Taken by the Con. C.J. Miller

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СКАЧАТЬ A month ago, when the story went public, Holmes and White had publicly asked the FBI to assist and had reassured their team they’d be cooperative and open. A lawyer in attendance seemed like a defensive measure.

      Holmes and White were likely conducting their own internal investigation. If they’d stumbled on a mistake, they’d want to keep that under wraps. It was Lucia’s job to bring everything on the level.

      Young took a seat behind his large desk. His lawyer sat next to him, quiet and with a notepad poised on his lap.

      Sensing this interview would be a waste of time, Lucia introduced herself and Cash and then launched into her questions. She had not conducted the initial interviews with Young, but she had read them. To this point Young had been helpful but cautious. That hadn’t changed.

      Cash said nothing and his face was impossible to read. He appeared both indifferent and slightly amused.

      “How is your investigation progressing?” Young asked.

      Not as well as Lucia would have liked. Their team had tracked two percent of the stolen money to accounts within the United States. Those accounts had been frozen pending the FBI’s investigation. The rest of the money had disappeared. “We’re following every lead we have available.”

      “I’ll tell you whatever I can,” Young said.

      His lawyer shook his head and Young glanced at him. “I will tell you anything I can within reason.”

      Cash didn’t write anything. He didn’t fiddle. He didn’t look around the office or sneak another look at Georgiana. His eyes stayed riveted on Leonard Young and his lawyer.

      As Lucia expected, Young’s answer was “I don’t know” to almost every question. When he did answer, he gave disappointingly little information. For someone who wanted the money found, he was stingy with details. His behavior earned him a slot in Lucia’s “look into this much deeper” folder.

      “Thank you for your time, Mr. Young,” Lucia said after forty-five minutes of questions had yielded nothing new. “We’ll be in touch.”

      Lucia would need to find another way to approach Young or some other angle to use. Maybe she could get in touch with someone else in the company, perhaps someone lower on the food chain. Starting at the top wouldn’t have been her preferred technique, but Benjamin had suggested Young and had warned her to keep things friendly. This case had many victims, and the public and media were watching closely.

      Once they were outside the Holmes and White building, Cash spoke for the first time since before the interview.

      “You know he’s lying, right?” Cash asked.

      “What makes you think that?” Lucia asked. She suspected Young was withholding information, but Cash was along to lend his insights.

      “He has a tell. It took a few questions for me to notice. He looks at his left ring finger and then he lies. Interestingly, his ring finger is bare. Is he married?” Cash asked.

      “According to the file we have on him, yes,” Lucia said.

      “He’s cheating on her,” Cash said.

      “How do you know that?” Lucia asked.

      “Gut feeling. He had this way of answering the questions. He thinks he’s in control and he thinks he can do whatever he wants.”

      Interesting observation. Arrogance and control went with the territory. “We’ll follow up.”

      “Do you want me to call Georgiana? I could take her to dinner and see if I can learn anything from her.”

      Imagining Cash on a dinner date with the beautiful, younger woman annoyed her and Lucia couldn’t answer that question objectively. “Talk to Benjamin about it.”

      “Is that how this partnership will work? You’ll pass me off when you don’t want to discuss something?” Cash asked.

      Lucia continued toward the car. “It’s not a partnership. Benjamin sent us out together to handle these interviews. In future tasks, hopefully you’ll be assigned to work with someone else.”

      “I like working with you,” he said.

      “Why?” Lucia asked, drawing to a stop and looking at him. Few others did. Either she was accused of going by the book or being too impulsive.

      “Why do I like working with you?” he asked.

      At her nod, he rubbed his chin. “You’re smart. You’re strong. You’re spunky.”

      “Spunky?” she asked.

      “Yes,” he said. “You’re making this fun.”

      She sensed something unsaid. “I guess that’s something. I think you’re angling for something from me and I need to be up-front with you. I feel badly about your son and I appreciate that you were honest about your situation, but I won’t interfere in a domestic matter.”

      He blinked at her and held up his hands. “Understood.”

      “Let’s finish these interviews. Don’t you have a happy hour to attend?”

      * * *

      Preston Hammer’s Georgetown townhouse was located in a small community where ten million was the going price for houses. Hammer’s was four townhomes gutted and converted into one large, stately unit. Lucia knocked on the door, surprised when Hammer answered the door himself.

      Lucia showed him her badge. “We spoke on the phone, Mr. Hammer.” She introduced herself and Cash.

      Hammer stepped back from the door and gestured for them to come inside. The interior wasn’t what Lucia was expecting. The foyer was stacked with brown moving boxes, each labeled in precise printing.

      “Relocating?” Lucia asked.

      Hammer gestured at the grand Juliette staircase, oak handrails, the shiny hardwood floors and the insets along the wall containing artwork illuminated with custom lighting. “Do you think I can afford to live here? After what Holmes and White did to me, I’m lucky I have food to eat.” He mumbled something else under his breath Lucia didn’t catch. “Come into the kitchen. We can talk there.”

      Cash wandered over to one of the pieces on the wall. “Is this a Monet?”

      “Interested? It’s headed to auction in a few days,” he said. Hammer started down the hall and Lucia and Cash followed.

      “That artwork is probably worth more than this place,” Cash whispered to Lucia.

      One of Cash’s areas of expertise was art forgeries. If Hammer was liquidating his assets, he hadn’t saved much of his eight-figure salary for a rainy day.

      The kitchen was large, extending almost the length of the houses. Butler’s pantry, gleaming granite countertops and maple cabinets indicated luxury living.

      “Your former employer tells us you were let go because Clifton Anderson reported to you,” Lucia said. Leonard Young had also implied that Hammer should СКАЧАТЬ