by J. D. Fox
“Talia, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? I assaulted you and you have every reason to fire me.”
“Fire?” he said. Confusion spread over his face, washing out the puppy dog look. Good.
“Talia, I won’t fire you.”
“Okay,” I said. I waved him away so I can leave my room.
“You look good. Where are you going?”
“The rehearsal dinner.”
“Wait. You’re not going through this sham of a marriage.”
“What do you think, Sam?” I said.
“Do you have a particular reason for not calling this off with Lucius?” His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Maybe you need his money too much?”
“Sam!”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? It’s the only explanation for everything you’ve done. You’re in deep hock for your mother’s care, and Lucius acts like he has money, so—”
I am in shock. Lucius could run hot and cold, but Sam? Maybe these two brothers were more alike than I thought.
“You’re ridiculous, Sam Palmer.” My hands balled into fists and I fumed indignation. I pushed passed him to go to the elevator and Sam followed, damn him. He entered the elevator when I did and stared at me.
“I have to know who I can trust, Talia, because this shit is deeper than I thought. Did you know someone sent video footage of you at the deposit box of the bank?”
“What?” This was so far out of left field that I couldn’t imagine where it was going. “So what? I accompanied Eva to the bank because she gets nervous carrying the money to the bank on her own. But Sam, you have to know that that’s just checks. We don’t pass cash at the business.”
“Someone’s stolen money from the company, and it looks like you did it.”
My heart shifted into overdrive and beat like a conga drum. What? Who? Me?
“Where is this coming from?” I demanded.
“A forensic accountant Palmer Corp hired.”
“Oh, hell no. He’s wrong. How would I steal money?”
“I don’t know, Talia. All we know is that there are assets missing.”
“And you think it’s me?”
Sam stared at me for a second too long. “Checks can be cashed, Talia. They aren’t exactly secure documents.”
This is too much. How could he think this of me? I’d had enough humiliation at the hands of these men.
“Go ahead, Sam Palmer. Bring it. I can’t believe that I fell for another Palmer man’s BS.” Our eyes locked and Sam gave a hard stare that made me shiver, but this time not from lust.
The elevator dinged ad the door opened and I strode past him and turned left before I realized that was the wrong direction. But I’m distracted as I form new plans. I’ve had enough. First, I’ll find Lucius and give him a piece of my mind, and then I’ll go home. I don’t know what will happen, but surely, just with the suspicion that I’ve stolen money, I no longer have my job. And good riddance.
But then I hear loud voices rising as I step into the lobby.
“I don’t care if you can’t find him. You know damn well where he is,” shrieked a female voice. “You call Lucius Palmer to the desk this very instant.”
That voice was familiar, and I stepped toward it.
“Jessica?” I said. “What’s going on?”
“You!” she shrieked again, pointing her finger at me. “How dare you steal my fiancé?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I said. The scene of Jessica kissing Angela flashed through my brain. This was surreal and couldn’t be happening.
“That,” she said as she stared wide-eyed at the engagement ring I wore. “I went to the jeweler to get it after it was resized to find it gone, and that Lucius had picked it up. And now I see it on your finger.”
“Wait,” said Sam. “When did you get here?”
“Just now, Mr. Sam Stick-Up-Your-Ass Palmer.” Jessica could be raw but that was too much, and I stood in the middle of the lobby, wondering exactly when someone had thrown the holy hand grenade of clusterfucks into this hotel.
“Wait a damned minute,” I said. “You saw this ring on my finger in the office and didn’t say a word. Besides, you and An—”
But Jessica runs right over me.
“So? It’s a popular style. I didn’t think it was my ring.”
Sam shook his head. “This too screwed up, even for my family.”
A clatter rose from the front entrance, and two Aspen patrolmen walked into the lobby.
“We’re here to see Ezekiel Palmer,” said one.
“Here,” boomed a voice from behind me and Sam.
“Dad,” said Sam. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“There are times when you have to push through, Son. You know that.”
Just then, Lucius walked in with Angela McVee close behind him. He looked at the tableau of me, Sam, Jessica, and Ezekiel in shock. “What’s going on here?” he said.
“I see that all of the players in our little drama are here, and to answer your question, Lucius, I’m breaking up a wedding.”
“Now wait a minute, Father,” protested Lucius. “I will marry Talia.”
Ezekiel cocked an eyebrow. “Is that fair to your lover? Oh, and Jessica, that’s not you.”
“Lover?” said Jessica. She turned around to face us with her eyes wide.
“I don’t have a lover.” Lucius glowered at his father.
“Really?” said Sam. “The woman you banged in the pool locker room would probably disagree.”
“What woman? What the hell is going on here?” I yelled. This is craziness.
Sam looked at me with shock written on his handsome face, and I had another oh-my-God moment when it dawned on me that Sam thought I cared about who Lucius had had sex with. But I didn’t. I only cared about getting out of this nutty situation.
“Darling,” said Lucius. “I’m sure we can straighten this out. You know I love you.”
“Yeah, right.” I stood with my hands on my hips.
