Jordan wiggled her shoulder, adjusting her stance until the throbbing subsided. She was still a bit sore, even though it had been two entire days since her graceless fall into the St. Johns River. The doctor she had seen had told her that it would take a few days for the pain to subside, but she was impatient with the healing process. There was simply too much to do, and her hurt shoulder held her back.
She glanced over at Bailey, who was still typing furiously on her keyboard. Her polished blue nails flew against the keys, and once again, Jordan found herself admiring the woman’s computer abilities. It wasn’t just that she was freakishly good at typing at breakneck speeds. She knew how to find out practically anything by researching sources and accessing files that the creators had thought were all but invisible. She also knew how to navigate the dark net and how to find tidbits of information that just might help them close this case, if they could just point her in the right direction. She hoped that Bailey’s current research would pan out into something useful.
Jordan was still sick about losing the notebook and the Mintax samples that they had gotten from Chad Peretti. On top of everything, she was also worried about Chad’s safety, especially since he had refused Ben’s offer of a protection detail. Hopefully Southeastern would leave him alone since he no longer had the notebook, but he was a loose end, so in her mind, he was still in danger until Southeastern was exposed.
She ran her fingers through her hair. Now they were truly back at square one. She couldn’t help the frustration that swept over her as she watched Bailey work. At this point, Bailey and her computer skills were their only hope. Every other lead they had followed had crashed and burned. Even the hard drive they had found was still inaccessible. The encryption program was still giving Bailey fits, despite her impressive skills. Jordan had no doubt Bailey would eventually crack it, but it was a slow process, and in the meantime, they had precious little to follow up on to stop Southeastern’s actions. To top it all off, Ben’s boss was getting restless. Jordan knew the deputies had a stack of cases that needed their attention. They couldn’t continue to focus their time on the Southeastern case if they didn’t make significant progress, and soon. The sheriff wanted results, or he would shift his resources to cases where they could move forward. It was that simple.
Jordan glanced over at Ben, who was sitting back reading a file a few feet away at the end of the table in the Sheriff’s Office conference room. She liked the way his brow furrowed when he was concentrating, and a whisper of attraction swept over her. He was dressed in his normal outfit of gray slacks, a dress shirt and tie, and his navy jacket was slung carefully on the back of the empty seat next to his. She liked the way he dressed for work, but he could be wearing anything, and he would still look amazing. He was truly the most handsome man she had ever seen.
She quickly tamped down those feelings and tried to focus on the more practical aspects of her ex-fiancé. He had some small cuts from the flying glass that were healing nicely, but beyond that, Ben had survived their ordeal unscathed. God had truly protected them from the brutal death their attacker had envisioned. For that, she was incredibly thankful.
She thought over Ben’s behavior since their dive into the St. Johns River. He had been very attentive since the boat had pulled them out of the water and saved them the long swim to the shoreline. He had been careful to help her into the boat and had been by her side the entire time when they had gone to the hospital for checkups to make sure they had no hidden injuries from their exploit in the water. The doctor had kept Jordan under observation for a few hours since she’d needed rescue breathing to survive, but he had eventually pronounced her healthy and prescribed rest and reduced stress to help her recover. Then she and Ben had reported everything to the team, and they had discussed the case in detail, going over everything that had happened.
After the river, much of the awkwardness Jordan had been feeling around Ben had suddenly dissipated. It was as if he was finally at ease with her company, despite their troubled past. He seemed more relaxed and looked her in the eye more when they spoke. Even when they were away from the hotel, he was sticking close by, as if protecting her had become his number one priority. She had always known he was keeping an eye on her, but now his efforts were much more obvious. Jordan still didn’t know if he had moved on to a new relationship or not, and even so, she had done her best not to assume that there was anything between them. She knew he cared about her as a friend, but she wasn’t sure if he had any romantic feelings for her left. Either way, she was glad that he was becoming more comfortable in her presence, because when he was at ease, she was more at ease, yet she still didn’t know if they had any future together or not. She had been praying about it and seeking God’s guidance, but so far, she hadn’t gotten any clear answers. For now, her solution was to keep her eye on the ball here and solve the Southeastern scandal. Then she would have time to analyze their relationship and decide how to proceed, if that was even a possibility.
“Eureka!” Bailey exclaimed as she pushed back from her keyboard and interrupted Jordan’s woolgathering.
Jordan sat up taller, and she and Ben both gave her their full attention. Frank had also been walking by in the hallway, and at hearing Bailey’s announcement, he had come in and crossed to her computer.
