Chances Are

by Red Rose Publishing

  “I can’t, Tal, not tonight.”

  “But one night you’ll stay,” he assured. “Fair warning, once you do I may never let you go.”

  Kayla almost replied she wouldn’t want to. But she wisely kept silent.

  He stared at her for a full minute as though he could read her mind. He nodded and said, “I think I better take you home now, while I still can.”

  Kayla wasn’t quite sure how she made it to the bank. Her mind had been surrounded by a cloud ever since she’d agreed to go out with her boss. Tal kissed like nobody’s business, and he appeared to have zeroed those kisses in on her. It took everything in her not to drag him into the townhouse when he took her home, and make him fulfill the promises in his touch. The only reason she didn’t was because of the bang of a door slamming a few houses down, and the sound of laughter carrying on the evening breeze. And it was Tal who pulled back.

  For the first time in her life, Kayla couldn’t care less if she had an audience while she made out with a man in front of her house. Not that she made such things a habit, but she found herself making all kinds of exceptions for Mr. Talbert Reynolds the third. Like going out with him three nights in a row.

  She opened the bank’s door with her key, which Tal had returned to her last night. The same door she thought she’d never walk through again. It gave her a funny feeling coming back to the bank. Her faithful secretary was already there at her desk, a cup of coffee in hand. She stopped to say good morning just as the phone rang.

  “Go ahead and get that,” Kayla said, “we’ll talk later.” As she walked past Sally’s door, her former assistant manager, she noticed someone she didn’t recognize seated at the desk in front of the computer. “Hello,” Kayla said, stopping at the doorway, suspecting she already knew who the woman was, though they’d never met. “May I help you?”

  The woman looked up. “Oh, hello,” she said standing up and coming around the desk. “You must be Kayla Michaels. We spoke on the phone yesterday. I’m Agent Patrosky.” She held out her hand to shake Kayla’s.

  “Oh yes, Agent Patrosky.” Kayla took the woman’s hand while they silently scrutinized each other. Kayla’s first thought, this petite fragile looking blond doll is an FBI agent? The woman looked like some kind of pampered princess. Like a broken nail would make her pout, and most men would do anything not to have her upset. Some of Kayla’s skepticism must have shown on her face, because Agent Patrosky squeezed her hand a little tighter than necessary before she released it. Her next words confirmed the impression.

  “Looks are deceptive,” Patrosky said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I get that a lot.” Patrosky held up her cell phone. “I’ve just been checking my email.”

  “Any news?” Kayla asked.

  “Nothing concrete yet.”

  “Are you done interviewing everyone?”

  “Almost, I have meetings with two other employees this morning. I’m also still waiting to hear back from your assistant manager. If I don’t hear from her by the time I’m through here, I’ll go over to her house.”

  “I can try to reach Sally for you, but I’m sure she didn’t know Mr. Newington any better than the rest of us. In fact, I don’t think she’s ever even met the man. I understand she only spoke to him by phone.”

  “Interesting,” the agent replied. “Was Tuesday her scheduled day off?”

  “Yes it was.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to her or saw her?”

  “Monday,” Kayla said. “We worked together until about seven and as far as I know, she hasn’t been in again. When I arrived on Tuesday, Mr. Newington was already here. He told me he had already spoken to Sally and told her not to bother to come in. Her position was terminated.”

  “Mmm, and what about her things?”

  “What about them?” Kayla glanced around the small office and noticed Sally’s silk flowers and other personal items still there. “I assume she would have to come in at some point to pick them up. Since I was forced to leave early on Tuesday, I don’t know what arrangements she may have made with Mr. Newington.”

  “Does she have keys to the bank too?”

  “Yes. As does Mrs. Medcalf and the floor supervisors. And before you ask, no, I don’t know if her keys or badge have been returned. Have you checked with Mrs. Medcalf, maybe she’ll know?”

  “Not yet, but I will.”

  “Well I won’t keep you any longer, but if you have any more questions, or if there’s anything else I can do, I'm right next door.”

