Part 40 (2/2)
Marcie's eyes widened and she stopped twirling her hair.
”Strazzi's trying to take over Everest,” Gillette continued. ”He's convinced Ann Donovan to sell her stake in Everest to him. That stake has a 25 percent voting bloc that goes along with it, which would give him enough votes to kick me out and get himself elected chairman.” Gillette paused. ”But I'm sure you already knew all that.”
Marcie shook her head. ”No, I didn't-”
”Marcie, don't insult me.”
She gazed at him for a long time, then her shoulders sagged slightly.
”Tell me the truth,” Gillette pushed.
Still she didn't answer. ”If you were involved, you've got big problems with the feds,” he pointed out. ”Criminal problems. If you come clean with me, I'll do what I can to protect you.”
Her eyes darted to his.
”Who's the person at Dominion you worked with?” he asked.
She hesitated.
”Don't aggravate me, Marcie. I can-”
”Okay, okay. It's a guy named Marty Reisner. He's the chief information officer at Dominion. He knows everything about Dominion's software systems. He's a magician with data.”
Gillette nodded. ”Why'd you do it, Marcie? Why'd you help Strazzi?”
”Come on, Christian. Donovan was never going to promote me, and Strazzi offered me a lot to join Apex. It wasn't much of a decision.”
”But the bad loan reports were run after after Donovan was killed. You must have known that I'd promote you, or at least thought I might. Why risk getting caught up in a scandal without finding out what I was offering?” Donovan was killed. You must have known that I'd promote you, or at least thought I might. Why risk getting caught up in a scandal without finding out what I was offering?”
”Strazzi's giving me a much better deal than you ever would. A lot of independence, too. I invest in whatever I want, and I get a huge chunk of the ups. That's the bottom line. And I'm not worried about the feds. They won't be able to link me to any of this Dominion stuff. In the end, it's Reisner's word against mine.”
”And Stockman and Strazzi's word,” Gillette reminded her. ”No, you've got a big problem. Did you know Strazzi was going to kill Bill Donovan,” he asked bluntly. Stockman and Strazzi's word,” Gillette reminded her. ”No, you've got a big problem. Did you know Strazzi was going to kill Bill Donovan,” he asked bluntly.
”What? No. Bill drowned.” Bill drowned.”
”He was murdered, and Strazzi was behind it. You must have known what was going on.”
”I didn't know anything.”
”Sure you did. It fits perfectly. Donovan had to be out of the way for Strazzi to be able to buy the widow's stake. And the whole thing would have worked if Stockman had shown just a little restraint. I never would have been able to figure out what was going on if he wasn't having an affair with the Jones woman. I never could have gotten him to talk.”
”Affair?” Marcie asked hesitantly.
”Yeah. And I have photographs.”
”Jesus,” she whispered. ”Look, Christian, I didn't know anything about Donovan being murdered. I swear. Strazzi approached me a few months ago and offered me a deal. Help him find a way to take Donovan down, and I get to run all that money myself. As far as I know, Strazzi was just being opportunistic with this Dominion thing. He just wanted the widow's stake so he could kick you out. I don't believe he had anything to do with Donovan's death.”
Gillette leaned back. No way to know yet if she was lying. ”I was the one who turned on your computer this afternoon, Marcie,” he said. ”Not Kyle. I went through your e-mails looking for things about Dominion.” He watched her closely, but she didn't react. Just started twirling her hair again. ”I didn't find anything. Which didn't surprise me. I was sure you wouldn't send anything incriminating by e-mail. There would always be a record on the server.”
”Right,” she said quietly. ”I'm not stupid.”
”But I did find this,” he said, pulling the Kathy Hays e-mail from his pocket and sliding it across the table toward her. ”This came from your sent items folder. What it shows is that Strazzi set Troy Mason up with this woman, Kathy Hays. Through you,” he added.
Her hand moved slowly across the polished tabletop to the paper. She opened it and gazed at the words. ”I didn't write this.”
”Come on, Marcie,” Gillette pushed angrily. ”Tell me the truth.”
”I mean it. I didn't write it.” She checked the top of the e-mail to make certain it was from her computer. ”Someone got on my computer while I was out.”
”Marcie, you're in a lot of trouble with this Dominion thing. You must know that. Like I said, if you work with me, I'll do everything I can to help you. I know people down at 26 Federal Plaza. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best.”
”No one can prove anything,” she said defiantly.
”Admit that Strazzi set Mason up,” Gillette demanded.
”Maybe he did, but I didn't know about it. I did not write that e-mail,” she repeated firmly.
”Kyle said he knew the woman was in the bas.e.m.e.nt with Mason at the funeral reception because you told him.”
”He's lying,” she said tersely.
”But what about this e-mail?”
”I didn't write it!”
Gillette held up his hands. ”Okay, fine.” This was going nowhere. ”I want you out of here right now,” he said calmly. ”I'll call you tomorrow to tell you where we go from here.”
”Does this mean I'm fired?” she asked, rising from her chair.
”Yeah. You're done.”
”Fine,” she said, stalking toward the door. ”Don't bother calling me.”
Gillette watched her disappear, then picked up the phone quickly and dialed the lobby. ”Quentin.”
”Yeah?”
”Find Marcie and get her out of here right now. Don't let her take anything. Tell her we'll box up her personal c.r.a.p and send it to her. Got it?”
”Yup.”
Gillette put the phone down and headed to Lefors office.
He was reading a newspaper, feet up on the desk, a bag of Fritos in his lap.
”Hey.” Lefors tossed the paper on the desk when he saw Gillette and dropped his feet to the floor. ”What the h.e.l.l's going on with Marcie?”
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