I forgot to turn on my cell until we were back at the condo. When I did, it went ballistic. Beep! Beep! Beep!
Every message—all ten of them—from Nathan, ranging from worried to furious. If he had spoken to Griswold, I wasn’t sure I had the courage to deal with him. When I finally did call back, I suppose he saw my number on his caller ID because let me tell you, he was beyond furious. “What happened, Kimberly! I told you to stay out of it!”
I hoped he heard the apology in my voice. “We were only going to watch, I swear. We were hiding in the bushes a good distance from the house when they began putting suitcases and boxes in Julia’s car. It was only 2:30. Griswold wasn’t due for another half hour and they would have been gone. I wanted to call you, but my phone was dead. Then Kate and Cami took off like commandos. What could I do?”
It took a lot of explaining, but thankfully he finally said, “Kimberly, the three of you are lucky to be alive. Tell your sidekicks to cancel their flights home. I’m flying to Seattle tomorrow morning, and want all of you to hear what I have to say in person.”
Naturally when reality set in and the adrenaline settled down, I realized that besides placing ourselves in danger, this whole ludicrous situation might also have a devastating effect on our jobs and the future of CRS.
Instead of dwelling on the looming consequences, we decided not to worry until Nathan had his say. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, determined to reward ourselves for a job well done regardless of what the next day held. We made a stalwart attempt to avoid discussing the inevitable, but I caved in while waiting for desert.
“What do you think will happen to CRS? Are we going to be out of jobs again?”
As usual, Kate was the voice of practicality. “We might not have to worry about a job at all if the reward is big enough. It could run into quite a bit from the research I’ve done. I’m not sure if we qualify for the Whistleblower Act, but even if we don’t they will reward us.”
Stupid me. I’d forgotten there might be a substantial reward. Obviously Kate had given it plenty of thought. We went back to the condo on a high note.
The next morning Nate called from the car rental counter. I asked him to come to the condo instead of the office and gave him the address and directions. We rushed around straightening things up, chattering about what to expect, then plopped down on my comfortable living room furniture to wait for him. By the way, have I mentioned I truly like the new sofas and chairs better than the ones Ryan made off with?
An hour later the security buzzer sounded and I let him in.
He gave each of us a peck on the cheek and appeared to be in good spirits.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m still pretty pissed off, but because of you we’ve managed to tie up over $30,000,000 which will be returned to the government. We’re taking possession of Julia’s mansion, too, since it was purchased with stolen government funds. That will bring a few million more.”
The words flowed out of my mouth before I had a chance to think. “You mean you’ll recover about $33,000,000 including the house? Wow. I’ll bet it took a lot to track the money.”
“Not as hard as it sounds, actually. There’s an organization based in Belgium called SWIFT. Society of Worldwide Interbank Telecommunications is quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Anyway, the FBI was able to track all of the transfers and deposits to various offshore accounts through SWIFT. However, we only found accounts for Julia and Lena. Maybe Matt was just a hired hand, after all. Here’s your good news. Each of you can expect to receive a reward of about $1,000,000.”
The blood pounded in my temples, but in a good way. $1,000,000!
Nathan said, “There’s more. As I suspected, although we tried to keep it pretty low profile, the story is out already. You can expect to be contacted for interviews and I want to coach you about what to say.”
Cami had a gleam in her eyes. “Interviews? Why?”
“Because for at least a few days you’ll be America’s sweethearts. They love stuff like this for talk shows. You have to look out for the Department of Justice and not make us look like fools.”
I sat there nodding with dollar signs dancing in my head.
He laced his fingers together, peaked them and leaned forward. “You might not be interested in this now that you’re going to be wealthy, but we’re moving Consulting Resource Services to Washington D.C.” He cleared his throat. “This fiasco made us realize we need to have better control so nothing like this can ever happen again.”
The more he talked in that sexy voice of his, the more I kept visualizing Nathan in a very different way than as the Attorney General of the United States. Oh man, I wanted to be wrapped in his arms. But I was afraid our escapade had killed any chance of that.
He smiled. His eyes did look seductive. “Kimberly, would you consider relocating to D.C.? FACR wants me to offer you Julia’s job, if you’re interested. By the way, there is no reason for you to have to spend much time at Paradise Hills Prison. Maybe a short trip every few months. That was something Julia dreamed up to keep on top of her other business.”
Well, that was unexpected. Yes, his eyes were seductive. I was never one of those luncheon and canasta types and I did like working with all of our team. Besides, I knew I could do Julia’s job better than she ever did. On the other hand, the idea of not being tied to a job appealed to me, too. “Let me consider it, Nathan.” He nodded. Be still my heart.
“Okay, I’ll wait for your answer.”
He turned to Kate. “I have an offer for you as well. Would you consider becoming Vice President of Sales? Before you say no, it’s a traveling position and you wouldn’t have to leave San Francisco. I’d love for you to consider it.”
She didn’t wait to reply. “Thanks, Nate. I appreciate the offer, but once I get the reward, I have other plans. Uncovering all of this made me realize just how many clever frauds and scams people cook up.”
At that moment, I was sure she was thinking about how she’d been hoodwinked, too.
She continued, “I’ve decided to launch a blog called FraudBusters.com. I’ve already grabbed the URL. I’m thinking I might even write a book called “The Great American Ripoff,” or something like that. Who knows? I’m looking forward to what this could become.”
Nathan said, “Cami—”
Cami’s head shook back and forth like someone watching an active tennis match. “Count me out, Nate. I’ve had enough of this. As soon as I collect the money I’m starting my own advertising agency. She giggled her adorable little giggle. “I’ll show that old goat who fired me. I plan to steal several of his clients.”
Nate said, “I understand. I thought you might say something like that, Kid. Well on the bright side, all the media exposure over the next few months should help. You’ll be famous and you know how clients love to be around fame.
Kate moved onto the couch next to Cami. “Hey, Cami, want to handle my advertising and PR? Let me be your first client.”