Project Northwest (17 page)

They followed her to the bedroom and looked
away when she opened her personal garment drawer.

“Miss, we’ll start with the bathroom while
you empty the, um, the unmentionables, if you don’t mind.”

“Are you boys shy?” she questioned, as she
folded a particularly sexy pair of panties, although there wasn’t
much to fold.

“I’m not,” the youngest mover said under his
breath before being corralled into the bathroom by the other
associates.

“Cut the shit. Get the mic and camera out of
here,” instructed the leader in a low voice.

She had no idea they had heard and seen
things that made this intensely personal. They had heard and seen
her and Spain having sex. They had seen her naked and she was so
beautiful, her dimples of Venus were the favorite boyish topic
during the slow hours of surveillance. It was painful to be as
close as they were, much less watching her fold lingerie—that was
excruciating. All four men were in the bathroom, where only two
persons should be able to fit, and they had it packed in
minutes.

“Use bubble wrap for anything breakable,” she
shouted, moving to the second set of drawers, filling her first box
and moving to a second.

Moments later, she heard the ripping sound of
moving tape and two men were on their way to the van with two boxes
each. They returned, collected two more boxes, and the bathroom was
empty.

Soon they had the bathroom and bedroom
cleared. Bridget was pleased. At this rate, they would be done by
noon.

`

Chapter
Fourteen

~ James Meets Hope ~

James was in a good
mood, even when he saw Shelly at the employee lockers outside the
security station. He felt their discussion yesterday over lunch
would allow for a faster day at the bank and he wanted to get in
and out as soon as possible.

“Good morning, Shelly.”

She was placing a brown envelope into her
locker and acted as if she were alarmed by his presence. She
quickly deposited her cell phone and purse into the locker, locked
it, and gave a rather curt, “Morning, James.” She looked tired. Her
beautiful eyes carried the baggage associated with the lack of
sleep. He watched her process through security with only the manila
folder she always took into the data center.

As he took his seat and logged into the
system, he made his observation. “You seem a little agitated. I
assumed after our conversation yesterday, we would be on better
terms.”

“Yes, sorry, just something on my mind. You
ready to get started?”

Playing nice was going to be a lot easier, so
he chatted her up and soon they were moving through the questions
at a decent pace.

“What’s your take on what the numbers are
for?” he asked. “I mean, do you know why they want the
numbers?”

“I have my suspicions, but it’s not something
we should be discussing. I’d suggest we do as instructed and not
worry about such things.”

“Your suspicion isn’t going to change
anything?” James asked.

“Mr. Spain, you do recall we’re being
monitored, right? I can tell you’re in a good mood this morning, so
I’ll suggest we focus on the task.”

“Oh, yeah, okay. Sorry, believe it or not, I
had forgotten,” he said honestly.

Shelly shook her head in a slow back and
forth movement. James wasn’t sure if she was chastising him or
warning him, he decided to consider it both and went back to the
numbers.

Not more than ten minutes later, James’s
office number rang.

“James Spain,” he answered.

“Mr. Spain, Mr. Wright here, it appears we
need to have another meeting. Please let me speak with Miss
Spenser.”

James motioned to Shelly and she took the
handset.

“Yes, I understand,” she said to the first
question.

“We will,” to the second question.

“I will,” to the third question and she
handed James the handset. “Well, I hope you’re happy. We’re meeting
him up on the patio at eleven sharp.”

* * * *

Mr. Wright was wearing a black suit, white
shirt, and black tie, just as before, but this time he added a dark
brown spring Sutter hat to his wardrobe. James knew why. There were
cameras everywhere, and that’s the exact same reason why Mr. Wright
selected a table in the corner of the patio with cover given by a
patio umbrella.

Mr. Wright stood slightly and tilted the brim
of his hat when he saw them approaching. “Mr. Spain, Miss Spenser,
thank you for joining me. James, I’m disappointed in you. You know
my resolve, or at least I thought I had made it clear. Miss
Spenser, please hand the envelope to Mr. Spain. Mr. Spain, do not
open it just yet. I understand you have some questions?”

