Page 47 of Betrayed

“Looks like it. Her hubby was a real peach,” Jonas said in disgust. “Though I think she was the first, not that it makes it any better, but I couldn’t find evidence of any other infidelities.” He clicked, and another image appeared. “And Adriana didn’t have any sense of loyalty. Meet Don Dunbar. She became intimate with this poor schmuck about six months later. They married not long after that.”

“While still seeing Hoffman?” Cap asked.

“Yep.”

“What does Dunbar have to do with anything?” Reed asked.

“He’s the research and development chief at BSE.”

“Holy shit,” Brock said with a whistle.

“He was also Derek Hoffman’s college roommate and the best man at his and Marilee’s wedding.”

“The whole thing seems sickeningly incestuous to me,” Cap put in.

Equally repulsed, Arturo was livid on Mari’s behalf, but he summed things up coolly. “The common denominator is Adriana Dunbar who either had a thing for aerospace geeks or was spreading herself for anyone with an in at BSE.”

“Yes,” Jonas agreed, “and when her access on the inside got cut off, she entered through back channels. First, Hoffman then, Dunbar. As manager at Mari’s store, she had access to her computer to make file transfers there, also setting her up for the fall if need be.”

“Do we have anything besides damning circumstantial evidence?” Cap asked.

“We need something more concrete before we call in my FBI associates,” Arturo said, agreeing with Cap.

“We’ll keep digging,” Jonas acceded. “There is one more thing. Adri told Mari she was going out of town to care for a sick mother. The funny thing is, Adele Crenshaw died in 2010.”

“The conniving bitch lied about her dead mother,” Arturo scoffed. “Not surprising. Do you know where she actually went?”

“No, but we will. And the story about bill collectors and needing an advance is also fiction. Her joint accounts with Dunbar are very healthy, and she has several individual accounts with balances that scream suspicion on a store manager’s salary.”

“We need more. Tail her,” Arturo ordered. “Tap her phones, put her on constant surveillance, and have your men become visible. Not blatantly so but enough to make her watchful. I want her scared and on edge so she’ll make a mistake. Then we’ll have her. In the meantime, I’ll look into Dunbar’s activity from the inside.”

“We’ll need warrants,” Reed state.

“Not for BSE. I have their full support. They want to shut down the technology leaks asap. As far as private citizens go, thanks to your sneak-and-peak laws in the Patriot Act, we’re not at that point yet. But I’ll move up my weekly meeting with my FBI contact just to make it all legal. I wouldn’t want her getting off on a technicality once we nail her.”

“Sounds like you have it all under control and that Adriana Dunbar has just become our new prime suspect. Keep me up to date. Cap, out.”

---