by Curry, Edna
“Not yet. I wasn’t sure how you wanted to handle that.”
“Good. For now, let’s let them keep thinking I’m Ken, then.”
She frowned at him. “I’m not sure I understand Lester’s reasoning,” she said. “How will your pretending to be Ken make Ken reappear?”
He dropped into the chair in front of her desk and met her gaze. A man could drown in those soft hazel eyes, he thought with a sigh. “Think about it, Rosie. Ken must be keeping track of what’s happening back here, don’t you think?”
She frowned at him and said flatly, “That’s assuming he’s still alive.”
He sighed. “Yes, Rosie. We’re assuming he’s still alive.” He eyed her a moment, then said, “I found a receipt for a million dollar life insurance policy Ken took out on himself.”
Her jaw dropped. “A million dollars? In life insurance? Ken?”
“Yes, Ken.”
Rosie tried to wrap her mind around this new bit of information. “That doesn’t make any sense at all. Why would he? He was always healthy and refused to even talk to insurance salesmen when they came calling on the office. Besides… if Ken was so broke, how could he afford the premium on that large a policy?”
“Term insurance is cheap when you’re young and healthy. He only had to make a couple of premium payments. I’m sure it was meant to be a short-term investment with a big payoff,” Kirk said. He watched as she stared at him and thought through what he’d said. He would bet anything she hadn’t known about it.
He could see her face change when she got it. Disgust and fury warred for control of her lovely features.
“He tried to fake his death, didn’t he? That’s why he capsized his boat, and left his Caddy at the lake. He wanted us to think he’d drowned.”
Kirk nodded cautiously. “We think so, yeah. It makes sense.”
“But to collect the life insurance, someone had to help him,” she said. When she saw the guilty look on his face, Rosie knew what he was thinking. “And you think that someone is me, don’t you?”
“Is it?”
Her face twisted with fury, she rose and pointed a shaking finger at the door. “Get out of here. I thought we were friends.”
“Lots more than friends, after the other night, Rosie.”
Her lips tightened. “That was a mistake that won’t be repeated. I-I cared about you. But if you can believe I’d be a part of something like that-- Oh! Just leave.” She burst into tears and turned away from him.
Kirk’s heart twisted painfully. He’d known his suspicions would hurt her, but she had to know about this, didn’t she?
“Rosie, please… Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe you knew about this.”
“Oh, yes, you did. Just get out of here.” Her voice came out hoarse and ragged with tears.
He sighed and left, closing the door behind him to allow her a bit of privacy.
Karen stared at him as he walked back to his office. How much had she overheard?
In his office Kirk found Melvin ready to leave. He’d gathered his belongings. He stood when Kirk walked in.
“Lester wants me back in Chicago right away,” he said. “I’m booked on the seven o’clock flight. I’ve called a taxi which should be here in a few minutes. I’ll just make it, allowing for a quick stop by my hotel room for my luggage. Take care.”
“You, too, Melvin. Guess I’ll be here awhile yet, until Lester decides how to wrap this up.”
They shook hands and Melvin left. Kirk debated whether to try to make peace with Rosie tonight or give her some time to absorb all the shocks he’d handed her today.
He worked for an hour. When her office door remained closed, he decided she needed time alone. So Kirk went down to the fast food place and grabbed a quick hamburger for dinner.
Then he went back to Ken’s office. Rosie’s door was now locked, so she’d left for the day.
He needed to search for that insurance policy anyway. Or find the agent’s name through the company on the internet. Though he was pretty sure he knew what he’d find. He felt sure Ken had named Rosie as his beneficiary.
But Kirk would bet anything she hadn’t known about it. Nor would she have gone along with Ken’s scheme had it worked. She’d been too upset at the very idea of such fraud. No way would she have been part of carrying it out.
Ken hadn’t known her as well as he’d thought. And that made Kirk feel much better. The woman was honest as the day was long and he loved her for it.
