She nodded and faced the window again. He replaced the bag in the console and pulled left out of the hospital parking lot. They were headed toward the source of trouble for them both.
“You said you had reasons for bringing the files home to study this week.” He glanced over at her. The sun flickered across the side of her face. Would this woman ever have reason to smile again? “Do you suspect something’s wrong at your company?”
“I—I suppose so.” She shrugged. “But nothing that would have anything to do with last night.”
Steven accelerated through a yellow light and turned toward Elm Grove Road. “Why don’t you let me determine that.” He peered into his rearview mirror making sure they weren’t being followed by a white van.
Marina shifted in her seat and faced Steven. “Okay. We—me and Iris—started our nursery and landscaping company as a Senior project in college. We named it Acres and Fields because of our last names. We thought it’d be funny to have that kind of business and name it after ourselves.”
He nodded while keeping his gaze on the road.
“To our surprise, we started getting requests for bids from the university and then from hospitals and other local businesses. We never imagined it’d succeed. Iris handled the accounting and enjoyed working with the inventory. I liked designing the landscaping. So we doled out the responsibilities that way. After we graduated, we leased the property and built up the business more. Now we own the property.”
“So what are you investigating?” Steven always gathered details from a victim’s account of things, studied the evidence, and with little effort came up with a synopsis for how everything pieced together, but this one had him stumped.
“We’ve had the business for five years, and we’ve always profited and paid the bills on time. It’s been a perfect scenario until I noticed some overdue bills. When I asked Iris about them, she said she’d gotten busy and hadn’t had time to pay them.”
“But?” Steven chewed on the tip of the pretzel and willed himself to focus on Marina’s words. There had to be something she could reveal to him, even if she didn’t know its significance to his case.
“The government sent a letter saying we were behind on our sales tax payments, and we’d missed our quarterly income tax payment.”
Maybe now they were getting to the core of the problem. “And this caused alarm?”
She huffed. “That’s an understatement. I’ve never seen any bills like this. I asked Iris about them, and she gave me the same explanation. I offered to do it for her, but she said she’d take care of it. For a couple of weeks, I forgot about it.”
Steven turned on Elm Grove Road and checked his rearview mirror again. “But then?”
“Another set of bills came with a warning they might put a lien on our property. That was about a week ago. I kept trying to ask Iris about it, but things have been crazy getting ready to be closed for the week and making sure orders were filled and delivered. I checked our bank balance yesterday, and we don’t have near the money we should have. I can’t fathom the interest and late fees on our government payments. We’re not going to be able to pay our employees if this keeps up. And we could lose everything.”
“You’re not getting the business volume you used to get?”
Marina folded her arms across her stomach and drummed her fingers on her forearms. “No, we’re getting the volume. Our customers are satisfied, and we have a great arrangement with our seed distributor. Expenses are low. We’re making money. There’s no reason why we can’t pay our bills and certainly no reason why our bank account would be depleted.”
Steven rubbed his chin while he slowed the vehicle before coming to the valley where Marina’s company sat. She might not admit it, but there was trouble within the walls of Acres and Fields. Steven had seen this kind of thing many times. The partner was often the last to know. “Something’s going on.”
“Right. Well, maybe so. I don’t know.” She scrubbed her bloodshot eyes and yawned. “Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this.”
She wasn’t overreacting. He’d been observing delivery trucks come in and out of there at night for months. If his suspicions were right, they were trafficking drugs. “You’re best guess?”
“I won’t believe Iris took money from the business because I’ve known her since freshman year of college—for nine or so years. I can’t fathom she’d do that to me.”
“What about her husband?”
“Mack?” Marina shook her head. “Oh no. He doesn’t have access to our books or accounts.”
“He’s not a partner?”
“Absolutely not.” She shook her head.
Steven pulled into the gravel drive and cut his eyes to the side to get another look at Marina’s face. Concern was etched across her forehead. “You don’t trust him?”
“Isn’t that. I don’t trust many people. This business belongs to me and Iris, though. Her last name isn’t Fields anymore, but this business was ours before Mack came into the picture. It’s fifty percent hers.”
“What’s he like?”
“Mack? He’s an all right guy. He handles deliveries and moving things around the nursery.”
“Moving things?” Steven twirled the pretzel between his fingers.
“Yeah, like when we have to rotate certain products because of the change in season. Some of the trees and plants go into the greenhouses instead of being left out during the winter. He and his crew do all that. They’ve been doing a lot of that lately with cooler temps coming.”
Marina pulled her keys out of her purse and shifted in her seat. She took a deep breath and released it. “Anyway, I’ve got to go through these files and try to figure out where the money’s going.”
“Is that why you didn’t want Mrs. Fields-Jarvis to know you were involved in this incident?”
“Yes. I was afraid she’d shorten her trip. I need this time for searching through these files. If an employee is stealing from us, I need to know then I can prepare her. I don’t need her here fussing over me, refusing to let me do this.”
