The Partner Learn English through story level 3

chapter 1

pontipora brazil

they found him in pontipora

a pleasant little town in brazil

on the border of paraguay

he lived alone in a small house on rua

tiradentes

and drove a red 1983 volkswagen

he was thinner

his skin and hair were darker

and his nose and chin were different

they considered taking him quickly

but decided to wait

when he went downtown they followed him

and took photos

they listened as he talked to a clerk in

the market

his portuguese was excellent

almost without an accent

they watched as he ran along rua

tiredentes and into the countryside

he was serious about his running

and this pleased them

danilo would simply run into their arms

guy was from washington dc

and had been hired to find danilo

he’d been searching for him for four

years

and had spent 3.5 million dollars

all for nothing

but now he’d found him

osmar and his brazilian friends didn’t

know why guy wanted danilo

but they guessed that he’d disappeared

and taken a lot of money

they made large copies of the photos and

put them on the wall of the small house

they were staying in

they studied them carefully

was it really him

osmar wanted to take him now

but guy said they’d wait

then

on the fourth day

danilo raced to the airport

parked his car

got on a small plane to sao paulo

and was gone

they waited

watching the red volkswagen and the

arriving planes

osmar was confident that danilo would

return and they’d get him

he returned on the fifth day

and everyone was happy

every day danilo ran his 10 kilometer

course

leaving at almost the same time

on the eighth day when danilo came over

the top of a hill

a small car with a flat tire was

blocking the road its trunk was open

the young driver pretended to be

surprised at the sight of the thin

runner

the man used danilo’s keys to open the

door to his house

he collected all the computer disks

he went through the files on the desk

but couldn’t find what he was looking

for

five minutes after the door opened a

silent signal was sent and a phone call

was made

it informed the person on the other end

that the house had been entered by a

stranger

the directions in the guard’s file were

clear

do not call the police

call a number in rio

and ask for eva miranda

ava put the phone down

the message meant that danilo was

missing

she told herself to relax

she’d need to be calm to do what she had

to do

she took a file from a locked drawer and

read the sheet of instructions again

danilo’s instructions were general

the details were left to her

she divided the money

she’d made the list of imaginary

companies in which the money was hidden

danilo had never seen her list

as a lawyer she worked with

international businessmen

and understood foreign money and banking

she knew how to move money around the

world

and danilo had taught her more

at the moment the money was in two

places

a bank in panama

and one in bermuda

because european banks were closed now

she’d keep the money in the caribbean

for a few hours

she faxed instructions to move it out of

panama and bermuda and into banks on

grand cayman and in the bahamas

as time passed and there was no phone

call from danilo

she became more concerned

he wouldn’t disappear without telling

her first

but if they’d found him

they wouldn’t wait long before they

tried to make him talk

that was what he feared the most

that was why she had to run

she went to a pay phone in the entrance

of her office building and called the

office of the fbi in biloxi mississippi

asking for agent joshua cutter

when he came to the phone she asked

are you in charge of the patrick lanigan

investigation

she knew he was

there was a pause

then he said

yes

who is this

i’m calling from brazil she said

chapter two

paraguay

danilo was lying on a board with holes

in it

ropes through the holes and around his

ankles knees waist chest and wrists held

him tightly against it

a brazilian doctor stepped into the room

and pushed a needle into his arm

the drug ran into danilo’s body

guy entered the room alone

hello patrick he said

danilo knew that his quiet life on rua

tiredentes was finished

he wasn’t danilo silva now

he was patrick

again for four years he’d wondered how

he’d feel if they caught him

now he knew

he was extremely frightened

can you hear me patrick guy asked

we know who you are

you’re patrick lanigan from biloxi

mississippi

you’re a lawyer

you have a wife and a daughter age six

you’ve been missing now for over four

years

that’s me

tell me patrick

did you watch your own funeral

yes

i watched it

where did you hide after your funeral

here and there

where’s the money patrick

guy asked with a smile

what money

the money you took with you

oh

that money

patrick said

then he lost consciousness

more men entered the room

they cut his clothes off and shaved

several parts of his body

then they taped small metal plates to

the shaved skin

wires connected to the metal

went across his body to a box in guy’s

hand

patrick told himself that they weren’t

going to kill him

he’d imagined this situation a thousand

times and prayed it would never happen

but he’d always known it would

he always knew they were out there

searching for him

he closed his eyes tried to breathe

regularly and struggled to control his

thoughts

i don’t know where the money is

i don’t know where the money is

he repeated silently

until today he’d called eva every day

between four

guy held the box close to patrick’s face

see this

he said when i push this lever

electricity will pass through the wires

to the metal plates on your skin

now where’s the money

i don’t know

i swear

guy pushed the lever and electricity

shot through patrick’s body burning his

skin

he closed his eyes and mouth tightly

making an effort not to scream

but he stopped trying after a second

and screamed loudly

tell me where the money is

and you’ll leave this room alive

we’ll take you back to pontapura

we won’t tell the fbi

guy paused

if however you refuse to tell me where

the money is

then you’ll never leave this room alive

do you understand patrick

yes

i swear i don’t know

if i knew i’d tell you

guy pushed the lever down

i don’t know

patrick screamed in pain i swear i don’t

know

guy waited a few seconds for patrick to

recover

then he asked calmly

where’s the money

i don’t know

patrick’s screams filled the house

they left him alone for a few minutes to

suffer and think about what would happen

next

his skin was red from the heat and

electricity

blood ran from under the tape on his

chest where the metal was burning into

his flesh

the ropes around his wrists and ankles

had rubbed away his skin

then guy returned alone

and sat on a chair next to patrick

where were you during the funeral he

asked

patrick relaxed a little

finally there was a question that wasn’t

about money

maybe if he cooperated

they wouldn’t torture him again

i was hiding in biloxi he said

of course

and you watched your own funeral

yes

i was in a tree

where did you go after the funeral

guy asked

to mobile alabama

you changed your appearance

yes

i

guy shouted and the other americans

rushed in

the brazilian doctor pushed another

needle roughly into patrick’s arm and

left

the tape recorder was turned on

guy stood

ready to move the lever if patrick

didn’t talk

the money arrived by wire to your law

firm’s bank account in nassau

on march 26 1992

45 days after your death

you were there patrick

pretending to be someone else

we have photos taken by the bank’s

hidden camera

a short time after the money arrived it

was gone

sent by wire to a bank in malta

you stole it patrick

now

where is it

tell me

and you’ll live

patrick looked at guy

then at the lever

and closed his eyes tightly

i swear i don’t know what you’re talking

about he said

patrick

patrick

guy pushed the lever down

patrick’s scream was so loud and

terrible that osmar and the brazilians

in the yard stopped their conversation

a hundred meters away a brazilian

guarding the house offered a prayer

the apartment in kuritiba was near the

airport

ava told the taxi driver to wait while

she went inside

she knew exactly what to do

she went to the locked file cabinet

opened the three drawers

took out the financial records and put

them in a suitcase to take with her

danilo couldn’t know where his papers

were

then she quickly left and was driven to

a small hotel downtown

in her room she unpacked her small fax

machine

and connected it to the phone line

the asian and zurich banks were open now

soon the bed was covered with sheets of

instructions to move the money

she was tired

but she couldn’t sleep

danilo had said they’d come looking for

her

she couldn’t go home

her thoughts weren’t on money

but on him

was he alive

if so how much was he suffering

how much had he told them

she wiped her eyes and began to arrange

the papers

chapter 3

return to north america

mrs stefano was going crazy

several neighbors had called about the

fbi agents parked in front of their

house

she didn’t care what her husband did at

the office

she did however care a lot about what

the neighbors might think

she went to bed at midnight

at 3 a.m the doorbell rang

and jack who had fallen asleep on the

sofa answered it

four agents were there

and he quickly recognized hamilton james

assistant director of the fbi

the men went to stefano’s living room

and sat down

jane

said we’re working on the lanigan case

we’ve been informed that your people

have him

is this true

no

stefano remained calm

i’m prepared to arrest you

what for

stefano asked

hiding a person wanted by the government

lack of cooperation with the

government’s investigation

we’ll include

anything we need to

i just want to put you in jail

then we’ll arrest the rest of your firm

and your clients

we’ll take care of the indictments later

depending on whether or not we get

lanigan

do you understand

yes i think so

where’s lanigan

james asked

i want him

now

stefano thought for a moment

in these circumstances cooperation

sounded like a good idea

if patrick was given a choice of life in

prison

he might make the money appear

all right

give me 24 hours and i’ll give you

lanigan

and you stop threatening to arrest me

agreed

i need to know where to pick him up

send a plane to asuncion paraguay

he’d better be okay

if he has any marks on his body you’ll

be responsible

james and his agents left

stefano called guy

is he talking

what do you know he asked

a little

the money still exists he doesn’t know

where it is

it’s controlled by a woman in rio

chapter 4

biloxi

since patrick’s disappearance the

remaining four partners in his law firm

had had problems

they drank too much alcohol and argued a

lot

they’d buried patrick on february 11

1992

but six weeks later he somehow stole

their money

money they’d already spent on new homes

big boats and vacation houses in the

caribbean

now they were desperate to get their

money back

bogan and vetrano were at their desks