Bailey pointed. “One of my searches just came back with some very interesting information. It looks like Sam Delvers has invested heavily into Southeastern, and most of his own money is tied up in the company. If Southeastern loses everything, Delvers will, too. He has basically nothing left in his personal accounts and will be financially ruined if the company goes under. Even his house, or actually, his mansion, is mortgaged to the hilt and will go on the chopping block if Southeastern fails.” She hit another key and the screen changed. “Two of Southeastern’s main investors are in the same boat.” She turned to Jordan. “Do you know Cindy Drake or Phil Johnson?”
Jordan shook her head. “I don’t know Cindy Drake. I think Phil Johnson is a friend of the CEO’s. I’ve seen him with Delvers on several occasions. Johnson was even at the labs a lot during the Mintax trials. I don’t know much about him, though.”
Bailey nodded. “Well, both of them will be financially ruined if Southeastern goes under. They’ll have to start flipping hamburgers to make a living because they’re gonna lose it all.” She nodded sagely. “The pharmaceutical lab itself is also on the verge of bankruptcy. Their balance sheets tell a horrible story of mismanagement. The Mintax losses have basically crippled them. I bet their accounting department is going nuts right now, trying to figure out how to fix it. What I’m seeing is a lot of desperate people trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat to keep the company afloat.”
Jordan’s eyes rounded as Bailey continued.
“There’s something else,” Bailey noted as she brought up yet another screen and pointed toward the information she had uncovered. “Delvers, Drake and Johnson aren’t the only investors that have put all of their eggs into the Southeastern basket. Southeastern has hundreds of investors, but I’ve found at least nine others who have also put almost everything they have into the company—and they are all attorneys that work at the same law firm right here in Jacksonville. Have you heard of the Baker and Davis Law Group?”
Jordan and Ben shared a look, but it was clear neither one was familiar with the law firm. They both shook their heads, and Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Should we know them?”
Bailey pressed on. “They’re a large firm with about three hundred lawyers that do those annoying commercials on TV, you know, where they say they have an army of attorneys ready to help you win your case. I think they do mostly personal injury cases and class action suits. The nine attorneys that invested are all partners, including the managing partner.”
“I don’t know how often lawyers invest in pharmaceutical labs, but it seems strange to me that so many of them share such tight financial interests,” Jordan intoned. “Why would a group of lawyers that work together invest everything they have into the same pharmaceutical company? Is that normal?”
“It does appear odd,” Ben agreed. “And what does personal injury law have to do with pharmaceuticals? I thought those lawyers handled car accidents, slip-and-fall torts—those types of cases. Even the class action angle doesn’t make sense. They wouldn’t want to sue and cripple their own investment.”
“Is there any reason one of these lawyers should know about the day-to-day operations in Southeastern?” Bailey asked.
Jordan shook her head. “None that I can think of.”
Bailey sat back. “Well, it could be that one of these lawyers is the one trying to hurt Jordan. These are some pretty powerful people.” She paused. “Maybe we just need to keep searching for a connection.”
Ben’s brow furrowed. “If there is a connection, I’m sure not seeing it.” The printer behind him powered up and a moment later, he pulled off a sheet with the names of the three Southeastern investors and the nine attorneys who had put all they had into Southeastern’s coffers.
“What was the name of that attorney that represented Sam Delvers and cross-examined you when you testified?” Bailey asked.
Jordan looked up, thinking. “It was a woman with blond hair—really polished and beautiful. Hammond? Tammond? I can’t remember her name.”
Bailey clicked some keys on her computer. “Suzanne Tammington?”
Jordan snapped her fingers. “That’s her. I might not have remembered her name, but I’ll certainly never forget her face—or the attitude she threw at me when she cross-examined me. She’s one tough cookie.”
“You’re right,” Ben added. “I met her during a meeting with Delvers when they came to the office. She’s a real piece of work.”
Jordan raised her eyebrow but didn’t comment. “Is she associated with that firm you mentioned—Baker and Davis?”
“She’s a partner there and one of the nine primary investors, just like Delvers and the others. Everything she owns is basically invested in Southeastern.” Bailey’s lips flattened. “She certainly has an interest in whether or not that company succeeds.”
“Sounds like it’s time to take a trip over to that law firm and start asking questions,” Jordan said enthusiastically. She stood. Finally, they had a new path to follow.
“Hang on,” Ben said, putting up his hands, palms out. “Let’s talk to Eddy. That’s always got to be our first step when we have legal questions.” He reached for the conference phone and called Eddy’s number, using the conference function so everyone in the room could hear the call.
