36

 

They’d decided she had more of a connection with Zinkleman, so she might get more information from him if she did the talking. “OK, Michael. Before we talk about anything else, you have to tell us about the embezzlement. My partner here convinced me of that. You tell us what you know and then we’ll talk about Andrew.”

Michael’s shoulders slumped, and he began to speak. “I didn’t embezzle anything. Someone else embezzled the money and made it look like I did.”

“Oh, here we go.” Enrique snarled, angry that the man would try such a weak ploy. “Playing the old I’m-innocent card. Gosh, I’ve never heard that one before.”

“I am innocent. You can believe me or not, but that is the truth.”

“And you just happened to kidnap your kid and disappear the very same week you were to be arrested. I guess that was a happy coincidence.”

“I had to leave. It was the only way to protect my family.”

“I’m sure Zink will be happy to hear how well you protected her and her son. The son she hasn’t seen in two years.” Jamie’s voice was indignant.

Michael glared at her. “Don’t talk to me about protecting Andrew. You’re the one who led them up here. Now he might be in danger thanks to you.”

Jamie jumped on his statement. “Exactly who did I lead up here, Michael?”

“I don’t know who they are. I only know they are dangerous.”

“Nobody followed me up here without me knowing it.” That wasn’t exactly true.

Ryan had followed Jamie and she’d not known it. But that wasn’t the point. “And even if they had, it’s still your fault for kidnapping your child in the first place.”

“You’re right, but I didn’t know what else to do. I knew I had to leave, and I knew I couldn’t take Suzie with me. Sooner or later, she would have insisted we turn ourselves in. And if we did that, they would kill us. I knew if I left Andrew with her they would have kidnapped him or hurt him as a way to get to me.”

“So you just took him and left her? Never to be seen or heard from again. Nice guy. You didn’t give her a choice.”

“I figured the best thing was to take Andrew and leave Suzie. By doing that, they would think she didn’t know anything. Which she didn’t. How is Suzie?”

“None of your business. You don’t deserve to even say her name.”

Enrique put a hand on her arm. “Let’s stay calm.” He looked at the man. “OK, we’re going to play a game. I’m going to believe that you’re innocent of embezzlement, and you’re going to tell me everything you know about the embezzlers and why you felt you had to kidnap your own child to keep him safe. How’s that for a deal?”

“It is the truth. I didn’t steal the money.”

“But you know who did?” Jamie insisted.

He shook his head. “If I knew that, do you think I’d be running? I love Suzie. I miss her every day. I...I...” He choked and his body slumped as he fought back tears. The man was either an actor worthy of an award, or he was telling the truth. Michael’s wrenching breaths subsided as he gained control. He looked up at Jamie and Enrique, wiped his face, and with what seemed to be super-human effort, calmed himself.

Enrique gave him a little more time before he spoke. “OK, let’s hear it. Let’s start with the day you took Andrew.”

“I called Suzie that morning. She sounded strange. Not quite herself. But that wasn’t all that odd. She was often that way when she was busy at work. After I talked with her, my secretary walked in with a package that had been delivered.”

This was news. He hadn’t read anything about a package in the files. He made a mental note to check on that later. The look of surprise on Jamie’s face told him she hadn’t known either.

“So what was in the package?”

“Some pictures of Suzie and Andy. And a one-page warning. It told me that soon I would be arrested and that I only had one option. To plead guilty or my wife and child would be killed.”

“Still got the letter?” Jamie asked.

“I do, but not here. I put it in a safety deposit box when I first left.”

“In Columbus?”

“No, somewhere else. I didn’t want anyone else to find it.”

“Did the letter mention the embezzlement?”

“No.”

“Did you know about it?”

“Not a hint. We did have a big audit coming up the following month. Chances are it would have been found then. That’s probably what forced their hand.”

“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t have found it sooner. Wasn’t that your job? “

“The company has a different sort of structure than most. Each branch runs fairly independently. The yearly audit shows the big picture.”

“It doesn’t sound like the best way to run a billion-dollar money fund.”

