Millie on a Mission

by Amanda M. Lee

  “I hardly think that’s what you’re doing.”

  “No?” Charlie didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I really don’t. I feel paralyzed.”

  I could see that. Still, she didn’t need to feel that way. Jack would never betray her. “Charlie, you don’t have to worry about what Jack’s going to do. He’ll come through. I swear it.”

  Her smile was rueful. “I don’t want him staying because he’s too nice to leave.”

  “That’s not what’s going to happen.” I grasped for the right way to explain things to her. “He fell for you despite what his head was telling him. That’s a very big step for a man like Jack. He worked so hard to stay away from you that it was almost comical.

  “We all saw what was happening — well, maybe Chris didn’t — but the rest of us realized right away that he was smitten with you,” I continued. “It was obvious you were equally smitten with him even though you fought to keep people from figuring it out.”

  “I thought it was just a crush,” Charlie admitted. “I thought I would outgrow it.”

  “Instead you nabbed your dream guy.” I smirked at the way she rolled her eyes. “Charlie, you and Jack belong together. I knew that from the start. You two are meant to be ... and I say that as someone who hates all that schmaltzy romantic stuff.

  “This is just a bump in the road,” I continued. “This is not about you. This is about Jack. He has to let go of his rigid belief system and finally embrace the truth. I know you can’t see that right now, but it will become obvious fairly quickly. Jack will embrace everything that you are and then you’ll start moving forward again.”

  She let loose a sigh that sounded as if it should be coming from a petulant teenager. In truth, she wasn’t that far removed from those years. She tended to be theatrical at times, but she mostly held it together. I hoped this would be no different.

  “Are you really going to ask Jack to run that list of names?” she asked after a beat, finally changing the subject.

  I nodded without hesitation. “I am.”

  “Do you think he’s going to argue with you about doing it?”

  “Oh, most definitely.” I’d already resigned myself to having to grovel. “I’m going to have to strike another deal to push this job through … only this time with him.”

  “What was the first deal?”

  “Don’t worry about that. We have to focus on one deal at a time.”

  “ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

  Jack was adamant when we approached him. He had a mountain of paperwork on his desk and was slowly working his way through it. He’d stopped long enough to listen to our story ... and then completely shut us down in ten seconds flat.

  “You have to help me,” I argued. I knew this would be a fight, and I had no intention of backing down. “This woman ... well ... she could be in grave danger.”

  “And that’s what you’re worried about?” Jack’s glare was withering. “You know I don’t believe that, right? Chris mentioned after you left how you’ve always fought with Adele St. Clair, and he was surprised that you agreed to help. It seems he didn’t know you two struck a deal.”

  Temper churned in the pit of my stomach. “You didn’t tell him?”

  “No, but I should have. I don’t tattle.”

  “No, you don’t.” I flopped in the chair across from his desk as Charlie nervously flittered in the open space behind me. Jack’s office was his inner sanctum. People rarely visited because they knew he didn’t like it. The only one allowed inside with any frequency was Charlie and you would never know that by looking at her now. “It’s just a few names to run.”

  Jack’s eyes were on Charlie as she paced his office. “Chris said you were handling this case and to stay out of it.”

  “Chris is a sweet boy who I dearly love. He talks out of his bottom half the time, though.”

  Even though it was obvious Jack was determined to remain stern, his lips quirked and his shoulders momentarily shook with silent laughter before he recovered.

  “It’s important, Jack.” I decided to appeal to his sense of duty. “One of the maids took a header down the stairs while we were there. She could’ve died. She said the devil was following her around the house.

  “Now, that could be a ghost,” I continued. “She could be seeing something evil that’s been left behind from someone who used to live in the house. It could also be someone human messing with her. I tend to be cynical, so I lean toward the human.”

  “I thought you believed in ghosts,” Jack challenged.

  His expression was hard to read, but I didn’t miss the way he flicked his gaze toward Charlie. The naked emotion that momentarily took over his eyes caused my heart to stutter. He really was struggling ... and trying so hard to make things okay for her at the same time. He already recognized he couldn’t stay away from her. He was simply trying to come to grips with his new reality. It was almost painful to see the internal battle wage inside him.

  “I believe in ghosts,” I offered. “I’m just not sure if Adele is dealing with a ghost. It can’t hurt to run the names she gave me.”

  “Except you won’t be the one running the names,” Jack argued. “It will be me ... and I have work to do.”

  “We can’t bother him,” Charlie interjected quickly, taking me by surprise. “He’s got other things to do, more important things. They take precedence.”

  Oh, well, now she was starting to irritate me. “He’s fine. No one is twisting his arm. Whether he admits it or not, he wants to help.”

  “No, I don’t.” Jack adamantly shook his head. “You agreed to this little job so you should be the one to do all the work.”

  “He’s right.” Charlie was insistent. “He doesn’t want to help us. Who could blame him? You need to leave him alone, Millie.”

  She sounded so worried my heart twisted a bit. When I shifted my gaze to Jack’s face, I saw he was feeling the same thing. He didn’t like what she was saying ... or the way she was saying it.

  “I’ll run the names,” he announced, extending his hand in my direction.

