Chapter 7
7
Mateo looked up at the stately building from a bygone era. It was out of place against all the new construction in downtown Annapolis, but that made it all the more impressive. He walked across the street to a coffee shop and sighed when the clerk seemed confused when he ordered just black coffee.
“You know, we have a lot of different coffee drinks, right?” the kid, who couldn’t be more than eighteen, asked him.
“Yep, I see your menu.” Mateo pointed to the menu on the wall. “I just want a coffee.”
“Cream or sugar.”
Mateo remained patient. “Black means no cream or sugar.”
The kid frowned as he looked down at his register. “Oh, yeah.” He pressed a bunch of buttons. Seriously, why did a plain cup of coffee require that many buttons?
“What’s your name?”
“Mateo.”
“Ma-What?”
“Matt.”
The clerk wrote his name and order on a cup.
“Okay, Matt. Go wait over by the barista. Your order will be up in a few minutes.”
He looked at the empty area over by the barista.
Really? A few minutes?
He wandered over to the barista. By the time he got there, his coffee was waiting for him. He looked over at the barista and saw a young girl who smiled at him.
“We give free refills for coffee. Come back whenever.”
Now that was how it should be. He tipped his head at her. “Thanks.” He walked back to the register and threw in a couple of bucks to the tip jar, then found a comfortable seat to sit down. He pulled out his smartphone to see if Gideon or Jada had any more info on MacLaine Simpson for him.
There it was, something from Jada and it came with all the opinions and humor he’d come to expect from her.
Apparently, MacLaine had started working for the bank in the management trainee program nine months ago. He had graduated from Clemson University with honors and was part of a well-respected, aka snooty, family in Charleston, South Carolina. The family had money. Lots of old money. Chances were, daddy pulled strings for MacLaine to get into this program, since over one hundred people had applied.
He's dirty, that’s for sure, because within six months of starting at the bank, he liquidated almost a quarter of a million worth of gold coins from Fredson’s Gold and Antiquities which he then dumped into his bank account, and he bought himself a condo right in the heart of Annapolis.
He’s our man, Mateo. You find a way to take him down and find out all his secrets.
Mateo grinned as he read the last two lines. He definitely intended to do just that. But he wasn’t going to start with an all-out frontal attack. This required some reconnaissance, i.e., a phone call. Then some finesse.
He crossed his ankle over his knee and leaned back in the comfortable chair and dialed the number to the bank across the street. And wasn’t it a pleasant surprise when a human answered, and not some fake computer-generated voice who tried to herd him toward one department or another?
“Hi,” he said to the woman on the other end of the line. “I’m thinking about transferring some of my money from my current bank to Lionel. It’s rather complicated, and a friend suggested I talk to Mr. Simpson.” He was careful to keep all hint of his Spanish accent under wraps. He didn’t want to be identified when he showed up later.
There was a pause on the line. “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have a Mr. Simpson who works here at the bank. I’m sure one of our personal bankers can assist you.”
“No, my friend was pretty specific that MacLaine Simpson was the man who could help me.”
The woman laughed. “Oh, you mean Lainey. She’s not working in the personal banking department anymore. Now she is in the Compliance and Regulatory department. I’m sure someone else could help you. Arthur Stevenson is great and he has availability today. Do you want me to make you an appointment with him?”
“Let me talk to my friend and see if there was somebody else he worked with at your bank. I really do like to work with recommendations. I’m sure you understand that.”
“Oh, I do.”
“Thank you for all of your help. What was your name again?”
“Penny Durby.”
“Well, Penny, you have been extremely helpful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Mateo peered off into space as he considered how to approach MacLaine “Lainey” Simpson. It shouldn’t put a different spin on things that she was a woman, but it did. Not that a woman wasn’t capable of being a criminal, or a murderer for that matter, but it would definitely change his approach.
His mother had always been so fond of quoting Steven Hawking. “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
So, he’d adapt.
“Hello, this is Lainey Simpson,” she said as she picked up her phone.
“Lainey, I have Cliff Ackerson from the FBI on the phone for you. He wanted to talk to Mr. Pine, but I told him you could help him.”
