Running the Numbers

by Roxanne Smith

  Blake wanted to die. Mortification burned his skin like fire. It took every ounce of willpower he had to maintain eye contact. “Ma’am. I understand and will take your advice into consideration.”

  He left the meeting majorly embarrassed and slightly annoyed. Mrs. Avery had no right to dictate who he socialized with outside of work. By the time he’d returned to his office, another obvious notion occurred to him. He had Amanda’s mother’s blessing and a second chance to make things right with Amanda. So, why had his first thought been of Sadie?

  * * * *

  Blake wasn’t expecting company when Duncan’s Mercedes sedan crunched through the snow and parked behind his car.

  Eric’s ears jerked up, and he froze in his spot less than three feet away from where Blake sat crouched, painfully still, with his arm extended to offer the piece of sirloin to the sly, sly fox.

  The car door slammed shut, and Eric bolted.

  Still crouched, Blake’s head drooped. He stayed there until he heard Duncan’s footsteps approach.

  “What are you doing?”

  Blake stood up straight and rolled his shoulders. He’d been in that same position for the last half hour, and all twenty of his digits were numb from the cold. It was the closest he’d come to feeding Eric right out of his hands. He tossed the chunk of meat on the ground for him to find later. “I’m trying to make friends with a wild fox.”

  Duncan nodded in an approving way. “Most guys buy a Corvette when they hit their forties. I like your style, Blake.”

  Blake noticed the six pack in his hand. “Why don’t you come in and crack me open one of those?”

  Inside, Duncan sat at the small dining table and immediately twisted the caps off two bottles. “How’d you enjoy your chat with Iris this morning?”

  Blake crossed to the sink, washed his hands, and toweled them dry before joining Duncan and taking a heavy swig of beer, so cold it made his eyes water. “She thinks Amanda’s embezzling small amounts, in the low thousands, through bookkeeping, or someone is making it seem as though she is. Did you know she has a genius I.Q.?”

  Duncan nodded wearily. “Yep.” He smacked his lips after a heavy chug. “She’s definitely too smart. I’m erring on the side of a frame job.”

  Blake shook his head. “That’s a complicated thing to pull off in a firm this size. Avery & Thorp is tiny. It won’t take much digging to find out where the money’s going.”

  “What’s important is we keep it quiet. I know, Mrs. Avery knows, you know, and Amanda will know. No one else has any idea we’ve stumbled onto anything. It needs to stay that way.” His look said Blake had been officially warned—if he opened his mouth to anyone, there’d be consequences.

  “I’m an auditor,” Blake reminded him. “I investigate discrepancies. I find the money. You don’t have to remind me how to do my job.”

  “Fair enough.” Duncan seemed satisfied with that. After a short pause, while Blake waited for him to reveal the real reason behind this little visit, his boss finally took a deep breath and gave Blake a keen look. “But I’ll remind you, Sadie isn’t on the need-to-know list.”

  Blake sat forward and rubbed his eyes with his fists. “You want me to do this all over again? Going through it with Mrs. Avery was the most awkward and embarrassing moment of my entire career. I can’t imagine there’s a whole lot left to say on the matter.”

  Duncan ignored him. He was, after all, the boss. “I have to ask, Blake. Are you sure you’re not interested in the Chief Accounting position? You’re the most qualified person around for miles.”

  Duncan’s pleading light brown eyes made Blake uncomfortable. He almost looked sad, as though the alternative, if Blake rejected him, was too terrible to contemplate. And since it apparently wasn’t Sadie, perhaps that was the case.

  Blake considered it seriously in the interest of giving Duncan a wholehearted answer. Did he want the job? In his heart of hearts, no. Good grief, no. Not even a little. And say he took it anyway, what would Sadie think? All the time she spent suspecting he wanted the job, for him to take it after convincing her he didn’t, seemed like a surefire way to lose her trust forever.

  Which mattered because?

  Not going there.

  Blake shook his head. “Sorry. Not interested.”

