Touch & Go (Tessa Leoni, #2)(99)

Bill was an older agent, Mark his younger counterpart in a pink-and-gray Brooks Brothers tie. Bill took the lead, striking a collegial tone. Sorry to interrupt Anita’s evening. Thanks so much for her cooperation. Surely she understood time was of the essence and they were all working diligently toward the safe return of Justin, Libby and Ashlyn Denbe.

Anita nodded. She’d changed out of her church clothes from the morning for a somber pair of gray knit slacks and a blush-colored turtleneck. She looked older to Tessa, as if the day had already worn her down. She also appeared wary, her face clearly guarded as she accepted Bill’s statements but didn’t immediately gush information.

The FBI had had only six hours to prepare for this moment, but they’d done their homework well. The second Tessa and Wyatt had called Nicole Adams with news from their interview with Ruth Chan, the CFO had been whisked off to the Boston field office, where she’d spent the next few hours ensconced with the financial agents, going over the books and explaining what she’d found. Additional agents had immediately pulled Anita Bennett’s records, compiling lists of bank assets, major purchases and, of course, trips to the Bahamas. They were still only at the tip of the iceberg, according to Special Agent Adams, but given the time pressure, they decided it was better to ambush the COO sooner versus later.

They weren’t as interested in a confession of corporate embezzlement as they were an admission of a physical address for the safe return of the Denbe family.

And they still had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Anita’s initial responses were pretty much as Tessa had anticipated. Collegial cop, Bill, wrapped up his spiel, and young guy, Mark, started to smack down financial reports. What did Anita know of this transaction? Was she aware of this vendor? Had she heard of this company? Where was she on June 12, 2009? What about this project, what about this new automobile, what about this transaction, had she really visited the Bahamas twice in 2012, on and on.

Anita started with denial, transitioned to confusion, then appeared simply shell-shocked as Levesco rained down piece after piece of the embezzlement puzzle. Sixteen years of phony invoices from nonexistent vendors.

“What? I would never.”

Over eleven million dollars defrauded from Denbe Construction, then funneled through offshore bank accounts.

“I don’t even know how to do something like that. I’m in operations, not finances. I don’t even know our billing systems anymore.”

During which time, Anita purchased several cars and one house as cash transactions.

“My husband and I are debt averse. If you look at my bonuses for each of those years, you’ll see we paid for those items with legitimate income.”

Three kids paid through college.

“I make a good living. Again, look at my tax returns. Six hundred thousand in salary covers three kids in college.”

The scholarship for her youngest?

She flushed. “I’ve already spoken to two detectives about that. Justin offered the scholarship to my youngest son. His decision, not mine.”

Interesting, since Justin wasn’t around to comment.

“Ask Ruth Chan! She issued the checks. Signed by Justin. She’ll vouch for the arrangement. It was hardly a secret. Everyone in the company knew.”

And eight vacations in the Bahamas in the past six years?

“We like the warm weather. Besides, it was nice of Justin to offer his time-share.”

A small hiccup. The Denbes had a time-share in the Bahamas? News, but given all the ground they’d been racing to cover in just forty-eight hours, hardly surprising that they’d missed it.

Last visit by Anita Bennett was for fourteen days.

“My husband was still recuperating from open-heart surgery. The time away was good for him.”

Paid off one hundred thousand in hospital bills.

“And if you’ll look at my savings account, you’ll see the hit!”

Which was true. While it would’ve been nice to magically discover Anita had eleven million dollars sitting in the bank, her finances were currently depleted. Then again, according to Ruth Chan, the embezzlement money had been sitting in a bunch of fake corporate accounts in the Bahamas until just five days ago. A defrauder who’d been smart and disciplined enough to keep the illicit gains at arm’s length was hardly going to dump them into personal savings now. Most likely, the funds had been moved to a single new account under an alias, probably at another offshore bank. The FBI would work on tracking that next, but such things took time, not to mention a bit of luck.

Poker or blackjack?

“What?”

Receipts. Ten years of receipts for the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino?

“I was entertaining clients! I don’t gamble. I work in construction. That’s risky enough!”

Brand-new 2008 black-on-black Lexus. Cash.

“My oldest son. His college graduation present.”

New 2011 Cadillac Escalade.

“For Dan. His other vehicle was seven years old!”

Which brought them to a Florida condo in 2010, a Mazda Miata just four months ago. On and on Levesco went. Fake billings here. New purchases for Anita there. Tessa had thought the COO would grow more defensive. Clam up. But instead, Anita picked up her own tempo, until she was matching the younger FBI agent beat for beat. Which was impressive, really. Not just the amount of money that Denbe Construction had paid out to fake vendors each year, but how unapologetically Anita spent her own income. She made a good living, as she informed her interrogators again and again. Salary, bonuses, lawfully declared on her taxes year after year. And, yes, she spent her money on her family. Houses, cars, vacations. She worked hard, they lived well. She had nothing to be ashamed of.