  Kayla went to her office and sat at her desk. It felt strange to be there, but also good. It was past mid-day when she heard her stomach growl, just in time for her to look up from her desk and see Tal standing in her doorway. His gaze locked onto her like a heat seeking missile. She’d always thought the expression time stood still was stupid. But that’s exactly what happened to her staring into his eyes. He seemed to walk forward in slow motion. Mesmerized, she turned in her chair, not wanting to miss anything about him as he approached her.

  He bent his head as she raised hers for their lips to connect. He was squeezing her shoulders and lifting her up as she began to rise from her chair to better feel him against her body. The sound of someone clearing a throat, loudly, disrupted the tendrils of sensuality weaving between them. Slowly, and reluctantly, they pulled apart. With one gentle squeeze, he released her shoulders and she sank back into her chair.

  When Kayla turned her head she saw Agent Patrosky in the doorway with a stranger behind her looking over her shoulder. The agent’s eyebrows were scrunched above squinted eyes in an apparent look of disapproval. The man behind her, on the other hand, appeared to be fighting back a grin.

  Tal did not move away from beside her. She felt him straighten, and place his hand on the back of her chair, creating an intimacy, making his position clear to everyone in the room. He was not hiding their relationship, or the fact they had one beyond employer and employee.

  Kayla was mortified. Oh Lord, what must they think? She stifled the groan threatening to emerge. Tal, of course, must have picked up on her tenseness, but he wasn’t budging. Instead he shifted slightly closer silently affirming their relationship and giving her support, she immediately felt better. They were both consenting adults with nothing to hide. It was nobody’s damn business but their own. She put a smile on her face and stared at the man and woman standing in her doorway.

  “Agent Patrosky, Zach,” Tal said. “This is Kayla Michaels.”

  The agent’s features relaxed somewhat, but she still raised one pencil-lined eyebrow and replied, “Yes, we’ve meet.”

  Zachary North moved past her to enter the office with his hand extended toward Kayla. “Hi, it’s a real pleasure to meet you, Ms. Michaels.”

  “Hello, Mr. North,” Kayla said.

  “Zach, please.”

  “Zach. Thank you so much for all you’re doing to help us retrieve the stolen funds and find Mr. Newington.”

  “It’s no trouble.”

  Tal looked down at Zach and Kayla’s joined hands and frowned. Shouldn’t he have let her hand go by now? He silently fumed. He shot Zach a look full of male annoyance, and Zach grinned back at him before finally releasing Kayla’s hand.

  “We were just about to go to lunch,” Tal said. “Would you both like to join us? You can give us any updates.”

  “Thanks, but not me,” Patrosky said. “I’m all through talking to everyone here, and I still haven’t heard back from Ms. Henderson. So I’m going to swing by her place. Zach can fill you in and I’ll be in touch with you this evening, hopefully after I’ve spoken to Ms. Henderson.”

  The agent seemed to have eyes only for Tal. A fact not at all lost on Kayla. And she didn’t seem too pleased to find Tal kissing her. Kayla still wasn’t sure how she felt about making their relationship so public, but she knew the other woman didn’t like it. Too bad for her. She wondered if Tal knew Agent Patrosky had the hots for him. Of course
he did. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t?

  Then again the other man in the office wasn’t someone to be ignored either. He looked like something that had just stepped off one of those erotic romance covers and turned into flesh and blood right in front of you. The combination of both men in the same room was intoxicating. While the men didn’t look alike, they offered a woman a choice. One conjured visions of walks under moonlit skies, while the other brought to mind basking side by side in sunlight. Some choice! Win-win either way. But while Kayla could appreciate Zach’s exceptional Nordic looks, it was the other one who made her want to throw her head back and howl.

  She always did have a thing for the moon.

  “I can go with you,” Zach piped up. “Are you guys through here?”

  Kayla glanced at Tal to see him narrow his eyes at Zach. That look told Kayla he probably wouldn’t have issued the invitation to Zach if he had known Agent Patrosky couldn’t join them. Jealous? She smiled.

