“Wow, how quickly things change.”
“You can say that again.” Jack straightened, then cleared his throat. “Listen, when the house here was torn apart to remove the counterfeit bills, we recovered an item I thought you might like.”
Carlotta smiled. “I can’t imagine what it would be.”
He picked up a shopping bag he’d set on the floor and pulled out a thick binder. “It’s a photo album. I tried not to snoop, but from what I can tell, the first half are pictures of you and Wes your parents probably took with them. And the second half are pictures of Prissy growing up, with lots of other pictures of you and Wes worked in that seem a little odd.”
“What do you mean?”
He opened the book and pointed to a picture of her. “They’re more like surveillance pictures, as if you and Wes didn’t know your picture was being taken.”
The photo was of her in her mid-twenties, if she had to guess, based on the clothing. She was working behind the counter at Neiman’s, handing a bag to a customer with a smile. Carlotta loosened the photo from the page and turned it over.
Carlotta, age 26, selling a top to Val
It was written in her father’s handwriting. So she’d been waiting on her own mother and hadn’t realized it.
“It looks as if they were keeping close tabs on you and Wes, even if it didn’t feel like it.”
Her heart surged. She closed the album and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you for this, Jack.”
“Anything to see you smile,” he said with a wink. Then he nodded toward the door. “How’s it going in there?”
“He’s as ready as he’ll ever be.” She opened the door wider and Jack stepped inside.
Peter stood holding his briefcase and a carry-on bag. His suit was slightly rumpled and his face was shadowed. But he was standing up straight. He took a deep breath, then seemed to telegraph his preparedness to Jack.
Jack walked over to stand in front of him. “Peter Ashford, you’re under arrest for conspiracy, racketeering, and fraud. You have the right to remain silent…”
Carlotta watched from across the room, giving Peter space and privacy. She hoped he would be able to shoulder the fallout as the case wound its way through the legal system. It would work against Peter that Walt Tully had confessed the entire scheme while he was recovering and Peter hadn’t immediately gone to the authorities. But the fact that he had worked with Walt to try to mitigate the losses for some clients who were living on fixed incomes would hold some sway.
When Jack had finished reciting the Miranda rights, he cuffed Peter’s hands in front of him and draped his jacket over the metal so it wasn’t obvious he was being criminally escorted back to Atlanta. Jack handed Peter his briefcase, then picked up the carry-on. Carlotta appreciated Jack’s tact in the awkward encounter—the two men hadn’t always seen eye to eye. As they left together, Peter gave her a brave smile, and she nodded in reassurance.
The door had nearly closed when Jack stuck his head and shoulders back in. “I almost forgot. There’s one more thing the feds thought you might appreciate, so they flew it in on a government jet.”
Carlotta was intrigued. “What is it?”
Jack opened the door wider to reveal her father. Randolph Wren was bandaged and on a cane, but standing. And smiling.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Her emotions overflowed. She didn’t have words to express how it felt to see him free and his name cleared. She hugged him gingerly in deference to his injuries, then pulled back and studied his face. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
When they gave me the chance to come and see you and Wes, and Val and Prissy before we pick up and move to Atlanta, I had to do it. And they took good care of me. I’m just sore.”
“Sit down,” she said, leading him to a comfortable chair. “I’ll get us something to drink.”
When she came back to sit near him, they both looked at each other for the longest time, then laughed and clasped hands. Her father’s voice was strong, and his face still handsome, with just a few more lines than she remembered.
“The other reason I wanted to come,” Randolph said, “is because I didn’t want to wait one day longer to give you an explanation for what happened. Of course, I’ll tell Wesley whatever he wants to know, but I wanted this time with you, because I feel as if I owe you the most for everything you’ve done for our family.”
Carlotta smiled through her tears. “I don’t know if I deserve that praise, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want some answers to questions I’ve wondered about for so long.”
“Well, now that you know what was going on at the firm, you probably understand how much money and power was at stake. I didn’t know about the counterfeiting—they needed someone with clean accounts to keep up appearances.”
“How did you find out what was going on?”
He gave a little laugh. “By accident. I was walking through the office one night after closing, and saw a hundred-dollar bill on the floor. I put it in my wallet and forgot about it, and a few days later, I was having lunch with a banker friend. I started to pay with the hundred and he noticed something strange about it. But when he ran it through all his tests, it came back as a real hundred. He said it was actually printed on currency paper, and was the best fake money he’d ever seen. He used it to develop more sophisticated anti-fraud testing.”
“So you confronted the partners?”
