An overwhelming need to talk to Jack swept over me. Right now. To hell with the fear. There was no question in my mind that he wanted more – and I needed to give him the opportunity to convince me we could make it work, that he wouldn’t resent me later for not being able to give him the kind of sex life he needed. I loved him – and I didn’t intend to let him slip out of my life without first making every effort to keep him there.
“I have to go,” I said abruptly and, clutching the picture to my chest, turned to leave the room.
“Wait,” said my mom. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” I said, rushing out of the room as they hurried after me. “I just remembered something I have to do.”
They caught up to me in the foyer and my mom stopped me from running out the door with a hand on my upper arm.
“Angie. Wait. For God’s sake – you don’t even have your purse.”
I came to a stop and calmed myself down, taking a deep breath and shaking my head to clear it. “Oh. I guess I might need that,” I said with an embarrassed laugh.
My mom patted my arm. “Just wait long enough for your dad to put the shelves in your car. I’ll go get your purse – and I have something for you to take to Jack.”
“Okay,” I agreed and they scurried off in opposite directions. I was leaning against the door, lost in anxious thought when my dad returned with three short, thick unfinished shelves under his arm.
I moved out of his way and he gave my shoulder a comforting pat as he passed me. “Everything will be okay,” he said quietly.
I nodded in response and he walked out just as my mother walked in. “Here you go,” she said. I carefully set the picture I was still holding against the wall as she handed me my purse and a gallon-sized plastic bag filled to near bursting with white chocolate chip cookies.
I laughed at the number of cookies she had made. “My God, Mom! Are you determined to make Jack fat?”
“Pffft. Like that will ever happen. I just like baking for someone who appreciates it, that’s all.”
“Oh, he’ll appreciate it. My guess is that these will all be gone by noon tomorrow. Sooner if he shares – which I doubt.”
We laughed as she picked up the canvas and I slung my purse over my shoulder. We walked together out to my car and arrived just as my dad slammed the hatchback shut and walked to the side of the car. He held the back door open as my mom slid the picture onto the backseat then closed it and turned to me for a hug.
“Thanks, Dad. I’m going to try to paint those shelves on Saturday. Will you have time to help me hang them on Sunday?”
“You bet,” he said, squeezing me before stepping away. “Give me a call when you’re ready.”
“Okay.” I turned to hug my mom. “Thanks for everything, Mom. I love the picture.”
“You’re welcome, honey.” She held me tight for a second then released me. “Let me know what Jack thinks of it.”
“I will. Love you guys,” I said as I got into my car.
“Love you, too,” they replied as one. My dad shut the door behind me and stepped back, putting his arm around my mom’s shoulder. They stood in the driveway, waving as I pulled out, and I felt a little guilty for ditching them so hastily. But I really needed to get home to make that phone call and I knew they would understand.
Chapter 18 – Kate and Mike
Standing in the driveway watching their daughter drive away, Kate turned to her husband and lifted an eyebrow. “Sarah?” she asked.
Mike laughed and squeezed her shoulder before releasing her. “Well, you put me on the spot. It was the first name that popped into my head. Do you think she bought it?”
“Yeah, I think she did.” She reached out and rubbed Mike’s arm. “You did good. I apologize for throwing you under the bus, but I needed a real-life example to make the point. I just didn’t think she would believe it if I suddenly had a situation like that in my past that I had never mentioned before.”
“Real life?” he snorted. “I was afraid she was going to start asking a lot of questions that I wouldn’t have answers for.”
“No, you definitely got her thinking. That bit about not seeing or hearing from Sarah for more than twenty years was brilliant, by the way. That’s what clinched it. I could see it on her face.” She leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips and his arms came around her. “We’re on the right track. Unless I miss my guess, she’ll be calling Jack the minute she gets home.”
“Why are those two so blind to the obvious?” Mike asked. “Everyone can see it but them.”
“Mmmm. Remember what she said about Jack acting differently this week? I think that since you and Al got Jimmy out of the picture, Jack might finally be thinking about making his move. That leaves Angie as our only remaining problem. Stubborn girl.”
“She’s just like you,” said Mike, pulling his wife in closer and hugging her.
“Hah! Very funny.” Kate slapped him on the arm and laughed. “I wonder how Jimmy is going to feel when he shows up for that job and there’s no Marla there waiting for him. According to Peggy, Marla laid it on pretty thick and made him some elaborate promises about what their relationship would be like when he got there.”
Mike chuckled at how easily Jimmy had been led astray. “Yeah, Al getting her to pull that scam just sweetened the pot. Thank God Bill was willing to offer the idiot the job. That was one owed favor I was happy to collect on. Which reminds me – Bill called this morning and said Jimmy showed up for work yesterday, so he’s not coming back any time soon. I hope that asshole enjoys being all alone in Oklahoma.”
They both laughed as they envisioned Jimmy wandering around the state of Oklahoma, searching for Marla - who did not, in actual fact, work for the company that had hired him.
“Who knew Marla was such a romantic?” Kate said. “I would have expected someone who owns such a successful escort service to be a little more hard-nosed. I swear, she wants this to work out between Jack and Angie even more than we do.”
