Swindler's Revenge by Ellen Butler

Author:Ellen Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Power to the Pen
Published: 2021-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Josh and I had removed our vests, returned the weapons to the armory, and were now gathered around the kitchen island with Rick and Mike reviewing the materials laid out in a line from end to end. Bank statements with Mike’s parents’ information on them—annuities, checking and savings accounts, and a money market account. Another group of financial papers Mike identified as belonging to his brother-in-law’s architecture firm.

The phone had been dropped into a plastic baggie and whisked away upon our arrival by a red-haired, narrow-faced fellow who I’d never met before. Nobody bothered to introduce us. I assumed he was an elusive tech ops guy by his pale computer tan. Mike scolded me for putting my fingerprints on the phone, possibly destroying evidence. I highly doubted a man this smart would’ve left fingerprints behind. Pointing this out, I turned to Rick to see if he’d back me up. He merely shrugged and said his men would check it out.

“That’s a lot of your family’s private information, Mike. How could he have acquired all this? How long would that take?” I sat on a stool, pressing an ice pack to my shoulder.

Mike put down one of the pages. “Clearly, he’s been working on this for a while. Matheson was a financial genius. It’s why he got away with his crimes for as long as he did.”

“Do you think he hacked into these records?” I asked.

He rubbed his beard. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility,” he mused.

Rick stared hard at Mike. “Banking systems are some of the most challenging institutions to hack. They make a lot of money and pay for top-of-the-line encryption services to keep people out.” Mike didn’t respond, and Rick’s phone interrupted our discussion. “Donovan. Yes . . . I see. Have you figured out who and when?” Rick went silent for a few minutes, listening and nodding. His frown intensified and the worry lines between his brows deepened.

It took a moment for me to realize Josh and Mike were staring at my fingernails drumming on the countertop. I whipped my hand away and moved the ice to my knee. Rick stepped into the hallway to continue his phone conversation out of earshot. Mike studied another bank statement.

Josh opened the fridge and held up a water. “Want one?”

Mike and I shook our heads. Josh cracked his open and drank deeply.

Rick returned and planted his palms on the counter. “That was the head of security at the stadium. After the evacuation, I asked him to check their monitoring systems. It seems their security cameras were hacked.”

“When?” I asked.

Rick kept his eyes on Mike as he answered, “Six weeks ago. An entire week of footage has been erased.”

“So, we have a vague idea when Matheson planted the materials,” Mike murmured.

“And how he has been monitoring the section since then,” I added.

“Yes, and yes,” Rick confirmed.

“Can you get street-cam footage of the surrounding area for the week the stadium cameras went dark?” I asked him.

Rick’s face remained passive, but Josh’s nostrils flared.

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