when agent cutter entered their office

we have patrick he said

the two partners were shocked

how’d you find him are you sure it’s him

vetrano asked

we’re sure

we didn’t find him he was given to us

do you know a man named jack stefano

they both whispered

yes

do you work with him

they both shook their heads

you’re lucky

stefano’s man found patrick tortured him

almost killed him

and then gave him to us

what about the money bogan asked

we don’t know anything about it

we’ll watch stefano

maybe he’ll lead us to the money

the toronto and bogan stared at the

table

thinking

patrick had stolen 90 million dollars

too much money for one person to spend

there must be millions left

the money will be easy to find

vetrano said

somebody was buried in patrick’s grave

patrick killed him it’s clearly a death

penalty case in mississippi

patrick will talk to avoid the death

penalty

cutter looked at his watch

i have to go he said

i have to give trudy the good news

when patrick was killed in a car crash

with no witnesses

his wife trudy received 2.5 million

dollars from his life insurance

she immediately bought an expensive

house

and an expensive car

she was excited about her good fortune

lance trudy’s boyfriend

opened the door when cutter knocked

agent cutter fbi i’ve come to see trudy

she’s in there

lance said point

before the press conference qatar and

morris mast the u.s attorney for the

district

met with raymond sweeney the local

sheriff

and t.l parish the local district

attorney

to decide what to do about patrick

we have two big mysteries

two questions that must be answered

parish said

the big one is

money where is it

what did he do with it

can we recover it and give it to its

owners

the second mystery is who’s buried in

patrick’s grave

only patrick can tell us that

and he won’t unless he’s forced to

he must be scared morris

parchman’s a frightening place

patrick won’t want to go to parchman

everyone in the room knew about the

horrors of the local prison

patrick would realize that if he talked

he might be sent to a government prison

instead

one that wasn’t so terrible

parish and mast made a plan to work

together

the fbi would continue its search for

the money

the locals would concentrate on the

murder

mast and parish went together to the

press conference

mast spoke first

we are pleased to announce the capture

of mr patrick s lanigan formerly of

biloxi

he’s alive and well

and we have him in a hospital

he paused

and then told them the details of

patrick’s capture

he didn’t mention that the fbi wasn’t

responsible for finding patrick

parish promised a quick indictment for

murder

patrick’s story was the big news that

day

lanigan back from the dead the

newspapers reported on the front page

there were stories about patrick’s

capture and trudy’s request for a

divorce

the law firm partners were suing patrick

for the return of their 30 million

dollars

northern case insurance was suing trudy

for the return of their money

benny arithia was suing patrick for the

return of his 60 million dollars

and monarch sierra insurance wanted to

recover the 4 million dollars they paid

the law firm when patrick stole their

money

the story was also on all the tv

stations

cnn chapter five

the base hospital

patrick walked down the hospital hall

with the help of luis his nurse

his skin was burned in four places and

his whole body ached

he stopped and looked out a window

yes

he’d admitted that the money still

existed

with electricity running through his

body

he’d told them what happened to the

money after he stole it

he couldn’t remember the last part of

his torture

he’d been near death

he’d called her name

but was it to himself

or aloud

where was she now

when they returned to his room

luis closed the door and curtains and

took out a camera

luis had agreed to take the photos

when patrick offered him five hundred

dollars

start there

patrick told him pointing to the bottom

of the bed

get the whole body

including the face

luis did as he was told and worked

quickly

when he finished he took the film to a

photoshop

sandy mcdermott had read reports about

the discovery of his law school friend

with great interest

he was busy in his new orleans office

when his secretary announced that a

woman from brazil was waiting to see him

my name’s leah

she said quietly

patrick sent me

sandy noticed that she didn’t smile and

her eyes were tired

have you spoken to him since

no

not since he was taken

i want to hire you to be patrick’s

lawyer

i’m

available sandy had a lot of questions

but he knew he couldn’t ask them now

you might be threatened by some very

nasty people she told him

who

the people chasing patrick

i think they’ve caught him he said

yes

but they don’t have the money

i understand

he said

so the money hadn’t been spent

that wasn’t surprising

but how much was left

where is the money he asked

you can’t ask that question she said

what do you want me to do for him

on the plane sandy and leah didn’t talk

much

just before landing in miami she said

i won’t see you again for a few days

i have to keep moving

patrick will give you instructions

and he and i will communicate through

you

be careful

when people learn that you’re his lawyer

you’ll attract the attention of the

people who are looking for me

who are they he asked

patrick will tell you

you have the money don’t you

i can’t answer that question

when they landed she shook his hand and

said

tell patrick i’m fine

then she disappeared into the crowd

when he landed in san juan

sandy went to the navy base to visit

patrick

the two old friends hadn’t seen each

other for six years

patrick sat in his bed in the dark room

he kept a sheet over his body

sandy studied his face

it was thin

and the chin and nose were different

he looked like someone else

but his eyes and voice were the same

thanks for coming patrick said

sure

sandy

replied she said to tell you she’s fine

he added

patrick closed his eyes and said a

prayer of thanks

then he was silent

sandy sat and waited for his friend

he was alive

and right now nothing else mattered

after a time sandy wanted to talk

a lot of people are waiting for you back

in biloxi he said

trudy filed for divorce two days ago

the grand jury has indicted you for

capital murder

i know

said patrick

cnn has kept me informed

sandy paused and then asked

when do you want to talk

patrick rolled to his side and looked at

the wall

they tortured me sandy he said quietly

they taped wires to my body and gave me

electric shocks until i talked

here

look

he lifted his left arm so sandy could

inspect the burn marks

they kept asking about the money

i’m afraid i told them about the girls

andy

the lawyer

leah

yes

i’m almost certain i told him about leah

at six o’clock the next morning

patrick’s doctor entered his room

he checked his wounds and said

you’re ready to go

they have good doctors waiting for you

where you’re going

then he left

30 minutes later

agent brent myers from the biloxi office

walked in

good morning patrick i just talked to

your doctor you’re going home tomorrow

and i’ve got orders to take you back

we’ll leave in the morning on a special

air force plane to biloxi

see you early in the morning

myers left

next luis arrived with coffee and fruit

he put a package under patrick’s sheet

and asked if he needed anything else

no

patrick said

thanking him softly

an hour later sandy arrived

i want you to go home immediately

patrick said

and take this with you

he handed sandy the package

sandy sat down

opened it and looked through the photos

who did this to you he asked

whose prisoner am i

the fbi’s

so

i think the fbi did it to me

my own government found me caught me

tortured me and is now taking me back

look at what they’ve done to me

you should sue them for this

sandy said

for millions and quickly

here’s the plan

i’m leaving for biloxi in the morning

we should file our lawsuit late this

afternoon so it’ll be in the paper

tomorrow

tell the press

i’ve marked two photos

give them to the reporters for the coast

paper

the one that’s read by the people who

will be on my jury

people will feel sorry for me

an american citizen tortured by the fbi

sandy studied patrick’s face

it wasn’t really the fbi was it he asked

no

patrick said it wasn’t

i was delivered to the fbi by some

people whose names i don’t know

they’d been chasing me for a long time

and they’re still waiting out there

somewhere

does the fbi know about them

yes

patrick said

he paused

be careful

i’ve hidden a lot of money sandy

there are people who’ll do anything to

find it

how much of the money is chapter six

return to biloxi

newspaper tv and radio reporters waited

in the courthouse

while sandy filed the lawsuit

they listened carefully as he calmly

informed them that his client was suing

the fbi for physical damage and torture

sandy answered questions and then

reached into his case and removed two

large color photos

this is what they did to patrick he said

the cameras moved closer

this is your government

fbi agents at work ladies and gentlemen

torturing an american citizen

everyone was shocked

almost half of the six o’clock news was

about sandy and the photos

the other half was about patrick’s

return the next day

cnn played the story hourly

hamilton james was at his club when he

saw the news

he wasn’t happy

the fbi sued by patrick lanigan

he excused himself and went to his

office

he made a phone call

and two agents went immediately to jack

stefano’s front door

stefano had watched the reports and

wasn’t surprised to see the fbi

he thought it was funny that the fbi was

being blamed for his men’s work

he also thought it was a good idea of

patrick’s

good evening he said politely

fbi the first man said mr james would

like to see you

why

we don’t know the second man said he

told us to find you and take you to his

office can you come with us

stefano was angry but he reminded

himself that there were already criminal

charges against him because of the

lanigan case

a little more cooperation might help

give me five minutes he said

when stefano entered his office james

dropped the thick report he was looking

at it was almost midnight

what did you do to that boy down there

i don’t know

i guess the brazilian boys got a little

rough

he’ll live

this is serious business okay jack

these allegations are terrible

right now the whole country is looking

at those pictures and wondering why we

tortured an american citizen

who did it

the doctor gave patrick pills to make

him comfortable for the flight

and a file with his medical records

patrick thanked him

he shook hands with luis and said

goodbye

agent meyers was waiting outside the

door with four navy policemen

if you behave i won’t put chains on you

now he said

when we land though i have no choice

thanks patrick said

his legs ached and his knees were weak

but he held his head high and his back

straight as he walked down the hall and

out to the waiting van

