“We’re not talking about your purchase of the plane, Jake,” Mendoza said. “We’re talking about Eduardo Gomez’s purchase of the plane. If he bought the plane using drug money, then it doesn’t matter that you bought it with clean money. It was still originally purchased using tainted funds.”
“We do not need to prove the matter in a court of law,” Markley added. “We only need to have reasonable suspicion in order to impound the asset.”
Jake was starting to get angry now, but he kept his temper in check and his voice calm. “If you want to go down that road, you had better be prepared for a fight,” he said. “The title on that aircraft is quite clear. The bank that financed it for me did a very thorough investigation into the title—an investigation that they charged me nearly fifteen thousand dollars for, I might add. They were satisfied that the funds Eduardo Gomez used to purchase the aircraft from Piaggio Aerospace in Italy were from legitimate and legal sources of income.”
“Yes,” Mendoza said, as if he were talking to an idiot—which he probably thought he was. “That is because that money was laundered and made to appear legitimate through accounting practices that relied on Gomez’s coffee export business to disguise the actual source of the income.”
“I guess they did a pretty good job then,” Jake said, “because Piaggio Aerospace and Security Pacific Bank both signed off on the transaction. They would not have done that if there had been any questions about the source of the original funding.”
“Any provable questions,” Mendoza said.
“A fair point,” Jake allowed. “Do you have any provable questions that Piaggio and Security Pacific were unable to uncover?”
“We haven’t opened the investigation yet,” Mendoza said.
“Well, by all means, open the investigation if you think you need to,” Jake told them. “But if you impound my aircraft while you’re doing it, I’m going to come after you—both as an agency and personally—with every legal means at my disposal. And believe me, gentlemen, when you have as much money as I do, there are a lot of means. Not only will I hire the best, most specialized law firm to come after you, but Security Pacific will do the same. After all, you’re threatening to cause a default on a loan of more than three million dollars they just made, because you can bet your ass that if you impound this plane, I’m not paying a dime of the monthly payments.”
The two agents shared another look, this one a little more doubtful. It seemed they were starting to realize that Jake was not someone they could just intimidate into doing what they wanted.
“Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot here, Jake,” Mendoza finally said.
“Perhaps we did,” Jake agreed. “Look, guys, I’m not involved in the drug trade. Not in any way, shape, or form. I am willing to concede that Eduardo Gomez might be involved in it, but I had no knowledge of that when I entered into this agreement to purchase the plane with him. I used my provably legitimate income to make this purchase. The aircraft manufacturer and the bank that funded my loan have no questions about the source of the income originally used to purchase the aircraft. The title is free and clear and has been approved. All of the paperwork is in order. That is all I have to say. If you wish to speak to me further about this matter, you will have to make an appointment and I will make sure I have an attorney present. If you want to open a huge can of worms—worms that will have teeth—then you go ahead and impound the aircraft.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Jake,” Mendoza said politely. “We will, of course, continue to look into this, but we have no further questions for you at this time. As long as the customs agents do not find any irregularities, you are free to keep possession of the aircraft for now.”
“Fair enough,” Jake said.
The two agents walked away, heading for the entrance to the plane.
“Wow,” Suzie said as they walked away. “That was pretty intense.”
Jake simply shrugged. “It’s the life I chose,” he said.
Meanwhile, just over a hundred miles to the north, a serious breach of patient confidentiality was about to take place—again. This was a breach that would be investigated extensively and the perpetrator of it fired from her job and sued in civil court by her victim. It was a breach that would be mentioned in the United States House Chamber as the 104th Congress debated the final details of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act—which would become known as HIPAA—and would serve to sway a few members who had previously been hesitant to vote aye.
The perpetrator of this breech was a registration clerk at the Women’s and Children’s Center on the campus of Covington Medical Center in Santa Clarita. A large, modern hospital that had opened for business only five years before, it was where Mindy Snow had chosen to deliver her baby when the time came. And the time was nearly here. Though her actual due date was not until July 21, her doctor had arranged to have her admitted for a non-emergency induction on the morning of July 12, more than a week early.
Darcy Grover was the thirty-year-old clerk who took the call from Dr. Jonas Steinberg’s office regarding the admission and induction. She was not a nurse but had been working in this position for six years now and she knew that planning a routine induction more than a week before the actual due date was unusual indeed. Darcy had access to Mindy Snow’s chart and could see that there was no medical justification for such a thing. Mindy did not have gestational diabetes and the fetus was not overly large. There were, in fact, several medical reasons not to do an induction early. She smelled something sour here, something that probably had to do with Mindy’s Snow’s celebrity status, but she could not figure out what it was.
It should be noted at this point that Darcy Grover had a fairly intense dislike for Mindy Snow. Though she had never met her, she was a regular follower of celebrity gossip and knew that Mindy had been responsible for the breakup of Greg Oldfellow and Celia Valdez, who had been her absolute favorite celebrity couple. She thought that Greg was the most handsome man and often fantasized about him when she masturbated. And Celia was her favorite singer and favorite female celebrity of all time. She had a beautiful voice and seemed a very realistic person. The two of them had been natural together, obviously soulmates. And those vicious stories about Celia having sex with that lesbian pilot simply could not be true—just like those stories about Greg routinely cheating on her when they were married.
After putting the hold on the birthing suite for the next morning, Darcy went and talked to the day shift charge nurse to let her know that a VIP would be checking in the next day.
“Mindy Snow, huh?” Lynda Rogers, the charge nurse in question, commented when she was told. “I heard that she would be delivering here.” She sighed. “I guess we’ll have to pull out all the bells and whistles.”
“I noticed that her EDC is not until July 21,” Darcy said. “And she has no medical reason for early induction. Isn’t that kind of strange?”
Lynda, who had been working in labor and delivery departments in the greater Los Angeles area for more than twenty years simply shook her head. “Not with these celebrity types,” she said. “It’s a body thing.”
“A body thing?” Darcy asked, confused.
“How does Mindy Snow make her living?”
“With her acting,” Darcy said.
“That’s part of it,” Lynda allowed, “and I’m not suggesting that she isn’t a great actress, because she is, but it’s her looks that are the most important thing. She is a beautiful woman, and she needs to stay that way if she wants to keep getting roles. I’ve seen this time and time again with women who rely on their looks to get them through life. They eat a restrictive diet and exercise obsessively so they won’t gain any weight while they’re pregnant. They rub imported Greek extra-virgin olive oil on their bellies four times a day. And they want the baby out as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so. This all helps prevent stretch marks on their precious skin. And they want it out by induction instead of C-section. Induction doesn’t leave a scar on her their little flat bellies.”