Bennie and the Ace of Hearts

Chapter 4

Adam

I received an email from Dan Winter with a summary of what Dan thought were three other cases that might match the pattern of the Cabot case. I had a few follow up questions for Dan so I gave him a call.

“Hey Dan, it’s Adam, thanks for the email, so you think these three cases might be the same guy as mine?”

He said, “well, I can’t say it’s 100%, but I would definitely check them all out.”

I asked, “so where is the Bureau on these three cases?”

Dan paused, “we really aren’t anywhere on them.”

“So, what does that mean?” I asked.

He said, “sorry Adam, it’s just not a priority right now.”

I thought a minute, “the FBI doesn’t consider cybercrime a priority?”

“Of course, they do, but in all these cases the only reason we were looking at them was because we were investigating the guys that got hacked. They were all criminals, they never reported the hacks, we just found out about the hacks after we had arrested them. The first two were drug dealers and the last one was scamming old people. The kicker is, after we arrested the guys the victims all received an anonymous letter with all or a large portion of their money back. In the two drug cases, large donations were made to hospitals and rehab centers or to local high schools with the money designated for drug prevention programs. In each case the donations totaled about the same amount that was hacked. That’s why we called him Robin Hood.” Dan told me.

“Wait, what do you mean “about the same amount”?” I asked.

He continued, “it appears our Robin Hood keeps, shall we say, a finder’s fee for his trouble.”

I asked, “so will you go back and look into them later?”

Dan laughed, “sure, just as soon as we solve the rest of the open cases we have. I think we have a lead on the Jimmy Hoffa case, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

I chuckled too, “ok, I get it, you got the really bad guy, but you can let the lesser bad guy go.”

“Well, sort of.” He said.

I jump in, “but wait, you said that he was only going after bad guys, why did he hit Cabot?”

He said, “I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to figure that out. Adam, the FBI has open investigation on John Cabot.”

I asked, “for what?”

Dan answered, “you know I can’t say too much, but we think he is bringing in more than just plastic cups and cheap toys in those containers.”

“Ok, I get the idea, is there anything else you can tell me?” I ask.

He replied, “just look at his financials, if you have access, that’s what we are looking at.”

I press on, “are you close to making a move?”

He chuckled, “we have already, but it looks like he is being tipped off. Every time we move in, the containers are clean.”

“Thanks Dan, I really appreciate all your help, if you come across anything else that might help my case, please let me know.”

“Sure thing Adam, you do the same.” He adds.

I assured him I would pass anything I found along and hung up the phone. I heard Dallas printing in the outer office, he pulled the stack of paper from the printer as he came into my office.

He started, “ok, so Cabot imports plastic plates and cups, toys and a lot of those cheap things you find at any dollar store. He buys the stuff for 25 cents, sells it to a distributor for 50 cents and they sell it for $1, normal stuff for that kind of crap. He has about 200 regular employees and about as many contractors that work whenever a container comes into port.”

I listen as Dallas continues, “He is in his second marriage, has three kids, 1 with the first wife, 2 with the second, all three are in private schools. His business seemed to grow faster than most and he has gotten into the high society scene in the last couple of years, you know invited to a lot of parties and charity events.”

I asked, “what do you mean his business grew fast than most?”

He smiled, “I knew you would ask about that, most other importers take five years or more to be profitable and then a couple more to bring in the money Cabot makes. I was able to look at his financials, not the details but just basic balance sheets and profit and loss reports. I could see what he imported in merchandise and what he sold, they lined up. What was strange is about once a month, there is an extra deposit of about a million dollars. He was able to pay off his initial business loan a couple years early.”

I sat back in my chair, “that’s why the FBI is watching him.”

He rolled his eyes, “of course you already knew that, I was saving it for the grand finale.”

I said, “I have a few sources too, I can’t let you have all the fun.”

Dallas asked, “so what do you think? Are those containers full of drugs?”

I nodded, “that would be my first guess. Do you know where these containers are shipped from?”

He looked through his papers, “most from China, one a month from South America.”

I raised an eyebrow, “I think your assumption may be justified.”