“I don’t think anyone wants it more than we do. Well, except Al and Peggy.”
“Well, we did manage to get them working a little more closely together and Marla’s keeping an eye on things at the office. She’ll let Peggy know if she sees anything else that looks like trouble. All we have to do now is find a way to keep Angie away from Nate for the next couple of days.”
“Yeah, he was an unexpected wrinkle,” Mike said with a frown. “What awful timing.”
“You got that right. But if we can prevent Angie from doing something stupid with Nate, I think we should have this situation satisfactorily resolved by the weekend.”
“I hope so. I’m not cut out for this espionage shit,” Mike said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
“You’re better at it than you give yourself credit for. Now come on. I have to call Peggy so we can figure out how to keep Nate from being alone with Angie. It’s only two or three more days. I know Peggy will have a plan.”
Kate and Mike stepped back out of their embrace and, joining hands, walked back into their house to see to their daughter’s future happiness.
Chapter 19
Approximately five minutes after leaving my parents’ house, I was standing in my kitchen, having hurriedly dumped my purse, my gym bag and Jack’s cookies on the counter. The shelves were stashed in my bedroom and my beautiful new picture was sitting on my couch, waiting to be hung. I walked over and smiled at it as I dialed Jack.
His phone rang four times and I heard the loud pounding beat of music in the background when he picked up.
“Hellooooooooo, baby,” he answered with a laugh and I knew immediately he was drinking.
So much for a serious conversation tonight. But still, I needed to feel that connection and even if tonight wasn’t turning out to be the best time for him to come over and discuss our relationship, I wanted him to know I was thinking about him.
“Hey,” I responded. “Where are you?”
“We are at a titty bar,” he sa
id, enunciating each word clearly and sounding as if he was smiling while he did so.
A titty bar? Now there was an expression I had never heard him use before.
“A titty bar? What are you doing there?” I asked.
“Looking at tits,” he replied, the obvious answer to my stupid question – and then he started laughing.
I paused for a second, then I laughed with him. I couldn’t help it. He never talked like that – at least not to me – and he was rarely so noticeably drunk. If he was drunk, I knew that meant he hadn’t gotten around to eating dinner.
“I see,” I said. “Do they serve meatloaf in titty bars?”
“Nope. No meatloaf here. Just tits.” He laughed again, cracking himself up, and I laughed at the sound of it.
“Where’s Nate?”
“Oh, he’s around here somewhere.” He sounded as if he was looking around as he said it. “I’m not sure where, exactly.”
“Who’s driving?”
“Luke is. Don’t worry. He’s sober as a…a…” he paused, searching for the right word. “…as a sober guy,” he finished, laughing some more. “You should come and join us.”
Although I was tempted, just for the entertainment factor a really drunk Jack would provide, I declined. “No, not tonight. I just wanted to say hi.”
“Well, hi…oh, my God!” he exclaimed. “You should see this.”
“See what?” I asked, smiling at the enthusiasm in his voice.
“This chick. She’s blindfolded and they’ve got her tied to the pole. And this other girl is….well, I won’t tell you what the other girl is doing. Don’t want to offend your sensibilities.” He laughed some more and added, “The blindfolded one kind of looks like you. Great ass. You’d look hot tied up like that.”
I froze and stopped smiling. He laughed loudly and then choked out, “You know how I loves me some bondage!” He continued laughing as if that was the funniest statement ever made - totally unaware that I was on the other end of the line having a minor freakout.
The fear I intended to let go of came back in a rush – and I was no longer considering it irrational. Ten minutes ago, the fact that he was admitting to picturing me in a sexual situation at all would have thrilled me – but now the specifics of his fantasy left me trembling and feeling depressed.
All the expectations I had for the conversation I had already played out in my own head, and my optimistic hopes for how it would all work out, faded. Just like that. He didn’t sound like someone who would easily give up that part of his life and I just couldn’t imagine trying to make him do it. If pressed, he might tell me he could live without it, but I was convinced he couldn’t. I wanted him to be happy and had been starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he could find that happiness with me. But that dream was dying now – and I pictured it as a living thing, tied to a stripper pole and shot through the heart.
“Luke! It’s my Angie on the phone.” Jack’s voice got a little more distant like he was holding the phone up. I heard Nate’s indistinct reply before Jack said into the phone, “Luke is back.”
“Let me talk to him,” I said, walking to my living room window and staring out numbly at the approaching darkness.
“She wants to talk to you,” he said, his voice fading out.
“Hey, Angie,” Nate said.
“Hey. You need to get some food into him as soon as you can. He’ll get sick if you don’t.”
“I know. I’m already on it. I just ordered him a burger. It’ll be here soon.”
“Okay, good.” I said, raking my free hand through the top of my hair and leaving it there. “He’ll tell you he doesn’t need it, but do whatever you have to do to make sure he eats it.”
“I will.” He paused for a second and I heard Jack say something I couldn’t make out. Then Nate laughed and told me, “He said to tell you he loves you and he misses you.”
