A Matter of Trust

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “Don’t talk about your mother like that,” Jack said. “She never cheated. I wish she had, though, so she could have had some of the happiness she allowed to walk out of her life. We made a commitment to each other, for you, because we loved you.”

  “I didn’t realize that I was an accident,” Carrie said. She didn’t think her heart could take any more.

  Her dad was shaking his head. “Carrie, half the human population is an accident. I would never go back and undo meeting your mother and having you, even if I could. You two are the best thing that’s happened to me…but I want to talk about Ben Wilde. He’s not the bad guy you made him out to be.”

  Carrie started shaking her head. “You’re wrong, Dad. He came in here to cheat us. He diverted funds, he committed fraud, he lied—”

  “No, he didn’t!” her father yelled, cutting her off, and it shocked her, because her father had never raised his voice to her, not like this. “Ben Wilde was set up.”

  “How can you sit there and say that after seeing all the evidence, the documents, everything that was sent to me?”

  “Because I used to be the man Ben is accused of being.”

  She stared at her father as an icy chill raced through her. Her ears were ringing, and she couldn’t get her mind around what he was saying. “I don’t understand?”

  “You think I want you to know what a bad man I was? I worked for one of the largest oil companies around. Reports are falsified all the time. People in positions of power are bought. It’s about who you know, and it’s all in the sales pitch. Evidence of misconduct, of possible problems, is buried. Big Oil owns this country, the world, the governments. They can silence who they want, but when a disaster happens—which is not surprising, considering all of the shortcuts taken by oil companies day in and day out—there will always be someone who has to take the fall. I was the guy who made sure all the evidence pointed to whoever was chosen. Your Ben was set up, because a smart oilman who’s scamming and really lying and cheating and funneling money to some offshore account…well, he knows how to cover his tracks.”

  “But…”

  Her father was shaking his head again. “Carrie, you’re so young. Give yourself a second to understand what I’m saying. If Ben is guilty of doing all this, then why were we sent all these documents that could easily convict him? Have you asked yourself what the person who sent them to you, whoever he is, has to gain from this?”

  She swallowed again as a sick feeling came over her. “Dad, if you’re right, then I’m responsible for destroying the only man I’ve ever loved.”

  As her father sat across from her, she saw the first time real understanding for her filled his eyes, as well as sympathy and sorrow. “Yes, you are, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late. You can still help him.”

  “How? If what you say is true, how can I help? All I have is what—” She stopped and reached down into her purse, pulling out the printed documents. “These are the papers I was emailed. They’re just copies, Dad.”

  “A copy is all we need.” He reached for them and then lifted his reading glasses from his pocket, shoving them on and shuffling through each paper, reading. He let out a deep breath and pulled off his glasses. “We have a place to start. Do you know who sent you these?”

  For a moment, she wondered if he was asking her a question or already knew the answer. “His name is Rick,” she said. “He’s the one who told me when Ben was arriving.”

  Her father gave nothing away as he took a breath and then handed her one of the papers, pointing to the top margin of the letterhead. “Rick Stillwell, Vice President—and son of the CEO, Peter Stillwell.”

  Carrie read the names under the company letterhead, with Ben’s listed above Rick’s as president. How could it be that easy?

  “Think about it, Carrie. The one question you need to ask is who has the most to gain from Ben’s downfall.”

  “But why?” she said.

  “Honey, sometimes greed doesn’t need a reason.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Ben could hear Julia down the hall, scolding the girls to get into bed, but they were trying to negotiate another hour of TV. It was nice, being here with Logan and his family and the girls. At any other time, he would have loved horsing around with them. They were fun and bright tricksters, and he loved being Uncle Ben. Logan was going to have his hands full with those two when they were old enough to date and the boys came knocking on the door. It wouldn’t be long, either. If anyone could keep a tight rein on those girls, though, it was his brother.

  Logan hung up the phone, shaking his head. “Jordy is working on getting those documents, or at least a copy of them. I have a friend in the Boise crime lab. We’ll send them to him. If it’s a forgery or it’s been altered, he’ll find it.”

  “May not be that simple, Logan. We need the original documents, and who’s got those, do you suppose?” They both already knew: the Feds, Peter Stillwell, or whatever federal ethics committee oversaw these kinds of cases.

  “Hey, of all of us, you’re the one who’s done everything you set out to,” Logan said. “Don’t lose faith. We’re going to beat this.” He grimaced and set his hand on his leg as he hobbled to the table.

  “Your leg bothering you again?”

  Logan just shook his head and pulled out a chair to sit down, stretching out his leg and squeezing his thigh. “No more than usual.” He leaned back, leveling a hard look on Ben. “Mom called before I picked you up. She saw the news.”

  “Yeah, I guess I should have called her.”

  “She and Dad are worried. Joe, Jake, and Samuel called, too. Everyone wants to come, you know.”

  That was the last thing Ben wanted, to have his parents and his brothers here right now. He needed a moment to breathe, to figure things out. “We should talk to Samuel, at least,” he said. “We may need his legal mind. It helps having a lawyer in the family.”

  Logan knew that, and he knew his brothers would drop everything and come.

