Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
WHAT WE KNOW
LOLA
Elm & Echo clears out by eleven. We see Camden and Juju off, snowflakes whirling in the wind as they drive away. It’s quiet when we go back inside, feeling heavy with exhaustion. We’ve danced and laughed with the family, trying our best not to let anything ruin the wedding.
Inside me, the fury has marinated.
Tully holds up his phone. “We can wait until tomorrow, or we can talk to Wade and Marcus right now.”
My eyes widen. “If they want to talk this late, I think we should.”
He nods. “I think so too.”
He texts something and leads me back to Camden’s office, closing the door behind me. I have Tully’s suit jacket on because I’m chilly. He sees me shiver and sits in Camden’s chair and tugs me in his lap, wrapping his arms around me. Then he taps on the computer with one hand, making the video call.
Wade’s face appears first. He’s actually in a room at Windhaven. “Hey,” he says. “Just the face you wanted to see again tonight, I know.”
Marcus pops up in another window.
“Thanks for meeting us tonight, guys,” Tully says.
“It’s necessary,” Marcus says. “What do you have for us, Wade?”
Wade opens something on his end. “Okay,” he says. “Do you want me to tell you the gist or very specific details?”
Tully looks at me, letting me make the decision.
“For now, the gist, please,” I say. “I’m not sure I can retain anything too detailed tonight.”
Wade nods. “I don’t blame you. It’s complicated. I’ll type it all up and send that to you too, when we get off.”
“Thank you,” Tully and I both say.
“Okay, here goes. We’re able to confirm that you’re not the only one he’s blackmailed, and they all have ties with the players he represents.
I think you may have been the first,” he says, peering up at us, “and he’s gotten more aggressive along the way.
Crestline also holds debt arrangements. Private lending, structured as personal loans with compound interest and penalty clauses that are…
aggressive is the polite way to say it.” He glances up and grins.
“Sorry, too detailed. I’m sticking to the gist.”
He chuckles and continues.
“The money Daniel paid you traces back to stolen money.” He pauses and makes a face. “Tully’s money.”
“What?” Tully’s hand tightens on my hip. “This just gets more twisted.”
Wade pulls up something else. “Daniel’s been skimming from endorsement deals going back to the beginning of your representation, Tully. A shell company named Northmark Partners appears in the paperwork as a vendor providing brand services.”
“It has invoiced fourteen of Tully’s endorsement deals for a combined total of”—he looks at his notes—“just under nine hundred thousand dollars.”
“Nine hundred thousand dollars,” I repeat.
“Fuck,” Tully breathes.
“And that’s just from you. There’s no telling how much he’s amassed from all his clients at this point,” Wade adds.
“He paid me to leave Tully with money he stole from Tully,” I reiterate because I just can’t believe anyone would do this.
“Yes,” Wade says.
Nobody says anything for a moment.
“What about Granger?” Tully asks.
“The Northmark connection to Crestline runs through two intermediary companies, both of which have appeared in Bruce Granger’s business network before.
” He pauses. “It’s the same pattern we’ve been seeing.
He’s careful. He doesn’t sign anything directly.
His name appears once removed, twice removed… ”
“Can we move on him?” Tully asks.
“Not yet,” Marcus says. “What we have on Granger is suggestive, but a federal prosecutor needs direct. He’s spent a long time making sure nothing points at him directly.” A beat. “That will change. We’ll get him. But not tonight.”
“What about Daniel?” I ask.
Marcus leans forward slightly. “Combined with the financial forensics, the wire transfer records, and the wiretapping charge from the recording device—we have enough,” he says. “Not as much as I’d like. But enough that a federal prosecutor would be interested.”
“Federal?” I say.
“The moment he crossed state lines, it became federal jurisdiction, and the penalties are considerably more serious than anything a civil case would produce,” Marcus says.
I sit with that for a moment. I’m so tired. I think all of this will register more tomorrow.
“I want him to feed the journalist his little story,” Wade says.
“The moment he does, he’s introducing those wire transfer records into public record.
Records that our financial forensics team can then publicly demonstrate came from a Northmark account.
He’d be handing us the thread that unravels the whole skimming operation in open court.
” A pause. “Daniel thinks those records exonerate him and implicate you. He doesn’t know we know about Northmark.
He doesn’t know we know where that money came from. ”
Tully and I look at each other. His eyes are bloodshot. He looks back at the screen.
“It’d be great to have him hand us the evidence,” Tully says slowly. “But I don’t like putting Lola in that position.”
“If it means bringing him down, I’m all for it,” I say.
“Are you sure?” Tully asks, his eyes on me again. “What if it doesn’t work?”
“I’m sure,” I tell him. “I say we let him walk right into his own demise.”
“I’ve spoken to some of the other clients, and with enough of you backing this up, I think it’s going to work,” Wade says.
“I agree,” Marcus says.
“What do we do?” Tully says. “Right now. Tonight. What’s the next move?”
“Tomorrow I make two calls,” Marcus starts. “One to a federal prosecutor I—”
“I’m going to fire him,” Tully says.
The office goes quiet.
“I’ll tell him that Lola told me the truth.”
Wade sets his pen down. “He’ll panic.”
“Yes,” Tully says. “He will.”
Marcus is quiet for a moment. I can see him, running it forward and backward, gaming out every possible response. “I like it,” he says slowly.
“A panicking man goes to the journalist,” Tully says.
“And hands us Northmark,” Wade finishes.
“Keep the termination letter clean,” Marcus says. “‘Representation is no longer required, effective immediately.’ No explanation. Send it first thing tomorrow.”
“I’ll text him tonight,” Tully says. “Let him know it’s coming.
