Chapter Six #2
“We first began to look at Piedmont four years ago after a series of personal stock trades set off alarms within the SEC. Their investigators, working in concert with ours, convinced Armstrong to flip on his partner twenty-two months ago, which is when Piedmont took off.”
“Any idea where Piedmont went?” Green asked.
Hill shook his head. “He’s considered a fugitive.
During the time Armstrong went from this,” Hill said, clicking on the happy, smiling photo of Armstrong, “to this.” He clicked on the gray-haired version of the same man.
“He conducted a complete internal investigation that yielded far more than insider trading concerns. Piedmont had gotten involved with organized crime, was up to his eyeballs in a number of different rackets and was suspected of at least two murders, both people who’d gotten in the way of his schemes.
When Piedmont learned that Armstrong had turned on him, he sent an email to Jameson from an untraceable account that put him on notice that he’d get even if it was the last thing he ever did.
And that Jameson—and his family—should be very, very afraid.
That’s when it was decided that the Armstrong family had to go into some sort of protective custody far away from Silicon Valley. ”
“I’ll never understand how someone makes billions of dollars and isn’t satisfied,” Jeannie said.
“I was wondering that, too,” Green said. “What does it take to be happy?”
“Armstrong handed Piedmont to us on the proverbial silver platter,” Hill continued.
“He spent months sifting and digging through company records and servers, working twelve, fourteen, sometimes sixteen hours a day until he had what he felt was the complete picture of Piedmont’s activities in the years since APG was founded. It was one hell of a dossier.”
“Could we see it?” Sam asked.
“I’m telling you everything I can.”
“I thought this was a collaborative partnership?” Sam asked. “I see how this is gonna go.”
“I got you the dental records you needed, didn’t I?”
“Is this all you’re going give us? The rest is on us?”
“I’m giving you the deep background on why Armstrong was under protection. That’s info you didn’t have an hour ago.”
“When you say he was under protection,” Jeannie said, “does that mean witness protection?”
“Not technically,” Hill said. “That would’ve been our preference, but Armstrong refused to give up everything he’d worked so hard for because his partner had turned into a lying, cheating scumbag.
In cooperation with the SEC and the FBI, Armstrong and Gorton dissolved the corporation and sold off the stock at bargain basement prices.
Their investors took a loss, but that’s the risk you take when you play the game with the market.
The only one we were after on criminal charges was Piedmont.
“Armstrong’s personal assets weren’t impacted by the investigation, so he was able to afford to live under an assumed name in a five-million-dollar house in Chevy Chase, send his kids to an elite private school and keep his life and the lives of his wife and children very similar to what they were in California. ”
“Did people from his life there know where they were?” Green asked.
Sam noticed that Gonzo was studying the screen but didn’t seem engaged in the conversation.
“We believe their family members did,” Hill said, “but no one else. They quietly left town after APG shut down operations.”
“That would explain why the Beauclairs have no social media presence,” Jeannie said.
“Right,” Hill replied. “They were instructed on the importance of keeping a low profile until we’re able to apprehend Piedmont.”
“Where does that part of the investigation stand?” Malone asked.
“I wish I could say we’re close, but we’re not. He literally disappeared into thin air, which leads us to suspect he either had help or he’d been planning to make a run for some time. He has the resources to stay deep underground for the rest of his life.”
“What kind of security did the Beauclairs have after they were under your protection?” Green asked.
“They had a fairly sophisticated home security system that included panic buttons they both wore around their necks. We believe that the perpetrator recognized the medallions as panic buttons and removed them from their persons. I checked with the monitoring company and learned that the system had been deactivated yesterday morning, per usual, and was never reactivated last night. The couple had declined active surveillance within their home, and because the system wasn’t activated during the day yesterday, there’s no footage from the time period in question. ”
“Is there any chance at all that the murders and the fire aren’t related to Piedmont and what happened to the company?” Cruz asked.
“Highly doubtful,” Hill said.
“So the FBI’s theory is that Piedmont took them out?” Malone asked.
Hill nodded. “Or he got someone to do it for him, so Armstrong won’t be able to testify against him in the trial that was going forward without the defendant.”
“Wouldn’t that put the other partner, Gorton, at risk, too?” Sam asked.
“We have him in protective custody as of this morning, but he wasn’t the linchpin in our case against Piedmont. Armstrong was. Without him, our insider trading case isn’t as strong, but we still have enough to go after him on other charges.”
“The thing I don’t get is why go to the trouble to relocate your family and change your name if you’re not going to take it all the way to full witness protection?” Jeannie asked.
“After speaking with agents involved in Armstrong’s case, I learned that his wife resisted full witness protection. She couldn’t handle being permanently separated from her parents and sisters.”
“Even if it meant staying alive?” Sam asked.
“Apparently.”
“How would Piedmont or anyone know where to find them?” Gonzo asked.
“He had a new name, new city, new address. I assume they were given new Social Security numbers, passports, licenses, etc. It’s not like their family members would tell the guy who caused this where to find them. So how would he find them?”
“We believe Piedmont would’ve been able to track Armstrong through his business contacts,” Hill said. “Armstrong continued to be involved with the software he’d founded while living here as Jameson Beauclair.”
Sam’s phone rang, and she took the call from the fire marshal. “Holland.”
“We found the Beauclair kids,” he said. “Alive.”