The Second Crime Around

The Second Crime Around

...Seals Enduring Love For The Lovely Ladies

Prologue:

This new Billyslate Love Story is a

Crime

&

Punishment Award Contest Entry

Slowburn Lesbian Romance tale.

Candy_Kane54 (

CK

) informs me of this contest, suggesting I submit a story. So, thank you CK, Mentor, and

LIT

Friend.

Children aren't any primary characters in this tale but appear late in the storyline. So as always, there's minimal sexual activity if they're close by.

Also, generally, there are minimal alcoholic beverages consumed when children are present.

All descriptive sex in this story is lesbian, with females aged 21 or older. Some explicit lesbian sexual actions occasionally feature a strong, but loving woman as the definite

TOP

controlling the action, along with playful and occasional firm spanking.

On occasion, my stories feature a heterosexual romance when and where appropriate. But there's never any sexual physical contact between the couple other than a hug, soft kiss, or slow dancing.

This

53

rd

and all Billyslate stories are

100% Fiction

in every aspect.

Edited By Billyslate

/Grammarly

***

Sitting in an Executive Lounge at

SFO

, waiting for a delayed flight to San Diego (

SAN

), I drift mentally, thinking of major events in my life.

I'm considering moving to San Diego permanently and selling or leasing my San Francisco Condo.

The weather-related delay doesn't annoy me as I'm weighing my response to a potential new client request for my

Forensic

-

Cyber

specialty investigative services.

I'm surely considering taking on this new client since she lives in metro San Diego (

SD

) and I'm there for a month organizing, my tentative move.

Accepting the new client will add a few extra days to my search for property or a home for sale, but I'll pocket a cool $50,000 fee for my work. My special services are usually resolved in 15-20 days when I'm successful, generally 95% of the time.

Presently, San Francisco (

SF

) is my home base with a nice downtown Condo, and I own a small family home in metro San Jose, deeded to me by my Mom.

I love San Diego's year-round warm climate compared to the unpredictable

SF

Bay Area, which is a secondary reason for my probable move there. Once deciding

Yes

/

No

on moving to

SD

, I'll ask Mom's opinion on selling the small family home.

Many years ago, there was a dramatic shift to higher rental and home purchase prices in the

SF

Bay area. This is due to the influx of tech companies, locating their headquarters in Silicon Valley.

SD's

cost of living is

significantly lower

so I'd live less expensively in a warmer climate with more stable weather.

I'll have a month or more free to scout the

SD

suburbs and perform a surprise forensic inspection at a contract customer's facility. I have two solid contacts, one of whom booked my suite at the Hilton Mission Bay in

SD

.

The main component of my consultant business has peaks and valleys, the next 6-weeks being a slow period.

So I'm open to making a few extra bucks while looking into relocating to

SD

. If required, I can stay a few weeks longer to close on a new property.

My flight's called, so I'll finish my PepsiMax and head to the departure gate.

***

Checking in at the Hilton, I see a familiar smiling face coming my way, as a hotel Bell person takes my baggage from the airport limo!

Sandie

Jo Emerson grins, "Hi Kate, heard there were delays out of

SFO

due to rain, wind, and fog, so I've been on the watch for your limo," handing me two key cards for my suite. "Let's chat in my office while your baggage is taken upstairs."

Hugging her warmly, "Thanks Sandie, I want to spend some downtime with you after settling in for a couple of days. It's a personal matter and I want your input, so we can chat over dinner at Ruth Chris if it's okay with you!"

Continuing, "I also have a potential new client in the area, but my antenna's waving a

Bright Red Flag

. In the next two days, I'll do a further in-depth review of her request, and then ask for the $50,000 retainer if deciding yes.

"If I take this client, I'll need you to handle my banking and other business items as usual for a month. We'll work on your payment amount if and when I take on the new client.

"Today's Monday and you're normally off on Thursdays, so let's have dinner at Ruth Chris on Wednesday night. By then, I'll know if my month in town will be some private work or mostly vacation."

***

Now keying in on Hiltor Corp work plans, "A week after our dinner, I'll meet with you and Dana, to review any financial or computer program issues. We'll especially focus on attempted system breaches or unusual performance glitches."

Sandie is the Mission Valley Hotel

GM

and acting Chief Financial Officer (

CFO

), for Hilton's corporate-owned properties in Southern California.

