Isn't It Time (19 page)

I looked back over my shoulder to see Finn scowling at my
back.  I was angry and confused when I knocked on Jack’s door.

“Come in,” Jack called.

I opened the door to see Jack sitting somberly behind his
desk and Frank slumped over in a chair, with his face in his hands.  Al was
standing next to Frank with a hand clasped to his friend’s shoulder.

I took in that scene and started to shake. It would seem
they had found their embezzler.  “Finn’s here,” I announced quietly.

“Okay,” Jack said. “Bring him in. And you and Luke come in,
too.  I want you guys to know what’s going on.”

I turned and went back the way I came to retrieve Finn and
Nate. “He wants you and me in there, too,” I said to Nate.

“Yeah, I heard.” Nate led Finn through the kitchen as I
closed and locked my office door and shut off Jack’s phone. When I got back to
Jack’s office, Finn was standing in the middle of the office with his arms
crossed over his chest and Nate was sitting sideways in a chair at the
conference table, looking relaxed, with one arm across the back of the chair
and the other on the table.

“Have a seat, Angie,” Jack said and I sat down at the table,
across from Nate. I clasped my hands together on top of the table and waited.

“Here’s what’s going on,” Jack began without preamble. “One
night, about three years ago, Frank was approached by two men – men he
describes as ‘thugs’ – as he was leaving a meeting at his church. They told him
he would begin immediately making weekly payments to a company by the name of
ARC Electrical Supply and gave him a handwritten schedule of amounts and dates
and information on where to deliver the payments. Frank laughed at them and
refused. And then they beat the crap out of him, breaking two of his ribs in
the process.”

I gasped and looked over at Frank.  His shoulders were
shaking and he didn’t lift his face from his hands.  Al patted his shoulder and
leaned in and whispered in his ear. Frank nodded, but didn’t look up.  I knew
exactly when this had happened.  Frank had missed two days of work, saying he
had been in an accident, but said nothing further about it when he returned,
bruised and limping.

“The first payment of $15,000 was scheduled to be made about
a week later. Frank ignored it and that night his wife was run off the road, a
mile from their house.  She was scared, but not injured.”

“Jesus,” Nate whispered.

“That same night, an envelope was delivered to Frank’s
house,” Jack continued.  “In the envelope were pictures of all of Frank’s kids
and his grandchildren – at home, at work, and at their schools.  And right
after he got the pictures, he got a phone call. He was told they were ‘not fucking
around’ and warned him against going to the police. They very specifically
threatened his youngest daughter, who was away at college, and his
granddaughter. And the threats were very detailed and very ugly.”

“Oh, Frank,” I whispered. I was not close with Frank at all
– but the horror of what he must have gone through made me unexpectedly want to
run over and hug him.

Finn’s head twisted in my direction and he looked pissed
off.  “Is that how you’re going to play this, Angie? Sweet and innocent – like you
don’t know exactly what’s going on?”

“What?” I straightened in my chair in confusion and stared
at Finn while I heard gasps from around the room.  Even Frank finally looked up
and turned his reddened eyes in my direction.

“What the hell are you talking about, Finn?” Jack pushed
back his chair and stood up in one movement, his hands clenched at his sides. 
Al released Frank’s shoulder and took two angry steps in Finn’s direction at
the same time Nate swiveled around in his chair and stared at me.

“Explain yourself,” Al commanded Finn, getting right in his
face and looking every bit as pissed off as Finn did.

“Back off, Al,” Finn said. “And I’ll be happy to tell you
what Angie has been up to.”

Al backed off and all eyes turned to me. My mouth was
hanging open in shock and I just sat there, shaking, not sure what I should be
defending myself against.

“I was able to get the information you wanted on ARC
Electrical Supply.” Finn stopped and pulled a folded piece of paper from the
inside pocket of his jacket. He stared at me while he dramatically unfolded it
and read, “ARC Electrical Supply, established January 2010, all taxes and
filings paid and up to date, owned by one Angie Kathleen Richards.” And then he
rattled off my social security number.

“What?” I repeated in a whisper. I had never been so
frightened. Then it dawned on me. Finn had to be kidding. There was no other
explanation. This had to be one of Jack’s more elaborate pranks. I’d kill him.
I relaxed in my chair.  “This is a joke, right?”  I looked at Jack and smirked.

