The Plan (17 page)

My emotions burst open and I started to
cry.
“
Don
’
t cry,
”
Harvey said.
“
Everything
’
s going to work out, I promise.
”

With that, I excused myself and rushed
into the bathroom. For the moment, I had forgotten that the whole conversation
was captured on tape. I stood in the bathroom, weeping.

What have I done?

I took my cell phone from my pocket,
dialed the number and placed the phone to my ear.
“
Robert, I can
’
t go through with this.
”

“
Kelly,
get a hold of yourself,
”
he
said.

“
I can
’
t,
I just can
’
t,
”
I replied, still weeping and sobbing.
“
I think I love him.
”

“
Kelly,
don
’
t fall for his con,
remember what he did to your
—”

Click.

I hung up. I looked in the mirror and saw
my mascara smudged in the corner of my eyes, dripping down my face like
jet-black blood.

I
’
ve got to stop it.

I opened the bathroom door to go back
Harvey, to tell him that I loved him.

“
Harvey
—”

“
Kelly
—”

We both said each other
’
s names at the same time, followed by a
relived and awkward laugh.

“
You
go first,
”
Harvey
said.

“
No,
you go first,
”
I
insisted.

“
Penny
—”
he blurted
out.
 

“
What
did you say?
”

“
That
was her name,
”
he
answered.
“
That
night in Vegas, the New York, New York, you kept asking me who you reminded me
of
…
her name was Penny.
”

At that moment, my blood pressure shot
through the roof. I wanted to scream; I wanted to punch him in the face, but
before I had time to react, a knock at the door interrupted me. I did not make
a move.

Harvey looked at me and said,
“
I
’
ll
explain it to you later.
”
He
walked to the door and opened it.
“
Hi, I
’
m Harvey Goldman,
”
he said as he reached out and shook their
hand.

Larry and Robert entered and introduced
themselves before sitting down on the couch. They began with small talk and
then got straight down to business. Harvey made his presentation, offering
offshore guarantees
—
large
and quick returns
—
and
explaining how they would be paid and how to hide their money so they wouldn
’
t pay taxes.

“
Everyone
is doing it these days,
”
Harvey
declared.

Larry asked a few procedural questions,
wanting to know how the money would move around. The questions were part of the
rehearsal that Larry and Robert had worked on earlier. Harvey responded by
saying,
“
It
’
s all legal
…
well, in foreign banks, anyway. But don
’
t you worry about a thing, Harvey Goldman
is on the case.
”
He
laughed
and Robert and Larry laughed with him.

Larry questioned Harvey again,
intentionally asking about SEC regulations and investment laws in order to use
it against him in a court of law. Harvey took the bait and rambled on,
convicting himself. Robert and Larry took the pen from Harvey and started
signing the documents. I sat on the barstool in the kitchen area, my mind in a
mess. My anger was building and I did not know if I could hold it together. I
had to do something.

I walked into the second bedroom where my
purse was, and came back out a few minutes later. I pranced up to the table as
Robert was signing his forms and I threw a check for $50,000 on the table.
“
Here, Uncle Peter
,
”
I told him,
“
invest some for me.
”

Robert looked at me and said,
“
What are you doing?
”

“
I
want to make an initial investment,
”
I
replied.
“
For
my sister.
”

We were interrupted by a knock on the
door. I turned, shocked, wondering who it could be.

 
Larry jumped up and said,
“
I
’
ll
get it.
”

He answered the door to one of the female
agents I had seen earlier. She walked right up to me and said,
“
There
’
s my favorite niece. Are you ready to go
shopping? Everyone
’
s
waiting for you.
”

Larry chimed in,
“
You go ahead, Kelly, we
’
ll pull the door shut when we leave.
”

“
Get
your purse now, we gotta go,
”
the
woman said, placing her hand on my shoulder and giving me a gentle shove. I
followed her lead, walking out of the door, not entirely sure what was
happening. I found out later, it was plan
“
B
”
which
had been set up in case I did anything to jeopardize the execution, or failed
to keep my composure.

***

The next day, I changed my cell phone
number. I was instructed to stay at Penny
’
s house until further notice, for my own
protection. Sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette, I replayed in my
mind what Harvey had said.

Her name was Penny.

I finally got him to admit it, but not
when and where I wanted him to. All I heard from Robert was,
the wheels are
in motion
, and
just have patience.
It was
easy for him to
say, he wasn
’
t the
one who had lost his sister.

Two weeks went by and nothing changed.
Waiting was not my specialty. I wanted to get back to my life. I missed my car.
I missed Janine. I missed Vegas. But was that really my life? Harvey said he
changed, but it seemed that
I
was the one who had changed.
 

