Dominguez left by the stairs. He was going to man the reception and secure the building. His partner adjusted his sunglasses and took up the coffeepot. Poured himself a cup, pulled up a seat at the conference table. Dell turned and punched on the glass partition of the conference room. A large man with a bald head and wearing a blue tee, whom I guessed to be Agent Patton, marched Gerry Sinton into the conference room. Cable ties around Gerry’s wrists. Agent Patton stood behind him, his hand on the back of Gerry’s neck, forcing his head down.
“No one else in the building?” said Dell.
At the sound of Dell’s voice, Sinton’s head shot up, and his eyes met Dell’s.
“Clear and secure, Mr. Dell,” said Agent Patton.
“What is he doing here?” said Sinton, looking at me. He’d lost the suit jacket. The cable ties were cutting off the circulation in his wrists. His hands were red—same color as his face.
“Your former co-counsel might help me clear some of this up,” said Dell.
“Why don’t we talk in private,” said Sinton. Dell shook his head.
“Not until we work this out. Eddie, Sinton says he doesn’t have the money. He was waiting for it to hit his partner’s account. He killed his partner because he knew the money would end up in an account in Harland’s name. Under their partnership agreement, in the event of a partner going missing, the other partner has power of attorney to manage their financial and partnership affairs. I figure Gerry here was going to lift the entire pot of eight billion and make it look like Ben Harland took it and disappeared in his yacht. But Gerry didn’t account for Ben’s body washing up yesterday. That gave him a problem. The money had to move again, into a different account that couldn’t be traced to him. So either Child took the money or Sinton did. Or maybe they’re working together. Either way, we’re going to stay here until somebody tells me where it went.”
Sinton sure was smart. He could kill his partner, frame him for the whole enterprise, and walk away with the money. Had he changed his plans when Harland’s body was found? The way David had talked about the algo, I’d gotten the impression that it couldn’t be altered, but that all depended on whether David was telling me the truth.
Patton delivered a savage kick to the back of Sinton’s legs, dropping him to his knees.
The treasury agent wearing the sunglasses suppressed a laugh and said, “You heard Mr. Dell; start talking.”
“Let’s talk alone,” said Sinton, his eyes pleading with Dell. Agent Patton kicked Sinton again.
My cell rang. Kennedy.
“Hold on, Dell. Let me take this.” I accepted the call. “Hey.”
“Eddie, it’s Kennedy. Listen to me very carefully. David and Christine are safe. You are not. Whatever you do in the next five seconds, do not to react to what I’m about to tell you.”