Who is Raphael Garza? Pt. 04

On the drive home, the pain in my shoulder seemed to throb with each beat of my heart. When I got back home, I called my doctor and made an appointment for Tuesday morning to have him look at my injured shoulder.

Tuesday morning I told the Dr. Murphy that I injured my shoulder while kayaking. After a quick examination, and when I couldn't lift my arm up higher than the level of my shoulder, Dr. Murphy told me that he thought that I had probably torn my rotator cuff and I would need to have an MRI to verify it. He said that he would get the MRI scheduled, and the office would contact me to let me know when.

Over the next few days, I was able to work with the help of painkillers, but it was difficult. I had the MRI and went to see Dr. Murphy to get the results. The news wasn't good. I had torn a tendon in my shoulder, and it would require surgery to repair the damage. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and scheduled the surgery for Friday, July 24th.

FRIDAY JULY 10TH 3:45 PM

I had just returned to my office from my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to find my phone ringing. I looked at the caller ID and saw that the call was coming from Kathy's office at Princeton Accounting Associates. I didn't want to talk to her at that moment, but I answered the phone anyway.

"What do you want Kathy?" I said.

"Are you still so angry with me that you can't even answer my calls civilly?"

"Sorry, I am just tired," I said. "What's up?"

"I don't know what's going on over here."

"What do you mean?"

"Four FBI agents came in this afternoon with a search warrant to go through all of our files, then they questioned all of us one at a time," Kathy said.

I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "What were they asking about?"

"At first they asked me a bunch of questions about audit schedules then they asked me why I changed some of the territories for my team. It all seemed so mundane until they asked me why I didn't do the audit at First Bank of Brodricksburg," Kathy said.

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them I was sick and that Marge Robinson said that she would cover the audit for me. That was all they asked me. Later, they took Marge out of the office in handcuffs."

That, I had not expected, but it did kind of make sense. I had thought this whole scam had simply been designed to keep Kathy from performing the audit at FBB, but it turns out the end game was to make sure that Marge Robinson did the audit.

I didn't say anything about what I knew, but I did give Kathy some advice. "If the FBI questions you again you should tell them the real reason you didn't do the audit," I said.

"I did. I was sick."

"But you need to tell them why you were sick," I said.

There was silence on the line for a minute, and then Kathy said, "Oh my God! Is that what this was all about? Someone did this to us so that Marge would do the audit instead of me?"

"That's what it looks like."

There was more silence on the line as Kathy thought things over. "I guess now I know why Marge was angry when I changed her territory. If I hadn't made that change, none of this would have happened. I am such a fool. Someone I thought I could trust did this to me. I just hope whatever she did over at FBB lands her in jail for a long time."

"Just remember that Marge is not the only person involved in this. Your lover boy, for one, and whoever hired him to seduce you, and I bet that's only the tip of the iceberg," I said.

"What do you think this was all about?" Kathy asked.

"I don't know, but I would guess that something illegal was going on at the bank," I said.

"Well duh! I think that is rather obvious," she said.

I could not help but laugh. "I guess you're right. It is pretty obvious. Listen, as I said earlier, you are going to have to tell the FBI everything. I know it will be embarrassing, but if you hold anything back, they may think you are a part of whatever Marge and her friends were up to."

"I know," she said. "You know that when I tell the FBI agents the whole story, they will probably want to talk to you too."

"You don't need to worry about that."

"I can't help but worry. This is my fault, and I hate that my poor judgment is causing you so much pain."

"Kathy, I really don't want to talk about this now," I said.

"When can we talk?"

"Soon, we will talk soon."

"I love you."

"Call me if you hear anything from the FBI," I said.

"I will."

"We will talk soon," I said, and set my phone down.

I felt bad that I couldn't bring myself to tell Kathy that I loved her. I knew that I still did, but my anger would not allow me to tell her.

The following Monday, Kathy called and told me that Special Agent Kyle Van Horn from the FBI came back and interviewed her again.

"I told him everything."

"Did he tell you anything about the FBI's investigation?"

"No, but he did say that he would be contacting you," Kathy said.

