Being Emma (16 page)

Janie snapped awake when Sheriff Moody came
in with an interesting case to discuss with her… Something about
counterfeiters working in the area…

“Look, Janie. See this hundred-dollar bill?
It’s counterfeit.”

“How do you know?” She took it from him and
regarded it closely. It looked real to her.

“Feel the paper. It’s just a bit off. Feels
too slick, so the paper composition wasn’t right.”

“What are we doing with this, Sheriff?”

“
I just
got it from the convenience store on the corner of Elm and
1
^st
Streets. Apparently, there’s a
counterfeiter working this area of Nevada and we’ve been asked to
be alert.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do?” Bud gave
her a sharp look.

“I’m pulling you off all calls for the next
two days. Do as much research as you can on counterfeit money, so
we know what to be looking for next time this happens.”

“… You think there’ll be a next time?
Wouldn’t the counterfeiter just move to another town?”

“Possibly. We need to know what we’re doing
in case he doesn’t. All right? Study. Put everything else aside
right now.”

“Sheriff…”

“Yes, I know you’re leaving Friday for the
tournament in Vegas, but you’re back on Sunday. I expect you to be
up and processing information by that time, if not before.”

“Absolutely. I’ll be ready.”

Janie forgot everything else in her life that
was going on and dived headfirst into learning all that she could
about how to make counterfeit bills, how to pass those bills and
what sorts of resources there were for protecting the public.

At
dinnertime, Janie got a sandwich and continued to study on her
computer until late. She had Googled all sorts of resources on the
Internet and printed out much of it. When she glanced at her phone,
she saw a return call from Craig. She listened to his voice mail
message. ‘
I
miss you too – Is there any chance to get together before
Friday?’
Wow… It was so
lovely to hear his voice again. But no, she thought. This new
project was too important and she had very little time to do the
research before the counterfeiter left town. If he hadn’t already…
She sent him a text back.

‘
Sorry. No chance. Bud dropped a big case
in my lap and

I have to come through. Been pulled off
everything else.’

In a few hours, he texted her back…

‘
What’s the case?
’

She saw the text from him, stretched and
yawned, since it was after eleven and wrote him back.

‘
Counterfeiting.
’

She forgot about everything else and
continued studying until after midnight. Janie finally went home
after that and crawled into bed exhausted. The next two days would
be a copy of this one. She and Craig kept up texting, which was
better than no communication at all.

By
Wednesday, Janie knew quite a lot about counterfeit bills. She also
knew that she needed to see one Scottish accountant named Craig
Ferguson. She didn’t
want
to see him
anymore… She
needed
to see
him. Some kind of big stick was poking at her heart telling her to
get it together and talk to him already.

Since she couldn’t do that yet, Janie focused
instead of these counterfeit bills that she was beginning to dream
about. Her research was extensive.

The U.S. Treasury had been putting high-tech
counterfeit-proof bills into circulation since 2003, but that
hadn’t stopped creative and not-so-creative minds to try their
hands at counterfeiting. The twenty and hundred-dollar bills were
the most commonly counterfeited, as Janie could see for
herself.

With the new computers and scanners, fake
bills were being created that looked incredibly close to the real
ones. However, usually the printing was off because of the fine
lines in many of the bills. Even the best printers would lose some
of the detail. Many of these bills went into circulation at
nightclubs and bars where it would be too dark to tell a fake
bill.

Also, the paper was a problem. The kind of
paper used by the Treasury was called rag paper – It was made from
cotton and linen fibers. Putting it in the washing machine wouldn’t
destroy real bills, because they won’t disintegrate thanks to the
plant fibers. She learned about bleaching the paper to remove
images and denomination numbers. Then counterfeiters could create a
template to photocopy images and detail fifty or hundred-dollar
notes onto the bleached areas of the original currency.

Janie was on a pretty steep learning curve,
but was enjoying it as well.

Bud reminded her of the Nevada’s electronic
notification system that connected police departments, residents,
and businesses across the state. It was called NCAN, the Nevada
Crime Alert Network, and allowed police to share information
quickly and remain connected. Janie created a memo on tips for
local businesses on what to be aware of when accepting cash and
spent part of Wednesday afternoon and evening distributing it.

Thursday afternoon, she received a call from
a local fast food place. One of the workers had given a curious
bill to the manager. Janie went down to investigate and took
possession of the bill. She also questioned the worker who had
received it.

“So…” she read the name off his badge,
“Terry, tell me what happened.”

“This guy came in, ordered some food and then
gave me a hundred-dollar bill to pay for it.” Terry was probably
sixteen years old.

“What made you suspicious about the
bill?”

“The manager made us read that notice you
sent around and I just thought the paper felt funny.”

“Funny how?” He looked puzzled.

“I’m not sure. Maybe a little slippery
feeling… Just off in some way.”

“Okay. What did the man look like?”

Terry thought that over for a minute.

“… He had brown hair, slightly bald on the
top… Maybe he was six feet tall.”

“What makes you so sure that he was the one
who gave you the bill?”

“Well, I dropped the bill at first, so I got
a real feel of it. Then I looked at the guy and he was
unforgettable.”

“How’s that?”

“He had a gold tooth in front. Right here…”
Terry pointed to his right, canine tooth in his mouth.

“Thanks. I see… Is there anything else you
can tell me about the man?”

“I think that’s about it.”

“Thank you, Terry. I appreciate this.”

Janie had been taking notes and then went
back in to see the manager. They spoke for a while about what to do
if anything else happened. She gave him her business card and asked
that he call her at once if necessary. Janie went back to the
Sheriff’s Office and immediately sent in the description of the man
and what crime he was suspected of out on NCAN. Within the hour,
the Reno Police Department called to say they had a man in custody
who fit that description. They wanted her to bring up the witness
to identify him as the same man who had passed the bill at the
restaurant.

