BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure Page 3

  A moment later, Erin backed through the swinging doors leading into the kitchen, bearing five plates stacked up her arm. She faltered when she noticed Jack, then bustled about delivering the food and filling coffee cups.

  She seemed to be working alone and was falling behind, so Jack settled back in his chair and surveyed his surroundings.

  The store was actually a large log cabin of sorts, charming and touristy, with rustic beams inside and a soda fountain that looked like it dated back to the 1920s.

  The rest of the place seemed crammed with everything under the sun. Even Max appeared to be fascinated, though now his attention was caught by the massive moose head mounted over the soda fountain. A few dusty Christmas-tree ornaments, remnants from last year, hung from its antlers.

  When she arrived at the front table at last, a pad and pencil in her hands, Erin’s smile was less friendly than it had been the day before. “Can I help you?”

  Jack conferred with Max one more time, then ordered two bacon-and-egg specials, plus caramel rolls in a box to go.

  Erin turned his coffee cup upright and filled it, then spared a more genuine smile for Max before she sped back into the kitchen, where she was clearly doing double duty as the cook.

  He stared after her for a moment, weighing the possible reasons for her change of attitude. Maybe she was just stressed and busy…but he had a feeling it was something more. “Hey, buddy, want to play hangman? Tic-tac-toe?”

  Max shrugged, so Jack started a game of tic-tac-toe on a paper napkin, careful to avoid the best positions on the grid. By the time their food arrived, they’d finished a dozen games and Max had fixed Jack with an accusing glare.

  “You didn’t try.”

  Jack grinned. “Nope—you’re just really tough to beat.”

  Max’s chin lifted at a stubborn angle eerily reminiscent of Janie’s when Jack and his sister were growing up. “Mommy tries. That’s better.”

  Jack’s heart caught at the boy’s use of the present tense when he spoke of his mother. “How about I try harder next time?” Jack glanced at the bookshelves filled with board games and old paperbacks by the potbellied stove in the corner. “Or we could try Scrabble or checkers.”

  Max poked at his egg without answering, and Jack belatedly realized that those games were too advanced. “I think I see Candy Land over there, too. Would you like to play that?”

  Silence.

  Erin appeared at their table again, coffeepot in hand. “Maybe he’d like to ride a horse. There’s a stable a mile up the road. Gentle horses and ponies, easy trails for the kids.”

  Max looked up at her.

  “I think I recall a pretty little paint pony just about your size.” She grinned. “And I’ve got someone for you to meet, if your uncle has a minute.”

  “A horse?”

  “Nope. But he’ll end up the size of a pony someday. I picked up a half-grown pup at the county shelter this morning, and I bet he’d love to play with you.”

  Max’s eyed widened, and seeing his face light up made Jack’s heart swell in his chest. “Thanks, Erin. Great ideas.” But when she shifted her gaze to meet his, again he felt the temperature in the room drop ten degrees.

  Her level look seemed to arrow right through him. “I need to talk to you for a few minutes. Alone.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  She glanced at the other customers, then bent low to whisper in his ear. “I just need to ask you a few questions…or I’m afraid my cousin will be pulling up in her patrol car to take care of it herself. And believe me, you don’t want to tangle with her.”

  THREE

  There was no one to watch Max during a private conversation, but there was no way Jack wanted to put this off, either.

  Damage control had been his mantra for the past six months, and the faster difficult situations were handled, the better.

  And now Max, who’d been all too aware of the reporters, and the baleful glances of people on the street back in Texas, was watching him with very curious eyes. “Were you bad, Uncle Jack?”

  Judging by the faint blush rising on Erin’s face, she hadn’t thought the boy would overhear.

  Jack grinned. “I sure hope not. I wonder—maybe we could go see that puppy when we’re done here?”

  Glancing around the little café, Erin nodded. “The others are nearly done. I can join you in fifteen minutes or so—out back, at the cottage?”

