Taken by the Con

“I’m not keeping him from you. I’m trying to do what’s best for Adrian. He’s finally doing better in school and making friends. I can’t tear him away from that.”

Adrian was best with him. “Tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”

“We’ve discussed that. It’s not only your living situation and the money. It’s how he’ll feel about seeing you. You remember the nightmares he had after the last time. He doesn’t know you. You’re a stranger to him.”

He was a stranger to his son. It was a knife hit to the heart. “I’ll buy plane fare for both of you. Put you up in a hotel. Whatever you need for you both to be comfortable.” He was desperate and he knew he sounded it.

“Let’s start with a talk. Let me get him.”

Cash waited, feeling dizzy and sick. He had missed Adrian every minute he was in prison. It was torture being away from his son. If there had been any other way to save his son’s life and not break the law, he would have taken it.

Helen came back on the phone. “I’m sorry, Cash. He’s tired and doesn’t want to talk now.”

Cash squeezed his eyes shut. His throat was tight. “Thanks for asking. Please tell Adrian I love him and I miss him. I’m working on things here. I really am.”

“I know you are, Cash. I know you’re trying.”

He said his goodbyes and disconnected the phone. Looking around his room, he didn’t feel defeat. He would find a way. All that stood between him and his son was money and 2,700 miles. He’d close the gap. He had to.

He had a few hours until his 11:00 p.m. curfew, and Cash fled his room to walk alone on the dark street. He refused to think of the motel as home. The drug dealers that hung out in the parking lot made it unlikely that he could rest easy. The noise and constant fights in other rooms were disturbing. But, he’d been in prison for four years. Outside was good. Outside was the most wonderful place with fresh air and endless sky.

Cash didn’t have money for a cab and he didn’t have a car. The rules of his release prevented him from traveling unescorted farther than ten miles away and his movements were tracked by the FBI via the GPS tracking device he wore around his ankle. Benjamin would have a report emailed to him the next morning detailing every step Cash had taken.

He kept his pace brisk, loving the openness of the sidewalk. He saw a help-wanted sign in the window of a deli. Maybe a second job could help with his money problems.

His old contacts could increase his cash flow by sending some jobs his way, but Cash was finished with that life. He didn’t want money from running cons. Every penny he earned for his new life with his son would be earned legally.

Turning down a familiar street, he realized he’d been walking in the direction of the house where he’d grown up. The house where he believed his father still lived. Not looking to dredge up buried memories or walk in old footsteps, he changed directions.

This was a fresh start. Another one. When he’d married Britney and talked her into moving to DC, he’d promised to leave behind contact with the criminal world. His single foray back into that world had been to save Adrian’s life.

Benjamin knew about Adrian, but he’d said he needed Cash in DC, working to find Clifton Anderson. The faster they closed the case, the sooner Cash had more options. At least, that was what Cash was telling himself.

To ease some of the hurt in his chest, he forced his thoughts away from his son and they turned instead to Lucia Huntington. He’d find out why she had a chip on her shoulder. From what he’d gathered from the others, she carried power in the organization, although she was quiet and didn’t seem close to anyone in the office.

He’d win her over. Having an enemy in Lucia could mean his return to prison. Having a friend in her could mean a transfer to an FBI field office closer to Adrian after the case was closed and maybe even a raise. The more money he could sock away, the faster his son was back in his life.

As attracted to her as he was, Lucia seemed equally put off by him. She was the first woman he’d met since his late wife who got him hot under the collar. She was smart, sophisticated and articulate. It didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous. Brown hair and deep brown eyes, delicate features and lips that on some women might look too big. On her, it worked, drawing his attention, making him think about the things she could do with her mouth. She was put together and in control, but he sensed that, if she allowed it, passion and heat would come roaring out. He’d gotten a peek at her bare midriff, which showed him enough to say she had a body to match her face. It was rare to cross paths with a woman who was the complete package. He wondered why she was distant from the team. A professional code of conduct or was something else at play?

He crossed the street and walked past a man and his dog sleeping on the cement steps outside a church, both curled near the railing. Cash reached into his pocket and pulled out the rest of the cash Benjamin had given him that morning. It wasn’t much, about thirteen dollars and some change. He tucked it under the man’s hand.

“Thank you,” the man muttered. His dog whimpered.

“You’re welcome,” Cash said.

He’d been there. He’d been that down and out. He hadn’t had anyone to help him. But he was resourceful. He would find a way to make a good life for himself and Adrian.

Chapter 2

“We may have more success if you don’t flash your badge at everyone we pass,” Cash said, after Lucia had shown her identification to the guards working the security desk at Holmes and White, the company Clifton Anderson had defrauded into near ruin.

Lucia whirled to look at him. Though he’d been quiet on the ride from headquarters, she didn’t appreciate his criticism. She was irritated enough that Benjamin had assigned her and Cash as teammates for the day’s assignments.

“I’m not here to con anyone,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I’m here to speak to Clifton Anderson’s victims. I’m identifying myself because I’m on their side.” She had interviewed dozens of victims. She knew what she was doing.