“I did, because I assumed they didn’t know what was going on, that it was some junior broker or intern using our facilities at night. We found the operation in a hidden room. What I didn’t know and still can’t believe is Walt and Brody were the masterminds. When I told them I was going to the feds, they played along, when really, they were working behind the scenes to make me the scapegoat. When I realized what was happening, I started smuggling the bills out, a few at a time.”
“There wasn’t anyone in the Justice Department you could go to?”
“I went to the FBI and asked for protection. But when Valerie and I went to meet them, we were ambushed and shot at. Knowing what I know now, I think it was someone in Dillon Carver’s crime organization, at the behest of either someone at the firm or at the FBI. We didn’t know who to trust. Val told me she was pregnant and wanted to get sober. I didn’t want to leave her for you to deal with on top of Wes, and God knows that was more responsibility than was fair.”
Her father paused for a drink of water, clearly lost in the memories. “We left town thinking we’d give the FBI time to arrange something. We had every intention of coming back. But then the baby was born, and Val was having more and more emotional issues. I got the opportunity to take over a dead man’s identity—Bill Rudolph. I thought it was close enough to Randolph that no one would notice I said one thing and spelled it another way. I got a job as a dealer in a casino in Vegas, and started day trading. Things were…not bad. We were actually thinking about turning ourselves in so we could be with you and Wes, even if we all had to go into witness protection.
He sighed. “But then Val’s mind started slipping, and I knew if we all got together, you’d be shouldering the burden of Wes and your mom and your baby sister. Even if we hired people, to help, I knew emotionally it would be too much. So…we stayed away.”
“Until you saved my life,” Carlotta said.
“I’d bought our former house in Buckhead a few months prior, and because I trusted Birch, I was making more trips to fix up the house and I could monitor you and Wes enough to know what your lives were like. I think I had fantasies that if we could all just move back into that house, we’d have our old lives back. It was pure happenstance I was there the day you were attacked. I didn’t think about getting caught, I just ran over there.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m happy you did.”
“So am I. I have no regrets. Especially since it started the ball rolling on the original case. My mistake was I didn’t know how involved Liz was in the counterfeiting. They were still doing
it, but they’d gotten much better at it.” He gave her a little smile. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Peter knew what was going on. He might’ve suspected, but I doubt they find his fingerprints on anything.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I’m very fond of Peter.”
A knock sounded at the door. Carlotta went to open it and cried out when she saw Wes on the other side.
“Can you believe what we did?” He hugged her tight and danced around. “We took Mashburn & Tully down.”
“You sure did.”
Wes’s head came up and he froze.
“Hi, son.”
Wes ran to Randolph like a ten-year-old boy, and from the way he held on, Carlotta decided he might never let go.
Chapter 28
“I’M HERE TO EAT CROW,” Hannah said. “Not literally, although I did eat a pigeon once and it wasn’t terrible.”
Carlotta squinted at her friend. “What?”
“Never mind. The point is, I might have been a little hard on Peter. And it’s not because I feel sorry for him that you dumped him and he’s going to jail. It’s because he contacted my parents earlier this week and told them to withdraw any investments they still had with Mashburn & Tully. He knew things were going south, and he didn’t want them to lose money again. I think that was a stand-up thing to do.”
“Thank you for sharing,” Carlotta said. “Um, speaking of your parents.”
Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. “What about them?”
Carlotta sighed. “Hannah, I wasn’t snooping. Okay—I was snooping. I came across an article that mentioned your mother committed suicide.”
“Right,” Hannah said.
“I just think it’s bizarre that you’ve never mentioned it.”
“I wasn’t close to my mother. My stepmother raised me. So when I say parents, I mean my dad and my stepmom.”
“But the article said she was a co-owner of HAL Properties.”
“Right. My dad started the business, and when they split up, he gave her some ownership in it because I think he was afraid it would be the only steady income she’d have.”
“Oh. That…makes sense.”
“So there is something else,” Hannah said. “I know I’ve been acting a little shitty the past few days. I was keeping something from you, and I want to come clean before I head back to Atlanta.”
“I’m on pins and needles,” Carlotta said. “What?”
Hannah winced and held out her beringed left hand. “Chance and I got married!”
Chapter 29
“I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH for doing this,” Carlotta said over the aisle to Coop.
He shrugged. “Staying a couple extra days in Vegas to fly back with you and Valerie and Prissy and Birch? That’s no hardship.”
“It’s an inconvenience,” she said. “But it makes me more calm to know you’re close by if we need you.”
“That’s a given,” Coop said. “No matter where you are.”
She smiled. “You’ve been good to me and to Wes.”
“Really happy to hear all those charges were dropped and Wes is back in Atlanta.”
“I think he and Dad have been having fun fixing up the house before Mom and Prissy get there.”
“Is Birch okay with relocating?”