  Duncan nodded slowly, accepting but disappointed.

  Blake went for broke. “Congrats to Wes, I suppose?”

  Sitting up a little straighter, Duncan’s eyebrows gathered quizzically. “The pool is shrinking, admittedly, but I still can’t say for sure.”

  “I don’t understand how Sadie isn’t the automatic choice.” He rested his elbows on the table. “Her reaction is pretty severe, like it’s the end of her career or something. She’s talking about turning in her resignation.” He paused and waited for a tell from Duncan. For all he knew, she’d already done it, but Duncan remained passive as he took occasional sips, so Blake continued. “I understand a five-year plan, but setbacks are part of the climb. You have to adjust for them. She’s so levelheaded, so career-minded. I can’t understand why she’d take it so hard.”

  Duncan studied the bottle between his palms. “Wesley Black is a controlling, manipulative sociopath. He’s so genial and easy to talk to, you’d never guess it. There’re little things you wouldn’t look at twice if you weren’t paying attention. As quiet as he and Sadie kept their relationship, everyone knew when it went down in flames. Of course, it eventually grew into the rivalry we all know and love today. Sadie’s mission is to crush Wes professionally, while Wes formed a unique friendship with Reba soon after she started last year. He sets something in motion, perhaps the casual mention of a private matter, and Reba has it all over the office by lunch. When it comes back to him, he somehow manages to act the innocent lamb, while taking credit with the same breath. Sadie’s personal affairs have been the rumor mill’s bread and butter since their split. It’s his way of controlling her—or attempting to, I should say. Sadie isn’t the cowering type. She rails and fights every time Wes gets in her way and lets the rumors fly.” Duncan smiled with more than a hint of pride. It faded abruptly, replaced with a miserable frown. “But if he’s her boss?” He emitted a frustrated grunt and pushed himself back in the chair. “I don’t know who the hell Iris is going to give my job to. She’s keeping her own council on the matter. The same names are in the hat, but it’s a game of musical chairs, with Sadie officially out of the running.”

  “Yeah, the whole office got the memo on that.” Blake did a poor job of keeping the bitterness from his tone. Amanda’s heartlessness still bothered him.

  Duncan gave a small shake of his head. “This is strictly off the record, Blake. You never heard these words pass my lips. I’ll deny them with my dying breath. But this is the truth—Amanda Avery is a petty, unkind woman.” His eyebrows drew together again. “But her mother isn’t. And that’s why I’m confused why Iris would consider Wes and not Sadie.”

  Blake wasn’t totally convinced about Mrs. Avery. “Especially if you’ve shared your opinion of Wes with her.”

  “Oh, I have.” Duncan drained the last of his beer before cracking open a second. “I wonder if Amanda’s the reason Sadie isn’t in the running. I say Iris is an upstanding woman, but when it comes to her daughter, who can say? Would she refuse to hire Sadie based on Amanda’s dislike, despite qualifications?”

  Blake considered Mrs. Avery—blunt, formidable. “She wants me to investigate her own daughter for embezzling. You think she’d question Amanda’s ethics but hold her opinion of who should run the Jackson office in the highest esteem? I don’t doubt for a second it made Amanda’s day to find out Sadie wouldn’t be getting your job, Duncan, but your theory misses the mark. I think,” Blake added quickly and respectfully. Easy to forget he was talking to his boss in the cabin’s casual setting.

  Duncan didn’t seem to notice as he raised his eyebrows and tipped his longneck toward Blake. “Well, I’ve got one more theo
ry for you, bud. You might consider looking outside the firm for friends and lovers in the future. You’re ankle-deep in the whole mess.”

  Blake swigged the last of his beer. “Now there’s a hypothesis I can get on board with.”

  Chapter 11

  Blake’s car rolled to a stop behind Sadie’s truck as she tossed the last horse blanket on top of the loaded tack.

