Page 65 of Defenseless
“So nervous he might make a mistake?” Sabina asked, doubtfully.
It appeared Ethan agreed, because he shook his head. “He’s been in this game a long time. He’ll be feeling the heat, but I don’t think he’ll make any dumb moves like trying to flee the country or anything.”
“He might, however, be quietly divesting some of his interests,” Chad said, his attention on his screen.
Sabina rose from the couch and took the seat next to Chad, angling his computer so she could read over his shoulder. Sure enough, her team had documented seventeen transfers of funds and three transfers of shell companies out of Jacobs’s name.
“Damn, I picked a good team, didn’t I?” she said with a grin.
“And in case you’re wondering, they did email this to you. They only cc’d me,” Chad said, pointing to the address line. She didn’t really care who received the information first, but it was a good decision to send it to more than one person.
“Won’t that make him look more guilty?” Kara asked. “I know your team is good, Sabina, but if they can track it, can’t the SEC as well?”
“Actually…” she started to reply, then paused to read the rest of the email. “The SEC is working on it in collaboration with my team. It appears they had a warrant but aren’t as fast as we are, so they contacted Stella and Hunter and worked it out.”
“What about the election commission?” Ethan asked.
“Whatever the SEC finds that’s related to election funds, they’ll hand over,” Chad said. “Then the election commission’s investigation will follow.”
“It looks like this is really happening?” Kara said.
Sabina didn’t want to extinguish the hope she heard in her sister’s voice, but she wanted to be sure she recognized the scope of what was happening. “It looks like he will be held accountable for his financial, and potentially his election finance, misdeeds. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be held accountable for what he did to Mom.”
Chad reached over and took her hand. As much as they didn’t wish it were the case, it was. All the evidence they had tying him to the murder was still circumstantial. And while it might be enough to hold him accountable in a civil trial, the burden of proof was much higher in a criminal case and what they had wouldn’t amount to a showing beyond a reasonable doubt.
“What about the DNA on the scarf?” Kara asked.
Sabina looked at Chad, who clicked back into his in-box to check for any messages from the HICC lab. “Nothing yet,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t find something, but DNA takes time.”
“But even if we find DNA on the scarf that supports what Sabina and I saw all those years ago, will it be enough to convict?” Kara asked.
Chad paused then lifted a shoulder. Sabina could feel his reluctance. He didn’t want to be the messenger of this particular message, but he wouldn’t gloss over the truth. “It’s possible, but it won’t be a slam-dunk case,” he answered.
“What would make it one?” Kara asked. “A slam dunk, as you say?”
“A confession,” Ethan said with a rueful twist of his lips. “If you got one of those, you might not even need to go to trial.”
“Then we’ll get one,” Kara said, startling Sabina with her vehemence.
“Um, it’s not that easy,” Sabina replied. “Don’t get me wrong, you know that I’d like one as much as you would. But getting someone to confess to murder isn’t like getting someone to confess to cheating on an exam.”
Kara sent her a withering look. Tinged with love, of course, but still withering. “Don’t patronize me, Sabina. I know it’s not easy. If we were going to get him to confess, though, how could we do it?”
“What do you mean by ‘we’?” Chad asked. His question was tentative, as if he didn’t want to hear her answer.
“Well, it’s safe to say that someone like Jacobs would never confess to the likes of you two,” Kara said, gesturing to Chad and Ethan. “That means it would be up to me and Sabina.”
Sabina glanced at Chad. His expression had gone stony, and it wasn’t because Kara had cast aspersions on his interrogation skills. No, he very much did not like the idea of her and Kara questioning Jacobs. Honestly, Sabina couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t too crazy about it, either. But Kara was right.Ifthey were going to try to get a confession, no way would Jacobs talk to anyone other than Kara and Sabina. And he definitely wouldn’t talk to a former FBI agent or naval officer.
Sabina took a minute to revisit her train of thought then she groaned.
“See, you know I’m right!” Kara exclaimed. Not only was she right, she had Sabina contemplating the possibility.
“It’s not a good idea, Sabina,” Chad said, his voice tight.
“I agree,” Sabina said. He let out a slow breath at her statement. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t at least consider it,” she added. His hand jerked in hers, but to his credit, he didn’t immediately shut the possibility down.
The tense silence was interrupted by the pilot’s voice filling the cabin to let them know they were starting their descent into Miami.