“It’s not. I’d been pestering my bosses to switch over to a different method. They agreed, but wanted to do the transition as smoothly as possible. We were going to wait until after the annual audit to institute the change.”

That was an easy fact to check. If he was stealing the money, a change in accounting would hide his activities. Enrique considered this thought, but decided to believe the man. For the moment.

“Let’s say, you didn’t find the missing money during the audit. Would you have found it if you introduced a new accounting method?”

“I would have found it during the audit. But yes, if I hadn’t found it then, it would have been discovered during the switchover.”

Another reason to make a move. “So based on that one bizarre letter you grab your kid and disappear for over two years.” Enrique’s voice was skeptical. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I only planned to lay low for a few days—to keep Andy safe while I figured out what to do. Then everything came out in the news that evening. The FBI put a warrant out for my arrest and I panicked. I thought Suzie would know that I was innocent and find a way to prove it. Instead, she filed divorce papers from what I understand.”

“Well, you did kidnap her son.” Jamie’s voice bristled.

“I thought she’d understand I was doing all this to keep them safe.”

The man was talking and Enrique didn’t want him to stop, despite Jamie’s anger. “I still don’t get why you wouldn’t take her with you.”

“Suzie has a highly-developed sense of right and wrong. I knew she’d make me turn myself in, and then she and Andy would be in even more danger. I really thought she’d believe me and prove my innocence.”

“And I’m pretty sure she thought you’d never betray her by kidnapping her son and deserting her.” Enrique’s voice was hard again. “Talk about blaming the victim.”

“I’m not blaming her. I just thought she’d handle it differently.”

The questions and the answers continued, but it became obvious that either Michael Zinkleman was a good liar or he didn’t know who was involved.

 

****

 

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Jamie said to Enrique, not caring if Michael heard.

“Thank God you believe me.” Michael’s voice was fervent.

“And he’s lying.” She pinned Zinkleman with a stare. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but you’re not telling the whole truth. I believe you don’t know where your son is or who the embezzlers are, but you’re lying about something.”

Michael said nothing, but his shoulders drooped.

It was all Jamie needed to confirm her suspicions.

“If you want to see your son, you’ll have to tell us the truth. All of it.” Enrique glared at him.

“Ryan told me he got you involved in something and that it was a big mistake. What was he talking about?” Her gaze stayed on his, not wavering or flinching, but she softened her tone. “Tell us about Ryan and his involvement.”

“Ryan came to me and asked me to do a favor for some friends of his. All they wanted was to set up a bogus account, take care of putting the money in it, and send it to another account in the Caymans. It was simple enough, and in return, they would give me ten percent.”

“Money laundering?” Enrique asked.

“I suppose you could call it that. It didn’t seem that big of a deal to me. It was small amounts at first. I guess so they could see if they could trust me. The amounts got bigger and bigger. I told them they would need to slow down. They agreed. They gave me a final deposit, a big one. And then I got the note.”

“How much was the big one?”

“One million.”

“Didn’t it occur to you the note was related to the money laundering?”

“Of course it did. That’s why I wanted to disappear for a few days so I could figure out what to do. Next thing I know, the news is talking about me embezzling more than five million from the bank.”

“Money laundering and embezzlement.” Enrique mused. “Your files don’t indicate anything about money laundering. So what do you think happened?”

“My best guess is someone at the bank figured out the money laundering scheme, transferred that money along with the bank’s money to the Cayman Islands, and then let me take the blame for all of it.”

“So Ryan felt guilty that he got you involved. That’s why he’s been helping you.”

“Yes. He convinced his friends that he had nothing to do with me disappearing with their money. I’m not sure how he did that, but he’s a smooth talker.”

Apparently, not smooth enough.

“Who were the people?” Enrique asked.

Michael shook his head. “Don’t know. I never met them and Ryan refused to tell me who they were. Ryan was the middle man. He brought me the cash and I took it from there. Ryan will tell you the same thing.”

Unfortunately, Ryan wouldn’t be telling them anything.

“So, do you have a clue who hijacked the money and framed you?”

“If I did I’d turn myself in.”