CHAPTER 28

Sara stayed for the weekend, placing many of her new clothes in what had been Daisy's closet and dresser. Neither of us had discussed her moving in with me, but it was in process nonetheless. I certainly had no objection. The more time I spent with Sara the more I realized how much I loved her and how much I wanted to be with her every second of every day. I went to work exhausted, looking for a much needed rest at my computer.

I had been in the office about two hours and Cara was on her break when the phone rang. I usually answered if she was away from her desk so I picked up the phone saying, "Tritech, John Gotti speaking."

"You fucking bastard! I know you're behind it."

"Hello, Daisy—what part of 'I don't want to hear from you again' didn't you understand?"

"I know that you stole my mother's money and I know you were behind my father's disappearance. You're not getting away with this. I promise you!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Daisy and, even if I did, I certainly wouldn't say anything to you about it. You know, I'm really glad that all of my calls are recorded. I'm sure my lawyer will make great use of your remarks…." I never had the chance to finish. Daisy had ended the call in a huff. All the same, I passed the information to my attorney. My request for a restraining order was granted the following morning.

I had just finished the final touches on the contract with the Department of Defense three days later, having signed and my signature notarized by Cara. All that was needed now was the signature of the Secretary of Defense. That would occur tomorrow after the forty page contract was Fed Ex'd to the Pentagon. I could have cleared a hundred million a year on the deal, but I settled for thirty percent of that. There is a limit to how much I can spend and I knew I couldn't come anywhere near that. I had just ended a phone call with my contact at the Pentagon when Cara informed me that two special agents from the FBI were here to see me. I handed her the completed document and stepped forward to greet the men I had expected for more than a month.

After shaking hands I asked to see their credentials. Before speaking I pulled up the New York office of the FBI on my computer, dialing my phone a second later. "May I speak with Agent Thomas Connor or Agent Michael Brennan, please?" I listened silently as the receptionist informed me that they were out of the office. "Agent Connor--he's that old guy with the white hair, right?" I listened closely while she described the gentleman seated opposite me to a "T." I thanked her and ended the call.

"Now, gentlemen—what can I do for you?"

"That was pretty slick. We're investigating the disappearance of one Thomas O'Neill from Springfield, Massachusetts and the theft of his wife's money from her investment accounts."

"I can help you with Mr. O'Neill, but I know nothing about any theft of money from Mrs. O'Neill. Mr. O'Neill is in Budva—I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly--Montenegro setting up a branch of my company in Europe. I can reach him on the phone if you like, but before I do I want you to see several photos I have on my computer."

I turned the monitor so they could see then I scrolled through several photos. "Mr. O'Neill was essentially his wife's slave and…hold on a second…okay, here it is. She controlled him with this stainless steel cock cage. See the part under it that has captured his scrotum? The front part of this contains a tiny radio receiver and a mechanism that would shock his testicles at her whim. Here are a few photos of burn marks on his scrotum. And here are a few shots of his back and butt where she whipped him mercilessly with a cane and a paddle. She and her daughter--my ex-fiancee—had the same plans for me. Unfortunately for them, I overheard a phone call between the two of them and threw her out before the wedding. I readily admit helping Tom to escape his wife.

"May I ask how much money was stolen?"

"Somewhere between three point five and four million, near as we can tell so far."

"Excuse me for saying this but that's chicken feed. I just finished a huge contract with the Department of Defense that should bring me more than thirty million dollars the first year alone. That should be my profit on the deal. Why would I risk that for such a trivial amount? Do you know how it was stolen? You said it was invested?"

"Yes and the thefts seem to have been via computer. That's why we're here speaking with you."

"That figures. I'm sure you have people who can trace the source of any sell orders. I assume that would have to occur before any theft would take place. It doesn't make any sense to steal securities that can be easily traced even though there really aren't any paper shares these days, except maybe there are for some bonds. I'm hardly an expert in the field of finance."

"Yes, we've done that. We know where the orders to sell originated."

"Okay, may I ask where?"

"Actually, we can't comment on any details in regard to an ongoing investigation."

"Well, knowing Margaret O'Neill as I do I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is some kind of ruse perpetrated by her or her daughter. They're evil people. Do you want to speak with Tom?" They did so a minute later he was on the phone with me and then with them as I left the room to use the men's room. Their conversation was completed when I returned.

"Is there any other way I can assist you," I asked.

"No…I think we're done here. Thank you for your cooperation. I would like to know why Mr. O'Neill left the country and why Montenegro?"

"As I said earlier, Margaret O'Neill is an evil demented person. I wouldn't put it past her to try to either kidnap her husband if he was local or to try to make up some spurious charges against him…like stealing her money, for example, even though he's the one who earned it and was forced to give it to her because of the device on his genitals. He told me that she initially drugged him while on their honeymoon then shocked and beat him into submission. That's the same plan they had for me, by the way. I looked into his eyes the first time we met and all I could see was a hollow shell of a man. He's a decent guy and he deserves better.

"Now he's going to head up my European office and he'll make more than enough to live in the same manner or better than what he had here. My technicians--most of them have PhDs--earned a minimum of $800,000 last year plus benefits. I'm sure you know that there is no extradition treaty with Montenegro at this time. Once we're sure he's safe he'll be free to travel across Europe as needed."

"Well…thanks again for your time. Okay if we phone you if we have any additional questions?"

"Of course; I'm always happy to help our government." I rose and we shook hands again.

They were almost out the door when Mr. Connor turned for one additional question. "You really think four million is chicken feed?"

"Yeah, last year we earned almost a hundred million and I had expenses of less than half of that. I gave thirty million to charity and kept the rest. I think my income tax liability was about six million. I believe my investments are around twenty-four million so I really have no need for more even though I'm going to earn much more this year and most years in the future. My business is expanding faster than I can manage. Right now I'm about twenty employees short."

Connor shook his head then said, "I think I'm in the wrong field." A few seconds later they were out the door and gone.

I told Sara about the FBI that evening as we ate dinner then had another thought. "Would you like to have Thanksgiving here? We could invite Cara, your mom, and grandmother. I'm sure my folks would come, too. What do you think?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, but Grandma has moved to Florida to live with her sister. Who would cook? Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work."

"I could handle the turkey and most of the rest. I'm sure I can convince my mom to do whatever else is needed. Speaking of which, I think you should meet them." A minute later I began to laugh. Sara had the most incredulous expression on her face. "Relax, they'll love you. They even liked Daisy until she tried to enslave and destroy me. I'll phone them after dinner and see if we can't get together over the weekend. Okay?" Sara took my hand in hers and looked straight into my soul then she smiled and I couldn't wait to finish dinner.