“Talia?” Sam’s voice wavered. “What’s going on here?”
“Why the fuck would you care?” growled Lucius.
Sam stared at Lucius. “You don’t deserve her.”
“What?” I said to Sam. “Five minutes ago you accused me of stealing company funds. I can’t believe you people.” I pulled off the engagement ring and resisted the urge to throw it at Lucius. Instead, I shoved it at him.
“Here’s your ring. I don’t know who it belongs to, but it’s not me.”
“Good,” said Sam.
I whirled at Sam and glared. “And as for you, if you so much as darken my door again, I’ll call the police. And for all the rest of you, I quit. Henry, is there a cab out there?”
“Yes, Miss Winton.”
“Good.” And without worrying about my clothes or anything else, I fled the hotel and climbed into the waiting cab.
“Where to, Miss?” said the driver.
“Wherever she wants to go and charge it to the hotel.” Ezekiel Palmer stood in the doorway of the hotel and glared at me. “Go ahead and run, Miss Winton. It’s not going to do you any good.”
He slammed the door and walked back into the lobby. I sat in shocked silence, not knowing how things had gotten so screwed up.
“Miss?” said the driver.
“Denver,” I said, as tears misted my eyes. “I want to go home.”
But we didn’t even get close to the city limits when a set of lights from a police cruiser flashed behind us.
I am in trouble, big-time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sam
“You did what?”
Both Lucius and I spoke the same words at the same time as we stared at our father. I couldn’t believe he sent Talia home to Denver, and I was torn between straightening him out and taking off after her. Except I remembered that I drove up in Lucius’ car. I’d have to rent one.
“Henry, order me a rental and have it brought here.” I
tossed a glance over my shoulder at him, and he nodded and picked up the phone at his station.
“No,” my father said, with a scowl. “You’ve put the poor woman through enough, both you and Lucius. You’re going nowhere just yet. We will straighten out this mess here and now.”
Gloria sauntered into the lobby, dripping diamonds and arrogance. “What is going on? I’ve been waiting in the dining room all alone for this rehearsal dinner.”
“The wedding’s off,” growled my father.
“My, my, my,” said Gloria snidely. “Just what have you done now, Ezekiel?”
“Mother,” said Lucius, “why don’t you go to your hotel room?”
“Well, there is really no reason for me to stay now, is there?” she asked. “Has the bride has flown the coop? Oh, and look. Your little friends are trying to do the same thing.” She inspected her painted fingernails as if they were the most important subject on the face of the globe, and I remembered intensely why I disliked her.
I turned my head to where I’d seen Jessica standing, and caught her edging her way to the front door where Angela stood, looking as if she were ready to flee.
“Jessica, don’t run off,” my father said. “I suspect you have your part to play in this drama too.”
Caught trying to run off, Jessica stared at me with fear in her eyes.
“It wasn’t my idea,” she said.
“What wasn’t your idea, Jessica?” Lucius asked in a flat tone.
She pursed her lips.
“You can’t make me stay here,” said Jessica. “That’s... that’s kidnapping,” she stammered and started for the front door again.
‘“You’re right,” said my dad. “We’ll let the police sort this out. According to my private investigator, there are a ton of chargeable crimes. Fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, theft.”
Jessica stopped in her tracks. “I didn’t steal anything,” she managed to get out.
My father clicked his tongue in disapproval. “I suspect not, but if you don’t cooperate with our company investigation, there is no way I can uncover evidence that will clear you.”
He was playing hardball against a woman who couldn’t handle a tennis ball. Her shoulders slumped and her jaw set. She’d give in eventually, but she’d make us work for it. I shot a glance at my father and see that patience was not on the Palmer menu today.
My father stared hard at Angela. “Perhaps Ms. McVee would like to explain who messed up the books to make it look like someone was stealing money from the company.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with pursed lips. Angela crossed her arms and returned my father’s hard stare.
He gave a shake of his head. “If I could, I’d take the cost of that audit out of your pay.” He held up his phone. “I just got the initial report. But employment laws prevent me from docking your pay. Instead, I’ll just settle for charges of tax fraud, conspiracy and whatever else Denver and Federal authorities come up with.”
“Now, wait a minute.”
“Unless, Angela, you want to tell me where you got a $50,000 payment deposited in an offshore account. You know, those records aren’t as locked up as they used to be.”
“I... I...” she stuttered. Her face turned white as she stared around the room at faces who had no compassion for her.
“Hey, you can take the fall, and spend the next ten to twenty in a Federal penitentiary, or you can spread the wealth.”
“You know, I really think I should go,” said Gloria.
“Angela, Gloria here can rent a private jet to take her anywhere. Do you really want her on the run while you go to jail?”
Gloria crossed her arms. “You’ve got nothing on me that’s actionable.”
My father cocked an eyebrow.
“Ezekiel,” sputtered Gloria. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t have to. Angela will do the talking, won’t you, Angela?”
Angela shook her head. “I want a lawyer.”
“And you’ll probably get one. Though I assure you that a good lawyer will chew through your fifty grand very quickly. That is, if the IRS doesn’t impound it.”
