‘‘You pulled his credit?’’ I whispered.
‘‘Yep,’’ Darren said as he scanned the information.
‘‘Isn’t it illegal to do that without his permission?’’
Darren looked at me, and I knew I should have kept my damn mouth shut. ‘‘Technically, yes,’’ he said. ‘‘But I’m about to save this guy’s ass, so I don’t think he’ll mind.’’
‘‘Good point,’’ I said, turning my attention back to the screen. ‘‘He’s two months behind on his credit cards, and his mortgage payment is thirty days past due,’’ I said.
‘‘He’s sinking fast,’’ Darren said. ‘‘And I’m about to bring him to the Promised Land.’’
I sat quietly while Darren printed out the credit report and made some notes in the margins. Next he went to the end of the report and highlighted a phone number. ‘‘See that?’’ he said, pointing to a notation. ‘‘That’s his home number.’’
I was amazed at the amount of information that Darren was able to retrieve. A moment later he was back to fishing around in his briefcase. He took out a small black box and plugged one end of the gadget into his phone and the other into his computer. Another small window appeared and he asked me, ‘‘Abby, what’s your cell phone number?’’
I gave him a puzzled look. ‘‘My cell number? Why do you need that?’’
Darren winked at me. ‘‘Watch and see. Now, come on, give me the number.’’ I did and he typed it in, then opened another window and told me to look away. I did and waited for him to tell me when I could look again.
Just then, my cell phone rang. ‘‘Go ahead,’’ Darren said. ‘‘Look at the display first, then answer it.’’
I pulled my cell out of my purse and looked at the display. It read, ‘‘County Clerk’s.’’ I answered the phone with a tentative ‘‘Hello?’’
Darren picked up his receiver and said, ‘‘Hey there,’’ in my ear.
My mouth dropped. I knew what he was doing and it was so far beyond the boundaries of fair play that I wanted to bolt for the exit right there. Instead, I played along. ‘‘Wow! That is so cool!’’ I said. ‘‘I’m assuming the next phone call will be to Mr. Weis, regarding his overdue property taxes?’’
Darren winked at me as he clicked the phone off and began to type on the computer. He had his phone on speaker so that I could listen, and I heard a woman’s recorded voice announce that Ron and Barbara were unable to come to the phone and to please leave a message after the tone. I listened as Darren’s voice lowered an octave or two and he gave a garbled introduction of a name I couldn’t catch followed by a rather scary message about the overdue property tax bill and the risk of foreclosure. He then left a number and an extension and urged the Weises to call soon to discuss the matter.
‘‘I’m assuming you left your own number and extension?’’ I said.
Darren smiled broadly. ‘‘When Wolfe set up the phones, he purposely got a number that was one digit off the Oakland county clerk’s office.’’
‘‘So they’re going to assume they misdialed or wrote the number down wrong,’’ I said.
‘‘Yep. And when they call, I’m going to take care of all their overdue bills.’’
‘‘What’s it going to cost them?’’ I asked.
‘‘Couple of percentage points at the closing table,’’ Darren said. ‘‘That house has gotta be worth close to a million, and their mortgage is only for six hundred fifty thousand. It’s the perfect loan.’’
‘‘It’s the Weises’ lucky day,’’ I said, working hard to hide my disgust.
‘‘And the beauty is that I got a guy down at the county clerk’s office who’s willing to field the calls should they bypass calling here.’’
‘‘That’s quite a system,’’ I said. ‘‘No wonder you’re doing well.’’
‘‘Everyone here has something,’’ he said. He must have noticed my doubtful expression because then he added, ‘‘Don’t worry. We’ll get you hooked in, Abby.’’
‘‘That’s great,’’ I said, trying to force some enthusiasm into my voice. ‘‘Just great.’’
It was six p.m. before I was able to escape for the day. I had watched Darren click through neighborhoods and nose his way into countless people’s personal and private information, leaving the same message on every voice mail. The more he ‘‘worked,’’ the happier he became, and the more my skin crawled.
I stopped off at home and took care of Eggy, who’d been home alone all day, poor thing. I then changed and went to my office. Something was really eating at me and I intended to deal with it, pronto.
When I arrived I found Candice in her office, tapping away on her computer. ‘‘You’re here late,’’ I said in greeting.