"I knew that he would. Kathy, I have to go; I'll call you in a few days so we can talk."

I had been watching the news and checking the papers, but there didn't seem to be any news about FBB. I went on the internet and searched news about FBB. The story I found just said that there was an investigation into some irregularities at the First Bank of Brodricksburg. There was no mention of Monty or Farrell in that story. I wondered if they were trying to save their asses by agreeing to testify against others.

WEDNESDAY JULY 15TH

On Wednesday the 15th, Special Agent Van Horn called me and asked if he could come by my office to talk to me. I asked him if we could meet after five o'clock so that the presence of an FBI agent in the building would not disrupt the other employees in the office and start speculation or rumors about what the FBI was doing there. Van Horn agreed.

At 5:15, our security guard escorted Special Agent Van Horn to my office. After we had introduced ourselves, we sat down and I waited for Van Horn to start.

"Mr. Martin, I spoke at length with your wife on Monday, and she told me a pretty crazy story," Van Horn said.

"I can assure you that what she told you is true."

"Oh, I believe what she told me, but you have to admit it is pretty crazy," he said.

"So what is it you need from me?"

"Mrs. Martin told me that you had started your own investigation into this and I would like to hear the story of what happened from your point of view, and you can tell me what you uncovered during your investigation."

I had to take a moment to think about what I was going to tell him. I knew where to start, but I didn't know where to finish. I planned to tell the truth up to a point, and not go beyond that point. I told the complete story from when Cam told me about the seat that had opened up in the GP class in San Jose, up until the phone conversation I had with David Stinson of Stinson Enterprises. That is where I ended my story. Up to that point, I told the complete truth about everything ,including that I threatened Frank Lewis, and kicked him in the balls.

"After I spoke with Mr. Stinson I felt that I had hit a wall. I just didn't know where to go from there," I said.

"So you never figured out who Monty was or who this Farrell or Farley guy was?"

"Not until Kathy told me what happened with Marge Robinson, and then I heard the names of the bank president and vice president. That's when I put it all together."

"Well that's all I needed," Van Horn said. "Everything you told me matches what we have already uncovered."

"Well I have some questions," I said. "What the hell was this all about?"

"Mrs. Robinson has been very cooperative since her arrest. According to her, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Farrell were using the bank to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. The problem was that at any point in time, the bank could have a half million dollars or more in cash in the vault that was not accounted for in the bank's books. Mrs. Robinson was being paid to cover up the bank's accounting discrepancies during her audits at the bank. Your wife messed things up when she switched Mrs. Robinson's territory. Mrs. Robinson said that they knew that they could not buy your wife off, so they had to find a way to keep her from doing the audit scheduled in June."

"What made that bitch Robinson think the plan to seduce my wife had any chance of working? It had to be the stupidest fucking idea they could have come up with," I said.

It looked like Van Horn was going to laugh, but then realized that I would not have found anything funny about it.

"Mrs. Robinson said that your wife was a bit gullible and an easy touch when it came to someone in pain. She said she believed the plan had a 50/50 chance of working. You're right, it was a pretty crazy idea, but it did work," Van Horn said.

"You mean almost worked, don't you? After all, you uncovered what they were doing, right?" I said.

"Well, actually, their little plan worked perfectly. They managed to cause enough turmoil in your marriage that your wife called in sick and Mrs. Robinson performed the audit at FBB. What tripped them up was a curious bird watcher who happened to get a video of three cartel members transferring a large duffle bag to Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Farrell, and sent the video to the FBI and the DEA."

I almost laughed at that. I was surprised that Van Horn admitted that the break in the case didn't come from the FBI's tireless pursuit of justice.

"What was in the duffle bag?" I asked.

"We assume it was a large sum of money."

"So now what happens to Montgomery and Farrell?" I asked.

"When we find them they will be going to jail for a long time."

"Find them? You haven't arrested them yet?" I said. I figured that the two assholes would have skipped town when they found out their money was gone but I wanted to hear Van Horn's explanation.

