Sisters of Spirit, Pure Romance Set

by Nancy Radke

  “No. Tom does all our plumbing.”

  “Then where did this Mark Alan come from?”

  “Larry knows,” Ellen said. “He’s the one who keeps bringing me the bills.”

  “I’ll get him,” Richard said. “I want to say my good-byes to the men, anyway. I’ll do it now.”

  He left and Jared pointed to the spread sheet in front of him. “Is that company listed here?”

  Ellen leaned over, speed reading down the names. “Yes. Right there. I added them. I sent out those checks last week.”

  “Tom did all the plumbing on the Van Chattan’s boat. And we used our regular plumbing supply for all the fixtures. Richard set it up.”

  “But, Larry said the contract was signed. You signed it.” She looked at him in alarm. “Oh, no! Tell me, ‘No!’”

  *21*

  Jared’s face grew white, before he looked down. He put both fists to his forehead, dropping his elbows on the desk in front of him. Ellen reached out, clasping his shoulder in sympathy as he spoke.

  “Larry’s tumbled to my secret. How long he’s known is anyone’s guess. He’d tell me I was signing something and I’d put my signature to it. I didn’t catch any names. And of course you wouldn’t recognize any.”

  “Donna would’ve known.”

  “Yes. I’m sure Larry waited until she left. What other checks have you sent out, since you’ve been here?”

  “I’ll get the checkbook.” Stumbling over her own feet, Ellen retrieved the large book and returned with a feeling of dread. The cost overrun that Jared mentioned was close to the amount of the checks she had written.

  “Read me the names and the amounts,” Jared instructed.

  “Mark Alan, forty thousand. Bill Peters, four thousand. Thermador and Associates, fifteen thousand. Mark Alan again—”

  “Can’t find him anywhere,” Richard said as he came in the door. “The men say he was here this morning.”

  “He might have split,” Jared said. “It looks as if he’s been stealing from us.”

  “Stealing? Larry? Impossible. He has a high paying job—”

  “I guess it wasn’t high enough. Take a look at the names on these checks. I don’t recognize any of them.”

  Sick at heart, Ellen handed the book to Richard. He flipped through the sheets, shaking his head, then glared at her. “You sent these out, without having Jared check over them first? Why?”

  “But, Ja—” Ellen had seen Jared sign both contracts and checks and started to say so, then stopped, knowing that Jared had been unable to read what he signed.

  “But what?” Richard demanded, the full force of his anger directed at her. “You never pay this kind of money out without authorization.”

  Ellen glanced helplessly at Jared, her thoughts whirling wildly. “I... I realize that now. It’s just that... that... I thought I had it,” she finally said, desperately trying to keep from involving Jared. “Larry showed me how to set up the accounts,” she added weakly. “I thought he was just being helpful.”

  “You never pay for anything without Jared’s okay,” he yelled. “You should know that; especially when you’re first starting out and don’t know the names of the companies we deal with.” He sat down abruptly in a chair, his face ashen.

  “Are you all right?” Jared asked, springing around to hover over him.

  “Yes. Just need to rest a moment. What else do we know?”

  Ellen glanced at Jared, then back at Richard, wondering what to say. “I took Larry at his word. I didn’t know he was stealing.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe you were helping him,” Richard said, his voice rising in accusation. “It doesn’t look good. We hired you—and then the thefts began.”

  “But I didn’t—” she protested.

  “You just didn’t get away when he did. He left you holding the bag.”

  “That’s not so!”

  “Until you’re clear, I want you out of this office. Now! No, wait. Call the police, Jared. We might catch Larry before he leaves the country. They can question her, too.”

  Jared’s emotions exploded in all directions; the foundation of his life crumpling under him. His nightmare—his worst nightmare—had become reality. He had brought disaster upon Richard and their company—the scope of which, if too big, could throw them into bankruptcy—and at the same time put Ellen under heavy suspicion. What could he do, that would help, yet still keep his secret?

  If he stayed quiet and acted as if he were not involved, Ellen would bear the full burden of Richard’s investigation. He looked at her white face, strained and worried as she struggled to keep his secret, while protesting her innocence. It wasn’t right that she should suffer for him. She must love him very much.

  What kind of man was he, to put her through this? He couldn’t let her take the blame. The thought connected in his mind as, for the first time, he saw things clearly.

  If he did not want Ellen to jump to his defense all the time, if he really wanted to be treated like a man, then he had to stand up like a man... and that meant telling his brother the truth.

  It was time to face his problem and go past it. Wherever that led. He made no move to pick up the phone. Breathing deeply, he pushed his fears aside. Ellen. He would do it for her and her alone.

  “Ellen wasn’t involved,” he said, his voice quiet compared to his brother’s. “I know she wasn’t.” Surprisingly, once he had made the decision, it was not so hard after all. Having stepped past fear, he felt a calmness, as if facing the inevitable. “I hired her, I trained her, and she did just what I asked her to do. She had nothing to do with Larry.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Richard demanded, still suspicious. “No one should send checks out without your signature being on them.”

  Jared studied his brother thoughtfully, hoping that as the truth crashed down around him, his heart would be able to take it.

