“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 a drop in the bucket to those groups. Maybe our guy was merely a thief who didn’t realize the Cayman banks are not a good place to hide funds anymore.”
“Oh, I think he knew he couldn’t hide it there. He only needed to get it out of the States first.” Michaels abandoned his ingratiating pose, sat back and crossed his arms. “You won’t find the money there anymore,” he told her with absolute authority.
“Why are you so certain of that, Mr. Michaels? Have you already moved it? Did I happen along at the wrong time and mess up a little plan to cover up a three mil heist with a simple bag job?”
Chapter 3
Michaels didn’t bat an eye at her accusation. “I am trying to help here. If the robber and I were in cahoots, all he had to do was lock you in the safe, too. Or kill you outright.”
In cahoots? Dani stifled a smile and nodded, tongue in cheek. She didn’t really suspect Michaels of involvement and he knew it. “I still think it’s quite a stretch, bank robbery to terrorism. Are you deducing all this from the robber’s physical characteristics?” She had to admit, though, that the thought had crossed her mind when she first felt the gun and heard the accent. But that was a panic response, not good inductive policework.
“Not entirely.”
“Okay, let’s explore the possibility.” She encouraged him to go on. His certainty was a little contagious. “Explain why else you would think he was a terrorist collecting funds from sympathizers?” she asked.
“While you were talking to the chief, I checked the numbers of the source accounts against the surnames of the holders. Those names reflect that this could be an effort by individuals with possible familial ties to the Middle East to amass a tidy sum, jump it from country to country and land the funds where they could easily be accessed as needed.”
“All of the account holders? There must have been thirty accounts you drew from.”
“In total, there were only nine individuals and companies. All have multiple accounts with us and all of those accounts were tapped. All except one have ties to the Middle East, or at least surnames that indicate they might. One of the smaller accounts has a name very similar to an organization on the terrorist watch list,” he said.
Dani dropped any pretense of disagreement. He had made his case, or at least enough of one to warrant a full investigation. “I’ll notify the agency. They’ll institute a thorough investigation. You can’t recover the funds? Have you tried?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course I tried. Part of it was withdrawn within seconds of the transfer, and most of it was transferred again. It stands to reason there would be an accomplice waiting at the other bank to move on it quickly. It was split. Looks like the man at the other end took his cut.” He paused. “But I can follow the money they moved.”
“You can do that?” she asked. “How?”
“Well, shift funds around all you want, but it always leaves a trail. As you probably know, there’s really no such thing as an anonymous account anymore. I have connections that could furnish names and leads to follow. It’s a place to start.”
Dani recognized competence when she saw it. “My people can call on the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty the offshore banks signed with the UK and the U.S.”
For the first time, he smiled. “That would help. As you pointed out, a few million’s not much in the grand scheme of things. But if you multiply it by a number of small banks like this one, terrorists could secure an absolute fortune before anyone recognized what they were doing.” He shrugged. “Or I could be wrong. This could be a setup to ruin me and my bank.”
“You have enemies who would do that?” she asked, almost smiling at the thought. He appeared so benign, so likable. “Look, no one believes you were involved in this. Insurance will take care of the losses. Why not let it go at that?”
“You’re kidding, right? Let it go?”
“You seem to