Dallas gave me his report and I read every page. He may be a big pain the ass most of the time, but Dallas was very thorough when he gathers information on any of our cases. I tried to be careful about who I worked for. I would never take a job with anyone involved in anything illegal. I was going to need to find out if that was the case with John Cabot.

I headed down to customs office near the docks, I asked for the agent in charge. A few minutes later I was introduced to Jerry Boothe.

I explained that I was working for Cabot Imports and asked about the containers he checked in for them.

Boothe said, “of course, Cabot is one of our bigger importers, their paperwork is always in order, we rarely have any issues with them.”

I asked him a few more questions and he couldn’t say enough good things about John Cabot or his company.

“Thank you, Agent Boothe I appreciate your help, I am glad you were able to confirm my information.” I turned to leave.

I got in my car and headed back into the city, there was something Boothe wasn’t telling me, or he was lying, I am not sure which.

I decided to get a coffee and type up my notes from my meetings this morning. Before I went to docks, I did some checking on Jeff Thomas. I didn’t get the feeling that he would do anything like this, but I always make sure that it isn’t an inside job. I confirmed that Jeff was probably not the hacker, he was living well within his means, his last couple jobs were legitimate and from his resume, I would hire him to work for me in a heartbeat.

I got my coffee and sat at a corner table and pulled out my laptop. I was just finishing up my notes as a good-looking guy asked if he could sit at my table. He flashed such a cute smile, I couldn’t refuse, he introduced himself as Bennie. He had piercing blue eyes, sandy blonde hair, deep tan, and two-day scruff on his perfectly shaped face. I fell under his spell once he started talking to me, I guess he was what you could call charming. When he tricked me into looking at a picture of a guy that he wanted to ask out, and it turned out to be me, I was hooked.

I returned his grin, “I guess it does work, I might have to try that trick next time I see a guy I like.”

His grinned widened, “oh now that you have met me, you won’t even look at any other guys.”

Ok, he’s a very confident guy, this just caused me to fall even further under his spell.

I said, “oh really, I don’t even know you yet.”

He waved his hand, “well, you already know that I am adorable, don’t worry, you will learn all you need to know tonight at dinner.”

I raised an eyebrow, “oh, is that an invitation?”

He slid a napkin toward me, “of course, what else? This is my address, shall we say 8ish?”

He stood and turned to walk out the door, I sat in awe as I watched his sexy ass leave, still amazed that this all just happened.

I walked back into my office, Dallas followed me in and gave me a few updates on the information he had given me earlier. I updated him on the meeting at the customs office, I told him I thought something was off there, but didn’t know what. He told me he would see what he could find on Jerry Boothe as he walked out to his desk.

I went back to work on trying to trace the money from the Cabot account, I talked to Jeff Thomas as I was searching. I sat back in my chair to try and clear my head.

Dallas yelled from his desk, “why do you have Bennett T Harlow II’s address?”

I looked out at Dallas, “what are you talking about?”

He came into my office with his laptop, “I saw the napkin with an address on your desk, I searched it, it belongs to Bennett T. Harlow II.”

He sat the laptop in front of me with a picture of Bennie on the screen, I read the short bio on the Harlow Industries web site.

I looked at Dallas, “this guy sat by me at the coffee shop today, he said his name was Bennie, he asked me to come to his place for dinner tonight and he gave me that napkin.”

Dallas asked, “are you going?”

I nodded, “I was planning on it, he was very convincing.”

He chuckled, “being rich and this good looking didn’t hurt either, did it?”

I looked back at the picture, “I knew about the good-looking part, but I wasn’t aware that he was rich.”

Dallas smirked as he left, “if you decide to throw him back, try and throw him my direction.”

I tried to get back to the task at hand but found myself checking out the Harlow website and staring into those blue eyes. I was finally able to get back to work and found a few things to check on in the morning. I finished my day and headed home to get ready for my date, it was going to be the first real date that I have had in months. Oh, I had gone out with a few guys, but they ended in nothing more than a hook up and a couple of wasted evenings.

I plugged Bennie’s address into my GPS and headed out, I turned into a nice neighborhood. I was surprised at how modest the area was, I guess I was expecting something fancier. I pulled into the driveway of a simple one-story home with a well-groomed lawn and tastefully landscaped. There appeared to be a large garage behind the house, I parked near the front door. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Bennie answered, “hey, right on time, come on in.” He closed the door behind me. “Welcome to my home.”

