Weaving the Strands

by Barbara Hinske

  She didn’t have long to wait. Delgado swaggered through the door of Haynes Enterprises shortly after four. He greeted her warmly, as if they were old friends bearing a common burden.

  “My dear,” he said, grasping her hand in both of his, rubbing her wrist in a way that made her flesh crawl. “I know this has been very frightening for you.”

  Loretta extricated her hand and stared at him, without speaking.

  “I’ve just come from the hospital,” he stated. “Frank asked me to make sure you’re all right.”

  She knew this was a lie; Haynes wanted to make sure his business was all right. She continued to stare at him.

  “Mr. Haynes is going to be just fine. I want to assure you of that.”

  Loretta nodded.

  “He hasn’t had a heart attack, as you feared. They think he has a kidney stone.”

  She nodded again. “I wondered about that after they took him away. I guess the pain can mimic a heart attack.”

  “Exactly,” he replied.

  “So what are they doing for him? Are they keeping him in the hospital?”

  “Yes. They’re going to do some new procedure to break up the stone. They’ve got him on morphine, so he’s not feeling any pain.”

  “That’s good. He was miserable.”

  “He was lucky to have you by his side,” Delgado said, his breathing quickening as he moved closer.

  Repulsed, she involuntarily took a step back. “When will he get out of the hospital? When will he be back to work?”

  “They don’t know yet,” he replied. “Couple of days; week at the most. But don’t you worry about anything. Frankie’s asked me to stop by every day. I’ll be here whenever you need me; as much as you need me—for anything you need,” he concluded suggestively.

  Loretta ignored his innuendo. “That’s very kind of you, but I can manage the office for a few days on my own. We just finished payroll and the accounts payable. It’ll be slow the rest of the week. I’ll be fine. But thank you for your kind offer,” she added hastily.

  “Just the same, Frankie asked me to keep an eye on things around here, and there’s nothing in Westbury I’d rather keep my eye on than you,” he stated pointedly.

  Loretta was accustomed to brushing off randy old married men; she’d have to keep him at bay while making him think she was flattered by his advances. She swallowed her disgust. “Why, thank you. That’s a great comfort. What’s your number?” she asked coyly. “I’ll call you if I have any questions.”

  Delgado gave her his phone number, which she made a big show of posting by her computer monitor. “So I know where it is at all times,” she said. Delgado beamed.

  “I’ve got to leave a bit early today to make the bank deposit,” she lied in the hopes of disentangling herself. “With all the excitement around here, that didn’t get done.”

  “You go do that and I’ll lock up. Frank said you have his keys.”

  No way was Loretta giving up those keys. On the other hand, she didn’t need to antagonize him. She regarded him thoughtfully, taking in his florid complexion and protruding belly. This guy got drunk every night—she was sure of it.

  “Mr. Haynes likes to open the office early. In the restaurant business, everything happens before seven o’clock,” she improvised. “I think we should open by six tomorrow morning. So I’ll meet you here?”

  She was secretly pleased to see that her words had the desired effect.

  “Uh …” he stammered. “I have a breakfast meeting in the morning. With constituents. I can’t be here until about ten. Why don’t we lock up now and you keep the keys. You can open up, and I’ll come over as soon as I can. I’ll be here by lunchtime, for sure. Will that be okay?”

  Loretta smiled brightly. “Yes, of course. That’ll be fine. I know that a busy man like you must have a schedule full of important meetings.”

  Her flattery was working.

  “Frankie won’t mind. And I’ll be here in a heartbeat if you need me. Like I said, you just call.”

  They headed to the parking lot, Loretta barely listening to Delgado’s boastful chatter. She knew what she had to do. She had to get back here as early the next morning as possible to get into the wall safe. With her luck, Haynes would recover in record time and Delgado would ensconce himself at Haynes Enterprises as soon as his hangover wore off. Tomorrow morning might be her only chance to uncover the secrets of Frank Haynes.

  ***

  Loretta arrived at Haynes Enterprises shortly after six the next morning. She carefully removed the key from its hiding place under the desk. As she suspected, it unlocked the wall safe. In that safe she found a solitary item: a jump drive bearing no legend or markings.

  Loretta held her breath as she inserted it into the external drive of her computer and waited to see if she could open the contents. All the data was accessible to her—real estate documents, bank account numbers, and spreadsheets. She scrolled through everything as fast as she could. From the legal descriptions on the documents, she knew the properties were in Westbury. The bank accounts were in foreign institutions, mostly located in the Caribbean. She didn’t have time to figure out what the spreadsheets meant, but she knew they were related to the other data. Given that all of this had been kept hidden, she suspected she held evidence of something criminal. What was it she had heard about there being fraud or embezzlement from the town? Were these files related to that? She shuddered. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but it hadn’t been something of this magnitude.

  She froze. What should her next step be? Should she simply replace the evidence carefully in the safe and forget she’d ever found it? But what if they (whoever they were—she had no idea) could detect that the files on the jump drive had been opened? She would be their first suspect. For her own protection, she needed to copy the data.

