Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
KODIAK
Emma was rigid beside me while we waited for Luke to continue.
“The shell NGOs all use the same registered agent service,” he said. “The account was opened eleven months ago, using credentials tied to a consulting firm that specialized in nonprofit formation. The firm dissolved two years ago. One of its former employees is in the building.”
“I ran Marlene Thessen against the consulting firm’s records,” Alice said. “She was their lead compliance specialist for three years before it dissolved. She built the nonprofit packages that became the templates for the shell NGOs.”
Emma gasped. “Marlene?”
Brad had visited Marlene’s desk yesterday morning without a meeting on the schedule, talked for five minutes, and she’d handed him something before he left. I’d made a note of it because my gut told me something was off. Now, I knew what.
“Brad didn’t recommend a temp to help you,” said Luke. “He moved his partner from one seat to another. She was upstairs, with Naomi, before Darla left. When Darla’s sister needed emergency surgery and Brad offered to call HR on your behalf, he wasn’t doing you a favor.”
Emma didn’t respond. She’d trusted Derek because of her father. She’d trusted Brad because of his work. She’d trusted Marlene because the woman had shown up two days ago and made herself indispensable. Three people. All three were compromised.
“She’s had access to my calendar, my files, and my schedule,” Emma said. “Meeting times, names, internal documents. Before that, she was outside the acting secretary’s office.” When she turned to me, I leaned closer and covered her hand with mine, then wove our fingers together.
“I’m sorry to say all of that is true,” said Alice.
“I can tie the consulting firm’s dissolution to the timeline of the first shell NGO filing,” Tex said. “The infrastructure started going up within weeks of the firm closing. She didn’t lose a job and find a new one. She pivoted.”
I stood and pulled Emma up with me. “Give us a second.”
Rather than argue or attempt to tell me she was okay, Emma let me lead her down the hallway.
“This is a lot, sweetheart.”
She leaned forward, and when I opened my arms, she fell into them.
“I’m more angry than anything else.” She raised her head. “That little fuck.”
I laughed before I could stop myself. “You got that right.”
“You know, I always thought he was smarmy. Why didn’t I trust my instincts?”
I tightened my hold. “Brad is the criminal here. And Marlene. Not you. Don’t go there, Emma.”
She buried her face in my neck. “You’re right. What would I do without you?”
“Hey,” I said when every muscle in her body seized. “How about you let me answer that before you start beating yourself up for saying it?”
“But—”
I kissed her, then leaned away. “Ready to listen?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“When this is all over, we’ll talk about it. Okay?” As soon as the words were out, I realized how lame they sounded.
“Um, sure. Right. Okay.”
“Hang on. Let me rephrase. As soon as this is all over, we’ll figure out what we do about where we live. Either here, your townhouse, or somewhere else.”
Her eyes opened wide.
“Did that scare you?”
She shook her head. “No. Did it scare you?”
I kissed her again. “The only thing about you that scares me is how damn smart you are. And beautiful. And sexy as fuck.”
Her brow furrowed. “How is that scary?”
“What if it dawns on you that you’re way out of my league?”
She rested her forehead on my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I think. What are you thanking me for?”
“Making me forget about that little fuck and his sidekick.” Her eyes widened a second time. “I guess I should consider myself lucky she didn’t poison the lunch she brought me.”
“Ready to get back out there?”
“Not really, but I suppose we should.”
“How do we move on this?” I asked when we returned to the table.
“Same as we did with Mansfield,” Brenna said.
“I took the liberty of updating Soledad while you took your break.” She winked at Emma.
“She’ll file criminal complaints and have arrest warrants in front of a magistrate before morning.
FBI agents will be in position at Treasury before Brad and Marlene arrive.
They need to be taken at the same time so neither gets word before the other is in custody. ”
“Tex and I will keep monitoring Marlene’s device activity overnight,” Alice said. “If either of them moves before morning, we’ll know.”
“Copy,” Atticus said.
When the call ended, Luke closed his laptop.
“I’ll be on the floor before seven,” he said.
He left, and the house was quiet.
Emma and I were still at the table.
“I don’t want to be there,” she said.
I hadn’t expected that. “There’s no reason you have to be.”
“I don’t want to watch them get walked out in handcuffs. Neither of them.” She pulled her hands into her lap. “I’ll come in after.”
“Luke and I need to be on the floor when it happens.”
“I understand.”
“However, Atticus doesn’t need to be, and neither does Brenna. Would you like to wait at their place with them?”