Shelly looked at Mr. Wright with an intensity
of repulsion that could not be faked, she despised him and it was
obvious. Her mannerisms solidified in James’s mind that she had
been truthful about being blackmailed.

“I—I had honestly forgotten about the ah—ah
monitoring,” stammered James. “Shelly and I are working together
better now and it just came out. I have no interest in knowing why.
I’m more than willing to just get this behind me.”

James closely examined Mr. Wright, looking
for any distinguishable marks or tics. He had no tattoos that were
visible, no jewelry or scars. His eyes were green, hair was black,
was about 5 foot 11 inches and, James guessed, he weighed about 180
pounds. They were being blackmailed by an average, non-descript
businessman. You’d see him everywhere in Seattle and immediately
forget him. There was simply nothing unique about Mr. Wright, save
the military style haircut.

Mr. Wright eyeballed James and after some
deliberation, said, “You know, I believe you, Mr. Spain, so I’m
going to give you a warning. When you open the envelope, you’re
going to see something quite disturbing, especially when one
considers the new direction your relationship with Ms. Davies has
taken. Please view its contents. Any outburst and I will leave and
start a process that cannot be stopped. Miss Spenser and I will
give you some privacy.”

Privacy apparently had a loose meaning to Mr.
Wright, as the only thing he did was thumb through a magazine he’d
brought with him. “Miss Spenser, this is an opportune time for you
to powder your nose, don’t you think? Give us about five minutes,
please.”

Shelly said, “I’m sorry, James,” and excused
herself.

James unclasped the brown envelope and pulled
out the first 5 by 7 inch picture. It wasn’t anything to be worried
about. It was just him and Shelly eating lunch.

He had the sensation of melting when he saw
the second photo. The entire world seemed to stop and he couldn’t
move. In his left hand he held the harmless picture and on the
table, as if he were afraid to touch it, was the doctored photo of
him and Shelly having a romantic dinner.

He managed to look through all seven sets of
pictures, with each set enforcing his mind’s image of Bridget
stepping closer and closer to the door with her bags packed. He
hurriedly placed them back into the envelope when Shelly returned,
as if he were ashamed, momentarily forgetting she’d already seen
them.

“Mr. Spain, I trust you found the contents,
what’s the best word, unnerving?” asked Mr. Wright as he once again
welcomed Miss Spenser with a half stand and a hat tilt.

“Yes, please don’t send them. It would kill
Bridget.”

“Mr. Spain, my interest here is control, not
destruction. My movers are, as we speak, moving the last of her
boxes into your condominium. They have, within a moment’s reach,
the same set of pictures you are holding. We both know the damage
those would cause.”

Mr. Wright shook his head in feigned
disappointment as he looked at James, then at Shelly.

Shelly couldn’t make eye contact with anyone.
She picked a spot on the patio table and stared at it, not moving,
not saying anything.

“Believe it or not, I want to leave you two
and your families’ whole. Miss Spenser, you are doing fine work for
us and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Moving forward, I understand there
is a trip planned this weekend, Mr. Spain. That is fine. Just make
sure we are in sight of you at all times. Do not try to lose us or
your loss will be much worse. I’m certain you get my drift. The
same, of course, goes for you, Miss Spenser, on your trip.”

James and Shelly both nodded that they
understood.

“Furthermore, Ms. Davies cannot attend
college. There’s just too much going on for us to watch it all. She
will find out on Monday that she has been mistakenly de-registered
from her classes, a simple computer glitch of some sort. Your job
will be to make sure she accepts it and agrees to put off school
until the summer or fall semester. I don’t know how you will
convince her – that will be your task. Do you have a pen and
paper?”

“No.”

“You, Miss Spenser?”

Shelly dug into her purse and found a small
notepad and pen and started to give the items to Mr. Wright when he
corrected her. “Please give them to Mr. Spain.”

James took the notepad and pen and
waited.

“Mr. Spain, you’ve been dating Bridget for a
while now, so I’m only going to ask this once. Am I clear?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Think so or know so?”

“Yes, you’re clear.”