He’d gone through Ken’s desk and file cabinets in his apartment thoroughly after he’d gotten out of the hospital. The fact that the fire had destroyed things there didn’t really matter now. He’d find the information he needed one way or another, if he had to get it from the company through the police with a court order if necessary.
Maybe he’d be lucky and Ken had kept it in the office instead of his apartment. And he was lucky…he found the policy in a file box in an office storage closet an hour later.
He took it back to his motel room and sat on the sofa to read it. As he suspected, Rosie was named the sole beneficiary of the policy.
Even though he felt sure she hadn’t known that and would bet anything she hadn’t planned any of this with Ken, the situation still made him sick to his stomach. And he knew it would look bad to Lester and to the police, since they were now likely to become involved.
He sat there thinking about it for a long time. He’d fallen asleep when the doorbell rang.
~ * ~
Kirk shook himself awake, then moved to the door and looked through the peephole. Surprised to see Rosie and her brother, he opened the door. “Hi, what brings you here?”
Rosie and Lee stepped inside. “Hi, Kirk. Lee needs to ask a few questions, okay?”
Kirk raised an eyebrow. Rosie had evidently decided to act politely toward him, at least in front of her brother. He waved them to the chairs by the little table. He pulled up the chair from the desk and joined them. “Sorry, a motel room doesn’t have much in the way of seating,”
“It’s fine.” Lee sat down and laid his clipboard on the table in front of him. “I’d like to update my files on your case, now that you’ve recovered your memory.”
“Sure. Ask away. But Rosie told you we’re going to keep who I really am quiet for now?”
“Yeah,” Lee said. “Not sure that makes sense to me, but…”
Rosie put in, “Do you mind if I make us some coffee?”
“Go ahead. “ Kirk watched her as she efficiently started a pot perking. She was wearing a soft blue sweater that showed off her full breasts nicely as she worked. He swallowed and forced his attention back to the policeman.
They went through the details of his recovering his memory and realizing he was Kirk, not Ken. Lee wrote down the gist of it on his report.
Kirk couldn’t keep his eyes from straying to Rosie as she poured their coffee and sat down across from him. She looked so beautiful, in spite of tired smudges under her eyes. Was she still worrying about sharing the blame for Ken’s actions?
What did she really think about this ridiculous situation? Did she still love Ken? Come to think of it, she hadn’t seemed too upset when he’d called off the engagement and cancelled their wedding plans when he’d first learned he had amnesia.
That had been rather odd. Instead she’d pitched right in to help him. Most women would have been furious and done as little as possible to help the man who had dumped them.
Maybe she hadn’t really believed he meant it? Or thought she could change his mind? His stomach tightened at the thought that she might still be in love with Ken. After what Ken had done, he didn’t deserve any woman’s love, let alone a wonderful woman like Rosie.
Kirk dragged his mind back to Lee, who asked, “You went through Ken’s personal financial records, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, when I first got home from the hospital.”
“Has there been any activity in his accounts or
credit cards since then?”
“No, nothing since the day I was mugged. I’ve checked several times. Apparently he’s trying to appear dead. I’m sure he took enough cash with him or moved enough money to his accounts in Grand Cayman to last a long time.”
“When you looked through his accounts, did you find anything that might indicate he was paying someone big sums on a regular basis?”
Kirk tipped his head in question. “You mean, like blackmail to those goons who mugged me, or the guy who left the phone message saying they wanted the money Ken owed them? Something like that?”
“Yes. Or to a loan shark for gambling debts, since that’s what it sounds like to me. Anything that would help us figure out who those guys are? We can’t stop these threats and attacks on you without knowing who is doing them.”
“No, I didn’t see anything like that. Though Ken took out a lot of cash at ATM machines. He emptied his bank accounts and maxed out all of his credit cards. I suppose he could have paid some of that cash to someone, but I doubt it.” He glanced at Rosie, who was listening with a resigned look on her face. Had she accepted that Ken had fooled her as well as everyone else?
