Sofi and Teresa's morning phonecalls always seemed perfectly timed to sabotage Will's post-workout coffee. Just seeing the words Teresa Ortiz, M.P.D. flash on my phone screen would drive Will from the kitchen with a look of terror, and seconds later he'd leave for work trailing reels of electrical cable behind him.
This time I was still too buzzed from training, and too desperate for news about my guys, to worry about Will's sensitivities. Sofi's voice was clipped, with no sign of her usual giggly surety; I guessed that the case was moving frustratingly slowly for whatever deadlines she had.
"We got a few important documents from Oliver Schmidt when we raided his house, but only a fraction of what must have been in the Finance Office in Sigma."
It didn't surprise me. Ollie was thorough, and wouldn't keep many incriminating documents on his phone or tablets at home. "I remember on the night of the fire Ollie was holding a ton of laptops and drives, with more piled up next to him on the sidewalk. Sigma Security would have put it into a car bound for Central way before fire-fighters arrived."
"What's Central?" asked Teresa.
"Central is the main Sigma office, where Jones and the highest-level managers work. But I don't know where it is, or what happens there." I'd always imagined Central as some huge crumbling vampire castle somewhere in Este, where Jones and his asshole managers slept by day in coffins. "Raheem went there once, when he first arrived in Sigma, but he's kinda...blocked all memories of it outta his mind."
"At least we got Schmidt's laptop and phone, which had documents that he was working on over the past month. It didn't take us long to get more evidence for the charges against him, but there are no historical documents. And there's nothing relating to the documents about Las Olas that were found on Seven's printers."
"You mean those documents that someone wanted you to find," I corrected.
"Yes," Sofi huffed.
"Why do you need more documents about Las Olas if Ollie confessed to the charges?"
"Because he said that he was working alone, and that he didn't receive any instructions from Michael Jones."
Shibal.
I hadn't expected that. I'd totally expected Ollie to incriminate every fucker in Sigma at the first opportunity. Of all the higher-ups in Sigma, Ollie seemed the least capable of surviving jail for Jones, and the other managers he was protecting. If Ollie was going down, there was no way that he was doing it out of loyalty to Sigma. He must have been way less scared of jail than he was of whatever terrifying unknown consequences of betraying Jones might befall him.
"Schmidt said that the Las Olas restaurant is a legitimate business, apart from this single crime of inflating its real estate purchase price to banks for a loan, and deflating its value for the I.R.S.. Why would an accountant single-handedly commit bank fraud for an otherwise law-abiding restaurant business?" Sofi grumbled on.
"Maybe he's telling the truth about Las Olas," I said. "An overpriced restaurant in Huertas full of celebrities and paparazzi would draw too much attention to itself. They must have bought it as a legit investment. Las Olas must make enough money to stand up as a business in its own right."
"I saw the Las Olas chef on a TV chat show last night," Teresa chuckled. "But whoever put those receipts on Seven's printroom computer must have chosen Las Olas documents for a special reason." Looked like Teresa had some sleuthing vibes going on in her neon brain.
"Maybe that's all they could get hold of," I suggested. If it had been one of Ollie's workers trying to drop him in the shit, then they'd need to work with whatever documents they could get.
YOU ARE READING
The Sigma Asset 🏳️🌈 (bxb)║AMBYS WINNER 2022
Mystery / Thriller**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city...