as the van drove slowly across the base

patrick thought about his life in

pontapura

his home now

he wondered what jail they’d put him in

in biloxi

then he had an idea

he opened the file and quickly read the

doctor’s notes

patient should remain hospitalized for

at least another week the doctor had

written

this would keep him out of jail

he had to tell sandy to arrange a

comfortable private room for him

i need to make a phone call he said

when the van stopped he and myers went

to a small office and faxed the doctor’s

instructions to sandy

then they climbed the steps into the air

force plane

the plane landed at kiesler air force

base outside biloxi

patrick was surprised there wasn’t a

crowd waiting for him

he wanted the press to see him with

chains on his legs and wrists

but they’d been forbidden to come near

the plane

only agent cutter sheriff sweeney two

air force officers

and sandy were there

hello patrick welcome home

the sheriff said

hello raymond

patrick answered with a smile

they knew each other well

cutters started to introduce himself

but as soon as patrick heard fbi he

turned to sandy

they all got into the waiting van

patrick was glad the chase was over

lots of problems were ahead

but for now he could ignore what was

behind him

patrick had never been able to

completely relax and enjoy his new life

not even the money could calm his fears

he’d always known that this day would

come

he’d stolen too much money

he looked out the window as he wrote

along

cd2

chapter 7

patrick’s first appearance

cutter and ted grimshaw chief

investigator for the district carefully

examined the evidence from patrick’s

death

there wasn’t much

no one suspected murder when patrick

died

so there was no effort to gather

physical clues

there were ten large color photos of the

burned out chevy blazer

after the car burned there was very

little left of the body in it

and that was buried

so now they had no idea who died in the

crash

patrick had spent that weekend in an old

cabin near the edge of the forest

outside biloxi

sunday night february 9 1992

he called to tell his wife he was

leaving the cabin

he stopped at verhall’s country store

and bought 50 liters of gasoline

an hour later patrick’s chevy blazer was

found burning at the bottom of a steep

hill 12 kilometers down the road

the fire was so hot that they couldn’t

rescue the driver

they read the license plate

and at 3 30 am

trudy received the call that made her a

widow

the next day they discovered a shoe near

the blazer

when they showed it to trudy

she recognized it as patrick’s and cried

his funeral was the following day

dr hayani was happy to sit and chat with

patrick

he enjoyed being close to this patient

who was in all the news reports

he encouraged patrick to talk about his

experience

the torture was something i could never

accurately describe

patrick said after an hour

sleep is impossible

i hear voices then i smell my flesh

burning

and then i wake up

and it’s not getting any better

they’re still out there

still after me

i can’t sleep

i don’t want to sleep

i’ll get tortured again

he paused

doc

i need to stay here as long as i can

they’ll want to put me in jail

in a cell with other criminals

i can’t live like that

but why do they want to move you

it’s pressure doc

they have to slowly increase for the

third day

patrick didn’t wash his hair or shave

the world was waiting to see him today

he wore the same clothes he’d worn every

day

he didn’t wear socks

he wanted people to see the rope marks

just above his ankles

sandy arrived at 10 and gave patrick a

pair of dark glasses he’d requested

patrick sat on the edge of his bed and

tried to breathe slowly

i never thought this day would come

never

he said

i’ll do all the talking sandy said

just try and relax

sheriff sweeney knocked and entered with

his assistance

patrick put on the dark glasses and was

led out of the building to a waiting car

sandy stayed on his left

gently holding him by the elbow

patrick looked out the window as they

drove through biloxi

and noticed the changes since he’d left

he started to relax

then they turned onto main street

and he was anxious again

in the middle of the old shops and

stores was the large white building

where he’d been a partner in bougain

rapley vetrano haverack and lanigan

attorneys

the car stopped in front of the

courthouse where a crowd of reporters

photographers and cameramen was waiting

patrick lowered his head and tried to

hide among the sheriff’s assistants

they walked him quickly into the

courthouse as the press called out

questions

patrick what’s it like to be home

where’s the money

who burned in the car

sandy and sheriff sweeney stayed with

patrick in the jury room

are you okay patrick sweeney asked

yes

sure raymond thanks

he sounded scared and his hands and

knees shook

there was a knock on the door and a

pretty girl entered and said

welcome back patrick

judge husky would like to meet with you

you’ll be here in a few minutes

she and sweeney left and closed the door

finally patrick was alone with his

lawyer

a couple of things

first

leah will contact you soon

i’ve written her a long letter and i’d

like you to give it to her

okay

second

there’s a small machine for finding bug

crowded court rooms were not uncommon

for trials

but no one could remember such a crowded

room for a simple first appearance

the press had taken the best seats

many lawyers were there just to see

patrick

the papers had been full of stories

about him for four days

the torture story had increased their

curiosity

charles bogan and doug vetrano sat

together

they’d wanted to sit in the front row to

make eye contact with patrick and

threaten him quietly

but they were in the fifth

a few other lawyers had come to give

patrick their support

escape

was a common dream of many small town

lawyers

at least patrick had had the courage to

chase the dream

other people were present who’d hardly

known patrick

but now suddenly claimed to have been

his friends

the door opened and sheriff sweeney

entered holding patrick by the elbow

sandy followed

patrick walked slowly head down across

the room to the defendant’s table

he sat down

his shoulders low

chin down

sandy put his arm on his shoulder

the door opened again and t.l parrish

the district attorney entered alone

he walked to his table next to patrick’s

and sat beside sheriff sweeney

behind him were agents joshua cutter

brent myers and two others

judge husky entered and sat down

state against patrick s lanigan would

the defendant please rise

patrick slowly stood

mr lanigan i’m holding a copy of an

indictment against you by the grand jury

it states that you murdered a human

being named unknown

have you read this indictment and

discussed it with your attorney

yes sir patrick announced

what is your plea

not guilty

your plea of not guilty is accepted you

may sit down

he paused

any questions from the attorneys

the lawyers said nothing

parish stood and said your honor

we would like to put the accused in jail

as soon as possible

as you know he’s at the base hospital

now

i just talked to his

sandy’s secretary was cutting out his

photo and the story of yesterday’s court

appearance from the new orleans paper

when the phone call came

she found him immediately

it was lea pirege

she said hello and asked if he’d had his

office checked for bugs

sandy said yes

she was in a hotel room a few blocks

away

and suggested that they meet there

sandy was excited to hear her voice

and would do whatever she wanted

leah greeted him with a smile and poured

coffee for both of them

how is he she asked

he’s getting better the doctor says

he’ll be fine

how bad was it she asked quietly

pretty bad

he reached into his case removed a file

and handed it to her

she looked at the photos and cried

poor patrick

she said to herself

poor baby

i’m sorry sandy said

here’s a letter from patrick

she finished crying and poured more

coffee

are any of the injuries permanent

she asked

the doctor thinks they’ll get better

with time

mentally how is he

he’s okay

he doesn’t sleep much and has bad dreams

but he’s getting better

i guess he’s lucky to be alive

he always said they wouldn’t kill him

she paused and changed the subject

let’s talk about his divorce

she stood walked to a drawer removed a

thick file and placed it in front of

sandy

did you see trudy on tv

she asked

yes

patrick hates her

she’s a bad person

and she was unfaithful to him the whole

time they were married

it’s all in this file

the last year they were together

patrick hired an investigator to watch

her

there are photographs of her lover lance

maxa

coming and going from patrick’s house

when he was away

there are also pictures of lance and

trudy sitting by patrick’s pool

without clothes

sandy took the file and looked through

it until he found the photographs

he smiled

this will help

patrick wants the divorce you understand

he won’t fight it

chapter 8

stefano’s story

stefano’s lawyer advised him to accept

the fbi’s arrangement

the criminal charges against him would

be dropped

and there would be no charges against

his clients

he would tell the fbi everything he knew

about the search for and capture of

patrick lanigan

stefano had easily persuaded benny

arithia

that the fbi was going to arrest him

soon

it was more difficult to persuade paul

adderson at monarch sierra insurance

and frank jill at northern case

insurance

james sent agents to both offices to ask

questions about the search for and

capture of patrick lanigan

both called stefano by noon

and told him to fully cooperate with the

fbi

for four years stefano had worked with

these men

he’d earned almost a million dollars

he’d spent another 2.5 million of his

clients money

and he could claim success

they’d found lanigan

they hadn’t found the 90 million

but it hadn’t been spent

there was a chance of recovering it

benny arithia came to see stefano in his

office

he’d listened to the torture tape three

times

he was certain patrick had told what he

knew

and it wasn’t enough

patrick knew he’d someday be caught

that’s why he’d placed the money with

the girl who hid it from everyone

including patrick

it was a great plan

how much will it take to find her he

asked stefano

i’d guess a hundred thousand with no

guarantees

we have no idea where she is

but we know where she’s from

and we know she’ll probably go to biloxi

will the fbi know we’re still looking

no

and if you find her

we’ll make her talk

stefano said

and they smiled

stefano honestly planned to tell most of

what he knew

he knew little

just the name of the brazilian lawyer

who had the money

now she disappeared

and he doubted the fbi would follow her

the money didn’t belong to them

and he wanted the fbi out of his life

mrs stefano was extremely anxious

stefano sat at a table in the fbi office

his lawyer beside him

what does your company do

asked underhill

lots of things stefano said

watch people get information find

missing persons