Dana

Lee Mays manages the 2nd tier level of financial operation's integrity, at this Hilton Mission Valley property.

Sighing, "After casually chatting with you and Dana, most likely I'll perform a two-day financial records inspection. Please note that I've completed 95% of our work/tasks remotely, which was perfect. So, this onsite portion of the review should proceed smoothly.

"Check with Dana and your other Senior Managers on this timing sequence, since any time after my first 10-days here is okay."

Sandie snarks, "

My

-

My

, Katelin, I'm so hurt, thinking you're visiting

SD

to relax and say hello to your only true West Coast friend.

"Now I learn you'll forensically check my Mission Valley Hilton books to see if I've dipped my fingers into the company's pot of gold."

Laughing, we hug goodbye and I promise to update her fully on my plans for the month at dinner on Wednesday night.

Again, I ask Sandie for the umpteenth time if she's cool with me keeping the suite for a month since I don't pay for rooms at Hilton Properties.

Tearing up, Sandie hugs me tightly, "Yes, Kate, you're the reason I'm

GM

of this Hilton property and acting

CFO

of Hilton Southern Cal, and not in a prison cell for 15 to 20 years.

"I can never repay you in this lifetime for saving my sanity, career, and life 2-years ago."

***

REFLECTIONS:

KATE

POV

Sitting in my suite after unpacking, and a quick toilet, I relax with a glass of Cabernet. Now in shorts and a crop top, I mentally drift back to my early life in Northern California.

I'm Katelin (

Kate

) Alicia Wellington, the lone daughter of a Single Mom, Ingerine (

Inger)

Ann Wellington who didn't marry my bio-father.

Mom says she loves him, but he's not as mature and dependable as a father needs to be. So, after learning she's pregnant with me, Mom dumps him and he rides off into the sunset never to be seen again.

I grew up near San Jose, CA, where my Mom works with computers for one of Silicon Valley's many tech giants. She has a two-year Technical College Degree (

AA

) in computer science, perfect for an entry-level job. She works from home 90% of the time, which is fantastic for a single mom.

So, I truly owe her dearly for my recent business's success, playing around with computers, mainframes, and software since I was a tot. She never shooed me away, with my hundreds of questions, so I'm hacking all kinds of fun stuff by my 12

th

birthday.

Mom's pay is excellent and she takes 50% of her annual bonus in company stock, retiring to Hawaii at age 46, after working 25 years. We phone frequently and see each other twice yearly, usually mid-summer and at Christmas.

Mom's life in Hawaii is lovely, living on funds from her 401k investment, company stock dividends, and a corporate early retirement buyout package.

She'd also purchased a 529 College Smart Plan for my education when I was age 2, which wasn't needed with my outstanding grades.

She routinely invests funds in the 529 Plan for 18 years until I'm 20, then moves the entire plan to a Roth IRA.

***

I'm 27 and a graduate of the UMASS Lowell Criminal Justice Science (

MA

) program at age 24. Since it was just the two of us, Mom pushed me to accept the UMASS

full-ride

Master's Scholarship, and she'd retire early in Hawaii.

After graduating

Magna Cum Laude

, with an MA in Criminology, the FBI recruits me. I attend a 6-month Academy training program, graduating number one in our group.

I'm a Field Agent at 25, but truly dislike US GOV-Politics and Bureaucracy, so I resign after a year.

At 26, I form

Wells LLC (

Wells

)

, specializing in White Collar Fraud/Crime; mostly using advanced cyber-forensic technology to root out internal and external corporate thieves.

I also perform consultant forensic technology work part-time for the Bureau as a Reserve Special Agent in Charge (

SAC

), maintaining my

Top-Secret

/

SCI

Security Clearance status.

The

Wells

business develops slowly, with my big break coming via the Hilton Corp, where I initially met

Sandie

. She's straight out of college with a BS in Finance and was hired as a financial analyst by Hilton Corp, Southern, CA.

After working for nearly 18 months, she documents a pattern of irregularities in the Mission Valley Hilton's financial statements. The culprit is alarmed at Sandie's expertise and hastily moves additional funds, so it appears she's embezzling money.