"We assumed that the two of them must have been tipped off that we had found out about their money laundering operation, so they skipped town. We believe that Montgomery and Ferrell may have taken the duffle bag full of the cartel's money with them. If they did, they better hope, we catch them before the cartel finds them."

"The only thing I care about is what they did to my marriage. You would think that they could come up with a better idea than to count on some two-bit actor being able to seduce my wife. How could they know that I would read their emails and actually go to that website and watch the video? They could not possibly be sure that would work," I said.

"Normally I would not tell you this, but they did have another plan. Marge Robinson didn't like it, so she talked them into trying the seduction scam. If that didn't work, they would use the other plan as a backup." Van Horn said.

"What was the other plan?"

"The guys from the cartel were going to have you killed. Since Mrs. Robinson's plan had you in San Jose, they would kill you out there and make it look like a mugging gone wrong. They figured that if the seduction idea didn't work, they were sure that your death would certainly cause your wife to call off work."

"They were going to kill me?" I said, as I felt the blood draining from my head.

"That is what Mrs. Robinson told us."

It took me a couple of minutes to recover from that bit of news.

"Well, that is a big fucking irony, isn't it? My wife cheats on me thinking that she is saving the life of the phony Raphael Garza, but by doing that she is unknowingly saving my life. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that information? Does Kathy know this?"

"Yes. I wasn't planning to tell either one of you, but Mrs. Robinson made bail yesterday and went to see your wife. She told your wife the whole story. I guess it was Mrs. Robinson's attempt to explain what she had done and to apologize to your wife. You would have found this out sooner or later anyway, because this information will come out when all this goes to trail," Van Horn said.

"Well, I have to get back to Philadelphia. I hope you and your wife can work things out," Van Horn said as he stood up, getting ready to leave.

I stood and shook his hand, trying not to let him see how much pain that move caused me. I didn't want to answer any questions Agent Van Horn might have about my injury. Lying to the FBI is something I wanted to avoid as much as possible. As soon as Van Horn was out of my office, I dropped back into my chair and sat at my desk for another half hour, trying to make sense out of what I learned. For weeks, I had been so angry at Kathy that I didn't even want to look at her. Then I found out that the very reason I was so angry might be the only reason I was still alive. Kathy didn't cheat on our marriage to save me, but by cheating, she did save me.

I thought about calling Kathy, but I had no idea of what I would say to her. I knew that she was hurting, but so was I. I worried that if I did call she might get the wrong idea, and think that because her actions ended up saving my life, I was ready to forgive her. I had no idea of how I was going to shovel up the massive pile of shit my life had become, and it made my head hurt, so I went home, took two aspirin and went to bed.

TUESDAY, JULY 21st

Thinking about the mess my personal life was in was getting me nowhere, so for the next week, I concentrated on work. On Tuesday, everything changed. I came in from work, poured myself a drink and sat down to watch the evening news.

I turned the TV on just in time to hear the evening news anchor say, "We have a followup to the breaking news concerning the two bodies that were discovered this morning, floating in the Delaware River under the Ben Franklin Bridge. A short time ago Captain Madis of the Philadelphia Police Department, said that the two victims had been identified as Percy Montgomery and Stephen Farrell, both from Brodricksburg. Montgomery and Farrell have been the subjects of a massive manhunt by the FBI since their disappearance on or about Sunday, July 5th. The police said that they would not be releasing any more information about the two dead men at this time."

I can't say that I was surprised by the news of their deaths. I expected that the cartel would not forgive Monty and Farrell for losing three-quarters of a million dollars of the cartel's money. What did surprise me was my emotional reaction to the news. I felt guilty. It was my actions that had gotten them killed, just as sure as if I had shot them as I had originally planned. I also felt a sense of satisfaction that I had received a measure of justice. I just hoped that the cartel members involved in this plot would meet the same fate as Montgomery and Farrell.

It occurred to me that I could be a suspect in the deaths of Monty and Farrell. I was sure that Agent Van Horn would think I had motive to go after Monty and Farrell. I worried that the FBI might come to my house with a search warrant and find the money hidden in the attic. I thought about getting the money out of the house, but I didn't have anywhere I could safely hide it. My only hope was that the FBI would assume that it was the cartel that killed those two idiots.

