“Good job, Giz!” Gracie reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a Greenie and handed it over.
Ten minutes later, Gracie had two cups of coffee poured and on the tray that she carried back to the office.
“How’d it go?” Jake asked fretfully. “She didn’t bite you or anything, did she?” Well damn, he actually sounded like he cared. Hmmmmm all over again.
“Giz ran her off. Now what are you going to do for a cook?”
“The agency is sending someone else. I was very explicit this time around. When I hired Ilsa Gloom, I was desperate, and she was the only person available. The woman at the agency said the person she was sending would be a good fit and that she had a sunny personality and loves animals. Thanks for the coffee. My turn next time. I know how to make coffee. I did it yesterday. Of course, it wasn’t nearly as good as yours is today.”
A compliment. Would wonders never cease? He sounds sincere, but then, I do make good coffee. “What next time? You’re getting a housekeeper to take your turn.” Gracie laughed at her own joke.
Jake grinned. Her laugh sounded a little rusty but infectious at the same time. He didn’t know how he knew, but he felt like Gracie Sweet didn’t laugh much. “You have a point. Well, she’s going to want a day off here and there, or she might be too busy to stop and make coffee. Then I’ll take my turn.”
He’s being waaayyy too pleasant, Gracie thought. She wondered if Jake had a trick or two up his sleeve or if he actually was turning himself around. She hoped for the latter because she hated being so mean spirited. It was just not who she was. “Okay, that works for me.”
“Hey, Gracie,” Jake said like they were bosom buddies. “Are you sure you don’t want me to call Luke Olsen and fish around? Or I could phone the firm, talk to the parents, and see what I can glean from them. I know you’re calling the shots here, but what could it hurt? Think about it.”
“It isn’t such a bad idea overall, but let’s wait to see what the lawyers say this afternoon when they get here. They should have a report from the private investigator they hired. We don’t want to rock the boat. If they don’t come up with anything, then I’d agree to call. Will that work for you?” That all sounded good to her ears, like she was including him in the decisions and at the same time giving value to his opinions. Maybe he was all tricked out and was actually being nice because underneath that facade he really was a nice guy. Hmmmmm.
She’s being too nice. Too cooperative. Maybe they had just been rubbing each other the wrong way, or the ugly pill was wearing off. Jake winced. He needed to get off that ugly-pill business. Nothing could make Gracie Sweet ugly, and he knew it in his gut. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he was the one who was being ugly. Well, he was dedicated now, and nothing was going to throw him off his game.
With Gizmo sitting next to his chair, chewing away on his oversized Greenie, Jake made call after call, following all of Gracie’s instructions. Lunch came and went, and the afternoon took off at a good pace. Before he knew it, it was three o’clock, and Gracie was holding up her hand to signal she wanted to talk after he completed his call. He had a nice phone voice, professional and yet soothing. For some reason, that surprised her after all the snide comments and barking he’d done where she was concerned.
Jake turned the chair around and wheeled himself over to Gracie’s section of the office. “I’m all yours!”
And what would I do with you if that were true, Gracie wondered. She knew she was supposed to comment but she felt tongue-tied. This was not good. “Our conference call is in fifteen minutes.” Now that was absolutely brilliant. Obviously, Gizmo thought so, too, because he barked loud and long. Gracie felt confused.
“If you can spare a few minutes, I’d like to ask your . . . your advice on something.”
Gracie blinked. He wants my advice. Another trick of some kind. “Ask away.” Another brilliant comment. She really needed to update her repartee. She waited, wondering what kind of advice she could possibly give this man in the wheelchair. It looked like Gizmo was wondering the same thing, because he kept nudging Jake’s hand so he would continue to tickle his sweet spot.