“You can’t scare me,” said Angela.
“No? What about you, Jessica? I’m sure we can find a nice conspiracy charge to hang on you, since Angela drew you into this little scheme. After all, she did cheat on you with Lucius.”
Jessica’s face turned beet red. “Angela?”
“It’s not like that, darling! I had to keep him distracted.”
Jessica whirled and pointed to Gloria.“It was her! Angela told me; she said that with Lucius gone, Angela would be the managing director of the agency, and I’d have the sales director position.”
“Which explains,” said Ezekiel, “why Angela tried to frame Talia. She didn’t want Talia around to move up.”
“Mother!” roared Lucius.
“Darling,” she said smoothly. “How did I know you would propose to that girl? And you were wasted there. With your father gone, I’ll have the board put you up for CEO. That is, after the charges against you cleared.”
“Typical, Gloria,” said my father. “And after you did all that for our son, you’d remind him over and over that he owes you.”
Lucius blanched, probably with the realization that Dad was right. Gloria was a master manipulator and would wring every guilty dime she could from Lucius.
Man. A certain movie company had cast the wrong woman as the wicked witch.
“Officer,” said my father. “Please detain these three women. My private investigator is on the way to the station to make a statement with his corroborating evidence.”
“Yes, sir. Ladies, this way, please.”
“You can’t do this, Ezekiel,” said Gloria with a smile.
“I just did, darling. Oh, and you’re fired from the Board of Directors.”
“Lucius!” appealed Gloria. “Don’t let your father do this. He’s robbed me every step of the way, and pushed you aside for his other son. The good son. God, how disgusting.”
“Bye, Gloria,” said my father. “I’ll see you in court.”
One officer had already escorted Angela and Jessica out of the hotel, and then come back for Gloria.
“Can you fit all three in one car?” asked my father.
“Yes,” said the officer.
Dad walked over to the police officers and spoke to them in low tones.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Palmer. And the Police Benevolence Fund appreciates your generous donation.”
One officer waited by the door while the other took Gloria out of the building.
My dad returned to us and slipped his arm around Lucius, who looked as devastated as a man could.
“Dad,” he said. “I’m so sorry that my mother did that. I didn’t know.”
“I believe it. And I’m sorry I haven’t treated you as well as I should. And actually, the forensic accountant, said that after he found the error that unbalanced the books, that the company appears to be healthy.”
Lucius sighed. “I worked very hard at it. I wanted to show you that I’m not the fuck-up you thought.”
“Son, we have a lot of talking to do, and I want to do it in Boston. I think it’s time you came to corporate and started working there. There is no harm in having two smart sons to run things for me. Besides, I’ll need to take some time off soon, so I could use your help.”
“But what about Palmer Media?”
“Well, Sam can handle things for a while until we get a new manager for the business. Besides, he’ll have his hands full in Denver for a bit while he straightens things out with Talia.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As I said, we have a lot of talking to do. Sam, you’d better get going. That officer will catch up with Talia. After that, it’s up to you.”
“But how did you know? And why did you let her go in the first place?”
“God, son, it’s evident by the way you look at her. And I appro
ve; she’s a smart woman, hard-working, and just the sort of woman for you. As for your second question, Sam, she doesn’t need to see the ugly in this family. Might nix the whole thing for you. So go, Sam! The officer can’t follow her out of the county.”
“Lucius,” I said. “Give me that ring. Don’t worry, I’ll replace it, but I need it for now.”
My brother fished the ring from his pocket and handed it to me.
“Good luck?” he said.
“Thanks. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.”
I dashed out to the hotel with my heart banging against my chest. I hope she can forgive me and my whole family.
“Get in the back,” said the officer and buckle up.
“Sure,” I said. And the car sped off with sirens blazing.
My father. Leave it to him so suss things out. He’d shown us who was actually in charge. And good for him taking Lucius back to Boston. Maybe they could straighten out their relationship. And I’m damn glad that Lucius is not the villain that Gloria set him up to be. That woman is a job a half.
The officer had the sirens at a full wail and we dodged the sparse traffic going out of the town. The shallow slopes of the Aspen area mountains rose up around us, and I peered ahead trying to spot the yellow taxi. They couldn’t have gotten past the county line yet, could they?
“There,” I said as I saw the flash of yellow ahead of us.
“I see it,” said the cop, and he went faster and before falling in behind the car. He changed the siren to “whoop, whoop, whoop,” and thankfully the taxi slowed. I heard the door lock unlatching.
“I won’t stay long; just to make sure everything’s okay. From here on out, this is your show.”
“Sure. Thanks,” I said.
“Just doing our part for community policing. Good luck, Mr. Palmer.”
I hopped out of the car and I see Talia’s beautiful, panic-stricken face in the rear window.
Here we are again, where she’s peering at me through a car window, like that time in the parking garage where she’d sworn she’d run over my toes. I hope she doesn’t have any other dire threats, though with Talia, one never knew what she’d do.
“Open the door, Talia,” I said.
“What do you want, Sam Palmer? Are you here to arrest me?”
