Numbers Never Lie
Shelley K. Wall
Avon, Massachusetts
This edition published by
Crimson Romance
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
10151 Carver Road, Suite 200
Blue Ash, Ohio 45242
www.crimsonromance.com
Copyright © 2012 by Shelley K. Wall
ISBN 10: 1-4405-5163-4
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-5163-5
eISBN 10: 1-4405-5143-X
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-5143-7
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
Cover art © istockphoto / CTRd, 123rf.com
To my husband, Stan, for supporting all my dreams and desires throughout our years together.
And to my children, Tyler, Kyle, and Grace — The world is yours if you make it so (and if you eat your vegetables and exercise).
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
About the Author
Also Available
Acknowledgments
My sincerest thanks to my friends, Cindy Davis and Carol Bland, for their fantastic advice and support. My appreciation to Jennifer Lawler, for taking a chance on an unknown author, and inspiring me to work harder.
My love and adoration to my parents, Bob and Agnes Kurtz, who have taught me what hard work, respect, kindness, and loyalty really means — and more importantly what it can achieve.
Prologue
Lenny heard the door open and Sophie Henderson talking to someone. A rather husky male voice replied. The hairs on the back of Lenny’s neck prickled and he sucked in his breath. Sophie was supposed to be out all evening with that big guy he’d seen her talking to. What was she doing here? He glanced at the papers on the counter in the kitchen. He needed to get them but they were impossible to reach from across the room. He had the others from her desk but if he didn’t get all the copies, it wouldn’t matter. No time to grab them now. Most importantly, he couldn’t be seen. He looked around for somewhere to hide, or a way out of the apartment — a window or something. Nothing came to his immediate attention. He rushed down the hall, checking each of the rooms for an escape or, at least, camouflage. The spare bedroom was impeccable — apparently unused. So maybe it would work until they left. He ducked into the room and burrowed into the closet, slinking down onto the floor in the corner. He pulled the clothes in front of him.
The pile of papers in Sophie’s office proved enough to know she had suspicions. The numbers didn’t lie … they never did. He’d lived with numbers like this all his life; they’d been his friends through hard times. They’d been his enemy, too. They’d even been his bargaining chip a few times. He was a slave to the numbers and it was imperative to watch them carefully now if he and his associates intended to get out of this one cleanly. Manipulating them was easy — a cakewalk. He’d done it several times. Lately, though, the frequent need to make adjustments was frustrating.
But Sophie posed a problem and he needed to curtail her digging fast before it became harder to deal with. At the present moment, she was almost at the point of discovery, but hiding it better than the guy before. That would make it easier for them to deal with. Regardless, if something wasn’t done about this right away, she’d figure it all out and he’d be done. Done with his career. With his family. With life. And the others would pretend they knew nothing about it, silently sitting on their little stockpiles.
He intended to retire next year — but planned to siphon off another two or three hundred thousand first. Then the nest egg would be sufficiently big enough for him to live on for the remaining years. They weren’t really hurting anyone by doing this — the money just sat there. The fact that they never seemed to notice or care that the reports were sometimes off showed him that this amounted to “peanuts” for them. They were a government contractor and as long as they kept spending it, the government kept giving them more.
Besides, if the company hired an accounting department that didn’t know how to balance the books and find missing dollars, then they pretty much deserved to lose money. Isn’t that what a competent staff does?
But unfortunately for Lenny, Sophie seemed a lot smarter than the rest of them, and if he didn’t deal with her, she’d ruin it all. Her footsteps clip-clopped down the hallway, getting louder as they advanced. He shrunk deeper into the closet, pulling the musty sleeve of a jacket over his face. He even tucked his shoes under the box on the floor in front of him. The steps plodded past to the back bedroom, the clatter of shoes falling on tile filled the silence. Then the sound of a shower running reached him for a second before a door closed. She was in the bathroom. Did he hear singing?
In a way, there was a thrill to her involvement that enticed him. All this time, only two people had even noticed. And one of them was dead. It was, well, more than a little easy to hide, and therefore, boring. Not so boring now, though. He would need to be more careful in the future. First, he needed to get out of this damn apartment.
Chapter One
A streak of lightning shot into the transformer on the corner, sending fireworks everywhere. “Shit!” Trev cursed, and ducked his head further under his car hood. He had opened it as a prop so that he could attempt to get a better view of Sophie Henderson leaving her building, but now he debated the logic in standing next to all this metal under the circumstances.
Getting soaked to the skin by a rainstorm didn’t bother him. The brisk breeze sliced through his jacket and chilled his head, hands, and arms now that he was drenched. He grasped the edges of his stocking hat and tugged it down further over his ears. Drips of water from the car hood trickled along the back of his neck. His ears reverberated with residual crackling from the lightning strike. No sense in doing this at all, I can’t see a damn thing … and even though the engine wasn’t a problem before, it’ll be soaking wet now, so it may not start.
