Page 38 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“His mortgage was miraculously paid off a few weeks after your trial,” Antoine said. “I was wondering if you knew where that money came from. Did he have any investments he could have sold off? Or maybe an inheritance?”

“Not that I know of. But if someone gave him money, they sure wasted it. He would have testified against me for free.” She eyed Molly warily. “What’s really going on? I’m not that shocked that Jimmy would take a bribe. Why are you all so upset about this?”

Val sighed. “I drew the short straw, so I’ll just say it. Antoine ran your financials, too.”

Naomi’s eyes widened, flashing with hurt before her shoulders slumped. “I guess that makes sense. You want to make sure I’m not hiding ill-gotten gains from stealing drugs from the NOPD. It’s okay, Antoine.”

No , Burke wanted to snarl. It was not okay. He wanted to rip into Antoine, but the look on his hacker’s face silenced any angry words Burke might have uttered.

“That’s not why I ran them,” Antoine said firmly. “Molly kept coming back to ‘Why Naomi?’ Why frame you ?”

Burke’s stomach gave a nasty lurch. He didn’t like the direction this was going. “What did you find, Antoine?” he asked, taking Naomi’s hand in his.

“Three bank accounts,” Antoine said. “Each in a different bank. They total over five hundred thousand dollars.”

Naomi gasped, the color draining from her face. “No. That’s not mine.”

“We believe you,” Val said. “I promise we do. But when Antoine found the accounts, he brought us all in so that we could help him follow the money. It doesn’t look good, Naomi.

Lots of deposits on a regular basis, most in cash.

It ghosts under the ten-thousand-dollar reporting limits for deposits and withdrawals every week, but banks watch for this.

If the small deposits add up to more than the reporting limit, that’s a federal crime.

It was just a matter of time before the banks caught on and reported you. ”

“And then they’d investigate me again,” Naomi said, her voice faint.

“My previous record would make me look even guiltier. And then, if I was caught with drugs in Sylvi’s delivery van, they could have said I really was a drug dealer, that I got off on a technicality, but that I really was guilty then, too. ”

Burke had to breathe through his fury. Gaffney and whoever the fuck he was working with had planned this. “When were the accounts opened?”

“September,” Molly said.

When Everett’s phone had probably been hacked. Not a coincidence.

“How did they open three bank accounts in my name?” Naomi demanded. “Did no one ask for ID?”

“That’s what we have to find out,” Molly said.

“We will investigate this on our own, don’t you worry.

Banks tend to give security footage only to the cops, but we can find ways around that.

Importantly, we need to decide if it’s best to come clean with the NOPD about this or chance them finding out on their own. ”

Burke gently gripped Naomi’s chin and turned her to look at him. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “Ultimately this should be your decision, but my vote is that we find out who’s behind this before we report it.”

She blinked, sending tears down her cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumbs.

“And if Gaffney decides to report me himself?” Then she stilled. “Five hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money for someone to deposit just to frame me.”

Molly gave her an approving nod. “It is indeed. We were wondering if it’s Gaffney’s money, from whatever scam he’s running. We think he would have reported you—anonymously, of course.”

“Of course,” Naomi murmured faintly. “But surely he wouldn’t just abandon half a million dollars in fake bank accounts.”

“The bank accounts aren’t fake,” Antoine said. “They’re very real and in your name, but you’re right. We figure he’d withdraw all the cash, leaving a trail that points to you. Then he’d report you. The bank would report you, too, for withdrawing that much money at one time. You’d be screwed.”

Naomi nodded slowly. “How do we find out who really opened the accounts?”

“Good question,” Burke said. “We’re going to figure this out, Naomi.”

“I know. But Gaffney and whoever’s in this with him might decide to report me before you get a chance. If for no other reason than to create a…”

She trailed off, her mouth forming an O.

Oh. Burke got it now, too.

“What?” Molly asked.

“I’m a smoke screen,” Naomi said. “Or a fall guy. Either works for them. They have to be anticipating trouble. Captain Holmes said that two young women escaped human traffickers during Super Bowl weekend and they identified Pablo Delgado as their pimp. Pablo’s attempt to abduct Everett connects the traffickers to Gaffney.

NOPD is going to investigate Gaffney for this, so he needs a diversion. I’m the diversion.”

