“I know,” Eddie said. “I don’t either.”
This really sucked. If he was being followed, then his boss was behind it. It seemed to him that going in to work was exactly where he would be in the most danger. And yet, if he went in and pretended that all of this wasn’t happening, maybe Bryce would think that he wasn’t a threat. After all, Marty didn’t really know anything, and other than feeling like he was being followed, and the guy at McDonald’s, he didn’t have much to go on. “It could be a coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in them,” Eddie said right away. “If you saw the same person following you as you did at your office, then there’s a reason for it. Did he say anything to you?”
“No. He just looked at me and then left just before you and Brian arrived. He didn’t order anything. He just watched me, and it felt creepy.”
“I’m going to call Brian and let him know that we’re up. Then we can sit down and figure out what we’re going to do next. We need to have a plan. If this is a money-laundering scheme, then we need to get to the bottom of it. I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I will do what I can to protect you.”
Marty nodded. “But if I’m at the office, what can you do? It’s not like you can go into the office with me. So I’ll be on my own.”
“Yes and no. Let’s wait until Brian gets here.” He made a call while Marty kept himself busy by cleaning up the breakfast dishes. By the time Marty finished, he found Eddie in the livingroom, still on the phone. “Okay. Well, that tells us something. Once you get here, we’ll discuss next steps.” He hung up.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone tried to get into your apartment last night. A neighbor heard them in the hall and called the police. They were in the neighborhood because Brian had added your area to regular patrols. We’re still gathering evidence, but they didn’t get in.”
“But it does tell us that someone is after me. That I’m not imagining things.”
That in itself was a relief and frightening at the same time.
“Yes, and it also changes our course of action.”
Marty nodded. “And Brian…?”
“He was at home, but he said he’s on his way and should be here pretty soon. Though….” Eddie stood and went into the living room, then came back. “I suggest you prepare for the onslaught.”
“Of what?” Marty asked as the front door opened. Brian came in, followed by another man, and a pair of boys ran in, surrounding Eddie to get hugs. They were maybe five and eight or so.
“You remember Brian,” Eddie said as he straightened up, still holding the youngest boy. “This is his partner, Kerry, and these are Henry and Phillip.” He grinned as he said the latter name, and the youngest buried his head against Eddie’s shoulder. “There’s no need to be shy. This is a friend of mine, Mr. Marty.”
“Hello,” the oldest said. “Uncle Daddy said that you needed our help.”
Marty glanced back and forth between the boys until Kerry took pity on him. “I’ve been raising them since their mother passed away. Brian helped us back then, and he’s been in our lives ever since,” Kerry explained, and took Henry’s hand. “Youtwo stay here with Uncle Brian and Uncle Eddie while I bring in the things we brought.” He left, and once again Marty was more than a little confused.
“We know that Eddie has nothing in the house. He never does. All he eats is takeout, so when he said we needed to talk, Kerry came along and brought reinforcements.”
“And sustenance,” Kerry added as he came back inside with two cloth grocery bags. “Who wants to help me?” Henry went along with him as Phillip raised his head, whispering to Eddie.
“You know where they are,” Eddie said, and set Phillip down. He ran off and returned with a small tub that he took the lid off of and dumped the contents on the floor. Legos—lots of them. Phillip sat down and began building something with a great deal of intensity.
“Bring me up to date,” Brian said, and Marty let Eddie do the talking.
“How do we proceed?” Eddie asked once he was finished. “I’m assuming we will need to request all the bank records.”
“That’s been done. Based on what Marty gave us, I submitted and received a warrant for all that information. I know it’s Saturday, but I’m hoping to have the details today. We also requested any information of funds transferred to and from all of their accounts. I’ve also contacted a few people in the know who have their pulse on this sort of thing. None of them know anything at all.”
“That sucks,” Marty said.
“Maybe not,” Eddie added, and Brian nodded.
“When no one knows anything at all about this kind of thing, it means it’s been kept very quiet, or that its way too hot to handle and none of them want to touch it or talk about it because they’re too damned scared.”
“Yup,” Marty said softly. “Leave it to me to get involved with a firm that’s dirty. I had a bad feeling about this place,and I should have gone with it. They have six stores and do a decent business, but you should see the office. You’d expect a place that’s utilitarian, but it’s palatial, with new furniture and fancy tables and chairs. My boss’s office is paneled and has nicer furniture than anything I have. Even my desk costs thousands of dollars.” He sighed and wondered how he got himself into this kind of mess.
“You weren’t to know, and you weren’t the one involved.”
“No. All I did was keep the books and log the sales and stuff. I bet if things were to heat up, they’d find a way to dump everything on me and then they’d be gone.” The worst thing was that he was going to need to find another job… again. His boss was a bit of a jerk, but the place was nice, and they treated their people well. He was paid well, and he’d thought he was valued. But all that was to keep him in the dark and away from what was really going on. “What do we do?” He turned to Brian.
