Payback

by Jonnie Jacobs

  “If we land this job, it could be the beginning of a whole new era for us. We’re bound to net other big clients as a result.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Marta cautioned. “We’re more likely not to be chosen than chosen.”

  “Who wouldn’t want us. We’re the greatest.”

  “That we are,” Marta agreed with a laugh. “We could be the brink of something really big.”

  “We’ll have to hire an assistant.”

  “Several assistants,” Marta amended. “And we may need an office in New York.”

  “As well as Paris.”

  Marta nodded. “Definitely Paris. And I’ll need an entirely new wardrobe.”

  The waitress brought their soup and sandwiches, but in Marta’s mind she was already chicly dressed and dining at a café on the Champs Elyse.

  *****

  By the time Marta was back at her office desk, she remembered why she avoided drinking wine in the middle of the day. She was feeling sleepy and fuzzy-brained. There was no way she’d get anything creative done the rest of the afternoon. Instead, she decided to clean up her digital files, a boring and tedious task that was long overdue.

  She deleted drafts and older versions of documents, renaming them when necessary, and moving them into the proper folders. She mentally chastised herself for letting things go so long. Cassie was not the only one who had trouble staying organized.

  She was finishing up with loose ends when she came across a photo Todd had sent her from the humane society fair. He was mugging for the camera with Chester, the pooch he’d been playing with when she ran into him. She took a moment to study it and was relieved to find she experienced none of the heart-racing rush she had in the past.

  Ready to hit delete, her cell phone sounded with the distinctive tone that signaled Jamie was on the line. Marta pulled her phone from her purse.

  “Hi, honey. What’s up?”

  “Is it okay if I go home with Alyssa and stay for dinner?”

  “It’s a school night. What about homework?”

  “I’ll get it done. We’ve both got a history test tomorrow so we can study together.”

  Marta had never found studying with a friend particularly helpful, and she suspected the upcoming test would be a small part of what Jamie and Alyssa talked about. But with Jamie, it was best to pick her battles.

  “If you’ll really study—”

  “We will.”

  “Okay. But you can’t make a habit of this. What time shall we pick you up?”

  “Alyssa will bring me home.”

  “That’s not nec—”

  “It’s fine,” Jamie insisted. “She doesn’t mind.”

  “Her parents might.”

  “Why do you have to make such a big deal about everything?” Jamie’s tone had turned petulant.

  Marta relented. Maybe wine at lunch was the key to dealing with a teenage daughter. “Be home by nine o’clock at the latest.”

  “Will do.” There was a moment’s pause. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Marta replayed the last two words in her mind and smiled. It wasn’t often Jamie thanked her for anything.

  Carol breezed over to Marta’s desk with a sheaf of papers in her hand. “You have a minute? Tell me what you think about . . .” She reached Marta’s desk and stopped cold. “My God.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  Carol’s eyes were focused on Marta’s computer screen. “Where did you get that?”

  “The photo? It’s from the Humane Society’s Adopt-a-Friend Fair.” Marta decided it best not to mention that the man in the photo was Todd.

  “That’s him,” Carol said.

  Busted. “I was just getting ready to delete it.” Carol probably thought Marta was sitting there dreaming about the guy. “I’m going to wipe Todd out of my life once and for all.”

  “Todd?” Carol sounded confused. “That’s Todd?”

  Marta nodded.

  “No it isn’t. It’s Tim Whitaker.”

  “Whitaker? The man representing our prospective new client?”

  “Yes. That’s him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Carol nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Marta felt her stomach drop. Would Todd stop at nothing?

  Carol turned to her. “I hope you haven’t blown this for us, Marta.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our big chance. You told him to get lost.”

  “Of course I did. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

  “But we need him. He’s our connection to the big time.”

  Marta wanted to scream. “Don’t you get it? Todd . . . Tim . . . whoever he is, he’s crazy. He’s not representing any big client. He’s trying to get under my skin.”

  “You? Why assume this is about you?”

  “Because it is.”

  “Don’t you find that a wee bit egotistical?”

  “Think about it. When did he contact you? It was after I met him, right?” Marta stood and started pacing around the small office. “And why us? You really think he’s heard great things about the breakout work we do with local pet adoptions and school funding campaigns? This whole scheme of his, representing some mysterious but big and influential philanthropic charity is as phony as a goose that lays golden eggs.”

  Carol dropped down into the chair across from Marta’s. The color had drained from her face. “No,” she insisted weakly. “That can’t be.”

  “We were delusional. How could we think we had a chance at some national account?”

  “You must be mistaken.” Carol sounded more wistful than hopeful.

  Marta shook her head. “What do you know about this Tim Whitaker? Nothing, right?”

  “He said he was being discreet, but that he represented an influential group looking for a fresh approach. They wanted to remain anonymous until they made their final selection.”

  “And when we Googled him? Nothing. Just like I never found anything on Todd or his wife’s murder.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. Not everything shows up on an Internet search.”

  “But we never considered the possibility that he was lying. Tim and Todd, Whitaker and Wilson. It’s all a game to him, even the names. How did we never make the connection?”