I smiled, “thank you, it’s very nice and something smells good.”

He said, “I hope you like pasta, I made it with my special sauce.”

“I love pasta.” I replied.

He led me to the kitchen, “can I get you a drink, I’m having a Crown Royal on the rocks.”

I nodded, “that sounds good.”

I watched him make my drink, rarely taking my eyes off of his sweet ass, he was wearing a snug pair of khakis and a dark blue button-down shirt. I looked around the house, the furniture was of good quality but not over the top “rich people” furniture that I was expecting. I sat on a stool at the kitchen island as Bennie handed me my drink and went back to preparing our dinner.

He said, “I’m glad you decided to come out tonight, I really would like to get to know you better.”

I chuckled, “yeah, how could I refuse an invitation like that, and that pick-up line was very original.”

He flashed me that grin, “you liked that, huh?”

I said, “it worked, didn’t it? So, tell me about Bennie.”

He raised an eyebrow, “there isn’t a lot to tell, I’m just a simple guy, I sort of work in the family business and kind of freelance on the side.” He placed our plates on the Island and sat next to me as we continued talking.

I took a bite of my pasta, it was delicious by the way, “so you just “sort” of work for Harlow Industries?”

He looked at me over the top of his glass as he took a drink, “I should have known a cyber investigator was going to do his homework.”

I laughed, “well, my assistant did, he saw an address on a napkin laying on my desk and took it upon himself to do some research. Wait, how did you know what I do for a living?”

Again, flashing that grin, he said, “your assistant isn’t the only one who knows how to do research.”

We talked as we finished our dinner, he told me about his role with Harlow Industries being mostly symbolic and he had nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the business. He cleared the dishes, and we went into the living room to continue our conversation. Another couple of drinks and we were both feeling relaxed as we sat on the couch.

He leaned in to kiss me, I returned the kiss willingly. He said, “you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen, I have wanted to kiss those lips since the first time I saw you.”

I felt myself blush, “thank you, you’re not half bad yourself.” He leaned in for another deep kiss.

He took my hand, “would you like to continue this in the bedroom?”

I panted, “yes, I would.”

We were stripping as soon as we were inside the room, as good as he looked fully clothed, he was much sexier when he was completely naked. He was slimmer than I am, but his chest was well defined with just a light dusting of blonde hair between his erect nipples, the left one sporting a silver hoop. The same blonde hair lead down his flat toned stomach and spreading out under his navel to the top of his underwear. I hooked my fingers into his waistband and tugged down the black boxer-briefs, revealing a thick seven-inch cock that seemed happy to meet me, sticking straight out over a full pair of plum sized balls. His muscular legs were covered in the same blonde hair that I was now was running my hands through as we continued our passionate kiss. We felt onto the bed and quickly moved into a sixty-nine position, he tasted just as good as he looked. I felt him wrap his lips around my dick, holy shit, he knew how suck a cock, I was in heaven. I only hope I was giving as good as I was getting. Bennie grabbed my ass with both hands while he continued the assault on my aching cock, he slipped a finger in my ass. I became lightheaded and moaned as his dick fell from my mouth. He grinned, “oh, you seemed to like that.”

I panted, “God yes, I need you to fuck me right now.”

He pushed my legs up in the air and he rammed his tongue in and out of my pucker, getting me good and wet. The cool air rushed across my hole as he took his tongue away. I was disappointed for only a moment, then I felt the head of his warm cock at my entrance. Bennie slowly pushed in until I felt his nuts resting on my ass. He soon pulled back slowly and pushed back, then picking up speed until the bed was pounding against the wall. Our breath quickened and a few strokes later we were both emptying our nuts, he into my hole and me across our hot sweaty chests.

Bennie fell on top of me, pushing his tongue into my mouth as his cock fell from my hole. He rolled onto his back beside me, “holy shit, that was intense.”

I took a breath, “yeah, just a little bit.”

We cleaned up and crawled under the cover and fell asleep in each other’s arms.