  “They had my signature on them,” he said, trying to ease into his announcement.

  Ellen stared at him, alarm tightening her features, and he signaled for her to stay quiet.

  “You signed these?” Richard asked, incredulous.

  “Yes. All of them.”

  “How could you mess up like that? Didn’t you read them first?”

  “I can’t read.” Jared delivered the admission in a flat monotone.

  “You what?” Richard stared at him, slack-jawed, face frozen in disbelief. His expression would have been funny, if it weren’t for the tragedy gripping the room.

  “I said, ‘I... can’t... read.’” This time Jared emphasized each word. “Never could.” He smiled at the irony of it all, even as he tasted the strong bitterness of loss, felt the churning sick despair leave him empty, defeated. He had known things would disintegrate this way, someday. All those years, he had only been forestalling the inevitable.

  “But... but... but how...?” Richard stopped, blank, stunned.

  Jared had never seen his brother so bewildered; so upset. He watched him anxiously, afraid he might have another heart attack; but as of right now, he, Jared, was through hiding behind Ellen.

  “You mean you signed them, not knowing what they said?”

  “Yes. Although I thought I knew. Larry tricked me.”

  “Jared’s come this far because of how smart he is. It’s not his fault,” Ellen interjected, trying to fly to his aid.

  Jared motioned her away. This was his battle, to win or lose.

  Richard shrunk further into the chair. “This... this is impossible,” he said. “I can’t understand... all these years.... All this time. How have you managed?”

  “Memorization, bluff. I have it down to an art form.”

  “But if you can’t read, you can’t know what you’re doing.”

  “Ellen reads to me. Donna used to, although I had to trick her. I didn’t realize Larry had figured out my secret. From now on, I’ll have Ellen read aloud everything I sign.”

  Richard just sat there, shaking his head. “No. If we rec
over, we can’t chance this happening again.”

  “Larry just took advantage of Ellen’s being new—”

  “Wait. She knew you couldn’t read?” He glared suspiciously at her. “Before you hired her?”

  “Yes. In a way.”

  He scowled. “Have you stopped to think that that’s how Larry found out?”

  “No,” Ellen protested. “I never—”

  “I’d trust her with my life,” Jared said. “Ellen didn’t tell him.”

  “How can you be sure?” Richard looked as if he wanted to throw her in jail that minute, to protect both himself and Jared.

  “I hired Ellen as a tutor, to teach me to read. We studied together for several days before I twisted her arm to get her to come fill in for Donna. She never met Larry until she came here. That I know.”

  “Then how did Larry—?”

  “I must have slipped up one time, in dealing with him. Once he knew I couldn’t read, he took advantage of it.”

  “And if other people figure it out, they could swindle us out of the entire company. If we have one left. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “For this reason,” Jared said. “As long as no one knew, I did fine.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Richard snapped, running his broad fingers through his hair, creating spikes of disorder. “Look what just happened. All it took was for one person to guess; one creep you thought you could trust, and he cheats you out of boats and buildings. I’m sorry, Jared, but I can’t let you stay on like this. I’ll have to put in a manager or come back myself.”

  “But how will you know you can trust the manager?” asked Ellen, evidently unable to keep quiet any longer. “At least you can trust Jared. And he is trying to learn to read.”

  Richard nodded. “True. Jared and I are the company. With neither of us in charge, we’ll lose most of our customers. So I’ll have to come back.”

  “And I’ll go back to sales,” Jared said, bitterly.

  “You can’t read the contracts.”

  “They’re standard contracts. I just write in the amounts. It’s what I’ve always done.”

  “No.” Richard clamped his mouth into a stubborn line, the edges drawn downward in thought. “Take some time off. Learn to read. Then come back.”

  “And in the meantime... what about our company?”

  “I’ll keep it going.” He didn’t sound as sure of that as he used to.

  Jared frowned. “Is it worth it, to chance another heart attack?”

  “I have no choice.”

  “Then keep Ellen to help you.” If only Richard didn’t feel like he, personally, had to stay. If he had another attack, then it would be Jared’s fault for not being able to step in and take over the company.

  “She’s too inexperienced—”

  “No, she isn’t. Without Donna, you’ll be a prime candidate for another attack. You need Ellen.”

  “Maybe,” Richard finally consented, drumming his fingers on the chair arm.

  “I’ll call the police now.”

  “Call the bank for a stop order,” Ellen suggested. “I mailed three of those checks on Friday. He might not have them yet.”

  “Good idea.” Crushed, demoralized by the realization that his brother no longer felt he could depend upon him, Jared picked up the phone. It felt like it weighed sixty pounds.

  It was the end of everything he had worked for. Now Ellen would no longer be able to ignore his problem. She would view him as some lame dog who needed her care. He could not stand that, he thought, as he dialed 911. He needed her love, not her sympathy. He wanted her to look at him with pride in her eyes. That was all that mattered.

  “Show me the contracts,” Richard demanded, turning to Ellen.

  She walked into the other room and opened the filing cabinet. When Richard joined her, she rounded on him. Jared might treat him delicately, but she was too upset to consider anyone else.