  Loretta checked her watch. It was almost eight. She’d have to run down to the drugstore on the corner and buy a second jump drive on which to store the copied data. She had no other choice. She hesitated, and then decided to take the evidence with her. She closed the safe and replaced the painting and the key, just in case she found Delgado on her doorstep when she got back. Chances were good that he was involved in whatever this was.

  She’d get the new drive, take it to her house, and download and copy it there. She didn’t know how long that would take, and she couldn’t risk being discovered in the middle of the task. If he were waiting for her when she got back, she’d say that she’d had car trouble and apologize for being late to work.

  She logged off her computer and turned out the lights. Satisfied that the office looked like it had when they’d left last night, she cautiously checked the parking lot and made her way quickly to her car. By ten forty-five, Loretta had copies of everything she needed. She breathed a long sigh of relief once she’d returned the jump drive to its hiding place behind the painting in Frank Haynes’ office and retaped the safe’s key back under Haynes’ desk.

  ***

  Loretta spent the rest of the day unsuccessfully trying to focus on month-end revenue reports. She’d have to think carefully about what to do with the information she’d uncovered. It was like a little savings account, she decided; something to hold onto until the perfect moment. She smiled to herself—she was a clever girl. And with all of the commotion in his office from the paramedics, Frank Haynes would never notice that anything had been disturbed. She couldn’t have planned it better herself.

  She was deep in thought staring at her computer screen when the door to Haynes Enterprises opened behind her. She turned and suppressed a tremor as Chuck Delgado swaggered into the reception area. Hiding her repugnance, she settled a serious expression on her face.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Delgado,” she said, adopting a formal tone.

  “Hello, sweetheart,” he replied, undressing her with his eyes.

  “Mr. Haynes is still in the hospital. He’s doing much better. If you need to talk to him, you can see him there,” she
supplied, hoping to get rid of him.

  “I heard. I’m not after Frankie. I told him I’d look in on you while he was out. Like I said yesterday, keeping an eye on you is pure pleasure.” Delgado moved around her desk to stand behind her chair. She tried to get up, but he had her blocked.

  “That’s not necessary,” she replied, trying to keep the note of panic out of her voice. She would not give this creep the satisfaction of knowing he was scaring her. “Everything here is going fine. In fact, I was just getting ready to make the bank deposit.”

  Delgado pressed himself against the back of her chair and began to massage her shoulders.

  “You’re all tense here,” he crooned. “You’re letting this job get to you. That’s not good for a pretty girl like you. Let me help you relax,” he said. He slid his hands down her shoulders and onto the softness at the top of her breasts, simultaneously releasing the top three buttons of her blouse.

  “Hey,” Loretta cried, grabbing his hands and thrusting them aside. “That’s not okay.”

  She shoved her chair back hard, knocking him off balance. Scrambling to her feet, she headed for the door. Delgado recovered himself and came after her.

  “You little bitch,” he began, but stopped abruptly as Frank Haynes strode into the office.

  “What the hell’s going on here?” Haynes asked, eyeing them both closely.

  “Nothin’, Frankie. I was just lookin’ in on things, like you asked.” Delgado said, shooting Loretta a warning glance. “You’re outta the hospital,” he added, stating the obvious. “How ya feelin’?”

  “Just fine, thank you, Charles. Wanted to make sure everything was okay before I go home. If you’ll excuse us, we need to get back to work.”

  “Sure. Glad you’re doin’ good.”

  Delgado reached for the door and turned to Loretta. “I’ll see you later,” he said pointedly.

  Haynes turned his steely gaze toward Loretta, noting her rumpled blouse unbuttoned halfway down the front.

  Loretta turned toward her desk and discretely attempted to repair her disheveled appearance.

  “Looks like you and Mr. Delgado were having fun until I came in,” Haynes stated coldly.

  “No. It wasn’t like that at all. He was forcing himself on me. I was trying to get away from him. I’m so glad you came in,” she replied firmly. “I don’t know what would have happened.”

  “Delgado fancies himself the playboy. If you hadn’t been flirting with him, I’m sure nothing would have happened,” her boss replied derisively.

  Loretta stared, aghast. Was he taking that creep’s side in this? She opened her mouth to protest further but Haynes raised his hand to stop her.

  “I don’t have time to listen to all this petty drama now,” he stated dismissively. “Have you made today’s bank deposit yet?” he asked, checking his watch.

  “No. I was just about to do that.”

  “Then be on your way. And you can go on home after that,” he said. “You’ve evidently had a hard afternoon. Just give me back my keys.”

  Loretta straightened and picked up her purse. “Okay,” she said. “Will you be all right here by yourself? Did they tell you that you could leave the hospital and come to work? I can come back after I go to the bank.”

  Her concern with his welfare paled next to her worry about what he might uncover if left alone in the office. She wanted to be there to gauge his reactions now that he was back.

  “Thank you,” he said without looking at her as he entered his office. “Not necessary. I’m perfectly fine.”

  She came to stand in the doorway of his office. He pushed paperwork aside and sat in his chair. “The paramedics sure made a mess in here,” he growled.