“She’s the kind of person that’d take over the investigation?”
“Oh absolutely. If she knew I had a head injury and had been through all this trauma, she’d refuse to let me spend time figuring this out. That’s the kind of great friend she is. I’d do the same for her.”
Was Marina right about Iris and Mack, that they were some of the few people she could trust?
Steven needed to catch a drug trafficker. Marina needed to stop a thief. They both needed to find a killer.
***
Marina’s fear had subsided. Detective Pennington—Mark’s brother—had escorted her to the office with no problems, and soon she’d be home. She couldn’t wait to change out of her filthy dress into her comfy clothes, start a fire in the fireplace, heat up a square of lasagna, and begin solving this puzzle.
The detective sure had a lot of questions about Iris and Mack. Did he suspect something?
During the trek to the end of the drive, he eased off his questioning and stated, “It’s against protocol for a detective to take a witness home, but I’m doing this because I imagine you’ll feel safer with me than with a new officer.”
Marina’s chest stung like the shooter had fired another round from his paintball gun into her. That was the first time he’d made her feel like a burden, like she was no more than another victim on his long list of cases. “Oh—oh sure. Thank you for taking the time to drive me. I’m not inconveniencing you in any way, am I?”
He must have realized how his words had stung because he brushed his hand across her shoulder and smiled. “Not at all. I don’t mind. In fact, it gives me the chance to look around your place.”
She curled the right corner of her upper lip. “My house?”
“No, your office.”
“Why?”
He tossed his pretzel into the cup holder and tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. He paused before answering. When he
faced her, he was somber, almost regretful in demeanor. His eyes resembled a Pacific Northwest forest, dark and green, veiled in mystery. “I believe drugs are being manufactured and shipped out of your nursery.”
She laughed. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Why would you suspect that?” So this was why Detective Pennington was being kind to her. He didn’t care about her car accident and the man she’d hit or about the men who’d tried to kill her. He didn’t care simply out of respect for a former church acquaintance or because she knew his brother. His focus was on her company. Hence, his focus was on her.
“I’ve been following the shipments coming in and out of here for months. I can’t divulge what I’ve learned because it’d put you in harm’s way.”
“More so than I already am?” she huffed.
He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I suspect last night’s incidents relate to what’s going on behind the doors of your company.”
“Listen, you’re wrong about all of that.”
“Marina, you said money was missing from your company. A lot of money. Couldn’t it be tied to the drug ring?”
“Absolutely not. There’s no drug ring.”
“Then why was Jason running from your business property? Better yet, who was he running from?” The detective emphasized every other word by jabbing the console with his index finger.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Marina had no answer. Did all these things tie together? Bile rose to the back of her throat, and her stomach churned. Heat flooded her face. “I don’t know. But if someone was manufacturing and selling drugs out of my company, they’d be making money. They wouldn’t need to steal it from me. Your theory doesn’t make sense.”
“Couldn’t it be possible Jason found out what you’ve been investigating? Maybe he confronted whoever took the money and used your company as a front for drug distribution.”
“No! No, it’s not possible. And you’re not going to use me to snoop around my office and property when you need a warrant for such things. In fact, you can take me home. I’ll get one of the delivery guys to bring me the box of files later today.”
“I can’t allow you to risk your safety.”
She swallowed down the distaste in her mouth, the distaste for his controlling words. “Can’t allow me?”
“I have to make sure you’re safe until we catch the man who was in that truck and who shot you outside the hospital.”
She squeezed her hands into fists and banged her forehead with them. She had no choice but to depend on him. “Okay, fine! But you’re not leaving my side. I’ll grab the box and we’ll leave.”
“Okay. If you insist.”
“I do. In fact, you can stay in the car.”
Detective Pennington pulled into the parking spot closest to the main entrance of the nursery, and Marina climbed out of the SUV, careful not to bump her leg on the door. The burn from the coffee, while not severe, still hurt. The whelps from the paintball pellets throbbed and stung worse than she ever imagined possible. A collision with the door would impede her progress.
“It won’t take me but a minute to get the box of files. You stay here.” She pushed the door to shut it, but his reaction caught her off guard. Was he stunned by her bossiness? If so, he had a few things to learn about her and her ability to survive tough situations.
“I’ll come in with you.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
Steven unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of his SUV. “Since the man I chased last night was headed straight for here, I beg to differ. He could be hiding somewhere you wouldn’t expect.”
Conceding, Marina unlocked the glass door to the office. “I thought law enforcement was supposed to put people at ease.”
“My first job is to protect. I don’t make things sound fluffy and innocent if I fear someone’s in danger.”
