We had been on the phone longer than I’d intended, but Cami’s discovery added a whole new wrinkle. What a mystery this was turning out to be. Just when we thought we were getting a handle on it, there were so many new things to consider. Hopefully I’d be able to learn more during my dinner with Matt. I tried to figure out what I was going to say to him in view of what Cami had uncovered.
Whatever happened, one thing had become painfully clear. I really had to be careful he didn’t suspect I knew anything beyond what he and Julia thought I did.
He lounged in one of the booths toward the back of the restaurant, handsome in a black turtleneck and sport jacket, every hair in place except for the bit that always tumbled onto his forehead. When he stood to give me a hello hug, I noticed he was wearing black jeans that fit as though they had been tailor-made. Why couldn’t he have looked more like my nervous controller back at STC, polka dot bow tie and all? It certainly would have made this easier. After that hug I fought the image of snuggling against his inviting cashmere-clad body. My inner voice yelled, “Cut it out, you jerk! The guy’s a slimy crook.”
Matt absently stroked his mustache and seemed jumpy. He was usually so calm and collected. Although Matt generally drank Merlot, he downed the last of a Scotch on the rocks. So much for our sharing a bottle of wine. With two empty glasses sitting in front of him, he ordered another Scotch so I ordered a glass of wine.
I pointed to his fresh glass. “Tough day at the office? I’m not used to seeing you drink the hard stuff.”
He nodded.
It was hard to keep a straight face when I said, “Well, Lena almost knocked me down as I was leaving. I didn’t know she ever left Paradise, and, of course, I know how much you adore her. It would be enough to make anyone’s day take a turn.”
Then I added. “Geeze, Matt, if anyone heard our conversation they would think Lena was some hot babe enjoying the best life has to offer—a woman in paradise.”
Normally, that would have elicited a laugh. It didn’t. He just stared into the fresh Scotch and shook his head. He was definitely rattled, and I tried to picture what was going on with Julia and Bruce right now. “Earth to Matt—Lena? What did she want?”
“Oh, her? You know what a bitch that woman is. A visit from her is enough to depress anyone, even me. Yeah, she did come storming in with some bone to pick with Julia. Man, one look that that ugly puss and I made an excuse to get out of there as fast as I could. I felt kind of bad abandoning Julia, but after the day I had, Lena was the last person I wanted to deal with.”
His left eye twitched when he said that and he kept stroking his mustache. I could see he didn’t intend to say anything else about the unexpected visit. I went for broke. “Um, Matt, I felt so bad for everyone when they saw how little they got. To tell the truth I’m pretty upset myself. I know you say it will all work out, but now every one of us has to wait three more months to get what we’ve already earned. That doesn’t seem fair. How in the world could something like that happen? I don’t know much about computers, but it seems a glitch like the one Julia described would have thrown everything out of whack, not just select orders.”
His eyes narrowed. Had I gone too far? No, it was okay. He flashed his engaging smile and said, “You know, Babe, I don’t understand computer programs all that well either, but I hear you. Here’s a piece of advice. Don’t spend so much time worrying about everyone else. They’ll be fine, the program will get straightened out and we’ll be back on track in no time. How about another wine?”
All of a sudden, the shoe was on the other foot so to speak. As he peppered me with seemingly harmless questions, I realized Matt was pumping me to see how much I knew. Was I still confused about how the HRF “gratuity” payments worked? Did I understand how important it was to keep my concerns within our own office and not yak about them with any of the others? I pulled it off, told him basically nothing and prayed he didn’t have even a hint of a suspicion about what we were really up to.
By the time the evening was over, the only thing I’d learned was Matt was seriously distressed. I spent a restless night and awoke with dark circles under my eyes. It took more makeup than usual, but eventually I achieved a “natural” look that only took half-an-hour to apply. God bless those geniuses who develop cosmetics that mask just about anything. At least I can still afford their concoctions.
By ten I called Cami and we got Kate on the line. I usually spend Saturdays running around doing errands, but today would be different. I reported that I hadn’t found out much from Matt but was sure our Avarice-2 email had set off a bit of a firestorm. I told them I probably wouldn’t be able to assess the full impact until Monday.
Later I thought about going to the office. Maybe I could find something that tied into what Cami had seen at Superior Moving. I wasn’t sure how I would do that since Julia seemed to keep all of the accounts she said she handled personally under lock and key, but it wouldn’t hurt to poke around. She did get careless sometimes.
Cami said, “I called Nathan at home last night,” then paused to let us digest that. “Right before I called, I decided I wasn’t going to tip my hand just yet about why we want to see him. He was delighted to hear from me after so many years, and we had a good chuckle about his mom still trying to be a matchmaker. She had called him and told him there was still hope. He said she advised him to wine and dine me while I’m in D.C., and made sure to tell him that I’m still single and wanted his number. He’d just gotten off the phone with her when I called. Aunt Fannie is such a love.”
Kate bubbled, “Tell us everything. What happened?”
Cami answered a question with a question. “Kate, when will the presentation be ready? I think all of us should go to D.C. That way if there is a spark, he can’t be looking at me and trying to figure out how to get me into bed. More important, each of us knows a different part of what appears to be happening right under the noses of the Department of Justice. After all, FACR is a division of his own department. I’m sure when he hears about what seems to be a nonexistent factory receiving millions in payments from the government and a commercial shipper that doesn’t handle commercial jobs but stencils government initials on boxes in their warehouse, he’ll be interested.”
Cami was right. It would take all of us. “I wish I knew a little more. Still, considering his crusader spirit, I’m pretty sure when he sees what we have we should be able to convince him it warrants an investigation. $38,000.000 isn’t exactly pocket change. It would give me no end of pleasure to see Bruce trade a $2,000 suit for one of those stylish orange jumpsuits. He’s such a smug bastard, not to mention her Royal Highness Julia.” I mused, “We could say, ‘Boy, have we got a new battle for you, Nathan—a nice inside fraud that’s grabbing millions of dollars right under your noses.’”
Cami whistled into the phone. “Calm down. Here’s what I’d like to do. Can both of you fly into Reagan National in D.C. next Friday? Make up some excuse to be out of the office. I’ll make reservations at a hotel near the airport and let you know which one. We can meet in the lobby at 6:00, D.C. time. I’ve already made a tentative dinner date with Nathan for Friday night. What he doesn’t know is that he actually has a date with three hot women and a smokin’ hot file.”