Martin nodded. “My question, too.”
“Maybe the person who did the billing knew they were bogus,” Toni answered.
Martin pulled out Ollie’s bank statements. “Why don’t we compare some of the deposits Ollie made to some of these phony billings?”
It quickly became obvious that each one of the phony charges showed up in Ollie’s checking account.
“What about these other deposits?” Martin asked. “There are enough there to worry about.”
Toni studied the figures. “Let me think about it. Let me check exactly what Ollie’s salary was and we can eliminate those entries.” It only took a few minutes for Toni to assess his salary.
Over a six-month time period, Ollie had twenty-thousand dollars in deposits, which they were unable to track to a source.
Martin glanced at his watch. It was well after midnight. “I’d best get home. We can work on this tomorrow.”
Zach walked out with Martin.
“You married a sharp lady, Zach.”
Pride flooded Zach. Yes, indeed, Toni was amazing. “Thanks. Tomorrow, I’m going to have to tell George Anderson what we’ve uncovered here tonight—the newest tidbit of bad news.”
Shaking his head, Martin said, “I don’t envy you.”
Zach wasn’t looking forward to the prospect, either. Damn, as the head of security, it seemed he was a washout.
When he went back into the study, he turned off the light and slowly walked down the hall. Pausing at the girls’ room, his mind went back over the unexpected visit from the social worker. It had only been another blow in a long, long day, which began with the girls’ sad faces this morning without Toni there with them, then Ollie’s murder, to the surprises they discovered tonight.
What he needed was a good night’s sleep.
As he entered the bedroom, Tom finished tying the sash on her robe. The bed had been turned down.
“How did the interview go with the girls and the woman from social services after we left?” Zach asked, as he unbuttoned his shirt.
Looking up, she pinned him with a gaze. “Good. The girls weren’t shy about talking. And I’m sure the social worker wanted to see if our marriage was a sham or if it was the real thing.”
He slipped off his shirt and sat down on the bed. “So, what do you think she discovered?”
Her face lit with humor. “I think Ms. Getty was a little shaken up when she found me home alone. When I told her you were bringing the girls home, she seemed a bit taken aback.” Toni laughed. It was full and soft and entirely feminine. And it hit Zach square in the gut, reminding him that he wanted this woman. “She was impressed.”
“How’d the time go with her and the girls?” He was nervous about that interview.
“Ms. Getty was surprised by the stories the girls had about how they’ve helped me in the aviary in the backyard. They wanted her to go look at the bird with a broken wing that we’d been nursing.
“You’d be so pleased with how animated Lori was. Why, when she bubbled up with information on what we’d done, my jaw dropped open.” Toni sat down on the bed next to him. “You wouldn’t have believed it, Zach. That little girl came to life, and her eyes twinkled. It was truly amazing.”
Zach didn’t know if he was more shocked by the news about his daughter, or the way his body reacted to Toni’s nearness. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”
“Oh, Zach, it was such a wonderful thing to see Lori come to life like that. Of course, Lisa didn’t take a back seat to her sister, so she told Ms. Getty about how much fun it’s been to have Sam and go to Las Vegas and see us get married. Then she went into all the new cousins and uncles and aunts she now had. She was one happy camper.”
“And how did Ms. Getty react to that?”
“She was hard to read, but she took a lot of notes. She questioned the girls about you and they said, ‘He wasn’t too good to start, but he’s okay now.’ I believe your burial of the goldfish won them over.”
He shook his head. “And all this time I thought I had to do something wonderful. Burying a goldfish was all it took.”
Her fingers touched his jaw. “It’s never the big things, Zach. It’s the everyday caring. Helping Lisa wear the right panties on the right day. And making breakfast, and being there when the goldfish die.”
His hand covered hers. The desire to believe her washed over him. “You’re tempting me to think it was me who made the difference.”
“It was, Zach. The girls needed stability in their lives, and you provided it.”
