For her part, Frida had gone to Rina in the main conference room, who had continued digging through the files with Alex and Mercy by her side. She would’ve preferred Malco and the others in one place, the possibility that information might intersect between them always in the back of her mind, but she also wanted Malco nearby. She shook her head at that thought, worried about getting too attached to him. After all, their agreement included sex, nothing more.
Unfortunately, the lack of available space forced the second team into a tighter office, and it may have been for the best, as Frida needed every brain cell firing and not constantly overcome by bouts of lust.
With Rina by her side, she went through the information her assistant had compiled and sent just before Tycen’s call came.
In front of her, taking up most of the conference room screen was the list of all the payments the Miami PD Union fund had received from the District Attorney’s office.
“A little more than a hundred payments in total spread out over a little more than a year. Not big enough to raise any flags, but way too frequent to be normal.” Frida was mostly speaking to herself, and Rina was used to it.
“And with innocuous references and details like Christmas party, Easter event, summer donation… It’s so obvious, it feels like they’re hiding something.”
Mercy snorted, her feet on the table. “I would assume they’re hiding something, but is this legal?”
Frida pondered it for a moment. “If it’s a genuine donation for yearly events, it’s legal, but it’s threading a fine line. I wouldn’t have looked at it twice if not for the frequency of the deposits.”
Alex pushed up from his chair. “And what’s the total amount? It can’t be all that much if it’s for holiday parties and barbecues.”
Rina bit her lip. “If I had that kind of money for my next Christmas party, we could all go to Tahiti for a couple of months. I wouldn’t mind lying on the beach with a drink in my hand.”
“I wouldn’t mind bringing all the drinks you want if you were waiting for me in a bikini.”
Frida almost smiled at the blush rising on her assistant’s cheeks. “With that kind of money, Rina would be able to hire you as her cabana boy for a couple of years. One million dollars isn’t exactly petty cash.”
Frozen for a moment, Mercy whistled as she dropped her feet to the floor. “One hundred deposits disguised as donations? And they went through without an issue? I can’t believe that.”
Frida didn’t believe it either. “With all the paperwork, it could’ve been lost or dismissed, and they kept each one just under ten thousand, so they didn’t have to report it. And we don’t know the extent of the corruption or the number of people involved. Clearly, they’re payments, but the real question is to whom and for what? And who at the Union took the money and to do what? We already know that DA Pool is probably dirty, and Detective Kasten is part of it, but I doubt either of them were stupid enough to have receipts in their names just lying around.”
Rina returned to her box of papers with a sigh, but Mercy clearly wasn’t happy with what she’d said as she reached into another archive box. “If it smells rotten, you can’t tell me there isn’t a skunk around.”
Frida looked at the transactions and silently agreed with the blonde agent. Even if the evidence was tenuous at best, something was rotten. All they had to do was follow the smell.
“Who are the Union representatives for the MPD? With a name, Rina can do some research and see if there are any links. We can check their bank accounts too.”
“Way ahead of you, lady.” Alex hunched his tall frame back on the laptop. “I’m not into cop politics, but they’re officials, and the names should be public. Otherwise, I doubt the people involved would be keeping such a low profile.”
Frida agreed. People in positions of power, especially in fields where the work was hard or dangerous, would gladly reap the benefits of all that was offered. After all, being a cop was a thankless job, filled with sacrifices, dangers, and low pay. She believed that most of those men and women were honorable, but in every group of people, there were rotten fruit.
“Fuck me.” It may have been a low curse, but Alex’s exclamation in the nearly silent room rang like an alarm. “This needs to be confirmed, but here’s an interesting name on the list of reps. Nicole Kasten is the Union secretary.”
At the name, the three women crowded Alex’s space to see his screen. When Frida’s eyes landed on Kasten’s name, her jaw clenched. Would it be so easy or obvious? Her experience taught her to be careful of something too good to be true. And if it were the truth, they may have the answer as to why the deposits went through so seamlessly if Kasten’s sister was involved.
“Let’s be thorough about this. Alex, go through the names of the Union representatives as well as anyone attached to them. Let’s make it a wide circle, wider than usual. It will take longer, but I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. Rina, can you coordinate everything, see if there were any sudden deposits or withdrawals. If we peel back all the layers, we may find something strong enough for us to pull.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to dig into Nicole Kasten first?”
Frida nodded at Mercy’s question. “Faster, yes, but we can’t be sure of anything. And most of all, when we bring them down, I want them all to go. I don’t want just one and I don’t want to risk any