  Sadie’s shoulders fell dejectedly as she watched him climb out of the vehicle. Why did he keep doing this? Sunday morning, his girlfriend was probably at church with her family, and he went straight to the woman everyone and their uncle thought he was boinking in his downtime.

  “You’re gonna have to move your car. I’m on my way out.”

  He was uncomfortably attractive in a pair of faded jeans. He looked nice in slacks, but something about rumpled Sunday morning hair and loose denim had Sadie entertaining visions of climbing into his lap and asking how he liked his pancakes. She didn’t even know how to make pancakes.

  He settled his hands into his pockets. “Can I help?”

  She’d hefted the final saddle and was sliding it into the truck bed. She grunted from the effort, glad to have an excuse for the sweat gathering at her temples, despite the chill winter air. “I’ve got it.”

  He sighed. “Can I ride along?”

  Sadie shoved her hair back from her face and whirled on him. “What do you want, Blake?”

  He peered at her.

  Sadie caught on to something irregular in his narrowed hazel gaze. “You have something on your mind. This isn’t a social call.”

  He shook his head. “I need to talk to someone. Someone smart.”

  “Firm full of people with four-year degrees, yet so few meet the criteria.”

  The nervous tic in his jaw didn’t escape her. Nor did the slightly protruding vein in his forehead or the tight lines around his mouth. Whatever he had stuck in his craw, it was doing a number on his face.

  “Fine. Move your car and you can ride with me to Triple L Ranch. I’m delivering this horse tack for my neighbor. His truck broke down this morning.”

  Things had changed between them since Amanda’s outburst. Blake spent less time socializing around the office, which had normally included casual conversations with Sadie, and more time with his head up Amanda’s rear end, trying to prove his loyalty. Not only to Amanda, but the rest of the firm. Everyone had their eyes on him, waiting for the slightest hint the rumor was true. Meanwhile, Sadie worked harder than ever, putting in longer hours and running herself ragged so she wouldn’t have time to think. Basically, she’d been royally screwed out of everything she had her eye on.

  Including Blake.

  They rode down Broadway until Sadie made the turn onto Highway 22. After another five minutes of silence as she drove over the Snake River and into the little town of Wilson, Sadie snapped and cast him an annoyed glance. “Spit it out already, would you? You’re making me nervous over there, chewing your own face off.”

  Blake abruptly looked toward her and quit nibbling the inside of his cheek. “Sorry. Nervous habit.”

  She shrugged and gave her attention to the road. The speed limit had dropped, and she hit the brakes late, giving them both a nice little jolt as good as any cup of coffee. “Better than smoking, I guess. You said you wanted to talk, so talk. I can listen and operate heavy machinery at the same time.”

  He sighed. “I don’t know where to start. There’s a personal problem and a professional concern. What would you like to hear first?”

  She didn’t want to go anywhere near the personal problem. Best to get it out of the way and end the conversation on a professional note. “Hit me with the good stuff. Your personal issue, which I’m gonna go out on the highest limb ever and say has something to do with Amanda and the meeting you had with Iris Avery last Tuesday.”

  “And you,” he added quietly.

  Sadie’s mouth went dry. Not good, not good, not good. “What about me?”

  “Specifically, that I should stop being your friend as long as I’m dating Amanda.”

  A hot rush of indignant anger pounded in Sadie’s ears. She gripped the steering wheel like she might choke it. “Oh, I see. You and Amanda can flout company policy, no biggie. That’s one thing. It’s Iris’s company. She can do whatever she wants. But it’s audacious as hell to say who you can and can’t be friends with.” She stopped and bit her lip to shut herself up.

  Maybe Blake didn’t want to be her friend. Maybe he’d come to break up with her for good, cement the vague sense of loss she’d been immersed in.

  Blake slapped his thigh. “Thank you. That’s how I see it. I feel pressured to work it out with Amanda, but it’s got an unsavory selling-my-soul feel to it.” He stopped to clear his throat. “The whole freewill thing, ya know.”

