Stock market fraud, identity theft, cybercrime, medical fraud, tax evasion, offshore bank accounts, online employment scams, even pet-finder fraud (seriously?!)… there’s no limit to the lengths some people will go to part others from their money. All the cheaters depicted in the Ruby Danger series are based on real cases, by the way. No shortage of those, unfortunately.
Anyway, on to Chapter 3!
CHAPTER THREE
As the door closed behind Mila, Ruby looked down at the papers strewn over the bed with a heavy sigh. Now the entire crew would know there was enough cash lying around the Emperor Suite to buy a small yacht. Just what she needed. More rumors.
She stuffed the cash back into the leather box and stood up, sniffling. Antony had promised her a second honeymoon and she was jumping to conclusions. There had to be a simple explanation. She should just ask him.
Pacing beside the bed, she mentally rehearsed that conversation. She would tell Antony she had broken into the safe and, now, wondered why he had taken three fake passports and twenty million dollars in bearer bonds on a one-week cruise. She paused, blowing air through her lips. Yeah, that would work.
Her gaze fell on Antony’s laptop on the desk in the den next to the bedroom and she walked over and flipped it open. Hari had set up this laptop for Antony, so the password wouldn’t be easy to guess. In fact, it would likely be impossible. But knowing that her husband often neglected to turn off his computer, Ruby pressed the space bar. Sure enough, the screen lit up. She glanced at the door into the bedroom and bit her lip. Should she chance it? What if Antony came back? She shrugged. A quick look couldn’t hurt.
After first tightening the towel around her chest, she sat down and scanned the screen. The most prominent folder, labeled caracas, contained several documents. One was an itinerary that matched the one in the leather box. Another was a statement for a numbered account with a bank in the Cayman Islands. It listed dozens of deposits, but no withdrawals.
Tapping a finger on the keyboard’s edge, Ruby studied the statement. Antony managed her nieces’ insurance settlement, the one Quentin’s lawyer negotiated after Lily’s fatal accident. Given Antony’s lauded investment smarts, the girls’ fund was likely to be worth several million dollars by now. Could he have moved it offshore? Antony had set up several Carvon subsidiaries in Ruby’s name in order to lower their taxes. Maybe this was a similar dodge.
She had not kept track of her nieces’ fund. Neither had Quentin, for that matter. During her last visit to Vancouver, Ruby had found account statements, the envelopes still sealed, on her brother-in-law’s desk. Quentin never cracked open the business pages, either, as far as she knew. He was content to let Antony look after the girls’ money. Ruby had tucked one of the statements into her tote bag, intending to file it away in her own records. Given that she hadn’t cleaned out that bag in months, it was probably still there.
She scrolled down to the final total on the account statement and her jaw dropped. Even Antony couldn’t have run the girls’ fund up to five hundred million dollars. This had to be something else.
Scanning the screen again, she clicked on a folder labeled carvon opened a few documents at random. They were Carvon account statements for small subsidiaries. If Antony were going to Caracas with some anonymous blonde, why would he need details of company transactions? Was he going to run the company from there? She flopped back against the chair, staring at the screen. Way to overreact, Ruby. The huge fund must be a Carvon investment, and the blonde was probably a business associate. Maybe even an employee.
Chewing on her lower lip, she stared at the screen. Hari would know if this was Carvon business. Would he tell her, though? Only one way to find out. She could send him the documents on the laptop and ask him. But e-mailing them from Antony’s computer would leave a trail. Antony probably wouldn’t notice, but still— Ruby snapped her fingers and jumped to her feet.
She darted down the hall to the master bedroom, rummaged through her bag for the Hello Kitty bracelet and ran back to the den. After inserting the USB drive into a slot on the laptop, she started copying the folders onto it. With the download underway, she went back to the bedroom off the den to return the passports and bonds to the leather box. As she picked up the manila envelope, her heart sank at the jagged tear across the top. Why had she been so impulsive?
Returning to the den, she rifled through the desk drawers for a replacement envelope and took it back to the bedroom. After transferring the bonds from the torn envelope to the new one, she sealed it and added it to the leather box. Once the box was back in the safe, she shut the door and tapped lock. The safe whirred and then clicked. She took a deep breath. Now—
The front door to the suite opened and closed.
“Ruby?”
Antony was back.
She darted into the den, yanked out the USB drive, shut the laptop and snapped the Hello Kitty bracelet around her wrist. Ruby turned to face the bedroom door, knowing that Antony was coming in that way. The torn manila envelope dangled in her hand. She stuffed it under her towel, holding it in place with her upper arm. Her heart pounded and she drew a deep breath, trying to calm down.
That was when she realized one desk drawer was still open.
As Antony walked in, Ruby leaned back against the desk with her arms crossed and raised a knee to close the drawer with her foot. Antony stared at her from the doorway. His sandy gray hair had thinned in the five years since their marriage and his face was sunken and tired despite his golf-course tan.
He walked over and sat down at the desk beside her.
“What are you doing in here?” he said, opening the laptop.
“I came to tell the maid to leave your things alone. She came in to tidy the den and I knew you wouldn’t want your stuff moved.”
Antony, already engrossed in a document on the screen, only grunted.
“Are you interested in lunch, Antony?”
He shook his head. “I’ll get something from room service.” As she straightened up he reached out and grabbed her wrist. “What’s that?”
She looked down. Antony rubbed his finger along the Hello Kitty bracelet.
“I bought it for Naomi,” she said, her heart hammering. “She loves Hello Kitty.”
He nodded, still holding her wrist. “So why are you wearing it?”
“I … put it on to take a picture for the girls. They sent me a video this morning. Do you want to watch it?”
Antony shook his head without looking up. He stroked the bracelet with his thumb.
“I’m sorry about your trip to Vancouver. I know you were looking forward to it.”
“I’ll catch up with them later.”
He glanced up with a look she hadn’t seen in a while.
“Maybe I can make it up to you.”
“Maybe you can.” Her heart was racing again.
He stood up and pulled her closer.
“So tell me, in this picture you sent the girls, were you wearing only a towel and a rubber bracelet?” He slid his hand up her arm and along her shoulder. “What happened to all that luggage you insisted we bring?”
Tangling his fingers in her damp hair, he pressed his other hand against the small of her back and pulled her forcefully against him. He bent to kiss her.
The envelope rustled loudly under her towel. Panicked, she pushed him away.
“I have a spa appointment.”
He gave her a puzzled look and his eyes grew cold. “Of course you do.” He straightened up and turned to the desk.
“I’ll be back.”
“Don’t rush. I have work to do.” He sat down and went back to reading the laptop’s screen.
“Antony?”
“What?” When she didn’t reply, he turned to look at her and raised his voice. “What?”
“If something was wrong, you would tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“If there were problems … at work, say. At Carvon. You would tell me, right?”
“What have you heard?” he said sharply.
“Nothing. I only—”
“There’s a slight problem with the secondary share issue.” He flicked his hand. “Nothing that needs to concern you.”
“Is that all?”
Sighing, he turned back to the laptop. “I’m busy, Ruby. Go to your appointment.”
She backed away, holding her arm tight against her side, and hustled down the hall. In the master bedroom, she closed the door behind her, pulled the torn envelope from under her towel and threw it into the wastebasket. Then she grabbed her leather tote bag, shoved the Hello Kitty bracelet into an inside pocket and zipped it shut. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it might jump out of her chest.
Hari would help her. He had to help her.