Hilton's Corporate HQ is in McLean, VA so

Allen

(Ronald Allen Walker) my dear friend from UMASS and training at the FBI Academy; suggests Hilton contract

Wells

to investigate this possible internal fraud.

And as they say, the rest is history

!

I detect money being siphoned off certain cash-based accounts monthly and held in

Suspense

occurring, long before Sandie is hired.

The Hilton General Manager (

GM

) plans to

EFT

the huge sum from

Suspense

into a Cayman Islands off-shore bank account. He'd then move to a country without a US Extradition Treaty, and live the

Life of Riley

.

I back-door his current suspense account and shift $5,000,000 into a

Different Suspense Account

, forensically locking it. Then I wait for the hammer to drop when the culprit can't access the stolen funds.

Ultimately, the Hilton Mission Valley

GM

is convicted of attempted embezzlement but is given a slap-on-the-wrist

White Collar Crime

sentence since he didn't successfully steal the money according to the

SD

-DA's Office.

After

Wells

saves the Hilton Corp,

$5-MIL

they quickly sign a 10-year Forensic Monitoring Agreement with me for $500,000 annually.

I continue digging deeply into the former

GM's

financial off-shore bank account(s) trail, saving the Hilton Corp an additional $2,450,000 of misappropriated funds.

The former

GM's

key mistake is repeatedly using the same fraud scheme of holding cash payments in

Suspense

, so

Wells

saved the Hilton Corp, nearly $7,500,000.

Word hits the Corporate America street, about my company being a financial services cyber-forensic powerhouse. So I now have 10-year monitoring contracts with

Hilton Corp

-

Ruth Chris

-

Gulfstream

-

Duke Energy

; each at $500,000 annually.

Wells

also privately investigates, Jewelry, Art, and, other high-value/profile items, theft. We occasionally perform cyber-forensic contract work on specific FBI cases/requests for an agreed fee.

Each client, requesting our Private Services must place a $50,000 retainer on a

Wells

Debit Card, which is fully refunded if we reject their case.

If

Wells

takes their case, we invoice the Debit Card weekly until the jewelry, art, or other specialty item theft case, such as

Bearer bonds

is solved, usually less than 15 business days.

***

OPERAIONS/DEL MAR:

KATE

POV

Wells

has 4 noncompeting corporate customers who've signed multi-year contracts at $500,000 annually, plus expenses.

As the owner, I stay

FOC

at Hiltons, dine

FOC

at Ruth Chris, and fly

FOC

on Gulfstream Aerospace Private flights, and other bennies as a part of the business contract.

Our FY year is from 15 JUNE to 15 MAY, and each contract company is billed $125,000 quarterly.

We have a routine schedule for forensic scanning of their Mainframes, and Key Manager's PCs, virtually 100% done remotely.

We also perform unannounced sight visits and surprise forensic screening. This type of continuing activity is provided,

FOC,

in our standard corporate contract(s).

***

The private business operates on a different level, one being my advertising is 100% word of mouth from satisfied clients or FBI contact referrals. We reject nearly 60% of requests for

Wells's

investigative services.

When a client's request is accepted for review, a

$50,000

retainer must be loaded by

EFT

on 1 of 5

Wells's

Preloadable Debit Cards.

We require 7 business days, to briefly investigate the request.

If the client's case is rejected, the $50,000 Debit Card transaction is voided, and the funds automatically return to the client's bank account.

If the client's case request is accepted a 5-page contract is completed and signed, and the retainer becomes nonrefundable.

Wells

invoices the Debit Card for $10,000, then bills the Card weekly in $10,000 blocks until my investigation is finished.

***

DEL MAR ESTATES

Eying the different styles of homes, I quietly arrive at The Del Mar Estates in the early afternoon. It's a short drive from the Hilton, so, in the future, I'll have

Jimmy Townsend

, bring me.

Jimmy is an Uber/Hilton contract driver I met on my first business travel to

SD

two years ago. We have a contractual agreement, and he goes semi-private for me at a flat weekly rate when I'm in town.

I drive myself today to get an up-close feel for the development, especially its security systems.

Del Mar Estates is a wealthy suburban development, but not as exclusive as others I've seen in

SD

. Leeanne (

Lee

) Claire Jefferson lives with her older husband, as I understand it. I note there are no signs of small children around, and she's much too young to have teenagers.

