Page 13 of Drowning in Lies
"I would strongly encourage you to contact your accountant, investment advisor or whomever manages those accounts for you and ask them to initiate an immediate audit.Make sure everything is accounted for to the last dime. And Lila, you will need to notify me immediately should they find any discrepancies. We don't want to invade your privacy any more than necessary, but we do need to determine what, if any, fraud or embezzlement may have been committed."
"I'll get people started the audits as soon as we finish here," I promised him.
"I will need to take David's laptop in as evidence, since it was likely used for the fraudulent transaction Saturday evening.Do I have your permission to do that?"
"It's fine with me.I don't have it here though, it's at my house. Wait...it's a company-issued laptop so I'm not sure I have the authority to do that."
"Technically, it is in your possession, in your home, so you do have the legal right to allow me to collect it," Det. Horton assured me.
"He's right, Lila. However, I would like to suggest that we at least alert the company's senior partner that his company property will be in your custody. After all, there is proprietary business information on the system, I assume. Would you allow us to contact him as a courtesy, detective?"
"I'd already planned to contact him myself, Mr. Decker. If David had access to any company funds, they should do an internal audit immediately as well."
Well shit.That had never even occurred to me. Judging by the look on Chris's face, it hadn't occurred to him either.
"You're right, detective. I should have thought of that."
"That's why I get paid the big bucks, counselor," Det. Horton joked sarcastically.
Chris chuckled and rolled his eyes as we walked the detective to the front door.
"One last thing. I'm sure Mr. Decker will go over this with you as well, but the details of this investigation should not be shared with anyone else at the time, especially Scott Montgomery or Vanessa Caldwell. I know the temptation may be strong to confront them with what you've learned today, but I must warn against that. It could hinder our investigation at the very least."
I nodded. "I understand completely."
After he left, Chris gave Sherry instructions to go out to buy a burner phone, using cash. At her look of confusion, I sighed, knowing she was going to lose her mind when I explained.
"Sit down for a minute, Sher, I need to tell you something." By the time I was finished repeating what I'd told Chris, her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were bugged out of her head.
I laughed - a real laugh - for the first time since Saturday evening. "God, Sherry, you look like a fish. Stop that!"
Chris laughed, and Sherry sputtered at me. "What the hell...I've known you...why didn't...What the hell, woman?"
Chris laughed again. "Shit, I think you broke her."
"I've known you for over ten years. I knew your mother. How in holy hell did I not know that you're in the Mob???"
"I amnotin the Mob. My extended family is, butIam not part of that. My mom wasn't involved with any of that either. I barely even know them. I've literally only seen my uncle twice since my dad died. Once when he came to visit me in the hospital a week or so after the accident, and then at the funeral home when Mom died. He and a couple of cousins slipped in the back door before the visitation started. I didn't even try to contact any of them when she died. They just knew. They apparently kept an eye on her to make sure she was safe when she moved back to Chicago a few years ago."
"Holy shit. My mind is absolutely blown," she sat back and just shook her head.
"Did David know?" Chris asked.When I said no, he asked why.
"For the first year or so that we dated, I just honestly didn't think about it. I hadn't seen or heard from them in over ten years at that point, and rarely even saw them before that. They just weren't part of our lives at all, and I kind of forgot they existed unless something reminded me." I shrugged and continued.
"After a while, once I'd met his Aunt Jenny and his cousins, it occurred to me that I had extended family that he might want to know about, but I was taught from a young age that we didn't talk about Grandpa Flanagan or Uncle Pat. I discussed it with Mom when David proposed, because I felt bad keeping it from him, especially knowing that the trust fund would be released and he might have questions. But Mom convinced me that the money was all from legitimate businesses of my father's, and reminded me that we were kept separate from the Family to keep us off ofeveryone'sradar. The Mob isn't exactly safe to be affiliated with, and my Mom's cousin back in Ireland had actually been kidnapped at one point because of it when they were kids. So, I just never told him."
"Wow, I had no idea." She blew out a breath, shaking her head. "Ok, so I need to pay cash for a burner phone. Should I wear a disguise?" she asked, completely serious.
Chris and I both burst into laughter."No, you nut, you don't need a disguise. We just don't want to draw attention to the fact that Lila has to call the capo."
I snorted."Capo is Italian. Irish here, remember? I'm not sure what they're called.Boss, I think.I'm not up on the proper Mob vernacular, sorry."
Right after Sherry left to buy the phone, the coroner's office called and said they wouldn't be releasing David's body until tomorrow. Chris wasn't surprised that they were delaying a day due to the investigation and said he would discuss it with Det. Horton in the morning.I called the funeral home and pushed the service back to Friday.
Sherry wasn't gone long. When she got back, I went into their guest room and called the number that Uncle Patrick had given me after Mom's funeral.He had made me memorize it, which had seemed very cloak-and-dagger at the time.As expected, he didn't answer an unknown number, but I left a message with my name, asking him to call me. He called me a few minutes later and I gave him a quick rundown of the situation. He assured me that the trust fund was all from my dad's businesses, which were completely legal and had nothing to do with anything Flanagan-related.
"Your mom's trust fund is a different story, but I know you haven't gotten all of that yet since it's still in probate. But don't worry, even that money is clean now - has been for years - and there is absolutely nothing to connect it back to us. If the cops ask for access again, give it to them. There's nothing to find and it will keep you on their good side.You let me know if you need anything else, girlie. My sister would want me to look out for you."
