Old Growth & Ivy (The Spook Hills Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was giving the FBI that was not required by
the Court Order, including direct contact with one of her best analysts. 
She was a loyal executive who was protective of her company’s best
interests.  Surely even from a corporate viewpoint, cooperating in a
critical federal investigation had to be the best option.  Yet she knew if
she went back to their Internal Counsel, the answer would be to stick to the
strict interpretation of the Court Order.  This would be one more
responsibility she would have to shoulder alone.  It was what she did –
took risks when needed.  They weighed heavily on her shoulders. Ivy knew
there would be no dinner out tonight.  She would order in for the agents,
Terry and herself.  
    Although
Terry planned to work through the night, Ivy shooed the agents out of the
building just before 9.  The big agent was looking like he might go to
sleep on the floor.  Only Moll refused to leave, wanting to learn what
methods Terry used.  They agreed to start at 7 the next morning, going
over the notes Terry and Moll would leave. 
    ***
    Around
4:30 a.m. Ivy’s home phone rang, waking her up.  She answered sleepily –
the long days that week had hit her hard the night before.  On the other
end of the line, Terry was full of excitement.  “Ivy, I think we found
something, but I can’t be sure about it.”
    “What?”
    “On
transactions going to accounts in Bulgaria for this third bank, sometimes one
guy at the bank approves it; sometimes a woman does and sometimes a couple of
other guys do.”
    “And?”
    “I
think one of them is forging signatures.  I’m not a handwriting expert,
however the writing looks almost traced, without those little variations
signatures usually have.”
    Ivy
pushed herself up further in bed.  “How many?”
    “Fifteen
in total.  The transactions originate in various cities and are from
different companies and source accounts.”
    “Dollars?”
    “Over
five million.”
    “Wow. 
All going to Sofia?”
    “Uh-huh,
spread over the months we have.”
    “This
will be delicate, but the FBI can have signature analysis done.”
    “Ivy, I
have a question.”
    “Yes,
Terry?”
    “Those
agents aren’t here to give an opinion on our practices, are they?”
    Ivy
thought for a moment.  She avoided directly lying to her employees,
although she might shade the truth a bit or tell them she was not at liberty to
disclose information.  However Terry was tight-lipped.
    “The
FBI is here on a critical humanitarian case.  You cannot tell
anyone.  For right now, this cannot get back to the banks.  The case
they are pursuing is both very sensitive and important.”
    “Got
it.”
    “Did
Moll say something to you?” 
    “Nothing,
but what a guy!  He was great help last night until he fell asleep curled
up on the floor about an hour ago.  I didn’t want to wake him.  He is
the smartest guy I ever met and the first one who thinks like me.”
    “Good
to know.  I’m going to call Agent Nielsen.  In all likelihood, you
can expect us to arrive within the hour.  You okay to hang around until
then?”
    “Yeah. 
Might need a ride home.  All of a sudden, I’ll just crash.”
    “No
worries.  Terry, I’ve said it before -- you are a great asset to us. 
Thank you.”
    Ivy
hung up the phone, grabbed her cell and searched for the big agent’s phone
number in her contacts.  She dialed and waited.  When she heard a
gruff, “Neilson” on her phone, she thought she heard a shower running in the
background.
    “Steve? 
Ivy Littleton.”
    “Give
me a minute.”  She heard the shower turn off and after a few moments Steve
came back on.  “Sorry about that.  Just finished my morning swim and
shower.  What’s up?”
    Ivy
tried not to think of him standing dripping wet in his hotel room.  She
hoped he had a towel on.  She explained what Terry had found. 
    “We’ll
want copies of the signatures.”
    “Signatures,
yes.  Not the docs.  We’ll assign a