were you hired to find patrick lanigan

yes on march 28 1992

who hired you

benny arithia the man whose money was

stolen

what did you do after you were hired

i immediately flew to nassau in the

bahamas to meet with the manager of the

bank where the theft took place

why did arathia have an account outside

the u.s

it was 90 million dollars nobody wanted

the money to appear in a bank in biloxi

where did it come from

here in washington

the wire began at 9 30 on the morning of

march 26 1992

at 15 minutes after 10 it reached the

united bank where it sat for nine

minutes before it was wired to a bank in

malta

from there it was wired to panama

how did the money get wired out of the

bank

someone mr lanigan we think prepared

false wiring instructions from my

client’s lawyers his old firm

and re-rooted the money

on the morning the money was wired he

presented himself as doug vetrano one of

his partners

he had a perfect passport and driver’s

license and he knew all about the money

which was being wired from washington

he had a paper from the office giving

him permission to accept the money for

the firm

and then wire it to the bank in malta

the other partners of course thought he

was dead

they had no reason to suspect anyone was

after the money

the settlement which produced the 90

million was extremely secret and only a

few people knew exactly when or where

the money was wired

so you went to biloxi to look for clues

and you found that the law offices were

bugged

we did

we had two jobs

first to find mr lanigan and the money

and second to find out how he’d stolen

it

there were 22 bugs in the offices

in every phone in every office under

every desk

did you find out where the signals went

he asked

no

but i think he rented a boat he needed a

place to hide and listen to the

conversations

a boat is simple and safe benny arethea

had moved to the coast in 1985

as an officer of platte and rockland

a big defense contractor with a history

of over billing and false claims

one of their small divisions had

received a 990 million dollar navy

contract

and benny was responsible for it

he hated contracting with the government

and he hated living in biloxi

in 1988

he asked for a different job

and was denied

he studied the false claims act

this encouraged people to report over

billing in government contracts

then he went to charles bogan for help

filing a claim with the government

the lawsuit was filed in september of

1990

with the allegation that 600 million

dollars had been overbilled

if benny could prove this he’d receive

15 percent of that amount

and one third of that would go to the

law firm

bogan gave information to the press

and the company lost business

after a year

platt and rockland agreed to repay the

600 million dollars

benny got ready to receive his fortune

and bogan and the partners got ready to

spend theirs

then patrick disappeared

and so did their money

stefano’s next questioner was warren

when did your group form he asked

after we lost patrick in new york we

waited nothing happened

i’d met with benny arithia and he agreed

to pay a million dollars to finance the

search

then i met with people from monarch

sierra and northern cays

northern case had already paid 2.5

million to the widow

they couldn’t sue to get it back because

there wasn’t strong evidence he was

still alive

they agreed to give us half a million

monarch sierra carried the law firm’s

insurance protecting them from theft by

its employees and partners

they had to pay four million dollars to

the firm

and agreed to pay another million to

finance the surge

how was the money spent

on salaries travel rewards and the

services of my firm

not much is left

tell me about the rewards

we immediately offered a one hundred

thousand dollar reward for any

information about the disappearance of

chapter nine

the divorce

sweeney and grimshaw visited patrick

they photographed him and took his

fingerprints

then the two men joined qatar in his

office

where an fbi fingerprint man was waiting

for them

when pepper’s gun was found in patrick’s

cabin

grimshaw had taken fingerprints from it

the fingerprint man compared those with

patrick’s

several of these are perfect matches he

said

the gun was covered with lanigan’s

prince

certainly good news they thought

patrick demanded a different room for

all future meetings with his attorney

and dr hayani quickly made the necessary

arrangements

patrick also requested a wheelchair

a nurse pushed him to the room where

sandy was waiting

did you get the machine for finding bugs

patrick asked

it’ll be here in a few days

you should relax a little

you’ve lived in fear always looking over

your shoulder

but those days are over

they caught you

relax they’re still out there

they have me but not the money

and the money’s much more important

they won’t rest until they have it

the people who lost their money have

spent a fortune trying to find it

how do you know

who are they

there was a long pause

sit down patrick said

sandy removed the thick file leah had

given him four hours earlier

and patrick recognized it immediately

when did you see her he asked anxiously

this morning

she’s fine sends her love and says

nobody’s following her yet

she asked me to deliver this

patrick opened the envelope pulled out a

three-page letter and read it

sandy looked through the file and took

out pictures of trudy and lance

when patrick finished reading he said

i have another letter for her

then he saw the photos on the table

good work isn’t it

it’s amazing i’ve never seen so much

proof in a divorce case

well

i learned about lance after we’d been

married almost two years

trudy was going to have a baby so i said

nothing

but a year later i started gathering

evidence

i wasn’t sure when i’d need it but i

knew the marriage was over

i left town every chance i could

sandy left and riddleton went to see

trudy and lance

he told them patrick knew she’d had a

lover

trudy acted shocked

do you deny it

riddleton asked

absolutely she said

of course

added lance the man’s lying

patrick hired investigators riddleton

told them

handing them one of the reports

trudy and lance looked at each other

they’d been caught

but they weren’t ashamed

can these investigators talk in court

lance asked

we’re not going to court riddleton said

why not trudy asked

because of these

riddleton put the photos in front of

them

they were shocked

trudy started to cry

he’s not getting my daughter

she said

relax riddleton said he doesn’t want the

kid he’s not the father

they both thought about that well

riddleton got out a report

he had a dna test done

he looked at lance and added

congratulations

trudy was angry

so what do we do

it’s simple

you give up your right to his money and

property and he gives you the divorce

and the kid

but i’m going to lose everything she

said

look what he’s done to me

i got two and a half million when he

died and now the insurance company wants

to take it all back

can i sue him for mental cruelty

no

look it’s very simple

you get the divorce and the kid and

patrick keeps whatever money is out

there

and everything is private

if you don’t agree

he’ll give the reports and photos to the

press

where do i sign

she asked

it was past time to leave for the day

but dr hayani stopped to see his famous

patient

welcome to my office patrick said

he was sitting at a small table which

was now his desk

a pile of legal papers was in one corner

nice hyanni said

how are you doing

i’m fine he answered as he always did

patrick sat on the edge of his bed and

looked at his doctor

can i tell you something

he asked sincerely

certainly

chapter 10

patrick’s story

as judge carl husky drove to the

hospital the next afternoon

he thought about how patrick had changed

physically in the months before his

disappearance

he’d gained weight steadily

a month before he disappeared he told

carl that he weighed 150 kilos

he grew a beard and let his hair grow

long

he didn’t look like the patrick they

found in brazil

although others had forgotten about

patrick a few months after his

disappearance

carl had thought about his friend every

day

it was hard to believe he was really

back

when he entered the dark room patrick

was sitting in bed with his shirt off

thanks for coming he said

nasty burns carl said as patrick put his

shirt on

it was ugly patrick said

doc says they’re getting better

but i need to stay here

i have no problem with that

and i’m the one who decides where you

stay

patrick seemed to relax a bit

thanks carl

you know i can’t live in the jail

and i’ll kill myself before i go to

parchment

i don’t blame you

let’s talk about something pleasant

you said you can’t keep this case

when will you give it to someone else

who

soon

probably trussell

carl stared at patrick who was unable to

keep eye contact

this wasn’t the same patrick he’d known

before

he decided to ask patrick about his

experiences

where’d you get that chin and nose

bought them in real

do you like them

they’re handsome

i hear their beautiful beaches in brazil

yes

there was a long silence

carl realized that patrick was in no

hurry to talk

but he couldn’t sit silently in the dark

room much longer

look patrick i’m not here as your judge

i’m not your lawyer

i’m your friend

you can talk to me

i guess it sounds romantic doesn’t it

disappearing and becoming somebody new

all your problems are left behind

you dream about that don’t you carl

i guess everybody does it sometimes

how long did you plan it

a long time

i seriously doubted that the baby was

mine

carl they walked down the hall and sat

looking out a window

it was a sunday

february the 9th

patrick began

i found the place for the accident the

day before

at about 10 o’clock that night i left

the cabin

i stopped at verhall’s country store and

bought some gas

three kilometers down the road i turned

onto a dirt road and stopped

i put on some protective clothes and

drove back to the highway

at the top of a steep hill

i drove off the side of the road

i was scared when the car went into the

air

it crashed and rolled onto its side

my shoulder hurt but i was able to climb

out

i took off the protective clothes and

threw them into the blazer

earlier that day i’d hidden four cans of

gasoline

i put three cans inside the car

and poured the gasoline from the fourth

can around the inside and outside of the

car

then i stepped back lit a cigarette and

threw it into the car

it exploded like a bomb

he took a drink of soda

i ran to find the old motorcycle i’d

hidden pushed it up the hill and rode

away

soon i was back at my cabin

i was scared

but i knew i was running to freedom and

a new life

patrick was dead

it was exciting

what about the guy burning in the car

patrick

carl almost asked

instead he said

weren’t you afraid pepper would see you

patrick studied his feet for a few

seconds and then said

pepper was gone

carl ordered a pizza

after they ate he said

you were at the cabin

yes

it was around 11 30.

