Borderland - Jennifer Seet

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hand waved up and down in a dismissive motion as she moved toward the door.

      He watched her leave with more than a little worry for her…and the bank.

       Returning to her desk, she placed a call to Scott Harris, their best auditor. Tracking him down at a nearby branch, he promised to be there in an hour.

      Logan pulled her lunch bag out of the bottom drawer and nibbled absentmindedly on her sandwich. Anxiety grew every time she glanced up at the computer screen.

      I don’t understand ... Why does he need that kind of money? I mean, $225,000? Lawyers make good money. It just doesn’t make sense. She stared straight ahead, lost in thought.

      Her eyes traveled up to the clock on the wall. Dreading the call, she punched in the numbers to Travis Morton’s residence. Karen answered on the first ring. Logan summarized the steps she had taken that morning to investigate the account.

      Listening intently as Logan explained that other irregularities were found and the bank would have an auditor look into it later, Karen reminded her that she had to fly back to California but would be available by cell phone. She gave Logan both that number and her home phone number before they ended the call.

      Karen’s hand still rested on the receiver when Harry walked into the room.

      He bent over to pick up her suitcases.

      “That was Ms. Massey from the bank. Evidently there is a discrepancy of $50,000 between what is in the account and what the bank statement shows. She also found missing funds in other accounts, all controlled by Jake Turner.”

      Harry hit the table with one of the suitcases as he turned towards her. The lamp swayed and would have fallen if she had not grabbed it with her free hand. His irritation increased as he realized that he had been right all along. He was angry with himself for not telling Travis or Karen sooner.

      “I knew it!” He struggled to gain his composure. “What does Ms. Massey plan to do now?”

      “She has an auditor coming this afternoon to go over the accounts and call me when they know more.”

      “I wish I had warned you. I felt like something wasn’t right but I wasn’t sure.”

      Karen reached up and brushed her fingers against his cheek, gently stroking his face. Softly, “Let the bank handle it, Harry. Jonathon and I will be back next week. Maybe he’ll be in jail by then.”

      “Nothing would give me more pleasure.” Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss on top of her head. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.”

      All Karen could muster was a slight nod of her head as she buried herself in his shoulder and wept.

      But Harry’s intuition told him there was more to come, a lot more.

       CHAPTER SIX

      Jake’s drug-induced sleep was rudely disrupted the next morning by the jarring ring of the telephone. Daylight filtered through the skylight as he stirred on the couch, hoisting up on his elbows, adjusting his vision to a blinding morning sun. He rubbed his hands across his eyes, all the while listening to the persistent jangle.

      He picked up the receiver. “Hello”, slurring the word. His throat felt like a wad of cotton was lodged precariously on the hump of his tongue. Blinking his eyelids up and down rapidly, he strived to make out the numbers on the clock ... 8:15 a.m.

      “Jake, it’s Linda,” his secretary announced.

      “What do you want?” he growled.

      Oh, he’s in one of those moods. Jake had been up and down lately. Quite frankly she was getting fed up with his personality swings.

      “I just had a call from a Ms. Logan Massey at First National Bank.”

      His eyes shot open and he sat straight up on the couch. “The bank? What? What did she want?”

      He heard concern in Linda’s voice, “She wants to discuss some of your clients’ accounts, Travis Morton for one. Didn’t he die recently?”

      His eyes darted furtively around the room. Think, man! What can you tell her?

      His brain tried to make sense out of what she had just said, desperately struggling to come up with a response, picturing Linda slumped over her desk, speaking in a low voice so as not to alert any of the other employees at the law firm. She probably had a pencil placed behind her ear, rubbing it back and forth across the tip as she spoke, an unnerving habit she had had for as long as he had known her.

      “Jake”, she prodded, “She wants to know when you can meet with them.”

      “Them . . . who’s them?”

      “Oh, I’m sorry. She wants to know when you can meet with her and an auditor, named Scott Harris.”

      Damn! Further warning bells went off at the mention of the word, ‘auditor’. Think! Think! I should have done something right away-like yesterday!

      Now, he really needed to consider his next move. He knew Linda would cover for him if he asked, because she’d been protecting him for quite a while, making excuses, shielding him from all the anger and frustration over missed appointments she’d heard from everyone.

      “Give me some time, Linda.”

      “Time! Jake, you don’t have any more time. These people want to meet with you now!”

      Mind racing, trying to formulate a plan, his first reaction was to escape, but he had no money. The bank would be monitoring the accounts.

      It was about the missing money; it had to be! But, how did they find out? Jake drilled his fist into the couch cushion, wondering how much they already knew, questions swirled, panic closed in.

      He had to come up with a way to stall. But he was so disoriented from the cocaine ingested last night, all he could manage was a mass of jumbled thoughts that didn’t make any sense or give any direction.

      “I’m sick, Linda.” he finally blurted out. “I…I’ve been up all night.”

      “You’re sick!”

      “Tell them ... tell them to meet me tonight at 6:00 at my office. I should be feeling better by then,” he pleaded.

      “Welllll...l’ll try my best…but can’t you meet with them earlier?”

      “No, I can’t! Didn’t I tell you I’m sick!” he yelled into the phone.

      “Okay, I guess.” Linda replied hurtfully.

      With a tinge of guilt, “Listen, I’m sorry, but you have to do this for me. Just tell them I’ll be there at 6:00 sharp,” hanging up quickly without even a ‘goodbye’.

       Linda held onto the phone, shaking her head in amazement. “That bastard!”

      Disgusted, she dialed Ms. Massey back with the information to meet Jake tonight in his office.

      Maybe all those rumors are true, she thought. Her face couldn’t hide the disappointment because she had had a crush on her boss for a long time. In the past she would have defended him, but a nagging doubt crept in now, leaving her unsure of her future.

      When Linda first interviewed for the secretarial job, she was captivated with his good looks and charm. In the beginning she admired Jake’s ability to acquire new clients and impress the older, more established ones. Other secretaries hinted he was in line for a partnership. So caught up in the excitement, she didn’t notice the lapses and absences until much later when his client list began to dwindle. At first she tried to cover for him, justifying the missed appointments and never returned phone calls. She offered explanations when co-workers noticed his prolonged absences from the office. Her admiration eroding, she no longer ignored the obvious.

      She

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