"That's right, my office was next to the west stairwell on nineteen," I told him watching some of the tension leaving his face. It must have been a bit of a relief for him to be able to think about something other than a lengthy prison term.
"So tell me, how is the company holding up under this mess," he asked me. His tone projected a mixture of emotions. Misplaced amusement, resignation, and maybe even a twinge of regret.
I didn't want him in a defensive mood so I told him the truth without fixing any blame, "Between the two of us, we have the place in quite an uproar."
He laughed but it wasn't at all a happy sound. He asked me, "It's obvious what I did, what the hell could you do that would make it any worse?"
I shrugged and told him how Bart Stillwell put me in charge of trying to repair the damage and find out why our investment income was in the toilet. He stiffened visibly when I told him that, and he abruptly asked me a single word question, "well?"
"Oh we found it alright, a few lines of code buried in our mainframe," I told him calmly.
"And?" he barked his voice rising in volume and pitch.
"We changed the commands around. So, instead of putting our money into a certain Swiss bank account, we had our computer empty that account into ours."
I paused letting the implications of that news sink in. His features took on an odd worried countenance and then I dropped the other shoe, "Cliff, Walcott is finished. There are U.S. Marshals going to his office to him in handcuffs as we speak."
I was stunned as I watched his face go completely ashen, then he howled, "Sweet Jesus no!" and crumbled to the table coffee spilling everywhere. "The bastard's already killed my mother now he's gonna go after my son!"
I screamed toward the open doorway, "Keith, better get in here! Oh damn it where is that guy?" I stormed over to the door throwing it open and hollered," Get in here! Now damn it, both of you!"
Adams wept as he told us about his fifteen year old son. The boy was a student at VMI right near the town of Lexington Virginia. Walcott told Cliff that he had an old army buddy that owed him big. He just happened to be a long-time instructor at the military academy. The Deputy Director threatened Adams after the death of his mother that if he ever tried to cross him again a single phone call would put his son in immediate mortal danger. Keith made a flurry of calls in the next few minutes. The first was to the Bureau's Quantico training center. He dispatched an agent he knew personally and trusted to collect young Adams ASAP. Placing him in protective custody until further notice was the best Keith could do through his bureau sources. Next, he called the local police in Lexington directing them to get to the school and take charge of the boy. He told them an agent was already in route from Quantico to take him off their hands. Unfortunately, VMI was half a state away from the shores of the Chesapeake where Keith's friend was starting from.
While we waited to hear back from the Marshals in Washington and the locals from Lexington, Adams told us the horrifying story of his mother's tragic death. He admitted to starting the embezzling scheme at Allied insurance group over ten years ago. His mother, an Alzheimer's sufferer and had just been placed in a full-time nursing facility. The rapid worsening of her condition had made it impossible for Cliff and his wife to care for her. Her nursing care was extremely expensive and left Adams scrambling for some way to pay for it. Mrs. Adams was placed in the Golden Horizons Secure Nursing Home in Bennington Vermont. It was supposed to be one of the premier facilities of its kind in the nation, but it was also enormously expensive. He began by duplicating small claims payments by hand and carefully allowing the discrepancies to disappear during the audit process giving birth to his "streamlined system." When allied went to electronic bookkeeping via their newly installed mainframe his activities accelerated. He was desperately trying to catch up with the mounting bills for his mother's medical care. When his embezzling was discovered at Allied, Walcott entered the picture and promptly made him an offer he didn't dare refuse.
He told Adams he could make the investigation go away, and he would see to his mother's care at the Nursing home. All Cliff needed to do is agree to do a little favor for Walcott in return. The task was simple enough and Walcott would phone him with instructions for managing it as they were needed. Adams was to sneak some computer commands into the right place in Allied's mainframe system. That was all it would take to make all of his troubles disappear, was it really so much to ask? When Cliff balked, Walcott told Adams that his family just happened to own the Golden Horizons Nursing Home, and He would personally see to his mother's care.
Adams knew he was finished as soon as Walcott told him that he was willing to look after her care personally. It was just too awful to consider what might happen if she were to wander away from the home. An Alzheimer's patient alone in the woods on a cold winter night might never remember her way back before something terrible happened. Hopelessly boxed in Adams did as he was told. For six years he did it at Allied, through the merger, and then resumed doing Walcott's biding once he was installed at Continental. As a majority shareholder in Allied insurance group Walcott, saw the resources available at Continental and was the driving force behind getting Adams moved over to Continental. He made a gob of money in the merger and retained his income stream by forcing Adams on Continental. It was truly a win-win for that oily bastard.
Once again, Clifton Adams was forced into servitude by Walcott's with the threat to his mother's safety as the leverage. When the stress became too much he tried to end the nightmare by immediately restarting his embezzling scheme. He had hoped that this time he might be caught by some one else and this time possibly take Walcott down with him. When Bart Stillwell called the in FBI and Walcott reappeared, his situation deteriorated further. Finally, in mid-December of last year unable to bear the strain any longer, he told Walcott that his health was deteriorating and he decided to retire early at 62. Walcott was furious but Adams stood his ground. A few weeks later, on Christmas day, there came a knock on the door. Adams and his family were notified that Dorothy Adams had wandered away from the nursing home during the night. She was found in the woods several miles away, dead from exposure. No one at the home saw anything and it was most likely just an unfortunate accident. Adams knew better and Walcott was on the phone the early the following morning with a warning for Cliff Adams that an early retirement was not in the cards for him. The bastard had found a new way to torment Adams telling him all about his old army buddy, who just happened to be an instructor at VMI in rural Virginia.
I felt like I was going to be sick I could hardly imagine anyone being so vicious as to do something so utterly cruel. Keith told us both he would be opening an immediate investigation at the Nursing home. If Adams story proved true and Walcott was involved in any way, a murder charge would be added to the list of crimes he would have to answer for. The special agents ringing phone forestalled any further discussion.
"Gibbons," he said gruffly and listened to the caller.
I reached over giving Cliff's hand a sympathetic squeeze and wiped the tears from my eyes.
Keith shot up out of his chair and started pacing as he listened finally he roared, "How damn it? Alright, I'll be in contact shortly to process a fugitive warrant."
He snapped the phone closed venting his frustration, "God Damn it!"
We all knew but no one wanted to be the first to speak in the silence that followed.
"Somebody tipped him," Keith growled his eyes flashing with anger. "The son of a bitch left the building minutes before the marshals arrived at his office."
Keith and I locked eyes for an instant before we both arrived at the same conclusion, "The lawyer!"
A deputy was still with him standing off in the corner when we burst through the door. The attorney had a smug grin on his face and a cell phone rested next to his briefcase in the middle of the table. When Keith reached for the phone and the lawyer immediately started to protest.
"Shut the fuck up," I barked at him, watching as Keith thumbed through the menus to find the last number dialed. The display showed us his last call was to Walcott's Washington office.
"Read him his rights," Keith glared down at the little bald headed lawyer. "Book him for aiding and abetting a Federal fugitive then put him in a holding cell. I'll deal with him later."
We returned to speak with Cliff Adams and learn more about the crimes of the former Deputy Director. Before any of us can say a word, Keith's phone interrupted, this time with better news. The police in Lexington had found young cadet Adams in class and he was now safely in their care. Keith asked Adams where his wife was because he wanted to place her in protective custody as well until Walcott was safely behind bars.
Then he turned and said to me gravely, "Until we catch that slimy bastard you'll be a target too Jane."
I grinned trying to put on a brave face and told him, "You're not putting me under FBI protection Mr. Special Agent I have some serious trust issues regarding a certain federal agency. Thanks but no thanks buddy, I think I'll just take care of myself."
