All Chapters of Love, Money, and Lies (A Series of Secrets 2): Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Bruce was sitting in his office at the FBI building gazing out at the night sky. He had been invited to Alec and Lana’s for New Year’s. They were having a little get together with close friends. Bruce had declined because he wasn’t in the mood. Seven girls had left messages on his voicemail to call them back for a rockin’ New Year’s Eve. He had scoffed and deleted all the messages. He only wanted one woman tonight, and she was nowhere to be found. Did he believe that she lied to Luke? Yes, but he knew she had a good reason. The Margo St. John he knew wasn’t a malicious liar. Yet she was secretive and a little sneaky. All he wanted now was to hold her in his arms. To kiss her and tease her body until she spilled every drop of her past, present, and future to him. Vic walked into his office. “Hey, Bruce.” Bruce swiveled the chair around. “Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Alec’s party tonight.” “I am.”

BAAM met at the Tampa Bay Marina. They took their things out of their SUVs and loaded it on Aaron’s yacht. Then they drove the SUVs ten miles from the marina and ditched them on the side of the road next to a thicket of trees and bushes. They walked half a mile to a gas station and called for an Uber to take them back to the marina. Aaron and Anthony undid the ropes that were tied to the brown poles of the dock and the boat. “All aboard,” Aaron said as they got on the yacht. They all piled into the sitting area where the captain’s controls were. Aaron raised the anchor, cut on the lights, and started the engine. “Bon voyage, Tampa,” Margo chimed. They chuckled. Aaron blew the horn. Anthony collected the Bluetooths and burner phones that they used during the heist. When they got five miles away from the coast, Anthony tossed them in the water. They had purchased new burners for their new lives earlier.They quietly lounged in the sitting area, d

Two days later . . . Bruce was at home on the couch. With the exception of the occasional headache, he was a lot better. After getting briefed about the robbery, Blanchette had ordered him to go back home. Bruce had no choice but to comply, or Blanchette would have made it official by suspending him. However, Alec had kept him in the loop. IT experts at the Dallas field office had figured out that the virus had originated at the Dallas Reserve. They believe the system had to be compromised on site. If a hacker had tried to breach the system outside of the reserve without weakening the system first, they would have been automatically traced in seconds. The information wasn’t released to the public, and the bureau wanted to keep it that way until the thief or thieves were caught. The last thing he needed was to look at the walls and think. Every time his mind wandered, he thought about Margo. How could she leave him? And what was she really doing wit

When Margo first disappeared, Bruce had called a girl he used to date who happened to be a cop. He had given her the make, model, and license plate of Margo’s car and asked her to keep an eye out. Sargent Ann Dakota had seen a motorist driving a red Mustang with the taillight out. When she had gotten a look at the license plate, she had called Bruce. Alec and Bruce had a secretary run a quick background check on Morris Mandel as they had traveled to the pull-over location.Bruce and Alec’s gamble had paid off. They had been bluffing about knowing that Morris had something to do with the SunBeam robbery. But they did know that he had bought the car off Margo, and they used the association to insinuate that Morris was involved. They had gotten a lucky break when they found out Tampa Vice was watching Morris.They waited in Detective Menendez office. Morris was talking to his lawyer. The assistant district attorney had been called in to make a deal concerning Morr

It was ten o’clock, and Bruce was still at the office. He had just gotten the email with the newest most wanted. He read each profile slowly, committing it to memory. Aaron R. Stokes had dark blond, curly hair and blue eyes. He was five-foot-seven and weighed a hundred and fifty-seven pounds. The last known job he had was eight years ago as a waiter in the Keys. Nine years ago, he had been arrested for money laundering and running a prostitution ring. Anthony Wayne Mandel had a box afro, clean shaven, and he weighed a hundred and forty-two pounds. He had been arrested for possession at the age of eighteen. He served four years for it. A few years later, he was found in contempt of court and was made to do six months of community service and pay a five thousand dollar fine. He had no profession on record. Bobbi Lauren Bennett, born Robert Lee Bennett, had dark brown hair and was five-foot-seven. When Bobbi was a man, she was a bank manager, married to a woman n