Claire
It was Thursday. All week, we had worked with the FBI and Collin on creating the trap.
Collin had already set up a meeting with Dan. His office would be wired. He would convince him to let him in on the deal so they could embezzle more money and pin it on both Ethan and me.
At eleven o’clock, Piper, Creedie, Ethan, and I all sat in a private office next to Collin’s personal office. We wore headphones to listen to the conversation.
Dan arrived and was escorted into Collin’s office by his assistant.
“Dan, I’m glad you could make it,” Collin told him.
“Well, I wouldn’t miss a chance to make a few million with you. Tell me, Collin, what is this big venture you wanted to discuss?”
“You’re already set up for this to be a grand slam, Dan.”
“Yeah? How is that?”
“Ethan Knight and Claire Whitfield.”
There was a pause. “What about them?”
“As you’re aware, Claire is about to go down for embezzling five point eight million dollars. I say we up the ante to another twenty million and split it fifty-fifty.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Collin softly laughed. “But don’t you?”
“Collin—”
Collin cut him off. “Dan, don’t play me for a fool. I’m an investor in the company. I know where everything is at…accounts you don’t even know about. There is a much bigger play here, and we can both have our share and walk away from this with no one the wiser.”
A few moments of silence went by.
“Why do you assume I’m involved in this?”
“I put two and two together. I know Ethan would never do this, nor Claire. So that left you. And I have to hand it to you, it all made sense. Claire is telling my circle it’s you, but she can’t prove it, and you’ve done a great job pinning it on her. The FBI told me today that they’re going to indict her. They’re getting the judge to sign later today.”
“Really?” You could hear the excitement in Dan’s voice.
I shifted in my seat. Ethan pulled me into him.
“Yes. So now is the time to act fast. There will never be a better time, and our window will be gone soon.”
Dan finally spoke. “Let’s say I humor you. How would that be possible? If I didn’t know anything about these accounts and Claire no longer works at my firm, exactly how do you expect to set her up for this?”
Flip, flip, flip went my gut. I jerked my head at Creedie and Piper. They both nodded at me.
“Easy. We set Ethan up for it.”
“He’s already been set up, and the FBI wouldn’t charge him.”
A cocky laugh came across the earphones. “See, this is why I’m so valuable, Dan. Have you not been paying attention?”
“What are you talking about?”
I heard a noise, and I assumed it was Collin slapping down photos of Ethan and me together.
“It seems that there’s a personal relationship going on. Let’s twist the story a bit…”
Dan slowly spoke with excitement. “No! This is too good to be true.”
“Isn’t it?”
“So we give the FBI these pictures and explain that they were in on it together, after we embezzle the twenty million?”
“See, I knew you weren’t stupid. I’m assuming you’re in?”
Dan laughed. “I’m abso-fucking-lutely in!”
It got quiet a moment.
“But why did you bring this to me? Why aren’t you doing this yourself?” Dan wanted to know.
“You know how to embezzle the funds. I can give you the accounts, but I don’t know how to do it. I need you for that part. You move the funds, we split it fifty-fifty.”
Dan sighed. “There’s a problem with that.”
“What’s that?”
“I need my partner to do the moving.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the one with the Cayman accounts that can make it completely disappear.”
“Okay, so who is he?”
“I can’t disclose that.”
Collin laughed. “Man, do you think I’m going to do this without knowing everyone involved?”
Dan took a deep breath and thought. “Okay, you’re right. I always knew you were smart, Collin.”
“So who is he?”
“You might know him.”
“Who is it?”
“Kevin Seewall.”
“No shit!”
“Yes. You know him?”
“Yeah. Kevin is a smart guy. I’m down to work with him.”
“Okay. Then let’s do this.”
“To be clear, we need to get this done today, before Claire gets indicted. I think our window is small.”
Dan snorted. “Let me get Kevin on the phone.”
“What part of this do you normally pay him? I was really hoping to clear ten million off this.”
Dan got quiet.
Collin waited.
“Look, I got into a bad real estate deal with Kevin. I had to make up for that. I’ve only got another million to go, and then I’m free and clear. The FBI caught wind of this too early.”
“I want my fifty percent, Dan. I don’t care what you work out with Kevin on your fifty percent, but I want my fifty percent.”
“Let me make a call.”
“You do that, but put it on speaker. I don’t want anything hidden if I’m doing this with you,” Collin ordered him.
“Okay.”
I heard a phone ringing. “Dan, what do you need?”
I shuddered at the sound of Kevin’s voice. Ethan pulled me in tighter to him.
