Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,88
was. Yet we learned that Monroe went to college with Stan and the others, so of course he’d know him. My guess is that it’s some sort of money laundering, but how and why? I don’t know anything about land fraud, but there would have to be a paper trail.”
“Only if someone is looking. And with people on the inside knowing how to report information, how to set up the taxes and deeds—it would be extremely difficult to uncover a crime unless someone came forward.”
“They killed an entire family, Dillon. For what? Money. It sickens me.”
“Use it, don’t let it eat you up. And that’s the key: Follow the money.”
“And we’re at a dead end. The money that Denise Albright allegedly embezzled is gone, and the money Stan embezzled— Oh. Oh! There is a paper trail on Stan’s embezzlement, and it’s much newer.”
“Provided he didn’t actually do it.”
“We have a trail of the Albright embezzlement up until we lost it overseas. I need someone really good to compare them.”
“Max’s boyfriend Ryan is an SSA of White Collar in New York. And you can always call Dean in Sacramento.”
“That’s going over everyone’s head in my office, but maybe. Sean pulled all the recent land transactions that Victoria’s company was involved with, but we haven’t been able to make heads or tails of the information. It all seems standard. Maybe the gambling was a red herring, so to speak.”
“Whoa, what? Gambling? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Grant’s motive for embezzling money from his own company was that he went back to gambling. He had a problem in college. But Sean couldn’t find any recent gambling debts. We think he used that as a motive that people would buy, because of his past. But everyone Max talked to said Grant hasn’t gambled since college.”
“You said he had a problem in college—high-stakes illegal gambling is a huge business. It’s not really under the purview of the Violent Crimes Squad, but Kate’s been working on a project with national headquarters related to illegal gambling on the dark web. And while Internet gaming—legal and illegal—has exploded, old-school gamblers prefer face-to-face games. Poker, blackjack, things like that. High stakes.”
“This is completely out of my comfort zone. I’ve never investigated illegal gambling.”
“I bring it up because land would be a good way to wash the money. Eventually, someone might ask where the money came from, but a good accountant can show it came from other sources—and I mean a really good accountant. That’s a bit over my head as well. You really should talk to Ryan. He might see something other people miss.”
“I have to run that through my boss—I can’t go outside without permission.”
“But Max and Sean don’t have the same problem.”
“Except now that we’re working together, I have to take responsibility. I worry about giving a clean case to the AUSA.”
“It puts you in a tough spot. But I also know you’ll tap into any and all resources to solve these crimes.”
He was right. And now that Ricky was coming home, Lucy didn’t have time to waste.
Chapter Twenty-one
Lucy asked to meet with her boss to go over the case. She dreaded the conversation, but she had to come clean about Nate. They’d discussed it and he agreed—she wouldn’t have said anything unless Nate was on board. But this had a direct impact on their case, and the fact that a cop may be party to a capital offense meant that the higher-ups needed to know.
Nate could be brought up to the Office of Professional Responsibility. He could be written up, suspended, demoted—but he was no longer a rookie, and that gave him a bit of protection. He took a sick day and was off the clock. The problem was the government had strict rules about federal employees traveling to Mexico and Central America even on their personal time.
Lucy also needed a warrant. She wanted Denise Albright’s signatory card from the bank, and an expert to compare it to the Kiefer authorization they had. If she could prove that Pollero was lying, she could compel him to talk to her. He might call for a lawyer, but eventually he would need to answer questions if she proved that the woman he said was Denise Albright wasn’t Denise Albright. That would make him criminally liable for the $3 million he helped steal from Henry Kiefer.
Lucy closed the door behind her. Rachel was typing on the computer. “One second, Lucy … Okay. Done. You have a breakthrough?”