Jack’s jaw had dropped, along with every other jaw in the
room, except for Finn’s.  Finn just looked smug. “No, Angie. Not a joke.” Jack
said, the serious expression on his face indicating he was telling the truth.

“Then you’re making this up!” I accused Finn, as I shot out
of my chair.  “I would never steal. Especially not from Jack!”  Now I was more
angry than frightened.  “Why would you do that?”

“The question is – why would
you
do that?” Finn
countered. “How much did you pay those guys to rough up Frank and threaten his
family?”

“I did not pay anyone anything!” I shouted.  I turned back
to Jack. “Jack, I swear. I did not do this. You know me better than that!”  I
glanced frantically around the room – at Finn, whose self-satisfied face I
wanted to slap; at Frank, who was looking wounded; at Nate whose widened eyes
were darting between me and Jack; and at Al, who was inexplicably smiling.

“Al?” I moved towards him, pressing my hands against the
queasiness building in my stomach. “You believe me, right?”

He didn’t answer but turned his smile to Jack. Jack nodded
at him and they both started laughing.

Laughing! They were laughing!  Angrily, I narrowed my eyes
at Jack.  “Jack, if this is your idea of a joke, I will kill you. With my bare
hands. And don’t think I won’t!”

Still laughing, Jack came around his desk and put his arms
around me. I stood there stiffly and didn’t return his hug. “No, honey, it’s
not a joke at all. But don’t you see?”

“See what?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“Whoever has done this doesn’t know that you and I have a
personal relationship.” My eyes shifted to Frank who managed, even in this
situation, to cast a disapproving glance in my direction, probably picturing us
having sex on Jack’s desk.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jack’s relaxed
posture made me loosen up and the trembling eased.

“Angie, think about it,” Al said, coming to stand beside
Jack and me. Jack pulled back and put his arm around my shoulder, staying
close. “These people went to great lengths to set you up. They assumed if their
plan was discovered, all trails would lead to you. There would be enough
evidence pointing to you so that we’d never look any further. You’d go to jail
and they’d walk away scot-free.”

“Oh my God. Who would do that to me?”  I really couldn’t
think of anyone who would hate me so much.  Or maybe they didn’t hate me - they
just saw me as a convenient patsy.

“Someone who doesn’t know that you and I are close,” Jack
said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Someone who doesn’t know my dad and I
would never believe it for a minute.”

I looked up at Finn. His arms were crossed over his chest
again, but his face had relaxed and he was assessing me from a distance.

“So who is it, then?” Nate asked, turning to Frank.  “Do you
have any ideas?”

“No,” Frank said, shaking his head. “In the beginning, I
only dealt with those same two guys, and I don’t know who either of them are.
Then they forced me to hire Heather and, since then, I’ve only dealt with her.
I give her the check every Friday and she gives me new pictures of my family
every couple of months – at the same time she updates the picture of my
granddaughter on her desk.”  His head dropped back down into his hands. “Oh,
God,” he whispered with a shiver. “I’m so scared.”

Al was back at his side in a second, patting his shoulder
again. “It’s okay, Frank. Jack and I understand why you did what you did.
Either of us might have done the same. We’ll find out who this asshole is and
your family will be safe.”

“When is Heather supposed to work again?” Nate asked.

“Tomorrow,” Jack said. “Finn, I’d like you to be here when
we talk to her.”

“Yeah, speaking of her, I have some other interesting
information.”  Finn straightened out the piece of paper he was still holding
and read, “Heather Arlene Layne, born in Tacoma, Washington on July 14, 1986.”
He paused and looked around the room. “Date of death, August 5, 1987.”

More shocked gasps as everyone started questioning that at
the same time.

“Stolen identity,” Jack said.

“Yeah,” said Finn. “If you want, I can start looking into
who she really is.”

“But how can that be?” I interrupted. “She’s been on our
payroll for three years. The Social Security Administration would have caught
that by now.  We get notices when something’s wrong with an employee’s social
security number.”

“She’s not on our payroll,” Frank said, lifting his head
again and looking at me. “She’s in the computer, but we’ve never actually
issued a paycheck to her.”