“I’m over at Collin Corwin’s office. Seems he’s figured out our situation. He’s—”
“What in God’s name—”
“He’s on speaker with us right now, so hear me out, Kevin.”
Collin calmly jumped into the conversation. “Kevin. No need to freak, man. I’m here to put money in your pocket.”
“How’s that?” Kevin asked.
“You move twenty million dollars today for us, and you take twenty-five percent. Ethan Knight and Claire Whitfield are in a personal relationship, so we pin it on both of them. But we have to do it today before the FBI gets the judge to sign off on indicting Claire Whitfield.”
“They’re indicting her?”
“The FBI called this morning and told me they only need the judge to sign.”
There was silence.
“Kevin, you still there?” Dan asked.
“Yeah. So what are you suggesting, Collin?”
Collin softly laughed. “I’m suggesting that within the next hour—before the window of opportunity closes—we get our asses moving and transfer twenty million dollars from accounts that I have knowledge about, then pin it on Ethan Knight and Claire Whitfield. You walk away with five million. You in or out?”
“I want fifty percent.”
“No can do, Kevin. I’m the only one with knowledge of these accounts. I’m an investor in the company. My risk is greater. Fifty percent or I’m out. And don’t think too hard, because time is ticking. So take your five million or work out more with Dan off his five, but I’m not budging.”
Kevin started laughing. “I see why they call you the negotiator. Dan, I’ll call you later today and we’ll discuss what portion of your funds I’m taking. Do what you need to do on your end. Send me the information I need, Dan, and you have a deal.”
“Perfect. I figured you weren’t dumb. How much time will it take to move the money to accounts I’ll have access to?” Collin asked.
“Probably three to four weeks. We’ve gotta make it disappear,” Kevin said.
“So how does the rest of this work?” Collin asked.
“I’ll run everything through Dan. He’ll need to set up some new business accounts for you. One morning you’ll wake up and you’ll have ten million sitting in your account,” Kevin said sweetly.
Collin softly laughed. “Okay. Well, time is ticking. Let’s get this done.”
“I’ll be in touch shortly, Kevin,” Dan stated.
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.” He hung up.
“So what do I need to give you?” Collin asked Dan.
“Bank name, routing, and account numbers. I need to forge a contract with Ethan’s name on it to get access to transfer money. How quickly can you get me the info?”
I heard a drawer open.
“Is this quick enough?”
Dan laughed. “Collin, it’s a joy working with you. I need to get back to my office and get this contract forged. I’ll call you when this is done.”
“Sounds good. But get it done quickly, before we lose our window of opportunity.”
“No worries. I’ll see you later.”
We heard the shuffling of feet, and Collin’s door opened.
Piper and Creedie quickly stood on their feet and left the office.
“Dan,” I heard Creedie say.
“Yes?”
“Agents Creedie and Piper. You’re under arrest for the framing of Ethan Knight and Claire Whitfield, as well as embezzlement and fraud.” Creedie continued to read him his rights.
Ethan and I walked out of the office and saw him being handcuffed. He didn’t say anything, but glared over at us.
Ethan’s arm was around me, and his fist was balled up. I put my hand over it.
Collin walked out and stood next to us. He looked at Ethan. “I told you we would figure out who did this.”
Ethan laughed and patted him on the back. “Collin, you’ve had my back the entire time. I can’t thank you enough.”
I gave Collin a hug. “Thanks, Collin.”
Collin waved us both off. “Don’t mention it. You’d both do the same for me.”
I gazed up at Ethan, and he looked down at me. We were both finally free.
We said goodbye to Collin, left his office, got on the elevator, and quickly were in the lobby. Ethan’s phone buzzed. He looked down.
“Kevin Seewall was just arrested.”
I nodded my head. “Good.”
He pulled me into his arms. “Is this really over?”
“I think so.”
He tilted his head and stared at me.
“What?”
“Do you think we would ever have met if Dan hadn’t tried to set you up?”
I shrugged. “Maybe? We have the same friends.”
“Yeah, but why hadn’t we met before?”
“I don’t know. But we would have probably met at Club D.”
“Hmm.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the building.
We walked down the street. Summer had started turning into fall. I shook a bit from the cold, and Ethan put his arm around me and pulled me into his warm body.
“So, where are we going?” I asked him.
He laughed. “I’m not going to tell you.”
I batted my eyes at him through my glasses. “Please tell me.”
He laughed. “Nope. It’s just too good when I get to see your face like that.”