  That was a quick shift ... not that I was complaining or anything. “You will?” I was suspicious. “You’ll run all of them?”

  “You said there were only a few names. How long can it take?” Jack was having a conversation with me, but his eyes never left Charlie.

  “Great.” I dug in my purse and retrieved the sheet of paper. “It shouldn’t take you long at all. While you’re running them, I’ll take Charlie for some clam chowder. I wanted to stop on the way back to town, but she claimed she didn’t have much of an appetite. We need to fatten her up. She was already too thin and now she’s downright stick-figure-ish. Honey, men like a little junk in their woman’s trunk, so you need to eat.”

  Jack took the sheet of paper as Charlie started shaking her head.

  “I’m really not hungry,” she insisted. “I haven’t had much of an appetite of late. It’s fine. I’ve been thinking of getting one of those books and embracing a healthier diet anyway.”

  Jack scowled as he glanced at the sheet of paper. I thought he was going to start lambasting me about the number of names on the list. Instead, he focused on Charlie. “You’re perfect the way you are. Millie is right about food. You need some. You haven’t been eating enough the past few days to keep a bird alive.”

  I was taken aback. “Wait ... you want us to leave you with all the work?” I was oddly suspicious. Jack was the sort of man who said what he thought, and yet this made no sense.

  “I’m fine handling the work.” He barely glanced at the names, and instead remained focused on his girlfriend. “If you can get Charlie to eat a full meal, I’ll run every single one of these names ... even though you said there were only a few and there are really, like, fifty.”

  He was giving me a way out. There was no way I wasn’t going to take it. “Consider it done.” I hopped to my feet and grabbed Charlie’s wrist so she couldn’t get away. I was sta
rving and I’d always wanted to fatten up the girl some. “Any requests on what I feed her?”

  Jack’s lips twitched at Charlie’s uncomfortable expression. “She loves seafood pasta ... and clam chowder ... and cheesecake. Make her eat all those things.”

  “That won’t be a problem. You can trust me.”

  FORCING CHARLIE TO CLEAN HER plate turned out to be more work than I’d envisioned. My tenaciousness won out, though, and I finally managed it. When we returned to the office — the food Charlie insisted on purchasing for Jack clutched firmly in her hands — I was essentially exhausted.

  “Can you give Jack his food?” Charlie shoved the takeout bag in my hands.

  “Why don’t you want to give it to him?”

  She shrugged, averting her eyes. “I just need to run to the bathroom. I won’t be long, but I don’t want his food to get cold.”

  I knew what she wasn’t admitting. Being around Jack made her nervous, which was a travesty. I took the food without complaint. “I’ll give it to him. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  Charlie brightened considerably. “Great!”

  I waited until she was out of sight to stroll into Jack’s office. He looked up when I plopped the food on the corner of his desk, the question evident in his eyes.

  “She ate,” I informed him. “I made sure of it. She’s still a nervous wreck.” I figured I didn’t have much time until Charlie returned, so I wanted to get everything off my chest. “Listen, it’s not my place to tell you what to do with your relationship, but that girl is a fidgety mass of moods.

  “I know you know about ... well ... everything,” I continued. “I’m glad the truth is out because she was getting more antsy with each passing day. You need to suck it up. You’re holding her at arm’s length and it’s not fair. She can’t change the way she was born.”

  Jack made a protesting sound. “I don’t want her to change. It’s just ... I didn’t know that what she can do was even real.” He looked tortured. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around it. I’m not trying to punish her.”

  My heart went out to him. “I know that, Jack.” I heaved out a sigh as I sat in one of the empty chairs. “She’s so worried, though. She thinks you’re going to break up with her.”

  His eyes flashed with annoyance. “I told her that wasn’t going to happen.”

  “You and I both know you’re not going to turn on her, but it’s different for her,” I argued. “She hasn’t been with our group all that long. She’s spent her entire life hiding who she is because she doesn’t want to be shoved in a cage and studied like a lab rat. You can’t blame her for being leery.”

  Jack rubbed his cheek, thoughtful. “I’m simply trying to wrap my head around things.”

  “And I don’t begrudge you the time you need. I just don’t want to see her suffer in the meantime. She’s a fluttery mess.”

  “I know.” Jack pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I don’t want her unhappy. That’s the last thing I want. I still need a bit of time.”

  “Well, then how about putting on a braver face while you take that time? I think it would be best for all concerned.”

  He exhaled heavily and nodded. “I’ll try.” When I arched an eyebrow in doubt, he held up his hands in capitulation. “I’ll really try,” he insisted. “I’ll do better.”

  “Let’s hope so.” I inclined my chin toward the food. “She insisted on getting that for you. Thank her with something other than a teeny-tiny smile. Use your lips ... and put some oomph into it.”

  He glowered at me. “Let’s talk about something else, shall we?” His eyes flicked to the door at the sound of shuffling feet. “Thanks for the lunch, Charlie. I was about to fall over I was so hungry. I didn’t even realize it until I smelled the clam chowder.”

  “Oh, well ... you’re welcome.” Charlie’s cheeks pinked with pleasure. “I figured you’d probably skipped lunch.”