i covered the windows so no one would

see the lights

then i cut my hair and colored it dark

brown and i shaved my beard

i felt like a different person

i cleaned the cabin really well and left

at 1am

did you have any concern for trudy

no

i knew she’d handled the shock well and

that she’d be a good widow for about a

month

then she’d get the life insurance money

pepper’s gun tent and sleeping bag were

found under one of the beds

how’d they get there

patrick looked at the wall

i don’t know

where’d you go

carl asked

the judge enjoyed the evening so much

that he called patrick the next day to

see if they could do it again

patrick was anxious for company

when he arrived carl sat next to

patrick’s bed and they ate the pizza

he’d brought

why are you retiring patrick asked

how did you know i’m retiring

i haven’t told many people and you were

in brazil

i had a spy carl

someone here

of course not

i couldn’t risk contacting anyone here

i had an attorney friend there

a woman

now i understand

she’s the one who has the money

patrick smiled and laughed

what do you want to know about the money

carl

everything

where is it how much is left

can’t tell you where it is

there’s more money now than i took

how’d you do it

patrick walked across the room and

stretched

then he sat down on the edge of the bed

i got lucky

he whispered

i was leaving carl

with or without the money

i knew the money was coming to the firm

and i had a plan to get it

but if it didn’t work i was still

leaving

we got as far as your funeral last night

right

i stayed at orange beach a couple of

days listening to portuguese language

tapes

i also listened to conversations i’d

recorded around the office

and i organized documents about arithea

i learned how to sail

and then hid in the sailboat and watched

biloxi from there

why did you want to do that

i had the office bugged

i could listen to their conversations on

the boat

and i recorded all of them

do you have these tapes

of course

there were hundreds of them

at night i listened to them and

organized the important parts

i knew everything that was said in that

office

i knew where the money was going and

when it would get there

so how’d you steal it

i flew to miami

then i used a false passport saying i

was doug vetrano

flew to nassau

and went to the bank that the money was

being wired to

i was sitting in the manager’s office

drinking coffee when the wire came in

i immediately had the money wired out to

a bank in malta with instructions to

wire it on to panama

when i left the bank chapter 11

leah’s story

paulo miranda’s last phone call from his

daughter had been two days earlier

she was in a hotel in new orleans

she was scared though trying desperately

not to show it

he was angry that she wouldn’t give more

details

and he was worried about her and he was

tired of the men who were following him

everywhere he went

after finishing his work he walked to

his car in the parking lot

he was thinking his eyes down

a small red van was parked next to his

car

as he approached the driver got out and

opened the back door

but paulo didn’t notice

osmar stopped paulo and roughly pushed

him into the van the door closed a gun

was pointed between his eyes and a voice

told him to be silent

the van raced away

an hour and a half later it stopped

behind a farmhouse and paolo was led

inside

he wouldn’t be harmed he was told unless

he tried to escape

a phone call to the police informed them

of the kidnapping

calls were made to paulo’s son in rio to

the manager of ava’s apartment and to

one of her friends

the message was the same

paulo miranda had been kidnapped

and the police were investigating

eva was staying in new york moving

frequently

she called her father and there was no

answer

then she called her brother and learned

about the kidnapping

he was going crazy

no there hadn’t been a request for money

against patrick’s specific instructions

she called him speaking in

portuguese

patrick it’s leah

she said

trying to show no emotion

what’s wrong he asked in portuguese

he wasn’t pleased to hear her voice

it’s my father

she said

and told him the story of paulo’s

disappearance

i have to go home

no leah he said calmly it’s a trap

they’re not asking for money they want

you

she played with her hair and watched the

people rushing by

so what do i do

go to new orleans call sandy when you

get there

while she waited at the airport she

thought about her father and the

terrible things they could be doing to

him

they were hurting him because of her

and there was nothing she could do

patrick called sandy

when dr hayani looked into patrick’s

room in the morning patrick was sitting

in a chair by the window looking at the

closed curtains

patrick

are you okay

he asked

after a minute patrick answered i’m fine

doc

but i didn’t sleep at all

you’re safe now patrick

the sun’s up

when he left patrick got up and walked

to the door

did you sleep well

the guard at the door asked as he did

every morning

i slept safe eddie thanks

patrick said

as he did every morning

he returned to his room and did some

exercises

the routine was the same every day he

wanted to be danilo again with his quiet

life in his small house

he wanted to walk along the streets of

pontapura and run in the country

he missed brazil

and he missed eva

her soft touch her beautiful smile

he couldn’t live without her

he’d escaped before

why couldn’t he escape again

he’d have a perfect life with ava

he’d put her in danger

and now he must protect her

could he do it again

or had his luck ended

sandy met cutter at 8 am

do you remember that phone call you

received 13 days ago

sandy asked

the lady from brazil

cutter said he did and sandy continued

i’ve met with her a few times

she’s a lawyer for patrick

he quickly explained most of what he

knew about leah

though he never mentioned her name then

he asked about the stefano investigation

cutter became cautious

how do you know about that

the lady from brazil knows all about

stefano remember she gave you his name

he’s still trying to get my clan and i’d

like to stop him

and how do you know this

because his men in brazil have kidnapped

the woman’s father

gutter’s mouth opened and he looked at

the ceiling

then it made sense

does she know where the money is

that’s a possibility

the kidnapping is an effort to make her

go back to brazil

then they’ll capture her and treat her

like the treated patrick

it’s all about money

there’s not much we can do about it

yes there is

put pressure on stefano

tell him

sandy parked in front of the beach house

leah answered the door with a smile

on the table was a box and beside it

were papers neatly arranged

this is the aritheaphile

leah said

patrick prepared it

they sat at a small table in the kitchen

and ate

house patrick she asked

patrick’s okay the burns are getting

better

he ate a bit

i’m sorry i forgot to ask about your

father

i talked to my brother today

and there’s still no word

it’s difficult

i can’t go home and i can’t stay here

i’m very sorry leah

he asked more questions

general questions not about the

kidnapping as he ate

she didn’t touch her food

when he finished they moved to the table

with the box and papers on it

how much do you know about the arithea

matter

she asked

just the information that was in the

paper

these documents and tapes are the

evidence for everything i’m going to

tell you

the arethia claim was false from the

beginning

she spoke slowly

benny arithia made the plan to cheat

both his company and his government

he was helped by some very good lawyers

patrick’s old firm

and a senator

bogan’s cousin in washington

patrick was a new partner then

he wasn’t included in the arathia plan

but he knew something was happening

he found out that the secrecy was

because of arithea

and he was patient

he pretended to notice nothing

but he was gathering evidence

a lot of it’s in his box

explain how the claim was false

arathia ran new coastal shipyards in

pascagoula

it’s a small division of platinum

rockland

i know all that

they have big defense contracts and are

known for cheating the government

that’s right

a new coastal was working on an enormous

building program for the navy

arithia wrote false work records

claiming thousands of hours for work

that was never done

for employees who never existed

he charged unbelievably high prices for

materials

drinking cups for thirty dollars each

for example

he created piles of paperwork

very little with his name on it

he kept good records

cd3

chapter 12

stefano’s story continued

the third day underhill was back

we’ll start where we stopped yesterday

mr stefano your arrival in brazil

right

it’s a big country and has a history of

being a great place to hide

we put together a file on lanigan and

had it translated into portuguese

we had computer artists make pictures of