We’ve been closer than a letter. I can’t believe this guy I trusted has been skimming from me this whole time.
If he wanted more money, he could’ve just asked.
” He glances at me apologetically because he said the same thing to me.
“The guy annoyed me plenty, but I trusted him.”
I run my hand over his back. I’m so glad Daniel’s going down, but I feel bad at all it’s cost Tully. I’m not the only one who’s suffered at Daniel’s hand.
He picks up his phone. I watch him type, and it takes maybe thirty seconds. He reads it back to himself once. Then he turns the phone so I can see the screen.
Daniel, I’m sending you a formal termination of representation letter tonight. Our professional relationship is concluded effective immediately.
“That will definitely freak him out,” I say, laughing softly. “Send it.”
He sends it, and we watch the screen.
The delivered notification appears. And we can see when he’s read it. Three dots appear.
Daniel
What the fuck, Tully?
Tully’s phone dings more, but he turns it off.
“I won’t be responding to that,” he says.
“It’s about to get interesting,” Marcus says. “I’ll call the FBI’s Minneapolis office tomorrow. We’ll get this guy. Rest easy.”
“I don’t think I’ll rest easy until it’s done,” I say, making a face. “But thank you. It helps to know we’re this close.”
We fill everyone in when we get back to the house.
They’re as floored and outraged as we are.
It helps to vent and hear the way his family has our backs.
I appreciate the way they talk through things.
Growing up, I didn’t do that with my parents.
But maybe if I’d been open with them about this from the beginning, we could’ve stopped Daniel sooner.
Later, when we’re in bed, Tully brushes my hair away from my face.
“Even with all this crap going on, it was a really beautiful day,” he says.
I snort. “I know. It really was. This has been the longest day ever, though.”
“Wanna make it a little longer and climb on my face?” he asks.
“Yes, I do.” I grin and move to straddle him. “That’s exactly what I need.”
After a lot of tossing and turning, Tully and I give up and go to the kitchen for coffee. It’s just after six. We look at the lake until our mugs are empty and the light has shifted from gray to something approaching gold. The house starts waking up.
We filled everyone in when we got back to the house last night.
Grandma Donna walks in first. “Good morning,” she says, surprised to see us. “I’d hoped you’d get some sleep.”
“It was a short night,” Tully says.
Then Everett comes in and pours himself coffee and leans against the counter. “Morning.”
Grandma Nancy arrives at 7:15 in a robe that is magnificent. She starts making breakfast, and I don’t think that I’m hungry until I start eating. Marcus calls at 9:47 a.m.
We’re all in the living room by then. Everett is in his chair, and Goldie and Milo are next to him.
Kevin starts barking until he realizes it’s Noah walking in, and then he twirls as fast as he can.
Dahlia sits on the couch next to me, and Dylan is on the floor, leaning against the couch.
Tully’s standing by the window—he’s having a hard time staying still.
Chloe and Grayson play nearby, and Bill has decided he loves me and is curled up in my lap. I think I need a dog.
Tully’s phone rings. He looks at the screen, then at me.
“Marcus,” he says.
The room goes quiet.
He answers it and puts it on speaker, and we all turn to listen closely.
“Hey, Marcus,” Tully says. “I’m with my family, and I’ve got you on speaker. Talk to me.”
“The FBI Minneapolis field office received our package this morning,” Marcus says. “Financial crimes division. They’ve been looking at Crestline Asset Management for several months as part of a broader investigation. Our package gave them what they needed to move.”
“Really?” Tully looks at me, his eyes bright.
“Daniel was contacted by federal agents this morning,” Marcus says.
“His accounts have been frozen pending investigation. His agent certification has been suspended pending investigation. He’s retained a criminal defense attorney.
” He chuckles. “He’s not going to the journalist, Tully.
He has more pressing matters to worry about. ”
“What about the other people he did this to?” I ask.
“The FBI is aware of the pattern,” Marcus says. “The package includes Wade’s documentation on the other tenants and the other debt arrangements. This is not going to be a narrow case.”
“And Northmark?” Tully says.
“The associated accounts are frozen,” Marcus says. “We’re going to work to get the money back, Tully. All of it. It won’t be fast, and it won’t be simple, but I’m going to do my best.”
Tully closes his eyes briefly and opens them, letting out a long exhale.
“Did you give them what you had on Granger?” he asks quietly.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Marcus says carefully.
“They’re aware of the connection. But Daniel Crewe is the target of this action.
We have more on him. But we’ll get there with Bruce.
Trust me. Wade is fired up now. There’s no stopping when he gets like this.
You’ve seen how he operates—he won’t let this rest.”
“Okay,” Tully says. “Yeah. I think you’re right. Thank you, Marcus. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’m so glad we’re closer to getting this resolved. I’ll be in touch as things develop. You’re going to start hearing things publicly within the next few hours.”
“Okay, we’ll brace ourselves,” Tully says, giving me a half smile.
When he hangs up, he looks at his family.
“It’s done,” he says.
Nobody says anything for a moment.
Then Everett says, “Thank God for that.”
And it’s like we all exhale at the same time.
Later, I call my dad and let him know Daniel won’t be going after anyone.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice shaky.
“I am. I think it’s going to take a while for me to not be looking over my shoulder.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says again.
I look out the window and think about what I expected to feel.
I’ve spent years imagining what it would be like to bring Daniel down, having no idea that there was so much else I didn’t know about him.
I’m quietly elated and feel lighter. It feels like the beginning of something rather than the end, and I’m happy about that.
It means my world doesn’t revolve around Daniel anymore.
I’m free to move on.