Page 7 of Unbridled Fire
I lowered my voice, although there were only three other patrons in the café, and none of them were close enough to hear us. “I believe someone is trying to frame Michael by laundering money into his account. It would be the first step someone would try to get him thrown in prison for RICO charges.”
Leo’s eyebrows lifted. “What happened to make you believe this?”
“I discovered three recent transactions, both between ten and fifteen thousand dollars, from a bank called NYC Bank. I traced the routing number, but it turned out to be a SWIFT number registered to the Cayman Islands.”
He exhaled a slow breath as he pondered. “Do you use NY Bank as your main banking institution?”
I nodded.
“A good hacker would know that and do their best to create transactions from a bank that looks similar to throw you off.”
“Yes, I almost missed it,” I said, frowning at the fact it had taken me two days to notice. “I’m pretty good with stuff like this, but Alexis recently installed some new encrypted software and I just missed it.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m pissed at myself.”
“Hey,” he said, sliding his hand over the table and encircling my wrist. “You discovered it pretty quickly. And hackers these days are insanely efficient. You did a good job figuring it out so quickly.”
A feeling of warmth spread in my chest at his praise before he slowly pulled his hand away. The skin on my wrist tingled, and I realized I’d enjoyed the feel of his rougher skin against mine. Strange, since I’d rarely thought about being with anyone since I ended my sexual relationship with Michael years ago.
“The hacker who works for Oskar Poska is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Leo said, referencing the local leader of the Russian bratva. “He and Alexis both have insane skills. I wish I could convince them both to work for the FBI.”
“Good luck with that.” I arched a brow. “Alexis is thriving as Michael’s Director of Digital Security, and you and I both know how hard it is to extricate someone from the bratva.” I lowered my gaze as a vision of Elena’s face breezed through my mind, frozen in time as the teenager she was when she passed.
“Yes, we do,” Leo said quietly.
I met his eyes again and found myself comforted by the compassion in them.
“My offer still stands if you ever want to talk about your sister with me,” he said. “Losing my mom hit my dad and me hard, so unfortunately, I understand a bit about grief.”
My nostrils flared as I struggled with emotion. “Thank you,” I whispered, willing the tears away as I composed myself.
“There are steps that will come next if Oskar’s hacker is trying to frame Michael for money laundering and build a RICO case,” Leo said, steering the conversation back to business.
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “Hit me with it.”
“They’re going to try and connect the deposits to something illegal. Weapons, drugs, etcetera. Are you aware of anything suspicious in Michael’s dealings that could indicate something like this?”
I pursed my lips as I contemplated. “Two boats have shown up in New Jersey with unregistered guns over the past few months. Michael thought it was weird, but they were both claimed by upstate New York gun store owners who claimed there was a paperwork error.”
“I remember those instances,” Leo said, rubbing his chin. “Those could’ve been tests, and could eventually be tied back to these deposits.”
“Shit,” I whispered, grimacing.
“After they tie the money to illegal dealings, they’ll make anonymous tips to federal agencies like FinCEN which will trigger an FBI investigation.”
“Would you be assigned to that?”
Leo sighed. “I don’t know. We were surprised with a new boss this morning, and he’s not a fan of agents who play nicely with organizations like Michael’s.”
“Did your old boss know about your...arrangement?”
Squinting one eye, Leo pondered. “He didn’t ask questions, and that worked for both of us.”
“And the new boss will ask lots of questions, I’m assuming?”
“Yeah.” Leo fiddled with his coffee cup as he sighed. “I think so.”
Swallowing thickly, I tilted my head. “What comes after the investigation?”
Those blue eyes met mine, filled with trepidation. “They look for the easiest person to break. The one they can pin everything on so that person will turn and implicate Michael. Then, they’ll put him in prison for life.”
