“I was there to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.” He shook his head. “I thought for a minute I was going to have to pull Dad off of Wally. That guy’s a real a…jerk,” he finished. “Once talk settled down, I slipped out. Dad’s still trying to cover for Uncle Max.” He gave a weary sigh. “I don’t know why he would disappear like this. It makes him look bad, and doesn’t make it easy for the rest of the family living in town.”
I frowned at him. “Do you think Max embezzled the money? Why would he do something like that?” I didn’t want to believe Max would do that to the town, or his brother.
“Max was a screw-up, no doubt about that, but I thought he’d changed.” He shook his head. A sun-bleached lock of hair fell over his forehead. I tried not to notice that either. “I hate to think he would do something like that, but I just can’t say.” We started down the auditorium steps.
“Have you talked to the assistant treasurer? He should be the one with the secondary authorization to transfer money.”
He bristled at my question. “I don’t need you telling me how to do my job.”
“I wasn’t telling you how to do your job.” It was my turn to bristle. “I just asked a simple question.” I turned away from him. I wasn’t going to stick around if he was going to argue with me.
His long strides kept pace with mine. “To answer your question, I have talked to him. He hadn’t been aware there were any problems with the accounts until this morning. When Max failed to show up and didn’t call in sick, he started checking. That’s when he discovered the accounts were empty.”
He drew a deep breath of cool air, and changed the subject. “You getting settled in here all right?”
“Yeah, after all the moving I did in my growing up years, I learned to settle pretty fast.” I had spent every summer with Dad in Texas, and the school year with Mom. I just never knew where that would be. That made school a little rough.
“Yeah, it would get tough after a while. I was always glad Mom didn’t insist I go with her when she and Dad split up.”
“I saw her a few times while I was in college. She hasn’t changed much.”
He gave a small chuckle. “She still comes up for the holidays. As you can imagine, that doesn’t go over very well with this wife.”
“No, I imagine it doesn’t.” Jane wanted to be the center of everyone’s attention. She wouldn’t want an ex-wife hanging around. During the time I’d lived in Pine Mountain, Mona had joined us for every holiday. There was no need to extend an invitation, she simply showed up. That’s just the way things were.
I always thought she might have been part of the reason Jim and Mom split up. But that wasn’t the case. Mom has a touch of wanderlust, as well as a short attention span. She never wanted to settle in one place for very long.
Using the key fob, I unlocked the door of my car. Drake opened the door for me, holding it open until I got in. “It’s good to have you back in town, Holly. See you around.” He watched while I pulled out of the lot.
I gave a sigh. “Too bad he’s one of my steps,” I told myself. “He’s one good-looking man.” Pushing that thought aside, my thoughts returned to the missing money. Had Max embezzled the funds? Why would he do something like that? He had to know people would blame Jim for hiring him.
The little house I was renting sat at the edge of town, and backed up to the national forest. Pulling into the drive, I realized I forgot to turn on the outside light before leaving for the meeting. Once the sun dropped over the mountain, it got dark fast. There were no street lights out here.
My heart skipped a beat when the shadows shifted around the side of the house. Had the wind stirred the trees behind the house? Or was someone hiding out in the forest waiting for me to get out of my car? City life instilled caution in me that most people living here didn’t have. I made sure my doors were locked, even when I was home.
I waited for several beats before opening the car door. When nothing else moved, I gathered my courage, making a run for the back door. Once inside, I made sure all the doors and windows were securely locked. Growing up, I was never alone no matter where I lived. Even in college, I’d had roommates. Being alone was a little unnerving now. Silence isn’t always golden.
I let out a startled squeal when someone knocked on the back door. Someone had been out there. Would they try to break in? “Holly, it’s Bill. Are you all right?” His muffled voice came through the door.
The breath I’d been holding escaped in a whoosh. I sagged against the counter for a minute before unlocking the door. Bill is Jim’s son, and Drake’s only full brother. He came around every now and then to check up on me. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks though.
“Were you out in the woods watching for me to come home?” I questioned before stepping back to let him in the house.
“No. I just got here. I walked over from my place. Why did you scream?” A frown drew his eyebrows together over his dark eyes. There was only a slight resemblance between him and Drake. He looked more like his mother than Jim.
“You scared me,” I accused. “It’s after nine o’clock. I wasn’t expecting any visitors. Did you see anyone out there?”
“What’s going on, Holly? Why are you so spooked?”
I flopped down on the couch, resting my head against the back cushion. “Everything was dark when I came home. I thought I saw something move outside.”
“I didn’t see anything, but I wasn’t looking for the boogeyman either.” He gave a chuckle. “I came over to find out how things went for Dad at the meeting? I couldn’t make it.” Dismissing my fear, he sat down across from me. Bill is a few months younger than me, and I had teased him that I was his big sister. Like several other of my steps, we had remained friends after I moved away. I always thought he had a crush on me, like I’d had on Drake. Nothing would ever come of it for either of us.
“I feel bad for him,” I said on a sigh. “People are going to blame him if it turns out Max took the money.”