“It’s Moose. I screwed up. The second biggest mistake of my life. The first, of course, was Beth. I don’t know how to make it right with either one of them, but right now I’m concentrating on Moose. If Beth were talking to me, I’d ask her, but I have to wing it. I sent Moose dozens of texts and lost count of the phone calls that went to voice mail. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t even know where he is. If I did, I’d find a way to go there and ask him to come back. This is his home. It will always be his home till the day he dies. I even put his name on the deed to this house.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“What? That I put his name on the deed? No. Should I have?”
“Well, yeah,” Gracie drawled. “But, somehow, I don’t think that would have mattered one way or the other to Mr. Moose. I really don’t know him, so maybe you are asking the wrong person for advice. I more or less thought he was a father image to you or something along those lines.”
“Oh, he is . . . was. Sometimes over the years, we had this love-hate relationship. He turned himself inside out to get me to where I am today. He made me do the therapy, took me to the doctors, and all that. He cooked for me, did my laundry, helped me shower. I would have died without him. He was my rock.”
“Did you ever tell him that?”
Jake squirmed in his chair. “I thought I did. I don’t know if I said those exact words. I assumed it was understood.”
“Wrong. One should never assume; nor should one ever presume. That’s Beth’s Rule Number Three. Works every time. Beth’s Rule Number Four is that you cannot put a price tag on love or loyalty. And she’s on the money on that one, too.”
“Really! Those are my sister’s rules?”
“To live by. Yessiree, they are her rules. I agree with both of them.”
“Obviously, I not only didn’t know my sister as well as I thought I did, but I also didn’t know Moose, either.”
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong. You did know. In your heart. But when you went off the rails, as you put it, all you thought about was yourself. I can even understand that. To a point. But there comes a time when you have to man up and take responsibility for your actions. You drove your sister out of your life. Then you drove Mr. Moose away. Now you’re sorry and want to make it right. How am I doing so far?”
“Spot-on,” Jake said grudgingly. “What do you think I should do? A female point of view, so to speak.”
Gracie smiled. “They say confession is good for the soul. Bare it all and mean it. Sincerity carries on one’s voice. I don’t see any other recourse for you. Everyone is entitled to a mistake or two along life’s highway. I’ve found that people are very forgiving when they’re given the opportunity to forgive as long as nothing else is expected except for the forgiveness part. By any chance are you asking me to intercede with your sister? Is that what this is all about?”
“I thought about that at first, but the answer is no. This is something I have to do myself. Even I know that. Actually, I thought about writing letters to both Beth and Moose, but I have no clue where to send them. The written word is more powerful than a voice mail. I figured I could pour my heart out to both of them, and they could either toss the letter or read it again and again until they decided I meant everything in the letter.”
Gracie thought about all the letters and e-mails she’d saved from Alex and how she read them over and over until she knew them by heart. It was all she had left of the man she’d loved with all her heart. They were locked away in a metal box on a top shelf, way back in the corner of her closet. A closet that was to have been shared by the two of them someday. She no longer needed to read the letters since she knew them by heart. It was how she fell asleep at night, whispering the words to herself until her eyes closed.
“Perhaps you should write the letters and hold
them until you locate Beth and Mr. Moose. I guess you will have to keep calling and leaving messages. It’s not enough to walk the walk; you have to talk the talk, too. Anything else?”
Jake shook his head. “How’d you like lunch?”
“I thought you said she was a good cook.”
“That’s what the agency said. Too much salt, right? Too bland. I can’t teach her how to cook because I don’t know how. You have any pointers to give her?”
“Are you asking me to train your cook?”
“No! No! Pointers! Clues. Hints! I just thought that most women know how to cook, and you’re most definitely a member of the female persuasion. Most of those of the male persuasion, and I admit to being one of them, have no clue how to put something together that won’t taste like glue and cardboard. Moose is an exception to the rule. He cooks like a five-star chef. It’s about spices and herbs. At least that’s what Moose said. My new lady didn’t read the same book Moose read, I guess. Never mind, forget I asked. I said too much already.”
Jake looked pointedly at his watch. “I think it’s time for the conference call.”
