The Embezzler
by Leslie Schmidt
Carlson's blood pressure started going up as soon as he saw the audit team member with his boss.
"Come in Carl," Max said, waving towards a chair. Max looked up at the auditor who was standing next to him. "Is this all?" he asked.
"Yes Mr. Branch," she said.
Isabella was an attractive woman, darker than most African Americans, she wore makeup to give her cheeks a slight blush and yellow eye shadow. Her straightened hair was pulled severely back into thick, glossy pony tail. She was tall and thin but, like many black women, she had very nice curves above in front and below in back.
"OK Ms. Samson, thank you," Max said. "For the time being, I'd prefer to keep this strictly internal."
"Of course sir," she said. As she straightened up she looked at Carl with an expression that was a mixture of distain and 'you poor mother-fucker'. (It translated in to 'you poor, stupid mother-fucker') She closed the door as she left.
All Branch did was hand the spreadsheet across the desk to Carl. It was five pages long, and because it was formatted differently, it clearly showed the data he'd been able to obscure in his own reports. He really didn't need to go through it, he knew what it showed.
"Do you have any explanations?" Branch asked.
Carl lowered the papers into his lap and, looked to the side, at the stapler on Branch's desk, he slightly shook his head. He knew he'd look more pathetic if he made up a lie.
"I guess I'd better find a lawyer," he said, quietly.
Max was quiet for over a minute. The second hand on his desk clock made a click each time it advanced. He kept looking at Carl-Carl didn't meet his eyes. Finally he leaned back in his chair, it creaked and Carl looked up at his boss.
"No...," Branch said, making a pyramid with his fingers, "that's not what you're going to do," he said.
Branch looked at the clock. "Carl, I'm going to tell you what you're going to do."
Carl looked directly into Max's eyes now, making sure his boss, and former friend, knew he was listening.
"It's 11:10. You're going to take a long lunch. You're not going to call a law...yer, you're not going to call your wife, you're not even going to call a priest. I don't care where you go,...go for a walk...go work out...go to a movie...go have a drink, one, not TWO...but be back here at three and we'll DISCUSS this situation."
"I have to figure out what I'M going to do. I don't know if I'll call HR, management, or the police. Maybe all three, maybe I'll wait for them to do it, maybe I'll bury it, maybe I'll figure out a way for you to pay it back. But, I won't do anything until after three, and neither should you."
"Yes sir," Carl said.
"I'll see you at three," Branch said, nodding toward the door.
Carl had his hand on the handle when Branch said: "And, Carl..."
Carl looked back.
"Don't stop by your office on the way out. Go straight to the elevators and don't be seen in the building before three."
Carl was in the elevator when he realized that his car keys were in his desk drawer. He got off at the lobby, before the parking garage, and walked out to the sidewalk. At least the weather wasn't too hot but it had been threatening to rain.
At 11:45, after most of the office had left for lunch, Max went down the hall and into Carl's office. He closed the door. He smiled when he saw Carl's umbrella hung on the stand.
'Serves him right,' he thought.
He thumbed through the top two drawers of the filing cabinet, not sure what he was looking for, then turned and opened one of the desk drawers. In it were some office supplies, a box of business cards, a flash light... He was about to open the center drawer when his eye was caught by a change in the electronic picture frame on the desk.
Max sat down, watching as the frame changed every 10 seconds. Every picture was of Carl's daughter-a normal looking little girl with blonde hair. Then he noticed a difference. In each picture she was doing something. One: she was maybe five years old, riding a red bike with a big American flag (no training wheels) in a parade. Two: a little older, on the blocks at a pool, starting a race. Three: still in her racing suit, standing on the #2 pedestal wearing a silver medal. Four: on rollerblades, wearing helmet and protective gear at a skate park, obviously moving fast up a wall. Five: on a zipline, hanging at least 150 feet above a canyon floor. Six: in a uniform, kneeling with a soccer ball. The sign said "Wolvereens. City 7-8 Year Old League." Nine: This time in a bikini, standing uncertainly on a surfboard, the wave at least two feet taller than her...
The pictures scrolled on. They showed an unusual young girl, athletic and willing to take risks, confident, happy.