He went on, “More likely, he was stashing the money in his other bank accounts and planned on leaving the credit card companies holding the bag after he disappeared.”
Lee eyed him curiously. “Are you just guessing about that or did you find evidence to back up this opinion?”
Kirk sighed, glancing at Rosie. “Is this an unofficial question?”
Lee nodded. “Okay, I won’t add it to the record. But I’d like to know. And I think Rosie deserves to know, as well.”
He could see by her worried expression that she did need to know. Maybe then she wouldn’t keep thinking Ken was so great. “Yes, we traced the money Ken had paid from Latham to dummy companies to accounts in the Cayman Islands. I’d be willing to bet that’s where most of the cash went as well.”
Rosie blanched and put down her coffee cup with a clatter, but said nothing.
He hated to see her hurt, but she needed to know the truth, didn’t she? One of his mother’s Bible verse quotes popped into his head. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Or something like that anyway.
Would knowing the truth set Rosie free of Ken?
Rosie looked at Lee. “Do you think you’ll be able to trace Ken and arrest him?”
Lee glanced toward Kirk. “If Ken stashed his money in accounts in the Cayman Islands, I’d say he’s most likely there, too. We can’t force him to come back though.”
Kirk nodded. “I’m sure that’s why Ken chose the Cayman’s. He knows he’s safe from extradition there.”
“But you can arrest him if he comes back to the States?” Rosie asked, her brow furrowing.
“Sure, but he’s not likely to come back if he knows he’s been found out.”
“I suppose not.”
~ * ~
Kirk was at his desk in the office the next morning when Rosie came in. She looked tired, but still lovely. She was wearing her usual neat suit and white blouse. She sent him a tentative smile, set down the tray of coffee and rolls she’d brought and carefully closed the door behind her.
“Thanks,” Kirk said, helping himself to coffee and a hot cinnamon roll. “Any special reason for this treat?”
She picked up her coffee and sat in the leather chair across from him. “I need to talk to you, Kirk.”
“I’m listening. “He sipped the coffee and watched emotions flit across her expressive face. God, but he loved her. Remembering their lovemaking made him ache for her.
Why had she fallen for Ken instead? Did she still care about Ken, even after knowing what he’d done? How could she?
“I returned Ken’s diamond ring to you in the hospital,” she said, flushing. “When I thought you were Ken, I mean.”
He nodded and ate the roll. “Delicious cinnamon roll.”
“Yeah. They’re from the little bakery down the street. Kirk, I need that ring back. I mean, Ken still thinks we’re engaged. I’m breaking it off, of course, so I have to return the ring to Ken when we find him.”
Kirk stared at her. “Do you really believe we’re going to find him?”
“Of course. He can’t just disappear. I mean, he’s a stockholder in Latham, so why wouldn’t he come back?”
Didn’t she understand what Ken had done?”He might want to stay out of jail, Rosie,” Kirk said dryly.
“Jail!” she exclaimed. “Lester wouldn’t really prosecute his own nephew, would he? I mean, what Ken did… it was really just taking some of his own money, wasn’t it?”
“No, Rosie, it wasn’t. Ken took a lot more money than he would have gotten if he’d sold all of his shares in the company. It was embezzlement, which is definitely a crime.”
Rosie closed her eyes, looking pained. Did she really still love Ken? Somehow that idea hurt. It hurt a lot.
“I see,” she said.
“Besides, I no longer have that ring,” Kirk said. “I took it back to the store. I found the receipt in his desk. Ken bought it on credit.”
“Oh, dear!”
“Ken had made a down payment, which I did get back, except for the repair charge on Grandma’s ring. I’ll return the difference to Ken’s accounts from my own money, when or if we ever settle this mess.”
“But--”
Kirk interrupted, “Since the muggers took my billfold and Ken’s accounts were totally empty and his credit cards maxed out and useless, I, as he, had no money at all. So I used the money from the ring deposit on normal living expenses.” Kirk sipped his coffee.
