Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) (18 page)

She watched Derry slowly move toward his house. Why’d he have this kind of effect on her, causing her to tell everything?

He acted sweet about it. Like he really cared. Could he? Or was she just a new charity case for him? Maybe that’s what she’d been all along.

Derry slid open the back door, and disappeared inside. This would be the last glimpse of him she would ever see.

A new ache formed deep inside.

Oh, why can’t I find someone like him, who would really love me? Love me in spite of my past.

She pounded her fist against the wall a few times before spinning around and rushing to the bedroom. She threw herself on the bed, and buried her face in her pillow. Hiding from the world, she cried herself to sleep.

Chapter 38

D
erry sat at his desk, completely zoned out. His mind wasn’t on his work, it was on Sara and the childhood she endured. How could anyone be so cruel? The foster family was more than cruel, they were downright evil. He drifted back and forth between anger and pity. Anger at the family, anger at the system, anger for not being able to take that past away, anger for not being able to stop what they’d done. And pity for Sara, pity for what she’d endured, pity for her having to live with the memories, pity for how she must think of herself and others.

The music from his phone tugged him back into this world. It was playing Lamar’s ring tone.

Not Lamar, not now.

His hand acted on its own, as much out of habit as thought. “Hey.”

“Have you got the name of that bank yet?” Lamar’s voice was impatient.

Sitting up straight in his chair, Derry shoved the emotions aside. “No, not yet. I’ve been—”

“Look, I need the name today. I could get a warrant to search the records myself, but you said you’d get it.”

“Sorry, I’ll get right on it.”

“Good. I need it by ten. Think you can get it to me by then?”

Derry checked the time. It was a little past eight. “Should be able to.”

“I’m counting on you.” The line went dead. Something was up. This was out of character for Lamar.

Derry slid his phone back into his pocket and placed his hands on the keyboard. Taking a short quick breath, he resolved to learn the truth, no matter where it led him.

As he typed, he said a silent prayer for Sara.

***

“I found another account under Sara’s new name.” Kai sat at her desk. Levy paced behind her.

“Where?”

“It’s here in Denver. There’s not much in it. Less than ten grand.”

“Tap into it and move the money out.”

Levy’s pacing irritated Kai, making it difficult to stay focused. He stopped occasionally to check her progress.

Kai had anticipated this. She’d spent all day Sunday breaking into the bank’s computers. She was ready. “No problem. I’m all set up.”

“Good. Move that money, along with the money in the Nigeria National account into my new account. I want her broke, penniless. Here’s the password for her Nigeria account.” He handed Kai a slip of paper.

She typed as she talked. “It’ll take about twenty minutes for all the transfers to go through.”

Levy won this round against Sara. Sooner or later, he won every round. Sara was stupid to steal his money. If she had just left, he might have forgotten about her after a while. She might have gotten away. But Levy would never let her keep his money.

“Once you’ve verified the transfers, send Sara this message. It should flush her out.” Levy handed Kai a second sheet of paper. Without waiting for a response, he pivoted toward the door and left, taking the tension with him.

***

Sara woke earlier than normal. From her dark living room window, she watched Derry getting ready for work. Once he was gone, she lay daydreaming on the couch. Part of her wanted to talk with him one more time, but how could she face him after she had confessed her past? Now he knew what she really was.

Betty’s words came back to haunt her. “
Men don’t want a woman like you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?
”

Rousing herself, Sara needed to get moving. Derry left for work over an hour ago, and she would never see him again.

Nevertheless, she was drawn to the house. She used the excuse of leaving him a note. What would it say? Forgetting the note, she walked into his bedroom and took a seat on the edge of the bed. This is where she really first met him. He saved her life. Even with all the pain from that day, she remembered feeling safe when he was in the room with her. She ran her hand under his pillow as a small tear formed in the corner of one eye. Why couldn’t she have a normal life? Why couldn’t she have someone like Derry?

The answer was clear. It was because of what she was—dirt. She stood and headed out of Derry’s home, and out of his life. She entered the guesthouse and went straight for her computer. It was time to get to work. She couldn’t leave any traces behind of who she was or where she was going. The computer needed to be wiped clean.

Turning it on, she checked her email one last time.

Sara,

I have your money, all of it. You are now broke and completely worthless. Next, I will have you. Without any money to pay off your friends, they will give you up. Vance is waiting for you.

L

The message sent a shiver down her spine.

He has my money? All of it? How?

Sara logged into her offshore account. It was empty.

He knows my new last name. How? That’s impossible.

Had Levy found her other account? She checked her local bank. Also empty.

She glanced toward Derry’s house. Could he have told Levy? Why would he do that?

