touch with you?”
“No.” She didn’t feel guilty about lying to the police-she felt stupid. Stupid that even though Dominic had crushed her heart with his brief order, she was still doing everything she could to protect him. She took out a card and passed it to the detective. “That’s all my information if you need to get in touch with me for any reason.”
“You’re leaving?” Caroline turned around and saw the FBI agent from the other day walking toward her. Again she was struck by a sense of familiarity that she couldn’t place.
“I am.”
“Don’t do this, Caroline. He’ll turn up. Eventually.”
Caroline tried to smile through the crush of tears. “That’s not good enough. I can’t think. I can’t stop worrying. How did this happen? I had no one. And I took this chance. Then suddenly I was happy. One phone call and it was all gone. I have no idea if he’s coming back. Should I get over him? Fight for him? I haven’t a clue. You don’t know me. I’m not brave enough for any of this.” She took a deep breath and then another. “You can’t make me stay.”
“Nobody is forcing you to stay, Caroline,” Nora said. “I just think you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re going to worry less or be less sad in Virginia. Also I think you’re wrong. Maybe I don’t know you very well, but you seem pretty brave to me.”
“I have to go.” She turned back to the detective. “You know how to reach me if he does come back.”
“I’ll call.”
Nora watched Caroline turn and leave the station. Walking so carefully, as if she had to concentrate on each step or else she would stumble and fall.
“Something happened.”
“Yep. That’s my guess, too. But she wouldn’t cop to it. It’s probably for the best she’s leaving,” Mark commented.
“How do you figure?”
“Why get dragged down with him? The guy lied to her. The marriage wasn’t legal. And she only knew him for a couple of months. At this point she can cut her losses and move on with her life.”
Nora shook her head at him, clearly disgusted. “Can’t you see that she’s in love?”
Mark laughed. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Nora scowled at him. “No, I’m not kidding. What’s so funny about that?”
“Love at first sight. Bullshit. Hormones at first sight, I’ll buy. But nobody should be shackled with a criminal for a husband for the rest of her life just because of hormones.”
“Would it be terribly cliche of me right now to huff, stomp my foot, and say,
“Yep.”
“Then I’ll pass. Tell me about the money. The ten thousand dollars.”
Back to business, Mark acknowledged. Actually, it’s part of what he liked about Nora. She had the same no- nonsense approach to work as he did. She knew when to play, but she also knew when to get serious. Unlike most federal types who were always just serious.
The other part he liked about her was that strange and intriguing mark on her nose. What the hell was that? Oh, and her lips. They were big and full and made a man want to bite them. But he would keep that information to himself until after the case was wrapped up.
Business first. Pleasure right after that. It was his personal motto.
“Bank records show him withdrawing ten thousand dollars from the company’s checking account at exactly 9:02 on the morning he learned of Denny’s murder. Seems like a pretty suspicious thing to do, doesn’t it?”
“Not if you think you need to run. Dominic is a smart man. If he was going to run, he knew he’d require money to do it. The real question is if he is innocent, why did he think he needed to take off?”
“How do you know Santos is a smart man?”
Nora blinked. “He owns a multimillion dollar software company. It’s not a job for dummies. He figured out how to lose his past. Also not easy for the mentally challenged. This is a smart guy we’re dealing with. You’re dealing with. It’s why you haven’t found him yet.”
Mark snorted. “Right.”
“What did you think I meant?”
“I don’t know,” he said casually. “Sounds like you’ve gone from cheerleader to gaga over this guy. Almost like you know him.”
“I read an article about him in
“So that’s what this is,” Mark said telling himself he was not jealous. No way.
“What?”
“You’ve got a crush on this guy.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “You’re a jackass.”
“Not disputing that. But I’m right. So you’re a computer geek…”
“Watch it,” she growled.
“Computer lady?”
“Better.”
“And he owns a software company. Is he, like, your idol? Tell me, do you carry his picture around in your wallet?”
“Drop it, Detective,” Nora told him. “My point is still a valid one. He’s smart, he’s on the run and now we know he’s got enough cash to hide out for a while.”
“He’s got enough cash to be in Mexico right now drinking mai-tais on a beach. He didn’t get his hands on the two million, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some other money stashed away. Hell, he’s probably got bank accounts all over the damn world. We’re never going to find this guy.”
Nora plopped herself down in the seat across from him. She crossed her legs, which made the slim navy skirt she was wearing ride up her legs slightly. Mark stared at the three-inch heels stabbing into space and wondered how she walked on the suckers without falling off. Jeez, she turned him on.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Mark insisted.
“If this is just about the money, why settle for two million when he’s worth considerably more?”
“Maybe he was tired of the rat race.”
“So why not sell his share of the company?” Nora said.
Mark thought about that. “Maybe there is something wrong with the company. Santos knew and he was jumping ship before it all came crashing down around him. Figured he’d leave it to the partners to clean up the mess.”
“I suppose that could work.”
Mark’s smile was feral. “I’m good.”
“If you’re so good, then tell me this. Why does a man, who knows his company is about to crumble, who is prepared to embezzle money and ditch, suddenly decide to get married? You know about the partnership agreement?”
“The what?”
“The three partners. I talked to the company’s attorney regarding Denny’s assets. He told me that his share of the business reverts back to Santos and Ford. He said that in the event of something happening to any of them, only their children would inherit. Children none of them has. Seems to me like a man who decides to get married is thinking about the future.”
Damn.
Nora lifted her hands in the air. “Sorry. You can’t have it both ways. You already said he couldn’t have married for love.”
“He could have married for hormones.”
“He could have just slept with her to satisfy his hormones. He didn’t have to marry her. No, he wanted something with her. A future. Kids. Somebody he could leave everything that he’d worked for. Doesn’t sound like he thought his company was in trouble. Which gets us back to why a man in his position decides to embezzle from his own business.”
