Read Online Fallen Angel: A Jesse McDermitt Novel (Caribbean Adventure Series Book 9) by Wayne Stinnett - Free Book Online
Authors: Wayne Stinnett
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a wide stairwell at the far end of the lobby. Glass-fronted offices and conference rooms ran along both sides on each floor, and there were cameras just about anywhere you looked. Two armed and very serious-looking security guards sat at desks on either side of the stairs. Above them on the second floor were three heavy-looking ornate doors, probably the offices of the bank’s officers. Directly behind the guards, I could see the door of a huge vault against the far wall, below the stairs.
Audrey’s heels clicked up the steps as I watched her hips sway with each step. I realized it’d been a couple of months since Linda and I had ended our relationship. I really thought we had a good thing going, and very well might again one day, but the demands of her job, and another promotion, sent her to Tallahassee. I knew she hated accepting it. Not just because it would put a few hundred miles between us, but she’d once described the capital as a frat house, no girls allowed.
Audrey disappeared through the middle door on the second floor. A moment later, it opened and she and a man in an expensive-looking suit came quickly down the steps to one of the guard’s desks. The suit said something to the guard, who rose and the three of them walked toward us.
“How do you do, Mister McDermitt. I am Henri Lachance, the bank’s manager. Will you come with me, please?”
Art and I followed the manager to the rear conference room on the left side, the guard following behind us. In the conference room, Audrey closed the blinds and door, while the guard waited just outside.
“Would either of you gentlemen care for a cup of tea?” Audrey asked. “Coffee, perhaps?”
“Coffee would be great,” I replied.
She left the room, and Mister Lachance waved a hand to the table in invitation. “Please, have a seat. I will need to see your passport and another form of identification, Mister McDermitt.”
Taking my passport from my back pants pocket, I handed it to the man, then fished out my wallet and gave him my driver’s license. “Will this take very long, Mister Lachance?” I asked.
“Not at all, sir,” he replied, looking at my passport and license. He looked up at a camera in the corner and nodded, saying, “Identification visually confirmed.” Placing both of them facedown on a scanner, Lachance pressed a button on the machine and it began to make a soft whirring sound.
“Audrey said that the lock on your briefcase is disabled?” he asked.
“Not really disabled,” I replied. “I just forgot the combination.”
The door opened and the guard held it to allow Audrey to push a small coffee cart into the room. “Audrey will put your funds in a lockable box that will fit inside your briefcase, Mister McDermitt. Please make yourselves comfortable until she returns.”
Lachance returned my credentials, then he and Audrey left, taking my briefcase with them, leaving Art and me alone in the conference room. I poured a couple of mugs and we sat down to wait.
“He kinda handled your briefcase like he was holding a day-old dead fish,” Art said.
“Form follows function. It gets the job done for me.”
Our wait wasn’t nearly as long as I’d thought it was going to be. I’d just poured us both a fresh mug of coffee when Audrey opened the door. This time, she held it as the guard pushed another cart into the room with my briefcase riding on it.
“I just need you to verify that the funds are correct, Mister McDermitt,” Audrey said with an inviting smile. She opened the briefcase and handed me a key on a sturdy-looking keyring.
The strongbox inside the briefcase nearly filled it. I lifted it out and, turning it around, I used the key to unlock and open it. Audrey removed a file from the box, revealing the neatly stacked bundles of hundred-dollar bills. I picked one up and fanned it, visually counting the stacks. There were forty-nine bundles, totaling $490,000.
“All there,” I said, taking the file from Audrey
Audrey’s heels clicked up the steps as I watched her hips sway with each step. I realized it’d been a couple of months since Linda and I had ended our relationship. I really thought we had a good thing going, and very well might again one day, but the demands of her job, and another promotion, sent her to Tallahassee. I knew she hated accepting it. Not just because it would put a few hundred miles between us, but she’d once described the capital as a frat house, no girls allowed.
Audrey disappeared through the middle door on the second floor. A moment later, it opened and she and a man in an expensive-looking suit came quickly down the steps to one of the guard’s desks. The suit said something to the guard, who rose and the three of them walked toward us.
“How do you do, Mister McDermitt. I am Henri Lachance, the bank’s manager. Will you come with me, please?”
Art and I followed the manager to the rear conference room on the left side, the guard following behind us. In the conference room, Audrey closed the blinds and door, while the guard waited just outside.
“Would either of you gentlemen care for a cup of tea?” Audrey asked. “Coffee, perhaps?”
“Coffee would be great,” I replied.
She left the room, and Mister Lachance waved a hand to the table in invitation. “Please, have a seat. I will need to see your passport and another form of identification, Mister McDermitt.”
Taking my passport from my back pants pocket, I handed it to the man, then fished out my wallet and gave him my driver’s license. “Will this take very long, Mister Lachance?” I asked.
“Not at all, sir,” he replied, looking at my passport and license. He looked up at a camera in the corner and nodded, saying, “Identification visually confirmed.” Placing both of them facedown on a scanner, Lachance pressed a button on the machine and it began to make a soft whirring sound.
“Audrey said that the lock on your briefcase is disabled?” he asked.
“Not really disabled,” I replied. “I just forgot the combination.”
The door opened and the guard held it to allow Audrey to push a small coffee cart into the room. “Audrey will put your funds in a lockable box that will fit inside your briefcase, Mister McDermitt. Please make yourselves comfortable until she returns.”
Lachance returned my credentials, then he and Audrey left, taking my briefcase with them, leaving Art and me alone in the conference room. I poured a couple of mugs and we sat down to wait.
“He kinda handled your briefcase like he was holding a day-old dead fish,” Art said.
“Form follows function. It gets the job done for me.”
Our wait wasn’t nearly as long as I’d thought it was going to be. I’d just poured us both a fresh mug of coffee when Audrey opened the door. This time, she held it as the guard pushed another cart into the room with my briefcase riding on it.
“I just need you to verify that the funds are correct, Mister McDermitt,” Audrey said with an inviting smile. She opened the briefcase and handed me a key on a sturdy-looking keyring.
The strongbox inside the briefcase nearly filled it. I lifted it out and, turning it around, I used the key to unlock and open it. Audrey removed a file from the box, revealing the neatly stacked bundles of hundred-dollar bills. I picked one up and fanned it, visually counting the stacks. There were forty-nine bundles, totaling $490,000.
“All there,” I said, taking the file from Audrey
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