Chapter 21
“Victor, I’m sorry, I have to leave,” Callie explained, turning off her phone and putting the second part of her plan in motion. The first part had been coming over to see him with Jonathan today. She’d arranged for Heather to call her at this time.
“But you’ve just arrived a few minutes ago, Callina,” he complained. “I haven’t seen my grandson in close to a month. Whoever that was on the phone, tell them you’re currently occupied.”
“I wish I could.” She filled her voice with regret. “But it’s my boss. Apparently one of my accounts has some problems they need cleared up right away. If I had my laptop, I could do it here, but I never thought to bring it.”
“Do you needyourlaptop, or will any computer do?”
Victor was playing right into her hands.Appear thoughtful. Really sell it.Picking up her purse, she dug through it. “I think I might have the flash drive with the information I need. Yes, here it is.”
She held up the metal in her hand. “I would need access to the internet and an hour or two of uninterrupted time. If you could keep an eye on Jonathan, then I can do it here. But I hate to put you out. We can always come back another day.”
“Nonsense, I was planning on spending the day with both of you anyway, Callina. I can take Jonathan to the playroom, let him bounce around for a while then Oscar can feed him lunch. Would that give you enough time?”
“It should, hopefully. My boss is e-mailing me the account sheets they’re having problems with then I need to find the errors and fix them.”
“Then let’s get you started. This young man is itching to go play.”
They walked down the hall to Victor’s office and she hid her smile. This was working out perfectly. But would she be able to access Victor’s files? What would she find in the safe?
Victor switched the computer on and she looked around the room. “Could I use the printer? Sometimes it’s easier to see mistakes when they’re in print. I might be able to work faster that way.”
“Of course, dear.” He typed in his password and the screen came on. “It’s all hooked up and ready to go. Use whatever you need.”
“Thank you, all I need now is access to the internet and maybe some pencils and a calculator.”
Victor pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked his desk drawer. “There should be office supplies in there. Make sure to remind me to lock that up again when you’re done.”
She spied a few flash drives and discs in the drawer. Bingo. This could be exactly what she needed. As long as no one barged in while she was working, she might be able to find some good information, if he did indeed keep it here.
Sitting down at the desk, she logged onto the internet then gave Victor a big smile. “Thank you, this should be perfect. As long as my little friend here is occupied, I can get this done with no problem.”
She reached out for Jonathan, who had been remarkably patient while they were in here. “Give Mommy a kiss and be good for Grandpa. He’s going to take you to the playroom.”
Jonathan wrapped his arms around her neck and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. She hugged him tighter. If this went as planned, she and Jonathan might finally be free of Victor. It needed to work.
“Go have fun,” she said, kissing his cheek.
“Pay woom, Dampa,” Jonathan shouted and jumped up and down. Victor sighed, took the boy’s hand and walked out the door.
Waiting a few minutes, she finally got up and locked the door. She’d come up with some excuse for it being locked if Victor tried to come back in. For now she didn’t want to be disturbed.
First item on the agenda was the safe. It took her a few tries to get the brick out but success came about and the wall safe was exposed. Turning it to the correct numbers, she was rewarded with the click of the tumblers unlocking. There were many things inside but what caught her attention the most were the stacks of banded money. She picked one up. Hundred dollar bills. Holy cow. There had to be half a dozen stacks of these.
Taking a deep breath, she put them down then flipped through the documents inside. She wasn’t sure exactly what some of them were but she made copies on the printer/scanner then tucked the copies into her purse. There was a flash drive in there also. Plugging it into Victor’s computer, she made a copy onto her own flash drive. E-mailing it to herself would be smart also so she spent some time doing that as well. After putting everything back exactly the way it had been she closed the safe and replaced the brick.
Moving back to the desk, she took out the flash drives that were in Victor’s drawer. She inserted them and started searching through the files. Within minutes she had found dozens of accounts like the ones she’d discovered on Angelo’s computer years ago. She inserted another flash drive and copied everything over then began a search of Victor’s computer.
By the time it came up on two hours, she felt triumphant. If this information couldn’t get Victor put away, nothing could. Plus, she’d found the names of everyone who was on his payroll. This was what they really needed. These were the people hiding evidence and getting Victor off on any charges against him. Judges, lawyers, bankers, cops, and even a few FBI agents. Bank statements of their payoffs were doctored to look legitimate but Callie had found the originals too. She couldn’t wait to get this to Jack.
Of course she couldn’t wait to see Jack period. It had been a few weeks since she’d seen him but after spending so much time together at Christmas, she missed him even more. Jonathan had asked about him incessantly too. And telling him she was pregnant was of utmost importance. Would he be happy about it? Hopefully.
If all this information worked, then Jack would be able to see his son whenever he wanted. But would he want to be with her permanently? He’d worked out of the New York office when she’d met him. Could she live with him always being in danger? Risking his life daily?
Callie tucked her flash drives safely away in her purse then made sure everything else was exactly as it had been. It wouldn’t do to have Victor know what she’d been doing in here. But if this information was as useful as she thought it was, soon she wouldn’t have to worry about Victor Cabrini at all.
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