She Left Me Breathless (16 page)

“I know. I thought about that already. However, I do have some good news,” Caitlyn said, a look of smugness on her face. She paused to a take a drink of coffee. She smiled at Sydney.

“Not funny, Caitlyn,” Sydney laughed at Caitlyn’s obvious attempt at theatrics.

“I know the owner’s name of the Salami account,” she said finally.

Sydney’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. That is not what she expected Caitlyn to say. “You’re serious?”

“Dean & Rodgers Bank and Trust and the account belongs to one Carlos Delgado.”

“How in the world did you figure it out?” Sydney asked in amazement.

“It was pretty easy actually. I wrote this simple little logic program that looked at any type of transfer, totaling one dollar or less. I then had it crosscheck those transfers to see if any account received twenty-five or more deposits allocated to the same bank and Mr. Delgado won the prize.”

“You are absolutely incredible, Caitlyn. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you,” Sydney said and she meant every word.

Caitlyn leaned back in her chair and laughed. “You’d probably go broke.”

“You’re probably right. What do you—”

The intercom buzzing on Caitlyn’s phone stopped Sydney from finishing her question.

Caitlyn looked at the caller ID and pressed the answer button. “Hi, Maureen, what’s up?”

“Hey, Caitlyn, I hate to bother you but is Sydney with you by chance?” Maureen asked through the speakerphone.

“Yeah, I’m here, Maureen,” Sydney answered.

“I have Ms. Christopher standing at my desk. She says you’re expecting her.”

Sydney glanced at her watch. It was ten after seven. “Can you direct her to Caitlyn’s office please?”

“Will do,” Maureen said, then disconnected the line.

Within seconds, there was a knock at the door. Maureen pushed the door open and stood to the side to allow Jackie in. “I’m calling it a day,” Maureen said, looking at Sydney.

“Okay, thanks, Maureen, I’ll see you tomorrow.”  

Jackie turned to Maureen and smiled. “It was nice seeing you again, Mo,” she said, holding her hand out to Maureen.

“Likewise,” Maureen smiled as she took the big woman’s hand in hers. “Goodnight, Caitlyn, Sydney,” Maureen said and then left the office, closing the door behind her.

“I think she likes you. You should ask her out,” Sydney teased.

Jackie’s cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. She crammed her hands in the pocket of her grey hoodie. “Nah, I don’t think so. Being single is so much more fun than lugging around dead weight.”

“See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Sydney laughed. “Maureen says the exact same thing you just did. You two would have a marriage made in heaven.” Sydney winked at Jackie. “I’m pretty sure she’s not interested in men although I’ve never seen her with a woman.”

“What makes you think that?” Jackie asked, her eyebrows rising.

“For the past few years and just like clockwork, she gets roses monthly from a secret admirer named John and she has no idea who he is. When the flowers come, she just shrugs as if she couldn’t care less,” Sydney laughed.

“That would drive me crazy not knowing,” Caitlyn said.

“Me, too but I guess if you don’t care, then it doesn’t matter,” Sydney said with a shrug.

Caitlyn laughed. “I think it’s kinda creepy.”

Jackie looked at Sydney and smiled. She then walked over to Caitlyn and offered her hand. “Hello, Caitlyn, I’ve heard so much about you from Sydney and I didn’t get a chance to meet you the other night or offer my congratulations on your new promotion.”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Sydney said in response to Jackie changing the subject.

Caitlyn shook Jackie’s hand. “Thank you and it’s nice to meet you as well.”

“You want some coffee?” Sydney asked.

Jackie pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the desk and sat down. “Nah, I’m good,” she said, leaning back in the chair.

“How’s the research coming?” Sydney asked.

“Not as good as I’d like. Without some proof that I know what I know, they’re calling my bluff and keeping their mouths shut tight.” Jackie crossed her legs at the ankle.

“I may be able to help you out on that.” Sydney got up from her chair and went over to her briefcase. She snapped open the lid, pulled out a brown paper bag, and handed it to Jackie.

Jackie opened the bag and peered inside. “I think this should do it,” Jackie said, looking at the glass with a napkin wrapped around it.

“Good. Now how long do you think it will take?” she asked, looking at Jackie.

“I need at least three or four days. May take a little longer depending on how quick my contact at the bureau can move.”

“When you find—”

“I will call you immediately,” Jackie said before Sydney could finish her sentence.

“Fantastic. Now I have another little matter that we,” Sydney looked at Caitlyn and winked, “need your help on.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Caitlyn, can you write down for Jackie, the name of the bank and holder, and the account number regarding our internal problem.”

“Sure.” Caitlyn wrote the information down on a post-it-note. She ripped the paper off the pad and handed it to Jackie.

Jackie read the information. She looked at Sydney and frowned. “What would you like me to do with it?”

“We have a major problem. Someone is embezzling money from my company and whoever is doing it accessed our main computer system. They reconfigured the computer programming code in order to pull it off.”

Sydney paused to refill her coffee cup. She leaned against the desk. “Caitlyn was able to trace the stolen money to the account written on the paper in your hand. I want to know who Carlos Delgado is, where he’s at and I want my money back and I want whoever’s behind this in a jail cell.”

“How much is missing?”

“Over four million dollars,” Caitlyn answered.

“Wow,” Jackie said, shaking her head. “Have you called the police?”

“No and I’m only going to do that as a last resort. If this gets out, it could affect the price of our stock and send it to the basement.”

“How did you discover it?” Jackie asked, looking at Caitlyn.

Caitlyn looked at Sydney, not sure how much information she should divulge. Sydney nodded for her to go ahead.