Oh my God. I was the worst accountant ever.  How was it that
I had never noticed that? 

“I would imagine she didn’t really need a paycheck, did
she?” Jack said wryly.

“Do you think we should call the police?” Nate asked.

“No!” The response came simultaneously from Frank, Jack and
Al.

“Why not?” I asked.  I could understand Frank’s reason for
not wanting the police involved, but not Jack and Al’s.

“Because,” Finn explained. “They have got the case against
you tied up pretty tightly.  Once the police see the evidence against you, they
won’t even bother to listen to anyone who tries to tell them they need to look
further than that. And, there’s always a possibility that they might’ve also
set you up for something else that we haven’t found yet. No, it’s best if we
get a little more information before we decide whether or not to make that
move.”

We were all silent for a few minutes as we digested that.
And then I decided I wasn’t going to leave my fate entirely in someone else’s
hands.  I spent my whole life avoiding doing anything that might land me in
jail, no matter how small the amount of time might be.  The thought of prison
terrified me.

I ducked out from under Jack’s arm and walked over to his
desk. I picked up one of the cancelled checks scattered over the desktop and
sat down in his chair.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” Al asked. Jack just smiled
at me. He knew.

“I am the owner of a very profitable company,” I told them.
“And I am going to find out exactly how much money I have.”  I smiled at the
room in general, and even Frank and Finn smiled back. “And after I find out how
much I have, I am going to the bank to get it.”

“Be very careful, Angie,” Frank warned. “These are not nice
men we’re dealing with.”

“I will, Frank. Don’t worry.”  I got the phone number for
the bank from the internet and placed the call.

After explaining to a woman, who identified herself as
Barbara, that the company was experiencing some problems in its accounting
department, I asked her to confirm who was listed as signatory on the bank
account.

“It’s still just you, Ms. Richards,” she said when she returned
to the phone.

“Okay, good.  Now can you tell me what our current balance
is with your bank?” I picked up a pen and held it poised over a piece of
paper.  As she answered, I wrote $957,156.83 on the paper and turned it towards
Jack. He let out a low whistle and Al, Nate and Finn all crowded around to see
what I had written there.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m going to need a cashier’s check
for $957,000 even. Will that be a problem?”

“Are you planning to close the account?” she asked.

“No. Just taking some temporary security measures.  I’d like
to leave the account open if that’s okay.”

“Yes, of course.  Who would you like the check made out to?
I can have it ready for you when you get here.”

“That would be perfect. Make it out to Great Lakes
Construction and I should be there to get it within twenty minutes.”

“Okay. It’ll be waiting. You can just ask for me.”

“Thank you, Barbara. I’ll see you soon.”

I disconnected the call and stood up. “I’ll be back in a
flash with the cash,” I said with a wink and started moving quickly toward my
office, leading a parade of five men, all trying to get my attention.

“You can’t go alone. I’ll go with you,” Jack said.

“No. I’ll go,” said Finn. “I’ll make sure you don’t get
hurt.”

“Do you think I can’t protect her?” Jack retorted. “I’m
going.”

“I should go,” said Al. “You guys all have other things to
do.”

“No, I’ll go,” Frank piped in. “This is my mess and I should
help you fix it.”

“I’ll drive you,” said Nate. “I can get you there and back
safely.”

“Stop!” I said as I came to a sudden halt at my desk. There
was a bit of jostling and bodies colliding as they all shut up and glared at
each other. I leaned over and picked up my purse from the floor.  Slinging it
over my shoulder, I made a decision. “Jack, you and Finn come with me.  The
rest of you…well, just do whatever it is you do until you hear from us. We
won’t be long.” And with that, I strode to my door, unlocked it and headed for
the parking lot. Jack and Finn caught up quickly and flanked me on both sides
like bodyguards.

“Will you guys relax?” I said, elbowing them both.  “I can
barely breathe, you’re so close.”

They both muttered apologies and gave me some breathing room
as we left the building. Then the argument started over who should drive.
Heaving an exasperated sigh, I walked to Jack’s Jeep and stood by the back
door.  Jack smirked at Finn, beeped open the locks and the three of us piled
in.