of the secretaries from their legal department talking about having a quote unquote shred first and ask questions later policy. She was talking about how they’d done that to kill a lawsuit a couple of years ago. Raised the hairs on the back of my neck.”
“Not good. You’d better keep a low profile until I’ve had a chance to look into this. And don’t take any more jobs in the meantime. Oh, and send me a list of former employees for interviews—make sure to include some executives and security guys if you can.”
“Okay.” She smiled and winked at him. “Thanks for watching out for me.”
“Couldn’t let anything happen to my best client, could I?” He returned the smile. Get that protectiveness under control, buddy. Remember, she’s just a client. Back to business. “So, how did their books look? Are they hiding anything?”
She nodded and pulled an envelope out of her purse. “It looks like they’re padding each bill by about ten percent. I could only pull a couple because of all the Big Brother stuff, but I hope it’s enough to interest DOJ.”
She handed the envelope to Connor and he opened it. It held only ten sheets of paper: two invoices to the California Department of Water Resources for underwater repair work at a reservoir, two pages of itemized billings supporting each invoice, and an Excel spreadsheet showing lower amounts for most line items. Nice, simple documents—the kind that would be easy to explain to a jury.
“These are great docs, Allie. But there’s only about $20K of fraud here. With trebling, that’s sixty thousand. Add a penalty of ten thousand per invoice and we’re still only at eighty. That’s too small for Max, and it’s too small for my firm.”
She wrinkled her forehead and pressed her lips together. “Hmmm. Would it be big enough if I told you that they had over two hundred million dollars in government contracts? How about if I also told you that over half the invoices I saw had padding?”
Connor did some quick mental calculations and gave a low whistle. “Then I’d tell you that I’m very interested, and I’ll bet DOJ will be too.”
She grinned. “Thought you might. Hey, didn’t you say something about coffee?” She stopped and tilted her head toward an espresso cart bearing the name “Wilson’s Expresso Espresso.” A tall man with an earring and a goatee watched them hopefully.
“I did indeed.” Connor bought an Americano for himself and a complicated chai-based drink for Allie that took Wilson five minutes to make.
After they had their drinks, they turned around and headed back toward the Ferry Building. “So, what else is up?”
“My bank account for starters. Your accounting department just sent me the last installment from Hamilton.”
“That should pay for a few nice trips to Vail or Tahoe for you and Erik. Come to think of it, that should pay for one of those ski-in condos. And some bunny slope lessons for Erik.” Connor allowed himself a small grin as he pictured Allie’s oh-so-cool boyfriend wobbling on his first pair of skis.
Allie didn’t smile. “Uh, yeah. Anyway, what’s up with you?”
Connor winced inside. Should’ve kept the Erik thing to myself. “Um, you know that World War II fighter I’ve got? I took it down to LA for a movie shoot.” Allie’s face wore a distant, slightly glazed look and Connor instantly regretted bragging. “Other than that, just the same old boring grind at the office.”
“Uh-huh. Say, could you give me a referral for a detective?”
“Sure, but if this is for a case, we’ll hire one ourselves.”
A chill ocean breeze gusted between two buildings. Allie’s hair whipped around her face and she hugged herself. “No, it’s not for a case.”
Connor waited for her to go on, but she just tucked her hair behind her ears and watched the sidewalk as they walked.
He wanted to ask what was wrong, to tell her that he was her friend and he wanted to help. But he didn’t. I’ve done enough damage for
“Not good. You’d better keep a low profile until I’ve had a chance to look into this. And don’t take any more jobs in the meantime. Oh, and send me a list of former employees for interviews—make sure to include some executives and security guys if you can.”
“Okay.” She smiled and winked at him. “Thanks for watching out for me.”
“Couldn’t let anything happen to my best client, could I?” He returned the smile. Get that protectiveness under control, buddy. Remember, she’s just a client. Back to business. “So, how did their books look? Are they hiding anything?”
She nodded and pulled an envelope out of her purse. “It looks like they’re padding each bill by about ten percent. I could only pull a couple because of all the Big Brother stuff, but I hope it’s enough to interest DOJ.”
She handed the envelope to Connor and he opened it. It held only ten sheets of paper: two invoices to the California Department of Water Resources for underwater repair work at a reservoir, two pages of itemized billings supporting each invoice, and an Excel spreadsheet showing lower amounts for most line items. Nice, simple documents—the kind that would be easy to explain to a jury.
“These are great docs, Allie. But there’s only about $20K of fraud here. With trebling, that’s sixty thousand. Add a penalty of ten thousand per invoice and we’re still only at eighty. That’s too small for Max, and it’s too small for my firm.”
She wrinkled her forehead and pressed her lips together. “Hmmm. Would it be big enough if I told you that they had over two hundred million dollars in government contracts? How about if I also told you that over half the invoices I saw had padding?”
Connor did some quick mental calculations and gave a low whistle. “Then I’d tell you that I’m very interested, and I’ll bet DOJ will be too.”
She grinned. “Thought you might. Hey, didn’t you say something about coffee?” She stopped and tilted her head toward an espresso cart bearing the name “Wilson’s Expresso Espresso.” A tall man with an earring and a goatee watched them hopefully.
“I did indeed.” Connor bought an Americano for himself and a complicated chai-based drink for Allie that took Wilson five minutes to make.
After they had their drinks, they turned around and headed back toward the Ferry Building. “So, what else is up?”
“My bank account for starters. Your accounting department just sent me the last installment from Hamilton.”
“That should pay for a few nice trips to Vail or Tahoe for you and Erik. Come to think of it, that should pay for one of those ski-in condos. And some bunny slope lessons for Erik.” Connor allowed himself a small grin as he pictured Allie’s oh-so-cool boyfriend wobbling on his first pair of skis.
Allie didn’t smile. “Uh, yeah. Anyway, what’s up with you?”
Connor winced inside. Should’ve kept the Erik thing to myself. “Um, you know that World War II fighter I’ve got? I took it down to LA for a movie shoot.” Allie’s face wore a distant, slightly glazed look and Connor instantly regretted bragging. “Other than that, just the same old boring grind at the office.”
“Uh-huh. Say, could you give me a referral for a detective?”
“Sure, but if this is for a case, we’ll hire one ourselves.”
A chill ocean breeze gusted between two buildings. Allie’s hair whipped around her face and she hugged herself. “No, it’s not for a case.”
Connor waited for her to go on, but she just tucked her hair behind her ears and watched the sidewalk as they walked.
He wanted to ask what was wrong, to tell her that he was her friend and he wanted to help. But he didn’t. I’ve done enough damage for
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