Tiers (7 page)

Harold didn’t arrive home until three a.m. I can only surmise he was spending his time with the woman from the charity event. This is no surprise as I have come to expect this behavior from him. I purposely set his alarm to wake him later than usual. This way he will be rushed to get to work and hopefully forget his briefcase. All my plans rest on the hope that he will telephone and request I bring it to him.

I nurse a cup of tea with bated breath as he rushes out the door while doing his tie. The company car has been waiting for half an hour now to take him to the office so I know he will be well and truly late. The car door slams and gravel kicks up as they head off down the driveway. I exhale and rush to hit the shower.

I put on a pair of tailored pants with a severe business shirt. The bold red lippy is applied and I top the crème blouse off with a simple string of freshwater pearls. I wear my hair á la Katharine Hepburn i.e. down, wavy and side parted like she did in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. My overall look is sophisticated with an aura of power. Perfect.

The bar stool at the kitchen bench is where I seat myself as I wait for his call. My bright red nails drum the counter top impatiently and I am startled out of my reverie the minute my phone starts to chirp loudly. It is Harold. He wants me to bring him his brief case for his meeting.

‘Of course,’ I chime, before disconnecting. Blood begins to course through my body rapidly and I have to take a few steadying breaths to calm myself. You can do this, for God’s sake Katherine, get a grip!

I hurry to my bedside drawer and grab the documents Jake has given me the week before. This is going to be the nail in Harold’s coffin. I put the papers into Harold’s briefcase and rush to my car.

Show time.

****

Margaret Dawson, Harold’s secretary is waiting behind the desk in reception and she greets me kindly.

‘Good morning Mrs. Sable, Mr. Sable has asked you to wait here until he comes out for his briefcase.’

‘Of course Margaret, that’s no problem.’ I smile like butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. The all-important briefcase is placed next to me on the floor as I take up residence in a chair closest to the boardroom door.

Patience is not a shining virtue of mine, but I try to exercise some as I glue my ear to the chatter seeping through from the other side. I know the top tier of Went and Worth’s associates are seated in there, Jake included. As time passes the discussion becomes more animated until it is obvious that there is much anger in the boardroom.

Oh my word! He’s done it! He’s really done it! I have to admit I am a little freaked out right now. I steady my breathing so that I don’t hit panic mode. This is what all my careful planning and scheming has come down to and I’m not willing to admit I may be having second thoughts about all of this. If even the tiniest thing goes wrong I could end up in a jail cell myself. My mouth is dry and I swallow like I have a furry tennis ball lodged in the back of it.

Get a grip!

All of a sudden I can hear Harold’s voice boom closely near the door and Margaret and I jump out of our skin when the door bursts open.

Harold has a crazed look in his eyes and for once his slicked back hair looks a little wild. He stops abruptly in front of me and lets a sneer reach his lips before he reaches down and grabs his briefcase. As he storms back into his office I lean forward in my chair to get a glimpse into the room. Jake is sitting directly across from the door and allows me a peek at his dimples while he smiles victoriously. He winks at me right before Harold slams the door in my face.

Fuck! All manner of shit is about to hit the fan and I cannot believe that Jake and I are the instigators of all of it. The plan had been rather brilliant actually. I had, of course, wanted to get out of my divorce from Harold. Two could play the manipulative game, only I had hoped that for once I would be better at it. Jake was my knight in shining armor. Young, hot as hell, cultured and sexy … what more could a girl want? Oh yeah, he’s into me too. So I had already started to form a plan in my mind when he proposed he was willing to do whatever it took to make me his.

So I took him up on the offer.

Firstly Jake took care of Went and Worth’s accounts. Did I forget to mention he is a genius with computers and could hack the computer’s mainframe? Just another one of his many talents. He set about leaving an electronic trail of fraudulent fund transfers from the company’s bank account into Harold’s personal one. We wanted it to look legit, so he back tracked and made it look like old Harry boy had been embezzling funds from the company for years – well before we were even married in fact.

We wanted Harold’s bank in London to see that money as well, so it briefly made an appearance before it left for another destination. The stolen money needed an offshore account that it could go to so Jake set about creating one. We settled with a bank in the Cayman Islands so the money could sit earning interest for the last three months. Just long enough to register that the funds were there in the first place. The account is of course in Harold’s name.

Now, there would be no point leaving the money there. Once it is discovered that Harold has taken the money, it will be returned to the company at once. Under normal circumstances that might not be a bad thing, but Jake and I were willing to make the money work for us on many levels.

First of all we had to consider the matter of my impending divorce. Harold would surely file for one the minute he realized someone had dumped him in the shit. That someone being me of course. So enter the pre-nup which dictates that I get nothing. Not so. Jake took a third of the money out of the Cayman account and pinged it to several banks around the world before it made it to a Swiss bank in Zurich. A girl has got to love the Swiss and their privacy. No one would be able to access the details of that account unless their name was on the database.

Next up, was Felix. Now in order for Jake to have access to the top spot at Went and Worth he had to make it look like Felix was part of the embezzlement too. So he wired ten million Euros to Felix’s Barclays bank account in London the same day he made the other transfers. This for Jake was comparable to killing three birds with one stone.