  “I’m ready,” Kayla said, pushing her chair back.

  Tal only stepped back far enough for her to stand before placing his hand possessively around her waist, pulling her closer to his side, closing any gap between them.

  “Great, let’s go,” Tal said.

  Zach laughed. “Lead the way, man.” He moved out of the way, Kayla glanced over her shoulder to see him following behind them, and Agent Patrosky trailing after him. As they entered the short hallway, Kayla stopped. The woman standing beside Mrs. Medcalf’s desk caught her attention.

  “Nessa!” Kayla cried, surprised. “What are you doing here?” She took Tal’s hand and continued walking toward her sister.

  “Hi,” Nessa said.

  Nessa’s gaze seemed focused beyond her shoulder. “Well?” Kayla asked again when her sister was slow to respond. She glanced over her shoulder to see what had captured her attention, and noticed Zach’s gaze riveted on her sister.

  “Ah…I had a meeting nearby,” Nessa said, “and decided to come and get the things outta my safety deposit box. Since I was here, I thought I’d see if you were available for lunch. But if you’re busy…”

  “I was just on my way to lunch.” Kayla turned to introduce the people with her to Nessa. “You know Tal, and this is Zach North, his company wrote our codes and he’s been helping us, and this is FBI Agent Patrosky, assigned to the case.” She turned slightly and waved her hand in her sister’s direction. “Everyone, this is my sister, Vanessa Michaels.”

  Zach stepped around Kayla and took Nessa’s hand. “It’s a real pleasure,” he said. Holding her hand long enough that they all took notice, and Agent Patrosky surreptitiously elbowed him out of her way, breaking his hold on Nessa’s hand. “Yes, nice meeting you,” Agent Patrosky said shaking the hand Zach hadn’t seemed to want to release. “I’ve got to run. Zach, I’ll come by later. Mr. Reynolds, I’ll be in touch.”

  How strange. At first Kayla thought the agent was attracted to Tal, but then she had given Zach an odd look when he seemed a little too focused on her sister. Who was still staring at Zach. Kayla glanced back and forth between the two. Judging by the bemused look on her face, maybe her sister was attracted to him too. Kayla shook her head. She didn’t blame her sister one bit.

  Tal seemed oblivious to the undercurrents around him. He took Kayla by the elbow and said, “Shall we go?” He didn’t bother to give anyone a chance to respond. He just started walking with her at his side, stopping briefly at the secretary’s desk to let her know they’d be back in a couple of hours.

  Neither looked back to see Zach offer his hand to Nessa, and she hesitantly placed her hand in his.

  Chapter Seven

  Kayla shook her head for the fourth time in a half an hour. What a strange lunch. Her normally talkative and opinionated sister appeared unnaturally subdued. She and Zach couldn’t take their eyes off each other, answering any questions put to them—if at all—in monosyllables. They never even finished their food.

  After taking two bites of her cob salad, Nessa announced she had to get back to the office. Zach immediately pushed his unfinished pasta aside and said he had to leave too. They left together. Both were acting jumpy. There was some strong mutual attraction going on there. Kayla understood the feeling. She was in the middle of one of her own.

  She and Tal took their time to eat; they were in no rush. Not talking much this time, just doing a lot of staring at each other, and enjoying being together. Kayla found herself walking back to the bank with Tal, her hand nestled comfortably in the crook of his elbow, when his cell phone began to chime. He answered it, it soon became obvious from the tone of his voice he wasn’t happy about what he heard.

  By the time he ended the call they were in front of the bank. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to get over to the main office. I have to meet Agent Patrosky there. She’s had a chance to speak to your assistant manager and may have a lead on Newington. Her people have spoken to the investment firm that set up the account we traced the money to, they’ve got a name. But, as Zach indicated to me earlier, some of it’s already been moved. Agent Patrosky says she may have some info on who Newington’s been working with. I’m sorry to run out on you, I know we were supposed to go over a list of employees today.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Kayla said.

