Page 80 of Justice Denied

“You worked for Jay Ainsley.”

“Not directly. I was one of three general admins in accounting.”

“What did you think of him?”

Mae considered her answer before replying. She didn’t like questions about Jay but couldn’t object without the agent wondering why. “As I said, I didn’t really know him.”

“But surely you must have formed an opinion of the man. He was head of a department where you worked”—she consulted a piece of paper in the folder—“for seven years.”

“He didn’t interact much with administrative assistants.”

Agent Updike raised an eyebrow. “No? By all accounts, including your fellow admin, Mr. Ainsley was very personable. One said, ‘He always inquired about my family, even remembering the names of my two dogs.’”

Mae shifted in her seat. Jay had been all of those things and more, but she didn’t want to talk about him. “Maybe we chatted a few times.”

“Did you like him?”

“Of course.” That was something Mae could answer truthfully.

“Then why did you blame him for your embezzlement?”

The question, even though Mae told herself to expect it, hit her between the eyes. Mae worked her mouth, but no sound came out. Heat poured through her body, flushing her cheeks.

“Here.” Agent Updike placed a cold water bottle in Mae’s hands.

Mae uncapped it and drank, grateful for the cool water. She could recover from this. “Sorry about that. Got a little flustered, as happens when you hit a certain age.” She herself was well past menopause and the accompanying hot flashes, but the agent couldn’t know that for sure.

“I can see why you would be, considering you redirected $250,000 of company funds for your own purposes.” She selected a page from the folder. “Once we knew where to look, we found out how you used that money to pay for your father’s nursing home care.”

Mae firmed her lips, not saying anything as the agent removed sheet after sheet detailing exactly how Mae had accomplished the embezzlement. Even though she couldn’t clearly see the documents, she recognized the logo she’d created for the fake invoices. No doubt they could prove what the agent said they could.

When Agent Updike stopped laying out the evidence, Mae drew in a deep breath to shore up her inner strength and prepared to lay the groundwork to using her bargaining chip. “You’ve done your homework.”

“We have. Why did you blame Jay Ainsley for your crimes?”

“Because someone told me to.” She thought she detected a slight widening of the agent’s eyes at her statement, but she wasn’t sure. Before she asked for a lawyer, she wanted to see how much they knew. “Someone found out what I was doing and demanded I take even more money from the company. At first, we didn’t attempt to frame anyone, but about six months before Mr. Ainsley died, this person told me to lay a trail blaming him for the embezzlement. All of it, including what I’d taken.” She paused. “I was paying it back, bit by bit. I planned on replacing all the money I’d taken.”

“I see that you had begun doing that but then you stopped because this person told you to continue the embezzlement?”

“That’s correct.” Mae took another sip of water and waited for the question that would reduce her culpability.

“What’s this person’s name?”

“For that, I’ll need a lawyer—and a deal.” Mae smiled, expecting the agent to gather her papers and leave the room to consult with someone who could authorize such a deal.

But she didn’t. Instead, Agent Updike clasped her hands together on top of the now-closed folder. “Before you do that, keep in mind that the charges against you will extend beyond embezzlement.”

Her words sent a fissure of unease down Mae’s spine. “But I only took money.”

The agent’s grim countenance alarmed her. “You might think your crime hurt no one outside of Topher Robotics, but someone has been targeting Jay Ainsley’s widow and daughter, even kidnapping Mrs. Ainsley. You’ve admitted to stealing money for this person. Who’s to say you didn’t assist in other ways too?”

“I had nothing to do with anything like that.” Mae couldn’t believe they would try to pin any other crime on her. She didn’t hurt anyone. She would never physically hurt anyone.

“That may be true, but until we know the name of the person you claim pushed you to steal millions, yours is the name we will pass along to the local authorities investigating those crimes.” Now the agent rose and carried the folders to the door.

“Wait!” Mae could see no way out. Deal or no deal, she would speak now or be lost to her husband forever. He would forgive her for the money, but never for anything else. “I want a lawyer, then I’ll tell you what I know.”

ChapterTwenty-Nine

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