by Becky McGraw
"I'm sorry, you're the principal broker and until this situation is resolved, there's nothing I can do. I have to suspend you while the investigation is being conducted."
"How long will that take?" Cassie asked the woman desperation filling her tone.
She shook her head. "As long as it takes, Miss Bellamy. You never know about these things. We have to locate your business partner first. I'm sure the police will help us with that," she said then gave the cop the same sexy smile she'd given him earlier, and he gave her a brief twist of his lips and shook his head affirmatively.
Luke had just sat back down when Diana brought in the copies and put them in front of Cassie along with the originals. Cassie flipped through the copies and then the originals and then looked up at her. "Where's the copy of the large check cashed yesterday?" she asked. "It's not in either stack."
The woman shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then her face turned beet red. "I didn't see it. Maybe it fell out of the stack of originals before I made the copies?" she offered.
Luke stood and walked over to her and took her arm. "Let's go see if it's in the copy room," he said his voice low and lethal.
She jerked her arm from his grasp then shot Cassie a look before throwing her chin up and walking out. He followed her down the hall and into the copy room. She walked over to the copy machine and made a show of lifting the lid to see if it was under there. It wasn't. Then she bent over and looked behind the copier on each side.
"It's not in here," she said after her cursory search.
Luke walked over to the paper shredder he saw beside a table holding the fax machine and postage meter. Leaning down, he saw a document hanging from the teeth of the machine that looked like a copy of a check.
"Wow, looks like it fell into the shredder..." he said sarcastically then picked the machine up and yanked the plug from the wall. "Move," he ordered her with a lift of his chin toward the doorway.
Her eyes widened and tears filled them, when she met his eyes, but didn't move. "Look, Luke was it? Why don't you just forget you saw that. That will make me very happy...and then I can make you very happy," she said suggestively then walked over to run her red nail down his shirt front.
What was it with women in this town, he thought. He'd been here less than an hour and had been propositioned by two of them. "Like you made James the asshole happy?" he fished for confirmation with a grin. "Why would I want his seconds?"
"You're engaged to Cassie aren't you? She's his seconds." She raised an eyebrow and her eyes glittered.
"Not likely, I had her first. Cassie has always been mine...and I'm not interested in your offer," he told her then nodded with his chin again, "Now haul your ass back to that conference room."
She turned her back to him and walked in front of him down the hall, her shoulders slumped. When he followed her into the conference room with the shredder in his arms, Cassie looked up at him with a question in her eyes. The rest of them looked at him as well.
"I think Diana has something she needs to tell ya'll," he looked at her with a warning in his eyes. "Don't you, sugar..."
"I shredded the check."
That isn't the part Luke wanted her to tell. "Tell them why you shredded the check," he prompted.
She shook her head and pinched her lips. Cassie stood up and walked over to her and got in her face. "Tell me now, Diana...or I'm going to stomp a mud hole in your ass."
Luke chuckled because even though she was dressed to impress, when push came to shove, her inner cowgirl had come out fighting. The other woman's eyebrows flew to her hairline and she took a step back into the wall with fear in her eyes.
"I'm not kidding, Diana. You tell me what you and that weasel have done to my business, or I'm gonna kick your ass and love every minute in jail I get for it." Cassie stepped closer, and pressed her body against Diana until their noses almost touched.
The cop stood up from the table and grabbed Cassie's shoulder. Luke took a step toward him and the cop's hand went for his gun. Luke stopped and took a step back raising his hands. The cop nodded, but kept an eye on him when he pushed Cassie to the side and grabbed Diana's arm.
"Turn around," he told Diana and she did. The cop kicked her feet apart and frisked her, then pulled the cuffs from his service belt and put them on her wrists. "You're under arrest for suspicion of grand theft and fraud."
"Wait!" Diana yelled and turned around to face the officer. "She's the one you should be arresting! She signed the checks!" she rushed over to the table, turned around and grabbed the papers. "Look!"
Luke watched Cassie run over and look closely at the signatures on the checks. "This isn't my signature, you lying bitch, but it sure as hell looks like yours!" Cassie stomped out of the office and went up front, then came back a minute later with a checkbook and other papers in her hands. She slammed them down on the table. "Take a look at this and you tell me who signed those checks."
Officer Melton walked over and looked at the copies then looked at the carbon copy check register that belonged to Diana. Then he examined the incorporation papers that Cassie had signed to open the business.
"I'm no handwriting expert, but it sure doesn't look like Miss Bellamy's signature to me. She doesn't loop her y like it is on these checks, or dot her i with a circle. The slant is different too, but you do that in your signature Miss Tomley," he turned toward the redhead and gave her a lethal stare. "So, that means you're still under arrest."