“Oh shit!” his own words played back through his earphones. “You’re supposed to watch her, you dumbass, not talk to her!”
“What the hell are … ?” The last thing he needed was his partner, Nate, to get sarcastic right now. He wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t get the last words out before a wet, cold hand rested lightly on his forearm.
“Are you okay?” Sophie hovered next to him with that oversized red umbrella sheltering her, him, and practically the entire hood of his car. He’d never seen her up close but he knew the umbrella well. He’d watched it going in and out of the building across the street more than a few times lately.
“Yeah. Yeah, just having a little car trouble.” Trev looked down at the hand on his arm and smiled without raising his head. Tipping his head further caused ra
in to run down his face and drip off his chin in a constant stream. He ignored her. Think, he told himself. He needed to figure out how to handle this, and quick. He’d blown his cover. Now she’d seen his face and he wouldn’t be able to tag along anymore.
“Get the hell out of there, you idiot.” Nate’s disgusted blast burned in his ear. Trev had had enough of his sideline coaching. It was pouring. How the hell could a person see someone coming across the street in this downpour, especially with the lightning flash blinding him? He’d hated lightning ever since childhood. He played soccer in junior high and lightning struck the goal while they practiced once. It sent their goalie to the hospital with severe burns and knocked him and half the rest of the team off their feet. His ears rang for at least a day afterward.
“You need to get out of the rain, mister. You almost got electrocuted right there. That transformer is still throwing sparks.” Sophie pointed at the fizzling shards of light spewing overhead. She stood so close under the umbrella; he could smell her perfume — something spicy, kind of like burning wood. Her wet hand chilled his arm, yet the feminine fingers were long, slender, and void of polish or jewelry. She pulled her hand back to the umbrella.
“I know. I just need to get this damn thing fixed and then I’ll be on my way.” Without looking up, Trev considered his options. Should he just close the hood as if the car was now repaired, and get in and drive off? Or maybe pretend he intended to go call a tow truck somewhere? No, that would be stupid — the cell phone in his pocket offered a better option.
“Look, this car can wait. You’re going to get killed either by lightning or a passing car. With all this rain, you’re almost invisible.” She was getting soaked as well and it was obvious she was nervous being out there.
“I’m not the one holding the lightning rod in my hand, ma’am, and standing in the street next to the car.”
She ignored his smartass remark, checking for traffic. As her glance strayed down the street, Trev’s eyes flickered sideways at her, taking in the details. He noticed how the rain curled her hair into tight ringlets. In his line of work, one was trained to identify the shape of the eyes in suspects. Almond. Round. Narrow. Hers emanated round, shaped more like a macadamia nut than an almond. Face Shape: Heart? Oval? Oval. Build? Yeah. She was built. At thirty-two, his hormones shouldn’t react so quickly but they did, as if he were still sixteen.
“I’ll make a deal with you. Let’s go in that coffee shop over there on the corner.” She motioned to the lights down the street, practically indistinguishable in the rain. As she moved, he got another whiff of her perfume. “I’ll buy you a coffee. We can both dry off and you can call a tow truck.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be okay … you go ahead.” The assignment to follow at a distance and not make contact shattered. Most of his assignments were planned well in advance, each step carefully calculated. Improvising sometimes occurred out of necessity, but he obsessed on following orders and this wasn’t part of the plan. He was supposed to stay unseen so he could observe the suspects and their interactions. Perhaps the time for improvisation had arrived.
Nate’s voice rattled away in his ear, “Abort, man! Abort! Get out of there! Has she seen your face? Are you completely blown or what?”
Trev yanked the earplugs out of his ears.
“Doesn’t the water ruin those things?”
“What?”
“Your iPod or iPhone. Whatever you’re listening to. Doesn’t the rain fry them?”
If that was what it really was, maybe so. This one did a lot more than just music, however, and was built to withstand the most severe weather conditions.
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess I’ll find out, won’t I?” No eye contact. He managed to avoid facing her directly. His knit stocking hat, though wet, still covered his head and ears. Continuing to assess the engine for no reason, he weighed the possibility that she might be able to pick him out of a crowd if she saw him again.
“Mister, I’m trying to be a Good Samaritan here, but you’re not making this easy. I don’t really want to see on the news tomorrow that some guy with a broken down car got ran over by a semi truck in the rain right after I walked away. But … I don’t really want to be on the news, either. So, would you please walk across the street with me to that coffee shop and get a stupid coffee? Once I leave, you can do whatever you choose. Of course, if you’re smart, you’ll leave that car where it is until the rain and lightning subside.”
