Enemies Closer (20 page)

Chapter Nineteen

B
en opened the door to his inner office and he and Clara walked straight to his desk. While they were talking to Gemma Stein at Gigi’s he had received an email from his mysterious hacker friend. It came in on his personal account and said simply, “Got something.” When he had read it to Clara on their way back from the waterfront restaurant she urged him to call right away.

“He won’t answer,” Ben replied matter-of-factly. “He’ll only take my call from a landline and he knows my cell phone number. Even then, he’ll ask if it’s a secure line and he’ll be scrambling the call from his end.”

“Paranoid?” asked Clara.

“Nope. Appropriately careful for his line of work.”

Now Ben waited until Clara was seated next to him at his desk and picked up the phone.

While he spoke, Clara strained to hear what the man on the other end of the line was saying, but she couldn’t make anything out. Ben’s side of the conversation was mainly a series of “Okay”s and “I see”s. It told her nothing. He took notes on a legal pad, but the curve of his left hand made reading over his shoulder impossible.
A lefty,
she thought absently.

She finally gave up eavesdropping, turned her chair to face the enormous windows and looked down over the city. Clouds dotted the sky, but the sun lit up the buildings as it slowly descended over the sound.
Where is Maddy?
she thought.
Is she close by, or far away? Is she alive, or…?
Shuddering, she didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t want to start thinking that way. For her own sake, and for Maddy’s sake, she could not lose hope.

Finally, Ben gave a curt, “Find out,” and hung up the phone. Clara turned back to him expectantly.

He looked at her and she could read tension in the set of his jaw. “What is it?” she asked.

But Ben seemed reluctant to say anything. She just waited. “In the last month there have been three withdrawals from Eddie’s bank account. One for twelve thousand, one for seventeen thousand and one for eight thousand.”

Clara blinked a few times before responding, “The money in Maddy’s bank account came from Eddie Perkins?”

He didn’t wait for her to process the idea. “It seems so. But there’s more. His hedge fund took a big hit this year. Eddie made a bad call on a start-up company and a lot of his investors cashed out. He’s still in business, but he’s not making much money right now. Plus, evidently he’s a spendthrift because he doesn’t have much in savings. He’s barely making enough to cover the mortgage on that fancy condo with the doorman and his BMW.”

“But I thought Eddie was rich.”

“He was. Sort of. He’s made a lot of money over the course of his adult life, but he goes through it like water. If the flow stops, he’s not rich anymore. And that’s what happened this year.”

Clara thought for a minute. “Then how could he give my sister so much money?”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s still got a little under two hundred grand in his accounts, but that doesn’t last long when your yearly expenses are closer to three quarters of a million.”

“Three quarters of a million dollars?”

“That’s about what he spent last year. My friend is routing an email through Uzbekistan or Minsk or Timbuktu or wherever with an attachment of relevant documents, so we can check out specifics if we need to, but for now, we at least know that he spends everything he makes. And in the world of finance that makes him relatively rich, but unstable. No back-up plan.”

“Got it.” Clara tugged at a lock of thick, blonde hair. “Ben, why would Eddie give my sister thirty-seven thousand dollars? And why would he open negotiations with Steinboch about buying her restaurant?”

“Don’t forget, it’s part his restaurant too. If he needed cash, selling Dovetail might get him enough to start up a new fund.”

“So he needed money, but he gave Maddy thirty-seven thousand dollars.” She hesitated, looking torn. “Like a payoff? So she would agree to sell the restaurant?” But she was shaking her head even as she said it and her tone was vehement when she said, “There’s no way, absolutely no way that my sister would agree to sell her restaurant. And she would never take bribe money from Eddie, or anyone else. Not for anything.”

Ben leaned toward Clara. “I know that. But that’s what it looks like. The money could have been for something else entirely, but after what’s happened, and after what Gemma told us today, it looks like Eddie was paying Maddy off.” Clara started to pull her hand away but Ben continued, “So who would want it to look that way?”

Now Clara’s eyes went wide. “You think someone did this to make it look like Maddy was going along with Eddie’s plan to sell?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility,” said Ben matter-of-factly. “Because even if Maddy didn’t go along with Eddie, and this money isn’t a payoff, that’s what the cops are going to start thinking as soon as they make the connection. We know it’s not true. So it’s either a strange coincidence, or someone out there made sure it would look like Maddy and Eddie were in on this together.”