his appearance

then we hurried to brazil and hired the

best investigators we could find

in april 1994 we found the doctor who’d

changed lanigan’s chin and nose

we knew then that he was in brazil

stefano’s fourth meeting began early

the questioner was a new one oliver

you were talking about the doctor who

changed lanigan’s chin and nose oliver

said continue

stefano got comfortable in his chair

for a long time we didn’t find anything

then late in 94 we were contacted by an

investigation firm in atlanta the pluto

group they said they might have some

information i’d want

they had a mysterious client who claimed

to know something about lanigan

obviously i was interested

the client not surprisingly wanted lots

of money

this was encouraging

if their client expected a big reward

then the client knew that lanigan still

had plenty of money

in july of 95 the pluto group approached

me and said their client could lead us

to a place in brazil where lanigan had

recently lived

we agreed on the sum of fifty thousand

dollars

after the money was wired to a bank in

panama

i was given an address of an apartment

building in the small city of itahi

we showed the manager our pictures of

patrick

he said the man’s name was john horst a

german who’d rented an apartment for two

months

what about the pluto group

we didn’t hear much from them for six

months

then in january of this year they

returned

their client needed money and was ready

to tell us everything

for a few million dollars we could learn

exactly where our man was

but their client wouldn’t talk until the

money was paid

and i wouldn’t pay until their client

talked

event underhill joined oliver after a

coffee break

we’ve seen the photos of the burns mr

stefano

and we the fbi

have been sued for the injuries caused

by your men

now tell us how you did it

i wasn’t there

i knew he’d be given electric shocks

i had no idea it would cause serious

burns

underhill and oliver looked at each

other in disbelief and whispered

they both asked a number of questions

about the capture and questioning

finally

they asked the most important question

during the questioning of mr lanigan

what did you learn about the money

not much

he told us where the money had been

but it had been moved

the man who did the questioning believes

that mr lanigan didn’t know where the

money was

did mr lanigan mention a partner

i don’t know

they whispered again and then paused

stefano waited nervously

then the door opened and hamilton james

walked in followed by warren

i’ve been listening in the next room

jane said with a smile

and suddenly i wonder if you’re being

truthful

stefano was more anxious

of course i am

of course

have you ever heard the name eva miranda

she’s a lawyer in rio

a friend of patrick’s

no

well

that’s what bothers me jack

i think you know exactly who she is

you’re trying to find her

i don’t know what you’re talking about

stefano said weekly

underhill spoke

he’s lying

oliver and warren agreed

jane’s picked up a sheet of paper

this is a story from a rio paper this

morning

it tells of the kidnapping of mr paolo

miranda

his daughter is patrick’s friend jack

we’ve checked with the police in rio

nothing has been heard from the

kidnappers

so where’s mr miranda

i don’t know what you’re talking about

jane’s looked at the other end of the

table

still lying under hill said

and oliver chapter 13

ava

leah didn’t see the man at the

supermarket at first

but then she turned and saw his green

eyes staring at her

she calmly walked away

minutes later

she saw him again

hiding his face

but watching every move she made

she was frightened

but remained calm as she walked through

the store

she saw him once more in the store and

then saw him walking through the parking

lot

carrying nothing

she paid for her groceries as calmly as

possible

but her hand shook as she took her

change

she got in her car and drove in the

direction of the beach house

though she knew she could never go back

there

after a kilometer she turned quickly and

saw him three cars behind

her she desperately wanted to see

patrick so she could scream at him

this was not part of their agreement

she drove on remaining calm as patrick

had taught her the man with the green

eyes wasn’t following her now

but she knew others would be watching

an hour later she entered the airport in

pensacola and bought a ticket for the

next flight which went to miami

in miami she bought a one-way ticket to

sao paulo

why not visit her country

the agent at the passport checkpoint had

seen an announcement that the fbi was

looking for a young brazilian woman aged

31

and pushed an alarm

a manager appeared and said

could you step in here miss pirage

he pointed to a row of doors

is there a problem she demanded as they

walked

not really just a few questions

when they entered a small room he asked

about her reason for going to sao paulo

then he asked

where’s your baggage

according to our records you entered the

country eight days ago

eight days and no baggage

seems odd doesn’t it

is it a crime to travel without baggage

she asked

no but it is a crime to use a false

passport in the u.s

do you know a person by the name of ava

miranda

leah’s heart stopped

her face fell

and she knew the chase was at an end

the long table was piled with papers and

files and the arithea box sat empty in a

corner

patrick and sandy chapter 14

settlements

at first bogan and vetrano were happy

when patrick was found

but soon it became obvious that the

money wasn’t following him back to

biloxi

then they remembered the bugs stefano

had discovered in their office

they’d forgotten about patrick’s tapes

now they were worried

too much had been said in the offices

do you think we’ll get the money

vitrano asked

no

there was a long pause

we’ll be lucky if we’re not indicted

sandy went to paris’s office at 10 a.m

parish had asked for the meeting

there was a lot of missing information

about the murder and he wanted it

what was the cause of death

and the big question who was killed

after a short discussion

parish said

i have a suggestion if your client gives

me information i can reduce his crime to

accidental killing instead of capital

murder

the penalty is 20 years in prison

would he consider this

go do it

then we’ll talk

sandy returned to his room at the biloxi

nugget hotel

which he’d organized as his office

his first visitor was j murray riddleton

trudy’s lawyer

riddleton gave sandy their suggested

divorce settlement

they knew it would be changed to

whatever patrick wanted

the second visitor was talbot mims the

biloxi lawyer for northern case

do you know jack stefano sandy asked

mims said he didn’t

i didn’t think so

he’s an investigator hired by arithia

northern case and monarch sierra to find

patrick

look at these

sandy said with a smile as he slid a set

of photos of patrick’s burns across the

table the mims

these were in the paper when you sued

the fbi

the fbi didn’t find patrick

we sued them to make people feel

sympathetic toward patrick

anyway the men responsible for these

injuries were working for stefano

northern case was one of his clients

mims hid his surprise

can you prove this he asked calmly

what do you want

the fbi can prove it

i want to talk to someone with the

the following morning after a phone call

from cutter james and several people

from his office parish and mast the u.s

attorney for the district

met sandy in his hotel room office

two court reporters were also present

no one smiled

but they weren’t unhappy to be there

sandy gave greetings from his client and

discussed the charges against patrick

the government charges are serious but

they’re small in comparison to capital

murder

we’d like you to drop them so we can

concentrate on the murder charge

we have an offer that includes money

we have no claim to the money jane said

it wasn’t stolen from the government

that’s where you’re wrong

sandy explained how arithea had worked

with bogan’s firm to cheat the

government out of 600 million dollars

he told them about the documents and

tapes

then he said

here’s our suggestion

we’ll hand over the documents and tapes

patrick will return the money

all of it

in exchange the government will drop its

charges

his brazilian attorney ava miranda must

be released immediately

james looked at the floor

and it has to be done today

sandy added

or my client will keep the money destroy

the evidence and spend his time in

prison

well let’s talk about this said

sprawling one of the government

officials with jane’s

great idea sandy said as he put a tape

in the tape player

the date was january 14th 1992

he said

and he played a conversation between

bogan vetrano and arethea that mentioned

the senator’s cooperation

gentlemen

this is just one example he told them

when it finished

the others left the room to talk

