“So we’re looking at major theft,” Adam said. “He’s the one who stole the three million.”
“Perhaps, but he didn’t orchestrate this scheme. He was party to it, but not the instigator, which is why he left. If we don’t find him before that person, he’ll be dead. These aren’t people who leave witnesses alive.”
Adam said, “You and Laura go to his house, then to Fitzpatrick. I’ll talk to the president about auditing their records. I’ll call you if anything pops.”
Because Laura had driven to Kerr County with her boss, Lucy took her to Frank Pollero’s home in Kerrville. He lived only two miles from the bank, in a quaint neighborhood that Lucy would have loved it if weren’t so far from San Antonio.
Lucy didn’t have any information on Mrs. Pollero, only the address. She drove up to the tasteful house. Nothing fancy or too simple, it fit in with the neighbors.
It would have helped if Lucy had more information about the Pollero family, but they didn’t have time to research and they only had a warrant for banking related to Denise Albright.
She knocked on the door. A few moments later, a much older woman answered the door. Frank was in his early fifties, but this woman was in her seventies.
“Mrs. Pollero?” Lucy asked.
“No, honey, Edith Walker.”
“Is Mr. Pollero home?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
Lucy showed her badge. “Special Agent Lucy Kincaid with the FBI. We’re looking to talk to Mr. Pollero regarding a matter at the bank. He’s not here?”
“No, he left early for work. He usually leaves at eight, but today he left before I even woke up.”
“And you’re his wife?”
“Oh no, honey. His mother-in-law. He graciously let me move in when I lost my home in Harvey. I wanted to rebuild, but he said I should stay here, be with family.”
“We’d like to talk to his wife.”
“My daughter died nearly four years ago. Breast cancer. It tore poor Frank up. His world revolved around Christina and their daughter, Penny. You can find Frank at the bank. Is everything okay? There wasn’t a bank robbery, was there? Six or seven years ago there was a robbery, and it was awful. One of the tellers was shot—she survived, thank the lord, but it was terrifying.”
“He didn’t show up for work today.”
“And they called the FBI? What’s wrong?”
“We just need to talk to him about one of his customers.”
“Well, I don’t know where he would be. Maybe he had a meeting at corporate headquarters.”
“Would you mind if we came in and looked around?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This isn’t my house, and I’m sure he’ll be home tonight.”
It was worth a try. Lucy handed Mrs. Walker her card. “If you talk to him, have him call me, okay? I spoke with him yesterday, he’ll know what it’s about. Do you know how to reach your granddaughter?”
“Yes, would you like to talk to her?”
“If that’s possible.”
“She lives outside San Antonio, in Boerne. Her husband is a doctor, isn’t that nice?”
The woman reached inside her sweater pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She put on the reading glasses that hung around her neck and then scrolled through her contacts. “Here’s her number.” She read it off for Lucy, who wrote it down.
“And her full name?”
“Penny Lopez. Penny, not Penelope. Her husband is Joshua. Dr. Joshua Lopez, isn’t that nice? He’s very respected. They have the most precious baby girl. Gracie. Isn’t that a cute name?”
“Thank you, Mrs. Walker.”
Lucy and Laura walked back to the car. Lucy dialed Penny’s number while Laura drove.
Four full rings later, a woman answered. “Hello?”
“Penny Lopez, please.”
“Speaking. Who is this?”
“This is FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid. Your father didn’t go to work today, and I was hoping to speak to him regarding a bank matter I discussed with him yesterday. He mentioned to me that he was planning a visit with you?” That was a guess on Lucy’s part, but if he was as close to his daughter as he appeared he would never attempt to leave the country without seeing her.
“You just missed him. We had breakfast together, though it was a surprise. He doesn’t usually skip work to visit.”
“I was in his office and saw your picture on his desk, he just mentioned in passing that he was going to see you soon. I just didn’t know it was today, and we’re trying to resolve a situation here.”
“It’s about an hour drive, so he should be back in Kerrville by eleven. He left here a little after ten.”
“And he said he was going back to work?”
Silence. “Well, I assumed.”
“Does he often surprise you during the workweek?”
“What’s going on?” she asked. “This doesn’t sound like anything to do with the bank.”
“We need to talk to him.”
“If you’re really working with the bank, you would have his cell phone number.”
“We already tried.” He’d turned his phone off and removed the battery, Lucy was pretty certain. They could get a warrant to ping the phone, but anyone on the run from the police wouldn’t keep it on them.
“I’ll call him and tell him you want to speak to him.”
“That would be great.” She gave Penny her number.
Lucy ended the call.
“You think that’s going to work?” Laura asked.
“She won’t be able to reach him. Fifty-fifty she’ll call me back. If she doesn’t call me, she’ll call the bank to try to find out what’s going on.”
“How did you guess he would visit his daughter?”
“He wouldn’t leave without seeing her. She’s his world, as Edith Walker said. And he has a granddaughter. He would want to see them. Say good-bye—even if they didn’t know he was saying good-bye.”
Lucy called Zach Charles, her squad analyst. “Zach, Frank Pollero is in the wind. I need a BOLO on him, notify the airports—all the major airports. He left Boerne at ten this morning.” That was fifteen minutes ago. “It’s a thirty-minute drive to San Antonio International, he’s traveling light, could have an eleven or twelve o’clock flight out. Or he could be heading to Austin or a bigger airport. Notify Border Control as well—he might try to drive out, then leave through a Mexican airport. I don’t have a good read on him, whether he has a bunch of fake IDs, but my inclination is no. He wasn’t planning on leaving, but he has some money—enough to at least get out of the country. But this was likely spontaneous and he hasn’t thought it through.”
“I’m on it. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thanks.”
“Why would he run?” Laura asked. “Because he was involved in the embezzlement?”
“I don’t think Denise Albright ever came in to authorize the change in the Kiefer accounts. I think that after her killer buried her and her family they convinced Pollero to say that she did. He found someone close enough to Albright in appearance so the picture would pass basic scrutiny. Once we get the analysis back on the paperwork compared to her signatory card, we should be able to prove it.” Maybe they paid him well—gave him a nest egg, his go-money if he ever got caught.