“Who?” asked Clara incredulously.

Ben shrugged. “Maybe Eddie did it. Maybe he kidnapped your sister and planted that money to cause dissension between Michelle and Maddy. If they stopped trusting each other, maybe they would be willing to sell just to end the partnership. Or maybe it was someone else. Someone who wanted to buy Dovetail.”

“Gemma? I don’t see it.”

“Me neither, but you never know.”

Clara picked up the thought. “Harry? We know he wants to have his own restaurant someday. If Susan gave him a lot of details on the dynamics of the owners, he could have put together a plan to bring the place down so that he could move in.”

Ben looked skeptical. “Does Harry have that kind of money? Or the skills it would take to hack into Eddie’s bank account?”

“I don’t know,” said Clara, “but we can’t rule him out. Hey, you were going to tell me why you don’t like Eddie.”

Ben sighed. “When Jack and Maddy were dating, someone told him that Eddie had a taste for cocaine and women.”

“Who said that? Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

“The same reason Jack never told Maddy – because it was gossip from a colleague on the East Coast who told Jack when he found out that Eddie Perkins was married to Maddy’s partner in the restaurant. Not even friend-of-a-friend quality gossip. Totally unsubstantiated. And I didn’t want to poison you against your sister’s business partner with a rumor.”

Clara couldn’t fault him, but she did sound a little exasperated when she said, “Well, I’ll never come to you for the good dirt around the water cooler. But you told me now. What do you think?”

“If nothing else, the suggestion calls his character into question. Since his character is in question now anyway, I think it might be relevant.”

“Do you think it’s true? I didn’t know of any trouble between Eddie and Michelle.”

“I don’t know,” said Ben. “If it is true, it’s possible that Michelle doesn’t know.”

“I think he travels a lot for business.”

Ben replied, “I had the impression that that’s when he indulges. Jack’s friend met him at a cocktail party and implied that he didn’t leave alone that night. Maddy never mentioned anything to me either about Eddie and Michelle having problems, but she probably wouldn’t have.”

“No,” Clara agreed, “she wouldn’t have, but she would have told me. She says that I’m her safety zone for discussing gossip because I’m removed from everyone she talks about and she doesn’t have to feel like she’s influencing my opinion of anyone. I heard about every irritation between her and Michelle, her and Eddie, her and her staff.”

“What about me?”

Clara smiled. “Nothing that I recall.”

“Because
I
am never annoying,” Ben replied with a grin.

“Maybe, but she never said anything good either. Never even mentioned your name, Mr. Radcliffe.”

Ben leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “Like you said, because she didn’t want to influence your feelings for me. She wanted you to fall for me completely of your own accord.” Leaning back again, he said seriously, “I think we should call Carlisle and Kincaid. Tell them what we found.”

“But that might implicate Maddy. I know she didn’t have anything to do with this, but they don’t.”

“You’re probably right. They might start looking for Maddy as a suspect, but they’ll keep looking for her, and they’ll probably look a lot closer at Eddie Perkins, which may help them find her faster.”

Clara thought for a minute. “What if they find her and then throw her straight in jail for conspiracy or accepting bribes or whatever?”

“She’ll be alive and safe and we’ll prove she’s innocent. But if Maddy is being held against her will, they’re going to find her in bad shape. Locked in, tied up or who knows what else, and the cops are going to know she didn’t do that to herself.”

“I guess,” said Clara, but she was reluctant. It just didn’t seem right. “What are the cops going to say when we tell them we know where the money came from? They’re going to want to know how. There was nothing legal about hacking Eddie’s bank accounts.”

“We won’t tell them. I have a feeling Carlisle and Kincaid will be more understanding of our method than you think. Especially because it didn’t put you in mortal danger.” Ben considered Clara for a moment. “I had my friend check Michelle out too.”

Clara was surprised. “Michelle? Why?”

“Because one way or another she’s involved in this mess, either as an innocent victim or a participant.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you might be opposed, and if nothing showed up, no harm done.”

“You weren’t going to tell me at all if she was clean, were you?”

