by Marta Perry
“Let’s look at it from a different angle. What sort of thing would make any board member call an unexpected meeting? Has this ever happened before?”
“No.” He answered the second question first, then leaned forward. “They’ve been very much silent partners up until now.” He held out one hand, palm up, as if the board sat there. “For the most part, they invested not so much because they were interested in the project as because they wanted to help Davis. They’ve never really shown much interest in the day-to-day running of the business.”
“Except Frank. You said he’d been poking around the office and showing up at the site. What could he hope to find?”
His response was prompt. “Something to use against me.”
“Like what? What could he possibly bring to the board that would turn them against you?”
“How do I know?” He flung his hand out in an angry gesture. “You’d have to see inside Frank’s twisted reasoning to understand that.”
She caught his hand and gripped it firmly, trying to ignore the pleasure it gave her to touch him. “That’s not what I mean. If you could imagine something totally off base that would affect the board that way, what would it be?”
“Imagine?” He lifted one eyebrow, the faintest glimmer of amusement in his face for the first time since the previous night. “Is that really how accountants work? Imagining? You’re not telling me Annie Gideon ever works on gut instinct, are you?”
Link’s use of her maiden name took her aback for an instant. Odd, that she could have become used to being Annie Morgan so quickly. She forced herself to concentrate on his question.
“I know it shocks you, but sometimes that happens. For instance, I might get a sense that a client isn’t telling me everything. Then I do have to use my imagination to come up with the right questions to ask. Otherwise, the auditor could look like a fool in an investigation.”
He nodded, and she realized he was taking her seriously, at least for the moment.
“I get it.” His frown deepened. “I suppose, if Frank could find evidence that I’d been diverting company funds or failing to pay in social security, they’d lose confidence in me pretty fast. But he can’t, because I haven’t.”
“Davis did most of the bookkeeping—”
“If you can imagine Davis doing anything under-handed to endanger the company, you ought to be writing for the movies. He’d never do such a thing.”
“I know that. I just meant that there might be something in the records that Frank hopes to distort.” She was feeling her way, trying without much success to imagine herself in Frank’s shoes.
“If there is, you’ll have to find it. I wouldn’t know what to look for.”
Link surged to his feet, his supply of patience obviously at an end. But he didn’t start pacing again. He went to the closet and grabbed his windbreaker.
“Where are you going?”
He jammed his arms into the jacket sleeves. “Look, I can’t sit around talking any longer. Speculating isn’t helping. I’m going out to the site.”
Before she could formulate an argument, he’d stalked out of the house.
Lord, what am I going to do? The prayer that had been so often on her lips came again. Link’s so impatient. He can’t see beyond this threat to the company. He’s not even thinking about how it might affect our case.
That was what frightened her even more than Frank’s efforts, she realized. She was afraid that Link might, in his need to take action, do something that could be used against them.
We took vows to be one in Your sight, Father. Instead we’re both running in opposite directions, trying to protect ourselves.
They weren’t a team any longer. There had been moments in the past weeks when she’d thought they were—moments the night before when she’d dared to hope they’d become more than just two people whose goals coincided.
She’d intended to ask God to guide Link, but they both needed guidance right now, desperately. She bowed her head, holding both herself and Link up for God’s direction. She listened, trying to discern an answer.
The words that floated up to the surface of her mind came in the pastor’s voice. In their brief wedding ceremony in his office, Garth had talked about the process of two people becoming one. She’d been numb with grief and shock at the time, but somehow she’d stored away his words. He’d told them that the concept of two becoming one in marriage didn’t mean that they should think or act alike. Instead they should complement each other, each filling in what the other lacked.
Link had said he wouldn’t know what to look for in the company files. But she might.
She glanced at the clock. Marcy would probably sleep another hour. That was time enough to make a start. She went to the cabinet and pulled out her laptop. All the files from the office were on her computer.
Link didn’t believe she could do anything to help. Maybe she couldn’t, but she had to try.
She’d just have to trust that God would give her the wisdom to see what she needed to see.
Link checked the bracing on one rafter, then moved on to the next. Monday morning was half over, and he still didn’t have any better idea of what Frank was planning.
He’d made a point of talking casually to each of the men this morning. His comments had been met with blank stares. No one seemed to have any ideas or even to have heard any rumors. Whatever Frank was doing, he was keeping it quiet, which was harder than one might think in a town like Lakeview.
When he’d come back to the house Sunday evening, a little embarrassed over rushing off half cocked, he’d found Annie dividing her attention between Marcy and the computer. She’d spent the afternoon working painstakingly through the company records, and she continued to do so long after they’d put Marcy to bed for the night.
He didn’t think she was going to find anything. Frank was too clever to leave any obvious clues.
He pounded an additional nail into place with more force than was warranted. A little physical labor might help him think. Or at least take out his frustrations.
He had to admire Annie’s persistence. Admire? He forced himself to look at his feelings. He cared for her, more deeply than he’d have thought possible a month ago. She amused him, annoyed him, made him question what he believed about himself. She drove him to distraction with her attention to details and to tenderness with her fears.