First of all Felix got a silent, but very big,
fuck you from Jake for him cheating with his wife. Secondly Felix gets dismissed from the family company in disgrace and thirdly, Jake gets his seat on the board and now will have full control over Went and Worth’s future financial investments. Not bad for a few month’s work.

There was, of course, the matter of Harold’s personal bank statements. Can you believe Jake actually hacked into Lloyd’s bank and changed their registry of his transactions? Me neither but when he printed out the new copies of the statements I rewarded him with a blow job that left his knees shaking. Harold keeps all of his financial paperwork in a portfolio in his briefcase, which is precisely why he was so eager to grab it not five minutes ago. The thing that makes me laugh the most is that he will be held responsible for the missing millions I am soon to take possession of.

The shouting has escalated in the boardroom. Mrs. Dawson is looking back and forth from me to the door in alarm. She is only interrupted when the phone on her desk starts ringing.

It must be an internal call as she only answers it with a breathy ‘Yes’. She listens intently for a minute before saying, ‘Yes sir. Of course sir. Oh I completely understand sir and I will get right on it.’ The call is disconnected but she immediately picks the phone back up and starts dialing. I strain to hear her side of the conversation. Apparently security is on their way.

Judging by the sounds that are coming from the meeting, I am guessing Harold has just dug his own grave by showing the CEO’s his personal bank statements. I sit pensively and wait to see what happens next.

The lift chimes loudly in the reception area and the doors start to open just as Harold storms back out of the boardroom.

He sets his sights on me and for a minute I think he is about to strangle me. Whatever amount of decorum he has left keeps him riveted to the spot and he eyes the two security guards that step out of the lift. They stroll warily towards him, gauging if he is going to be trouble or not. I suspect they are taking him downstairs to their office while they wait for the police to arrive. A guard takes up position next to him.

‘Mr. Sable, sir, we’d like you to come with us if you don’t mind,’ one of the guards says, as the other goes off in search of Felix so that he can join them. Resignation reaches his inflamed eyes and he looks at me with such contempt.

‘You goddamn fucking bitch!’ He spits each and every syllable at me.

I stand up and glance at the remaining security guard to make sure he is in control. A slight nod of the head and I step up as close as I dare to Harold’s face. Right at this moment the rest
of the board members are spilling out and head for the elevator. They are loud and in complete disbelief at the turn of events.

‘Right under our noses’ and ‘Trusted him like family’ are snippets of their conversations that reach my ears. Despite how quickly they sweep through reception, it is eerily quiet when they are suddenly gone – taking Felix along with them.

Harold still hasn’t moved and over his shoulder I can see Jake seated at the table in the boardroom. He looks content. Only Harold, the security guard, and I remain as Mrs. Dawson has excused herself to go powder her nose. And then there were three.

‘I’m going to get you for this. Do you hear me Katherine? I’m going to fucking get you for this!’ He hisses his threats at me, but I am quietly confident with Jake lurking in the background. So close are our bodies that I could kiss him if I wanted to.

That is the last thing on my mind.

Instead, in a clear loud voice I say, ‘Harold darling, really. You didn’t think you were … Well, special did you?’
Check mate motherfucker.

I leave a very livid Harold to be dragged off by the security guard as I head towards Jake.

He is seated in a high back leather chair that commands a person’s presence. I feel a pull towards him and like a magnet I go to him unbidden.

‘Shut the door.’ His voice is husky and warm, reaching to the very core of my soul and warming me up a few degrees more. I skirt the edge of the massive table and come to stand between his knees. While one hand snakes around to grab my ass, the other palms my belly and hitches my shirt out of my waistband so he can kiss me there.
I sigh contentedly and close my eyes. This is bliss.

‘Congratulations Kate. Looks like you’re a free woman.’ The happiness is evident in his voice. I smile.

‘A very rich, free woman thanks to you,’ I say.
He continues to nuzzle my belly, his tongue darting in and out of his mouth.

‘Oh yeah, there is the question of the money.’

‘You bet! Ten million dollars is a little hard to forget about Jake.’ My hands caress the back of his neck, holding him close against my body. 

‘Well there is one smal
l teeny tiny problem,’ he says. My heart starts thudding that heavily in my chest that I fear it will stop altogether. My worst fears surface and I pray I am not about to be double crossed. A look of horror must cross my face, because Jake is quick to disperse my fears.

‘Don’t look so worried Kate.’ He pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me. His thumb rubs at the crease in the middle of my forehead that has suddenly appeared from my scowling.

‘I am worried.’ I pout for effect.

‘You’re so pretty when you frown, did you know that?’

‘Quit stalling, what’s the problem,’ I demand. He gives me a chaste kiss before responding.

‘I was merely going to say there may be a problem with the name you give to the bank in Switzerland.’ He gauges my reaction. I’m sure my expression has switched to one of confusion.

‘Explain.’

‘Well I didn’t put the money in the account in your name – well not your married name anyway.’

‘You’re killing me here Jake. What name did you put it under?’
He hesitates for the briefest of seconds.

‘Katherine Shore.’
Oh. My. God.

‘But that’s not my name Jake; that’s yours.’
I am trying to sit still on his lap, but every nerve ending in my body is quivering in delight.

‘Well that might be something we need to remedy, don’t you think?’

‘Wait! Are you asking me to …’ I cannot believe that he is going there.