“Good, write down all the passwords you know
Ms. Davies has used in the past.”

James hesitated.
What a betrayal of
trust
, he thought, and the shame was – he was going to do
it.

“Don’t lie or send my team on a wild goose
chase, we’re only going to use the passwords to enter into her
college account, nothing more. We’ll gain access anyway, but this
will speed up the process by narrowing our keystroke search. It’s
just that some of these systems send out emails warning of bad
password attempts. We can delete the emails before she sees them,
but why go through the trouble?”

James began writing the only two passwords he
knew of. He had never really asked her. He just saw them on notes
near the computer.

Seagal29

Cubswin29

“I’m not even sure they’re passwords. I’ve
seen them written on pieces of paper near the computer.”

“It’s fine. ‘Sea’ as in Seattle or ‘Sea’ as
in boat or water?”

“Uhm, Seattle.”

Wright took the note and tucked it into his
coat pocket. “I’ll take the pictures now, Mr. Spain.”

“Can I say something?” James questioned as he
handed the pictures over.

“Don’t see any harm, what’s on your
mind?”

“Off the record and in private.”

Mr. Wright considered the request and
suggested Miss Spenser make her way back to the office or grab a
quick lunch. When she left, he asked Cricket to send over an
associate and to stop his and James’s recordings.

“Please stand up, James.” James stood and an
associate patted down James’ arms and chest, finishing with a wand
examination over his back, torso, and legs. The associate took
James’s cell phone and disappeared.

Mr. Wright seemed to relax as he removed the
nearly invisible ear piece from his ear and tucked the cord under
his collar. His mannerism changed and he no longer spoke in the
strict fashion James was used to, “Okay, just two regular guys now,
James. What’s on your mind?”

James was having second thoughts. “Maybe this
isn’t a good idea.” It was obvious that Mr. Wright was in control
and he didn’t know what would set him off.

“I’m sure it isn’t. Time is money,
James.”

James just started talking, hoping his mental
filter was correct. “The car CD player, your goons messed it up and
it will not eject. Bridget will want to listen to other music on
the trip.”

“I’m sure Bridget will do just fine. She
seems to have a knack for entertaining herself in the car. God
knows she’s entertained my team. Plus, whether you know it or not,
you two will be talking about the Mustang and the future. The CD
player stays as is. And this, a CD player, isn’t what’s on your
mind, James. That was your teaser question, am I correct? I’m an
impatient man. Let’s get to it, shall we?”

James swallowed hard, trying to push through
his apprehension. “Okay, as you said before, you’re not here for
destruction. I know you need me for whatever it is you’re doing
with the numbers. You’ve already told me you’re using them to steal
from the bank. I suspect you’re shorting the stock or worse yet,
preparing for a run on the bank.”

Mr. Wright’s expression didn’t change in the
slightest.

James continued, “My point is that I’m not as
easy to replace as you’d want me to believe I am. I’m willing to
work with you, but I want you to back off a bit and I want a quit
date. I want to know when this will be over. I want a guarantee. I
want my life back.”

James couldn’t suck in air fast enough. He
wasn’t really sure what he’d just said and was already regretting
each and every word.

Mr. Wright responded without hesitation. His
sentences were cold and calculated. “I don’t go into rabbit holes,
James. Most times you don’t find a rabbit in them; you find what’s
waiting for the rabbit. I’d strongly suggest you heed my
advice.”

Mr. Wright inclined in his chair, tipped his
hat to two young ladies walking by, and offered them a smile. “If
you think for a moment that you have some pull with me, you’re
mistaken. In the last week, you’ve been beaten up, have had your
car wrecked, just viewed pictures that would certainly ruin your
relationship, have committed a number of federal crimes, and that
was just to get your attention. How far do you think I’d go if my
intentions were to become personal or worse yet, spiteful? My
spiteful nature can in some ways be much worse than my homicidal
nature.”

James couldn’t answer. He could only watch as
Mr. Wright rolled his fingers across the envelope, each sequence
played imaginary drums of impending doom.
Rat-a-tat-tat,
Rat-a-tat-tat – thump!