  “I don’t believe this,” Carol said.

  “But you believe me, don’t you?”

  Carol looked at her.

  “Don’t you?”

  “I . . . It’s just that . . .” She stood and marched to her own desk. “Let me see if I can get to the bottom of this.”

  “How?”

  “I’ll call him.”

  “He’ll lie.”

  Carol’s expression was troubled. “You want to simply give up?”

  Marta was shaken. Carol didn’t understand.

  Todd had scored again.

  Chapter 18

  Jamie hurried through the crowded hallway, Alyssa close at her heels. As usual, the school was a frenzy of activity at the end of the day. Against the din of slammed locker doors, students darted in all directions, calling out to friends and grabbing books to stuff into their already bulging backpacks.

  “I still think this is a bad idea,” Alyssa said.

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “What if your mom calls?”

  “She won’t. I already told her I was having dinner at your house.” Jamie crammed her history notes into the top of her bag. She hoped she’d have time to give them at least a quick look before tomorrow’s test.

  “She might call. What if there’s an emergency.”

  “In that case, she’d call my cell.”

  “And you’d answer?”

  “If I don’t, she’ll leave a message.”

  “Not if it’s a real emergency. She’ll call my house.”

  “Stop worrying, would you? This is a big deal for me.”

  Alyssa grabbed books from her own locker two down from Jamie’s. “What are you guys going to do for al
l that time, anyway? You’re not . . . you know . . . going to do something you’ll regret, are you?”

  “Hardly.” To Jamie’s disappointment, Todd hadn’t even kissed her yet—despite ample opportunity. He touched her back, her arm, her leg, and while even those small gestures made Jamie weak in the knees, they were more casual than sexy.

  “Well,” Alyssa said, “I still think what you’re doing is wrong.”

  “How’s it wrong?”

  “You’re sneaking behind your parents’ backs, for one thing. You could get into trouble, for another.”

  They started down the main stairway. “You’re jealous,” Jamie told her.

  “I am not. Why would I want a boyfriend who was old anyway?”

  Jamie could think of hundreds of reasons she’d choose Todd over any seventeen-year-old kid. But she was tired of defending herself to Alyssa.

  “He’s not old old,” she told Alyssa. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Oh, girl, you are so delusional.” Alyssa gave her a hip bump, then took off for the student parking lot. “Be careful,” she called out over her shoulder.

  Jamie ducked into the restroom to comb her hair and put on a little makeup. She’d never even worn lipstick until a couple of weeks ago, but now she had a little satchel filled with lip gloss, blush, and mascara. Todd was worth the effort.

  Then she headed for the spot on the west side of campus that had become their regular meeting spot. He was already there, waiting for her.

  “Hey, Princess. How was your day?”

  “Better now that you’re here.” She’d practiced that line, hoping to sound playful and flirtatious, but she wasn’t so sure she’d pulled it off. “How was yours?”

  Todd grinned. “Better now that you’re here.”

  Okay, maybe she’d handled the line better than she thought. Jamie tossed her backpack into the backseat and grinned at Todd.

  He’d picked her up most afternoons since that first time almost two weeks ago. They usually stopped for a soda or something to eat, and then he’d take her home, always dropping her off a block from her house. That was her idea but Todd agreed it was probably best. No telling what her mother would do if she found out. She’d practically bitten Jamie’s father’s head off when he told her that Todd had invited him to a ball game.

  Her father hadn’t gone to the game, of course. It seemed like all her mother had to do was look at him cross-eyed and her dad folded. Jamie didn’t understand why he let her boss him around like that. But then her father wasn’t really much of a sports fan, so maybe he hadn’t cared one way or the other. And to tell the truth, she couldn’t imagine what her father would have in common with Todd.

  “Did you manage to get some extra time today?” he asked softly.

  Jamie nodded and let the thrill of anticipation wash over her. “My parents aren’t expecting me home until nine.”

  *****

  Jamie worried they would run out of things to talk about. That there would be long, awkward silences and that Todd would get bored. But it didn’t turn out that way at all. They started with a drive in the country, then stopped to wander around one of the small, quaint towns they discovered, chatting easily about everything from favorite foods to Hollywood celebrities.

  “I want to buy you something,” Todd announced as they strolled the main shopping street.

  “Why?”

  He laughed. “Because I like you, that’s why. What would you like?”

  Jamie was stymied. He asked her questions like that sometimes, out of the blue. What’s your favorite color? Where are you most ticklish? It became a game with them, but this was different. “Surprise me,” she said.

  And he had, dragging her into a boutique and buying her an etched silver locket on a fine mesh chain.

  Jamie was overwhelmed. “I can’t take this.”

  “Why not?” He clipped it around her neck.

  She could think of a thousand reasons, but with Todd grinning down at her, only inches away, and her skin tingling like crazy, all she could say was, “Thank you.”

  Later, back in the car, he asked, “What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?”

  Being with you. “I jumped off a roof once. On a dare.”

  “How high?”

