The Severed Thread (33 page)

“I know,” I said, feeling like a complete shit.  And even though I felt horrible, I got sidetracked by the blood on Alexander.  How had Alexander gotten blood on his clothes?  I turned back to Jonathan who was crisp and clean.  Not a drop of blood.

“Alexander, that’s enough,” Jonathan said, his dominance blazing into the confined space.  I tensed as I felt another presence flare behind me.

 “Please tell me you aren’t blaming Ms. Lassiter for the shoddy security your wolves provided?” said McCallister coldly.  Just what I needed, Liam McCallister stirring up Jonathan and an already pissed off Alexander.

“Where were your people vamp, while our wolves were defending your little elf?” Alexander asked.

McCallister wrinkled his nose.  “She smells so strongly of dog that it would seem she is more your little elf than mine.”

“Look,” I said in irritation.  “Speaking of smells, the stench of testosterone in here is getting overwhelming.  If you boys could crank it back a notch, I would really appreciate it.”

 “Fucking vampire,” Alexander growled before turning on his heel and stalking out the front door.  Jonathan watched him go before turning his scowl on McCallister.   I really needed to thank Jonathan for his help but it felt awkward with the two men glaring at each other. 

“Thanks for you know… taking care of Luca,” I said.  He looked puzzled and then the wrinkles in his brow smoothed out as if something suddenly made sense.

“That wasn’t me,” he said, shaking his head.  “I was across town when Samantha called, so I got here later than everyone else.  As I understand it, Alexander was the first one through the door.”

“Alexander?”  My mouth dropped open.  He didn’t even like me. 
Did he?
  Beside me, McCallister cleared his throat.

“Abigail, we need to talk.  In private.”  He looked pointedly at Jonathan who just glared back.

“It’s alright,” I assured Jonathan.  “I do need to speak with him.”  He didn’t look happy about leaving but he gave me a single nod before turning down the hall.

McCallister and I followed him into the foyer.  Having a vampire at my back had the hair on my neck standing at attention.  The only consolation was that there were too many people in the house for him to do anything to me at the moment.  I knew he had most likely opened that first container and was ready to murder someone, no matter how calm he appeared at the moment.

As soon as Jonathan was through the door, McCallister turned his angry gaze on me.  “It seems that yet again, something that belongs to me is missing.  You have exactly one minute to explain.”

“The container that Lok indicated did not contain anything other than what was listed on the manifest,” I explained in a rush.  “Someone on your end messed up, which I’m not too happy about by the way.  He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off with a raised hand.

“And before you
freak out
, my contact noticed something odd in another container and informed me.  He passed the container through customs and it was successfully offloaded.  I had just tracked your items to their current location when I was detained by the psychopath and his sidekick.”  I jerked my thumb over my shoulder towards the kitchen where Andrei and Luca’s bodies were still cooling on the floor.

“The pallets are in a high temperature cold storage room at this warehouse,” I said, walking to my desk and writing the information down on a slip of paper.  “I assume Lok has some way of telling which pallet is the correct one?”

“He does,” he said, nodding.

“Good, I confirmed the items you wanted are there.  I read the energy signature on two pallets.  Someone on your end fucked up with the loading, so you are going to have to go get it yourself,” I flopped down on the couch, holding my shirt together.  “I’m done today.”  I closed my eyes and waited.  When I didn’t hear anything for several minutes, I opened my eyes. 

McCallister was still standing where he had been a moment ago.  He had obviously been waiting for me to open my eyes again.

“I will have my people retrieve the items.  If the merchandise is not there, I will be back before daybreak,” he warned before heading towards the front door.  As he got to the hall, he turned back.  “And for the record, I never
freak out
.”  He curled his lip at me, showing a large amount of fang before heading out the door.  I breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone.