‘‘Hey, Abs,’’ she said, taking her eyes off the screen. ‘‘My grandmother’s driving me a little batty, so I came here for a little peace and quiet and a lot less pink.’’
I laughed. Candice’s grandmother was a character, and her living room looked as if it had been sprayed with a gigantic bottle of Pepto-Bismol. ‘‘At least it’s free,’’ I offered.
Candice sighed. ‘‘I know, I know, I’m sounding ungrateful. But I’ve always found that with Nana, less is more.’’
My radar kicked in and I offered, ‘‘The good news is that I’m seeing a move in your very near future.’’
‘‘Really?’’ she said hopefully.
I nodded. ‘‘And it’s somewhere tranquil and fabulous and you’re going to love it. I also get the feeling the price is right and the terms are fair. They keep saying it’s a perfect solution.’’
Candice cocked her head at me. ‘‘Wow, that would be fantastic. But I really don’t want to get myself into a lease situation. I’d rather wait until the old business is rockin’ and I can afford to buy a place. So I can’t imagine how that would happen.’’
‘‘The crew’s insisting that there is a compromise you can definitely live with,’’ I said. ‘‘Something will turn up.’’
‘‘Okay, I trust you. And I did get a case today, so maybe lots more will follow real soon.’’
‘‘Need any help with it?’’
‘‘Naw. It’s your typical cheating husband. I’ll have it wrapped up in a few days.’’
‘‘Cool,’’ I said as I took a seat across from her and gave her a tired smile. ‘‘I had forgotten how much I hate corporate America.’’
Candice grinned at me. ‘‘Not ready to head back to a nine-to-fiver, huh?’’
‘‘Definitely not,’’ I said with a yawn.
‘‘How’d the rest of the day go?’’
I stretched in the chair and said, ‘‘For starters, your boy Darren is breaking about six laws that I can think of, and I’m sure investigators would be more than happy to nail him on a few others.’’
Candice shook her head and frowned. ‘‘I had a feeling he’d gone over to the dark side. What’s he doing?’’
‘‘Pulling unauthorized credit reports, committing fraud, impersonating a county official—it goes on and on.’’
‘‘How about the rest of the office?’’ she asked. ‘‘Anyone else up to no good?’’
I nodded. ‘‘No one there is innocent, Candice. There’s one guy in particular who strikes me as being a person of interest. His name is Sheldon Jacob, and Darren says he’s Dick’s stepbrother and he’s been there for years. My guess is he’s a henchman.’’
Candice jotted down the name. ‘‘Awesome. Anyone else?’’
I sighed. ‘‘No. Unfortunately Darren kept me close today, so I didn’t have a chance to snoop around.’’
‘‘There’s always tomorrow,’’ she said brightly. ‘‘By the way, I’ve got some time on Thursday to head up to Jackson prison. Tell Darren you’ve got a doctor’s appointment and won’t be around in the afternoon.’’
‘‘Sounds good,’’ I said, pushing to my feet.
‘‘Hey,’’ she said to me, ‘‘what are you doing here so late, by the way?’’
<
br /> I gave her a grin. ‘‘Making sure the only office I ever have to go to is my own,’’ I said. When she gave me a quizzical look I explained, ‘‘I’m sending out postcards to all my clients, thanking them for their patronage and letting them know I’m officially back at work.’’
‘‘Good for you,’’ Candice said brightly. ‘‘Way to hop back on that horse, Abs.’’
I left Candice to work her case and went into my office to pull out files and get organized. While I was working on my mailing list, my cell phone buzzed. ‘‘Hey, cowboy,’’ I said when I answered it.
‘‘Where are you?’’
‘‘The office.’’
‘‘It’s ten p.m.,’’ he said.
‘‘Thank you, Father Time,’’ I said. ‘‘Want to give me the weather report now?’’
‘‘Rain,’’ he said. ‘‘Nothing but rain.’’
I glanced out my window. ‘‘Looks pretty clear to me.’’
‘‘Then bring that sunshine over and spend the night,’’ he said. ‘‘I miss you.’’
‘‘You miss getting some,’’ I teased.
‘‘Yeah, but I promise to cuddle afterward if you’ll come over.’’