He picked up the picture and grunted to himself. His first thought was sadness-what would the girl think if their daddy went to jail? Then disgust that Carl'd endanger his family by embezzling company funds. Then he remembered the rumors that had gone around the office a couple of years ago. He'd divorced his wife after the third time she'd failed re-hab. Later he had to get a court order to keep her and a crack-head boy friend away from the child. The current scuttle-butt was that his ex had disappeared.
Max felt a real weight. How could he take responsibility for that cute little girl ending up in foster care? Then again, he'd be taking tremendous risk, endangering is own career, if he covered it up. He would even be breaking the law. He put the picture down.
Still...how could Carl make it worth the risk?...
With a bemused smile he left the office, wondering if he had the audacity to do what he was thinking.
When he got back to his desk he opened a file that IT kept updated for him. It was a listing of everyone in his offices passwords and user names. Writing a quick note, he went back to Carl's office and closed the door. He spent about twenty minutes poking around Carl's computer, copied a few files to a thumb drive, then opened his e-mail. Again he looked around at his saved messages, opened a few in the 'sent' folder, then clicked the 'new' icon...
At three there was a light tapping on the door of Max's office.
"Eighty-seven thousand is a lot of pocket change," he said after Carl sat down. "What ya got to show for it?"
Carl looked across the desk. "Not much, really. I had to pay off Sally's bills. She went through all our savings and maxed out the cards, even opened some I didn't know about, buying meth. Then there were the bills from re-hab." He looked down, "Total waste."
"Probably can't afford a lawyer either," Max said.
Carl looked at his nails. "Not much of one."
The room was silent again for half a minute. Then Max picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to Carl. Carl was expecting it to be a resignation letter but then saw it was an e-mail.
From: Carlson Atwater (catwater@ftgold.com)
To: Maxwell Branch (mbranch@ftgold.com)
Sent: April 10, 2013 2:03 PM
Subject: (none)
Max: I believe it would be best if the matter discussed this morning were dropped. I am aware of certain discrepancies in three travel expense reports that upper management would be interested in pursuant to our trip to India last summer.
Carlson Atwater
South Asia Market Development Fredrick, Towsen and Gold LLC
Carl looked up with a confused expression. "I didn't send this..." he said.
"According to the server logs, you did, a couple of hours ago," Max replied.
"But..." Carl sputtered.
"Blackmailing me over a few hundred dollars spent on hookers won't make your case any stronger in court," Max said.
"Huh?"
"That electronic frame on your desk, those are of your daughter, right?"
"Yeah," Carl replied.
"Lovely girl, looks like a very outgoing child. Her name's Katie, right?"
"Yes, I'm very proud of her. She's a great kid, really the center of my life."
"Where will she go while you're in jail?"
Carl's face went white and Max noticed he even swayed in his seat. He caught his breath, then stopped breathing.
"I remember her in the pool at the July 4th party. How old is she now?"
"She's eight, turns nine in November. Just started third grade."
"That's such a sexy age. Still too young to fuck but, well, old enough to understand what feels good."
Carl was numb. He nodded slightly, feeling even more dizzy as the implication of what Max had said came to him--he'd suspected that Max had had underage girls sent up to his hotel room.
"Bring her over for a party at my place, we'll have a great time. Understand?" Max continued.
"Ah huh," Carl said quietly, trying to recover his composure.
"Friday, little Katie's going to be the most fun-loving little eight-year-old cum slut on the planet, right?" Max looked at him with a leering smile. "Bring your laptop and transaction records too. We'll figure out how to bury this whole thing."
Driving home, Carl realized he was trapped. If he said no now he'd go to jail and just look ridiculous for trying to blackmail his boss. If he went along but backed out later the story'd be so outlandish, no one would believe it-and he'd still go to jail. The only choice he had was to get the girl to agree. Maybe, if she did it just this once, then he found a different job, then they'd put it all behind them.
That evening, Katie chatted about school and how much harder third grade was. She was happy that her BFF was in her class too, but the teacher, Mrs. Person, had put them in different groups and they sat apart. When the conversation lagged over meatloaf and potatoes, Carl put down his fork.
"Honey," he started in a voice that let her know something important was coming. "You know, there were a lot of bills left over because of your mommy's illness."
She looked at her father. "Yeah, I know."
"Well, I'm still dealing with that and I may have to find a different job, one that pays more."
"Uh-huh."
"That means we could have to move."