A deep hurt in his soul eased. Maybe things would work out. He took her hand and kissed the palm. His eyes locked with hers. The desire coursing through his body was reflected in her eyes.
He lowered his head. Her eyes fluttered closed and a deep sigh echoed in the silence. His lips lightly brushed over hers.
Don’t do it. The warnings echoed through his head. It’s a mistake to give in to the passion.
Just as he started to pull away, her fingers stroked over his cheek and her lips found his again. It was the sweetest temptation he’d ever encountered and he couldn’t turn away. His arms wrapped around her and he stretched out on the bed, carrying her down on top of him.
He’d missed her. And wanted her.
Toni’s hair curtained them in their own world where there was nothing but the two of them. His hand stroked down her back, pressing her into his arousal.
“I want you. Toni,” he admitted. No matter how much he didn’t want these feelings or how much they frightened him witless, they wouldn’t go away.
Her eyes met his, her hands framed his face. “It’s the same for me, Zach. I missed you last night when I was in Dallas.” Her fingers caressed the healing bruises on his face.
Her admission eased his heart. At least he wasn’t the only one at the mercy of this attraction.
Toni’s lips nibbled down his neck, while her hands skimmed over the skin of his shoulders and chest. As her mouth moved down his chest, her fingers worked on the belt and zipper of his pants. He grasped her hands and pulled her up against him.
His fingers untied the belt of her robe and quickly peeled it off her body. Her nightgown followed. He pulled her down to him, then eased her onto her back. His hand stroked her. He found the scars on her abdomen, and his fingers paused. His gaze found hers. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, then lightly kissed a scar.
He heard her gasp, then her hand tangled in his hair and held him close. After a moment, when her grip eased, Zach kissed his way down to her legs. The scars that crisscrossed her legs called out to him. He lovingly kissed each one. When he finished, he glanced up. Toni’s eyes sparkled with a deep emotion One he was afraid to name.
“Come here,” she huskily whispered.
A sweeter invitation he’d never heard.
He moved up her body and fitted himself to her. He was home. The thought flashed through his brain.
But the passion that quickly followed didn’t leave time for him to think, only to act.
As he stroked her, he heard Toni’s breath speed up. Her fingers speared his hair as she moved with him, meeting his thrusts. Together they climbed the mountains until they reached the top at the same time. Her cry of delight was echoed in his.
Afterward, he rested his forehead on hers. When he opened his eyes, Toni met his gaze. She didn’t say anything, but he could read her reaction. It was love.
Rolling to his side, he pulled her close, then pulled the sheet over them. He’d just proven to himself that he couldn’t stay away from her. And apparently, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The question was, when would this passion and heat burn out?
She snuggled against him. Picking up his hand, she looked at the scar on the back of it. “How did you get this? Was it from your time in the military?”
“Nope. When I was a teenager, I got into an argument with my mother. She didn’t like what I said, so she took a knife and went after me.”
Toni blanched. “I’
m sorry, Zach.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago.”
Her body was tense and Zach felt a tear hit his chest. Damn, he shouldn’t have told her. After their intimacy, he should’ve known not to have shared that ugliness. He’d tried to share with Sylvia, and that had turned into a disaster. He never tried again with another woman. Keep your mouth shut, and then the woman would never have any ammunition. Or pity.
Finally, after a long silence, she asked, “What’s wrong, Zach?”
Startled, he looked down. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
“It’s a feeling I have. Our loving was wonderful, but I sense that worries you. Why?”
He laughed. A genuine, honest-to-goodness laugh. “I guess you’ve got me pegged.”
“And you’re not used to people being able to read you, is that it?”
“I used to have a name in the unit I led. I was called Iron Mask, because no one could ever read me.”
She rose up on an elbow. “It’s not so hard.”
“Now, you’re the one trying to put one over on me.”
Her expression turned serious. “No. Oddly enough, I’m not. For me, I can sense—”
“What?”
