.”

  She plugged in her laptop and brought up her email inbox. There were a few new ones today, so something had been changed, but there was nothing of any substance from any client. She suspected Alan was still screening and manipulating, trying to create the impression that her status was restored, but keeping control over what she actually received. She brought up the now-familiar Neon files.

  The payment schedule was a different document. No more $25 million commission, but many other details were filled in identifying components of the purchase price and schedule of payments. The commission field was now missing. Was it the subject of further negotiation? Was it going to increase? Or, was it now just an amount to be paid under the table while the documents remained silent about it. She tried to print, but her request was denied. Not surprising since she was now an adversary on their territory.

  She opened Neon Four and scrolled down to Schedule B7. It was the same incriminating document she’d last seen and she already had a copy so she closed it. She needed to find a way to print that new payment schedule.

  She no longer cared what trail she left behind and dialed the firm’s technical support. One of the youngest and newest members of the team, Henry, answered. She explained that she needed to print a file on a deal she was assigned to, but her file access hadn’t yet been broadened. Not exactly an untruth, given that Alan was claiming to have assigned her.

  Henry promised to come to her office and help her out and he was there within five minutes. It was obvious that he had no knowledge of any change in her status within the firm. She looked around outside her office and fortunately, the hallway was empty. Despite all the assurances that she was still a member of the firm in good standing, she knew that if she was caught trying to get copies of these files, they would not be pleased. The investigation was supposed to be in Paul’s hands now. She closed her office door and Henry sat down at her keyboard. He layered some commands and pulled up the file she identified.

  “Can you set the print command so that it prints the firm ID, date and time at the top of the page? I want to keep track of the date of this version.”

  Henry looked up at her and nodded as he continued to type furiously. She was lucky it was Henry who was available to help. He was eager to please, being the new hire, and he would hopefully be kept too busy for this exchange to stand out in his mind if someone asked him about it. Henry issued a print command and the file showed up on the queue for the printer.

  “Great!” she said. “Henry, is there any way to print the Hit History on a few files? I need to know all the people who’ve accessed them so I know who to ask if I have any questions.”

  “Yeah, hold on,” he said typing at lightning speed. It was a sweet bonus that he was such a fast typist. She wanted to get her sleuthing done before anybody came in and discovered what she was doing. The seconds ticked by as Henry logged on to the network with his system password, which seemed to Evie something like a master pass-key. He had broad powers to explore the system and she thought about asking him to do more, but she decided against it. She didn’t want to press her luck.

  “Okay,” said Henry. “You’ve got the Hit Histories for the files.” He looked back at the screen. “Neon One, Two, Three and Four in the queue for the printer on this floor.”

  “Thanks so much!” said Evie as she headed out the door to grab the printouts. The Hit Histories had to show historical proof that Alan had manipulated these files! He couldn’t possibly have logged in as her every time he’d accessed them. Even if it didn’t prove definitely that he was the one who edited the documents into illegal territory, it certainly proved that he was familiar with the details of the transaction—a direct contradiction to his claims.

  No one was around as she let the paper feeder drop the print jobs into her hands. As the last page fell onto the stack, she looked up to see Alan walking down the hall toward her. She knew he had been instructed not to speak to her, so she looked away and hugged the paper to her chest in what she thought was a nonchalant gesture.

  “What are you printing?” he asked.

  “Alan, you’re violating Hanover’s order not to speak to me. I just printed some personal emails so I can answer them from home.” She thought it would be better to give him an explanation than to avoid talking at all.

  He nodded and walked on down the hall. Despite his perpetual arrogance, he’d looked a bit tired, she thought.

  After retreating to her now empty office and shutting the door, she looked at the copies. They were perfect—the printout of the payment schedule had captured the date, time on the top right corner and the firm name appeared in the upper left corner. The Hit Histories showed a list of names with dates and times under the name of the corresponding file. There were a number of other characters and firm identification numbers that she didn’t understand, but hopefully, those identifying features would authenticate the documents and establish them as uniquely produced by the Howard Rolland’s computer system.

  She tucked them into her briefcase and took one last look around her office for any personal items she’d overlooked before. There was a bit of time before her FBI escort would be meeting her downstairs to accompany her to Michael’s office, but she knew she needed to make a quick exit. There was no certainty that Alan wouldn’t try to find out what she had really printed. She felt a sense of completion now and was really ready to leave, physically, psychologically and completely.

  As she headed out the door, the telephone on her desk broke its silence. It was an outside caller with no caller ID so she decided to pick it up in case it was her FBI escort.

  “Evelyn Sullivan,” she said.

  “You didn’t listen to me.” It was that voice. That same voice that had called her and demanded that she cancel her meeting with Emira Adelio from Romez Nuevo.

  “What? Who is this?”

  “You kept that appointment when I asked you not to. But you may have noticed, your friend never showed up.”

  “What do you want? Why are you calling me?”

  “I think we’ve proven we’re not afraid to spill blood.”

  Evie’s mind raced. Her hands shaking, she almost dropped the receiver.

  “Are you there?” the Voice asked.

  “I’m here. Who are you working for?” Evie said into the receiver.

  “Next time it might be the blood of someone you care about.”
<
br />   “Who are you working for?”

  “You just keep your mind on staying quiet. You will not contact the police, the FBI or anyone else. You will keep to yourself or you will be sorry. Very sorry.” Apparently, the Voice was not up on current events. Fortunately.

  “What are you trying to accomplish?” she asked.

  There was silence, as Evie looked around for a way to contact the FBI agent who was supposed to meet her on the street below. She grabbed her BlackBerry and dialed the number they’d given her. It rang twice and Agent Neeley answered just as her desk telephone clicked and the dial tone hummed.

  She explained to the agent what had transpired.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Physically, yes.”

  “Do you want me to come up there?”

  “No, I’m coming down! Right now. I just wanted to make sure you were here and tell you to expect me.”

  Evie hurried out of her office, down the hall, past reception and headed to the elevator. When the elevator doors closed, she realized she was sweating. Agent Neeley was among the people standing in the lobby when the doors opened with a chime. She saw him nod slightly, but said nothing to identify himself and stood beside the concierge’s desk until the people completed their shuffle out of and into the elevator car.

  When no one was looking, he motioned to Evie to walk out of the building and head to the right, and he followed. There was an unmarked, black car waiting with the back door open, which she assumed was an FBI vehicle and another agent she’d met was in the driver’s seat. Evie got into the back and Agent Neeley appeared and took the seat next to her. The door closed and, at Evie’s request, they headed to her apartment on Central Park West.