  “How could you do this to him?” She fairly hissed the words, shaking with anger.

  “He almost destroyed the company.” Saying that, Richard clamped his jaw shut, as if that was the end of the matter.

  “Is the company so important, that you’d ruin both your lives for it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re risking your health... and you’re destroying him.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m trying to save the financial future of all our workers, plus Jared and myself. Remember, competition is tough in this business. We can’t stand a huge loss. We operate on a very narrow margin.”

  “But that doesn’t mean you must take Jared’s work away. It’ll destroy him. You’re punishing him for something he has no control over. It’s not fair.”

  “Life isn’t.”

  “But you’re his brother. You have to consider him first. He’s trying his hardest to learn to read right now. If you do this to him....” She had to stop, fighting the tears that moistened her eyes. “He was a super salesman, still is. At least let him continue in that. Check his contracts if you need to.”

  “I’ll think about it, okay?” He drew back, his gaze broadening as if to encompass her more completely. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

  She rubbed her eyes, hard, with both hands. “Yes.”

  “Does he love you?”

  She sniffed, then gave him a level stare. “Yes.”

  “I never thought anyone would catch him. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t know how I can keep Jared on, but maybe I can find some job for him—since you asked.”

  Jared entered as Richard spoke, stopped as he heard those words. “Don’t bother,” he snapped, his face pale and strained. “I’m out of here.” He strode across the room and out the door, slamming it behind him.

  *22*

  “Wait!” Ellen yelled, running after Jared. Hadn’t he heard what his brother said? She caught up in the parking lot, ignoring the heat rising from the hot paving, and followed him to his car, talking all the way. “Richard will keep you on.”

  “Forget it!” he snarled.

  “But he said....”

  “I don’t want it.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Why not?”

  Jared yanked his arm away from Ellen, roughly, continuing to stalk past the parked cars. “I don’t want a job that means nothing. And I certainly don’t want a job you begged my brother for.”

  “I didn’t beg, I asked.”

  “Same thing. Stop mothering me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Yes you are,” he growled, fishing his keys out of his pocket and unlocking his car door.

  “I can’t help it. It’s called sympathy.”

  “I don’t need it.”

  He got into his car, but she grabbed the door so he couldn’t close it. “You’re right, you don’t. You need an optometrist.”

  “He won’t help.”

  “Don’t miss your appointment with him. If you do, I’m through with you and your brother,” she shouted, slamming the door.

  Jared turned on the ignition, then rolled down his window and glared at her. To Ellen, he appeared almost too angry to speak.

  “Stop treating me like a child,” he snarled.

  “Then stop acting like one,” she shouted back, all her emotions boiling over into her thoughtless words.

  “Goodbye.” He threw his car into gear and drove away. She stood in the parking lot for several minutes, her temper fading. In its place came grief, as if a loved one had just died and with him part of her heart. She turned and slowly walked back to the office. As upset as she was, she still could not leave Richard with this mess. Someone had to help him with the police reports, and work was the greatest healer she knew.

  Richard looked at her, his eyes questioning, but she shook her head and looked around the office. Her predictions of doom and destruction had come to pass; except that Jared’s crew hadn’t run her off; she and his brother had done it to him.

  It
took three hours before the police officer was finished. A squad car was immediately dispatched to Larry’s address, but his landlord said he had moved out last month. An APB was issued, airport security notified along with the Canadian border patrol, but before he left, the police officer mentioned that Larry had probably flown out under an assumed name. At Ellen’s suggestion, they began a search of the local marinas.

  Richard’s white face worried Ellen. She pointed it out to him and he said hers was just as white, then decided they should both call it a day. “Time enough tomorrow to unravel this. I’ll have to get a new foreman, although I might promote Hastings to that spot. Get me the employee files; I’ll look over them at home.”

  “Certainly.” The files were already open as they had pulled Larry’s for the police report. “Isn’t foreman a job Jared could do?” She couldn’t help but ask.

  “Not unless he can read a blueprint.”

  He was unyielding, and Ellen drove home, getting more and more upset as she thought about the situation at the office. It would not hurt Richard to make allowances for Jared. Jared could still sell boats; he could even run the company now that Larry was gone. It had been her fault for trusting Larry, not his.

  The phone was ringing as she entered her apartment, and Ellen raced to answer it, hoping it was Jared.

  “Hi, Sis. I’m was worried you wouldn’t be home.” It was Kathy, her voice sounding strained, and Ellen tensed, immediately alarmed.

  “Is anything wrong?”

  “Yes. I need you to watch the boys while I take the dog to the vet.”

  “What happened? Is he injured?” Ellen reached for her car keys and purse, which she had dropped as she answered the phone.

  “No. Just routine shots. A quick trip.”

  Routine. Ellen felt relief, followed by a quick surge of temper. Jared had pointed out how her family “used” her. This was a perfect example. She was not going to jump every time Kathy snapped her fingers. “Then you don’t need me,” she said, forcing her tone to sound light and pleasant.

  “What? Of course I—”

  “I’m not your baby-sitter, Kathy. You’ve got to stop asking me on such short notice, except in an emergency.”