Chapter 21
VINCENT
“What do you think?” Luke’s voice blares through the speakerphone. “Am I good or am I great?”
“You are fucking fantastic,” I say.
Gigabytes of data unravel before my eyes, images, screenshots, texts, and video footage.
When Alex brought Luke in, I wasn’t sure he’d unearth anything too out of the ordinary, yet as I look at these transaction records and bank statements from one of Jeremy’s previously unknown offshore accounts, I realize Alex’s decision to bring Luke in was the best decision he ever made, aside from getting us involved with Raina, that is.
“Jeremy’s leading quite the double life,” Luke says.
Alex is just as stunned as he flips through a copy of all the data on his tablet. Max sits quietly by the window, watching the sun set lazily over Silver Star Mountain with its snow-capped peak.
“And all this money he’s moving into offshore accounts,” Alex mutters, “is not from his paycheck. There are too many zeroes, even for a senior associate.”
“So he’s got a second source of income,” I say.
“Actually, now would be a good time for you to get Bancroft to send me a copy of their recent financial records going back at least six months,” Luke chimes in. “I’ve got a hunch, and I’d like to follow it.”
“What are you thinking?” Alex asks, his brow furrowed with concern.
Silence falls on the open line, and the guys and I exchange glances.
“If you look at Jeremy’s personal text messages, you’ll notice a few recurring threads with several gentlemen of ill repute from Portland,” Luke says. “One of them is a bookie, the second one is a drug dealer. I’m still chasing down the other two, but it’s already a not-so-pretty picture.”
“So Jeremy’s into drugs and gambling?” I ask. “I mean, we pretty much knew that.”
“Yeah, but that lawyer’s paycheck isn’t enough to cover the amounts mentioned in those messages,” Luke says.
“Jeremy is getting money from somewhere. He’s putting it into these offshore accounts, and then he’s got crypto going out from a different offshore account.
Said crypto is sent to three different usernames.
I matched one to the drug dealer. I’ve yet to connect the others, but it’s only a matter of time. ”
“We need to know where he’s getting this money from,” Alex agrees with a slow nod.
Luke sighs heavily. “And once you do figure that part out, you’ll have a solid and complete case for the cops, too, maybe even a big enough case to get the Feds involved. Get Bancroft to send me his firm’s financial records, and I’ll see what I can do. Like I said, I’ve got a feeling.”
“I’ll pass that along,” Alex replies.
Once we’re off the call, Alex, Max, and I exchange another round of glances. I see mirrored in their eyes what I feel within me: concern, anger, determination; and it all revolves around keeping Raina safe and making her happy.
“There’s a lot about this guy that Raina clearly didn’t know,” I say after a while. “The drugs, the gambling, whatever the hell he’s doing over at Bancroft, this stuff didn’t just show up overnight.”
“It’s not the byproduct of their relationship ending either,” Alex replies. “Going over the transaction records alone, I see they go back years, since he was in his early twenties.”
“Which means he played quite the part with Raina,” Max says, “the pretty boy lawyer, the charming fella who was suddenly too good for her, that piece of shit.”
“On the plus side, all of this makes it even likelier that he is the blackmailer,” Alex says. “As soon as Luke confirms it, we’ll have the bastard in chains—literally. The Feds will have a field day with him.”
“And Bancroft will destroy him in civil court, too,” I reply.
It sounds like a picture-perfect scenario, but we still have a long way to go before we get there.
We paid one ransom; requests for another will arrive soon.
I don’t mind paying. Like Bancroft said, we’ll find a way to get it back from whoever is doing this, but there is something else bothering me.
“Have either of you wondered what this guy’s endgame is?” I ask.
Alex looks at me curiously, eyebrows lifted. “What do you mean?”
“It can’t be just $450,000. The photos are worth way more than that; I’m sure we can all agree on that. And if it’s Jeremy, is it really just about the money?”
Max runs his fingers through his hair. “I’m guessing there’s a darker motive at play, perhaps it’s revenge, or just a pathological need to make certain people miserable. It could be that this was always about something else, and the money is just an added benefit.”
“Either way, time is of the essence,” Alex says. “The money probably bought us a few more days, maybe a week. The person behind this will blow through that cash. You don’t go into blackmailing people if you’re otherwise fiscally responsible.”
“The clock is ticking, brothers. If we don’t get ahead of this, it’ll blow back on Raina sooner or later,” I say.
Max clears his throat. “Speaking of Raina, do we tell her?”
“No,” Alex says and shakes his head, “not yet, anyway. We’re moving into Black Swan territory now. She needs a clear head and room for her vision to play out. We can handle this ourselves.”
I agree. Raina has been through enough. She’s had to fight for every morsel of success, for every bit of good news, for her whole life.
Jeremy hurt her enough. The mere hint that he might be the one orchestrating this blackmail attempt could shatter her emotionally. She’s worked hard. She deserves peace.
And love.
I plan on giving her all of that and more.
By any means necessary.