  Embarrassed, Erin fled to the kitchen and ran a load of dishes through the commercial dishwasher, glancing out into the café every few minutes.

  When the last customer finally finished and paid his bill, she hung a Back In Ten Minutes sign on the front door and went out to her cottage.

  Max was crouched over an anthill, obviously fascinated by the activity. Jack leaned against the porch railing of her cottage, looking tall, dark and—now she knew—mysterious. He watched with razor-sharp intensity as she approached. The air of a predator studying its prey.

  After all the years of being so careful, just how foolish had she been in allowing a stranger like this one into her life? Little Max had disarmed her completely, but even evil men had children. She just had to hope Jack wasn’t one of them.

  She went inside the cottage and collected the pup from its kennel, then brought it out on a leash that she handed to Max. “Here he is. A big, goofy, awkward puppy. But he’s very sweet.”

  Max’s eyes rounded. “He’s big!”

  “And just look at those feet,” Erin said. “He’s around fifty pounds at seven months. He’ll probably end up close to a hundred by the time he’s through.”

  She’d wanted a fully grown, imposing dog with a big bark, but she’d fallen in love with his thick, fluffy white body, coupled with the crescents of tan above his eyes that formed expressive eyebrows. “Want to play with him? He’d love the attention.”

  Clearly delighted, Max started running about the small chain-link-fenced yard surrounding the cottage. The dog romped alongside him, its white plume of a tail wagging gaily.

  As soon as they were out of earshot, Jack turned to face Erin. “So what’s up?”

  This was going to be so hard, and the words she’d silently rehearsed a few moments ago slipped away. She took a deep breath. “One of my cousins is a deputy in the next county. I told her about having a new boarder, and she called me back late last night.”

  Jack held her gaze without so much as a flicker. “And?”

  “Well, I know you gave me references and all, but Megan is probably the most determined person I know. She insisted that I ask you a couple of questions.” Erin rolled her eyes. “If I don’t, she’ll make the trip and ask you herself—and I’m afraid she can be a tad abrasive.”

  “Fire away.”

  “What brought you to Lost Falls?”

  “I thought Max needed time away from the neighborhood he associates with his late parents. And frankly, I needed to get away, too.” He shrugged. “I figured the mountains would be a great destination, so I did some research on the Internet and here we are.”

  Erin nodded. “Megan was just a bit concerned, since there was a breakin the same night you arrived.”

  Jack’s mouth twitched. “If you’d been in that car with Max and me for all those hours coming north, you wouldn’t even ask if I had the energy for anything else.”

  “And…I had some hang-up calls last week before you came.”

  He laughed at that. “Why would you think I had anything to do with those calls? Did you see my area code on the caller ID?”

  Erin felt her neck warm. “I…don’t actually have caller ID yet.”

  “So someone seems to be targeting you, and I showed up at the wrong time. I can understand Megan’s concern, believe me.” Realization dawned in Jack’s eyes. “And that’s why you got the dog?”

  “Partly for security, though I’ve wanted one for ages and wasn’t allowed to at my old condo in Colorado.” She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “There’s just one other thing.�
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  He rested an elbow on the railing and leaned back, hooked a heel of his hiking boot on the steps and silently waited.

  “Megan did a search of the NCIC criminal database.”

  “I’m sure she found a lot of hits there,” he said dryly.

  “None. But…um…I did.” Now she felt the warmth rise to her face. “When I did an Internet search on your name.”

  She expected a flash of guilt. Perhaps an angry or defensive retort. The look of resignation and sorrow on his face took her by surprise.

  “So you read about my investment firm, then.” He searched her face. “And about my business partner? It was in the papers for months, so it’s certainly no secret.”

  “I…only know what I read in the online newspapers.”

  “I’ll be glad to fill you in.” Jack stared at the child playing with the puppy at the far end of the yard, and lowered his voice. “The past six months marked the end of almost everything in my life that mattered. I lost my only sister and her husband—who were also my closest friends. The reputation of my firm came into serious question, and my business partner, Ted, proved he’d never been a friend at all. Oh, and my fiancée, Elana, found it all just a little overwhelming, so she split.”

  Erin fought the urge to give him a long, comforting hug. “That’s awful.”

  “The only good thing is that I have Max, though honestly, he deserves better than a single guy without a clue.” Jack’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “And maybe it was best to find out about Elana’s character early on, though less dramatic circumstances would have been nice.”

  The enormity of what he’d been through nearly took her breath away. “What happened? With Ted, I mean.”

  “You want to hear my version?” He gave a wry laugh. “That’s a first. People back home liked the slanted newspaper articles a whole lot better.”

  “The press got it wrong?”

  “Ted and I were partners for fifteen years. I thought we were as close as brothers. He managed his own accounts, and I managed mine, so I didn’t know what he was up to until the day he disappeared with a half-million dollars of his clients’ money.” Jack’s mouth flattened to a hard, determined line. “Many of them were elderly, and he’d been managing their retirement funds.”

  She’d read the newspaper articles online, which had subtly implicated Jack, though he’d never been arrested and charged. The reporters had made a good point, though. In such a small firm, how could he have been unaware of his partner’s dealings? Or had he been involved, and simply better at hiding his tracks?

  His steady gaze and the raw pain in his voice told her otherwise.

  But the full impact of the theft hadn’t hit her until now. “I can’t believe anyone would prey on such vulnerable people.”

  “I can’t, either. And I also can’t believe my friend did it, or that he was spineless enough to commit suicide after he was caught, but it’s the truth.”

  “I…I didn’t realize he’d killed himself.”

  “He was found up near the Canadian border. The investigators are still trying to figure out where he stashed all the money.” Jack looked up, his gaze riveted on hers. “I suppose you find me guilty by association, because the press and the people on the street sure did—even though the forensics accountants found absolutely no evidence.”

  Megan’s warnings about renting the house to this man had left Erin feeling uneasy, and she’d barely slept last night. But looking into his eyes now, she saw no cunning, no sly effort to conceal the truth, just soul-deep sorrow, tinged with anger.

  “So with Ted gone, there’ll never be a trial. No chance to give public testimony about your innocence.”

  “Exactly. A lot of dry, interminably long reports are filed away someplace that proved it enough to the police investigators.” He lifted a shoulder. “But public opinion doesn’t easily change. There’ll always be those who figure I was crafty enough to get away with the loot.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “I’ve still got a number of loyal clients and can handle my business via the Internet and phone from up here—at least for a while. But once my lease here is up, I’ll have to figure out what to do next…and I have a hunch that moving back to Texas won’t be my best choice.”

  FOUR

  “You’ll never guess what happened!”

  At the sound of Ashley Tompkins’s breathless voice on the phone, Erin smiled and leaned against the front counter of the store. They’d been friends since college and had shared Ashley’s condo for the past two years. “You were promoted to head nurse?”

  “That’s a job I wouldn’t want.”

  “You found your dream house up in the mountains?”

  “Not yet…though the realtor did call about bringing a prospective buyer to see my condo on Tuesday.” Ashley took a deep breath. “My car was vandalized in broad daylight last week while it was parked on the street—right out front.”

  “No way.” The condo was in a nice, upscale part of Birch Valley, one of the farthest Denver suburbs. It was a community that prided itself on its safe streets and family environment. “Was there a lot of damage?”

  “The lock was jimmied, but the guy must’ve had trouble getting it open, because he kicked a dent in the door. Then he ripped out the stereo, slashed the leather seats and stole my new GPS.”

  “Wow.”

  “You said it. My insurance man said that with the damage and theft, it’ll total over two thousand dollars, and my deductible is five hundred.” Ashley sighed. “You’d think the vandal would’ve grabbed the valuables and run, not wasted time slashing my seats.”

  “A teenager, maybe.”

  “That’s my guess. I just can’t believe he got away with it in full view of the windows on the west side of the building.”

  “Anyone passing by might’ve assumed the guy was the owner and not looked twice. It sure must’ve been a shock to go out and see what happened.”

  “There was one cool thing, though.” Ashley’s voice turned soft and dreamy. “I’d worked all night at the hospital and got home around eight like always. I’d just had breakfast and was going to turn in when an off-duty cop knocked on my door. He’d noticed something suspicious while driving by, and when he slowed down, the guy in my car took off and ran between the buildings.”

  “This cop saw the guy? Did he catch him?”

  “Nope. By the time he could pull over, the guy was gone, and he was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, so his face wasn’t visible. Bob called in my license-plate number to find my address so he could come in to tell me.”

  Erin smiled into the phone. “Bob, eh? Sounds like you got to know this officer pretty well.”

  “He was a doll. Came right in and sat at my kitchen table while I found my registration papers. Had coffee and everything! And he was really nice about those papers. They were supposed to be in the car glove box, not in my desk.”

  “You…um…let him in your house?”

  “After I saw his badge and ID, of course.”

  Erin could picture her friend giving a dismissive wave. “Ashley…”

  “The ID was real, I know it was.” Ashley sighed. “And you wouldn’t believe how handsome he was. Late thirties and good-looking in a rugged sort of way. He…he asked if he could call me sometime.”

  Oh dear. Erin said a swift, silent prayer. Ashley was one of the sweetest people on earth, but at thirty-two she had yet to develop a sixth sense about men who spelled trouble—or if she had it, she blissfully ignored those inner warnings.

  “Was he wearing a ring?”

  “Of course not!” After a moment’s pause, Ashley added, “He really was nice, Erin. He sat a long time over coffee, making a report, and he was concerned about me ’cause I was pretty upset. You know how much I love that car, and that stereo system was the last gift I got from my dad.”

  “I know.” Erin bit her lower lip. “I didn’t mean to be so negative. It’s wonderful that this cop actual
ly stopped and sought you out. Maybe there’s a chance the thief will be caught.”

  “I hope so.” Ashley’s voice lightened. “Maybe Bob will stop by again to give me an update!”

  “You have to be the happiest crime victim on record,” Erin said dryly. “For your sake, I hope this proves to be a godsend.”

  “Me, too. So how’ve you been? I haven’t heard from you since Linda’s wedding.”

  “I’ve been terrible about e-mailing and calling these past few weeks. Busy, busy with the move, getting settled and taking over the store.”

  “Still glad you did it?”

  “It was the right thing to do. Gramps is free to enjoy life. I needed a change in mine. I just need to stay afloat financially until the tourist season begins next year.”

  “With all of your experience managing Phillipe’s, you’ll do great.”

  Erin laughed. “Millie’s isn’t exactly a place for fine dining. I just hope I can appeal to the coffee-and-sweet-roll crowd now.” She hesitated over how much to say. “I’ve had a bit of trouble here, too—and also ended up renting the house to a guy with a questionable past.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “A breakin…I think. I heard someone in the store when I went in early on Wednesday. I can’t see that anything is missing, so maybe I interrupted him just as he arrived.”

  “Oh, Erin. You could’ve been hurt!”

  “I was definitely scared—the store is isolated—it’s way out by the lake to serve the seasonal crowds. Needless to say, I’ve already adopted a dog.”

  “What about electronic security?”

  “That’s next.”

  Ashley fell silent. “Are you sure you want to stay there? I mean, you could always move back here. Even after the condo sells, we could split expenses on my next place, just like before. You’re my all-time favorite roommate.”

  “Tempting. But I signed this contract. I gave my word.”

  “Surely your grandfather would let you back out,” Ashley protested. “He wasn’t convinced you should do it in the first place.”