“No one except for Sydney knew that I was in the process of adding a whole new computer system and when I ran a beta test I discovered the discrepancies in our accounting numbers. From there, I wrote new code to find the missing funds, which I did.”

“Sounds pretty technical to me,” Jackie said. She was impressed. She knew Caitlyn was a computer wiz kid based on everything Sydney had told her but she never really had a handle on just how intelligent the young woman was until now.

“You ever hear of the Salami Technique?” Caitlyn asked.

Jackie nodded. “Sure. In my line of work, there’s not much I haven’t seen or heard of.”

“Well whoever did this, hacked into our system on Friday night,” Sydney said.

Several seconds went by without any of them saying a word. Jackie folded the paper and put it in her pocket. She looked at Sydney. “Well, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have any answers but if I was a betting person, I’d say it was an inside job.”

“We agree,” Sydney said as she brushed her hands down the front of her jacket. “There aren’t too many people here at Welsh who have the knowledge and access to our computer system, which narrows it down to one of my executives. I will gather all of their information and fax it to your office. Once you trace the bank account, I would like you to take a close look at my execs. Check their bank accounts. See if they are living beyond their means or if they have any unexplained expenditures, etcetera.”

Jackie stood up from her chair. “That should be easy enough to do. Most people with that kind of money sitting around will have a hard time not spending it.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Sydney said as she walked Jackie to the door.

“I’ll get started on the bank account first thing in the morning and keep you posted.”

“Thanks, Jackie. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem. I’ll put a big rush on our other little matter, too,” Jackie said and then left the office.

Sydney turned to Caitlyn. “Let’s get out of here kiddo.” She grabbed her briefcase off the table and waited for Caitlyn to close her computer down.

Chapter 6

Rachel, with a duffle bag slung over one shoulder, her laptop over the other, and an armful of swatch books, walked up the porch steps to Sydney’s house. She repositioned the books on her hip and used the key Sydney had left on her counter. She unlocked the door, shoved it open with her hip, and stepped into the foyer. Once inside, she kicked the door shut with the back of her foot.

She immediately noticed a white note card leaning up against a candle on the entryway table. With a groan, she dropped the swatch books and duffle bag on the floor.

“I can only imagine what this says,” she said as she picked up the card and begun reading it aloud.

“
Good morning, Rachel. If you’re reading this little note, then it’s obvious that you decided to keep up your end of our little deal—wise choice
.”

Rachel made a growling noise in her throat. “Wise choice my butt.
You
gave me little choice.” She slid her laptop bag off of her shoulder and let it slide down onto the floor beside her feet. She leaned back against the table as she continued to read the note.

 “
Please make yourself at home and feel free to take a look around so you can better familiarize yourself with the layout of the house. I have also taken the liberty to set up a design room for you. Go down the hallway located on the opposite side of the family room, the second door on the right is just for you. I have some things to wrap up at work this morning but once I’m done, I will be home so we can talk about the changes I would like for you to make
.
If you need anything at all, just ask Edna. If you haven’t met her yet, I’m sure you will soon, especially if you’re tracking up her clean floors with your messy shoes.
” The note was signed,
Sydney.

“I’m glad to see that somebody is happy,” Rachel mumbled as she looked at the small ‘Happy Face’ Sydney had drawn directly beneath her signature. She then looked at the floor and saw the little puddles from where she had tracked in snow. “Crap, Edna’s going to kill me.”

“Every morning that I wake up on the right side of the grass makes me happy and I promise not to kill you.”

“Oh my gosh,” Rachel exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest. “You must be Edna and I’m so sorry about your floor.”

Edna smiled at Rachel. “And I’m sorry for scaring you. Yes, I am Edna and don’t worry about the floor, it’ll dry.” Edna leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Don’t tell anyone but I love giving Sydney a hard time about it, so she feels it’s her duty to warn anyone who walks through the door,” she whispered.

“Your secret is safe with me and I usually don’t startle so easily, I just assumed I was the only one here.”

Edna shook her head. “In this house, someone is always around.”

“Well, in that case, good morning, Edna,” Rachel said and smiled.

“And top of the morning to you as well and you must be Rachel,” Edna said with a wink. “May I take your coat?”

“Yes I am and thank you,” Rachel said, shrugging the coat from her shoulders.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” Edna asked as she took the coat and hung it in the closet located next to the elevator.

“I would love a cup but you don’t have to wait on me. If you can point me in the right direction, I can get it myself.”

“Nonsense, and if you don’t mind the company, I think I’ll join you,” Edna said over her shoulder as she went through the large doorway, separating the two sets of stairs in the entryway foyer.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Rachel said, following Edna across the dining room toward the double doors that led into the kitchen. “This house is simply—”

“Too much,” Edna laughed as she grabbed two ceramic cups from the cabinet located above the stove.

“Actually, I was going to say, amazing,” Rachel said as she watched Edna pour coffee into the cups.

“It’s definitely that,” Edna said as she slid a plate that contained sugar and cream over in front of Rachel.

“Thank you,” Rachel said as she spooned two sugars and half the contents of the cream into her cup.

“Would you like a little coffee with your cream?” Edna asked and then chuckled at the expression on Rachel’s face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Rachel said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I will refill it for you,” she said, sliding her bar stool back.

“No, no, you just sit right there and enjoy your cream and coffee,” Edna grinned, waving Rachel off with her hand.

Rachel laughed and sat back down. “Sydney used to tease me and say that she could save the waitress several trips by just hooking the cow up to the table.”

Edna’s eyebrow shot upward, a little grin playing at the corners of her mouth. “Did she now?” she asked slyly as she sipped her coffee.

Rachel looked up in surprise, realizing that she just spoke her thoughts aloud.