“I guess so.” Then she squinted. “There’s a story there.”
“Are you and Wes going to live in the Buckhead house, too?”
“I’m sure we’ll be there a lot, but we’re going to stay in the townhouse, maybe fix it up.”
“Any chance you’ll have time to help me with some body moving jobs?”
“Call me. And you know Hannah’s always up for a dead body.”
“Wow, I can’t believe she’s married.”
Carlotta laughed. “I guess she got tired of waiting for you.”
“Hm,” Coop said with a little smile. “Maybe I’m waiting for someone, too.”
The flight attendant announcement to fasten seatbelts saved Carlotta from responding. She turned to help her mother with her belt.
“Did you bring a paper thing?” Valerie asked, nodding to the binder on Carlotta’s lap.
“It’s like a book. It’s a family photo album. I thought maybe we could look at it during our trip home to Atlanta.”
“I’d like that,” her mother said. “What is your name again?”
“Carlotta.”
“Right. And you’re my daughter.”
“That’s right.” Carlotta remembered something and pulled out her phone. “Mom, do you remember writing this on a wall in a coffee shop bathroom?”
“No. What is it?”
“That’s your name. Valerie W. You wrote it one day when you were in there, and then I saw it. That’s how I knew you were close by.”
“Valerie knew you’d come looking for me.”
Carlotta squeezed her hand.
“Young lady?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“That nice friend of yours over there with the stethoscope. Is his name Cooper Craft?”
Carlotta glanced across the plane aisle at Coop, and her heart expanded with affection. She looked back to her mom. “Yes, that’s right.”
Valerie pointed to the picture Carlotta had shown her. “Why is his name written on the wall above mine?”
-The EndA note from the author
Thank you so very much for reading 8 BODIES IS ENOUGH! I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. No matter how many projects take me away from Body Movers, I’m always happy to come back to these characters I know and love. Please know I’ll be writing more Body Movers books—Carlotta and the gang still have lots of adventures to go on!
If you enjoyed 8 BODIES IS ENOUGH and feel inclined to leave an Amazon review, I would appreciate it very much. Reviews help my books find new readers, which means I can keep writing new stories! Plus I always want to know what my readers are thinking. Thank you for your support—without readers like you, there wouldn’t be a Body Movers series!
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Also, although I can’t count the times this book has been edited and proofed, I am human, so if you do spot a typo, please email me at [email protected] to let me know! Thanks again for your time and interest, and for telling your friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about some of my other books, please scroll ahead to the next section.
Happy reading!
Stephanie Bond
Other works by Stephanie Bond
In the daily serial COMA GIRL, a victim of a tragic event lies in a hospital bed at the mercy of her family and friends who think she can’t hear them. But she SO can.
(BODY MOVERS fans: COMA GIRL features cameo appearances by Detective Jack Terry.)
Reader reviews for COMA GIRL are fantastic:
“Who would have thought that a story told by a girl in coma could possibly be interesting. It’s not only interesting, it has grabbed me and won’t let go!” 5 stars!
“I read Coma Girl in one sitting—not a dull moment!” 5 stars
“Couldn’t put it down!” 5 stars
“I thought how interesting can a story be about a woman in a coma be…but just in the first few pages I was hooked. Definitely a must read.” 5 stars
Hundreds of 5-star reviews!
Note: The COMA GIRL series is available exclusively from Amazon.
COMA GIRL is available in 6 ebook novellas:
Click here to sample or buy COMA GIRL, part 1 from Amazon!
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rt 4 from Amazon!
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And the complete daily serial of COMA GIRL is available in print:
Click here to sample or buy COMA GIRL, the complete daily serial, from Amazon!
*******
Got an idea for a BODY MOVERS story? Stephanie recently licensed the BODY MOVERS series to Amazon for their Kindle Worlds fan fiction project! If you’re interested in reading stories about the BODY MOVERS world written by other readers and other writers or if you’re interested in writing your own BODY MOVERS story and (here’s the best part) earning royalties, click here for more information!
About the Author
Stephanie Bond was seven years deep into a corporate career in computer programming and pursuing an MBA at night when an instructor remarked she had a flair for writing and suggested she submit material to academic journals. But Stephanie was more interested in writing fiction—more specifically, romance and mystery novels. After writing in her spare time for two years, she sold her first manuscript; after selling ten additional projects to two publishers, she left her corporate job to write fiction full-time. To-date, Stephanie has more than seventy published novels to her name, including the popular BODY MOVERS humorous mystery series, and STOP THE WEDDING!, now a Hallmark Channel movie. Stephanie lives in Atlanta. For more information on Stephanie’s books, visit www.stephaniebond.com.
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