She nodded once, pushed her chair from the table, and went to the restroom.
I called Atticus, who picked up before the second ring.
“Everything’s already in place.” He sighed. “Brenna’s blood pressure was a problem before this. This needs to wrap up.”
“I know. Think she’ll slow down?”
Atticus laughed. “You’ve met her. What do you think?”
“Not a chance. But listen, I called about something else.”
I reiterated what Emma said, and he agreed that my bringing her there was a good idea.
After Emma came out, neither of us mentioned Brad or Marlene or what would happen in the morning. I heated the last of Zary’s meals, and Emma tossed a salad. We poured two glasses of wine and ate on the sofa.
“Darla deserves time with her sister,” Emma said, turning the glass by its stem. “She dropped everything and flew down there within hours. That’s who she is.”
“Do I hear a ‘but’ coming?”
“It’s selfish.”
“Say it anyway.”
“I wish she were coming back tomorrow.” She took a drink. “Walking in there and seeing her at that desk instead of—” She didn’t finish. “Darla would take one look at the folders in the wrong order and have the whole floor sorted by ten.”
“You’ll get her back.”
“I know. Her sister needs her more than I do right now.”
I took her glass and set it beside mine on the table. “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You, me, and a date in that bathtub.”
“I can’t believe you never used it.”
“What fun would it have been without you?”
“You have a point.”
I ran the water, let her get settled, then told her I’d join her in a minute. I returned to the kitchen and called Sherry, whose number was now programmed into my phone too.
She answered on the second ring. “Coleman. Is Emma all right?”
“She’s fine. I have a question, and I’d rather not bother her with it tonight. Do you know when Darla is planning to come back from Atlanta?”
“Tomorrow, as a matter of fact. She called me this afternoon. Her sister is doing well, and her children are there to help. Why do you ask?”
“Emma’s had a rough few days. Having Darla back would help.”
Sherry was quiet for a second. “There’s more to this than you’re telling me.”
“Yes, ma’am, and Emma will fill you in when she’s ready.”
“All right. I trust you, Coleman. Take care of my girl.”
“You know I will.”
“I do, and it’s the only reason I’m not in the car heading there right now. Well, that and I have no idea where you live.”
“Maybe we should invite you to dinner.”
“Sounds perfect. Tomorrow work for you two?”
I chuckled. “Let me check with Emma, but an invitation will be extended soon.”
Emma was in the tub, with her eyes closed, when I came in. I got undressed and climbed in behind her. She leaned into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Sherry says hi,” I said.
“You called my mother?”
“I had a question for her.”
“What question?”
“I’ll tell you the answer instead. Darla’s coming back tomorrow.”
Emma turned her head enough for her cheek to rest on my shoulder. “How did you know I needed to hear that?”
“Because I pay attention.”
She laced her fingers through mine under the water. We stayed like that until it went cold.
When we arrived at Brenna and Atticus’ place the following morning, I got out and walked her to the door. Brenna had it open before we reached the top step. I kissed Emma, and she gripped the front of my jacket for a second before she let go and went inside.
By seven, I was on the third floor, where Luke was already waiting.
Marlene walked off the elevator at seven forty-five. She set her bag on Darla’s desk, arranged the folders in the tray, and powered on the monitor.
Luke headed to the fourth floor and waited down the hall outside Brad’s office. “He’s here,” he said through the comms at eight.
Fifteen minutes later, two FBI agents stepped off the elevator on three and approached Marlene’s desk. The second pair was with Luke on four.
Marlene registered the agents, and her chin lifted. When they informed her of her arrest, she asked if she could get her coat.
Luke met me at the elevator ten minutes later. “Brad asked if Emma was all right, then asked to call his mother.”
“What did they tell him?”
“That he could make his call after processing. He didn’t look at anyone in the hallway on the way out.”
Darla arrived as we were leaving. She’d flown back from Atlanta that morning and came straight from the airport. She took one look at her desk and knew something had happened.
“Emma will be in later this morning,” I said. “She’ll explain everything.”
I called her from the car. “It’s done. I’m on my way.”
She was on the front steps when I pulled up. Brenna stood behind her in the doorway. Emma got in and didn’t say anything until we were on the highway.
“How did he react?”
“Luke said he closed his laptop before the agents reached him, straightened his jacket, and asked to call his mother.”
“Marlene?”
“Didn’t argue. Asked for her coat.”