  He looked up at her. “Well?”

  “They were concerned about you,” she answered. “And I didn’t straighten things up because I know you don’t want me in your office.”

  “Just give me my keys and get out of here.”

  Loretta crossed to his desk. She wanted to throw them at the arrogant bastard, but she didn’t dare. She held them out to him, and when he gestured to leave them, she placed them on the corner of his desk. He barely noticed, already tearing into unopened mail. Apparently he hadn’t detected anything out of order.

  “See you tomorrow,” she said, willing her voice not to reflect the relief she felt.

  Haynes nodded distractedly and she was off.

  Chapter 44

  Maggie took one last look over Westbury’s November financial statements and leaned back in her chair, encouraged by the results. The town wasn’t exactly operating in the black, but it certainly wasn’t hemorrhaging money like it had been for the past year. It’d be nice to share some good news for a change. She reached for her phone and dialed Professor Upton. He deserved a lot of the credit for the reversal; he should be the first to know.

  “Don,” Maggie burst out as soon as he picked up. “It’s Maggie. Good news here. The November financials show the town is operating almost at break even.”

  “That’s fabulous, Maggie. Are you sure?”

  “As far as I can tell,” Maggie assured him. “I’ve poured over the books.”

  “Good for you. But don’t forget, November and December will show increased seasonal revenue. What about January and February?”

  Maggie sighed heavily. “You’re right. Westbury will run in the red both of those months. This is just a transitory blip. But it’s a good sign.”

  “I don’t disagree. I’m not trying to be a joy kill. But you’ve still got a tremendous task ahead of you, Maggie.”

  “I know that; it’s on my mind every second of every day.”

  “Things getting any better for you down there? Has the press lightened up? Are you getting any support from anyone?”

  Maggie laughed mirthlessly. “No, it’s still a parade of horribles everywhere I turn.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Maggie. You didn’t ask for this; maybe you shouldn’t put up with it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been debating whether to offer this to you or not. If you were still a consultant, I would have.” He paused to take a swig of his coffee. “I’ve been working on a fraud investigation involving a large utility company in California. I’m going to testify as an expert witness and my client would like to hire an additional expert. They’ve asked me to find someone. You would be perfect.”

  “I can’t do that while I’m serving as mayor,” Maggie answered hastily.

  “I know. That’s why I hadn’t asked you. I’m mentioning it now because I think you should consider resigning and taking this engagement.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Don. I can’t just up and quit.”

  “Hear me out, Maggie. This assignment would require a tremendous amount of time, but the client is paying top dollar. You’d make more on this in one year than you’d make in ten years as mayor of Westbury. Think of that, Maggie. You could retire when you were done.”

  He heard her sharp intake of breath. Encouraged, he continued. “These opportunities only come around once in a career. And you’d have to travel to California on a regular basis, so you could see your family. You’ve told me that you miss them and you’ve been too busy to keep your promise to visit. This could be the right job at the right time, Maggie. You know that being mayor isn’t something you ever wanted. Surely there are others who can step in and do the job.”

  They remained silent while Maggie searched for words. What should she say? What did she want to say?

  “Promise me you’ll think it over carefully, Maggie. Don’t turn this down out of some misguided loyalty to Westbury. The good citizens don’t sound like they are being very loyal to you.”

  Maggie found her voice. “All right,” she said slowly. “I’ll consider it.”

  “Good. I’ll send you some of the materials to review; you’ll find this case fascinating.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll take a look at them. And I’ll really think about it. A
nd Don, thank you. I appreciate your offer.”

  Chapter 45

  Over the next two weeks, John and Maggie spent almost every free moment together. She and John talked about going skating again, but never found the time. When they weren’t arranging furniture for the upcoming tea party, they were addressing invitations, running errands, and Christmas shopping. Maggie silently marveled at the joy of working on these projects with a partner; Paul had never lifted a finger to help her with any of the parties she had thrown for his benefit. Most of John and Maggie’s nights ended with them drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.

  At final count, Maggie had invited over one hundred twenty people to “High Tea at Rosemont,” as the invitation called it. Of that number, only seven declined. Sunday would be a busy day.

  “As I predicted, this is the hot ticket of the season,” John remarked the evening before the event. Maggie sagged into his embrace as they stood at the bottom of the stairs, surveying the living room and library. Both rooms had been transformed into tearooms, with clusters of tables decked out in Maggie’s collections of vintage linen and china. Centerpieces of ivy, white tulips, and red roses splashed color across the space. Expectation hung in the air. Illuminated by the towering Christmas tree, the scene resembled a festive watercolor.

  “I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Maggie said looking up at him.

  John shrugged.

  “No, really. I bit off way more than I could chew. If you hadn’t helped me, I’d still be ironing those blasted tablecloths.” She laughed. “Where in the world did you learn to iron like that?”

  “My mother thought it was a useful skill every man should master. I sew on a mean button, too.”

  “Wise woman, your mother. I would’ve liked her.”

  John regarded her seriously. “She would’ve adored you. You share a lot of the same fine qualities.”