“
Men don’t want a woman like you.”

Can’t be true; Derry wouldn’t do that, would he?

Determination to survive overtook her emotions. It didn’t matter if Derry told Levy her last name. In a few hours she’d be gone and free of them.

She should never have let her guard down. Derry got too close. She stayed too long. She checked the time. Nine-thirty. There was more than enough time for everything she had to do.

First things first. She needed a new account, one Levy wouldn’t find. It had to be a numbered account, leaving no tractability to her. An account in the Bahamas should do the trick.

After forty minutes of searching the attributes of the numerous banks located on those islands, she set up her new account. She came up with the password using her mother’s birthday coupled with the year of the first Unix system, 1969. The password was the inverse, in hexadecimal, of that date. This was something she could remember, but no one else was likely to figure out.

Now, she needed to set up a route for the money that Kai couldn’t follow. That took another two hours.

Sitting back and rubbing her hands on her pant legs, she was ready for payback. She pulled up Levy’s newest bank account information and logged in using his password. He and his goons had been busy. The amount of money in his account exceeded six million dollars. Enough to help her get over a broken heart. She started the transfer. It would take another hour or two to complete. If she wanted to get out of the state tonight, she had no choice. She had to leave before she could verify the transfer. She had to trust that it would go through.

It was time to head to Estes, and retrieve her passport and new credit card. Sara started reformatting her computer’s hard drive before heading to the closest bus stop.

She went over her plans in her head as she walked. First, take the bus to DIA to catch the shuttle up to Estes. After retrieving her passport and credit card, she’d head to Cheyenne. None of Levy’s boys worked up there. She’d get there later than she had hoped, but still in time to buy a ticket and catch a flight. For the first leg of the trip, it didn’t matter where she went, as long as it put some distance between her and Levy. With some of his men in New York, California seemed like a good direction.

As the bus came around the corner, Sara stepped up to the curb. The bus rolled past her a few yards before coming to a stop. She marched toward the door when something on the bus caught her attention. She glanced up. Sitting next to the window was Russell, one of Levy’s runners.

Halting in mid-stride, a knife cut through Sara’s heart.

What was he doing here?

They’d found her.

But Russell hadn’t seen her, or at least he didn’t act like he had. His eyes, along with his long pointed nose, were facing forward. He was watching someone getting off the bus. Sara made an about face and quickly walked in the opposite direction. After the bus pulled away, she paused to think.

Now what?

Taking a bus anywhere was out. Levy had his runners riding them, watching for her. They were probably at the airport too. He might even have someone in Cheyenne. Sara walked aimlessly for a while to make sure no one was following her, and to think. She needed Derry’s help one more time.

***

As Derry logged onto his computer, he fought with his heart. He had to do as Lamar asked, but he wondered what he would do if Sara was involved with the credit card thefts. Did she have a reason to do what she did, an excuse, after what she’d been through?

No
, of course not. Self-gratification was never an excuse to steal from others. She was smart. She didn’t need to steal to make a living. He couldn’t understand why she would do this.

He pulled up the files pertaining to Jasper’s from the Nigerian government website, and began sifting through them, one by one.

On the fifth document, he hit pay dirt, a document issued by Nigeria National Ltd. It was a poor facsimile, making it difficult to read, but he was able to make out the name and address of the bank that covered the loan. He had the information Lamar needed.

Without thinking about it, or stopping to question his feelings, he pulled out his phone and made the call.

“I’ve got the name of the bank.”

“Let’s have it.”

“It’s Nigeria National Limited in Abuja.”

“Hmm, thanks for your hard work,” was all Lamar said.

“Need the address?”

“Got it. Thanks.” The line went dead.

Chapter 39

S
ara paced nervously around the guesthouse, thinking. How could she get this to work? She couldn’t leave the country without her passport—it sat in Estes Park. Even with the changes to her hair, taking any kind of mass transit was out. Close up, she still looked like herself. She needed a car. She needed Derry’s help.

Hearing him pull up, she ran her fingers through her hair. It was almost dry. She stepped out of the guesthouse as Derry came around the side. “You’re home early.”

He stopped. “Your hair!”

From his expression, she wasn’t sure if he liked it. She didn’t. But that didn’t matter. The change was a necessity. She plastered on a confident smile. “Like it?”

“Uh—I just never figured you for a blonde at heart. You cut it, too.”

Sara took a few steps toward Derry, and placed her fists on her hips. “Are you saying you don’t like blondes?”

Derry gave her a smile. “Hair color’s not what matters. You can color it however you like.”

“Good.” Sara let her hands fall to her side.

Derry lost his smile as he stared down at her. “Are you changing your looks so those men can’t find you?”