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I just don’t know how I’ll explain all this to Ken, if he comes back.”
Kirk laughed. “If he ever returns, he’ll be too busy trying to save his own bacon to worry about an engagement ring.”
She drank her coffee and frowned. “What about your grandmother’s ring?”
“The jeweler said Ken had left it there to be repaired. I paid the fee and got it back.”
“Wasn’t his grandmother’s the ring the one that Ken always carried as a good luck charm?”
Kirk nodded. “Yeah, he did call it that. He used to say it proved she loved him best, and it brought him luck.”
Rosie laughed. “Well, if it brought him so much luck, why were those goons after him for gambling debts? Luck is when you win, not lose!”
He grinned at her. “True. So maybe it didn’t bring him so much luck after all.”
“I can’t believe he left it behind, though. Ken carried that ring everywhere.”
Kirk eyed her, then before he could stop himself, he blurted, “Do you still love him?”
Rosie stared at him, then flushed and looked away. “No, Kirk. I don’t think I ever did love Ken.”
He blurted, “But you were engaged!”
“Yeah, I know.” She got up and paced to the window. Her back to him, she explained, “My mother thought he was a great catch. She was dying of cancer.” She swallowed back tears.
She turned to face him. “Mom had been after me for years to get married. She said she could die in peace if she knew I was settled down and happy. I tried to tell her I was happy on my own, but she didn’t believe any woman could be happy without a husband and kids.”
“And you were dating Ken?”
She lifted a shoulder. “More or less. Mostly we just ate dinner together after a long day here at the office, or we attended chamber of commerce dinners together or stuff like that. Then I made the mistake of telling her Ken had proposed, which he did quite often. It had gotten to be almost a joke. But this time he sounded more serious than usual. He claimed to love me.” She looked at him defiantly.
“I believe you.”
“And then Mom -- well, she immediately assumed I’d accepted. She started telling everyone we knew and planning the wedding and everything. She was so happy.”
Kirk could guess the rest. “You couldn
’t spoil her happiness when she was dying.”
“Yeah. When Ken stopped over, she hugged and congratulated him, so he assumed I’d said yes, too. He seemed really happy with the idea, and bought that big diamond ring right away, so I sort of went along with it. Dumb, I know.” She walked back to her chair and sank into it.
Kirk couldn’t believe the relief her confession gave him. She didn’t love Ken. “Um, yes, I suppose. Why didn’t you tell him the truth when you were alone?”
“I should have, I can see that now. But we really didn’t talk very often. About personal things, I mean.”
“Yeah.” But here she was, talking to him about personal things right now. Did that mean she felt more comfortable talking with him than she had with Ken? He sure hoped so.
Rosie went on. “Anyway, I intended to break it off that night after the fancy dinner we were going to, and take my lumps. Only he never showed up, and then you got mugged and… Well, you know the rest.”
He laughed. “And then I did the breaking up for you. No wonder you didn’t seem too upset that night. Any other woman would have been screaming at me.”
She laughed too. “I was more worried about whether you intended to fire me after I gave you the ring back.”
“Fire you?”
She nodded. “I’d put off breaking up with Ken for weeks after Mom died, because I was afraid he’d fire me when I broke the engagement. You know, I thought he wouldn’t want to work in the same office with me anymore. And I was having a hard enough time dealing with Mom’s death. I -- I knew I’d been taking advantage of him to keep Mom happy and I should tell him the truth. But I just couldn’t face looking for a new job right then, too.”
“I see.” That made sense. If a woman had broken her engagement to him, he sure wouldn’t want to have to work with her everyday afterward. He doubted if Ken would have, either. So, yeah, Ken probably would have fired her.
She rose and picked up the coffee tray. “I’d better get back to work.”
Chapter 13
PI Donald landed at Owen Roberts International Airport and took a cab to George Town, the capital of Grand Cayman. On the way, he reveled in the brilliant sunlight, the warm, humid air and the lush tropical foliage and colorful flowers. He could definitely get used to this environment!