Page 45 of Benjamin and the Thief

“About a hundred thousand.”

“I didn’t see any checks even close to that amount hit her bank account. No other big withdrawals either,” Eddie confirmed.

“Thanks, Eddie.”

“You should check the registration with the DMV and see where she bought it,” Eddie suggested.

“Good idea. I’ll do that. Thanks, Eddie.”

“Anytime.”

Benjamin walked toward the door.

“And, Benjamin,” Eddie added. “Next time, wait until somebody tells you it’s ok to enter. This time you got lucky, but next time, we might be in the middle of something more intimate, if you know what I mean.”

Benjamin looked over his shoulder. “Ever heard of locking the door?”

Eddie threw a paperweight at him, but Benjamin caught it, grinning. He tossed it back at Eddie and left the office.

Back in his office on the second floor, Benjamin booted up his computer and logged into the DMV database. Thankfully, he’d made a note of Gloria Evans’s license plate number. He now searched for it and looked up the registration details. The dealership that had submitted the title records for Gloria’s new car was located in San Francisco. He noted down the details and found the phone number easily. He was about to dial the number when he was alerted to a new email. He looked at the alert and read Anita’s name.

Santiago Vargas video evidence, it said in the subject line. He clicked on it and read Anita’s email. This was the security video that had helped convict Santiago. There was no attachment to the email, but in the body of it, Anita had sent a link as well as login instructions to a secure link where he could watch and download the video.

Finally!

He clicked on the link when his phone rang. He looked at the display, then glanced at the window. It was still daylight. So why was his father up already?

He accepted the call. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

“In my office. Now!”

Amaury’s voice boomed through the phone, and he instinctively held it farther away from his ear.

“Are you at HQ?”

“Yes! Now get your butt up here!”

A click, and the call was disconnected.

Fuck! What was wrong now? His father rarely went to the office during daylight hours, and his voice had sounded not just mildly irritated but downright angry.

Whatever it was, it was best to hurry, because every second of delay could turn his mood even fouler.

20

Amaury was fuming. He’d gotten the call at four in the afternoon while still in bed and rather occupied with a more pleasurable pursuit than dealing with problems related to Scanguards. And being interrupted while making love to Nina always put him in a bad mood. However, there hadn’t really been any way of not dealing with this issue, particularly since it could not only tarnish Scanguards’ reputation but also get his son Benjamin in hot water. And there was very little he wasn’t prepared to do for his family.

When there was a knock at his office door, he barked, “Enter.”

The door opened, and Benjamin entered, before shutting the door behind him. He stopped in front of his desk, remaining standing, and Amaury didn’t offer him a seat. It was best for his son not to get the idea that he’d get out of this situation unscathed.

With a grunt, Amaury turned his computer screen so Benjamin could see it.

“The Prestons sent this security video over this afternoon. Wanna explain to me why you didn’t report this incident?”

He clicked on the playback button. Benjamin watched the screen, a guilty expression washing over his face. Amaury had watched the video several times. It showed the Prestons’ master bedroom where a young, dark-haired woman had entered the walk-in closet and was working on picking the lock of the safe that was located there. The woman didn’t get to finish her task because Benjamin entered the camera’s field of vision, surprising her in the act.

At first, he’d been proud of Benjamin having intercepted a break-in. When Benjamin hadn’t handcuffed the woman, but instead led her out of the room, he’d still been thinking that he hadn’t wanted to make a scene during the party and would cuff her later. However, there had been no arrest recorded after the Prestons’ party, or Scanguards would have received a report of it, since the break-in had happened during their watch.