He looks nervous, Gracie thought as she pressed in the digits, mumbled a few words, pressed in more digits until she heard Callie’s, Lily’s, and Mandy’s voices. She introduced Jake as Beth’s brother. Everyone said hello, then they got down to business.
Mandy went first. “Gracie, I called in a techie, and he assured me that no real damage has been done. He thinks the hacker just wanted recognition. We’ve been on the phones for over twenty-four hours, and so far no one’s bank accounts or credit cards have been hacked. We urged every member to cancel out their cards, notify their banks, and change all their passwords. Everything has been reported to the various agencies, and I’m confident enough right now to say we’re ninety-five percent contained. There are always those stragglers that put off responding for whatever reason. We’ll follow up, of course. But that’s where we are right now here in New York.”
Callie’s and Lily’s reports were virtually the same.
Gracie offered up a three-minute pep talk, complimented the three women on all their hard work, and told them to stay alert. “The lawyers are coming by later this afternoon, and I’ll send you an update before I close for the day. I think it’s safe to say our hacker is Beth’s stalker, but until we can prove it, there isn’t much we can do. I am hoping for a good report from the private investigator. I’ll also send that along. Now, does anyone have anything they want to add or say?”
No one did. The three women welcomed Jake to Perfect Match before saying good-bye to him. He thanked them in a husky, sexy voice, then winked at Gracie, whose jaw dropped. Gizmo threw his head back and let loose with a howl of sound. Jake laughed out loud.
This guy had a sense of humor, Gracie thought to herself. Who knew?
Jake pointed to the pictures of the three women next to their regions on the wall map next to Gracie’s chair. “Lily is one smoking-hot babe. Callie could probably snag some big, rich, power broker, and Mandy is the best eye candy I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame that not one of the three is my type.” Gizmo snorted his acceptance of the comment and went back to sleep.
“Well, Mr. Masters, that smoking-hot babe is married to a guy who looks like George Clooney and has four kids. Callie is married to a Lutheran minister, and eye candy Mandy is gay.” Her voice was so tart, her mouth started to water. What was his type? She didn’t mean to give voice to her thought, but the words somehow just tumbled out of her mouth. “What is your type, Jake?”
Jake pretended to think. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe someone along your lines, with your intelligence, but maybe with a little more meat on her bones.”
Gracie didn’t know if she should be flattered or insulted. Probably a little bit of both. She supposed she was to give some kind of snappy response, but words simply failed her. She turned away, her cheeks burning. “Finish up. The lawyers will be here within the hour. I could use some coffee. Your turn to go to the kitchen.”
“Okay,” Jake said agreeably. “Do you want some cookies, or maybe some brownies? Like I said, you could stand to gain a few pounds.”
“Don’t concern yourself with my weight. I’m right where I’m supposed to be weight-wise. Actually, Jake, I am in perfect health. Oh, and my teeth are good, too. On second thought, I’ll take two brownies, and bring some sugar cookies for Giz. I brought them with me this morning. I left them on the counter by the stove.”
Gizmo was up like a shot the minute he heard the words brownies and sugar cookies. He also knew he only got the white brownies, never the chocolate ones.
Gracie leaned back in her ergonomic chair and closed her eyes the minute the door closed behind Jake. She needed to process everything and do it quickly, but right this moment she felt like Alice about to drop through the rabbit hole. But before she toppled over, she had to try to make sense of one thing. Was Jake Masters flirting with her? She cracked one eyelid and stared at Gizmo. “Tell me the truth, was he flirting with me, Giz?”
Three sharp barks. Affirmative. “You sure?” Three more sharp barks. “Well, I’ll be damned.” Gracie backed away from the rabbit hole and laughed out loud.
Chapter Twelve
The doorbell rang promptly at four o’clock. Gizmo was on his feet in a nanosecond as he waited for a command. Gracie shook her head to indicate the big dog was to stay in place. “It’s Andy and Artie,” she called out to Jake, who was finishing up the call he was on and, like Gizmo, waited for instructions. “I assume your new housekeeper will go to the door and bring them back here, right?”
