“He might try to blackmail you,” Vincent replies.
Bancroft’s grin is as cold as ice. “Which means I’ll have that little shit by the balls, and it’ll be game over. Jeremy is a proud, vain bastard. He wants to climb the ladder in my firm more than anything. He’ll play along and milk you for all the cash he can get out of you.”
“Which will buy us enough time to trace the email and payment link to something more concrete,” Alex agrees with a slight nod.
“You gentlemen have my personal number,” Bancroft says. “Call me at any time, no matter the issue and no matter how late. If you need anything from me, do not hesitate to ask.”
Alex checks his phone. “Our friend in the NSA will need access to your firm’s email server and Jeremy’s company phone, among other things. We plan to track him in every single aspect of his life.”
“Have your NSA friend contact me directly, and I’ll put him in touch with the right people,” Bancroft says. “Assuming his nosing around will only involve Jeremy and assuming my clients’ privacy and the security of our cases will not be compromised in any way.”
“You have our word,” I say. “We’re only after Jeremy, Mr. Bancroft, no one else.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you lads again to celebrate the demise of our blackmailer in whichever form that takes and, hopefully, soon.”
We shake hands and escort Mr. Bancroft outside. We watch him get in the back of his car while his driver takes the wheel and follows the clear alley leading to the main road, past the pines with melting snow and the patches of green and white that will flourish into a pretty garden—like it does every spring. The sky is clear with the promise of sunny days ahead.
I try to stay hopeful, but hope never lasts in my heart, not with the ghosts of my past haunting me and reminding me of what I did and of what grand nothingness I deserve.
But whatever we’re building with Raina… I’m dead set on keeping it. She is the best thing that ever happened to me. I may not be worthy of her sweetness, but as long as I have her, I will do whatever it takes to make her happy.
21
VINCENT
“What do you think?” Luke’s voice blares through the speakerphone. “Am I good or am I great?”
“You are fucking fantastic,” I say.
Gigabytes of data unravel before my eyes, images, screenshots, texts, and video footage. When Alex brought Luke in, I wasn’t sure he’d unearth anything too out of the ordinary, yet as I look at these transaction records and bank statements from one of Jeremy’s previously unknown offshore accounts, I realize Alex’s decision to bring Luke in was the best decision he ever made, aside from getting us involved with Raina, that is.
“Jeremy’s leading quite the double life,” Luke says.
Alex is just as stunned as he flips through a copy of all the data on his tablet. Max sits quietly by the window, watching the sun set lazily over Silver Star Mountain with its snow-capped peak.
“And all this money he’s moving into offshore accounts,” Alex mutters, “is not from his paycheck. There are too many zeroes, even for a senior associate.”
“So he’s got a second source of income,” I say.
“Actually, now would be a good time for you to get Bancroft to send me a copy of their recent financial records going back at least six months,” Luke chimes in. “I’ve got a hunch, and I’d like to follow it.”
“What are you thinking?” Alex asks, his brow furrowed with concern.
Silence falls on the open line, and the guys and I exchange glances.
“If you look at Jeremy’s personal text messages, you’ll notice a few recurring threads with several gentlemen of ill repute from Portland,” Luke says. “One of them is a bookie, the second one is a drug dealer. I’m still chasing down the other two, but it’s already a not-so-pretty picture.”
“So Jeremy’s into drugs and gambling?” I ask. “I mean, we pretty much knew that.”
“Yeah, but that lawyer’s paycheck isn’t enough to cover the amounts mentioned in those messages,” Luke says. “Jeremy is getting money from somewhere. He’s putting it into these offshore accounts, and then he’s got crypto going out from a different offshore account. Said crypto is sent to three different usernames. I matched one to the drug dealer. I’ve yet to connect the others, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“We need to know where he’s getting this money from,” Alex agrees with a slow nod.
Luke sighs heavily. “And once you do figure that part out, you’ll have a solid and complete case for the cops, too, maybe even a big enough case to get the Feds involved. Get Bancroft to send me his firm’s financial records, and I’ll see what I can do. Like I said, I’ve got a feeling.”
“I’ll pass that along,” Alex replies.
Once we’re off the call, Alex, Max, and I exchange another round of glances. I see mirrored in their eyes what I feel within me: concern, anger, determination; and it all revolves around keeping Raina safe and making her happy.
