Nolan finished his cobbler and pushed his plate away as he leaned back in his chair. Listening to his sister’s work woes was interesting but had nothing to do with him. She had grown quiet, and he looked up to see her gaze pinned on him. Wondering if he had snoozed through part of the conversation, he cocked his head to the side. “What? Did I miss something?”
“I was just thinking that since I can’t do any on-site investigation, maybe you could help me out.”
Me? What does she think I can do to help investigate money laundering? Not exactly what my SEAL training covers.
2
Staring at his sister, Nolan noticed that she fiddled with her spoon instead of looking at him directly. “Come on, Nancy. What are you talking about? What on earth do you think I could do? And why the hell would I want to?”
Her gaze shot up to his as she pursed her lips. “Well, what else are you doing right now? You can’t go back to your team until you get a medical clearance. I know you’re starting to exercise, but that doesn’t take all day. I just thought maybe you’d like a few days in Gatlinburg to get out of the house and do a little snooping for me. That should be right up your alley as a SEAL, right?”
“You did not just compare my job with snooping!” He stared at her with wide-eyed irritation, crossing his arms over his chest.
Throwing her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture, she said, “Don’t get your boxers in a twist. I wasn’t trying to be insulting. I just mean that you’re used to planning and then executing missions, and this would be no different. Only instead of running around with weapons and heavy equipment needing a lot of physical brawn and stamina, this would be more gathering intelligence for me to be able to use in my case.”
“Hate to throw water on your burning idea, but even if I was interested, I have no idea how to do what you need.”
“I think you’re disregarding it too hastily,” their mother said. “I think you could use the mental stimulation.”
“Mental stimulation?” He swung his incredulous gaze to her.
Rita pursed her lips in the same way that Nancy had. “Well, channel surfing between game shows and do-it-yourself home fix-it shows are hardly mentally challenging. You’ve been complaining that you wanted to move around more and helping your sister seems as though it could be a good thing.”
Shaking his head, he looked toward his dad for support. Usually the voice of reason, he was not surprised when his dad said, “I don’t think Nolan can consider anything unless he knows what you’re talking about. Do you actually have a plan, Nancy?”
“I don’t have the whole thing worked out because I wasn’t sure that I could find someone to assist. But I need to be able to figure out how money from the wedding chapel is getting laundered through the casino. My accountant friend is the one who would need to follow the trail of money. I was trying to figure out how I could get her closer on the inside.”
Shaking his head, Nolan said, “I’m not sure an accountant is going to be able to help.”
“She works in fraud. She’s a Certified Fraud Examiner and Forensic Accountant. I’ve used her on several other cases to help me sniff out where people are hiding money.”
“Your business is doing well enough that you can keep a CFE on retainer?” Nolan’s brows raised in surprise.
“I don’t keep her on retainer, but believe me, our clients who think their soon-to-be-ex-spouses are hiding money are more than willing to pay for her services as well as mine.”
Nick spoke up again. “I’m still not quite sure I understand what it is you’re asking Nolan to help with.”
He could tell Nancy’s frustration was rising when she huffed. “I don’t know. I keep trying to figure out how to get somebody on the inside of Cupid's. Maybe you could pretend to be a potential groom and go visit to check them out.”
Blinking at the word ‘groom,’ Nolan sat up straighter, wincing slightly as he blurted, “Huh?”
“I need my friend to be able to get into the office in the chapel. My client says that her husband’s business records are all in the office at the wedding chapel. If I can get my friend in there, it wouldn’t take long for her to be able to make a quick copy of what’s on his computer.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Nolan looked at his dad’s dubious expression, his mom’s excited one, and his sister’s hopeful gaze. “Even if you get your hands on the records, all of that’s illegal and wouldn’t be admissible in court.”
“Nolan, my client isn’t interested in having her husband arrested. She just wants to have evidence that he has money hidden away. Money that, unless she can prove he has, she can’t get her share of in a divorce. If she has evidence that she can show him, then he’ll be much more likely to settle amicably.”
“So, she just wants to shake her husband down so that she can get her half?” Jesus, no wonder I never wanted to get married! It’s all about who gets what!
“I don’t see why Nolan couldn’t do that.”
Blinking in surprise for the second time, he shot his gaze over to his mom. “Do what exactly, Mom?”
“Get inside Cupid's and do something very… SEALish. You know, create a diversion or something to get their attention so that the accountant could check out the computer system.”
“SEALish? Mom, I don’t even know what the hell that means. And a diversion? You expect me to set off an explosion or something?” He looked toward his dad who was shifting in his seat as though the cushion suddenly had pins sticking out of it. “Dad, help me out here.”
“Well, Son, I think they just mean that you have the skills to be able to go into a situation and assess it quickly. See if there was a way to gain entrance or, as your mother says, create a diversion so that everyone’s attention is going in one direction so that Nancy’s friend has the opportunity to see what’s going on.”
Glancing at the glasses on the table, he picked up his and wiggled it back and forth. “Mom, what did you serve in these today?”
“You know we had iced tea, dear.”
“I don’t know anything. Right now, I think you gave us either straight vodka or something that’s made everybody lose their minds. What y’all are suggesting makes no sense. First of all, it’s illegal—”
“Technically, it’s not,” Nancy jumped in. “My client has co-ownership papers along with her husband. She’s not involved in the business, and up to now has just accepted whatever tax forms he has her sign each year. But she has a perfect legal right to know what’s in the records and if she gives permission for me to look into it, then I can do so.”
Shaking his head slowly, he tried to remember the last time he took a pain pill. It’s been a couple of weeks, but I could swear the fogginess I feel right now could have only come from one of those fuckin’ pills. Sighing, he counted to ten slowly and began again. “Okay, so, your client has a right to get information about the business. Why can’t she just send you straight into the office or send in the accountant?”
“Because if her husband won’t show her everything, he’s not about to show me anything. We need to get our hands on his actual financial statements. And if we can tie him into money that he’s laundering through the casino, all the better. That’s information we can turn over to the authorities and they can deal with the casino.”