Chapter 9
Zane
Now that Sam had resorted to violence and made the first strike, I no longer cared to try and smooth things over. “You’re crazy! What are you doing?”
“Trying to make you take me seriously, you idiot! I want to know what you told your mistress!” Her face was turning red, and I could feel mine heating, too.
“And you think trying to knock me out with one of those heavy glasses is the right way to get my attention? I am taking you seriously, Sam, and I’m answering your question. I haven’t told Kathryn a thing!”
“Kathryn? Is that her name?” She looked around frantically and clutched the heavy bowl the fruit had spilled from, lying on its side on the island. “I’m not kidding with you, Zane. It’s just going to get worse.”
“I swear, Sam. Kathryn doesn’t know anything!”
“Oh, the little twit knows plenty!” she shot back. “In fact, she obviously knows too much. And since you aren’t willing to tell me exactly what sort of dirt she has on me, I have to assume she’s a danger to my future. You know what happens to people that threaten my future, Zane?” She set the bowl down hard, and I winced, surprised it didn’t break. She picked up her purse. “They get eliminated. I’m just going to have to remove prim and proper little Kathryn from the picture permanently. That’s on your head, Zane. I hope you carry that guilt for the rest of your life.”
She turned to leave, but I couldn’t let her walk out of here. From her description of ‘prim and proper,’ I assumed that she’d figured out that Crystal wasn’t who she was looking for. It didn’t matter, though—I refused to let her go after either one.
Thinking fast, I decided it was best to see if I could turn her anger on me. If she focused on me, maybe she’d get so pissed off she would forget about Kathryn, and I could warn Kathryn in advance. I didn’t know how, since she wouldn’t return my texts or calls, but I’d find a way.
“If you weren’t so weak, maybe you wouldn’t be so jealous of her.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “What the hell are you rambling about?”
I smirked and crossed my arms defiantly. “You heard me. You’re not actually worried that she knows something. You’re just looking for an excuse to go after her. You know Kathryn is everything you’re not, and the fact that I can love her and not you makes you so jealous you can’t stand it.”
“Nice try,” she said with an evil laugh that might have made a movie villain crawl into a closet and hide. “You’re pathetic, Zane. Always trying to be the hero. Well, you failed this time.”
She rushed out of the house before I could stop her. I had to figure something out. There had to be a way to stop this. I could only think of one thing, and it had me rushing up the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me. I burst into Sam’s office, no longer caring what I might disrupt or what proof I left of my presence. I yanked the black book out from under the desk, tore out the sheet of paper with the passwords, and brought the machine to life. I typed the password to log onto the system.
I scanned down the list of passwords, looking for where I’d left off as I opened the email application, and I started entering codes frantically. I knew that, if I could find the proof I needed, I would be able to stop Sam in her tracks. All I had to do was forward the information to the right people, and she’d be begging forgiveness from several different angles.
I hit the jackpot, and the account popped up. I scanned through the list of received emails. Several of them were long threads of correspondence back and forth with Mason O’Brien, and when I opened one of them randomly, I was disgusted. From the innuendos and openly sexual discussions, it was obvious I’d found the name of her boy toy. This was almost offensive, and I wasn’t the least bit prude.
I quickly closed out that one and started clicking into several others back and forth between Sam and this Mason guy. I grew sicker and sicker at the dirty talk, which escalated over time to include disturbing and more deviant practices. I didn’t know Sam was into a lot of this kind of stuff. Maybe she’d developed a taste for it long after our short attempt at a sexual relationship, or maybe she’d hidden it from me from the start. Hell, I didn’t put it past her to be faking interest in it now to keep Mason on a tight leash, coming back for more.
I didn’t want to keep looking at this smut, but I had to make sure Kathryn was safe. And finally, I found what I was after.
She and Mason had been hard at work, him feeding her info on expected changes in the market. Most of the emails revolved around where profits could be made by investing in particular stocks based on corporate changes, business announcements like mergers, and new product launches or stock splits and multipliers. There were even a few that would help balance the gains with small losses to avoid suspicion at her ‘good luck.’ The problem was, some of these had obviously failed miserably.
I ran a quick search on Mason O’Brien. He was a low-life sap from decent Irish stock, and I had a feeling that his various dealings with law enforcement had made him the scourge of his family, who owned a respectable beer, wine, and liquor brewing and distribution business.
I questioned how someone like Mason could have gotten the information needed for a successful insider trading scheme, but as I read on, I found references to Mason’s older brother, Sean, who had made bank as a stockbroker on Wall Street. That explained a lot. And then I found the email that explained the significant cash loss. It sounded like Sean had gotten scared and tried to bow out of the operation. He’d refused to give any insight for a while.
From what I could tell, he’d recently come back on board, and I scoffed. I had a feeling Sam had started leveling threats in his direction, too. Either that or she’d seduced him into sticking around and helping her rebuild her ill-gotten fortune.
The hints and tip offs were all incredibly valuable information, and I went back through the passwords until I found one that logged me into the bank account. I felt bile rise in my throat when I saw the balance in the account, and I was livid. There should be at least three times that much, even without Sam’s contributions. She’d lost everything she’d gained and most of what I’d put in there from my profits.
But I had to keep looking at those depressing numbers, and I had to swallow my anger and indignant offense. There was nothing I could do to change it now. I had been the one stupid enough to trust Sam, and I hadn’t insisted on seeing bank statements. I could only blame myself for the shock and, when it came down to it, the loss. I could have kept Sam from making the mistakes she’d made. For that matter, I could have stopped her from getting involved in the stupid operation to start with.
Right now, I had to concentrate on the task at hand. That was to create a timeline that showed exactly what Sam had been up to and for how long. I may not have the older emails, so I couldn’t show definitively how long she’d been up to no good, but I had enough to show she was involved in a felony offense.
If I lined up the transactions – automatic payments and withdrawals – with the emails, it was more than enough evidence, even if I didn’t have the brokerage account information to verify it all. The police would be able to get a subpoena for any other account records based on this information alone. I was sure that the people I wanted to alert would be more than convinced.
If I did this, things would be desperate for a while. My mom wouldn’t be getting payments from me to help with her debt. The thought made guilt sear through my body, but I also couldn’t allow Sam to ruin my life, and Kathryn’s life. If everything fell apart, I had to trust that I could keep my club going and help my mom out as much as I could.
Now, it was time to hit the ball out of the park. I just needed to line up my batters for the greatest impact. I set to work, highly focused and even more determined to succeed. This meant my freedom, and it meant keeping Sam out of Kathryn’s and Crystal’s lives. If that wasn’t enough motivation, nothing ever would be.