He nodded his head. “I know, but I don’t think Uncle Max would do something like that. Since he came back to town, he’s changed. I think he even has a girlfriend.”
“Do you know who she is?” When he shook his head, I continued. “Can you think of anyone who would do this?” He knew the people in town better than I did even though he spent most of his time away from town with the Forest Service.
“If Wally Miller thought it would get Dad or Max in trouble, I can see him doing just about anything,” he said, giving his dark head a shake. “I don’t know how he could do it though. He doesn’t have anything to do with town business. I don’t know anyone else who would try to hurt Dad or the town.” He left a few minutes later, disappearing into the dark night. He knew the trails through the forest like the back of his hand, and didn’t worry about wild animals.
Okay, so Wally had no way to access the town’s accounts that left him out. Who besides Max had access? I tried to think, but I was too tired.
I had just crawled into bed when the phone rang. It was too late for a social call. This could only be bad news.
~~~
“Are we really going to get away with this?” He wrung his hands worriedly. They were sitting in the living room at his small apartment. He hated everything about the apartment and the town. He couldn’t wait to get out of there “Are you sure Max wasn’t able to stop us?”
“Of course I’m sure. I don’t leave things to chance. He’s going to find out I’m smarter than he is. Everything points to him. Disappearing makes him look guilty. We just need to act as shocked as everyone else. As long as he’s on the run, they’ll blame him. Everyone knows he’s a screw-up.”
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll tell his brother or nephew?”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing. Just play your part, and no one will ever find out.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Are you alone, Holly?” The hushed, raspy voice sent chills down my spine. This sounded more like an obscene
phone call than an emergency.
“Who is this?” I snapped, angry at the thought that someone would call me to talk dirty.
“It’s Max. If someone is with you, please don’t say my name.”
“Max? Where are you? Why are you calling me?”
“Are you alone?” he asked again, urgency rang through his voice. “Is Bill still there?”
“What? No, he left a long time ago. It’s after eleven o’clock. “What’s going on? How did you know Bill was here?” My stomach was churning. Had he been outside my house when I came home? Was it his shadow I’d seen moving outside?
I hadn’t been very close to him when I lived in Pine Mountain as a child. Since moving back six months ago, I’d gotten to know him a little better. But we still weren’t close. I didn’t understand why he would be calling me. “Why did you disappear?”
“I don’t have much time to talk, so you need to listen to me and not ask questions. I didn’t do what they’re saying, but not many people are going to believe that. Tell Jim I’m sorry. I know what it looks like, but someone is framing me. I didn’t take the money. I would never do that. You have to believe me, I didn’t do it.” The words came out in a rush.
“Come back to town so Drake can prove that. Running away only makes you look guilty.”
“NO, no,” he repeated softer. He was still talking in a whisper. “I can’t come back yet. Tell Jim it wasn’t me. Tell Drake to keep looking. You worked at a bank when you were in college. Maybe you could help Drake. Tell them I’m sorry.” Before I could say anything further, the line went dead. I didn’t know what to think. Why had he called me? Why not call Drake or Jim? What gave him the idea that I could help the police? I didn’t know what he expected me to do that the bank couldn’t do.
Should I call Jim now, or wait until morning? Should I call Drake first? I picked up my phone, still debating who I should call first. Without any further thought, I dialed Drake’s number.
“Holly, what’s wrong? Are you all right?” Even for a cop a late night call meant an emergency. Maybe especially for a cop, I thought.
For several minutes after explaining the strange call from Max, Drake didn’t say anything. I pulled the phone away from my ear thinking the connection had been broken. Maybe I woke him up, and he needed to wake up enough to process what I’d told him.
“Why would someone frame him?” he finally asked.
“Maybe because he’s an easy target,” I suggested with a shrug in my voice. “You said it yourself he was a screw-up. People already suspect him.” Especially Wally Miller, I added silently.
“Okay, I get that, but why did he call you instead of the police, or even Dad?”
“I don’t know. He just said to tell Jim he didn’t take the money, and to tell you to keep looking for the person who did. He didn’t want you to assume he did it, and not look any further.”
He gave a tired sigh. I could picture him running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I wasn’t going to assume anything. He should know that. The bank is trying to trace where the money was transferred to. I don’t understand why he called you instead of calling me. What did he think you could do?”
That was a rather chauvinistic comment, but I kept that thought to myself. He’s tired, or he wouldn’t say something like that. At least I hoped he wouldn’t. My conscience nudged me a little. I hadn’t told him Max wanted me to help him. He certainly wouldn’t like it. I could hear Drake’s voice in my head without him even saying the words. “Stay out of it, Holly. This isn’t your job.” Like most cops, he wouldn’t want civilians interfering in his investigation.
“I don’t know why he called me instead of you. I’m just reporting what he said.” Until I could figure out what Max expected me to find, I’d keep the rest of his request to myself.
“All right, thanks for letting me know. Get some sleep. I’ll tell Dad he called. Don’t tell anyone that Max called you.”
