Chapter 24
Jake was beside himself. Mackenna wasn’t answering his calls. He should have gone after her when she ran from his apartment. But his first inclination was to find out what the hell happened at the bank. The few facts he knew couldn’t be the whole picture. He prayed—literally—that the scenario he imagined was all wrong. She couldn’t be complicit in the scheme.
Demond didn’t answer and he left an urgent message to call. Courtney didn’t pick up either. Where the fuck was everyone?
By the time he raced up to Mackenna’s apartment, she was gone. Or if she was in there, she ignored him pounding on the door. Emerging from the elevator in the parking garage he checked her assigned spot. The space was vacant and he didn’t see her car anywhere on the floor.
Panic grabbed his gut. Why did she run away? Only guilty people ran. But he refused to believe that.
His heart sank when Vinny’s name appeared on his ringing phone. Mentally he wasn’t in a position to deal with Cabacolli’s crap right now. He let the call go into his messages and called Demond again, the tension in his shoulders easing when his colleague answered. Jake dispensed with a greeting.
“What the hell happened, Demond? You can’t possibly like her for this.”
His usual jovial voice was serious. “Doesn’t look good, my friend. She lawyered-up on me. I’ve got a warrant to search her workplace station at her primary bank and we’re going to hit her home too. Based on my interview yesterday, and dependent on what we find, an arrest warrant is prepared for the judge’s signature. We’ll be executing those searches within the hour so, if you’re with her my man, I’d beat feet out of there.”
Demond wouldn’t go off half-cocked. “What’d she say to give you probable cause?”
“She indicated she might know where the deposits came from.”
Jake rubbed his forehead to ease the growing tension behind his eyes. Christ, Kenna, how could you?
“Jake?”
“Yeah.”
“D’you get close to her? Too close to be objective? She there with you now?”
“No, I’m not with her.” At least that was the truth.
The breath Demond exhaled sounded like he was relieved to hear it. “My advice would be to keep it that way. She’s a cool one, Jake. Maybe one of the best I’ve come across.”
Cool wasn’t a word Jake associated with Mackenna. Sizzling hot seemed more accurate.
“What time do you think the searches will go down?”
“You know all the hurdles we have to jump over. A couple hours would be my guess but who knows.”
Jake hoped to hell he found Mackenna before then. Would they target The Hole, or did they know she’d moved in two floors above him? If Jake didn’t ask, he wouldn’t be obligated to clarify the information if the search team headed to Mackenna’s apartment. It bought him more time.
“Run it down for me, Demond. Mackenna said it was a woman this time but she didn’t give me details.”
His tone turned authoritative. “Agent Manettia, I thought you said you weren’t with her. If you are, you’re harboring a suspect.”
Jake’s shoulders sagged. This was not good for Mackenna. “I’m not with her. Not now. She told me the Good Neighbor bank suspended her and when I asked why, she told me she’d been robbed again. This time by an old lady. I blew up and she stormed away.” He didn’t want to specify that Mackenna had been at his place when this conversation occurred. Demond was no dummy. Once they discovered the empty Hole, he’d reason that Mackenna relocated. With no paper trail to follow, he’d likely issue a BOLO and then every law enforcement agency in the state would be on the lookout for her. And when Demond asked if Jake knew where she relocated, he wouldn’t lie.
“That’s all I know, Demond. Fill in the rest, please.”
At first Demond was hesitant but he finally recounted the details of the Ninth Street robbery. In the middle of his account, Jake’s phone signaled an incoming call. Vinny again. Jake ignored it.
“She asked for a lawyer right around the time I showed her the bank balances,” Demond said. “She intimated that she might have an idea about the money but insisted on a lawyer so the conversation ended. I might have been close to breaking her but then she gave me the feeling she didn’t want to come clean about the cash without some legal protection. One more nail in her coffin if you ask me. That’s why I want to pick her up. Maybe in the face of real charges, she’ll crack and give up her accomplices.”
“Have you found out anything more about that money in her account?” Jake held out hope that there was another explanation for Mackenna’s healthy bank balance, although he couldn’t fathom one.