“Maybe. I—I need to go up to Estes today, but I’m afraid. I hoped changing my hair would help me feel safe enough to go.”

“Estes? But that’s where they grabbed you. Why would you want to go back there?”

She played off her previous lies. “The reason I was in Estes a couple of weeks ago was to run an extension of my program. The triple encryption algorithm. But when I came out of one of the stores, I saw the men who had been hanging around my apartment. They followed me up there. I was scared.”

Sara paced, staring down at the ground as more lies formed into a better story. “I had a copy of my program with me, stored on a jump drive. When I saw them, I rushed into the closest place I saw—a post office. I couldn’t let them get a hold of the program. I mailed the jump drive to myself, in care of general delivery in Estes Park.”

“So this jump drive is sitting at the post office, waiting for you?”

“Yeah, I need to get it back. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could ruin everything.”

Derry moved closer to her and peered into her eyes. “I see why you need to get up to Estes.”

“But I’m afraid to take a bus. What if one of those men happened to see me?”

“I can give you a ride. How about if we head up there this weekend?”

Not soon enough. Levy was closing in fast.

“I’ve put it off too long already. I should have gone last week. What if it goes into the dead letter box, and someone decides to see what’s on it? That would be a disaster. I need to go today. Can I use your car? I’ll have it back by ten at the latest.”
If I come back.

Derry pulled out his phone to check the time. “You’ll never make it before the post office closes. How about if I take you in the morning? I’ll fire off a message to my boss, telling him I’m taking tomorrow off. Once we get your jump drive, we can grab some pizza and maybe head into Rocky Mountain National Park. Maybe we could do some light hiking, if you’re up to it.”

Sara
looked
Derry over. A bodyguard, and another day with him. She shifted her gaze to meet his. “Sure, that would be nice, but not too long of a hike. I don’t want to push it.”

***

The sun was setting earlier each night as fall replaced summer. After dinner, Sara and Derry sat comfortably talking on the back porch. The sun made its way behind the mountains, and the temperature started its downward journey. Sara began to shiver, and moved into her home. Derry opted to stay out and enjoy the cool evening.

Using his laptop, he sent an email to his manager, informing him that he would be taking some personal time off the next day. Closing the lid, he mulled over the planned trip. Every day he spent with Sara seemed to add to his bag of conflicting emotions. Was she a good person in a bad situation, or was he being used? Did she see him as something to throw away when she was done with him, or did she genuinely care for him? His gaze kept gravitating toward Sara’s windows as she moved around her living room.

Hearing Lamar’s ring tone, he slowly reached for his phone. Was it bad news?

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Are you alone?” Lamar’s voice was soft.

Derry lowered his. “Just me and my laptop. Why?”

“Sara’s not around?”

“She’s in the guesthouse. What’s going on?”
Bad news
.

“We need to talk. Can you get away without her knowing?”

“Not likely. My car’s parked in front of her house.”

“You won’t need your car. Can you meet me at Curtis Park in twenty minutes?”

“Sure, it’s only a few blocks away. Is this about the banking info I gave you today?”

“See you in twenty minutes.” The line went dead without Lamar answering even one of his questions. That wasn’t like him.

Glancing Sara’s direction one final time, Derry rose and moved into his house. He dropped his laptop off on the kitchen table before grabbing his jacket. Heading out the front door, he cut across the street before passing in front of his driveway. Walking quickly, he hoped Sara didn’t look out the window.

Now to face Lamar.

***

Apprehension built as Derry approached Lamar’s car on the driver’s side.

Lamar’s window was down. “Get in.”

Derry walked around the front of the car to the passenger door. He squeezed in. There wasn’t much room with the radio, computer, and other equipment filling the center of the car. Lamar turned on the inside lights. A folder rested on his lap.

“So what’s with all the cloak and dagger?” Derry tried to cover his concerns.

Lamar looked out the front window before he spoke. The cool night seemed to get warmer with each passing second. “The information you gave us was right on the money.”

“You found who’s behind the credit card ring?”

“We’re closing in. With the bank name you gave us, we were able to track the money to a couple of accounts that appeared to be involved, but then we lost the trail.” Lamar turned his head and looked at Derry.

The look posted a wall between them.

“What do you mean, lost the trail?”

“We began checking the accounts this morning. Knowing the amounts of many of the transfers made it easier to narrow down which account was used for the credit cards. The money was then transferred to a second account.”

“So you found the account. What’s the problem?” Was Lamar accusing him of something?

“What have you
told
Sara?” Lamar’s penetrating stare unnerved Derry.

“About what?”