  “I did,” Jack agreed. “The food reminds me that there’s a new restaurant I want to check out that’s not too far from your apartment. I think we should go to dinner there tonight. They have fried green tomatoes, which you love, and what is supposed to be the best crab in town.”

  “I ... um ... .” The surprised delight on Charlie’s face was obvious. “Okay. I ... that sounds great.”

  “Good.” Jack’s smile was heartfelt before he turned to me. “Most of your list is clean. There are three names I find problematic.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. “Lay them on me.”

  “The first is Jim Brady. He’s the head gardener. He has a theft conviction on his record. I’m going to have to do more digging to get the specifics on it.”

  “We can’t rule out a thief,” I said pragmatically. “It’s a big house. Someone might be trying to make a quick buck by faking a haunting.”

  Jack didn’t argue with the sentiment, instead pushing forward. “The second name that alerted was Bailey Rankin. She’s a local girl in her twenties who works as a maid for the St. Clairs. Before that, she worked for two other families and was fired from both jobs because she had an affair with the man of each house. She also has an assault conviction on her record that I’m going to have to make a call about.”

  I stirred. “How do you know about the affairs?”

  “Because I happen to know the woman running the temp agency she used to work for and I placed a call. She wouldn’t say anything on the record, but off the record she had quite a few stories to tell. It seems Bailey is trying to get herself pregnant by a rich man. She openly admits that.”

  “Huh.” I rubbed my chin. “There’s no way Adele can know about that.”

  “Would Arthur cheat on Adele?” Charlie asked. “I know you said he was a boring guy, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t cheat on his wife.”

  “I’m doubtful Arthur would risk that given Adele’s wrath, but I can’t completely rule it out,” I admitted. “I’ll have a talk with her about it tomorrow. As much as I dislike her, I don’t like seeing grifters like this Bailey person tear families apart.”

  “That’s probably smart,” Jack agreed. “The third name is the one that worries me the most. Aaron Slade is a general handyman around the house. He’s been convicted of forcible rape.”

  I jolted. “There’s no way Adele would hire a rapist.”

  “She might not know. We can ask her tomorrow.”

  “We?” I didn’t bother hiding my surprise as I cocked an eyebrow and folded my arms over my chest. “Since when are you part of the team? Earlier you said this was my responsibility.”

  “That was before I found out you were going to be taking on a rapist.” Jack was matter-of-fact. “I don’t like what I’ve read about him so far and I haven’t even dug for the nitty-gritty yet. I don’t want you in danger ... so you’re taking me with you tomorrow.”

  I could read between the lines. He would die for Charlie. Oh, he would die for me, too, but she was his priority. He would protect her above all else. That would never change ... and he was going to force himself to get over the other stuff. It would be only a few days until things were back to normal. I could feel it.

  “Well, I think that’s a fabulous idea.” I shot him a smile as I stood. “Welcome to the team. Your insistence on being our bodyguard is a welcome development.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to keep you in line. Don’t kid yourself.”

  “If that’s what you need to tell yourself.” I was giddy. “This is going to work out. I bet we have this sewed up by the middle of the afternoon tomorrow.”

  “That’s what you said about today,” Charlie reminded me.

  “I meant tomorrow.” I pinned her with a look. “Don’t get worked up. We’re going to solve this by lunch tomorrow. Trust me.”

  5

  Five

  Charlie and Jack were together when we met in the suite’s meeting room the next morning. I took that as a good sign. Chris had called an impromptu employee meeting — which I wasn’t lo
oking forward to — and I’d spent the better part of the morning brainstorming ways to get out of it ... but came up empty.

  “You guys look happy this morning,” I noted as I sat next to Charlie. “I take it your dinner went well.”

  Jack’s expression was hard to read. “Dinner was great. Charlie ate her weight in seafood. She hardly weighs anything now, though, so that’s not saying much.”

  Charlie made a face. “I’m eating fine. I don’t see why you guys have to act like mother hens.”

  “Perhaps we like it,” Jack suggested, lightly patting her back before his eyes turned to the door. Chris was on the other side talking to Myron, and they looked to be having an intense conversation. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”

  I didn’t and that worried me. If Myron was involved, whatever was about to happen couldn’t be good. I had my suspicions, but it was better not to get ahead of myself. “No, but I’m prepared for something stupid.”

  “Maybe he’s dissolving the group,” Charlie suggested. “I always wondered if he would eventually get to that point. It seems weird that a big corporation like the Legacy Foundation would continue to funnel money into a division that doesn’t post a profit.”

  I had to bite back a sigh. “That wasn’t a downer comment or anything, Charlie. Good job.”

  She balked. “I’m just saying that ... well ... they look intense.”

  They did indeed look intense. “Don’t worry. Whatever it is, I’ll handle it. Don’t react. Just let me do what I do.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Jack drawled, giving Charlie’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before moving his hands to the table. “Nothing could possibly go wrong if we let you take on your ex-husband, the money man.”

  I ignored the sarcasm. “Myron only thinks he bites. He’s really a big teddy bear when it counts.”

  Jack looked dubious, but instead of responding he kicked back in his chair and waited. It didn’t take Chris long to join us, Myron trailing behind.