The girl kept her face passive, but Carl could see some hurt in her eyes. "That's OK daddy," she said. "Where?"
"I don't know yet," he replied. "I could also get a promotion-I'm hoping too-and that might take care of everything."
"I hope so too daddy," Katie said. "I don't think I want to move."
Later that evening, after Katie came out of the shower and was sitting in a short nighty and panties, Carl looked closely at her. He had never thought of her that way before but with her strong shoulders, thin frame and muscular legs she really was kind of sexy. He was always liked athletic women, and Katie was growing up to be one. A few minutes later she pulled her legs up under herself and her Hello Kitty panties were pulled tight, clearly outlining her cameltoe. In a twenty something, Carl would have had trouble not staring, in his eight year old the sight was unsettling-and sexy.
He spent Friday closed in his office. There were the usual inconsequential e-mails and a couple of easy phone calls from clients and he worked, half-heartedly, on a new proposal he was developing. But he was distracted and nervous-actually spent most of the day surfing but that quickly became boring as he had to stick strictly to SFW sites and no Youtube or other social sites. At two Outlook chimed.
"See you at six-my place. What kind of pizza does Katie like?" was the text of the untitled e-mail from Max.
Carl typed out a three work answer: "Bacon and Pineapple." Then he shut down his computer, locked his filing cabinet and desk, and walked out. It wasn't unusual for people to disappear early on Friday, no one would notice.
It was a 45 minute drive in traffic to the other side of the city where Max lived in a gated community. The interstate was slow-and-go.
"Honey," Carl said, not sure how to begin. "I really appreciate your being so good about coming with me this evening. I know you think it'll be boring."
"I don't mind daddy," Katie said, looked over from the right seat.
"Well, ya know, in business a lot of times families have to do things to help a man's career. Do you remember how I'd sometimes have clients over when your mom still lived with us? These days I take them out to dinner, but you remember having a couple of bar-b-ques?"
"Yeah."
"Tonight's sort of like that." Then Carl had an inspiration... "I told you I'm hoping for a promotion? Tonight could be very important for that and, well, Mr. Branch...Max...he wants to meet you, especially you, honey."
The girl got a confused look on her face. "Me?"
"Yes, and, if you're really good tonight it could really help...Max has real pull with the president and could get me that promotion. It's very important things go well tonight."
"OK daddy, I'll be good."
Carl was silent for a moment as they both watched traffic.
"Honey, there's more to it though..." he was really nervous.
Katie looked up with a quizzical expression. From the look on her father's face, she could tell something was wrong.
"What is it daddy?"
"Well...honey...you know how we've talked sometimes and I've told you that there are some men who like to...who want to have sex with girls like you?"
Katie's face went blank and she stared at her father. "Yes...?"
"Um, well, Mr. Branch, well...he's like that and...umm...do you remember playing marco pollo in the pool with him on 4th of July?...he...he thinks you're...he wants to have sex with you..." his voice trailed off.
"But I'm too young..." Katie said with a bit of an incredulous tone.
"I know...he knows...I mean, he won't try to...like have...intercourse...with you but..."
"You mean he wants to fool around," Katie said, now with a bit of amusement.
"Ah, yeah, I guess so."
"Tammy's told me about her and Ronald."
Now it was Carl's turn to be surprised. "Tammy? She's what...fourteen..."
"She's fifteen."
"I wonder what my sister thinks of that!" Carl said with a laugh.
"Auntie Dawn put her on the patch when she found out."
"Huh," Carl said, still surprised
"She said Ronald will do anything for her if she sucks his weenie."
"Fuff!" Carl exclaimed, in shock that his third grade daughter knew anything about THAT.
"What's he going to do?" Katie asked. "I mean, Mr. Branch."
Carl was snapped back to reality with the question. "Well, I don't really know...but I'm sure he won't do...well, he'll probably want to touch you, and have you touch him."
"Do you mean I need to rub his weenie?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Will he squirt his stuff?"
"Probably."
Katie looked out the windshield for a moment, thinking. Then she looked at her daddy. She could tell he was really nervous and upset. She'd seen him like this many times, sometimes when he got off the phone with a lawyer, a few times bill collectors had called. Once, even, two policemen had come to the house and they'd talked about her mother...daddy had been really sad after that and she saw he was crying after they'd left.
She put her hand on his arm. "It's OK daddy. I'll do it for you."