He left her side and walked over to Luke. "What do you have there?" he said eyeing the shredder curiously.
Luke pointed to the check still hanging from the teeth of the shredder in his arms. "Looks like she shredded a check signed by James Barton. Guess that was the most incriminating evidence against him," Luke said then laughed, "Pretty stupid of her to do that though, considering these are only copies that can be replaced. But then she doesn't appear to be too bright to begin with by hooking up with that prick anyway."
He pushed the machine into the cop's arms. "Guess you'll be needing this for evidence."
"Yeah, thanks," the cop said shaking his head. He put it down on the table and read Diana her rights, while she sobbed and wailed hysterically, then he led her out of the room. He came back a couple of minutes later and got the paperwork and the shredder.
He shook Luke's hand, "Looks like this one is going to be open and shut as soon as we locate Barton. I think Miss Tomley will tell us anything we want to know once we get her down to the station and in a cell for a few minutes."
Luke didn't think she'd last that long. He just hoped she could help the police find James Barton. He had an itchy feeling in his gut and he didn't like it. He knew that feeling well from his years in law enforcement. It mean something ugly was about to come down the pike.
"I sure hope so," Luke told him before he left.
Cassie, who had sat back down at the table, looked over at the banker, who was busy flirting with the real estate lady, then asked, "James banks at your bank too, can you freeze his account before he can spend all that money he stole?"
"Not without a court order on personal accounts," he said then smiled at the woman in the red suit beside him.
"How can I get one?"
"Hire an attorney, he'll be able to tell you."
"But I don't have any damned money--he stole it all!" Cassie yelled and stood up to lean over the table. "If that bastard gets away with all my money, I'm going to sue your ass for taking those checks Diana signed. You have my signature card on file, and it's as obvious as your toupee that they were not signed by me."
The banker flushed red and patted the top of his head, before clearing his throat. Luke wanted to howl. Cassie really could take care of herself, he was proud of how she was handling herself. "Now, do you think you could make an exception and freeze the damned account? Let him try and get the court order to have it unfrozen. He won't have a leg to stand on."
The man paled then and tugged at his tie. "Well, I can talk to the bank
president, I suppose. He might agree to do it considering the circumstances."
"Then stop flirting and get your ass to it! Call him now--do what you have to. Time's a wasting!"
The man shot up from his chair and shoved his papers back into his briefcase, gave her an agitated look, then said goodbye to the real estate commission woman and left.
Two down, one to go, Luke thought. Cassie must've been in the same mindset, because she rounded on the real estate commission woman who had just stood to gather her things to leave. "No, you don't...you're not leaving yet," she told her fiercely. "As you can see, I had nothing to do with the missing escrow funds, so there's no reason for you to suspend my license."
"You'll have to talk to the appeals board, file an appeal of the decision and wait for their monthly meeting for an answer," the woman told her as if reciting from a rule book.
"Ah, hell no...I'm not waiting that long," Cassie told her then pinned her with a stare. "Tell me...do you have a boss?"
The woman swallowed then nodded as she slung her purse over her shoulder.
"I want his or her name. I think I need to file a complaint against you for unprofessional conduct."
The woman snorted and stiffened her spine. "What have I done that's unprofessional?'
"Well, first you flirted with my fiancé, then you moved on to the cop who was here, and when neither of them was interested, you moved on to the mealy-mouth banker. I'd say that's pretty unprofessional when you're supposed to be conducting an independent investigation into such a serious matter as fraud."
She harrumphed then patted her hair. "That's absurd. I didn't do that."
"I'd beg to differ, and I feel very sure I can get statements from all three that you did," Cassie told her firmly. "I'm asking you to reconsider your decision, nicely." She let her eyes purposely travel to the woman's left hand where there was a very large wedding ring. The woman didn't miss her unspoken point.
After engaging Cassie in a stare down for a good while, she finally sighed and said, "I'll wait two weeks before I file the suspension of your license, since the accounts are frozen...unless one of your affected clients files a complaint against you with the licensing board."
"They won't. The escrow account had less than two thousand dollars in it, and I plan on putting that much back in there to settle it."
"Good, that will help. But if you have pending deals, and the account is frozen, you won't be able to close on those homes. They might still file a complaint against you."
"I'm going over my pending deals when you leave and calling the clients to explain the delay," Cassie told her shortly, hesitated a moment, then asked, "I know he's not the principal broker here, but he's an associate and a partner. You've seen the evidence of what he's done, are you going to suspend James' license?"
