Chapter 16
Matt was shown to the small conference room of Smith, Pierson & Davis. The receptionist indicated Mr. Pierson would be there shortly. Matt took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he got up and poured himself a glass of water. Then he walked out into the hall and watched a secretary banging away on a computer. Glancing at his watch, he noticed Pierson was eight minutes late. He turned, went back to the table and sat down. Finally, Pierson walked in with a thin file and yellow pad.
"Mr. Coleman, how are you?"
"I've had better days."
"For sure. Well, I'm glad you didn't talk to Agent Radcliff before I had a chance to prep you. FBI agents are highly trained interrogators."
"I can imagine."
"Since you're totally innocent, I think the best thing to do is answer their questions as best you can. There's a chance Mr. Green might trip up and lose credibility. If that happens, they may not recommend an indictment."
"I'm just going to tell them the truth."
"Good."
A secretary walked in and advised them Agent Radcliff had arrived. Pierson told her to show him in. A minute later he walked in the room.
"Hello, Mr. Pierson," Agent Radcliff said. "Mr. Coleman."
"Hi, Agent Radcliff," Pierson said. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Well, then let’s get this over with."
"Okay, I just have a few questions of your client. Mr. Coleman, as you know, Wallace Green claims he advised you of a hundred and fifty-thousand dollars he had received from an insurance settlement."
"It's not true. I knew nothing about it," Matt said firmly.
"He says when he told you about it you advised him he would lose it all if he filed bankruptcy."
"If he had told me about it, that's probably what I would have told him, but he didn't."
"He says you two discussed how he could hide the money so the bankruptcy trustee wouldn't find out about it."
"No way. He's having pipe dreams."
"He says he offered to split the money with you, if you two could pull it off."
"That is totally ridiculous. I wouldn't have done that. No way."
"Are you sure you never discussed the money?"
"Absolutely, positively."
"Well, then I guess it's his word against yours."
"I guess so."
"Agent Radcliff," Pierson said. "My client was doing very well. He had plenty of money. What possible reason would he have to jeopardize his career for seventy-five thousand dollars? That's not a lot of money for a successful lawyer."
"I don't know, but you've got to understand someone is lying here. Until we find out who it is we'll have to keep the investigation going."
"I wish I could help you," Matt said. "I'm innocent, so if I can do anything to aid your investigation, let me know."
"I appreciate that Mr. Coleman. I'll keep that in mind. . . . Well, I'll contact you in a couple of weeks to let you know what's going on."
Everyone got up and left the conference room. Matt said goodbye to Pierson and went outside to the elevator. He took it to the basement and walked to his car. Feeling rather depressed, he went home. Lynn had taken the day off so he figured they'd spend the day together. When he walked in the apartment, she immediately quizzed him on the interview.
"So, what happened?"
"Nothing really. He just told me what I already knew and I told him Green was full of shit."
"Do you think he believed you?"
"No."
"Hmm. . . . Oh, Tom called and said the background check came in on Wallace Green."
"And?"
"It was negative. No criminal history."
"Shit!"
"I'm sorry, honey."
"Well, let’s just forget about Wallace Green, okay?” Matt said. “I just want to do something fun with you today." He put his arms around Lynn and drew her next to him.
"Hmm," She said as she put her arms around his waist. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, we'll shut off the phones, get a couple beers, and climb in the hot tub."
"Oh, yes. That's sounds good. I'll take care of the phone and get some towels. You get the beer."
"Okay," Matt said as he released Lynn from his embrace. She ran off toward the bathroom. He watched her ass wiggle as she strolled down the hall and disappeared around the corner. He smiled and then went into the kitchen for the beer.
As he was coming out of the kitchen, he got a glimpse of Lynn's naked body descending into the hot tub. He put the beers down a minute, took off his clothes, and joined her, beers in hand. Lynn watched him with a seductive smile. He handed her a beer and sat down beside her.
"Maybe we should leave the country," Lynn said. "I checked the savings account and we've got two hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars in there right now."
"You want to be a fugitive the rest of your life?"
"At least we'd be fugitives together."
"That's not a bad idea, but do you think we could get away from the FBI? They've got a tail on me everywhere I go."
"I'm sure we could figure out a way to sneak off."
"What about MidSouth Bank? Don't you think they'd love for us to run off?"
"What do you mean?"
"The only thing that's keeping us alive right now is the fact that we're in the limelight. Once we run, then we're on our own. If we disappeared off the face of the earth, who’s going to care?"