  “Only one floor. I guess I’m not too adventurous.”

  “I beg to differ. I find you quite adventurous.”

  “What about you? What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve done?”

  He laughed. “You don’t want to know.”

  They ended up at a restaurant, where dinner was now winding down and Jamie’s coach was about to turn back into a pumpkin.

  “You have room for dessert?” Todd asked as the waiter cleared their dishes.

  Jamie always had room for dessert. And she’d been thinking about the bittersweet chocolate cake she’d seen on the menu all through dinner. But she didn’t want Todd to think she was a pig.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m kind of full.”

  “How about we split something?”

  Jamie smiled. “Perfect. What do you want?”

  “You choose.”

  She made a show of studying the menu. “They all look good.” She hesitated. “Do you like chocolate cake?”

  “My favorite kind.”

  “Okay, let’s get that.”

  “Just what I’d have chosen myself,” Todd said.

  Jamie felt a warm glow inside. It was the way she felt when she answered a question correctly in class, only much better.

  Todd placed the order, adding coffee for himself. Jamie would have liked milk, but opted for tea instead. Milk was for kids.

  “Do you have a special boyfriend?” Todd asked when the waiter left.

  The question caught Jamie by surprise. She almost choked although she had nothing in her mouth. “Not really.”

  “Keeping all the guys on a string, huh?”

  Jamie lowered her gaze. “Hardly.” She wasn’t about to admit that Oliver was the only boy who even knew she was alive, and he was hardly boyfriend material.

  Todd waited until she raised her eyes again, then smiled at her. “That’s good. For me, I mean.”

  A tingle of pleasure spread across her shoulders, almost as though she’d been tickled with a feather.

  Their dessert arrived, along with two forks, and they took turns digging into the thick, fudgy cake. It was delicious, even better than Jamie had imagined. It was all she could do to hold herself back and not outpace Todd, bite for bite. She tried to take small forkfuls, but noted with dismay that she seemed to always end up taking twice as much as he did.

  “You know,” Todd said, setting his fork down and sliding the rest of the cake toward Jamie, “boys your age have a remarkably juvenile taste in women.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If they didn’t, they’d all be crazy for you.”

  Jamie blushed. “I don’t think so.”

  “You’re mature for your age, Jamie. So many high school girls are shallow and superficial. Guys, too. You’re not like that. I imagine the boys at school must seem pretty silly to you sometimes.”

  “Most of the time,” Jamie shot back, although it wasn’t really true. Until she’d met Todd, she wouldn’t have described any of the boys at school as silly. Some of them were a little odd, like Oliver, but there were many who were really hot. It was just that those boys didn’t look twice at girls like her.

  Todd’s eyes lingered on hers, and he seemed about to say something more, but instead, he checked his watch. “Time to get you home.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to go so soon.”

  “Me, too.” He paid the bill and readied to leave, and then, with his hand firmly on Jamie’s lower back, guided her toward the door.

  “Thank you for dinner,” Jamie said once she was settled in the car. The imprint of Todd’s hand on her back still burned warm in her mind.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Then, because
her thank you sounded so prim, she added, “I had a great time today.”

  “Me, too,” Todd replied. “Maybe we can do it again. If you’d like, that is.”

  Jamie’s stomach did a joyful flip. “I would like that. Very much.”

  Todd didn’t say anything more, but he looked pleased. In the dim glow of the passing street lights, Jamie could see his mouth curl into a satisfied smile.

  She could hardly wait until the next time.

  As usual, Todd parked a block from Jamie’s house. They sat in the darkened car for a moment. Jamie was hoping he’d kiss her, and worried she’d mess it up by not knowing how to kiss back.

  Todd looked down the street and frowned. “Shouldn’t I drive you all the way home this time? It’s late and it’s dark. I’d hate for anything to happen to you.”

  “Don’t worry. This is Sterling. It’s safe.”

  “Well, okay then.” He gave her a quick smile. “Sweet dreams.”

  Jamie reached for the car door, and then on impulse, leaved over the console and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks again. For everything.” She slid out the door without waiting for a reply.

  Chapter 19

  Dinner was over and the dishes were done. Gordon was in his study, Jamie was at Alyssa’s, and Marta was feeling restless and fidgety.

  Todd passing himself off as Tim Whitaker was a frightening new wrinkle. Who knew what he’d come up with next? Marta was troubled and hurt by Carol’s reluctance to take her at her word. Was that Todd’s intention?

  Carol had been her lifeline to sanity since moving to Sterling. She was Marta’s closest confidant, as well as her business partner. That Carol would doubt her cut to the quick.

  She couldn’t talk about it to Gordon. And Cassie—well, discussing it with Cassie would mean admitting her involvement with Todd. It would also be pointless. Her sister operated in a world where duplicity and distrust were everyday occurrences.

  Finally, Marta decided to take a walk. She slipped on her jacket and scarf, told Gordon she was going for a walk, and headed out.

  The night was clear and brisk, the air sweet with the scent of jasmine. She was halfway down the block when her neighbor Linda called to her.