She looked down at his chest. “It’s kind of difficult to explain. All I know is I feel connected to you.”
Her admission stunned him. His fingers grasped her chin and he brought it up so he could see her face. “I’ve proven, Toni, that I’m not capable of love. My mother didn’t love me.” He remembered the accusations that she’d bitterly thrown at him...the names... the anger. “Sylvia, my ex, didn’t either. I’ve accepted that about myself. You don’t have to sugarcoat this great sex with sweet words.”
Toni’s eyes filled with distress. “Zach, there is nothing wrong with you. We all deserve love, and from what I know about you, you’ve done nothing to merit not being loved. Your mother and Sylvia are the ones who had the problem. Not you.”
His hand cupped the side of her head and gently placed it back on his shoulder.
“Believe what you want, Toni,” he murmured into the darkness.
“What I believe, Zach, is that you deserve to be loved.” The note of conviction in her voice rang through the room.
He smiled, wishing that her words were true.
Toni listened to the beating of Zach’s heart while his heat surrounded her. She relived their lovemaking. When Zach had kissed the scar on her abdomen, she’d nearly wept with joy, gratitude and love. When he continued down her legs, touching each scar, laving them with his kisses as if he could absorb those long-ago injuries, his actions had pierced deeply into her heart. No one but her family had ever guessed the hidden pain that she held within herself. Pain for the loss of her friend, pain for the loss of her ability to have children.
But somehow Zach had guessed. His loving attention to those old scars helped her, eased the wounds.
Now, what tore her heart was his belief that he didn’t deserve to be loved. What must his mother and ex-wife have done to him? Zach’s soul was in the dark, and Toni wanted to pull him into the light. But how?
She’d matched wits with her father, who was as stubborn and hardheaded as Zach, and won. What would it take this time to win against Zach’s will?
She didn’t know, but she was going to try to find a way to reach him. She wasn’t her daddy’s daughter for nothing.
Chapter 12
A muscle throbbed in George Anderson’s jaw and his eyes hardened when Zach told him the news of how much money had been swindled from the company.
Wariness crept up Zach’s spine. “Toni thinks, and I agree,” he added, “that maybe we’ve uncovered the tip of the iceberg.”
George stood and walked to the windows of his top floor office. Zach could easily understand how George had become a powerful oilman. The man had a poker face that made Zach nervous.
“Do you think you could’ve caught this earlier, Zach?” George asked.
That was the question that had plagued Zach for the past couple of days. Could he have caught this stealing any earlier? “I don’t know. Although I’m head of security, my main focus is to guard against outside thefts. Not inside jobs.”
George turned and looked at him. “Then I guess we’ll have to amend your job description.”
Amazement raced through Zach. “You’re not angry at this situation?”
“I’m plenty mad. And whenever we catch whoever is stealing from me, the bastard better hope the cops get to him before I do. Because if they don’t, there won’t be any guarantee he’ll live long enough to go to trial. I didn’t work my fingers to the bone to be ripped off.”
Ah, there was the man Zach knew and understood.
“You say that it was my Toni who helped you locate some of the fraudulent billings.”
“She was invaluable to me and Detective Phelps.”
Pride shone in the old man’s face. “She’s a mighty smart little lady, which I assume you’ve discovered yourself.”
George Anderson had committed many sins in his life. But the man loved his children and was proud of them. For that alone Zach admired him. That validation had not been given to Zach in his life, and he knew the cost a child paid.
“You’re right, sir, Toni is a bright woman.” Beautiful and warm, and infinitely appealing. His eyes focused on George, and from his look, Zach must’ve revealed his heart, because George smiled.
“I’ve got a piece of advice for you, Zach. Give in. You’re only going to prolong your own misery.”
Zach knew exactly what George was talking about. Acknowledge his feelings for Toni. That was a step he couldn’t even consider at this point, let alone act on.