I'm getting increasingly negative vibes from our in-person meeting, as when I rang her from

SF

. But I plunder ahead, Lee having loaded a pre-paid

Wells

Debit Card with a $50,000 non-refundable retainer if I take her case.

During Lee Jefferson and my meeting, alarm bells clang like Air Raid Sirens. She's missing 5-pieces of expensive jewelry valued well

north of $2,000,000

, and in her mind, she's 100% sure her maid, Lola

Maria

Sanchez stole the jewelry.

I ask several key questions such as, are her expensive jewelry pieces kept in a safe? How and why does a housemaid have access to her valuables? Lee doesn't have good answers to any of the questions.

Even more shocking, she doesn't have photos of the missing pieces, which insurance companies require unconditionally for writing a

Jewelry Floater

.

Lee claims the photos were lost when their home was renovated 2 or 3 years ago. She's not reported the theft to the police and is

wishy-washy

when I ask if a claim has been filed with her insurance company.

Her home's internal security cameras have never functioned properly and she doesn't want some

Geek

watching her shower, dress, and whatever. So she had the system permanently disconnected during the home renovation.

My final question to Lee is, "If there's been a three Maid rotation servicing your home for two years; how can you be certain that Lola

Maria

Sanchez is the thief, with a disconnected security camera system?"

The maids are mostly hired from an illegal underground agency and paid in cash, They must give the agency service a cut or percentage of their weekly pay.

This part is not surprising, since more than 60% of Southern California home service workers are paid cash under the table.

Their employers avoid paying FICA, Medicare, Worker's COMP, and State/Federal taxes. So they don't care if the service workers are illegally in the US.

Excluding the cash-under-the-table payments, most of Lee Jefferson's Jewelry Heist claim

Doesn't Float My Boat

!

I leave shaking my head, wondering how someone living in this expensive development can be so dense.

I've got 10 days to look into her request, then say

YES

/

NO

, so my next step is to

Spy On Her

.

***

I'm back at the Estates this morning, and talking with the front gate security team. The guys on duty, Tony and David have worked for the agency for nearly 2 years, always mornings since they attend Technical College four evenings a week.

I bring a nice assortment of a dozen

Krispy Kreme

donuts and good coffee, briefly explaining my work. We chat easily for 30 minutes since the security gates are usually slow at 10:00 a.m. I note the CCTV blind spots, working my way into one of them,

Pulling out four

C-notes

, I ask them to monitor Lee's house for five days, so I know who's visiting including Maid(s), FedEx, special or repeat guests, etc. They're excited when I explain, that no one other than me will know about our deal, especially seeing the $400.00 in cash.

I slyly slide $200 to each of them out of CCTV range, saying there's even more if they can get photos of any private visitors.

I've planted the seed and will visit Lee, again, before the 10-days are up, but it's now a waiting game.

I emphasize to the security guys, that I'm working hard, to protect the young maid, Maria. They see Maria coming and going from work daily in the estates and have never seen her with any packages.

Now, with my seed(s) planted, I must wait for 2 or 3 days to see who, if anyone else has been dropping in on Lee Jefferson,

***

DINNER WITH SANDIE:

KATE

POV

Monday, is very fruitful, especially my keying in on the two security guys. Tuesday and Wednesday are dedicated to researching Lee on the

WEB

, including her husband,

Payne Andrew Jefferson

, gleaning valuable information.

I confirm my initial assessment, that Lee's a Gold-digger, with a fairly sketchy background. My mind drifts through the many possible scenarios involving the supposed more than $2-MIL Jewelry heist.

Around midday Wednesday, I hang up work to rest for a couple of hours and then dress for dinner with Sandie at Ruth Chris.

Sandie's a bit wary of us hotting it up and leaving from the Hilton, so I check in with her before lying down. I don't have another residence in

SD

, and as

GM

, Sandie gets a comp-3-room ensuite on the property.

Sandie answers, "Hi Kate, how's it going with your potential private client?" giggling cutely.

I hit back snidely, "No business talks of any type from now through noon tomorrow, we'll fully enjoy our downtime together.

"Are you still a bit skeptical of our dressing sexy and leaving for Ruth Chris from the hotel?"

She sighs, "I follow the company policy, and dressing nicely for dinner with a powerful corporate consultant doesn't break any rule(s)."