Lainey looked over to where Janice was typing at her computer. She couldn’t see her screen, but she’d bet next week’s manicure that she was on her social media account.
“Penny, I think that?—”
“Have a heart,” Penny interrupted her. “He sounds nice. Don’t make me send him to the piranha.”
Lainey stifled her giggle. They were going to have to go to dinner soon. She missed her girl time with her friend. “Fine. Pass him through.”
There was a click on the line.
“Hello, this is Lainey Simpson, with the Lionel Security and Trust Bank Compliance and Regulatory Department. How can I help you?”
“I think Penny might have told you. My name is Cliff Ackerson and I’m a Special Agent with the FBI.”
“Yes, she did, Agent Ackerson.” Janice’s head jerked up, and she glared over to Lainey’s desk. “How can I assist you?”
“This is just a routine check. I need to set up a meeting with someone in your department to go over some of the new AML reporting standards.”
She frowned. “Why would you need to do that? If there is some new reporting standard, won’t that just come through the FBI portal? Or is there something specific that our bank has done that has brought attention to the FBI?”
Janice was darn near shooting daggers at her with her eyes.
“No, it’s nothing like that. Your bank was one of the twenty lucky banks in the Mid-Atlantic region that won this special attention,” he chuckled. He had a friendly laugh.
“Oh, okay.”
“I can’t make it over there until late. I have an appointment in Richmond, then I’ll be coming your way, but I’ll have to make my way through DC traffic. What time do you leave?”
“I leave at six.”
“I should be able to get there before then.”
“I look forward to meeting you.”
“Same.”
He hung up and so did she.
“Who was that?” Janice demanded to know.
“An agent from the FBI.”
“Why are you handling somebody from the FBI? If Mr. Pine isn’t available, then I usually handle the Feds.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, the call came to me. Agent Ackerson didn’t leave his number. He said he would arrive late. You’ll probably have to stay late to meet him.”
“Oh, hell to the no.” Janice pointed one of her red talons in the air. “I have a date tonight, and I’m expecting good things from this guy. Like appetizers and everything.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll be handling the FBI.”
“Well, don’t blow it. The last thing Mr. Pine is going to want when he gets back is to have the Feds breathing down our neck.”
“Thanks for the advice.” Lainey looked back at her computer and the nightmare that was the cryptocurrency files. Would these ever end?
Mateo kind of felt like shit, just a little bit. Knowing that Cliff Ackerson would never show up for a meeting with a good Southern girl, Lainey Simpson. He’d been living in Virginia for almost ten years now, but he didn’t think he’d ever heard such a sweet, honeyed Southern accent like Lainey’s.
“Do you have what I need?” he growled at Gideon.
“I have almost everything. You’ll be getting a download in fifteen minutes.”
“Seems to me like this is coming eight hours too late.”
“Quit busting Gideon’s balls,” Jada groused. Apparently, Gideon had his phone on speaker. “I’m the one who did the background check on MacLaine. I’m the one who missed that MacLaine was a woman. Seriously, who names their girls Bennett and MacLaine anyway?”
“Bennett?” Mateo asked.
“Yeah, that’s her sister’s name. Apparently, it’s a deep South thing to give the girls first names that are family surnames. I’m going to have everything for you soon. Including her driver’s license, all of her financials, her address, and her dress size.”
“Will it include the make and model of her car?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Why do you want to know that?” Gideon asked.
“Now that we know our MacLaine is Lainey, I’m going to do the chivalrous thing and fix her flat tire tonight. And if my skills are still up to snuff, I’m going to take her out on a date.”
“You know, this makes even more sense now,” Jada said.
“What does?” Mateo wanted to know.
“Lainey was living with mommy and daddy down in South Carolina. She was living the high life. She had a Mercedes AMG that they bought her, but now she’s driving around in a Toyota Corolla. Something tells me our little girl didn’t like living under mommy and daddy’s thumb, but she was missing the money.”
“But how did she get involved with the Kraken?” Mateo asked.
“Well, that’s your job to find out now, isn’t it?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, it is. Send me the file. I’ll talk to you two later.”
He hung up and went over to the barista. “Can I get a refill to go?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled.