A Bargain with the Boss

by Barbara Dunlop

  Dressed in a pair of navy slacks and a striped pullover with a matching blazer, she was lithe and graceful as she moved across the sidewalk. Her hair was in a neat braid, while her low-heeled boots were a sexy purple suede. She was compellingly beautiful in the cool sunshine, her profile perky, her skin smooth as silk.

  She hadn’t seen him yet, so she had a smile on her face. He supposed he’d change that soon enough.

  It didn’t take long. She caught a glimpse of him, squinted at him and then frowned.

  “Hello, Amber,” he said, covering the last few paces between them.

  Her glance flicked behind him as if seeking context. “What are you doing here, Tuck?”

  “Been out shopping?” he asked conversationally. It seemed like a reasonable guess for a Saturday afternoon.

  “I’ve been visiting—” She stopped herself. “What do you want?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “I don’t have time to talk.” She started for the walkway that led to her front door.

  “It won’t take long.”

  She turned. “Then, let me be more blunt. I have all the time in the world, but I don’t care to spend any of it with you.”

  “You’re still angry.”

  “What was your first clue?”

  “I didn’t want things to go this way.”

  “Goodbye, Tuck.” She took a backward step.

  “Dixon is still missing.”

  She shrugged.

  “It’s been over six weeks. I’m getting worried.”

  “He can take care of himself.”

  Under normal circumstances, Dixon could take excellent care of himself. But these weren’t normal circumstances.

  “Who takes a six-week vacation?”

  “Lots of people.”

  “Not my brother.”

  Even if their father had been healthy and at the helm, Dixon would never have left for this long, especially not without contacting them. Tuck’s focus had been on Tucker Transportation, but he was becoming genuinely worried about his brother.

  “Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do,” said Amber.

  “Clearly, I don’t. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “Why should I know him any better than you?”

  “You know him.”

  It was in her eyes.

  “You knew why he left,” said Tuck. “And you know where he went.” Tuck believed there was no romance between her and Dixon. But there was something—a closeness, respect, confidence.

  “He doesn’t want to talk to you?”

  “He’s got nothing against me.”

  Tuck and Dixon might not be the closest brothers in the world. But they weren’t estranged. They weren’t fighting. There was no particular animosity between them.

  Tuck stepped forward. “Things have gotten worse since you...left.”

  “You mean since I was fired.”

  “Yeah, that.” He didn’t know why he’d tried to soften the words. They both knew what had happened. “We’re losing accounts. We’re losing staff. We’ve gone from high profitability to a projected loss for next month.”

  There was no sympathy in her blue eyes. “You might want to do something about that.”

  “I’m worried about the employees,” he said, ignoring her jab. “If this goes on much longer, people could lose their jobs.”

  “What does that have to do with me? Considering I already lost mine.”

  “I’m appealing to your basic sense of humanity.”

  “While I’m still standing on my basic sense of ethics and values.”

  He eased closer. “Where is he, Amber?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you know?”

  She raised her chin. “That he didn’t want me to tell you anything.”

  “That was weeks ago.”

  “I haven’t heard anything to contradict it.”

  “So you haven’t heard from him?”

  She drew back in obvious surprise. “No.”

  “Does he know how to contact you?”

  “He’d probably try to call me at my desk.”

  “Touché.”

  “He knows how to contact you, too, Tuck. If he wanted to talk to you, he’d call.” She turned to go.

  “What about an emergency?” Tuck called out. He could taste failure, bitter in the back of his mouth. “Can you get a message to him? That’s all I’m asking. Get a message to him. You can name your price.”

  She stopped. Then she pivoted, gaping at him in clear astonishment. “My price?”

  “Anything you want.” He could feel his last chance slipping away. “What do you want?”

  To Tuck’s immense relief, she actually looked intrigued.

  “You’d pay me to get a message to Dixon.”

  “Yes.”

  She seemed to think about it. “What would you want me to say?”

  “You’ll do it?”

  Had Lucas actually been right? Was money going to sway her?

  “What would you want me to say?” she asked again.

  “Tell him about my father’s heart attack and tell him I’m destroying the company.”

  She looked a little surprised by the last statement. “You want to make certain he comes home.”

  “I want to make certain he knows the cost of staying away.”

  “I’m not going to lie for you.”

  “It’s not a lie.”

  “It is. You’re not destroying the company. You’ve hit a rough patch, sure, but—”

  “You haven’t been there.”

  It was every bit as bad as he was making it sound.

  “You’re exaggerating,” she said.

  They could have this debate all day long and get nowhere. He had a toehold on a yes here, and he didn’t want to give her a chance to back out.

  “What’ll it cost me?” he asked.

  “You’re talking about a flat-out cash bribe?”

  “If that’s what works.”

  She looked skeptical. “And I’d only have to tell him about your father.”

  “And that I’m destroying the company.”

  “I’m not using the word destroy.”

  “Then, tell him I’ve projected a loss for next month.” Tuck knew that would come as a colossal shock to Dixon. He’d be on the first plane home.

  He could see the debate going on behind her eyes.

  “How much?” he asked.

  What would she ask for? Five figures, six? He’d pay whatever she wanted.

  “My job back,” she said.

  He hadn’t been prepared for that. And he was shocked she’d be willing. “You want to work for me again?”

  “I want to work for Dixon again.”

  “Job’s yours,” he said. He’d be thrilled to have her back. In fact, he felt guilty that her request was so modest. He moved a little closer. “You have to know you’ve got me over a barrel?”

  “Do you want me to ask for something more?”

  He did. If nothing else, he was curious. “Yeah. Go wild.”

  She hesitated.

  He raised a brow, waiting.

  “All right.” She withdrew a paper from her purse, unfolding it. “Since you insist.”

  “What’s that?” He tried to look, but she pulled it toward her chest.

  “You can give me a signing bonus.”

  “How much?”

  “Twenty-eight thousand, two hundred and sixty-three dollars.”

  Now she really had him curious.

  “Where did that number come from?”

  “None of your business.” She refolded th
e paper and stuffed it back in her purse.

  “Seriously. What are you paying for?”

  “Seriously. None of your business.”

  Tuck told himself to shut up and take the victory. “You’ll call him.”

  “I will.”

  “I mean now.”

  “Right now?”

  He gave a sharp nod.

  “I suppose.” She turned again for the front door.

  He followed and she twisted her head to look at him.

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “I do. I don’t.” No, that wasn’t true. He couldn’t imagine she’d lie about making the call. “I do trust you. But I want to see what happens.”

  She unlocked the front door, pushing it open. “I don’t know for sure where he is. I didn’t lie to you about that. But he did leave an emergency number.”

  Tuck wanted to ask exactly how bad things had to get before she decided it was an emergency. But he didn’t want to start another argument.

  He stayed silent, and she dropped her purse on a table in the small foyer and extracted her phone, dialing as she moved into the living room.

  “Did he get a special cell phone?” Tuck asked. That made the most sense.

  Amber shook her head, listening as the call obviously rang through.

  She sat down on a cream-colored loveseat and crossed her legs. Tuck perched on an end of the sofa at a right angle to her. It faced a gas fireplace and a row of small watercolor seascapes.

  “Hello,” said Amber. “Can you connect me to Dixon Tucker’s room?”

  A hotel, obviously. Tuck wanted to know where. He wished he could see the area code.

  “He’s not?” asked Amber, her tone sharper.

  Tuck focused on her expression.

  She was frowning. “I don’t understand. When did he do that?”

  Tuck didn’t want to be suspicious, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was playing him. Was she going to pretend she’d tried to get Dixon but failed?

  “That’s less than a week. Did he say where he was going?” She met Tuck’s eyes, sitting up straight and bracing her feet on the carpet. Either something was actually wrong, or Amber had a great future in acting. “Yes. I understand.”

  “What?” he asked her.

  “Thank you,” she said into the phone. “Goodbye.”

  “What did they say? Who was that? Where’s Dixon?”

  Amber set the phone onto the sofa cushion beside her. “He left.”

  “Left where?”

  “Scottsdale.”

  “Arizona?”

  “It’s called Highland Luminance.”

  It struck Tuck as an odd name. “A hotel?”

  “A wellness retreat.”

  The words weren’t making sense.

  “What’s that?” Tuck asked. “And what was he doing there?”

  “Getting well. At least he was supposed to be getting well. But he left.” Concern furrowed her brow. “He left after only a few days. Why would he do that?”

  “Why would he go there in the first place?”

  Sure, Dixon’s divorce had been ugly. But people went through ugly divorces all the time.

  “For help,” said Amber. “They have a spa, yoga, fresh air and peace, organic food, emotional and physical therapy.”

  “You’re trying to tell me that my brother took off to Arizona for organic food and yoga.”

  “I’m not trying to tell you anything.”

  Tuck searched his brain for an explanation. “None of this makes sense.”

  “He was exhausted,” said Amber. “Upset by—”

  “Yeah, yeah. You’ve told me all that. But it’s not credible. Dixon’s a smart, solid, capable man.”

  Amber’s voice rose. “You worked him into the ground.”

  “I didn’t do a thing.”

  “Exactly,” she said with finality.

  He glared at her. “You’re saying this is my fault?”

  “Yes. Yours, your father’s, Kassandra’s, all of you.”

  He opened his mouth to defend himself, but no good argument formed inside his brain. Was it his fault? Why hadn’t Dixon come to him? They could have talked. They could have worked things out. He’d have been happy to support his brother.

  “Dixon is very private,” Tuck explained to Amber.

  “If I was you,” she responded in a flat tone, “I’d stop worrying about why he went to Arizona. I’d worry about where he went from there.”