The truth stood out, plain enough to see. He knew what he wanted.
He wanted to make this marriage real. He wanted to go home every night to his wife and child, wanted to sleep every night with Annie beside him, wanted to wake up every morning with her face the first thing he saw.
For a while, on Saturday night, he’d been on the verge of telling her. Then the news of Frank’s plotting had driven everything else from his mind. How could he possibly talk to Annie about his feelings when both of them were strained to the limit? But then, how could he keep quiet about it?
Maybe they’d both be better off bringing it out in the open before the custody hearing. If Annie returned his feelings—
The sound of a car on the gravel below distracted him. He looked over the edge of the roof to see Frank’s black Porsche pull to a stop.
His muscles knotted. Somehow he didn’t think Frank was here on a casual visit. Maybe he was finally going to get some answers.
He walked to the ladder, then climbed down, not hurrying. Frank had come to him. He wouldn’t make the strategic mistake of seeming too desperate.
At the bottom, he propped an elbow on the ladder and waited.
Frank got out of the car, stood for a moment, then sauntered toward him with a slightly annoyed look on his face. He stopped at the edge of the gravel and nodded toward his polished shoes.
“I’m not exactly dressed for the site. How about coming over here?”
He considered offering Frank a hard hat, then decided not to push it. Instead, he took a long step over the drainage ditch and joined him.
“What bri
ngs you out here today?”
Frank smiled. “Just thought I’d like to take a look at what my money is doing.”
“Your ten percent, you mean?”
The smile took on an edge. “You and Davis were happy enough to get my ten percent, as I recall.”
“What do you want, Frank?” Well, so much for strategy, or anything else that involved patience. He didn’t have it in him. “We both know you didn’t come out here to look around.”
Frank looked at him for a moment, as if deciding how much he intended to say. Then he shrugged. “Well, since you want to be blunt, I’ll come to the point.”
“Good idea. Why don’t you tell me what the purpose is for the board meeting you called for tomorrow?”
Frank lifted an eyebrow. “According to the bylaws, I don’t have to reveal that until the meeting.” His smile was annoyingly self-satisfied. “So we’ll let that be a surprise. If there is a board meeting.”
“If?” The word alerted him. Frank was here to offer a deal.
“No sense dragging dirty linen out into the open. We can settle all this easily—keep it in the family, so to speak.”
“You and I aren’t family.”
“No, but Marcy and I are.”
The reminder struck him in the heart. He wasn’t related to Marcy, and any standing he had was because of his marriage to Annie.
“So?” He wasn’t about to let Frank see that his words bothered him.
“So it might be best for all concerned if we didn’t have to go through with things like board meetings and custody hearings.”
“Cut to the chase, Frank. What do you want?”
“Shall we make a deal? You and Annie want custody of Marcy. I want control of the company.” He seemed to balance the two options in his manicured hands. “You give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”
A chill gripped the back of Link’s neck. Frank must be very sure of himself to make an offer like that.
He couldn’t let that rattle him. “You’re taking a risk here, aren’t you? What if Mrs. Bradshaw or the judge heard you offering to trade Marcy for control of the company?”
“Nobody will hear me. This is just between us. And, as advertisers like to say, it’s a one-time offer. Save yourself and Annie a great deal of trouble and say yes now.”
Annie. His heart twisted. What would Annie think if she heard this?
Lord, this can’t be right, can it? I can’t give up everything I’ve worked for all these years.
That was the bottom line for him. He wouldn’t give up, and he wouldn’t give in, not without a fight.
“Sorry, Frank.” He’d enjoy the look on the other man’s face if this situation weren’t so serious. So Frank had really thought he’d surrender that easily, had he? “I don’t feel like making a deal. I’ll take my chances with the board and with the judge.”
Frank’s mouth tightened. “Have it your way.” He stalked back toward his car, flinging out his hand in a gesture toward the project. “When you lose everything, remember I made the offer.”
Link stood watching as the small car flew out of the parking area, spraying gravel. What he wanted to do was jump in his truck and head straight for Annie to talk this over with her.
But he wouldn’t. Annie was stressed enough. She didn’t need anything else to upset her just before the custody hearing.
And that meant he wouldn’t be telling her his feelings, either. He couldn’t take the risk of tipping the precarious balance both of them were trying to maintain.
He’d wait until after the hearing. They’d win. He had to believe that.
And then he’d ask her to stay.
“More coffee?” Annie held the pot poised over Link’s mug at breakfast on Tuesday morning. He shook his head, not glancing up from the day’s newspaper.
Annie looked automatically at the calendar on the kitchen corkboard. Tuesday morning. Roughly six hours until the board meeting, and they had no weapon with which to fight Frank.
Twenty-four hours, more or less, until the custody hearing, and they still didn’t know what Mrs. Bradshaw’s recommendation would be. Or whether the judge would let the social worker’s report make the decision for her, even if it was favorable.