It was late, or should I say early by the time all of the Interspecies Bureau people had cleared out and the bodies had been removed.  Thankfully my night did not include another visit from the tall and moody fanged one.  I could only assume that he was able to retrieve the Sapphire.  As soon as I was alone I showered, slumped into bed and proceeded to sleep straight through until mid-afternoon. 

I didn’t awake until Samantha called to let me know that she had hired a company that specialized in disaster clean-up to help with the mess in the kitchen.  They arrived at just after three to scrub the blood in the kitchen that I couldn’t bring myself to touch.

When the house was finally clean and the debris from the Interspecies Bureau had been cleared out, I checked my email.  There was a note from Nemesis that contained an attachment.  The attached file outlined two sets of pension fund balances, and a series of transactions that would have the Attorney General’s office at our office door with a search and seizure warrant.  The transactions outlined in the document followed the money as it moved from the pension fund then into another bank account administered by Jamison Financial where it was withdrawn as cash over the last few months.  Then, last week, there were two large deposits that nearly had the balances back in order. 

What the hell was going on?  If we were ever audited, it was likely someone was going to jail.  I didn’t understand the need to move around all that money just to replace it.  And what had my father needed all that cash for in the first place?

I picked up the phone and called my parent’s house.  My mother answered. 

“Mom, is the old man home?” I asked.

“I really wish you wouldn’t call him that, you know he hates it.”

“I know,” that’s why I do it, I thought to myself.  “Is he there?”

“No, he’s still at the office.  He called and said he was going to be late this evening,” she said.  “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine,” I lied.  “I just needed to talk to him about a few things.  Maybe I will swing by and see him.”

Chapter 30

I pulled up in front of the office at just after seven-thirty.  My father’s car was in its usual spot.  I passed through the lobby, nodding to the guard as I headed for the elevators.  When I reached the fifth floor, the reception area was quiet, most everyone having left hours ago. 

When I reached my father’s office, I stood in the open doorway watching him shuffle through papers, making notes here and there.  I studied him, wondering what my mother had ever seen in this man to make her want to marry him.  Had there ever been a time when he was warm and vibrant?  A time when he hadn’t been motivated by politics and greed? 

  “Abigail, I told you before that it’s annoying when you lurk,” he said without looking up from the papers on his desk.  “Did you want something?” 

“Yes, actually, there
is
something I wanted,” I said, walking into the room.  “Did you ever get a chance to look into the pension fund statement I showed you?” 

“I did.”  He put down his pen and leaned back in his chair as I made my way towards his desk.  “It was just a mistake on the form.  Samantha should be receiving a corrected statement tomorrow.”

“Well, I really want to thank you for clearing that up for me.  Maybe you can help me sort these out as well,” I said as I carefully placed a print out of the attachment from Nemesis on his desk, making sure that the page showing all of the cash withdrawals was on top.  He looked at the top sheet, even leafed through the other pages.

“You’ve been busy,” he said when he finally looked up.

“That’s it?  All you have to say is ‘You’ve been busy’?” 

“What do you want me to say?  That I have no idea what is going on?  That I don’t know what you are showing me?” he asked as he got more comfortable in his chair, leaning back and crossing his ankle over his knee.  “We both know that would be a lie.”

“What I
want
is an explanation.”

“I had a cash flow problem after the last election and I borrowed from the pension fund,” he said, shrugging.  “All of the money is back now, so there is no real problem.”  He made it all sound so reasonable, like he hadn’t committed a crime at all. 

“Just a little borrowing, huh?” I said sarcastically.  “If we ever get audited, the Attorney General’s office is going to crucify us!  The company will be done and you will end up in jail.”

“I can assure you, that is
not
going to happen.  The money is back in the account and the statements will all be corrected,” he said, splaying his hands in front of him on the desk.  “If an auditor comes, everything will appear correct.”

“How are you going to explain the move to Jamison Financial?” my eyes narrowed suspiciously.  “Are they even a real company?”