  “Remember when we were kids, and Dad left?” Ben said, watching Logan as his lips tightened and his face appeared to darken.

  “What made you bring that up?” Logan didn’t sound pleased.

  “I don’t know. Been thinking about it a lot, lately. Guess that’s why we’ve always come to you, like I am now.”

  Logan nodded as if he understood.

  “Couldn’t have been easy on you,” Ben said. “You were still a kid yourself, but all of a sudden, you were who we depended on. Even after Dad came back, it was still you we went to.”

  Logan glanced up for a second. Ben wondered if he was uncomfortable. “Dad had another woman,” he said.

  “What?” Ben snapped. Of every scenario that had gone through his mind, that hadn’t been one of them. “Did Mom know?”

  Logan took a breath and rested his flattened hand on the tabletop, flexing his fingers. “I don’t think so. I think she wondered.”

  “So how do you know?” Ben could tell by the sudden coldness in Logan’s eyes that there was way more to what had happened, and he’d been holding on to it all these years.

  “I caught him, where he was staying, Mom sent me over with some of his things, a shaving kit he’d forgotten. He was staying in this old house a mile down the road. I walked up the steps, and he was doing her on the kitchen table.”

  Ben couldn’t believe it. He found himself thrust back into the mindset of a young boy with his world being torn apart. How disillusioned he was with his father. “And Mom never found out? You never told her?”

  His brother shook his head, his lips tight, holding on to all of those secrets. “She didn’t need to know that. It would have added to her hurt.”

  “So you kept Dad’s secret. Does he know? Well, of course he does. I wondered what went on between you two. When Dad came back, there was always something between you—and then you left us and enlisted.”

  “I never left you. I’ve always been here for you! You know that. Dad…yeah, we
had it out. I hit him, tried to knock his teeth out, and he never fought back. He knew he’d never have my respect again, or my trust, after what he’d done. He also knew I’d never told Mom he slept with someone else. He asked me about it, and I told him straight out that if he ever hurt Mom like that again, I’d kill him. He believed me, so I had to go. Mom loved Dad, and she wanted to make it work. She may have forgiven him, but I couldn’t.”

  Julia wandered into the kitchen. “Logan, the girls are watching TV. Can you tell them to shut it off in half an hour? I’m going to take a bath.” She stood behind Logan and slid her hands over his chest, leaning down and kissing him.

  “You gave in,” he said to her as he reached up, running his hand up her arm, pulling her in for another kiss.

  “Hmm, they’re excited that their uncle is here and swear they can’t sleep.” She gestured to Ben. Her smile was so pretty.

  “I’ll get them to bed,” Logan said. “You go.”

  Julia kissed him once more and strode out of the kitchen.

  “She looks good,” Ben said, watching the easy smile that lit up his brother’s face.

  “Yeah, I’m a lucky man,” Logan said, but Ben wanted to add that it was Julia who was lucky to be married to him.

  “Logan, Uncle Ben is on TV!” Trinity called out from the living room.

  Ben started into the living room, his brother right behind him. He stopped in front of the TV screen, and there was Carrie on the front steps of KKO, surrounded by reporters. Cameras were clicking, and there was a microphone in her face. The side of the screen bore Ben’s picture again.

  He wasn’t sure what he’d missed, but it appeared she’d given a statement already. He reached for the remote and turned up the volume.

  “So are you telling us that Ben Wilde did not falsify reports and order second-grade equipment?” a reporter asked.

  She looked right into the camera, and he could see fear and something else he’d never seen before in her eyes. “The information that was emailed to me came from a source who has been providing our group with inside information against this oil pipeline project. That source is Rick Stillwell, the vice president of Kootenai Kounty Oil. He’s the son of founder and CEO Peter Stillwell. What we know now, after obtaining the original email from the pipeline manufacturer in China, is that the communication was between Rick Stillwell and the Chinese authorities. Mr. Wilde’s name and signature was used to replace Rick Stillwell’s in the documents sent to me.”

  Ben gave Logan an uneasy glance. Logan watching him, arms crossed, and then took in the girls, now standing beside Ben, awed by the media frenzy. Trinity slid her hand into Ben’s as if offering her uncle support.

  There were a barrage of questions from reporters to Carrie, and then Jack appeared beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. “My daughter acted on the information she was sent, and she is humbled at the idea that she may have destroyed the career of a man who’s innocent of all these allegations.”

  “Is the oil pipeline project still going to go through?” another reporter called out.

  “As of this morning, we’ve received word that the project is on hold pending the outcome of this investigation,” Jack said as cameras flashed.

  “I would like to add my deepest apologies to Ben Wilde,” Carrie stated. She paused and looked down. When she glanced back up at the camera, there were tears glistening in her eyes. “Ben, if you’re watching this, I’m so sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me for not believing you? I regret my actions and whatever pain I’ve caused you in hurting your career and your name. I wish I could go back and change what happened. You didn’t deserve to be crucified by the media the way you were, and I deeply regret my part in this scandal. All of you out there, please know that Ben Wilde is a good, honest man, and he had no part in or any knowledge of the duplicity of the company he worked for.”