Cash lifted a brow at her.

“Do you find this funny? Because nothing about this is funny. People lost their homes, their pensions, their savings and their college funds over this. Regular people. Teachers. Nurses. Police officers. Everyone who trusted this place lost everything. We have to find this money for them.”

Cash frowned. “I take this seriously. I know what was lost. I have a way I do things. Getting upset changes nothing.”

Lucia took a deep breath. She’d been told she could be a stickler for the rules and policies and procedures. If she and Cash were going to survive this, she needed to give him some latitude. It was one afternoon. She could do anything for one afternoon.

Cash folded his arms over his chest. “Did you see the security guard’s reaction when you told him you were with the FBI? He got nervous. He was worried.”

Lucia was accustomed to people having a reaction to her badge. “I got what I wanted. I was let through without any fanfare.”

“He’s no doubt calling ahead to give warning we’re on our way to the top floor.”

“It’s not a secret that we’re investigating the embezzlement. There’s nothing to give warning about.” The FBI was working under the assumption that the C-level managers at Holmes and White wanted the culprits found and the stolen money recovered.

Cash took her elbow and moved her to the side of the hallway, out of the way of a passing group of employees. “Let’s not leave time for preparations. The most telling reactions are the most impromptu.”

Benjamin’s voice rang in her head. He wanted her and Cash to get along. Benjamin seemed set on the idea that their skill sets complemented each other. Lucia had the sense they’d been partnered for today’s interviews as a test. If they made it through the two interviews Benjamin had assigned them without killing each other, it was a success. Lucia wouldn’t let Cash make her lose her cool or fail in Benjamin’s eyes.

“I will hold back on showing my badge to too many people. Happy?” She pulled her elbow away from him. Touching was off-limits, especially after the kiss last night. She didn’t know how he’d convinced her it was a good idea, but it wouldn’t happen again.

“Thank you. Has anyone else mentioned you look hot when you’re fired up about something?”

She gave him a cutting glower. “My colleagues don’t talk to me that way.”

“I wasn’t asking about your colleagues. I was asking about people in your personal life.”

Sad to admit, even if it was only to herself, she wasn’t sure any man besides Cash had ever called her “hot.”

“That’s not a conversation we’ll have right now.” Or ever.

They stepped onto the elevator and Lucia pressed the button for the top floor, where Holmes and White’s CEO, Leonard Young, had his office. Her arm brushed Cash’s and Lucia increased the distance between them.

Every time the elevator stopped at a floor and people entered and exited, Cash seemed to flirt and smile at every woman, especially the pretty, young, well-dressed ones. It bothered Lucia to watch. Given the long over-the-shoulder looks they shot his way, these women would be all over him if given the chance.

Lucia and Cash got off the elevator. Young’s office was directly ahead. The cube farm around them was empty. Layoffs had been an immediate fallout of Holmes and White’s recent financial problems.

Young’s assistant stopped them in front of his office’s beveled glass doors.

“Mr. Young had to step away from his desk. Do you mind waiting here until he returns?” She gestured to the cluster of leather chairs along the wall.

“No problem,” Cash said and flashed her a smile. “I’m David Stone.” They had agreed Cash would use his real name while working with Lucia to avoid rumors floating on the street about Cash Stone being employed by the FBI. Cash Stone, son of the notorious con man and who’d become a con man himself, was well-known. To her knowledge, Cash hadn’t ripped off anyone on the same scale that Clifton Anderson had, but the con that had landed him in jail had stolen fifty thousand dollars from a senator’s real estate company. The company bought run-down foreclosures, made repairs and flipped the houses for big profits. The senator had been friends with the judge on Cash’s case, so he’d had the book thrown at him. Hard.

“I’m Georgiana,” Young’s assistant said. She blushed and lowered her face, looking up at Cash from under her eyelashes. Overselling it a bit, wasn’t she? Hot pink blouse with a tight, dark gray skirt suit and four-inch heels wrapped a neat, prim package. Lucia despised the pang of jealousy that struck her. Emotions didn’t belong in the field. She didn’t know if she was jealous because she wanted to be on the receiving end of Cash’s attention or because the woman looked like the delicate, polished lady Lucia couldn’t be.

Neither one was a thought to harp on.

For a moment, Lucia regretted the simple black pants and blue blouse she’d chosen that morning. She hadn’t bothered with jewelry or makeup, and her one-inch black heels weren’t anything that screamed sexy vixen.

“Could I have a cup of coffee? I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m feeling foggy,” Cash said.

Georgiana straightened and grinned at him as if he was a genie granting her a wish. “Oh, of course. How would you like it?” She said the last two words while giving Cash a long, lingering look. Cash had Georgiana eating out of his hand after ten seconds. Then again, Cash’s charisma and charm were legendary. Even Lucia had fallen for it, however momentarily, the night before.

