Thirty-Five
Poppy
Irocked back and forthon the floor with my knees pulled to my chest as Lisa and Officer Hughes talked in the kitchen across from me.They’d tried to move the money from his account to the one listed under Paco, but encountered an error that pissed Officer Hughes off enough that he took his frustration out on the wall, punching several holes in it.
Suddenly, the front door burst open, a gust of wind rushing inside and sending a chill through the small space.My heart raced as I tried to lift my head, hoping it was Patrick or Gage coming to rescue me.But instead, it sank when I looked at the man who stepped inside and closed the door behind him.He glanced down at me, his eyes piercing me with an odd familiarity, before he walked into the kitchen and glared at Lisa and Officer Hughes.
“You had onefuckingjob,” he snarled, leaning on the island as he stared at Officer Hughes.
“I know, Dad,” Officer Hughes said tightly.“I thought we were well ahead of everything and didn’t think they would freeze the account yet.”
“Yeah, well, it appears you weren’t.”
The man turned and walked over to me, pulling out a folding chair and flipping it around as he sat in front of me.
“Hello, Poppy.Nice to see you again.I trust your dinner was good,” he said, his voice even as realization hit.He was the man from the restaurant who had been watching me and left the note with the hostess.
My lip trembled as I clutched my knees tighter to my chest, trying to stay warm as a mixture of fear and anxiety rushed through me.
“It seems I know a lot about you, but you don’t seem to know anything about me,” he continued, his posture poised as if he were a man of sophistication.“It seems my business partner kept his word and didn’t tell anyone what we were up to, though I find that hard to believe given that he changed all of our accounts suddenly before he died.Wouldn’t you agree that it’s a bit strange that he put all of those accounts inyourname, just days before he was brutally murdered?”
His dark eyes stayed fixed on mine while I swallowed hard.Murdered.He knew what really happened.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said firmly.“I didn’t know those accounts existed until about half an hour ago.”
He nodded and looked around the room before letting his glare rest on me again.
“I find that hard to believe.”
I shrugged the best I could and tried to hide that I was shivering.
“Do you want to know what I think happened?”he pressed, leaning forward and resting his arms over the back of the chair.
I sat there quietly, not responding.
“I think that you found out about the money and joined forces with Dale to cut me out of the deals.I think that once Dale found out that the FBI had found the offshore account, you both agreed to remove him from the other accounts to keep that money safe.If you were the sole owner, you could move quickly and transfer the money into another account with the fake identification he created for you.The only problem was that you killed him before that could happen.”