She called Sheriff Moody to let him know of
the developments. Bud was pleased that she was able to find the
alleged counterfeiter still in the area. Glowing… she received
another a call – from Craig.

“Hi…”

“Hi yourself, stranger. I guess you’ve been
busy.”

“You too. Did you get Dad and Uncle Bill off
all right today?”

“… Finally. They’re all set for their
meetings and left this afternoon.”

“Good.”

“Janie…” He started… What could he say? I
miss you so much it hurts?

“Any chance we can get together tonight?”
What she heard in his voice matched what she felt.

“I sincerely wish we could… There’s tons to
say, but I have to take a witness up to Reno PD to ID a suspect. It
can’t wait. I’m really sorry…” She could him hear sigh.

“
All
right. Tomorrow then.” …
Tons to say? That was promising at least.
“Could I give you a lift to the
airport?”

“Please. Then we’ll only have one car to
worry about.”

“Great – I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at
eight. Is that good for you?”

“
Fine.
Thanks, I’ll see you then, Craig.”
I’ll miss you until then…

“
See you.
Good luck with your witness.”
I’ll miss you until then
…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Friday morning, Janie and Craig were just
beginning to board the plane for Las Vegas, when Janie received a
call from the Reno Police Department. She motioned Craig to board
without her, which he was unwilling to do, and stepped to one side
to answer the call. Craig stepped aside with her.

Craig watched as her face went from serious,
to questioning, to excited. She snapped her phone shut, walked over
to the good-looking man with soft brown eyes waiting for her… As he
had been doing for all her life… Janie gave him a big hug, which he
responded to eagerly.

“What?” he said in her ear. The scent of her
hair was wonderful…

“Good news…” she whispered back.

She pulled back from him as the line of
people boarding was nearly completed and they needed to board. An
airport employee was motioning to them.

“That was the Reno Police Department. The
suspect that we identified last night is, indeed, the one who was
passing fake bills in Naples. He was linked to several other
violations around Nevada. The case has been forwarded to the U.S.
Secret Service and they want to interview me when I come back from
Vegas.”

They started walking up the jetway to the
airplane. Craig was flabbergasted.

“That’s wonderful, Janie. So that’s the
counterfeiting case you’ve been working on. Can you tell me any
more about it or is confidential?”

“I can tell you a bit more.” He took her hand
and kissed it, just before they got to the airplane.

“I’m proud of you, Janie. Good work,
Deputy…”

She looked at him for minute and would have
rushed into his arms, if they hadn’t arrived at the airplane door.
She smiled instead and went in to find their seats. When they were
buckled in and the plane started down the runway, Craig looked at
her.

“Why don’t you apply for the Secret Service?
I think you’d be good at this sort of work.”

Janie was surprised. “I never thought of it
before. Maybe I’ll check it out, if you think I should.”

It was Craig’s turn to be surprised. Janie
always did what she damn well pleased. That she’d consider his
opinion important was good news indeed. He smiled and looked for a
magazine to read for the hour’s flight to Vegas. When he found some
airplane publication, she plucked it out of his hands and put it
back.

He turned to her…

“I haven’t seen you in days, Craig Ferguson.
I want to talk to you about anything and everything. No reading
around me or I will get huffy.” He laughed.

“Well, we don’t want you huffy, whatever that
may be. How can I entertain you, Miss Johnson?”

“Just talk…”

And so he told her all about his days and
nights, working to get everyone’s business done but his. He didn’t
mention that he loved her or asked if she loved him. He could read
it on her face… For the first time, he could read it on her
beautiful face that he was the one she wanted to be with. He was
the one she loved. And he was never so happy in his life…

* * *

They arrived at the Las Vegas International
Airport just after 11:00. Since they had luggage and much archery
equipment, baggage claim was the next stop. It was easy from there
to get a rental car and head on to the hotel where Craig had made
reservations. The state tournament was also to be held at the same
hotel. Sandy and Bill had reservations there as well, and Craig
gave them a call after they’d checked in. They were in meetings
already with their law firm, so Craig left a message to meet them
for dinner at the hotel, and turned to Janie.

“The afternoon shoot starts at 1:00. We’d
best get a move on. We need to get our stuff in our rooms, have a
little lunch and get over to the indoor archery range.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“It’s downstairs in this hotel, in one of the
huge ballrooms.”

After checking out their rooms and ditching
the luggage, Craig and Janie changed into comfortable clothes for
the shoot and headed to a restaurant at the hotel. Lunch was quick
and the focus was the tournament. They discussed various strategies
again on timing and endurance. Archery, after a while, became an
endurance test and one they had practiced for. Pulling and shooting
arrow after arrow for hours got to be very difficult on upper body
muscles, and was one of the big reasons Janie lifted weights.

There were to be six rounds this afternoon,
shooting six arrows per round. That would easily take them all
afternoon to accomplish. At the end of the day, many archers would
be eliminated. The best of this group would go on to the full day
shoot on Saturday. That shoot would mean six rounds in the morning
and six rounds in the afternoon — More archers would be eliminated
at the end of that day. With hundreds of archers in the tournament,
it would be an all day shoot for sure. Only the very best in the
state would finish the last elimination round and continue to the
final shoot on Sunday morning.

Craig and Janie were excited to get going.
They wolfed down their lunches, grabbed the equipment and arrived
at the archery range at 12:30. Many archers were already doing
practice shots, so they set up to practice as well. Promptly at
one, the event began.