Georgiana was behaving as if Lucia wasn’t standing there or her presence didn’t matter. If Young’s assistant represented Holmes and White’s employee base, no wonder they’d been snowed. Lucia chastised herself for the nasty thought. What had happened at Holmes and White could have happened to anyone Clifton Anderson selected as his target.

“Sugar and a little creamer. Thanks,” Cash said.

Georgiana hurried off, not asking Lucia if she’d like something, as well.

“Was that necessary?” Lucia asked.

“Was what necessary?” He took a seat behind the woman’s desk and started looking around.

“Flirting with her. And you can’t do that,” Lucia said, setting her hand over Cash’s to stop him from searching Georgiana’s desk.

The heat that burned between them had Lucia stepping back. She had to keep these strong reactions to him in check.

“Come on, boss. This stuff is in plain view,” Cash said. “What’s the harm if I take a look?”

“Gray area,” Lucia said. Even if Georgiana were involved in the fraud, she wouldn’t have evidence that she’d leave on top of her desk with the FBI sniffing around.

“Relax. I’m not looking to get anything entered into evidence. I want a little more insider knowledge and to get a sense of the people we’re dealing with,” Cash said.

“The people we’re dealing with are the victims,” Lucia said.

“Anderson could have had people on the inside. A well-placed assistant with a lower-paying job who could be bought off,” Cash said.

Since Cash had worked with Clifton Anderson in the past, Lucia took note of the theory to explore later, though she had considered it herself. Many of the employees at Holmes and White had been questioned. Lucia would see if Georgiana was one of them.

Cash removed a small pen from his pocket. She recognized it as one of the FBI’s camera pens.

“Where did you get that?” she asked.

“Renee in IT gave it to me. She heard I was doing some interviews today and thought it might come in handy. Which it does,” Cash said.

No one in IT had ever given her a device to use in the field, at least, not without her prompting.

After snapping some pictures, Cash took a seat in a chair outside Young’s office. “Is this what it’s like to be an FBI agent? Running around the city and interviewing people?”

He made it sound easy. “Sometimes.” The work could be challenging and dangerous. Days like today were among the easier ones.

“Come on, I’m being friendly.”

“You’re making me hate that word,” Lucia said.

“Then give me a chance to get on your good side,” Cash said.

Everything he said sounded light and good-natured. It was almost harder to keep her dislike of him than to give in to his charm. “You don’t need to be on any of my sides,” Lucia said.

“There’s one side of you in particular I’ve seen and really like,” Cash said, looking at her mouth.

Her lips prickled and burned and she remembered how amazing kissing him had been. “You are something else,” Lucia said, trying to diffuse the blistering desire spreading down her body. She would not let down her defenses.

“I think she would agree with you,” Cash said under his breath, rising to his feet and taking the coffee from Georgiana’s outstretched hands.

Cash talked with Georgiana, leaning in and laughing at her lame jokes. Lucia pretended not to notice. Georgiana returned to her desk, wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Cash.

“Call me,” Georgiana said. She ran her hand down his pale green tie, fisting it at the end and pulling him a little closer to her.

Cash looked at the paper and then slipped it into his suit jacket pocket. He looked pleased and interested in the cute redhead.

Annoyance burned through Lucia. Why was it so easy for some men to win over a woman?

Lucia could think of a dozen snappy remarks to make about the exchange, but she kept her mouth shut. Saying anything would make her sound jealous and juvenile.

“Tell me. I can hear you fuming,” Cash said, taking a seat next to her.

“I’m not fuming,” Lucia said. “I’m observing.”

“I’m establishing a rapport,” Cash said, the lightheartedness gone. “If she knows something about Young or the theft, I want to know it, too.”

They waited in silence for twenty minutes before Leonard Young returned to his office. Twenty minutes of thinking about Cash when she should be thinking about the case. Twenty minutes of replaying that kiss. Twenty minutes of every nerve in her body being aware he was next to her and dancing excitedly about it.

When Young returned, he had another man in tow.

“I thought it would be a good idea to have our in-house attorney present for this conversation. He’s worried about lawsuits,” Young said, ushering them into his office. “Nothing’s been finalized with our clients and we have a lot of angry people waiting for a settlement.”

Lucia’s bull-crap meter went off. 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 have caught the accounting fraud before it reached massive proportions. She dangled the information to garner his reaction.

“Anderson did report to me. He also reported to ten other managers between his level and me. No one caught him. I was the scapegoat. Highest paid non-executive. Holmes and White wants me to take the fall.”

Lucia didn’t want Hammer to become so mired in anger that he couldn’t answer her questions. “Clifton Anderson is good at what he does. Holmes and White isn’t the first firm he’s duped during the course of his career,” Lucia said.

Hammer walked to the wet bar and opened the top cabinet. “Doesn’t change anything. They needed someone near the top to take the heat. The press has been all over me. Do you know how many death threats I receive every day? Angry people want their money back.” He threw a glass against the wall and it shattered. “News flash! I don’t have the money. I don’t have a dime to my name. Where do these people think I invested my money? The same place they did. Anderson robbed me right along with everyone else.”