“Ha, ha!”
We walked a few more blocks, and he steered me into his office lobby.
I peered up at him. “Why are you taking me to your office?”
“I’m not taking you to my office.”
“Then where are we going?”
He leaned down and whispered, “I’m not telling you.”
I nudged him in the ribs.
“Ouch!” He slapped my ass.
He guided me into the elevator and got off on the ninth floor. His office was on the twenty-fourth. Why were we on the ninth? I looked at him again and furrowed my brow at him.
He laughed some more.
We walked down the hall. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door to an empty office.
“Okay, Ethan. Why are we here?” I was really confused.
“So, I spoke with Clark Sandly. The reason they stopped construction on your office is because there are a lot of structural issues. I met Clark at your office yesterday. There is no way your office is up to code. It’s going to cost hundreds of thousands to bring it up to code.”
My stomach dropped. “What? I was told they had brought it up to code two years ago. I wouldn’t have signed a lease.”
Ethan pushed my hair behind my ear. “I know your landlord. He’s a sleazeball, but I got you out of your lease. Unless you still want to take it on?”
“Seriously? You got me out of it?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t have to pay a lease-break fee?”
“No. You’re out if you want to walk, and he’ll refund your deposit.”
“I want to walk. Thank you!” Relief shot through me, and I reached up and kissed him.
He pulled back and grinned. “So…”
“So?”
“I own this office. It’s empty. It has a better location and security. It has a bit more space and doesn’t need any work done to it unless you want to redecorate.”
I froze.
Ethan’s fingers brushed against my cheek. “Claire, what’s wrong?”
“That’s a really nice offer—this office is perfect—but I can’t afford rent on this block, Ethan.”
He laughed. “You aren’t paying me rent. Just take it.”
“Ethan, I’m not going to take your office space.”
“Why?”
“Because you shouldn’t have to lose out on money so your girlfriend can have office space.”
He laughed again.
“What’s so funny?” I didn’t understand why he was laughing.
“I don’t need the money.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Claire, I know my apartment isn’t as big as some of our friends’, but if I wanted to live in a penthouse or have a jet or buy a yacht, I could. I have plenty for both our lifetimes, and more real estate than I’d ever thought I would have. I don’t need the money.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t insinuating—”
He grabbed my face. “Claire.”
I looked at him.
“If you like this office, then take it. If you don’t like it and want to go look at any other properties I own, then tell me and we can go look. Take whatever office I have that you like. I chose this one because it’s the closest office I have to the courthouse, it’s a great location, and I’m right upstairs, so you can easily fulfill some of my office fantasies during your lunch hour.” He gave me a cocky grin and wiggled his eyebrows at me.
I slapped his arm. “The truth comes out!”
“Claire, let me do something nice for you.”
I laughed. “This is a little beyond nice, Ethan. This is more like a grand gesture.”
“Claire, do you like the office?”
“I love it. It’s beautiful.”
“Would you be happy running your firm here?”
I laughed. Would I be happy running my firm here? Was that really a question? “Ethan, this is an office I could only dream of someday being able to afford.”
Ethan picked me up and sat me on the receptionist’s counter. His face was right next to mine.
“Claire, take the office.”
I put my arms around his shoulders and clasped them together around his neck. “What if you get sick of me someday? What happens then?”
He rolled his eyes. “Not going to happen.”
“What if it does?”
He took a deep breath. “What’s going to make you feel comfortable enough to take this office, Claire?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t prepared for this.”
Ethan thought for a minute. “Why don’t I give you a contract, then?”
I squinted at him. “And what would this contract say?”
“That if we break up—which isn’t going to happen unless you decide to leave me—then you get this office for one dollar a year.”
“One dollar a year? That’s still not fair to you.”
“Claire, put in the contract whatever you want. I don’t care. Does that ease your mind?” Ethan’s eyes bored into mine. He clearly wanted me to take the office.
Slowly, I nodded my head.
“Yes?”
“Yes. That’s more than generous. Thank you.” I leaned in and crushed my lips to his and explored his mouth.
His hands caressed my back, and he pulled me closer to him. He picked me up, locked the door, and started carrying me through the office.
“Where are you taking me?” I giggled.
“Into your new office. I need to be prepared for interrogations.”
I looked at him slyly. “Prepared for interrogations?”
“Yep. I’m being convicted of a crime.”
“What crime is that?”
He gave me his fuck-me eyes. “Tying my girlfriend up.”
My insides pulsed. “Tying her up how?”
“Let me show you…”