Trev considered the offer. If he complied, Sophie Henderson would know his face, build, and pretty much everything she needed to identify him in the future, so his days of following her would be over. Did it matter? Maybe he should just go along with this and learn as much as possible. He had been under strict instructions to follow from a distance until they gleaned more information, but if he just played along that might actually speed up this gig. Funny, she didn’t really look like the criminal type, but then, they never do. Another lightning flash crossed the sky above them, followed by the associated loud thunderclap.
“Coffee sounds great right now, I guess.” He stood up from under the hood of the car and his head bumped the red fabric of the umbrella, sending drips running down his cheek. He dropped the hood down and turned toward the amber glow of the lights that came from the distant coffee shop.
“Thank you. You just saved my life.” Sophie said. She smiled and turned also, holding the umbrella above his head, her arm extended almost completely in order to get above his full length “We’ll see about that. No one in their right mind would be driving in this mess. Besides, I thought you intended to save my life.” He reached for the umbrella handle. “Here, let me hold that.”
She shot a glance sideways at him and released the handle. He noticed that keeping up with him required her to almost run alongside his lengthy stride. He contemplated slowing down, he wanted them out of this mess as soon as possible.
“Thanks.” She smiled as he opened the door to let her pass. The aroma of brewed coffee hit them instantly, along with the warmth of the heated room. He closed the umbrella, shook it, and entered behind her, propping the umbrella against the wall just inside the door so it wouldn’t drip all over the floor.
“You’re welcome.” His parents had forced him to open doors for women, children, the elderly, and pretty much anyone else as a child. He did it mechanically this time, thoughts on his job. And right now this woman represented his job. He’d screwed up and gotten too close.
Inside, Trev pulled off his hat and shook it over the floor mat. Water shot everywhere and while it was probably his last vestibule of transparency, the purpose for wearing it evaporated. It would look ridiculous now.
Sophie turned to him, smiling a huge toothy smile. “So, what’ll it be?”
Wow. He forced his eyes to remain steady. From a distance, she was noticeable but not really someone that would make you stop and stare. Up close, wow, he stopped and stared.
“Oh, um … ” He smiled at the clerk behind the counter. Stacy didn’t say anything and he appreciated that. Probably not wise for her to make it known he frequented this shop so much. Stacy was cute and he’d flirted with her a lot while he sat watching the building, pretending to read the paper. He thought about asking her out once but decided against it. “Medium latte, plain, please.”
He drank enough beverages in this shop to buy stock in it. He’d languished over two cups of coffee just this morning. The latte was his favorite but he didn’t drink too many because the milk didn’t always set well on an empty stomach. While he liked the coffee in this place, the food sucked — all that fancy muffin and croissant crap. He preferred cereal or eggs and bacon.
“I’ll have the same.” She echoed his order from behind.
Trev glanced around the room, noticing the people. He’d always been the observant type, a trait that adapted well to his investigative work. He never missed a detail, or at least not very often. Outside the window, Nate walked by and shot him an angry glance bef
ore moving on.
Sophie followed behind Trev and couldn’t see anything, so he just flashed him a smartass smile. The lady in the corner with two kids never looked up. She busily scolded the kids to stay off the furniture and sit still until Daddy showed up. Two men with laptops sat at tables by the back wall. One clasped a cell phone in one hand, talking animatedly with the other side of his conversation; his free hand moved and waved as if it helped to explain what he said. That epitomized stupidity since the person he was talking to couldn’t see his overzealous hand gestures. Maybe he just did it to look important to everyone in the coffee shop.
Trev sat at a small round table at the street side window so he could see his car. If someone happened to come along, the likelihood that they’d see the car in this downpour was slim. If it got hit, he would get his ass chewed out tomorrow. He silently prayed no one would come along.
“Aren’t you going to call a tow?” She came up beside him and set her cup on the table across from him.
“I thought I might just wait a little and see if the rain slows enough for me to get back out there.” He tipped his cup at her and added, “Thanks for the warm-up juice.”
“Thanks for letting me convince you to get out of the rain.” She slipped her wet jacket off her shoulders and hung it over the back of the chair before sitting on the tall stool. “So, you must be one of those guys that does all his car work himself, huh?”
“What?”
“You know. The car hood’s up, you don’t want to call a tow. Are you a closet mechanic?” Sophie hesitated, then added, “Or maybe you’re not a closet one but a real one?”
“Nope to both questions — but it’s late and I don’t think anyone’s going to come out in this weather. So I thought I’d take a look myself.” Trev hoped the rain would dry up soon so she’d leave and he could wait an acceptable amount of time before leaving himself. He found it increasingly uncomfortable to sit with her and not stare. He usually avoided the awkwardness of idle conversation with women — or anyone really. He shifted his eyes around the room briefly, then glanced in the direction of his car, and finally back to her.
Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) Page 1