“I don’t need to chase those dollars, Jake. I need to find the money that’s missing and the person who has it. I suggest you focus on the facts, agent, and for her sake, persuade her to turn herself in. She could be facing time in a federal prison for her role in all of this. I’m willing to back that down if she cooperates. But the clock is ticking.”
Arguing that Mackenna was innocent was useless. “If I find her, I’ll try to do that.”
“Better you find her than me, my friend. If I locate her first, I’m adding fugitive to my list.”
Jake disconnected and dialed Mackenna’s phone again but it was no use. She wasn’t taking his calls. His gut told him something was off kilter. Instead of wasting time trying to find Mackenna, he should focus on proving her innocence. Where had the money come from that poured into her checking account? She hadn’t known it was in there. Jake recalled that night at dinner when she described herself as destitute. Who used a word like that unless they truly believed it?
Back at his home office in Alabama, Jake was buddies with a computer analyst who could crack any code, hack any program, and trace any transmission. Asking Cody Wilson to examine the deposits transferred into Mackenna’s account without authorization would be an imposition and border on yet another transgression on Jake’s part. Not the first time for a reprimand. His personnel file bulged with disciplinary letters for acting on his own, failing to abide by the rules on two raids when he’d rushed in ahead of the go-ahead signal, and one three-day suspension for covering for an agent drunk on the job. He’d gained a reputation as a maverick but his track record for solving cases balanced the scale.
The deposits might be a viable lead. Jake only hoped it didn’t lead right back to Kenna.
He dialed his long-time ally. “Your ass could be in a sling if they catch on,” Jake told Cody after laying out the specifics of the case. “If you want to back off, I understand.”
Cody’s Southern drawl oozed through the phone. “Let me make sure I understand. These are the bank records of the suspect teller?”
“Yes.”
“But this isn’t your case.”
“No.”
“So it’s an unauthorized analysis.”
“Off the books, yes.”
“Your eyes only.”
“Yes.”
Cody remained silent a full ten seconds. “Is she sweet?”
It was a game they played going through training together as single men who partied hard on weekends. Jake couldn’t resist smiling and repeating the expected answer. “Sweet as sweet ’tater pie.”
The sound of Cody tapping keys on his keyboard filtered through the phone. “I’ll get back to you.”
It was a risk to both their careers but Cody was the best at what he did. He’d be able to step in and out of the bank’s records without leaving a footprint. The only thing that worried Jake was what he might find.
With nothing to do but wait, Jake listened to Vinny’s messages. He invited Jake to dinner at the family compound, sounding excited at the proposition. It had to be tonight, Vinny said. He’d send a car so they could enjoy their meal and countless glasses of Cabacolli’s famous homemade wine. Jake dropped his head into his hands. Why tonight of all nights did Vinny open the door to the Cabacolli family when Jake needed to be available in case Mackenna called? How should he weigh a major break in the covert Cabacolli investigation against working to find the woman he couldn’t live without and helping prove her innocence?
One was a given. He’d meet Old Man Cabacolli tonight and finally infiltrate that mob’s hierarchy. The case was a career-maker.
The other was an unknown. Where was she? Was she innocent?
While he pondered his dilemma, Courtney called.
“Hey, partner, how does it feel to bring down a major corruption operation? Good, I bet. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
He thanked her, his mind on Vinny and Mackenna.
“I need one final report from you, Jake. I’m offering dinner and drinks to celebrate if you can complete that by tonight.” Crap. Another demand for his time.
“That sounds good, Court, but I may have to delay our celebration by a day. Vinny wants me to attend a family dinner tonight and meet his Old Man. I haven’t confirmed yet but I bet the boss says that takes precedence over a night out celebrating with you. I was just about to call him. We’ll have to get our asses in gear fast to set all the precautions in place but I can’t imagine he’ll want me to pass up this chance. I’ll call you back.”
Just because Courtney’s case was closed didn’t mean she wouldn’t still have his back. “No need. If you’re working tonight, I’ll have your six.”