CHAPTER XXIII
Mike Loughlan paced the boardroom, it was a Sunday but here he was at the office which was unusual for him. When he had arrived the area in front of the entrance to their New York office had a small contingent of the media present, their camera crews , reporters, journalists and photographers waiting patiently for Bobby Sanderson to appear. Of course Mike had to fight his way in to the building and on arrival he had requested the security detail to be on hand to get Bobby inside without problems.
Outside, Bobby had arrived and was met with a chorus of questions as he was bathed in camera flash lights.
CLICK CLICK CLICK fired the cameras rapidly, the strobing flash lights almost turning him into a pale white ghostly apparition.
"Do you know where your sister is Bobby ?"
"No comment ...." Bobby replied.
"Has she been taken hostage ?"
"No comment ...."
"Has there been a ransom demand ?"
"No comment ...."
"Has anyone claimed responsibility ?"
"No comment ....now if youll excuse me ..." Bobby said politely.
CLICK CLICK CLICK .
Bobby successfully navigated his way to the doorway,helped by some of his staff and passed through the lobby to the elevator to be whisked away to the upper floors. He hadnt been expecting such a strong reaction to Kim's escape but in retrospect he wasnt surprised. Arriving on the upper floors Bobby marched to the conference room where he had arranged to meet his trusted lieutenant.
"Jeezus Bobby, what the fuck is going on with your sister ? There is a shit storm brewing out there! " Mike exclaimed.
"Forget her, shes not important now, how is the firm's situation ?" Bobby countered, trying to change the subject.
"What do you mean, not important ? The FBI have already told us they want to speak to you, Ive had to get 'legal' to come in ....." Mike protested.
"Mike, for the love of god, tell me weve got liquidity set up for the week ahead ..." Bobby insisted.
"Fine, yes, the numbers are all there, I got us out of everything, youre sitting on a ton of non performing cash..... congratulations." Mike said curtly.
"That cash is going to turn us around Mike, you'll see ......" Bobby said confidently.
"This isn't for a ransome, is it ?" Mike asked suddenly wondering what direction they were taking.
"Hell no ......shes fi ......." Bobby checked himself.
"Christ ... you know, don't you! Youve got her !" Mike guessed
Bobby glared back pokerfaced, he was guilty as charged but with a solid alibi and no direct connections to his mercenary friends he was going to be in the clear.
"Mike, I suggest if you've got a problem that you go take a walk ..... let me have this week and then you'll see ......" Bobby said calmly.
"I should have known you'd want to get her out eventually .... " Mike said, his temper rising.
"What the fuck does that mean ?" Bobby probed.
"No, that's it, I'm walking, if you make it to the end of the week we'll talk, but if they pull you for this someone has to step in ...... but give her up Bobby ...... she is bad for you ..." Mike said angrily before turning to leave.
"Fine ..... I ..... I didnt want it to be this way ...... but ..... you have to do what you think is best" Bobby said in resignation.
Mike stormed from the office and rode the elevator to the lobby his mind racing as Bobby sat at a chair in the large conference room.
"Fuck !" Bobby exclaimed as he pounded the table with his fist.
After obtaining the name of the man who had been directing Victor Reeves, the poor stockbroker who had encountered the wrong end of a screwdriver, Lucy and Lisa had passed the information on for Selena in order to learn more.
"Mike Loughlan has certainly weaved a tangled web" thought Selena as she scoured the biography of the man.
Mike Loughlan, Selena discovered, was an executive at Bobby Sanderson's corporation. What didn't look good for Mike was he was also secretly working for "The Victim's Voice" support charity which was basically cleaning up the mess left by Bobby's sister, Kimberly.
They offered counseling for mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, lovers, they ensured their voices were heard whenever the trial was in the public eye. They supported the prosecutors office and helped fund investigators and forensic science to bolster their case, they even had started to prepare to debunk any attempt to get Kimberly off with an insanity plea.
Kimberly had recently become a hot topic, she had just been sprung from prison. Had Bobby and his connections rescued her from there? Or had Mike's charity somehow achieved the feat themselves? Of course there was also the chance that some other party was out to get a hold of Kimberly for some entirely different motive.
Whatever had happened to Kimberly though was a mystery for now, what she had in front of her though indicated that Mike had indeed been betting against his own company from time to time in order to make the charity some money.
It was time to unleash Lucy on him.