When he uttered the word lonely, he glanced at me.Does he think I’d be dumb enough to fall for a stunt like this too?
Pete continued. “They usually select a victim under the lure of romance. These felons frequent dating sites and other social media platforms. The criminals charm the person, usually a woman. It’s not uncommon for them to go so far as to hire someone to meet with the victim in person. And then, when they feel like they sufficiently earned the mark’s trust and affection, they concoct a story. The tale they use can vary greatly, but the one constant is they arrange to have money wired into this woman’s account. Then they ask her to immediately wire it to another account, which she does without thinking twice. And depending on how quickly the bank catches wind as to what is going on, she may unknowingly send out her entire life savings.”
Jamie said, “I’m single and looking for love and can’t imagine ever being so gullible.”
Has she lost her mind? This tart got us into this mess, and all she’s worried about is making sure Pete knows she’s free and available?
Pete let out a small, nervous-sounding laugh. Then his dark blue eyes met mine. “Sadly, there are a lot of lonesome people out there who make very bad decisions in the name of love.”
Yeah, like crushing on you!
I forced myself to look away as tears pricked my eyes. I needed to hold tight to my composure. I focused my eyes on Sanchez. “So, what do we do now? How can we get the money back? Is this something our cyber insurance plan covers?”
“Ladies, I’m sorry,” the detective said, “I think that will be a dead end, because the wire was initiated from this office. If someone hacked the system and withdrew the funds from an account, it would be a different story.”
“The bank alerted us to the scam. Can’t they return the money?” Sydney asked, hopeful.
“It’s possible,” Pete said. “But highly unlikely. If they contacted you, there was enough activity on the account to alert them that something wasn’t right. I am sure you aren’t the only company to have sent money to this account. You may get lucky and get a small share back, but most likely, the money has already been moved to numerous accounts and probably out of the country.”
Sydney buried her head in her hands. I asked, “So, are you trying to tell us there is nothing we can do?”
Pete shook his head. “No. You’re doing everything you can. You’re speaking to us. We will investigate this matter and most likely it will get escalated to the FBI. Try to take some solace in knowing you are not alone.”
Was that pleasure in his voice?
“Solace?” I shrieked. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
“Waverly,” he said in a placating tone, but I ignored him.
I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe, and I turned to Sydney. “I’m sorry. I need some air.” I stood up and walked as quickly as I could out of the conference room.
“Are you okay?” Jill, the receptionist, asked when I passed her desk. I nodded my head but didn’t speak. I didn’t trust my voice not to break.
I felt horrible to leave Sydney alone with the cops and the harlot, but I had to get out of the room. I needed distance from the condescending jerk who was busy making gaga eyes with my co-worker instead of trying to help.
I walked to the staircase as fast as I could without drawing unneeded attention to my emotional state. Then I raced down the steps and out of the building. When I reached the parking area, I headed to the rear of the large lot and leaned against the fence. I closed my eyes, covered my face with my hands, and released the sob I was clinging to.
It snowed the day before and the temperature was in the single digits, but I barely felt a chill as I cried. When I heard footsteps approaching, I assumed it was Sydney, coming to check on me. Instead, it washim.
“What?” I said as I wrung my hands.
His eyes slowly traveled from my head to my toes and then back to my face. “Are you okay?”
“Like you care.” I wiped a tear away from my face with the back of my hand. “Does it look like I’m okay?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I held up my hands.
“No. Don’t you dare say another word to me. You’ve already said enough in there.” I pointed at the building. “I get it. I screwed up.”
“I never said that.”
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes. “You most certainly did, so don’t pretend otherwise. I saw the smug glint in your eyes.”And I also saw how you ate up Jamie’s attention!“I hope you enjoyed every second of seeing me suffer. I’m sure you think I deserved the anguish, and more.” I wiped another tear away from my cheek. “And maybe you’re right, but I don’t think so. I am no longer the child you once knew.”
I caught sight of his bare ring finger.Unbelievable! While he was supposed to be focused on taking our statements, he slipped off his band and pocketed it. Was he afraid Jamie would stop throwing herself at him if she thought he was married?
Pete tilted his head to the side. “Waverly—”
“No, don’t.” I pointed to my chest. “I’ve spent the last few weeks agonizing over my adolescent actions. If I could go back in time and change things, I would, but I can’t. I can only focus on the here and now, and the type of person I grew up to be. The only good that came out of today is, finally, I realized I was a genius as a child. Who would have thought I came up with the perfect nickname for you because you are a total d—”
