REESE
“The bank transactions don’t look out of place to me,” I said to Clark.
He was on speakerphone while we both looked at the files I had sent to him and myself. We were combing through the accounts one at a time. So far, nothing looked out of the ordinary.
“We need to find something from out of the country,” he said. “I don’t believe there is anyone in the States or Canada that would have the balls to take Dad. This is something far more nefarious.”
“Clark, I don’t know what I’m looking for,” I groaned. My head was pounding. I rubbed my temple. “I feel like I’m failing here. I want to look at these accounts and see it. It’s taking too long. How are we going to weed out all the accounts that are completely legit?”
“I think that’s where you’re misinterpreting things,” he said. “It isn’t going to look out of place. That would be too easy. It’s here. We’ll find it.”
My doorbell rang. I checked the time and smiled. “I’ve got to go. I’ll keep digging. There is a filing cabinet in his home office. I’ll get in and see if he’s left a paper trail.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” he said.
I walked to the door expecting to see Thea. Maybe she’d finally taken me up on my offer to stay the night. “Rich!”
“Busy?”
“No, come in,” I said. “What brings you out here?”
“I wanted to talk,” he said. “Got a few minutes?”
“I do. Want a drink?”
“Got a beer?” he asked.
“Sure.”
I walked to the subzero fridge and pulled out two bottles of Corona. He slid onto a stool in the kitchen. I popped the cap and handed him the bottle. “How’s the head?” he asked.
“Good,” I said. “Better. Ribs are still a little jacked up, but I hope it will be good in a couple days.”
He looked distracted. Something was wrong. “How’s your dad?” I asked. I made the foolish mistake thinking that was the problem.
“My dad is a mess,” he said. “That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then what is it?” I asked.
“Thea.”
I nodded with understanding. “You’re worried about her working at the shelter because of what happened,” I said.
He frowned at me. “Yes, but that’s not why I’m here. I picked her up tonight and we had dinner. We talked.”
“Okay.”
“She told me about you and her trying to get back together again,” he said.
Everything stilled. It was a little strange to hear him tell me she told him what we had decided was going to be our secret. I made it pretty clear her brother would not be happy with me. I didn’t understand why she decided to tell him without even giving me a heads-up. As if she knew I was thinking about her, she texted at that moment. I flipped my phone over to keep him from seeing it. No need to add fuel to the fire.
“And since you are here growling at me, I suppose I can assume you’re not happy about it,” I said.
“No, I’m not happy about it. I told you to stay away from her. Why would you try and go back? You guys are not good for each other.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” I said. “She and I get along very well. We always have. That was never the problem.”
“You wanting to sleep with half the country was the problem,” he shot back.