“We simply tried a different firm and it didn’t work out.  That’s the truth in a roundabout way.  All the money is already scheduled to be moved back to Ferris Investments next week.”  He ignored my question about Jamison Financial being a real company.  That seemed to be an answer in itself.

“And, let me guess, you expect me to just go along and help you cover all this up, right?”

“I had hoped you would never know,” he said.

“I’ll bet you didn’t,” I muttered.

“But now that you do,” he continued as if I hadn’t interrupted.  “Yes, I do expect you to stand behind the family business and keep your mouth shut.  I mean really Abigail, all of the money is back now and all of the employees have their pensions intact.  No one was hurt by this.”  I looked at him askance, sure I was missing something important.

“Where did you get the money to replace what you
borrowed
?”

“Well isn’t that a good question Quentin,” Liam McCallister asked from where he stood framed in the doorway.  I hadn’t even heard him approach.  “One I would really like to hear you answer.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“The same as you Abigail, I came to ask some questions and clear a few things up,” he said to me before turning back to my father.  “So Quentin, I believe your daughter asked a very good question.  Where did the money come from to replace what you stole from the pension fund?”

“Stole?” my father sputtered.  “I didn’t steal anything?  How can I steal from my own company?”  My father’s composure seemed to have completely slipped now that McCallister had arrived.   

Liam laughed softly and shook his finger at my father like he was an errant child.

“Oh Quentin, I think you stole many things from many people,” he said.  “But, if the semantics bother you, I’ll ask it as Abigail did.  Where did the money come from to replace what you
borrowed
?”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” my father said, rising to his feet behind the massive desk.

“When people steal from me, they do need to explain,” McCallister growled.  The office lights dimmed in response to his anger.  Darkness coalesced around him, creating a menacing nimbus that moved with him as he glided into the room.  He stood between my father and the door, his eyes two glowing embers looking out from the gloom.

“Steal from you?” I said in confusion before my world tilted.  “Oh my God,” I whispered, turning to my father in disbelief.  “You stole the Sapphire out from under Jason to pay back the money you embezzled from the retirement fund?”

“Oh, it’s a bit worse than that,” McCallister said.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” my father said at the same time.

“Oh really, then where did the money come from?” I said, my anger building.  “It had to come from somewhere.”  The street value of the Sapphire had to have been at least two or three times the 1.2 million McCallister originally paid for it.  Conservatively, that would be 2.4 million, aggressively 3.6.  Plenty of buffer there for everyone to get their cut and dear ole’ dad still have enough to settle up with the pension fund.

“And you!” I said rounding on McCallister.  “You killed Jason for something he didn’t even do!”  I yelled, before pointing at my father.  “You should have gutted
him
!”

 “I keep telling you that
I
did not kill Jason,” the darkness shrouding McCallister shifted with him as he walked towards me.  He stopped when he was a scant two feet away.  “To be honest; before we met in my office at River Walk I thought you had killed him.” 

What?
Me
?

“That’s crazy.”  Why would anyone consider for a minute that I had killed Jason?

“You have to admit that you seemed the most likely candidate, especially to someone who knew about the Sapphire shipment as I did.”  Some of the murky darkness clinging to him thinned as he spoke.  “You and your brother worked very closely together, so it seemed likely you knew what he was up to.  I made the logical jump and assumed that you tried to reap the profits from his new business venture.  Then, when I questioned you, Lok confirmed that you had no idea about Jason’s agreement with me.”

“I would have never hurt him,” I said vehemently.  He was trying to distract me.  It had to have been him.  “You on the other hand thought you had at least three million reasons to kill him.” 

“Since that night at River Walk,” he said, ignoring my comment, “I have had my people digging up everything they could find out about Jason’s friends and associates, including their financials.  In the process I found some interesting things out about you Quentin,” he said turning his glowing eyes on my father. 

“You cannot believe anything this creature says,” my father interjected.  “He is
dead
for Christ sake!”  He looked half crazed, the tick in his right eye going wild.