"Damn it. I just thought maybe you and I could buy a little hacienda on a beach somewhere in Mexico. I heard it's really cheap to live down there. We could get a maid and live a life of leisure."
"That sounds good to me," Matt said as he slid around in front of Lynn. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she felt his hand caress her inner thigh. She moaned as he began to stroke her breasts while gently biting her neck. She grabbed his shoulders. He could feel her fingernails digging into his back.
He slipped one hand behind her bottom and pulled their bodies together. She opened her eyes and gave him a half-crazed look. He held her firmly as he thrust himself in and out with a power that overwhelmed them both. Suddenly they heard chimes as if the Dallas Symphony was orchestrating this sexual encounter. They stopped momentarily and Matt said, "Damn! Somebody's at the door."
Lynn held Matt tightly and replied, "Don't answer it! Keep going!"
"But what—"
"No, keep going I'm about to climax."
Matt resumed his penetrations and the doorbell rang again. He pushed harder and harder until Lynn let out a scream, "Ahhh! Oh God!"
Matt quickly got up and grabbed a towel. Then he went to the door and said, "Just a minute!" He looked out the peephole and then said to Lynn, "It's Bill."
"Don't open the door until I get into the bathroom."
"Okay," Matt said smiling.
While Lynn was gathering up her things and scampering into the bathroom, Matt dried off and put his pants on. Then he opened the door.
"Hey, I hope I didn't interrupt anything," Bill said.
"Yeah, you did. But it's okay. We were just sitting in the hot tub talking."
"I hope you had your clothes on."
"Huh? . . . Why?"
"There was someone on the roof next door watching you."
"You're kidding? Who? . . . The FBI?"
"Probably."
"Those bastards! Goddamn them!"
"You better watch what you say. The house is probably bugged."
"Great."
Bill began to search the room for bugs. After a few minutes he found a small microphone in a flower arrangement. Then he checked the phone and found that it was tapped.
"Okay, the room's clean now. I'll check the rest of the house before I leave. Just assume now that everything you say will be recorded."
"Those little weasels! Damn it!" Matt said shaking his head. . . . "So, what brings you by?"
"Oh, I came by to update you on my
investigation."
"Good, have a seat. Can I get you a beer?"
"Sure."
The door to the bathroom opened and Lynn came out in a white terry cloth bathrobe. She smiled and said, "Hi, Bill."
"Hi, Lynn."
"Guess what, honey?"
"What?"
"The FBI was watching us make love."
"Huh?"
"Some agent was on the roof next door getting an eyeful."
Lynn went out onto the patio and looked toward the roof next door. "Those assholes! Can they get away with that?"
"I guess you could call the police and report a peeping Tom," Bill laughed.
Lynn came back in with somber look on her face, shaking her head. Bill took a seat on the blue leather sofa. Lynn sat down in the matching love seat while Matt went and got everyone a beer. When Matt returned, he sat down next to Lynn. Bill filled them in on his activities up to the gaining access to the safety deposit box.
"It appears there is a new Ms. Simonton working for Mr. Hill at the bank."
"How do you do that?" Lynn asked. "Switch identities?"
"It's not hard,” Bill replied. “You pay someone to just start pretending they are someone else. An actress maybe."
"What about family and friends? Wouldn't they find out what you were doing?"
"Why should they?” Bill said. “Martha’s parents are dead. She hadn’t seen her ex-husband in years. They probably transferred all the employees that knew her. The Social Security Administration or IRS will eventually figure out something is wrong, but that could take years. I only figured it out because I was specifically looking for it."
"Hmm. . . . So, did you get into the safety deposit box?”
“Yes, and that’s where I found the evidence we’ve been looking for—a black Day-Timer with names, addresses and notes of Hill’s activities.”
"So what do we do with it?" Matt asked.
"We can’t give it to the FBI. I’m not sure they can be trusted. We could take it to the press,” Bill thought out loud.
“Don’t they have to verify everything before they go public?” Lynn said. “They might just sit on it.”
“True. What about that senator, the one who tried to protect me before the committee?”
“Senator Goss?” Lynn said. “Yes, he did seem to be on our side.”
"Okay, he’s our man, but we have to move fast." Matt said. "We don't have a lot of time. The FBI will be giving the Justice Department a report in the next few weeks and then I'm likely to get indicted."
