Chapter 7 - THE TRANSFER AT MIDNIGHT
Claire checked the time.
10:41 p.m.
“What do you mean, ‘yet’?”
Mark’s eyes flicked toward Joe.
Joe looked like he wanted to kill him.
Mark swallowed.
“The transfer is scheduled.”
“For when?”
“Midnight.”
My pulse kicked.
Claire asked, “How much?”
“Four point eight million.”
“Destination?”
“Three LLCs.”
“Controlled by whom?”
Mark didn’t answer.
Tracy did.
“Me.”
Everybody looked at her.
“What?”
She shook her head quickly.
“I didn’t know. Joe opened companies in my name. He said they were for real estate investments.”
Joe shouted, “Don’t say another word without a lawyer!”
Tracy stared at him.
“You’re worried about me having a lawyer now?”
Claire took out her phone.
“We need emergency notice to the bank.”
Mark shook his head.
“It won’t matter.”
“Why?”
“The instruction is authenticated.”
“By Sarah’s forged signature?”
“And her security token.”
I looked at him.
“My what?”
Joe smiled.
A tiny smile.
That was when I realized he thought he still had a way out.
Mark looked ashamed.
“Your corporate token. The physical one.”
I knew exactly where it was.
“My home office.”
Mark shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
I turned toward Joe.
“You took it.”
He said nothing.
Tommy suddenly went pale.
“Mom.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“When Dad came downstairs, he wasn’t trying to get my USB.”
Joe’s eyes snapped toward him.
Tommy continued.
“He asked me where your purse was.”
My purse had been in the coatroom.
I ran.
Claire followed.
We reached the coatroom and found my bag on the counter.
Open.
Wallet inside.
Phone inside.
Keys inside.
The small leather sleeve containing my corporate token was gone.
Claire swore under her breath.
Joe appeared in the doorway.
“Lose something?”
I stared at him.
“You really think you’re walking away from this?”
“I think you’re hysterical.”
There it was.
The word Eleanor had planned to use against me.
Hysterical.
Joe looked at the officers.
“My wife has been under tremendous emotional stress for years. Caring for Tommy has been difficult.”
Tommy stood behind him.
“I’m right here, idiot.”
“Tommy!”
“No. You keep talking about me like I’m a disease.”
The pain in his voice shut everybody up.
My anger changed.
Until that moment, I wanted Joe exposed.
Now I wanted him gone from my son’s life.
Claire stepped close to Joe.
“If you possess Sarah’s authentication device and use it for a fraudulent transfer after notice of revocation, you are creating evidence in real time.”
Joe smiled.
“Prove I have it.”
A phone rang.
Joe’s phone.
He glanced at the screen.
Just for a second.
Tommy saw it.
So did I.
BANK SECURITY.
Joe declined the call.
Claire noticed.
“Give the device back.”
“I don’t have it.”
Mark started laughing.
Not happy laughter.
Panicked laughter.
“Oh, man.”
Joe turned.
“What?”
“You didn’t read the update.”
“What update?”
“The bank changed the verification rules this morning.”
Joe’s face tightened.
Mark looked at me.
“Any transfer over two million now requires biometric confirmation from both authorized parties.”
Claire exhaled.
“So Joe can’t move the money.”
Mark shook his head.
“He can.”
“How?”
Mark looked toward Joe.
“Because three weeks ago, he added a second authorized party.”
I knew the answer before he said it.
May you like
Still, hearing the name made my stomach turn.
“Eleanor Vance.”
