his hard drive. Some checks match those I snatched in the robbery. And I bugged the office and phone."
"Don't you need a warrant for that? How did you get a judge's signature so quickly, and without letting anybody know you're working on this?"
He laughed. "A couple of federal judges owe me big-time favors."
She shook her head. He'd told her he colored outside the lines. Outrageously true. Heavens, at times the man veered clear off the page. "If I let myself think about the unlimited resources at your dubious command, I wouldn't sleep at night."
"If you're lying awake with nothing to do, feel free to call on me, sweetheart."
She pretended to ignore the sexy suggestion, but her breath hitched in her throat. "Is this enough to convict him?"
"No. He could still pin the crime on anyone who works at the club. And remember, we strongly suspect law enforcement is involved. If dirty cops are out there, I want them. The maggots have slipped away from us too often, and I plan to catch them red-handed. No way will they weasel out of this one."
She traipsed to the kitchen for cleaning supplies. "Tell me the rest." She went to her baby grand, poured lemon oil on a rag and began to massage the shiny golden oak.
"I sent for IRS reports on our suspects. Financial records are very revealing. But due to the fiscal year-end rush and a computer screw-up, the reports didn't arrive until yesterday."
She arched her brows. "What, no string pulling?"
"Honey, even I can't budge the IRS. But wait until you hear this." He laughed. "Your Mr. Trask is the proud inventor and owner of the Ab Annihilator and the Bun Buster."
Her jaw dropped and her hand froze on the piano. "The exercise gizmos that redheaded actress advertises on TV?"
"He uses a corporate name, but we traced the patent to him. Guess he doesn't want his influential banker buddies to know he's in the hard body business. He's got half a million dinero, and his balance is on a steady uphill climb. Totally legit."
"Why would he continue to work at the bank?"
"From what I saw, he doesn't work very hard." He shrugged. "For some people, there's no such thing as enough money. Maybe he's into the power, or prestige in the community, or maybe he needs the medical benefits. I doubt he'd risk his rising fortune by involvement with counterfeiters."
Tessa knelt to polish the piano legs. "Wow. You work with people for years and never really know them."
"That brings up our next candidate. Donald Richards, president of Oregon Pacific Bank. Richards has a mansion in an exclusive part of town, two grown sons, a toddler, and a new, very young wife with expensive taste." He laughed again. "However, the wife appears to be keeping him, rather than the other way round. Does the name Katherine Starr ring a bell?"
She dropped her rag. "The author of Hollywood Affairs, Beyond Hollywood Affairs and Lovers and Liars?"
"Kiki Richards aka Katherine Starr. With seven bestsellers to her credit, she's racked up a cool two million in the last couple years."
"Next you're going to tell me Peter is starring in a soap opera disguised as his own sister or something."
He frowned. "Nope. This is where it gets sticky. Peter looks clean. Nothing there. Neil looks clean, too."
She wandered back to the kitchen. She filled a pitcher with water and sprinkled the plants in the mini-greenhouse window over the sink. "Good. Then what's the problem?"
"I didn't say they were clean. They look clean. Big difference. I have my suspicions. Two years ago Neil's daughter was diagnosed with an expensive heart problem."
"Peter mentioned that. That's what insurance is for."
"It only goes so far. Neil's house is mortgaged and nearly one-third of his income was spent on medical expenses."
She paused with the pitcher over a Boston fern. "You think Neil got involved in crime to pay for his daughter's care?"
"Parents will go to extreme lengths for their children."
"Why wouldn't he ask his father? Even though Kiki and Neil can't stand each other, I can't imagine she'd turn down Donald's grandchild."
"Not much of Kiki's income is liquid. Most of it is tied up in investments, and a large chunk is in trust for the baby. I don't know about the family dynamics, but even if she wanted to, she probably couldn't come up with this much dough." With a sigh, he closed the folder. "Here's the clincher. Do you know what Neil's wife does for a living?"