Page 25 of Night Watch
“Guess that makes sense.” Drake grabbed his bagel covered with strawberry cream cheese. “So where is this lab?”
“In a leased industrial space not far from my mom’s house.”
“There was no record of that in her accounts,” Erik said. “Is the place leased directly by the pharma companies?”
“Yes, and the utilities and security system are billed directly too.”
Erik passed out a handout. “If you check out my report on Wanda’s finances, you’ll see that she’s been receiving electronic transfers each month from a company called inDents to the tune of twenty grand.”
Clay whistled and eyed Kennedy. “Do you know anything about inDents?”
“Nothing,” Kennedy said. “I couldn’t bring myself to look through her accounts yet, and I’ve never heard of inDents.”
“Seems suspicious,” Drake said.
“I searched for a website or any information on the company, but the only thing I found is that the domain name is registered but is parked at a domain registry site. All other registry data is private. I also struck out on tracing the deposits. Still, I sent the info to Nick to do his thing.” Erik looked at Kennedy. “Nick’s the Veritas Center’s computer and cybercrimes guru.”
Brendan tapped the report in front of him. “I was thinking retirement money, but this says you didn’t find any retirement accounts. You’ve ruled out the logical sources, so now I really want to know who this company is.”
“You thinking bribe?” Erik planted his hands on the table and looked at Brendan. “Maybe blackmail? ’Cause I sure am.”
“Could be.”
Kennedy wished Erik would look at her so she could make eye contact to dispute his thoughts, but he didn’t. “My mom would never do anything like that.”
Erik shifted his focus to her, and she didn’t like the distrust in his eyes. “You never know what someone might do when pushed.”
Kennedy sat forward. “But she wasn’t pushed financially. Her accounts show that. Plus the house was paid for, and she made money off selling the family home. And the pharma companies were paying her somehow. Maybe that money was coming from them.”
“It’s possible,” Erik said.
“What about her will,” Drake asked. “Who did she leave her money to, and who’s the executor of her estate?”
Kennedy shrugged. “Finley’s been pushing me to read it, but I haven’t had the heart to.”
“Seems like now would be a great time to do so,” Aiden suggested.
“Yes,” Kennedy said, though she still didn’t want to read it. The act made everything seem so final.
“Let’s go ahead and table this discussion,” Erik said. “I’ll head to the lab to check Wanda’s files when we’re done, and maybe I’ll find more information.”
“You meanwe’llhead to the lab,” Kennedy said.
“About that.” Erik planted his feet.
Uh-oh. Argument coming.
“I’d rather you stay here for your safety,” he said.
He made it seem as if she had a choice when she knew she didn’t. “With the short deadline, I need all the time I can get to work on the project.”
“It’s safer here.”
“Do you keep all of your clients prisoner here?”
“No, but—”
“But you protect people in danger, right?” She issued him a nonverbal challenge with a lift of her chin. “So you must have a protocol you can follow to allow me to go to work.”