I rolled my eyes. ‘‘How about I come visit this weekend?’’ I suggested.
Dutch sighed. ‘‘You really don’t want to see me tonight?’’
I looked at the stack of client information and release forms on my desk and the nice little spreadsheet I’d just created. ‘‘Dutch,’’ I said seriously, ‘‘I’m in the middle of something important, and I was hoping to make some headway tonight. I’ll call you Thursday and maybe we can go away for the weekend or something.’’
Dutch didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he said quietly, ‘‘Okay, Abby. I’ll talk to you Thursday’’ and clicked off.
I scowled as I closed the phone. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see him. I just felt like a little space might be good for us. Besides, he’d flip out if he found out I was working at Wolfe’s company, and I wasn’t in the mood to explain that one to him. It was better if I just kept a little distance between us for a while so he could assume I was keeping my nose clean and out of trouble.
Candice popped her head in around eleven. ‘‘I’m headed home,’’ she said. ‘‘You going to be at the gym tomorrow?’’
I groaned. ‘‘I forgot about the gym. Yeah, I’ll be there,’’ I said, hitting the SAVE icon on my computer and standing up. ‘‘Wait up. I’ll head out with you.’’
Candice and I left the office and walked to our cars. As I drove home, I thought about the next day and how I hated the fact that I had to go back to the mortgage company. The place had horrible energy. I gave an involuntary shiver as I thought about it.
I was hoping that I could find out something incriminating about Wolfe and deliver that to Dutch so that he and the FBI could open a new investigation. I didn’t know if I’d be able to find anything out that would connect Wolfe to Walter’s murder, but something told me that if this mortgage company was around when Walter died, there might be something there.
The other intriguing tidbit was that Walter had used Universal Mortgage Company to finance his rental properties. I wondered what that was about, and I was determined to dig into the database to find out.
Chapter Six
The next morning I met Candice at the gym, and she put me through my paces. ‘‘Are you sure we should be working this hard?’’ I asked, panting between squats.
‘‘This is your warm-up,’’ she said. ‘‘The hard stuff comes later.’’
‘‘Nazi,’’ I grunted as I dipped low.
‘‘Pansy,’’ she replied. ‘‘Come on, five more and we can move on to something else.’’
‘‘Great,’’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘‘I’m totally motivated.’’
I arrived at Universal Mortgage promptly at eight again. I knew that Darren wouldn’t be in for a while, but just in case anyone was taking notice I wanted to give the appearance of being an eager beaver. To my surprise, Sheldon was already in his cubicle, and he was talking to a heavyset man with thinning hair and a severe underbite. ‘‘This is the best list so far,’’ the man was saying.
Sheldon took the list and scanned it. He gave a scowl that gave me the willies. ‘‘Fuck, Benzie. What the hell is this shit?’’ and he threw the paper at the other man.
‘‘Those are good!’’ insisted the man. ‘‘I swear, Sheldon! I drove by ’em myself and none of ’em are burn-outs or crack houses.’’
‘‘You think I don’t know my own shit?’’ Sheldon said. ‘‘You think I’m just sitting here for you to fuck with me?’’
I was sitting in my cubicle trying to avert my eyes, but the mounting tension in the room was making me incredibly uncomfortable. ‘‘I swear this is a good list!’’ said Benzie. ‘‘And if you don’t want it, then maybe one of these other guys will!’’ With that he turned and stared directly at me. Like a deer caught in the headlights, I couldn’t look away. ‘‘You!’’ he said to me.
I gulped. ‘‘Yes?’’ I asked.
‘‘You work here?’’
‘‘Uh...’’ I said.
‘‘Here!’’ he said, striding forward to shove the list at me. ‘‘You take this list and see what you can get for it!’’
‘‘Benzie,’’ said Sheldon with a low growl, ‘‘cut that shit out.’’
Benzie turned back to Sheldon and said defiantly, ‘‘You think I don’t know what goes on here?’’ he demanded. ‘‘I know what you guys do!’’
The list was in my hands and I quickly scanned it, looking for anything incriminating, but it was simply a list of names with addresses. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it. At that moment the paper was snatched away and Sheldon Jacob bent down to put his face inches from mine. ‘‘This ain’t none of your fucking business, bitch,’’ he said to me.