it soon became obvious to mast that the

rest had already made their decision

so we’re going to accept it he said

acting as if he didn’t care

yes sprawling said

we look good by getting the money back

patrick stays in jail for a long time

we arrest more important criminals

the group returned to sandy’s office and

sprawling spoke for them

about the money how much is your client

willing to return he asked sandy

all 90 million

mrs stefano was sleeping well again

the fbi had left their street and the

neighbors had stopped calling

her husband was relaxed

then at 5 30 a.m the phone rang

who’s calling she demanded when she

picked it up

hamilton james fbi

oh my god she said jack it’s the fbi

again

stefano took the phone

good morning jack this is hamilton james

i wanted to let you know that we’ve got

the girl eva miranda

she’s safe

so you can tell your men to stop looking

for her

stefano sat up their last hope was gone

the search for the money was finally

over

congratulations he said

look jack

i’ve sent some men to rio

you have 24 hours to release her father

if he’s not free by then i’ll arrest you

and arithia and probably mr addison at

monarch sierra and mr jill at northern

case

i hear you

and the phone went quiet

mrs stefano was in the bathroom with the

door locked too frightened to face him

stefano went to the kitchen and made

coffee

he was tired of benny

arithia he waited an hour and then

called him

when stefano called

benny knew his dream was over

he’d hoped to find the money and then

disappear with it

just like patrick

but he still had a million dollars

and he had friends in other countries

it was time to leave

just like patrick

he and guy left biloxi after dark

guy went to mobile and benny went to new

orleans

he watched closely as he drove

but didn’t see anyone behind him

he went to the airport and flew to

chicago

then on to new york at dawn

the fbi was in boca raton florida

watching benny’s home

his swedish girlfriend was still there

she’d leave soon they thought

and it would be much easier to follow

her

it was almost dark when paulo his eyes

covered was led from the house

when the car stopped he was helped from

the back

a voice said

to your left 300 meters is a farmhouse

with a telephone

go there for help

i have a gun

if you turn around i’ll have to kill you

at 2 pm talbot mims and a manager from

northern case arrived at the hotel

sandy took them to his office

hal ladd and a lawyer from monarch

sierra joined them

sandy repeated the information about

patrick’s torture

and reminded them that stefano was

working for three clients

benny arethea and their two companies

how do you plan to prove this

asked mims

sandy opened a door and asked jane’s to

join them

with great pleasure james described the

things stefano had told them about the

search for patrick the capture and the

torture

all done with money provided by arithea

and the two insurance companies

questions for mr james sandy asked

happily when jane’s finished

there were none

both companies were rich

and neither company wanted this problem

here’s the agreement sandy said

first

northern case is trying to recover the

2.5 million paid to trudy lanigan

we prefer that you drop the lawsuit

besides most of the money has been spent

if you do this my client will drop his

claim for personal injuries against your

company

is that all

mims asked not believing it

yes that’s it

okay

we agree

sandy gave them their settlement

agreement and asked them to leave so he

could talk with lad and his client

your settlement’s a bit different he

told them

you paid stefano twice as much as they

did

and you have a lot more cash than

northern case

how much do you have in mind

cohen the monarch sierra lawyer asked

anxiously

nothing for patrick

he’s very concerned however about the

child

she’s six and her mother spends money

quickly

patrick would like a quarter of a

million to go into a special account for

her

money that her mother can’t use

plus

he wants the same amount to pay his

legal costs

total of half a million

paid very quietly

so your client won’t be embarrassed by

those pictures of his injuries

the company was anxious to finish

we’ll do it

cohen said

sandy handed him copies of their

settlement agreement

and

left chapter 15

final arrangements

ava walked out of jail at 8 30 a.m

mark burke rushed her to his car and

took her to the airport where a small

jet was waiting to take her to new york

he told her that from new york she’d go

to london

ava closed her eyes and thought of

patrick

then she noticed the car phone and asked

to use it

she called her father in brazil and had

a tearful conversation

she promised to be home soon

her legal work in the united states was

almost finished and she missed her home

in new york the people at the british

airways check-in counter looked at her

questioningly because she had no baggage

she fought to control her nerves

she couldn’t be arrested again

she loved patrick

but this was too much

in the lounge she had coffee and called

sandy

are you okay he asked

i’m fine sandy

i’m at jfk

on my way to london

how’s patrick

wonderful

we’ve made a settlement with the

government people

113 million

sandy waited for her to say something

when

was all she said

i’ll have instructions when you get to

london

call me when you get to the hotel

tell patrick i still love him

even after going to jail

later in the morning sandy met with

riddleton to look over the divorce

settlement agreement

trudy had already signed it

and riddleton didn’t want to see her

again

we’ll sign it sandy said

there’s a new arrangement involving your

client and her lawsuit with northern

case

they’re going to drop their lawsuit

against trudy

riddleton’s mouth opened

sandy gave him a copy of the northern

case insurance settlement agreement

which he read curiously

what a pleasant surprise

there’s one other thing

sandy told him about the special account

that had 250 000 for ashley nicole

anything else riddleton asked with a

broad smile

that’s it

the divorce is finished

patrick was taken into the courthouse

through a side door

he wore new clothes that sandy had

bought

he was pale and thin but seemed to have

no difficulty walking

actually patrick felt great

patrick began

i had a car wreck case once

the driver was killed

and two people were injured

it was the truck’s fault sandy

but the driver claimed that our client’s

car was speeding

we found a witness

mr clovis goodman age 81

he tried to help the injured people in

the car but couldn’t

he left without saying anything to

anyone

later we found him

but he was still too upset to talk about

it

clovis lived alone in the country

and i asked if i could visit him

he was a lonely old man who didn’t trust

lawyers

we drank coffee and talked about

everything except the wreck

when i asked about it

he informed me softly that he was there

but he couldn’t talk about it yet

i went back and we exchanged more

stories

i took him to dinner and we stopped for

a few beers

but he still couldn’t talk about the

wreck

after a month i put pressure on him

i told him we’d reached an important

point in the lawsuit

and it was time for him to answer some

questions

he said he was ready

he had tears in his eyes

and wanted to help the family in the car

they weren’t speeding

we went to trial

and clovis goodman was the best witness

i’ve ever seen

the jury gave our clients 2.3 million

dollars

we became friends

when he got sick and couldn’t live by

himself

i moved him into a nursing home and took

care of his finances

at that time

i was his only friend

he hadn’t heard from his relatives for

years

he got very sick in january of ninety

two

i moved him to a hospital and visited

every day

on february sixth he died

sandy breathed heavily and closed his

eyes tightly

clovis wasn’t buried was he

he asked

no

i put his body in a freezer at my cabin

sandy was shocked

i didn’t kill anybody sandy

i needed a body

but he was already dead when his body

burned

sandy walked around the room then leaned

on the wall

let’s hear the rest of it he said

i’m sure you

sandy visited clovis’s granddaughter at

the coffee shop where she worked

i have good news for you he said

they sat at a table and had coffee

as efficiently as possible he told her

patrick’s story

she found it amusing

give him the death penalty she said

he didn’t kill anybody

the body in the car was already dead

he just stole it

the body was clovis goodman your

grandfather

she looked at him with narrow eyes

he burned clovis

why

he had to have a dead body

clovis was his client and friend

she looked confused

it’s a crime to destroy a dead body

that means clovis’s family can sue my

client

she smiled and said

now i understand

sandy smiled too

yes

that’s why i’m here

my client would like to make a very

quiet settlement with you