  Sadie licked her lips. Mrs. Avery saw her as some kind of threat, then? Is there hope?

  She shut down the thought before anything dangerous could sink its little claws into her heart. What kind of person was she, anyway? Amanda was her friend. Or had been, at any rate. They hadn’t spoken since Amanda’s cruel tantrum. Although, Sadie imagined there’d be more unpleasantness in the future if Blake didn’t stop coming around.

  “We’ve covered the awkward personal aspect.” She sneaked a peek at his profile. He looked worried. “Mind if we move on to your professional concerns? If this has anything to do with the promotion, I wish you wouldn’t. I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve accepted it. I’ve even decided I won’t quit. I didn’t come this far in my career only to let some oily haired control freak ruin it. I’m tough. I can handle anything he throws at me.”

  Keep saying it. Say it until you believe it, Sadie. Thatta girl. She turned left onto North Fall Creek Road.

  A frustrated groan came from Blake’s side of the cab. “Taking a step down was supposed to simplify my life.” A moment of silence passed before another little oh well sigh escaped him. “I’m glad you’re sticking it out.”

  She dared another peek in his direction. He looked back at her with a warmth in his pretty, pretty eyeballs that set her pulse skittering. Especially knowing it wouldn’t take much for them to go from warm to hot. She whipped her eyes back to the road and determined she’d keep them there. She couldn’t take any more tender exchanges like that one. None of this was fair.

  “So,” she prompted. “What’s the deal?”

  “Money. Someone is skimming. It’s Amanda or it’s someone who wants it to look like Amanda. Mrs. Avery wants me to investigate her daughter.”

  The news hit Sadie like a karate chop to the wind pipe. She took the next opportunity to pull off onto a rocky patch of gravel next to the highway. She set the parking brake and twisted to stare at Blake. “Someone is embezzling out of our office? Are you sure?”

  Who? Who in their right mind would try something so brazen in such a small firm?

  Blake rubbed a hand over his face, worry etched into every line. “I’ll lose my job for telling you. Everyone is under investigation at this point.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because you’re the one person I’d bet my job doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

  His faith in her honesty undid a few of the frail bindings holding her heart in check. She wanted to take his face in her hands and see what that charming mouth of his could do, see what passion did to those hazel eyes.

  She swallowed hard. “Do you suspect anyone?”

  He stared out the windshield like the answer lay straight ahead. “Wes and Reba work as a team. He’s the source of most of the rumors that go flying around the office, and whether she’s aware of it or not, Reba’s the vehicle. That sort of chumminess raises a red flag. Then again, access to certain files is a factor. That puts Kennedy and every member of the bookkeeping team in an interesting position, as well as both file clerks. Most embezzlement cases aren’t the work of a single individual, but a team. Hell, Amanda is still a suspec
t. Iris suggests I should make her aware of the investigation, trusting she’ll understand I have a job to do.”

  Sadie quirked a brow. “Suggestion with air quotation marks?”

  Blake nodded. “Pretty much. What she thinks I should do is what I’m expected to do.” He looked at her.

  His eyes were worried, but there was still the warmth, still the kindness, still the something. Did Amanda see it, too? Or was it just for Sadie? She’d almost die to know. What if Blake was waiting for something from her? He couldn’t possibly know how she felt. What would happen if he did?

  “What do you think, Sadie?” He leaned forward and bit his lip slightly in an expression of gentle coaxing with a hint of desperation. “You’ve got something I don’t, and that’s exposure. You’ve worked with these people for years.”

  Sadie set aside the sexual awakening Blake was eliciting, mentally dousing herself in ice water as she closed her eyes and considered her coworkers. She’d worked beside them daily, had for years. Wouldn’t she have known if one of them were shady as all get out? Worse, a thief?

  Amanda was off-the-rails crazy. But that didn’t make her guilty. Besides, the amount being embezzled couldn’t be much, or the trail would be a lot easier to follow. Blake could’ve pinned the guilty party in a single afternoon at the books.