Three weeks. Four weeks. Then two months
passed. I wondered how long it was going to take. I was getting cabin fever. I
needed to get away. Then the day finally arrived: I received the call. The
initial investment was tracked and the money trailed. Harvey thought he wired
the money into an offshore bank, but he actually sent it to a phony account set
up by the FBI. Warrants were pending and his personal and business bank
accounts were frozen.

“
It
’
s just a matter of days,
”
Larry told me.
“
Oh, yeah, your $50,000 is evidence and it
will take a while to get it to you.
”

Like I really cared.

I decided I would go to Vegas, get my car
and go on a road trip to wherever I felt like going, but not before I went to
my hair stylist. I had my hair cut shoulder-length and colored it. I was now a
dirty brunette with red highlights; I also darkened my eyebrows back to brown.

When I arrived in Vegas, I called Rick to
pick me up at the airport, the first words out of his mouth were,
“
He
’
s here.
”

“
Who?
”
I asked.

“
Harvey
Goldman.
”

Harvey had been looking for me for the
past two weeks. He was staying at the New York, New York hotel waiting for me
to show up. I went straight to the Monte Carlo to check on my car, then to my
room to get a shower. I called the hotel main desk and requested for Reuben. I
needed a favor
—
not
that kind of favor. He came to my room and I told him that someone was stalking
me and that I needed him and someone to teach him a lesson.

Three days later, Robert called to check
on me and I told him I was in Las Vegas, to which he replied,
“
So am I.
”

Robert and Larry, along with several
agents, arrived that morning. A warrant for Harvey's arrest was issued and they
began looking for him.

“
The
local sheriff
’
s
department has gone to all of Harvey
’
s hot
spots, but no luck finding him,
”
Robert
said.
“
You
were with him for weeks, is there any place you know he could be hiding?
”

Sure, I know where he is, but I
’
m not telling.

“
I don
’
t
know where he could be,
”
I
said.
“
But
if I hear anything, I
’
ll
let you know.
”

Rick followed Harvey
’
s every move, monitoring all of his
financial and business activities. With his assets frozen, Harvey was in the
hotel casino spending his days gambling. He also kept a large amount of cash on
hand, and his last ditch effort to recoup his losses was to win big. If anyone
could win, it would be him. He was in a different casino every day, raking in
the chips at the tables. His winnings were beyond a streak of luck.

***

It was almost midnight when Rick called to
tell me where Harvey was gambling. He was on a roll and getting a lot of
attention.

“
What
do you mean by that?
”
I
asked Rick.

“
He
’
s got an entourage, there are onlookers
and fans crowded around him because he is winning so much money.
”

Playing
Wheel of Fortune
at the
Flamingo, Harvey won over a million dollars.

I immediately called Reuben and told him
where Harvey was so he could take care of him. I was debating whether to call Robert
or not, but day after day, all I could hear in my mind was Harvey
’
s voice saying,
“
Her name was Penny.
”
No matter how hard I tried, I could not
erase it from my thoughts. I wanted revenge, he had to pay for what he did to
my sister.

With Rick keeping an eye on Harvey, Reuben
and his men would struggle to get close enough to confront him, so I called
Rick and asked him to pick me up from my hotel. I texted Reuben and let him
know what was going on, he messaged me back to say he would let me know when it
had been dealt with.

As this was happening, Harvey was cashing
in his winnings. He had done what he set out to do, winning enough money to
reimburse Larry and Robert
’
s
investment, along with my investment of $50,000. He left through the back door
of the casino and walked to his car, parked around the back of the casino. He
stopped short and walked behind a dumpster to pee. As he stood against the
wall, taking a leak, Reuben and his guys decided to seize their opportunity.

On our way to the Flamingo, sitting in the
back of Rick
’
s
car, I got the text from Reuben that said,
“
Situation handled.
”

Harvey
’
s vulnerable position, taking a piss,
prevented him from defending himself and Reuben
’
s friends had knocked him unconscious and
robbed him, stealing over a million dollars of cash and chips. I called Robert
and told him what casino Harvey was at. The FBI agents were in pursuit, while
Rick and I headed to the Flamingo; the chase was on.

Rick and I arrived at the casino, but we
couldn
’
t see
Harvey anywhere. Fifteen minutes later, Robert showed up. His agents, along
with several local police officers, stood in the hotel lobby, ready to split up
and search for Harvey. Meanwhile, Harvey regained consciousness. Bruised and
battered, and a victim of assault and robbery, he stumbled his way back into
the casino to report the incident to the casino security.