“I’m going to try to discover if there is anything else to their fraud or if Caprock was the only company they used to steal from Anderson.”
George shook his head. “I can’t believe Ollie did that to me. He and I go way back. He married his wife the same year I married my first wife. He gave me hell when I divorced J.D.’s mother and married Toni’s mom.” The old man shrugged. “I was an ass. But that’s neither here or there. Several years later, Ollie’s wife left him. He took it hard. Started drinking. I tried to help and thought I’d gotten him on the straight and narrow. It appears I didn’t.”
Listening to George recount his own marriages and Ollie’s killed any hope that had sprung to life in Zach’s heart that maybe, just maybe, there was such a thing as love.
George shook off the morose thoughts. “Let me know what you turn up.”
Zach nodded and left the office. He walked down to the accounting department. He had discussed with Toni this morning the way to go about checking on the billing of the Caprock account.
The head of the department, June Davis, told Zach who was responsible for the account and took him to the woman’s desk. Stephanie Norman was a plain woman, with blond hair and a lovely smile. A warning bell went off in Zach’s head. He felt as if he’d met Stephanie before, but he knew he hadn’t.
“So, you’re the only individual who bills Caprock?” Zach asked, trying very hard to appear nonthreatening. He didn’t want the woman to clam up.
“Yes.”
“Has anyone worked on the account maybe, say, when you’re busy or sick?”
“I don’t believe she’s missed any days this past year,” June answered before Stephanie could. “Have you, dear?”
“No”
“There are several bills in their file for phantom fields,” Zach stated, wanting to see Stephanie’s reaction.
“How do you know that?” June Davis demanded.
Zach gave the woman a cool stare. “I am the head of security for this company, Mrs. Davis. I can access all the accounts on my computer.”
She didn’t look pleased. “I suppose.” She turned to Stephanie. “Please pull up the Caprock account.”
It only took a minute for the information to appear on the terminal screen. Mars. Davis looked over the entries, then frowne
d. “Stephanie, what is this? There are no such fields as Blue number three and Green number seven.”
The woman glanced at her supervisor. “I only pay the bills, Mrs. Davis. I guess I didn’t pay attention to all the information on the invoices.”
Folding her arms over her breasts, Mrs. Davis frowned. “This is sloppy work, Stephanie. I guess we’ll have to audit Caprock. We can have the information to you first thing tomorrow morning.”
From the look in Stephanie’s eyes, Zach wondered if the promise would be kept. Or if Stephanie Norman didn’t want anyone looking too closely at her work.
As he turned to go, Zach noticed a paid bill on the desk. What fascinated him about it was the address. It was the same as Caprock’s. He glanced at Stephanie. When she met his eyes, her gaze quickly shifted away.
As Zach hurried back to his office, he heard Toni in the hall. As he turned the corner he found his wife, who was holding Lisa, and glaring at Carl Ormand.
“You ever speak to my girls like that again, Carl, I’ll personally make sure my father cans you within the hour. Do you understand me?”
Carl tried to smile, but it fell flat. And it certainly didn’t influence Toni. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It was a college squash trophy.” When Toni didn’t appear impressed, he added, “I guess when one isn’t around kids, they lose touch.”
“No, Carl. That’s not the problem at all.” Toni turned and stopped when she noticed Zach.
“Is there a problem here?” Zach asked.
Lisa held out her arms to her dad, and Zach took the child from Toni’s arms.
“No, there isn’t.” Toni didn’t glance at Carl, but simply walked toward Zach’s office.
Lisa put her head on Zach’s shoulder, and rested against him. With a final piercing glance at Carl, Zach followed Toni into his office. Lori sat next to his secretary, chatting about the bird she’d helped Toni with a few days past.
Lori looked up. “Hi, Dad. We just came from the doctor. My cast can come off in—” She frowned.
“One week,” Toni said.
“Yeah, one week. I can’t wait. The doctor says my skin will be all wrinkly and white. But that’s ’kay.”
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