“At least Chet seemed positive.” She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Link glanced up at her.
He nodded. “He feels we’re as ready as anyone can possibly be.”
They’d met with the attorney on the previous afternoon, talking over their strategy, such as it was. All they could do was tell the truth. Their feelings hadn’t changed, and they believed Marcy was better off with them.
Unspoken had been Link’s obvious worry over the board meeting. He might, of course, have discussed that with Chet privately.
She studied Link’s averted face. If he had, he wasn’t sharing that with her. He’d closed all the doors she’d thought were beginning to crack open to her.
Because he was trying to protect her? Or because he didn’t want her to intrude? Either way, the result was the same. He’d shut her out.
There was nothing she could do about it. She glanced down at the plain gold band on her finger. Marriage—the kind of marriage they had, at any rate—didn’t mean she could force him to confide in her.
He put the paper down and looked at her, eyes shadowed. “Are you taking Marcy to play group this morning?”
“I haven’t decided. Maybe I ought to spend the time digging through the company records.” She didn’t need to say she’d been unsuccessful so far. That was obvious.
He shook his head, shoving his chair back from the table. “I wouldn’t bother.”
She felt a flicker of anger. “Because you think I can’t find anything.”
“No.” He touched her shoulder lightly, then took his hand away. “Because I don’t think there’s anything to find. Whatever Frank’s up to, he won’t have left any traces.” His hand bunched into a fist, and he seemed unaware of that. “I was just remembering Chet’s advice—to keep things as normal as possible.”
“All right.” She stood, too. He was leaving, and the barricades he’d erected between them made her feel bereft and alone. “We’ll go to play group.” She glanced at Marcy, contentedly chewing on a toast crust in her high chair. “Marcy will like that.”
He gave a curt nod. “Good. I’d better get going, then. I want to get in a few hours’ work at the site before the meeting.”
He started toward the door, and she had to force herself not to follow. For her to look needy didn’t help either of them.
Link reached the door, jacket in hand. He paused, head down, as if debating something. Then he spun, stalked back across the room, and kissed her hard and fast.
“It’ll be all right.” His hands were tight on her arms. “It has to be.”
Before she could respond, he’d turned away and was gone.
Chapter Fourteen
Annie lifted her hands from the piano keys, smiling at the enthusiastic clapping of her small audience.
“More songs, more songs!” Jenna’s two-year-old pounded on the piano bench, his face wreathed in smiles.
“Not just now.” Jenna swooped on him, picking him up. “We’ll talk Ms. Annie into more songs later. Who wants a bagel?”
The toddlers swarmed after her to the kitchen, followed by mothers. Linda paused to give Annie a quick hug.
“That was great! You have to promise to play every time. The kids loved it.”
She slid off the piano bench. “As long as you don’t expect anything more complicated, I’ll be happy to.” If I’m here. If we get custody of Marcy. If—
No, she wouldn’t let herself obsess about that now. She’d concentrate on keeping things normal.
Normal had changed so much in the past month. She followed Marcy into the kitchen and broke off a piece of bagel for her. Who would have believed she’d be a part of this laughing, chattering group? Who’d have believed she’d feel comfortable enough with them to let h
er fingers fumble over the piano keys?
She’d changed. Hard as it was to believe anything good had come out of a terrible tragedy, she’d become a different person as a result of her loss—better, more open, more loving.
Please, Lord, don’t let me lose this.
She picked up Marcy and slid onto a chair at the kitchen table with the baby on her lap. “Jenna, this is lovely.”
“Bagels and fruit. Everyone’s favorite.” Jenna sat down next to her. “Listen, guys. I was thinking we ought to go on another outing with the kids before the weather turns cold.”
Everyone had an opinion on that, it seemed. Ideas bounced around the table.
Annie’s throat tightened suddenly. They were including her in their plans, assuming nothing would go wrong. If only…
She concentrated on fixing another piece of bagel for Marcy. She wouldn’t let herself dream of that. She couldn’t. Link had closed the door.
But he’d kissed her. Her lips seemed to warm with the memory. That meant something, didn’t it?
“…so, anyway, I said to the teller, ‘I’ve been banking here for ten years. The least you could do is let me know I was overdrawn.”’
Jenna had obviously begun telling a story while she was thinking about Link.
“Then I had to track down all the places my checks had bounced. I felt like a deadbeat.”
Annie laughed along with everyone else at Jenna’s woeful expression, knowing that Jenna cheerfully confessed her total inability to keep her checkbook balanced.
Somehow, in the midst of the laughter, an idea trickled into her mind. She looked at it cautiously. No, that couldn’t be the answer. That was too simple.
Simple, but very effective. Excitement jumped along her nerves like lightning. Every auditor knew that the simplest tricks could sometimes be the hardest to spot.
“Annie?” Jenna nudged her. “You look as if you’re a million miles away. What is it?”
“An idea.” An idea that might make a difference, if she was right. “Jenna, would you mind watching Marcy for a few hours? There’s something I have to do, right away.”