When it finally sunk in that two men had been killed because of the $750,000 I had stashed in my attic, I realized that I could not keep the money. I would have to find a way to get rid of it. To do that, I would have to wait until I was sure that the FBI had no interest in me. I couldn't spend it even if I wanted to. If I tried to spend a three quarters of million dollars, someone would notice, and I would end up with the FBI or the IRS coming around to ask me how I came into possession of all that money.

The idea came to me just before I fell asleep. I would give all of the money to charity. I would have to do it anonymously, giving many gifts of $1000 or less to lots of different charities over a long period. I felt good about the idea because it allowed me to take the proceeds of a criminal activity and do something positive with it.

THURSDAY JULY 23rd

Thursday, I left work at noon because I had a pre-surgery appointment at the hospital where I was to have my surgery on Friday. When I got home from my appointment, I made myself a cup of coffee. I took the coffee into the living room and sat down to watch television, and without thinking, I picked up the hot coffee with my right hand. When I tried to lift the cup up to my mouth, pain shot through my arm, and I spilled the coffee on my chest. I jumped up and

was trying to remove my shirt while shouting several expletives when the front door opened, and Kathy walked in.

I had my back to the door when she came into the room, and I was looking at her over my left shoulder. I was about to ask her what she was doing there when Kathy yelled, "Oh my God, what did you do to yourself?"

"I spilled coffee on myself."

"No, no. Your back. It's all black and blue."

"Oh, that. I had an accident," I said.

"Why didn't you call me? I called your office, and the secretary told me you left early because you're having surgery tomorrow, but she couldn't tell me why you needed surgery. "

"I didn't want to bother you with this."

"Bother me? I'm still your wife. You should have called me," Kathy said.

"I guess you're right. I should have called. I'm sorry," I said. "Kathy, why are you here?"

"You're kidding. You're having surgery tomorrow; where else should I be? You are going to need someone to help you when you come home from the hospital. You may still be mad at me, but you are going to need me, at least until you can take care of yourself."

The look on Kathy's face made my heart ache. I realized just how much I missed her, but I just wasn't sure if I could ever forgive her. I considered what she said and had to agree that I would need help.

"You're right, I will need help, and I would appreciate it if you could stay for a couple of weeks."

Kathy helped my get my shirt off and brought me a towel and a clean shirt. As she helped me get my shirt on, she said, "So, are you going to tell me how you hurt yourself and what surgery you are having tomorrow?"

I was not about to tell Kathy what happened, but I didn't want to stray too far from the truth.

"I went kayaking and stopped to take a walk on the river bank. I stumbled over a tree root and fell. When I fell, I tore a tendon in my right shoulder. I can not lift my arm above shoulder level," I said. It was close to the truth. I just didn't mention which river I was kayaking on or why I stopped to take a walk on the riverbank.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"It feels like my arm was pulled from its socket and then filled with broken glass."

Kathy had tears in her eyes. "What are you doing for the pain?"

"I still have some Vicodin left from when I broke my hand," I said.

Kathy fixed dinner and did everything she could to make sure I was comfortable. After dinner, we sat and watched television together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kathy asked.

"I don't need to, but if you do, go ahead," I said.

"You know that most of them are dead," Kathy said.

"Yea, I heard the news about Montgomery and Farrell."

"Not just them," Kathy said. The FBI caught up with the three Mexican cartel guys trying to cross the border into Mexico near El Passo, Texas. They got into a gun fight, and the three cartel guys were killed."

"How do you know that? I didn't hear anything about that."

" That's why I was trying to call you. Agent Van Horn was in the office again this morning, and he told us what happened."

For some reason, I didn't feel any remorse for the three lives lost in Texas. Knowing that they were the ones who wanted to kill me made it difficult to give a shit about what happened to them.

"I guess all that is left is Marge Robinson's trial," I said.

"There isn't going to be a trial. Marge is pleading guilty. She will be sentenced next month," Kathy said.