Page 26 of Sizzling Nights

She cocked her head, "Why an attorney's office?"

"An attorney, a bad one, is easy to bribe into working for a syndicate. They need the money, and they like the power. So, they'll launder money through their law office using fake names as clients, creating fake documents, etc. The smurf will bring money to the attorney. The attorney counts it, then doles it out into files. Those files need to have billable hours associated with them to justify the costs, so said attorney is usually very busy creating fake documents to go with the money. They make deposits to their bank for the fake clients. Many times, these clients are also the landlord, who has so many legal problems, they pay their attorney a ton of money to fix their issues."

Theresa nodded. Her pretty lips turned down into a frown. "That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"How did you channel your research?"

She shook her head. "I started looking at the money laundering, but it was clear there was something bigger at stake. I then became more focused on the millions, actually billions of dollars, being floated to the presidential and senate campaigns. I couldn't believe how much money was going to television and radio stations for ads for this candidate. I started following that trail and didn't even have the chance to look at the laundering aspect. I was more worried about the threat to democracy. If the Celtics were paying for a president and Congress, it had to be for their benefit. I wanted to know what that benefit was. That's the direction I was going. And I found some leads. A couple of them led to what I thought was human trafficking."

Mitch’s voice softened. "You be careful. As you're aware, they don't want this information out."

"I'm aware, it's why I'm basically on the run. My boss began getting threats. At first, they were idle threats. She ran my story anyway. It was a beginning piece of what I had planned to be a five-part series."

Marco watched her as she spoke. Her fingers shook slightly as she began talking about her boss. He softly encouraged her to continue.

"What happened?"

Theresa's eyes stared into his for a while. Finally, her lips thinned and she bit her bottom lip. "The threats after the first story grew in urgency. They went from we'll shut your paper down to we'll burn your house down."

She swallowed and sat up straighter. "They did. Burned her house down. No one was injured and that's when she told me to get out of town. Don't contact her. Lay as low as I could and when it was safe to come back, she'd let me know."

Marco's brows furrowed. "How would she do that?"

"I check the paper once a quarter on the first day of the month. If it's safe to come back, there will be an ad in the classified section for an investigative reporter. It would say, only TM need apply."

"Have you been checking?"

"Yes." She took a deep breath. "No ad so far."

Mitch was quiet for a moment. "What's the name of the paper and your boss’s name?"

"The Daily Reporter and her name is Carolyn Sutton."

“Hang on a moment, I need to check something.”

They could hear the tones on his phone as he typed something in. He read on his phone for a few moments, then looked up at her and said, “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

Marco felt her hold her breath and stiffen. She sat stone still.

Mitch inhaled deeply then swallowed. "She was killed in a car accident last month."

16

Her heart beat so fast she didn't know if she could even remain conscious. Her vision dimmed before her and the horrors of the past year began to bombard her brain. She could still hear Carolyn's voice as the first threats came into the office. She'd been scared but felt as though it was their job to report the news. All of it. No matter how seditious and dirty it was.

The air left her lungs as she said, "What? What kind of a car accident? I didn't hear anything about it."

Mitch was quiet a moment, then he responded. "It just says car accident, Theresa. It doesn't offer any other information. Now, I will say this—I do know someone in the area. I can give them a call, talk to them about the accident, see what the general feeling is—if it was a true accident or if foul play is suspected."

Her mind nearly went blank. She muttered, "Foul play?"

Mitch's tone was even. "Look, considering all the facts here, we have to assume that it could have been foul play, right? I mean, you're on the run for a reason. And I think we absolutely need to operate under the assumption that it was probably not an accident. That means you need to stay as close as you can to Marco. I'm gonna go so far as to say you shouldn't even go to work."

"But I need—" She stammered a little, the words refusing to come out.

Marco squeezed her hand. "Honey, I think he's right. Things are heating up. They're getting concerned that it's been a while since you've been seen—until recently. Now they know you're here. They're going to step up their efforts to get the information you have."

She swallowed a dry knot in her throat. It felt like she'd swallowed a mouthful of sand. Her mind wouldn't engage. She blew out a deep breath.

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