"Don't worry. I'll call Senator Goss’ office right away and try to set up a meeting. Hopefully he’ll see me next week."
“Keep me posted,” Matt said as Bill got up to leave. They shook hands, then Bill and Lynn embraced.
"Good luck," Lynn said.
"Thanks. You two hang in there and be careful."
"We will."
Matt closed the door and followed Lynn to the patio. She sat on a lounge chair. Matt sat next to her, put his arm around her and squeezed her tightly.
"Can you believe they were watching us?" Lynn said.
"I know. It was pretty sick. I'm sorry, honey."
Lynn began to cry. "How are we going to get through this? It is so horrible."
"Come back inside. I'll turn the TV on just in case Bill missed any of the bugs."
Matt went to the TV and turned it on. Then he took Lynn's hand and sat her down on the sofa. Matt looked at the TV and saw the noon news was coming on.
"This is Hal Smith with the noon news. Another bank is in trouble in Texas—the second this month as a result of massive losses from bankruptcy filings in the state. The Valley State Bank of Brownsville announced its president had resigned due to a government investigation into staggering losses posted in the last ninety days. A spokesman for the comptroller's office, when asked if more banks were in for trouble, indicated there may be other small, thinly capitalized banks that have problems, but that in general he had complete confidence that most institutions would weather the current storm unscathed.
"A columnist for the Dallas Business Review today voiced a different viewpoint, forecasting a banking crisis similar to that of the mid-1980s."
"That's just great," Matt said. "All we need is more pressure on the government to come after us."
The next day Matt and Lynn both went into the office. It was a cold miserable day. It had rained during the night and the streets were wet. Bridges and overpasses had patches of ice and traffic was heavy and slow. By the time they got in it was nearly 9:30. Tom greeted them as they came in the door.
"Good morning. Tough day out there?"
Lynn shook her head and replied, "God, it's terrible. I'm so cold."
"Matt, Pierson's in your office."
"What?"
"He came by at nine and said he had to talk to you."
"Oh, shit. He couldn't have good news."
Matt and Lynn went directly to Matt's office. Pierson was standing at the window watching the cars slipping and sliding below.
"Bruce."
Pierson turned, smiled and said, "You made it in one piece, huh?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I'm afraid I've got bad news for you."
"What?"
"I've been told an indictment will come down today against you."
"Oh no, they're going to indict me with only Wallace Green's word against mine?"
"No, I'm afraid they have more."
"What could they possible have?"
"They've traced $75,000 from Wallace Green to one of your bank accounts."
"What? That's crazy!"
"An account at Bank of America."
"I don't even have an account at Bank of America."
"Yes, you do. I verified it with Tom a minute ago."
"Huh? . . . Lynn, we don't have an account at Bank of America, do we?"
"Not that I know anything about."
"Tom!" Matt yelled.
Tom came running in and said, "What?"
"What's this account at Bank of America?"
Tom took a deep breath and replied, "Ah . . . you remember I set that up last fall to accumulate some funds for a new location in El Paso."
"I don't remember that."
"You signed the signature cards."
"I did?"
"Uh huh."
"What have you been putting in there?"
"Ten percent of our gross, just like you said."
"That's bullshit! I never told you to do that!"
Tom jumped back as he feared Matt was about to strike him.
"Okay, okay, calm down," Pierson said. "We can sort this out later. Right now I've got to take you to the U.S. Marshall's office."
"No!" Lynn said. "This can't be happening!"
Lynn gave Tom a scathing look, "You son of a bitch! You're the asshole who set Matt up!" Lynn charged at Tom and began beating him wildly. Matt grabbed her and tried to pull her away but she was out of control. Finally, Matt and Pierson managed to separate the two. Matt glared at Tom and said, "Tom, you're fired! Get the hell out of my office!"
Lynn began crying hysterically. Matt took her in his arms and held her tightly. Tom closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then turned and left the room. He went back to his office, closed the door and then slumped in his chair. Tears began to flood from his eyes. He picked up a picture of his son on his desk, looked at it a moment and then slipped it in his briefcase. Ten minutes later he was gone.
"We're going to get through this, Honey. You've got to be strong," Matt said to Lynn, who was beginning to calm down.
Matt looked at Pierson and said, "Let me take her over to my parents’ house. My mom can take care of her. She needs someone with her right now. Then we'll go to the Federal Building."
"Sure, Matt. That will be fine," Pierson said.
Plastic Gods, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 2 Page 26
