Page 12 of Lost Without You
Ethan knocked on the door and they waited as the sound of five or six locks being flicked open echoed in the hallway.
“Paranoid much?” Ethan said as the door finally opened.
A fortysomething man stood in dark jeans and a black hoodie, his blonde hair a wavy mess around his face.
“You would be, too, if you knew the shit I’ve been privy to. Nice to meet you both in person. Welcome,” Lane stepped aside, and they entered a dark living area. There was one large window facing west, but the blinds were closed. A dining room table was set against one wall and on it, three monitors, two laptops, and a variety of computer equipment was piled high.
A second, smaller table held a variety of used coffee mugs, plates, and an open container of takeout. “Sorry, I was having a snack since I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. I lose track of time once I get in the zone.”
Lane picked up the container, using chopsticks to shovel in his food. Ethan wanted to make a joke about the stereotypical bachelor pad, but he kept himself in check.
“This is what we found yesterday,” Ethan pulled the disk out of his pocket. “I haven’t seen a disk like this since, well, it’s been too many years to count. Think you can tell us what’s on there?”
“I’ll do my best. Right this way,” Lane said as he led them over to his makeshift desk, placing his food on the table. “I’m messy, so bear with me.”
He moved aside his laptop and revealed an old computer console. Turning it on, he shoved the disk in, and typed out commands.
“Whoa!” Lane blurted out as row after row and page after page of numbers filled the screen. There were letters interspersed as well as what appeared to be dates.
“On first glance, I’d say this looks to be some sort of financial ledger. But I’ll need a few days to go through it.”
“The disk was hidden inside a book cover that belonged to Rachel’s dad, Walter Hoffman. He worked as an accountant for a firm called Harrison, June and Rodwell, let’s call them HJR for our purposes. Walter worked on audits for mid to large level corporations.”
“I reviewed the notes you sent me.” Lane nodded as he finished tapping on the keyboard and turned around to face them. “They’re one of the oldest firms in the city. And not without controversy. Almost every major firm has had some scandal or other over the past couple of decades, so I’ll do some further digging. For now, though, let’s see what we can find.”
Lane slid his wheeled chair over to a laptop and began to type rapidly. Ethan didn’t recognize the database URL and wondered where Lane was getting his information from. Maybe he was better off not knowing.
Ping.
“The FBI investigated HJR back in 1998.”
“Investigated who and what exactly?”
Lane paused and ran a hand through his hair as he kept reading. “An employee was accused of falsifying corporate documents for a client, allegedly to cover a money laundering scheme. An IRS auditor noticed discrepancies in the company’s annual tax submission and called the FBI. There was an investigation, and the case went to trial, but he was acquitted.”
“Do you have the name of the IRS auditor? Or the lead who worked the case for the FBI?” Ethan asked as Lane started typing again.
“If you give me some time, I can find out. But you might be better off making a formal request to the FBI. I highly doubt the IRS is going to tell you anything other than what I did.”
“I have a contact in white collar here in New York so I’ll reach out and see if he can give us anything further.”
Lane nodded. Ethan’s phone pinged with a reminder.
“We have an appointment with the CEO of HJR at 12:30 PM. We should get going.”
“I’ll work on this and text you the moment I have something,” Lane murmured. “You guys okay to meet back here? Either that or a public place like a park. No restaurants, no hotels.”
“Here’s fine. You worried about big brother listening in?” Ethan asked.
“I worked for the feds for fifteen years. What do you think?” Lane replied with a grin.
Chapter Seven
Rachel
Rachel was nervous for the first time in a long time.
Sitting in the waiting room of the CEO’s office at Harrison, June and Rodwell had her fighting the urge to get up and pace. She never liked corporate offices, there was something so clinical about them.