  “I’m not sure how long I’ll be. I’ll call you when I have a better idea.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll just set the files aside and we can discuss them tomorrow. There’s still a lot to do before we close these doors.”

  “We’re still on for later.”

  “Tal…”

  He could sense her hesitation but wasn’t about to give her the chance to back down. He’d made his intentions known to her, and he demonstrated them publicly in front of Zach and the agent. He made it clear to her where things stood between them. He had no intentions of hiding how he felt about her from anyone, including her.

  Tal guessed she still needed to know he meant every word he said to her. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her, right on the sidewalk in front of the bank where they first met. Was it only three days? It seemed like a lifetime. Slowly, he released her. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay.”

  Tal turned and raised his hand for a taxi. He’d left his car at headquarters this morning because he knew he’d be running around town today. He got in the cab but looked at Kayla and said, “I want to wake up with you in my arms tomorrow.” He didn’t bother to wait for an answer; he shut the door and the cab pulled away from the curb.

  Kayla stood on the sidewalk for a minute watching the cab make its way down the early afternoon road. The wind was picking up. She turned and walked through the bank’s doors, thinking about his words.

  Tal didn’t like what he was hearing, not one bit. He hadn’t liked hearing the news Newington stole funds from the bank; he liked the rest even less. Agent Patrosky had a name all right. The name on the brokerage account was Kayla Michaels. The agent claimed, the electronic trail was irrefutable, and it led right to Kayla Michaels’ door, or in this case account. He didn’t believe it. He couldn’t.

  “And you think she’s involved!” he stated. “Based on such flimsy evidence as this out of focus picture of this woman taken from a bank video?” Tal jabbed angrily at the photograph Agent Patrosky had handed him. “First of all, you can’t even make out the woman’s features clearly. She could just as easily be a white woman or a man masquerading as a woman. She’s wearing dark sunglasses and has a scarf wrapped around her head conveniently covering most of her face. Other than she may be about the same height and built as Kayla, you’ve got nothing.”

  “That’s not all we’ve got, Mr. Reynolds,” Agent Patrosky replied. “Her name’s on the account, and we also have testimony from Ms. Henderson. She had seen Ms. Michaels on a previous occasion with Mr. Newington. Ms. Michaels specifically told me earlier she did not know the man nor had she ever seen him before a few days ago.”

  Tal scoffed. “You can’t be ser
ious. There’s got to be an explanation. Either this Ms. Henderson is mistaken or she’s lying.”

  “We’re checking into her story now,” she said, “and I’ve already requested a search warrant, which should be delivered any minute. Once we have that I’m hoping we’ll be able to access Ms. Michaels’ accounts with the bank from here. And…you may not be able to be objective here.”

  This was sounding like déjà vu, but it wasn’t like the last time it couldn’t be. Kayla was not a liar or a thief, unlike the last woman he’d been emotionally involved with, Laura. She had been mercenary and hid it well from him. He’d listen to no one who tried to tell him what she was really like.

  It took him overhearing a phone call between her and her sister. She was bragging about how she had him eating her nice girl act up and expected a marriage proposal any day now. He was so in love with her he wouldn’t ask for a pre-nup, but this time she might hang around awhile before she milked him for a few of his millions. The sad thing was he’d had the ring in his pocket; he’d shown up at her apartment to surprise her.

  He’d turned around, gone back to the jeweler and returned the ring. Then he’d returned to her apartment and ended it. That had been three years ago, and since then he hadn’t been emotionally involved with any of the women he’d been with, until now. Kayla wasn’t Laura. The thought brought him back to the present.

  Tal raised an eyebrow at Patrosky’s last remark. Making his tone cold he said, “I’m as objective as I need to be. Once I see the search warrant you can see the account. But you will find nothing. Where’s Zack? What does he have to say about all of this?”

  “I haven’t had a chance to tell him about these latest developments. I haven’t been able to reach him. I left a message for him at his hotel and on his cell phone.”