I gasped. It wasn’t just the way he had spoken to me; it was the venom coming from his eyes. ‘‘Okay!’’ I said as I backed my chair away from him. ‘‘I was just sitting here and that guy gave it to me.’’
Sheldon narrowed his eyes. ‘‘You see a lot of other bitches around here in the pit?’’ he asked me.
‘‘Right now I don’t see much of anyone around here,’’ I said, looking pointedly around.
‘‘You’re a smart-ass,’’ he said to me. ‘‘I don’t like smart-asses.’’
‘‘Noted,’’ I said, standing up. I refused to let this foulmouthed jerk get to me. ‘‘I’m going to get coffee. Would you like some coffee?’’ I asked Benzie, who had been closely watching Sheldon and me.
‘‘That’d be great,’’ he said.
‘‘Black?’’
‘‘Cream and sugar,’’ he said.
I strolled past Sheldon as if he didn’t exist, heading in the direction of the kitchen. When I got there I gripped the counter and took a few deep breaths. When my heart rate had calmed, I poured two cups of coffee, added cream and sugar, and walked them back to the pit. When I got there Sheldon wasn’t at his desk, but Benzie was.
‘‘Here you go,’’ I said.
‘‘Thanks, doll,’’ he said. ‘‘Sorry about before, but I wanted Sheldon to stop dicking me around, and sometimes you gotta call his bluff, you know?’’
‘‘He doesn’t seem the type that enjoys having his bluff called,’’ I said, taking my seat.
‘‘Aw, he’s okay. We’ve been doing business together for years and years. I was the one who did his bond way back when.’’
My brows furrowed. I had no idea what he was talking about, but decided I should play along a little. ‘‘Really?’’ I said. ‘‘So you’ve known him a while?’’
‘‘Yeah, goin’ on twenty years now. I’m Ben Zimmerman, by the way,’’ he said, extending his hand. ‘‘Most folks call me Benzie.’’
I shook it and gave him a big fat smile. ‘‘Abby Cooper. I’m new here.’’
Benzie nodded. ‘‘I got that. Not many o
f the women stick it out,’’ he said. ‘‘Most of ’em get a taste of Sheldon or Ron and don’t come back.’’
I cocked my head. ‘‘Who’s Ron?’’
Benzie laughed. ‘‘You ain’t met Ron yet? That’s right. He’s on vacation this week. He’s Sheldon’s twin brother, and if you can believe it, he’s the more hot-headed of the two.’’
My eyes widened. ‘‘You’re kidding.’’
‘‘Nope. See that?’’ he said, pointing to a pile of broken plastic and wires sitting on top of a desk.
‘‘Yeah?’’
‘‘That was a fax machine. Last time I was in here one of Ron’s deals went bust, and he smashed that to pieces. You never saw a room clear out so fast.’’ He chuckled. ‘‘It took the big guy to chill him out.’’
‘‘Mr. Wolfe?’’
‘‘Yeah. I’ve known him for years too,’’ he said, puffing his chest out.
‘‘Wow,’’ I said, playing into it. ‘‘Maybe you should work here.’’
Benzie laughed. ‘‘Naw. I do okay with the system I’ve got with these guys,’’ he said. ‘‘I do all the work on the front end, and they close the deals.’’
‘‘That’s great,’’ I said just as Sheldon came back into the room.
‘‘Where’s my coffee?’’ he snapped at me.
‘‘In the kitchen,’’ I snapped back, meeting his eyes and folding my arms. I’d dealt with scarier dudes than him before.
Sheldon’s upper lip curled slightly. I truly hoped it was a smile. ‘‘Benzie!’’ he said and shifted his attention. ‘‘Stop fuckin’ around and get over here. I just talked to Adam and a couple of these I might be able to do something with.’’
Benzie headed back over to Sheldon and I discreetly pulled my cell phone out of my purse. As quickly as I could, I texted Candice the names Ben Zimmerman and Ron Jacob, then figured I could also pass along the names I’d remembered from the list Benzie had given Sheldon, so I typed out Carmen Perez, Livingston St. and Chandra Brown, Grossebeck Ave., followed by I’ll xpln later, and hit the SEND button.