Lamar let out a long slow breath. “What does she know about your research on Jasper’s loan?”

Derry thought back. Had he said anything about it around her? “Nothing. I never mentioned it when she was around. You’re the only one that I talked with about it.”

“Did you make any calls that she could have overheard?” The wall between them was starting to crack, little by little.

Again Derry thought back. “No, the two times I called you about it, I was at work. I can’t remember any other time it would have come up.”

“Ever say anything to Kevin or Natalie about it?”

“No, why would I?” This line of questioning was becoming nerve racking.

Lamar faced the front window again, as heavy silence enveloped the car. After several long seconds, he started with the questions again. “Was any of the information stored on your laptop at any time?” He turned toward Derry, waiting for the answer.

“No, I kept it all at work. Why all the questions about Sara? Did you find something on her?”

Derry felt the wall between them collapse as Lamar picked up the folder sitting in his lap. “I said we thought we had the account.”

“Yes.”

“There was over six million dollars in it earlier today. We were about to set up a monitoring program on it.”

“And?”

“When Todd went in to initiate the program, the account was empty. All of the money was moved today, just before lunch, less than two hours after we found it. And whoever moved it knew what they were doing. We haven’t been able to trace it.”

“And you think Sara’s behind it?” Derry’s heart raced.

“Yes, or at least I did. It’s just way too convenient that the money disappeared on the same day we found it, shortly after you called me. Someone knew what we were up to.”

“But Sara couldn’t have known anything about it. So is she in the clear?”

Again Lamar didn’t answer the question. “We’re setting up a trace on Jasper’s merchant service activities. If he’s involved, we’ll know soon.”

“What about Sara? You still think she’s involved?”

Lamar slowly turned toward Derry. “What’d you say your girlfriend’s last name was?”

Derry rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants. “Ramos. Why?”

Lamar pulled the tip of a picture out of the folder. “You sure it’s not Beckwith?”

The name she had used at Jasper’s. “Beckwith?” Derry repeated, playing dumb.

Lamar slid the whole picture out. Derry’s gaze fell on a younger Sara. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen. She was skinnier then, if that were possible. A plaque with her name on it was at the bottom of the picture: Sara Beckwith.

“You sure this isn’t your Sara?” Lamar handed the picture over.

“Where’d you get this?” Derry held it in both hands, staring.

Retrieving it, Lamar flipped it over. “Sara Beckwith, five feet one inch, weight ninety-two pounds, eyes brown, hair brown.”

He glanced over at Derry. “Charges were brought against her for hacking into her foster parents’ computer system and stealing their bank password and account information. She used it to steal four thousand dollars of their money.”

“Did she do it?” He knew the answer was yes.

“The family said they would drop all charges if she returned the money. She was lucky they let her off.”

“There’s more to the story than that.” The words slipped out before Derry thought about how Sara might feel about Lamar knowing her side.

Lamar raised an eyebrow. “You knew about this?”

How much should he say? Would it matter? Was he telling Lamar to help Sara or to justify his own actions? “She told me and the Knights about it.”

“What’s her side?”

Derry relayed most of what Sara had said, leaving out many of the personal details.

Lamar flipped through the file as Derry talked, reading and listening. When Derry finished, Lamar set the folder aside. “Some of that’s in here, as her side of the case. But she withdrew all charges against the family. There wasn’t any evidence to support her charges.”

“They had better lawyers. They got the evidence thrown out.”

Derry sat quietly as Lamar spent several minutes rereading the file. Closing the file and setting it down, he turned his attention back to Derry. “I’m sorry her life was so rough. That doesn’t change the fact that she might be breaking the law, stealing money from others.”

“But what if she’s trying to go straight?”

“If that were true, why is she hiding in your backyard? Why hasn’t she stopped the theft?”

Good questions.

“I’m getting a warrant to search her apartment, your home, and your guesthouse, and to bring her in for questioning. If she’s behind this, there’s not much I can do for her. She’ll do time.”

Lamar’s words hit Derry.

“She wanted to go up to Estes tomorrow.”

“Did she say why?”

Derry told Lamar about the jump drive.

“And you’re going with her?”

“Yeah, I was going to drive.” He had been looking forward to spending the day with Sara.

“Go ahead and go.”

“What? But I thought you were about to arrest her?”

“The warrant’s only for questioning at this time. I don’t have enough evidence for an arrest. But depending on what’s on the jump drive, I might. Go ahead and take her up there, but you had better bring her back.”

“I will.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I was hoping to make a day of it.” Derry’s thoughts turned bittersweet. It could be his last day with Sara.

“Go ahead. I’ll delay the warrant another day. But she better be there, when I come knocking.”