Chapter 30

Paul was sitting in his office. His computer was staring right at him, but he wasn't paying attention to it. He was thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

It was a Friday, only his third day since he came back to work and everything seemed fine asides from the fact that Pete was yet to show up to work and when he called Diane, she had told him that she was sick and would not be able to make it to work. So, no! Paul thought, nothing was fine.

He had tried calling Helen multiple times, but the call did not go through. She most definitely blocked my number, he thought.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to mend the relationship. He had no idea what he was going to say if his calls had gone through.

Probably a good thing, Paul thought.

Just then, someone knocked on his door and entered his office. It was only his second time seeing her. He had bumped into her two days before when he was going to see his dad. It was Jodie, his dad's new secretary.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," Paul replied.

"Your dad would like to see you in his office."

"Is my brother there?" Paul asked.

"Yes," she said.

"I'm on my way," Paul said as she walked out of his office.

Paul thought he knew exactly what the discussion was going to be about. He thought it would be best if the ground would open up to swallow him. He didn't know if he should go to see his dad or leave the office.

Pete, Paul thought. The idiot just could not keep his mouth shut. My fault though, I should not have told him about Helen.

Knowing he would have to face his dad sooner or later; he decided it better be the former.

He stood up, shut down his computer and walked out of his office. Instead of going to the elevator, he took the stairs. He needed some time to think and wanted to prolong the meeting as long as he could as much as he wanted it to happen that day.

He got to the last floor and for some seconds, he took a look at his right where there was a stair to the very top of the building where there were masts and some air conditioning systems. He had only been there a couple of times.

He now looked in the direction he was headed, his left and he began to walk. As he got to the secretary’s table, she used her hand to indicate that they were inside.

She didn’t have to tell me that, he thought.

He opened the door without knocking. His dad glanced up to see who it was that came in and went back to operating his phone as though he hadn’t seen Paul.

Pete, who was sitting cross legged with his back wheel rested, turned around to see who it was and then turned back.

None of them said anything and Paul was not going to be the first to take the floor. Instead, he went to the table, pulled a chair back, sat on it and waited.

It was not until after three minutes that his dad spoke.

“I heard you’ve been spilling the beans and are going behind my back,” James said without looking up.

Before Paul could say anything, the door opened, and the secretary entered with a weary look.

“Sir, some officials are here, they said they are from the FBI.”

“The FBI?” James said and then took a wild look at Paul. “Is that you?”

Before Paul could reply, two men and a woman, all dressed in suits, walked into the office. The one who came in first and who seemed to be in charge gauged the room and its inhabitants for some seconds. He was dark skinned and was on a low cut.

“James Dutton,” he called out, looking at Paul’s dad as he seemed to guess who was going to answer him.

“That would be me,” James replied.

“We are from the FBI Financial Crimes Division, and we have a warrant to search your office,” the man said as he stretched a paper towards James. He brought out his phone and made a call. “You can begin the search now.”

James read what was on the paper and his eyes went wider the more time he spent reading it. When he was done, he shot an accusing face at Paul.

“You did this,” he said as his face reddened.

“I did not,” Paul said innocently. “It wasn’t me.”

Only a few minutes passed, and the man received a call.

“You got the document?” He asked. “Bang on?” He said and Paul could almost see the smile on his face.

The man ended the call and turned towards James.

“James Dutton, you are under arrest for committing the crime of money laundering and fraud. Anything you say may and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney and if you can’t afford one yourself, the state will provide you with one. Do you understand these rights?”

James said nothing. He only stretched his hands out which was cuffed in no time by one of the other agents.

That was fast, Paul thought. They knew exactly where to look. Fuck me!

They were almost out of the door when an agent, the woman, turned around.

“Paul?” She asked looking from Pete to Paul.

Paul slightly raised his hands.

The woman moved towards him and handed him a letter.

“From Diane,” she said.

At that moment, there was no more doubt in Paul’s mind about what had just happened.