C.J. Miller - Taken by the Con

Lucia let Cash continue to engage with Hammer. She sensed this could be a topic Hammer was more comfortable discussing with Cash.

“What happened to your personal assistant?” Cash asked.

Hammer stiffened. He let out a long breath before answering. “She was fired the same day I was.”

Hammer slid his drink back and forth between his hands. “Keep her out of this. She didn’t do anything wrong. She signed the nondisclosures and the confidentiality agreements. She left town and is living with her parents while she puts her life back together.” He sounded like a heartbroken teenager.

Lucia would follow up on Hammer’s personal assistant. She remembered reading about her in previous interviews and her instincts tingled that the FBI hadn’t heard her whole story. What was her name? Kresley? Katie?

“It must be hard to have lost so much so quickly,” Cash said.

Hammer looked at the table and then lifted his head slowly. His eyes were rimmed with unshed tears. Compassion tugged at Lucia’s chest. Was Hammer a hapless victim of Clifton Anderson or had he been involved in the fraud? Neither the media nor the FBI could directly connect him to any legal wrongdoing. Unless he was hiding the money well, Hammer hadn’t been paid for any assistance he’d given Clifton Anderson.

“You have no idea. People lost their retirement accounts and their savings, but I’ve lost everything. Everything.”

Was his former personal assistant included in “everything”?

“We’re doing our best to find Anderson,” Lucia said.

“I’ll be long gone before you find him,” Hammer said.

Lucia didn’t like the sound of that. Was he planning a suicide? To run? “We’ll need you around throughout the course of our investigation.”

“Yeah, yeah, right.”

“Do you have a forwarding address?” Lucia asked.

Hammer ran his hands through his hair. “To add to my nightmare, I’ll be moving in with my brother and sister-in-law. She’s a shrew who hates me.” Bitterness touched every word.

She sensed his cry for help. Lucia would ask Benjamin to provide Hammer with any counseling resources they may have. “We’ll be in touch if we find anything or have more questions,” Lucia said.

“Great, you do that,” Hammer said. “If I never see another FBI agent again, it will be too soon.” Then he mumbled something about how useless the FBI were. Lucia ignored the comment. Hammer was a man on the edge and she wasn’t looking to push him over it.

Hammer walked them to the door. Lucia handed Hammer her business card, which he threw to the floor. Again ignoring the rudeness, Lucia and Cash took the marble stairs to the sidewalk.

Hammer slammed his front door.

“He picked up on something between us,” Cash said as they walked. “Do you want to talk about that?”

“He’s half drunk and out of his mind with bitterness,” Lucia said. “What is there to talk about?”

“If you want to ignore it, then fine.”

“Yes, I want to ignore it.”

“We need to go back and check on him,” Cash said, turning back toward to the townhouse.

Lucia held up her hand and stepped in front of him. “Check on him? He will not let us back into his place.”

“He could be a danger to himself or others.”

Not in the immediate. “Cash, what are you playing at?”

A mischievous look danced across Cash’s face. “Let’s see if round two helps us.”

Cash circled around to the back of the group of townhouses, cutting down the alleyway between the sections. The alley behind the townhouses was narrow, passable by no more than a single car. The yards behind each home were beautifully landscaped.

Cash hopped the white chain-link fence into Hammer’s backyard.

“You’re trespassing,” Lucia said.

Cash extended his hand to help her over. “Come on. I have a feeling.”

They couldn’t waltz into someone’s backyard. Anything they heard or saw would be obtained illegally and inadmissible in court. Add to it how furious Benjamin would be, and it had the makings of a bad plan.

“Have courage, Lucia.”

Courage? She had courage in spades. Was he calling her a wimp? Knowing she was being baited into complying and unable to help herself, Lucia took his hand and climbed the fence. At least this way, she could keep an eye on Cash and if he learned something, she would be in the know. Cash took the steps to the deck, pulled opened the sliding glass door and stepped inside.

He had unlocked the door while he had been pretending to admire the view. She should have found his gall appalling, but Lucia was impressed by his planning.

They stepped inside and Lucia’s heart beat faster. If they were caught entering Hammer’s home without a warrant, they could be arrested. If they were arrested, she’d lose her job and Cash would go back to prison.

“Cash,” she whispered. She needed to warn him. To make sure he understood what he was risking by doing this.

He pressed a finger over his lips. Hammer’s voice floated into the kitchen. It sounded as if he was on the phone. To make out what he was saying, Cash crept across the floor. Then he was still.

“I know, but I have the FBI crawling all over me and that makes me nervous.”

A pause.

“I lost everything. My home. My career. Kinsley, what more do you want from me? I don’t have anything left to give.”

Kinsley. As soon as Lucia heard the name she remembered Kinsley had been his personal assistant at Holmes and White. Another pause.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I told them nothing. What more do you need me to do? I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

Cash closed his eyes, perhaps concentrating on what Hammer was saying.

“She asked about me? When can I see her?” Hammer asked.

A growl. Cash’s eyes snapped open and Lucia whirled to see a black dog standing between them and the sliding glass door. The dog locked his legs and bared his teeth. He barked.

“Hold on a minute,” Hammer said into the phone. “Slasher! Quiet!”

Slasher. What a wonderful name for a dog. Based on the dog’s demeanor, it fit. They were intruders in his home.

Cash stood and advanced on the dog. He looked as though he was planning to charge at the dog, but when he was close he laid his hands on the dog’s flank and whispered something into his ear. At the same time, Cash motioned for Lucia to leave. The dog visibly relaxed.

Lucia did as Cash directed, looking over her shoulder at the pair. Cash seemed to have the situation under control, but it could escalate quickly if the dog decided Cash was an enemy. Slasher barked again.

“Slasher! Shut up!” Hammer yelled from another room. “Let me see what that lunatic dog’s problem is now.”

Cash didn’t panic. He remained facing the dog and slipped away, following Lucia outside. He slid the glass door closed behind him and leaped over the deck, falling to the ground. Lucia followed him.

“Are you okay?” she mouthed.

He nodded.

They crouched under the deck. If Hammer looked outside, he wouldn’t see them. If he let his dog into the gated yard, they could have a problem.

“You even charm dogs?” Lucia asked.

“Dogs are pack animals. I love them and they sense that. They want to be friends and please me,” he said.

He made it sound easy. Her respect for him increased.

They waited a few minutes before leaving the yard the same way they’d come.

“How did you know Hammer would call someone?” Lucia asked.

“He was sweating when we were talking to him. We rattled him and he’d need to vent about it. He’s not a leader. He’s a follower. He needs someone to tell him what to do. That’s why he was easy for Anderson to use, knowingly or unknowingly, in the con and for Young to use as a scapegoat,” Cash said.