The guard at the gate called before letting them drive in. Carl and Katie were silent as they drove along the street, lined with 6000 square foot McMansions, the ones on the left backed up to an artificial lake, the ones on the right the golf course. The houses, styled like 18th century English Manor houses looked silly, bunched together with only a few yards of grass, shrubs and a wrought iron fence between them. Max's house was toward the back, after the end of the lake, and backed against a 30 foot concrete wall. There was an Interstate freeway on the other side of the wall but it absorbed the sound so well that only on still nights could any traffic noise be heard.
Carl pulled into the curved drive and stopped the car. Max's Audi was nosed up to one of the garage doors.
"Hi! Come in!" Max said as he opened the door. "Katie, it's great to see you again."
He waved them in and closed the door. Carl was glad to see he hadn't answered the door naked-instead he was wearing an A&M tee shirt, sweatpants and dock shoes (no socks). Carl noticed from the way the pants hung that he was going commando.
"I have pizza for us," Max said to Katie as they went by the living room into the kitchen, "your father said you like bacon and pineapple."
"Thank you Mr. Branch," Katie replied, looking up at him a bit nervously.
"Call me Max," he said as he opened the cardboard box, then turned and got three plates out of a cupboard. "I figure we can eat by the pool, it's a lovely evening." He used a spatula to lift slices out of a box onto plates. "Carla's out of town right now, at a meeting for her charity in Nashville. I have to pick her up at Hobby tomorrow afternoon."
Katie took her plate and started toward the glass doors, she'd been to his house three or four times and knew her way around, at least on the lower floor.
"What would you like to drink?" Max said to Carl. "I'm having Scotch but I seem to remember you're a gin and tonic man."
"That'd be great Max," Carl replied.
As he turned back to the cabinets, Max called over his shoulder, "Katie, what do you want? Scotch, gin, I make a mean whiskey sour...or maybe a beer?"
Katie looked at her dad with confused smile.
"It's OK dear," Carl said. "I'm sure he has coke too but, if you want a glass of wine it's alright."
Still the girl was speechless, standing with a plate of pizza in her hands. Only a couple of times had her daddy let her drink wine before. She really didn't like the taste much but it made her feel loopy and warm.
"How 'bout some red wine?" Carl said.
Max crossed the kitchen to a wine rack on one of the counters. He bent down and looked through it. "I have a Zinfandel, or a Cabernet, or would you prefer some Chianti?"
Carl smiled. "Sometimes she has some Cabernet at home."
"OK!" Max said, pulling a bottle out of the rack.
"Thank you," Katie said, "daddy only lets me drink alcohol sometimes."
"No problem here," Max said as he pulled the cork out and poured some into a stem. "Do you want a glass of water too?"
"Yes please."
The three of them, each balancing a plate and a glass went out onto the patio and sat down around a stylish wrought iron table with an umbrella. "Let me get the garlic bread," Max said, going back inside.
They sat and chatted, Max and Carl mostly about work while Katie was silent, while they ate. Carl encouraged Katie to drink up her wine, then went and got the bottle to refill her glass. Himself, he had two gins. The sun had gone below the wall but it was still twilight. Max had turned on lights that shined up into the trees, when it was dark they filled the yard with a warm, diffuse glow, and he turned the lights on in the pool. As they were finishing up, Max reached out and brushed a strand of Katie's hair back.
"You know, honey," he said, "I've always thought you're really pretty."
Katie got a serious expression on her face. She looked at her father, then back at Max.
"Thank you," she said in a low voice.
Max looked at Carl with a small smile that was asking permission, then back at the eight year old.
"You know, when you were here last July, I noticed you had a really cute bathing suit. It was a blue two piece, right?
"Yeah, I think so."
"It was very sexy."
Katie looked at her dad, not sure how to respond.
"Thank you, I guess," she said with an embarrassed shrug.
"Well," Max went on, "I think you're really sexy. Don't you think Carl?" he looked at Carl.
Carl sort of laughed-more a 'huh' than a 'ha'. "I've never really thought of her that way."
"Well," Max went on, taking her hands and gently pulling her so she stood up in front of him. "I think you're sexy as hell."
Carl could see the swell in Max's sweat pants. Carl's heart was pounding.
"Would you take your dress off for me?" Max asked.
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