Deadly Alliance Read Online Free PDF Page B

say?”
    “Les lacked cognitive ability to talk.” Amy thought for a minute. “Until I found this envelope, I imagined Les was blinded by headlights, caught in gang crossfire. Now I wonder.”
    “Sad.” He shook his head.
    “Whose eye for his eye, tooth for his tooth caused him to lose a cheek and the left side of his brain?”
    “Les suffered a fate worse than death.” he said. “Not quite comatose. Did he respond at all?”
    She said, “He’d return a hand squeeze now and then.”
    Finn said, “He had parents. They didn’t step up.”
    “They wanted to institutionalize him.” The pang in her heart came over her like a gigantic cold wave. “We were friends at that point, not lovers.”
    “Caretaking takes its toll.”
    “A person can lose every shred of ambition.” She twisted her hands on her lap as she recalled forgetting where she’d put her cellphone, her tablet, or why she’d entered a room.
    His eyes had the cast of the lake just before darkness. “Guess you’re dusting yourself off. Still hiking?”
    “Sure am.” Nothing suited her better. “Which reminds me, I found a map. Can you ask your dad to decipher it?”
    “He’d like that. Plenty of time on his hands,” he said and then looked at the envelope’s contents spread on his desk.
    Seconds ticked by. “Everything inside is odd.” She was about to pick up the checkbook. “The imprint is not the company name, Edward Smithson Inc.” They reached for it at the same time and found themselves holding hands instead. She withdrew hers, and he frowned as if it never happened.
    “Difference is slight. Takes a discerning eye.” He jutted his bad-ass chin. “Instead of Edward Smithson Inc., it’s a personal account of Edward Smithson.” He went for the checkbook again and waved it in a rash gesture. “Same bank, different routing number.”
    She said, “The legendary Mr. Edward Smithson hasn’t walked these floors for many years.”
    He slammed a fist on the pile of papers.
    With a sudden weakness in her knees, thoughts came in her grandmother’s Scottish brogue about a rat making a mess. She tumbled back, dropped to a chair.
    He swore and then threw up his hands.
    “A rat,” she said, “but we don’t know who.”
    Just across his desk, a scar over his lip made him appear dangerous.
    Amy recoiled, slapped a hand over her heart and anticipated a hammering of words.
    Finn threw back his head and whistled through his teeth. The sound caught her by surprise.
    She spoke with care. “Someone siphoned money. An inside job hurts.”
    “Hey, I’m grateful.” Silence stretched to an awkward length before he scratched his head. “I suspected a software attack.”
    She’d heard of fraudsters who selected funds based on codes and then dumped them into the freezing waters of offshore accounts. “This is simpler. How long have you battled it?”
    “Three damn years,” he said. “The company balance is down every month.”
    “Ouch.”
    “Every damn month, down ten percent.” he said. “You’ve figured out how the scam works.” His gaze traveled a path over her face.
    “I think so. People don’t always write a complete name on a check. I’ve written checks to Arrowbear Light instead of Arrowbear Light and Power.”
    “We’ve all used shortcuts.” After a loud, “Arhhh,” he gathered himself into his usual position. “In your case your payment would have made it to Arrowbear utility company. Otherwise, you’d have heard from them.”
    Watching him rip a deposit slip from a checkbook, she said, “You’re giving me a demo.”
    “Right.” He tossed it on the desk. “By using that, a client’s payment is routed to the fake account.” After presenting his example, he blew out a breath.
    She understood the scenario. “Some clients were given bogus deposit slips.” Shaking off her blazer, she draped it over the chair.
    Leaning toward the L-section of his desk, he fed his fax machine papers. “I’m sending the basics to