how much

what’s most you’ll pay

sandy drank his coffee

fifty thousand

okay

they shook hands

sandy gave her a settlement agreement to

sign and wrote a check

ava left her london hotel and took a

long walk

she looked in the store windows and then

stopped for lunch

she listened to the happy people who had

no idea who she was

they didn’t care

she felt more like lea pirege than ava

miranda

she began shopping without paying

attention to the prices

she was a very wealthy woman at the

moment

at two o’clock in the afternoon she had

a meeting with the manager of deutsche

bank’s london office

his bank would wire 113 million from its

zurich office to its washington office

following her instructions

after the wire

there would be 1.9 million dollars in

the account

another swiss account had 3 million

a bank on grand cayman held 6.5 million

a financial advisor in bermuda had 4

million

and 7.2 million was in luxembourg

the swedish lady left benny arathia’s

home and put her baggage in his bmw

she sped away

went to the airport and took a plane to

london

when she landed the officials were

watching for her

patrick sat at the end of the table with

sandy on his right and parish on his

left

since the government charges had been

dropped parish felt pressured to get

justice from patrick for the state

you can forget murder terry patrick said

i didn’t kill anyone

the person in the car had been dead for

four days

parish questioned him and accepted that

patrick was right

but he wasn’t going to give up

completely

looks like a year in jail he said

a year in parchment should be good for

you

sure

except that i’m not going to parchman

you don’t have a body

you have no idea who was burned

and i’m not telling until we make an

agreement

drop the charges

you can’t win

the family of the dead person doesn’t

want to sue patrick sandy said

you can’t prove anything against me

there are no witnesses and the evidence

isn’t good enough

you can’t make us look like fools

parish said

give us something

i’ll say i’m guilty of destroying the

dead body but i get no jail time

you can explain to the judge that the

family doesn’t want to sue me

you can talk about the torture and what

i’ve been through

you can do all that parish

and you’ll look very good

but no jail

parish thought for a minute

and you’ll tell us the name of the dead

person

i will

but only after we have an agreement

okay

but i have to speak with judge trussell

he’ll have to agree too

patrick smiled at sandy

parish stood up to leave

oh

i almost forgot

the district attorney said

what can you tell us about pepper

scarborough

i can give you his new name and passport

number

sandy parish and judge trussell spent

several hours working out a plea

agreement to reduce the charges against

patrick

sandy took it to him at the hospital

they read the agreement aloud and

patrick signed

sandy noticed that he was already

packing

back in his hotel room office sandy’s

phone rang

it was jack stefano who was downstairs

and wanted to talk

i’m here out of curiosity

the hearing was scheduled for five

o’clock in the courthouse

patrick put on new pants and a large

white shirt

he shook hands with hayani and thanked

him for his friendship

after two weeks as a patient and

prisoner patrick left the hospital

his lawyer was at his side and his

guards followed behind

it was supposed to be a secret hearing

to complete the secret agreements

but people heard about it

in less than 30 minutes half the city

knew

and the courtroom was crowded

patrick smiled for the photographers as

he was led to the jury room

carl entered and asked the guards to

wait in the hall

when are you leaving he asked

i don’t know

soon

can i go with you

would you really leave

if you had the chance to disappear right

now

would you do it

no i wouldn’t leave

but i don’t blame you

everybody wants to disappear carl

at some time in life everybody thinks

about walking away

problems can be left behind

judge trussell entered the courtroom

patrick was led through the door and

stood next to sandy in front of the

judge he didn’t look at his audience

mr lanigan trussell said

first you’ve asked us to reduce the

charges from capital murder to

destroying a dead

body people were surprised

destroying a dead body

parish explained the recent developments

in the case

next it’s been suggested that this court

should accept a plea of guilty to the

charge of destroying a dead body

mr parish

and parish told the story of clovis

what’s your plea mr lanigan the judge

asked

guilty

patrick said

firmly but with no pride

does the state have a recommended

punishment

parish walked to his table looked

through his notes and returned to the

judge’s desk

yes your honor

i have a letter from miss dina pastel of

meridian mississippi she’s a grandchild

of clovis goodman

he handed a copy to trussel in the

letter ms postell asked this court not

to punish mr lanigan for burning her

grandfather’s dead body

he’s been dead for over four years and

the family doesn’t want any more

suffering

so the state recommends a punishment of

12 months in jail

they drove into louisiana in silence

then sandy said

i had a very interesting visitor this

afternoon

really

who

jack stefano

he visited me at the hotel

he said he was sorry his boys injured

you so much when they caught you

he told me about the person in brazil

who gave him information about you and

about the pluto group

and he asked me directly if ava sold the

information

he’s curious

because he found his man

but didn’t get the money

for the last three years i’ve been

chased in my sleep by a hundred men

all of them were hired by jack stefano

i finally got tired of it sandy

i gave up

disappearing is an adventure until you

learn that someone’s trying to find you

and is watching everything you do

i stole too much money sandy

they had to come after me

when i learned they were already in

brazil i knew the end would come

so i decided to do it my way

not theirs

patrick breathed heavily looked out the

window and tried to organize his

thoughts

the rewards were my idea sandy

ava flew to atlanta where she met the

pluto group

we paid them

and we gave stefano information

sandy turned slowly his mouth open

you’re lying he said

i know you’re lying

no

we collected one million one hundred and

fifty thousand dollars from stefano

it’s hidden now

probably in switzerland with the rest of

it

you don’t know where it is

she’s been taking care of it

i’ll find out when i see her

sandy was too shocked to say anything

else

patrick continued

i knew they’d capture me

and i knew they’d tried to make me talk

but i didn’t know this would happen

he pointed to the rope mark above his

left ankle

they almost killed me

i finally gave up and told them about

ava

by then she was gone

and so was the money

they almost killed you

sandy said

that’s true

but two hours after i was captured ava

called cutter in biloxi

and he called the fbi in washington

that’s what saved my life

sandy took him to his mother’s house and

drove away

in the morning patrick woke up smiling

his life of hiding was over

he and his mother talked drove around

the city and did some shopping

then patrick went to the airport

he flew to atlanta and from there to

nice france

he’d last seen ava a month earlier in

rio

she’d almost persuaded him to run and

hide again

but he was tired of running

they’d said goodbye near her apartment

he’d kissed her and walked away

leaving her crying

he flew back to pontapura and began

waiting

on sunday when the train from nice

arrived in aches

patrick took a taxi to the hotel galici

she’d reserved a room in both names

ava miranda and patrick lanigan

but she hadn’t arrived yet the clerk

informed him

he went to the room unpacked and fell

asleep

dreaming of her

when he woke up he went for a walk

maybe they’d live here

they’d stay here for a week or so then

go back to rio

but maybe rio wouldn’t be home

feeling free

patrick wanted to live everywhere

to experience different cultures

to learn different languages

he refused to worry

he waited until dark

and then walked slowly back to the hotel

she wasn’t there

and there was no message

he called the hotel in london and was

informed that she’d left yesterday

he called her father

she was in london paolo said

he would say nothing more

patrick waited two hours and then called

sandy

she’s missing he said

now frightened

sandy hadn’t heard from her

patrick stayed in aches for two days

walking calling sandy and paulo

alone in his room he cried from a broken

heart

he drank too much alcohol

on the third day he left

asking a clerk to keep an envelope at

the desk for ms miranda if she arrived

he flew to rio

he wasn’t sure why

she was too smart to go to rio

patrick had taught her too well how to

disappear

no one would find ava

unless she wanted them to

you