I bristled a little. Just like that he was brushing me off? “I know how to keep a confidence. I’m not a gossip.” We were both tired. We should leave it at that. But I didn’t. “Are you going to tell your dad that Max called you?” I never figured him for someone who hogged the limelight, but I really didn’t know him now.
There was a long stretch of silence again. Finally he gave a sigh. “I’m going to tell him what you told me. I don’t want you…”
“For your information I wasn’t planning on messing in your case,” I interrupted, finishing his sentence. That wasn’t exactly the truth. I’d be checking to see if there was anything I could find online. “I’m not a police officer.”
“That’s not what I said. Stop putting words in my mouth.” We were both getting a little hot under the collar.
“Then what are you saying?”
“Well, if you’d stop interrupting, I’d tell you. You need to keep this to yourself. If someone really was hoping to frame Max, they aren’t going to be happy that he called you, or anyone else. I’ll tell Dad that Max called you, but don’t be surprised when he hounds you to know what he said. For now, could you please tell him as little as possible? I don’t want the real thief to come after either of you.
“Now I need to go. Get some sleep, and I’ll talk to you in the morning.” Before I could argue further, he hung up.
I flopped back on my bed. Why would he think the thief would come after me simply because Max called me? How would coming after me benefit anyone? I fell asleep with these thoughts swirling around in my mind.
~~~
“Tell me exactly what Max said,” Drake demanded. This was the third day he’d come to the library, pressing me for more information from my short conversation with Max. “Don’t leave anything out.” He was never satisfied with what I told him.
“I told you what he said that night and several times since then. How many times do we have to go over this? Why do you think I would hold something back? I want to help Max as much as you do.”
“There you go again putting words in my mouth. I didn’t say you were holding something back. Sometimes people remember something said days later. I’m just trying to make sure you haven’t remembered something else.” He ran his fingers through his hair, sweeping it away from his face.
Guilt pricked at me. I was still debating whether to tell him Max asked for my help. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do though. “I’m trying to find him before the real thief does,” Drake’s voice broke in on my whirling thoughts. “That wouldn’t turn out so well for Max.”
He paused for a moment. “Were there any background noises, other people talking?” He kept pushing me to remember something, anything.
I closed my eyes, trying to recreate the phone call in my mind. “He was talking softly, almost in a whisper,” I said. “I don’t recall any other voices, but it was like he was afraid someone would hear him.”
“Okay, that’s good. What else? Were there any traffic sounds? Could you tell if he was inside or outside?”
Again I closed my eyes trying to recall any more details. “The call lasted no more than a minute. He said he didn’t have much time. He sounded scared. I don’t remember any other noise. I’m sorry, Drake. I just don’t remember. What does the bank have to say?” I decided to change the subject. “How could anyone transfer the money out of the town’s accounts without someone at the bank knowing about it?”
“They’re working on it,” he answered evasively. “Are you sure he didn’t say anything else?”
This time I couldn’t look him in the eye. My conscience was beginning to burn. “He asked for my help,” I finally admitted sheepishly.
“What did he think you could do? You aren’t in law enforcement, and you don’t work at the bank.”
“I don’t know how he thought I could help. He just asked me to help.” Did he think only the police and a bank could look into this?
“That doesn’t make any sense. You’re a librarian, not a computer expert.”
“I know
that. I’m just telling you what Max asked me to do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that right away?” His fierce scowl would have been intimidating if I hadn’t spent five of my growing up years with him. Besides, I didn’t intimidate easily.
“Because I knew you’d have this exact reaction.”
“Holly, you can’t go poking into things. It could be dangerous. The bank is looking into where the money went.”
“I’m aware of that. He was grasping at straws, looking for help from anyone he could. Drake, he was really scared.” I put my hand on his arm, looking into his eyes. “I don’t believe he took the money.”
His big hand covered mine, his gaze softening as he looked down at me. “I don’t want to believe he took it either, but what else am I supposed to think? He’s the one who disappeared the same time the money did. He’s the only one with the access codes. What else am I supposed to think?”
“You’re supposed to keep digging until you find the truth. Maybe that’s why he called me instead of you. He knows I’m just stubborn enough not to give up.” I was getting tired of this conversation. If he wasn’t going to keep looking, someone else had to. Maybe that someone was me.
“He should know I’m not going to give up without getting to the bottom of this, Holly.” He sounded hurt that Max would doubt him. If I didn’t know him better, I would think he was hurt that I could doubt him as well. “I want the town’s money back as much as anyone.”
“Good, then we can both work to find out who took the money.” He started to argue, but I continued before he could say anything. “I promise I won’t interfere with your investigation.”
“That’s not what I was going to say. If Max didn’t take the money, someone else did. If that someone finds out you’re looking into it, it could be dangerous for you.”
“Well, I’m not stupid enough to advertise what I’m doing.” The big doors swished open letting in the first round of students. “I really need to get back to work.” The library was run by the town, but the building was on the high school grounds. Students spent a lot of time there before and after school when term papers were due.
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