Staying On Top(3)
“I don’t know. The hotel clerk stopped me on the way up and said the credit card on file had been declined. They even called the bank.”
“Probably a mistake. I’ll check with them in the morning and get it cleared up.”
“That’s what I thought, but none of the bank cards would go through. They took the credit card, so we’re fine, but something is definitely going on. I’d prefer to check on it now.” It would be harder than usual to sleep, worried that I’d be humiliated trying to grab a café in the morning.
Leo opened the door wider in silent invitation. I took it, sinking into the chair next to the windows and rubbing my eyes.
“You look tired. Grab a beer from the bar if you want. You need to use these couple of days to rest up.” He grabbed his phone and scrolled through numbers. “I’ll give the banks a call.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“I have contacts, Sam. That’s what you pay people like Neil and me for, remember?”
I shrugged, knocking the cap off a Heineken from the bar and taking a pull. “Thanks. I’m sure you were probably getting ready for bed, too.”
“It’s fine.” He held up a hand, then switched seamlessly to French as he spoke into his phone. “Hello? Yes, may I speak with Herbert, sil vous plaît? Merci.”
Someone, I assumed Herbert, came on the line a moment later and I tried halfheartedly to follow the conversation as they continued in French. I spoke some and understood more, same with German, but my Spanish and Russian were flawless. Most of my close friends on the tour were Spaniards, and my last two girlfriends had been Serbian. Aside from that, it was hard to spend as much time in foreign countries as I did and not feel at least a little obligated to learn.
Leo frowned and lowered his voice. I gave up trying to follow the conversation, more tired than ever. When he hung up a moment later, he immediately dialed another number.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. Let me just make sure we have the facts straight first.”
The next conversation took place in German, and then a third in English. That one was the shortest—apparently midnight customer service was harder to come by in the United States than abroad. It didn’t surprise me. Leo left a message for the district manager at Chase and then hung up.
His face looked paler than when he’d opened the door. It worried me, especially because Leo took care to maintain a little too much of a tan, in my opinion.
“What’s going on, Leo?”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, running hands through his hair before looking me in the eye. “I don’t know for sure. We’ll have to get in contact with Neil first thing in the morning. I’ll leave a message with his office in a minute.”
“Okay, well what do you think is going on?”
“The accounts at BNP and UBS are empty. The funds were withdrawn by wire transfer at ten p.m. Eastern Standard Time and sent to an account in the Caymans. Untraceable. I assume we’re going to find the same at Chase.”
About halfway through his speech, the words started to sound far away, as though Leo shouted them through water. My brain and lips felt numb. “How much?” I managed.
“Thirty million, give or take.”
Leo sounded as though he were going to throw up. My stomach didn’t disagree. Thirty million dollars. Gone.
“There shouldn’t have been so much in those accounts. It’s supposed to be invested—I thought they maxed out at a million each.”
“Your investment accounts must have been moved back into your checking and then withdrawn from there. It would have been easier that way—the investment firms would require fewer authorizations since it was going to another account, not being liquidated.” Leo ran a hand through his hair. “Sam, you’re fine. You need to focus on tennis; let me worry about this. We’ll get ahold of Neil in the morning and I’m sure we’ll get all of this straightened out.”
I nodded, still feeling like this must be happening to someone else. I was far from broke, but losing thirty million would be a huge blow. As I lay in bed, trying to force my eyes closed, I told myself there were years left in my career. If my goddamn abs would heal up, I could make it back.
Depending on what we found out from Neil, that could end up being my only choice.
Chapter 2
Blair
“I am so freaking ready for winter break.” Audra tossed her cherry red hair into a bun, then fell backward onto the bed in a dramatic pose that would be more at home on her brother’s girlfriend, Ruby, than the levelheaded, even-keeled girl I’d met when we both pledged Kappa Chi.