"Yes, definitely, right away."
"Good," Cassie told her and then walked past her and out of the room with her head held high.
Luke followed behind the real estate lady who kept walking to the front door, while he hooked a left into the office Cassie had gone to. He wanted to fucking applaud...Cassie had been spectacular. She was already sitting behind her desk, flipping through her organizer, when he walked into her office.
"Well done, sugar. You were amazing...instead of selling real estate you should have been a Philadelphia lawyer," he told her and laughed loudly, before he sat in a chair in front of her desk.
She huffed out a relieved breath. "Yeah, it worked out pretty well for now. At least I bought some time...you were the amazing one, sugar. Spill on how you figured out Diana was involved?"
"I guess my years of law enforcement didn't go to waste," he said and chuckled. "She was nervous as a long-tailed cat when I handed her those papers to copy...and stupid. She said some things that raised red flags. Then when she brought you the copies and you saw the missing check...it just clicked."
"Well it's a good thing you're so damned smart, because I was blind about her...and James." Cassie dropped her chin to her chest and fiddled with her organizer.
"It's not your fault, darlin'. Those two deserve each other and they just took you for a ride."
"I've got a lot to do here, but I really want to go check on my house. Make sure he hasn't done something there too. I had the locks changed, but that doesn't mean he couldn't get in if he really wanted to."
"You're right...want me to go check?"
"I need to go with you to see for myself, besides I don't want to be stranded here, my car is in Bowie."
"So that little silver number is your car?"
"Yeah. I just bought it a few months ago."
"Why the hell did you drive that old pickup truck back to Bowie then? he huffed out a frustrated sigh. "That damned thing is on its last legs. You're just lucky it waited to break down until you got to Bowie," he told her with worry.
She grinned at him then said, "Lots of memories tied up with old Bessie. Good and bad..." Cassie knew her words would give him a flashback of the night they'd made love in the bed of that truck. "And I thought it was appropriate since she'd carried me out of Bowie to drive her back."
Luke grumbled under his breath something about women and their notions, and then he pinned her with his eyes. "Okay, so you want to make your calls now or go check on your house?"
"I have four important calls to make, and I can do that on the road." She grabbed the organizer and her purse then stood. "There's really no reason for me to be here, I'm not doing any new business for now, so I can just do the rest from home tomorrow."
Luke stood and pulled her into his arms then kissed her on the forehead. "Lead on darlin'. Just tell me what I can do to help."
God, she loved this man. She'd asked him to let her handle things, and so far he had. He'd been supportive, and loving and helped her without trying to take over. "Luke thank you so much for helping me...you've been fantastic."
"You don't need to thank me, sugar...I'm doing it because I want to help you tie up your ends, so I can kidnap you back to Bowie and marry you before you change your mind."
"There you go again with that kidnapping thing," she chuckled and swatted his chest.
"I won't be changing my mind, Luke." Cassie pressed up as far as she could on her toes, which wasn't far because of the cast, and gently kissed his lips. "I love you."
Luke growled and hugged her to him tightly. "Let's go before I change my mind and put that desk behind you to good use."
Thirty minutes later, they pulled up in the driveway of her modest two-bedroom bungalow in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Like most homes in Arizona, hers had a rock and cactus garden in front, instead of flowers. The sandy rocky soil didn't suit them...or grass...she hated not having grass. That was one thing she didn't like about Arizona, how dry and colorless it was in places. Her backyard was pretty nice, with a few palm trees for shade, and a couple of hardy shrubs, but it was mostly rock and dirt too.
Cassie slid out of the truck and walked toward the porch with Luke right behind her. When they reached the front door, she unzipped her purse and dug around for the key the locksmith had mailed to her at the ranch. She'd just pulled it out, when Luke pushed her to the side and studied the door. He put a finger to his lips indicating she should be quiet then mouthed for her to call 911, before he pushed the door open without even turning the knob.
An involuntary gasp was pulled from Cassie. He shot her a look and pointed firmly at her to stay there. She nodded and stepped back off the porch and pulled out her cell. She swallowed hard against the knot in her throat from worry that someone was in her house and Luke might get hurt. As far as she knew, he was unarmed.
Her fingers trembled over the keypad of her phone, but she managed to dial the numbers and whisper to the operator what the problem was. The woman wouldn't let her off the phone, and she desperately wanted to go and find Luke to make sure he wasn't hurt. She decided she'd go through the back and see what was going on. Cassie moved around the side of the house between the high board
privacy fence and stucco wall, then carefully took small quiet steps to the back gate.