Jake shrugged. “We really didn’t get into a list of her duties. I planned on sitting down with her at some point today to tell her what I expected. I’ll do that this evening.”
A moment later, there was a soft knock on the door. “Come in!” Gracie called, and the two lawyers entered the room and stood, if not dumbfounded, then spellbound. Both lawyers were loaded down with what looked like stuffed-to-overflowing briefcases. “This looks just like Beth’s old office,” Andy said in awe.
“Except for the curtains,” Artie agreed.
Gracie got up, hugged the two lawyers, and introduced the twins to Jake, who said he was happy to meet them. Giz barked for attention, knowing somewhere in one of their pockets a treat awaited. The minute it was forthcoming, Giz carried his prize over to the door and lay down in the middle—his signal that no one was to leave the room until he moved. He was also smart enough to know that in order to get him to move, he got a second treat.
“Time is money, people,” Andy said. “So let’s get to it.”
“You guys look tired,” Gracie said, concern ringing in her voice.
“We’ve been working around the clock. Beth pays us to be thorough, and there is no way we would ever let her down. Here goes . . . Artie and I did a video conference with Lily, Mandy, and Callie. We’re satisfied with the results there. We conferenced some of the clients, and while some of them were annoyed, they understand the social-media scene and the hacking that goes on. No one is threatening a lawsuit—that’s the good news. We sent out legal letters on everyone’s behalf to the credit card companies and the banks. Also legal releases from all the clients. It was a major effort, but it had to be done. For now, at least, you are in the clear. Our techies, who, by the way, are the best of the best, are ninety-nine percent certain that the hack job was to get Beth’s attention, nothing more. It’s like you see on television; the guy or gal who is doing it wants to be noticed. It’s like they’re shouting, ‘See, I can get to you anywhere, anytime, so pay attention to me.’ The trick is to find the person, but whoever did it used a server in Budapest and bounced his signals all over hell and back, so it’s someone who knows his way around cyberspace. That’s just another way of saying it’s impossible to track. The guy counted on that, I’m sure. Right now, he’s feeling pretty smug, thinking all he did was leave an untraceable footprint, which puts him in control.”
Artie
swiped at his curly hair and gave up a weak, tired grin. “We didn’t do so well with our private detective, Jim Mack. Since we think, and I say think, because we can’t prove that the hacker is Luke Olsen, there wasn’t much to find. Jim went to the office, posing as a possible client, and was told by the mother, who is a full partner in the firm, that Luke was out of town on business. She didn’t give up anything else. Either she doesn’t know when he’ll be back or simply wasn’t going to tell me.
“She did offer up her services, but Jim said he wanted Luke. She didn’t seem suspicious and was very open and chatty. She did give him Luke’s cell phone number, but when you call the number, it goes to voice mail. The mother said if Luke called in, she’d give him Jim’s name and number. When Jim asked her when he left town, she said she thought it was four or five days ago. A rush job of some sort. Other than that, it was a dry hole.”
Andy picked up where Artie left off and opened his bulging briefcase. “With no one to follow, all Jim could do was make the rounds and interview people who know Luke. And surprise, surprise, Luke Olsen really doesn’t have any friends. He said, and it is all in his report, that he has acquaintances and customers but that seems to be it. He doesn’t golf or play tennis. He has a gym membership that he uses maybe once a month. He couldn’t find a single person he ever confided in. The consensus was the guy is a good architect and knows his business. Olsen goes to Starbucks twice a day and sits there and drinks his coffee and flirts with the baristas. All three women said he was a hunk but a creepy hunk. Which brings Jim to his next question. Do you want him to go to Nashville to see if he can pick up the trail there? He’s convinced Olsen is in Nashville.”
“Hell, yes,” Jake said, the words exploding from his mouth like gunshots.
The twins looked at Gracie for confirmation. She nodded.
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