“Damn it; just give it one more try. I’ll see her in the office tomorrow, and I’ll find out what she’ll do in the evening. I’ll make sure you’ll get her alone. Please, help me out.”
He heard Billy inhale sharply several times until he finally spoke. “If you weren’t married to my sister, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Okay,” he paused again, “but this time you’ll tell me the whole story. Then I’ll decide if I continue to help you. I’m not gonna risk my neck for you blindly anymore. Family only goes so far.”
“It’s better if you don’t know too much.” As much as John wanted his brother-in-law to help him get him out of the mess he was in, he thought it safer if Billy didn’t know everything.
“Bull. Start talking or I’m out.” Billy’s various brushes with the law had given him a badass attitude.
“Promise me you won’t tell Karen anything about this.” John didn’t want his wife to know what he’d done. They were fighting enough about everything as it was.
Billy grunted in agreement.
“I cooked the books. It was really simple at first, just some accounting entries, and I wrote down equipment to scrap value. After that it was easy to sell it and pocket the extra money. It helped. We needed the money after we bought the new house.” John knew it was no justification for stealing, but he’d really had no other choice. The interest rate on his mortgage had spiked, and he couldn’t make the payments anymore.
“That’s it? Sorry, but that’s not enough reason to get rid of the auditor,” Billy declined flat out. “You don’t even know if she’s going to find out.” If Billy only knew what was really going on, but he couldn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut.
“She’ll find out; she’s one of the best. I’ve checked her out.”
“So she finds out, and you’re gonna get a slap on the wrist. Big deal.”
“I’ll lose everything.” John still couldn’t tell him about the man who was blackmailing him. No. He was too afraid of him to even mention him to Billy, as if the man would find out somehow. “Please, Billy. Do it for Karen.”
There was a long pause during which he almost thought Billy had disconnected the call.
“Okay, but this is the last time. If she gets away again, you’re on your own. And you’ll owe me another grand.”
“Thanks, Billy.” John flipped the phone shut. Billy was the least of his problems. At least he could manipulate his brother-in-law into almost anything. And with a rap sheet as long as his arm, Billy had enough resources at his hands to make things happen. Plus he was always in need of money.
John dreaded the phone call he had put off all evening.
Once he’d started cooking the books he’d thought his troubles were over, but then one day he’d received a phone call from a man who knew what he was doing. The man had started blackmailing him. In exchange for his silence he’d asked for access to the company books. John never asked what the man wanted, figuring the less he knew the better.
Now, with the unexpected arrival of the auditor from New York, he was worried that she’d find what he’d done. His career would be finished. Not only that: he would be criminally prosecuted. But that wasn’t even the worst. The man had told him to get rid of the auditor, or he in turn would get rid of John.
John had never seen him and only spoken to him on the phone. He didn’t even know his name, but he knew the man meant business. Whatever his blackmailer was up to, it was a much bigger fraud than the few thousands John had embezzled. Why else would he need John’s logon and password to the company’s systems? And why else had he requested to take care of the auditor?
As John dialed the number, he secretly hoped he would get his voicemail, but he knew chances were not good. No matter what time of the night he called, the man picked up, whereas during the day he often reached only his voicemail.
“What is it?” the familiar male voice answered.
“She got away again.”
“I know.”
“How?” John didn’t feel comfortable that he was already aware of his screw-up.
“I have eyes and ears everywhere. You should have gotten her when you had a chance. Now she’s being protected, and I’m going to have to take care of it myself. Idiot!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, you will be when I’m done with you. I need another week, and if you can’t get her or any other auditor out of those books until then, I’m going to have to find somebody else to do your work. Do you understand me?” His voice was sharp.