I looked up at the ceiling and blew a breath out slowly, trying to stop myself from crying – at least until I got off of the phone.
“Angie? Are you there?”
“Yeah. Tell him I said ditto and I’ll see him tomorrow.”
“I will. Are you okay?” It was suddenly quieter on his end, as if he had walked away with the phone.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little worried about him, that’s all.”
“He’ll be all right. I promise. Are you upset because we’re at a topless bar?”
“No,” I laughed. “That doesn’t bother me at all.”
“What does bother you?” Nate asked. “And don’t say nothing because I can tell just from your tone of voice it’s something.”
I let go of the hair I realized I was clenching and watched through my window as a teenaged couple, walking across the park with their arms around each other, stopped under a tree to kiss. I smiled sadly at that before closing my curtains and turning away.
“Angie? What is it?”
“Oh,” I said on a long exhale. “It’s nothing, really. And it’s everything. I’m just in a mood tonight, I guess.” I walked back into the kitchen as I was talking and closed the blinds there before leaning with my back against the sink.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. It’s kind of complicated and something I have to work out for myself. But thanks for the offer.”
“Okay, if you’re sure. Call me if you need to talk.”
“Thanks, Nate. I appreciate that. Have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Angie.”
I set the phone down on the counter and turned off the kitchen light, struggling with feelings of regret and loss. I hadn’t lost him yet, but it was coming. I knew that with an unwavering certainty. Despite his promises to always be in my life, he would eventually move on and find someone better suited to his needs. And I would be left alone.
My phone beeped as I started to leave the kitchen. I picked it up and a text from Jack lit up the darkness.
“Sweat dreams, baby. xoxo”
The first tears fell even as I snorted out a half-laugh at his autocorrect failure and set the phone down. And they kept falling until an hour of bereft sobbing into my pillow left me exhausted and I slid into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 20
In the end, finding the first piece of the embezzlement puzzle didn’t take as long as I had expected.
I had woke up with a new resolve to pretend nothing had changed between Jack and me. I decided to ignore the clear signals he was sending, at least until I could work up the nerve to lie to him and tell him I wasn’t interested in him in that way. It wasn’t going to be easy. I wanted him so badly it almost hurt - and he had an unnerving way of reading my thoughts that made it very difficult for me to get away with a lie. I just needed to figure out a way to get him to believe me and to do that without hurting his feelings.
I made it to the office an hour early, set Jack’s cookies on his desk, and got started right away on studying my report. By the time I heard Jack’s door open, I was already feeling out of my element and like I was wasting time with the project. Nothing was jumping out at me.
“Have I mentioned how much I love your mother?” Jack asked, strolling into my office, looking none the worse for wear, with one cookie in his mouth and another in his hand.
“Good morning, Jack,” I laughed. “She’ll be happy to hear that.”
“I’ll send her a love text in a minute. These are so good – just what I needed this morning.” He shoved the second cookie into his mouth and asked around it, “What are you doing here so early?”
He was interrupted by Nate, who called out good morning from the kitchen where he was pouring himself a cup of coffee. He walked in with his coffee in one hand and two cookies in the other.
Jack looked pointedly at the cookies and glared at Nate. “I knew I should have hidden those,” he said.
“Too late,” Nate told him cheerfully. “I know you’ve got them now.” He bit off half of one and grinned at Jack while he che
wed.
“Now boys, play nice,” I said. “There are plenty of cookies for everyone.”
“Not really,” Jack muttered.
Nate and I laughed at Jack’s pout and I turned back to my project. “I feel like I’m spinning my wheels with this report,” I told Jack, directing the conversation back to work. “I just don’t know what I’m looking for. There’s got to be an easier way.”
Jack and Nate both came to stand behind me, looking over my shoulder at the report on my desk. I had crossed out all the vendors GLC had been doing business with for years but that still left a large number of newer vendors that didn’t look at all suspicious.
“Maybe if you sorted it differently,” Nate suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Jack agreed. “How about by invoice amount – highest to lowest?”
“Worth a try,” I said and reconfigured the report.
Jack went to get a cup of coffee while we waited for the new report to compile and Nate leaned against my desk telling me about his own wasted efforts in monitoring emails and internet usage. “Some interesting stuff there, but nothing related to what we’re looking for,” he told me. “But I will say that I’m pretty sure we can take Marla off of the suspect list.”
“Tell me why; I’m dying to know,” I said, unabashedly nosy.
“Sorry. My lips are sealed - by order of the boss,” he said with a nod to Jack, who had just re-entered my office with his coffee and two more cookies.
The report was done so I opened it up on the screen and Jack and Nate resumed their positions at my back. I scrolled through it slowly, not noticing anything unusual – until I got to the $15-$20,000 range. Then it jumped right out at me.
“Oh my God,” I said, leaning in closer to my screen and examining it. “There it is.”
“Where?” Jack asked, and he and Nate both leaned in, one on each side of me, and looked at my screen.
“Right here.” I put my finger on the screen and started pointing out duplicate invoices. In each instance there was one from an established vendor and another, completely identical from the amount to the invoice number, from a company by the name of ARC Electrical Supply.
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