Ben grimaced sheepishly. “Not originally, but nothing showed up and I told you anyway.”

“Because you felt guilty?”

“Because I didn’t want our relationship to start out with a little white lie.”

“Little white lie?” Clara poked him in the stomach – a rock-hard stomach, she noted. “So you didn’t find anything?”

“You sound a little disappointed.”

Clara sighed. “Oh, I’m not disappointed. I’m just desperate for a solution, a clue, anything at all.”

Ben kissed her again. “I’m sorry.” After a moment he added, “Michelle is pretty well-off for someone who comes from such humble roots.”

She gave his arm a little smack. “You checked into her past?”

He nodded unapologetically. “Born in Colorado Springs, both parents died before she graduated high school, from complications of alcoholism…” His voice drifted off.

“I already knew all of that, Ben. You could have simply asked
me
.”

He ignored her comment and went on, “After graduating high school she moved to Denver and lived there for close to a decade before heading to Seattle, where she eventually paid her way through culinary school by waiting tables in a variety of clubs and restaurants in the Seattle/Tacoma area.”

“I knew that too.”

“Did you know she was married when she lived in Denver?”

That stopped Clara short. She swallowed. “No, actually, I didn’t.”

“Maybe Maddy never told you?”

Clara pursed her lips, then answered, “No. That’s exactly the kind of thing she would have told me. She wouldn’t have told anyone else – not if Michelle wanted it kept quiet – but she would have told me.”

“So Michelle never told her.”

“Right.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Clara countered, “Maybe it was a bad experience and she wanted to forget it, or it was so short-lived that she didn’t think it counted.”

“A marriage that didn’t count?” asked Ben.

“Because it was over before it began. You know, blink and it’s annulled. Doesn’t count.”

Ben studied her face, but when she didn’t elaborate, he asked, “Do you have any marriages in your past that don’t count?”

Clara replied casually, “Not that I recall,” but when she saw the nervous smile hovering on Ben’s lips, she burst out laughing. “You look terrified!”

He didn’t reply, just stood and swung her over his shoulder in one motion, then began tickling her. Clara squealed and wiggled and kicked her legs but he was unrelenting. Finally, he stopped and set her back in her chair.

Clara collapsed back into her chair, breathless and giggling. “That was completely uncalled for,” she gasped.

“I beg to differ, Miss Gardner. That was light punishment for teasing me.”

Clara looked him up and down, still marveling at the ease with which he had picked her up, at the breadth of his shoulders, at the rock-hard stomach she had poked at earlier. Suddenly she was overcome by desire. She reached up and tugged gently on the brass buckle of his belt. Ben bent down over her and kissed her deeply, urgently. Kneeling on the floor in front of her chair he cupped her hips with his hand and pulled her toward him without breaking the kiss. Clara eased onto his lap, wrapping long legs around his waist.

And the phone began ringing. Clara sighed and pulled away, sliding back onto the chair; Ben groaned and stayed where he was, reaching up to answer the desk phone. “Yeah?” Again he spoke in monosyllables, standing and reaching for the legal pad to take more notes. Clara couldn’t make out a word.

When he hung up, she looked at him expectantly and Ben said, “My friend—”

Clara interrupted, “Does your friend have a name?”

Ben smiled. “Yes.”

“But you can’t tell me?” asked Clara.

“Well, he goes by his hacker handle and it’s pretty stupid.”

Clara raised an eyebrow. “You’re embarrassed to tell me?”

Ben grinned. “A little bit, yep.” Clara’s inquisitive gaze was unrelenting.

“Okay, okay, he goes by ZephyrNemesis. One word.”

She blinked. “That’s pretty stupid, but thanks for telling me.”

Ben shrugged. “I asked him—”

“ZephyrNemesis?” asked Clara with a twinkle in her eye.

Ben cleared his throat. “Yes. I asked him to look into Michelle’s ex-husband.”

“Because you were suspicious?”

“Omission is suspicious.”

“But how did you know that Michelle never told Maddy?”

He looked at her with raised eyebrows. “It wasn’t such a wild guess.”

“Okay, I can see why you were suspicious. So you had ZephyrNemesis,” she grinned, “look into it. What did he find?”

“Can we go back to calling him my friend?”