“But that’s now,” Molly said. “These accounts were opened in September. Why you , Naomi? Why September?”

“I don’t know, but I’m betting that I was always going to be the diversion for something.

Cresswell seemed horrified at the idea of trafficking teenagers for sex, so I’m assuming that this is a new operation.

If they ever had a glitch or a snafu, they’d need that diversion.

I think they planned for a long time to set me up with these bogus accounts, in case things went south for them. ”

“That makes some sense,” Val said. “But knowing it doesn’t eliminate the bogus accounts.”

Molly frowned. “Nor does it answer ‘Why you?’ But the immediate need is to deal with these accounts. We’ve been discussing how to extract you from this situation in a way that protects you.”

Naomi was quiet for a long moment, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. Burke pulled her lip free, not liking that she was hurting herself.

She gave him an amused glance, and that, more than anything, let him know she was going to be okay.

“Can you get into the actual accounts, Antoine?” she asked. “Or only see the overall balances?”

“So far only the balances. Why?”

Naomi glanced at the time on her phone. “Because I know what I want to do. The banks don’t close until five. If we play our cards right, I can visit all three.”

Burke shook his head. “Naomi, I don’t think that’s a good idea. They won’t tell you anything.”

“Probably not,” she agreed. “But I can, as the account owner, put a freeze on all three accounts. That way Gaffney and his friends can’t get their money back. I have my ID. The bank rep will check it against the ID that opened the account. It won’t be me, and I’ll be able to make a fraud claim.”

It wasn’t, Burke thought, a horrible idea. “How will you explain how you knew about the accounts?”

She tilted her head, thinking. “I was going to borrow money from you to pay for Everett’s bodyguard.

You ran a credit check and found three accounts that I knew nothing about.

Anyone would be alarmed. I will be alarmed.

And then they’ll have to tell me that there’s an issue with the accounts—specifically, they were opened without my knowledge.

The bank will be the one dealing with the cops, not me.

And any consequences will be on their heads, not mine, because they allowed someone using a fraudulent ID to open an account. ”

It really wasn’t a horrible idea.

It might even be a very smart one.

“Not bad, grasshopper,” Val said with a smile. “We’ll make a sneaky PI out of you yet.”

Naomi smiled, the praise making her shine brightly once again. “Thank you. Antoine, what are the options for spying on someone’s computer monitor when it’s facing away from you?”

Antoine grinned. “I have a few ideas.”

“Good. Because the ID of the person who opened the account will pop up on the banker’s screen. The name will be mine, but the photo won’t match, I’m sure. I want to know whose photo that is.”

“As do we.” Burke stood, took Naomi’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go. Time’s a’wastin’.”

—

Metairie, New Orleans, Louisiana

Tuesday, February 25, 4:30 p.m.

Traffic had stymied Naomi’s plan and they’d made it to the first bank only forty-five minutes before it closed.

They were still there—she, Burke, and Antoine.

She was playing the part of the alarmed client pretty convincingly, if she said so herself.

Burke stood behind her chair, his hands on her shoulders.

Anchoring her. And protecting her.

Antoine was still monitoring the banker’s computer screen with a small camera he’d placed discreetly on a wall behind her station.

They’d lucked out with this banker. Her station was in the middle of the bank’s open area, rather than being in an enclosed office.

It was about time they got a lucky break, so Naomi wasn’t going to worry that it was too good to be true.

“Tell me again why you’re here,” the bank manager said, with a hint of a threat in his tone. The woman at the desk had called him over as soon as she’d pulled up Naomi’s account.

Naomi stared the manager down. “I’ve told you three times already, sir. I was hoping to secure a private loan to pay for a bodyguard because I was shot at yesterday. Maybe you saw that in the news? The flower shop that got shot up?”

“I did,” the manager said. “Who found the discrepancy in your account?”

“The personal protection company. While running my financials, they turned up this bank account, which came as a complete shock.”

“What do you want to do with this account?” the manager asked.

“I want to have the account frozen pending an investigation.”

The manager looked surprised at that. “You don’t want to cash it out?”

Naomi lifted her chin, channeling the haughty inmate who’d ruled her cellblock. “I’m no criminal, sir. I want your bank to make this right. I want you to find out who opened an account in my name.”

The manager gave her an up-and-down appraisal that felt nasty. “I only ask because of your…past.”