  She had a point. She had a very good point.

  He pulled his phone from his shirt pocket and dialed Jackson.

  “Hey” was Jackson’s clipped answer.

  “Dixon went to Arizona,” said Tuck.

  “You sure?”

  “Scottsdale. A place called Highland Luminance. He left there about five weeks ago, but we can pick up his trail. I’ll meet you—” Tuck looked at Amber. “We’ll meet you in Scottsdale.”

  Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

  “I’m in LA,” said Jackson. “I can be there in the morning.”

  “We’ll be there tonight,” said Tuck.

  “No way,” said Amber.

  Tuck ended the call. “You obviously know my brother better than I do. You work for me again and I need you in Scottsdale.”

  “I really can’t.”

  “Yes, you can.” As far as Tuck was concerned, this was not negotiable.

  * * *

  Amber slipped quietly into Jade’s hospital room, not wanting to disturb her if she was napping.

  But she was sitting up in the bed reading a textbook, and she smiled. “Did you forget something?”

  “No,” Amber answered.

  Jade wore a large yellow T-shirt and a pair of stretchy green pants visible though the open weave of her blanket.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Good. I’m fine. But I’m feeling guilty just lying around here.”

  “You’re studying.” Amber rounded the bed, pulling a bright orange vinyl chair up closer.

  “Not as hard as I should.”

  “That’s okay. Your main job is to stay healthy and grow that baby for a few more weeks.”

  Jade’s cheeks were rosy, her face puffier than usual, but her eyes looked clear and bright. She put a hand on her budging stomach. “The baby’s getting bigger by the hour.”

  “That’s what we want. I have some good news.”

  “I can go home?” Jade hesitated. “Well, to your home.”

  “No, you can’t go home. Not yet. But I did get a job.”

  Jade started to smile, but for some reason she sobered, looking sad. “You’re so good. You’re amazing.”

  Amber wondered if her sister’s hormones were messing with her mood. “It’s just a job, Jade.”

  “No, it’s not just a job.” Jade looked like she might tear up.

  “Hey.” Amber reached for her sister’s hand, worrying this might be a sign something was wrong. “What is it?”

  Jade blinked. “It doesn’t matter what I do, how much trouble I cause. You always take such good care of things.”

  “You’re not causing trouble. I’m your big sister. Of course I’m going to help you.”

  Amber wished she didn’t have to leave town right now. She knew Jade was an adult, and she knew the hospital would take good care of her. But she still felt guilty.

  “Do you remember Earl Dwyer?” asked Jade.

  The name took Amber by surprise. “You mean Mom’s old boyfriend?”

  Jade nodded, sniffing and dabbing at her nose with a tissue. She gazed for a moment at the reflection in the window.
“I was thinking about him last night.”

  A picture of the man came up in Amber’s mind and her neck prickled at the memory. “There’s no reason to think about him.”

  “You remember how he yelled at us all the time?”

  “You should be thinking happy thoughts for the baby.”

  “Do you remember?”

  “Yes, I remember. But I’m surprised you do. You couldn’t have been more than five when he moved out.” Amber remembered Earl’s snarling face, his booming voice and how she’d locked herself and Jade in their bedroom whenever an argument had started between him and their mother.

  “I remember everything about him,” said Jade, her voice going small.

  Amber moved to the bed, perching on the edge to rub Jade’s shoulder. “Well, stop. He’s long gone.”

  “Do you remember the fire?” asked Jade.

  “Yes.” Amber couldn’t figure out where Jade was going with this.

  Was Jade worried about her own choices in men? Maybe she was worried about how her future boyfriends might impact her baby.

  “Mom used to tell Earl not to smoke on the sofa,” said Jade. “She yelled at him about it all the time. She said he was going to pass out, light the place on fire and kill us all.”

  “He nearly did.” Amber shuddered at the memory of the acrid smell, the billowing smoke, the crackling flames rising from the sofa stuffing.

  “That’s how I knew it would work.” Jade’s eyes seemed unfocused.

  “How what would work?”

  “He passed out that night,” said Jade, twisting her fingers through the blanket weave as she spoke. “Mom was in her bedroom. I remember Janis Joplin was playing on the radio.” Jade sang a few bars. “You were asleep.”

  “So were you,” said Amber.

  But Jade shook her head. “I was awake. I went into the living room. I was so scared he’d wake up. I pictured it over and over, like an instant replay, those pale blue eyes opening, his stinky breath, his scabby hands grabbing me.”

  Amber went cold all over.

  “But he didn’t wake up,” said Jade.

  Amber let out a shuddering breath of relief.

  “So I took his lit cigarette from the ashtray. I took the newspaper off the table. I crumpled a corner, just like I’d seen them do on that wilderness show. You remember? The one with the park ranger and the kids in Yellowstone?”

  Amber couldn’t answer.