  “Ms. Richardson, how can you stand there and say he didn’t know?” another reporter yelled out.

  Carrie actually grabbed the microphone close to her. The way she shook her head, Ben could see the sizzle of anger from her. “Are you serious? I can tell you with absolute, one hundred percent certainty that Ben had no knowledge of any of this. He’s a good, honest man—and I love him!”

  “Do you want to explain that?” Logan asked.

  Ben glanced at the two pairs of very young eager ears that were listening.

  “Off to bed, you two,” Logan said in a tone the girls didn’t dare argue with. They paused once in the doorway, and Logan just pointed to the hallway. They filed out quietly. “Out with it,” he said in the next breath to Ben.

  “Long story,” Ben said. “Pain in the ass. Difficult woman. I think I love her.”

  Logan just shook his head. “Well, you better call her, because she just announced to the entire world that she’s in love with you, too.”

  “Actually, can you get me back to the airport?”

  “You know I will. What are you planning to do?”

  “I have unfinished business. What I need to say to Carrie needs to be said face to face.”

  Logan reached over and gripped his shoulder. “Get your things together. Let me go tell Julia.”

  Ben stood in the living room alone, watching the words that flashed over the screen: Rick Stillwell under investigation in Pacific Gateway scandal. He knew with certainty that even with his name cleared, he no longer had a career in this industry. With this type of scandal, there would always be whispers and rumors questioning his role, questioning whether he really had known. That dirt would always stick to him and follow him wherever he went. No, it was time for a fresh start, time to see Carrie. From there, he’d decide where to go and what to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I don’t know, Alice. This time I really screwed up,” Carrie said. She found some comfort sitting at the table in her father’s house with Alice. After hearing her father tell his sordid tale, she should have hated him, but she couldn’t. For the first time, he had opened up to her, and she realized that he’d allowed her to think the worst of him and Alice.

  Her father was a mystery. After his story, he had picked up his phone and made a call to someone. She still didn’t know who it was other than that his name was Chris. Then the documents had appeared, first by email, then courier. When she asked her father who the man he’d called was and how he had been able to obtain something no one else could, Jack had said nothing. She had watched him and the look he had, and, for the first time in her life, she had understood that there were some things she didn’t want to know.

  Alice reached across the table and patted her hand, stirring her from her thoughts. “It’s going to be okay. Drink your tea.”

  Carrie put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, looking over at a woman who’d never for one day treated Carrie as horribly as she had been treated. She wished she could go back in time and take back every horrible thing she’d said. “I’m sorry, Alice.”

  “For what?” She looked truly surprised.

  “For how I’ve treated you and Dad.” She flushed in embarrassment. Alice understood clearly what she was trying to say; Carrie could tell by the way she glanced away, as if not knowing how to respond.

  “You have no idea how I feel, watching you now with your dad,” Alice finally said. “He’s always wanted a relationship with you, Carrie. He just didn’t know how to go about it. Thank you for letting him in. You've eased some of his burdens.”

  The way she said it, Carrie wondered whether Alice knew what her dad had done in the past. Even though Carrie didn’t know all the details, she wanted to ask Alice—but something inside her made her hesitate. It was her father’s secret, and hadn’t she done enough over the past few days by opening her big mouth, especially with Ben?

  “I don’t know how you and your father got a hold of those emails and papers to clear Ben,” Alice said. “I’m just grateful. I like Ben. I just couldn’t believe he could do something like that.”


  “Yeah, I should have trusted him. I should have listened. I just wish I could tell him how sorry I am. I don’t know how he could ever forgive me.”

  Alice glanced toward the window. “Ah, there’s your father now.”

  Carrie could hear his truck. Alice got up from the table and went out the door to see him. She could hear voices and footsteps, but she just stared in her teacup at the leaves floating in the bottom.

  “Carrie.”

  She jumped when she heard his voice. When she turned around, Ben was standing in the doorway. Her father was talking with Alice as they went into the kitchen. Ben looked so good even though he had that scruffy look going on, as if he hadn’t shaved. He wore his leather coat and dark blue jeans.

  She swallowed and slowly stood, her legs feeling like limp noodles. She wanted to run to him, throw her arms around his neck, and beg forgiveness, except she was terrified. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  His expression was hard. She didn’t know if he wanted to throttle her, yell at her, or if he would even listen. “Did you mean what you said?” he asked.

  “About?” She had said so many things.

  “Stop playing games, Carrie. You said you loved me.”

  She nodded. Her throat was suddenly so dry she couldn’t speak.

  “I need to hear you say it.”

  She took a step toward him, shaking inside. She could see how stiffly he held himself. “I’m sorry for hurting you, for not believing you, for thinking you could have done such an awful thing. I meant every word I said to those reporters. I just wish I could take everything back, go back and have a do-over.”

  “There’re no do-overs, Carrie. We all have to live with our mistakes.”

  She nodded, dying a little inside. Was this goodbye? God, she hoped not. She didn’t want him to leave, to tell her he couldn’t forgive her. “If I beg you to forgive me, will you?” she said. “I love you, Ben, and I promise I’ll never doubt your word again.”