Marina walked through the doorway and held the door open for the detective. Why did this place cause loneliness to well up inside her? Where was the safe feeling she’d always felt here? Somehow, she’d lost her comfort, and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since she’d called this place her second home. “I assure you there’s nothing in here I need protection from.” Did she feel that way anymore? She needed to find the missing money and prove the detective wrong. There was no way Iris or Mack were involved in criminal activity.
She made her way across the sun-drenched lobby, her cold, bare feet pitter-pattering on the multi-colored flagstone tile. If she had an extra pair of shoes here at the office, she’d be much more comfortable. Detective Pennington’s shoes struck the tile with force and signaled he trailed a few steps behind her.
“My office is here in the eastern corner. I like to have sun in the early part of the day.”
“And your partner’s office?”
Marina stopped and pivoted. She placed her hands on her hips. “Look, Detective.”
“Call me Steven.”
She squinted. What was he up to? He hadn’t offered to let her call him by his first name when she told him to call her by hers. Why now? “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” He held out his hands in an innocent gesture.
“Why are we suddenly on a first name basis?”
“I’m tired of hearing you say Detective Pennington over and over. It’s annoying. Especially since you dated my brother, and we used to go to church together.”
Marina took a few steps backward and then pivoted again. This guy was beginning to wear on her nerves. The sooner she could be rid of him, the better.
She unlocked her office door and clicked on the light. The shifted sun’s glow had left the room. In an hour or so, its light would sink below the tree line, and the shadows would overtake any remaining light. She needed to get out of here before darkness fell.
“Okay, here’s the box of files.” She tossed a few extra folders inside and hoisted the box off the top of her desk.
“Here, let me get that for you.”
“Detect—”
“Steven.”
“Steven, it’s best if I carry it.”
“With bruised ribs and a sprained ankle? Give me the box and stop being self-sufficient.” He took it out of her hands and stepped aside, so she could exit before him.
Marina reached back in after Steven entered the lobby, flipped off the light, and locked her door behind her. When she spun back around, she crashed into Mack Jarvis.
Chapter Five
Marina recoiled in pain from the collision with Mack, who stood several inches above six feet, like a lumberjack in his jeans and flannel shirt. Her scrapes and bruises ached still, and colliding with him had jarred her whole body.
“Mack, what are you doing here?” she stammered. If she’d been carrying the box of files and they’d spilled all over the floor, it could have been a disaster. The last thing she needed was for Mack to report back to Iris that she was digging into their financial troubles. Worse would be if Steven gained access to information that might bring her company and her partner to their knees.
“Well, hello to you too.” Mack arched a sun-bleached eyebrow and surveyed Marina with his gaze. He carried a clipboard and his cell phone in one hand and with his other stroked his copper beard which touched his chest.
“Sorry. You caught me by surprise.”
“I could say the same about you, Marina.”
She bent and picked up a handful of dead leaves from a ficus tree. She tossed them into the Terracotta pot containing the eight-foot-tall living monster. The change in seasons and difference in light had affected it already. Mack would need to move it to the west side of the office soon.
“I was getting ready to move that thing. It’s dropping leaves faster than I can pick them up.” He knelt and picked up a few more leaves, tossing them into the pot with their equals.
Marina smiled at Mack’s mind-reading skills, but there was no joy behind her smile … only an attempt to hide her real purpose for being
there. “Aren’t you supposed to be out of town with Iris?”
He continued to stroke his beard. “Aren’t you supposed to be chilling at home instead of working?”
Marina and Mack stood facing each other, neither one explaining their reasons for being at the office and neither one backing down from wanting to know the other’s reasons. Was this Tombstone or something? What was his problem? “As you can probably tell, I’m a bit ruffled today.”
“I noticed. You look like you’ve been dragged underneath an eighteen-wheeler.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Why are you barefooted? You never go barefooted here at the office. And who’s this guy?” He cocked his head toward Steven.
Marina popped out her right hip. “I wrecked my car last night and ended up spending the night in the hospital. My friend Steve here is giving me a ride home. I needed some things to work on and to check on the orders. I’ll be off my feet for the rest of the week.”
He stroked his beard. “Bummer. I’m sorry to hear that. Must have been a bad wreck.” Mack shifted from one foot to the other.
“It wasn’t minor, that’s for sure.” Marina brushed her hair out of her face and waited for Mack to explain why he was there instead of out of town with Iris. She kept the details of the wreck and the incidents that happened afterward to herself since she hadn’t asked Steven for permission to talk about them yet.
Mack’s usual sparkle restored to his eyes. “I’m glad you’re okay. We couldn’t run this place without you.”
“Thanks, you’re a sweet little liar. You know it couldn’t run without you and Iris.” Marina forced another smile although her head ached.
After a few minutes of fidgeting with his cell phone, Mack explained, “Iris called you last night but couldn’t reach you—of course, because you were in the hospital. She asked me to make sure the deliveries were going out. She headed to her mother’s house about five this morning. I’ll meet them there later today.”
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