“State Attorney’s Office. Donald Eddy speaking.”
“Hey, Eddy, this is Ben Graham, and I’ve got Jordan, Bailey and Frankie here with me.” He gave a quick summary of what Bailey had discovered.
“Tell me the name of the two other investors besides Delvers that weren’t part of the law firm?” Eddy asked. They could hear him typing on his own keyboard.
“Cindy Drake and Phil Johnson,” Bailey intoned.
“I’m looking for them on Martindale-Hubbell, the attorney database, but I’m not seeing either one. Maybe they’re on Southeastern’s board?” He typed some more. “Yes, they’re both board members.” He paused. “Can you give me the names of the nine attorneys that own a piece of Southeastern?” One by one he checked them but reported back that there wasn’t much to find. “I don’t see anything odd in any of these listings. I’m not seeing any other connection between them besides the fact that they all work at the same firm and made the same investments. There’s no mention of the Southeastern connection, but that doesn’t surprise me. There is no requirement that personal or business interests like that get listed, but I wonder about the conflict of interest for Ms. Tammington.” They heard him hit some more keys. “Let me do some more checking on Westlaw about some of their cases to see if I find any patterns or problems that jump out at me from a legal standpoint. There might not be anything to find, but it’s worth a look. I’ll call you back if I find something. Bailey, if you can check into their backgrounds and search for connections between all of the investors, that will really help.”
“You got it,” Bailey responded.
They heard the phone click and Jordan reached over and pushed the disconnect button.
Bailey raised her eyebrows and turned to Ben. “How far, do you, ah, want me to dig? You see, there are legal ways to search, and other ways...”
Ben put up his hands. “Legal only,” he said in unison with Frank. Jordan smiled at their quick response and Bailey’s teasing laugh. She knew that in the past, Bailey had managed to steal over a million dollars through the internet and hide her tracks quite successfully so that even the sheriff’s forensic accountants and computer techs hadn’t been able to discover how she had done it. Bailey also knew more about the dark web and illegal computer tactics than anyone else they were aware of in all of law enforcement. Ben had told Jordan several stories about how Bailey had helped find a vital piece of information that helped solve a case while she had been working at the Sheriff’s Office. She worked there as a condition of her probation. She was also an amazing asset because she had been both a defendant and on the side of law enforcement. That insight was invaluable.
Bailey had repented and returned the money she had stolen, and was leading a law-abiding life now that she was married to Frank. But Jordan didn’t want any project she was a part of to tempt Bailey to return to her old ways. She could tell Bailey was teasing, though, and Jordan laughed along with her. There hadn’t been a lot to laugh about lately. It felt good to have a smile on her face.
“Okay, okay,” Bailey said with a nod. “There are a lot of social media platforms and other possibilities I can start checking.” She winked at Frank again, then turned back to her computer and started typing.
Suddenly, Frank’s cell phone rang and he spoke a couple of times, then hung up and stowed his phone again. “We’ve got him. We have an identity and an address for the man that pushed your car into the river.”
“How?” Jordan asked.
“He got sloppy,” Frank answered with a grin. “Not only did he let Ben see him before he pushed the car off the bridge, meaning Ben was able to give a great description of the guy, but he also left his fingerprints on the frame of the car. He probably figured you would both die in the river, and no one would check the car, but he was wrong on both counts.”
Ben was instantly on his feet. “Let’s go gear up. You can give me the details on the way.”
Jordan stood as well. “Can I come, too?”
Frank looked over at Ben, clearly wanting him to answer that question. Ben was quick to shake his head. “No, it’s too dangerous, and you’re safer here in the Sheriff’s Office. After our dive into the river, I need to know you’re okay so I can focus on the job I need to do.”
“Besides,” Bailey answered, “you can stay and help me with the computer work.”
Ben gave Bailey a thankful smile, then turned to Jordan. He came up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I know Bailey’s a pro, but I’m sure she’ll find a way you can help her. The man we’re hunting is a murderer. He’s really dangerous, just like that man that chased you out of the grocery store. I really don’t want you anywhere near the guy. This building is secure. You’ll be safer here.”
“Okay.” She gave Ben a beseeching look. “Be careful, okay?”
“Deal,” Ben answered. He gave her a smile, squeezed her arms affectionately, and quickly followed Frank out the door.
Jordan watched him go as the tightness swelled in her chest. What she hadn’t wanted to happen was unfolding right in front of her—Ben was risking his life on her behalf. It was a bitter pill to swallow.