Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
Poppy
My head throbbed when I opened my eyes and looked around, no idea where I was. Lisa immediately came into view as she stared at me with something that felt like disgust.
“She’s awake,” she said to someone over her shoulder before stepping back and folding her arms over her chest.
“It’s about time,” a male voice answered.
I tried to sit up, my body weak and my head disoriented. Then he came into view, and my heart stopped as I realized who it was. He wasn’t wearing the uniform he had on earlier when he delivered the autopsy report, but his face was unmistakable. He was Officer Kearton’s partner.
“We don’t have much time. We need the passwords to the bank accounts, and you’re going to give them to us,” he said, standing in front of me as he stared into my eyes, his dark and narrow.
“I... I don’t have any passwords,” I stammered, looking from him to Lisa.
“Don’t fucking play with me,” he warned.
“I’m not. I have no idea what accounts you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Lisa asked, stepping forward and glaring at me. “Don’t play stupid, Poppy. It doesn’t look good on you.”
“I seriously don’t know what accounts you guys are talking about. I only have one bank account, and I’m pretty sure it’s overdrawn at this point. I can give you the—”
“Enough!” Officer Hughes boomed, his name coming to me as I recalled seeing it pinned to his uniform earlier. “Cut the bullshit and just give us the information!”
I held my hands in front of me, staring at both of them. I shook my head, then realized my whole body was shaking. It was no doubt due to the lack of food today, combined with the stress of being kidnapped and getting yelled at for something I didn’t have answers to.
Lisa grabbed a laptop and slammed it down on the table beside me.
The room wasn’t very big, and I still had no idea where it was.
But there was a lamp on the table beside me that was turned on, so wherever it was had electricity, which made me think it wasn’t just a random abandoned place in the middle of nowhere.
She pulled up the online banking website and turned the computer to face me.
“Put the information in now,” she snarled, shoving it at me.
“Lisa, I swear to God, I don’t know—”
Before I could finish my sentence, she backhanded me across the face, sending my head back against the hard wall. The pain immediately flooded through me as I blinked and tried to focus.
“I’m not fucking playing, Poppy. Dale went in, removed himself and the other person from the account, and added you. I want to know why,” Lisa said, her face red with anger.
“I don’t know why he would do that. He never said anything to me about any of this. If I had the information, I would give it to you. But I don’t.”
“Then I suggest we call and get it,” she sneered, pulling out her phone and swiping her finger across the screen before pressing the speakerphone button.
A few seconds later, an automated message for the Coyote Creek Bank filled the silence. I watched as she pressed the button to speak to a customer service representative.
“When they answer, you’re going to tell them that you need to set up online banking for all of the accounts you’re listed on,” Lisa said quickly. “Do you understand me?”
I nodded, hoping that it was already past closing time and no one would be there this late on a Saturday. It had been forever since I’d gone into the bank, so I didn’t even know what their business hours were today. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side when a woman answered a few minutes later.
“Thank you for calling Coyote Creek Bank. This is Sasha. How may I help you?”
Lisa raised her eyebrows and shoved her phone toward me, demanding that I speak.
“Hi, ummm... yes, I need help... um... setting up...” I paused for a moment, too panicked to get my words out.
Officer Hughes pulled a gun out from behind his back and stepped closer, pressing it against my temple. I closed my eyes and felt my jaw tremble with fear.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that. What did you need help with?” Sasha asked.
“Online banking,” I rushed out, opening my eyes to find Lisa and Officer Hughes watching me. “I have a few accounts that I need to set up online banking for.”
“I can help with that. Do you have the account numbers?”
“I do not. Are you able to look me up by name?”
“Absolutely. What name would they be under?”
“Poppy Grant,” I answered.
“Please give me a moment while I pull up the accounts.”
I nodded, though she couldn’t see me. While I verified my information, Lisa grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a note.
She turned it to me, and I read it, giving her a thumbs up in acknowledgment because what else could I do?
There was a gun pressed against my head; it wasn’t like I was in any position to say no to their requests.
“I show that you already have online access for one of the accounts, but if you can give me a few minutes, I’ll set up the others.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Would you like to link the accounts so you can transfer online between them?”
Lisa nodded, so I confirmed.
“If it’s possible, can you please confirm the balance in each account for me?” I asked, trying to find a way to incorporate Lisa’s demand, which she had written on the paper, without it feeling out of place.
“Of course. Let me finish setting the last account up, and I’ll get those balances for you.”
“Thank you.”
We waited a few minutes for Sasha to finish setting up the accounts before she gave me the temporary login information, which Lisa immediately wrote down.
Sasha came back on the line and began giving me the balance information in all of the accounts.
While I wasn’t surprised that my account only had seven dollars in it, my jaw dropped when I heard the thousands of dollars that were sitting in the other accounts.
I had no clue what Dale was involved with or how he had accumulated all of this money.
What was even more disturbing was that he’d added me to these accounts, as well as the offshore one the FBI was investigating.
Thanks to him, I was now the sole owner of several fraudulent accounts, with my boss and a local police officer threatening me to get the money I never even knew about until now.
Lisa scribbled another note and then shoved it at me, glaring as she waited for me to do it.
“Um, thank you for the balances,” I said nervously. “Is it possible to make a few transfers to another account while I have you on the phone?”
“Absolutely. What account would you like to start with?”
I read off the number for the one Lisa pointed to, then read the account number she wrote beside it. The name listed for that account was Jason Hughes. I felt a shiver creep up my spine as I realized what was happening. She was transferring the money to Officer Hughes.
“Okay, I have that account pulled up. How much would you like to transfer?”
Lisa mouthed all of it to me, so I sighed and confirmed.
We finished the remaining transfers, moving everything from the accounts Dale had set up to Officer Hughes' account.
I knew it had to look weird and hoped Sasha would report it as soon as she finished the call so they could freeze his accounts and keep him from using it.
Once we had confirmation that the transfers were complete, Officer Hughes lowered the gun, tucked it into the back of his jeans, and grabbed the laptop.
Lisa pressed the button to end the call, not bothering to let me thank Sasha for her help.
Then she stood over Officer Hughes’s shoulder and watched as he logged into his bank account and grinned at the large balance in it.
I tried to watch what was happening without them knowing and leaned slightly to the side until I could see the screen.
He opened another browser, and an offshore bank appeared on the screen. His fingers flew quickly over the keyboard as he entered his login information, then my breath hitched in my throat when I saw the name listed on the account: Paco H. Lopez.
A flashback slammed into my brain of the night Officer Kearton came to the cabin, warning me of the danger I was in.
“It means that Dale crossed someone and now they’re going to come for you,” Officer Kearton warned.
“Do you know who this business partner is?” Patrick asked, his brows furrowed.
“I do,” she said, nodding her head. “He’s not someone you want to mess with, Poppy. He’s very dangerous. From what I heard, he’s known on the streets as Pac—”
Fuck.
It turned out Lisa wasn’t just my controlling boss at the salon. She was working with Dale’s business partner, who just happened to be a police officer in Silver Falls.