to,” she replied, in no great hurry to face her disapproving sister with the news of her latest adventure.
A little while later, Ben Michaels returned to the lobby. He managed a more pleasant expression than any he had shown before. She registered again how perfect he looked. Short dark hair expertly cut. Nice, smoothly arched brows. Steely gray eyes rimmed with long black lashes. Lips that really made her pause to stare. Nose every plastic surgeon must aim to duplicate. Cheekbones that hinted at Native American genes beneath his pale skin. Except for a few hairline scars, nothing marred the mask. How benign he looked now. Great camouflage. She almost said so out loud.
“I shouldn’t have popped off at you the way I did,” he said. Perfect Southern gent routine, smooth as good cane syrup. One would never guess he had a pop-off in him.
“Not a problem,” she said, sort of aping his accent, simply because she liked it. Her natural Midwestern clip seemed a little blunt by comparison. “Guess I did the same thing. We were both pretty wound up.”
He either didn’t notice or ignored her Scarlett O’Hara impression as he nodded and inhaled deeply, releasing it slowly before speaking again. “Could I talk with you in private about what happened?”
Well, that raised her brows. “What for?”
“You’re Homeland Security and I have a possible threat to discuss.”
“Does it have to do with the robbery?”
He nodded. Dani decided to humor him. He had been through a lot this morning. He would naturally blow this all out of proportion—she had seen it many times. A thief, obviously of foreign extraction, had come in to rob the bank, to direct the funds out of the U.S. Had to be an international plot, right? Small towns were a refuge for foreign professionals. Her sister’s obstetrician was from India. All the convenience stores were run by recent immigrants, as were many of the mom-and-pop motels. This guy looked like a well-to-do businessman in his expensive top-coat and tasteful tie. Some immigrants were office workers, some blue collar, and, yes, some were thieves. But not all of them were linked to international terrorism.
Amid these doubting thoughts she became very aware of Ben Michaels’s hand on her elbow, guiding her to one of the empty offices even before she had noticed. At least he wasn’t causing any premonitions of danger. She smiled at the thought.
“Okay, Mr. Michaels, explain this potential threat,” she said in her most authoritative tone.
“Please, make yourself comfortable.” He gestured for her to sit in one of the wing-backed chairs that flanked the desk. Then he closed the door and sat across from her in the matching chair. Through the plate glass that separated the space from the lobby, Dani could see the beehive of activity as the locals went about their investigation.
She waited for him to begin. He searched her face, assessed it, as if trying to determine something about her.
She studied his, too, along with his body language and general demeanor, all of which signified his great concern, but also evident was his confidence to deal with whatever may trouble him. He certainly had done all right so far today, no question about that.
He seemed to reach a decision. “We might have a terrorist funding situation going on here that your people should investigate. At least you can pass it on to the agency that handles such things to see if I could be right.”
“Even foreign nationals commit regular crimes, Mr. Michaels. They’re not all sleeper agents committed to a holy war. And for all we know right now, this guy’s a U.S. citizen, born and bred. Bank robberies are not in my bailiwick.”
He leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees and his penetrating gray gaze holding hers. “I realize that, Ms. Sweet, but this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill robbery,” he said, stating the obvious. “I was forced to dump three million from legitimate accounts here into the bank in the Caymans. It was supposed to appear as if I had done it. Embezzlement.”
“I got that,” she said wryly, inclining her head in agreement. “Are you saying this type of robbery has never happened before in the annals of bank heists?”
“Cute. What I’m saying is that these funds may have been taken from the accounts of individuals who share a common cause. Individuals who might not mind their accounts being victimized.”
“Say it straight-out if you don’t mind. What’s the deal?”
“I said it already. Could be terrorist financing.”
Dani cocked her head and stared at him. “What are the chances of that? A terrorist stumbles in here and inadvertently takes an intel agent hostage?”
He shrugged again. “That’s the reason I asked why you were here.”
“Okay, exactly what do you think is going on? Paint me a scenario.”
“Say he left no witnesses. Then he goes to the back of the counter to the drawers and takes all the cash he can carry and gets away. This would have been considered a straight robbery. Later when the auditors come in, they discover the transfers I’ve made to this offshore account. I probably would have been blamed for it.” His gaze was keen, sharp. “Didn’t it seem to you as if he intended for me to take the heat? You remember, when I mentioned the red flags?”
Dani didn’t quite buy it. “The time would have been recorded as happening during the robbery,” she reminded him.
“Yes, but this audit would happen weeks later. The money trail would end at a Cayman bank and they would never recover the funds.”
“The cameras would show you performing the transaction under duress.”
He glanced out at the cameras. “We haven’t gone digital yet. Easy to remove the evidence with no one alive to stop him. Granted, it doesn’t seem like it was a great plan on his part, but he and the money would have disappeared before anyone sorted it out. And if I were missing, I would definitely be suspected of collusion.”
“I think your supposition is a stretch, Mr. Michaels,” she said, although she privately wondered…Michaels was no alarmist. He seemed cool and collected and had obviously given this a lot of thought.
“I’m not through yet,” he stated, his tone flat and unequivocal. “You need to listen to me and have this checked out.” He gestured emphatically with his hands as he spoke.
He continued to lean toward her, his palms flared as his elbows rested on his knees. “The money is insured, so the clients wouldn’t have suffered any loss.”
“I’m listening,” she told him. “Please go on.”
He met her gaze, sincerely trying to convince her of his theory. “Today’s crime could have played out the way I suggest if we hadn’t stopped it. Your basic robbery, then later on, an unrelated incident of embezzlement is discovered. The apparent perpetrator of that, namely me, already dead. Or maybe he would have forced me to go with him, only to kill me later.”
Dani leaned back in her chair. “Why your bank?”
“Maybe we have all the right customers. The upshot is that I think the funds I was forced to transfer could have already been earmarked to finance terrorists.”
“Three million would only be
