“Now I know I underestimated you,” Ronald said. “You’ve changed, Eleanor.”
“Maybe I have,” she replied in a teasing tone.
“You know, you and I could have a very comfortable life together.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Ronald. A quarter million doesn’t go far these days.”
“Oh, but I have so much more than that.” He chuckled softly. “Haven’t you wondered why it was so easy, why I got away with it?”
“Well, I have been curious.”
There was a long pause in the conversation and Liam had to admit that now he was curious, as well.
“I’ve done it before. Three times at three different banks. I started small with a bank in Omaha, Nebraska. Then I changed my identity. That’s the key, you know. Doing the job, then disappearing. After Omaha I hit banks in Seattle and in Dallas. With the investments I’ve made over the years, I’ve got two or three million in net worth right now.”
“Ronald…” Ellie paused, “if that is your name, that’s a pretty amazing story.”
“You know what would be even more amazing? If you came with me. We could work together. It’s a simple plan. I usually get an identity off the Internet. I find a banker who’s looking for work and I assume his identity. The bank calls for references and I get the job. Then I set up a few dummy accounts and start moving money around. But here’s the new wrinkle. I wait a month, maybe two, and I hire you.”
“And why would you want me involved when you can just use any old girl at the bank for a scapegoat?”
“Oh, we’d still do that. I’d have to romance someone so I could shift the blame. I figure, between the two of us, we can increase our take.”
“Just tell me one thing,” Ellie murmured.
Liam knew she was touching him. Maybe she’d smoothed her hand over his chest. Or maybe her arm was draped around his neck. But the tone of her voice said it all, that deep, seductive tone she used when she was flirting.
“What would you like to know?”
“Tell me your real name, Ronald.”
He laughed and now Liam could imagine Ronald touching her, slipping his hands around her waist, kissing the curve of her shoulder. Liam fought back the impulse to storm into the living room to place himself between them. This had gone way too far!
“When you tell me you’re in, I’ll tell you my real name.”
“I’m going to have to think about this,” Ellie finally said. “Can I give you my decision in a few days?”
“Or you could just give me your decision tonight. Much later tonight. After we’ve had a chance to get reacquainted.”
This time Liam knew they were kissing. He heard Ronald growl softly and Ellie sigh. Anger bubbled up inside him and he wondered just how far Ellie was going to take this. She and Ronald had already agreed to meet the next day. Was she doing this just to torment Liam, knowing that he was listening to the whole thing?
“I think it would be best if we just took our time,” Ellie said. “This is going to be a big change in my life. I’m going to have to give up a lot.”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Ronald said, Liam hearing the tension in his voice.
“The money’s not going anywhere, Ronald. And aren’t the best things worth waiting for? Just think of what you’ll be getting. Money…and me.” Liam heard the door open. “I’ll call you, Ronald.”
“Good night, Eleanor.”
The door creaked as it closed and he heard her slide the dead bolt home. Liam waited a few more seconds then stalked out of the bedroom, nearly running into her as she rushed down the hall to the bathroom. He followed her through the door, not waiting for an invitation.
“Aack,” she said, reaching for her toothbrush. “Aack, aack. God, I thought I was going to retch.” She squeezed a healthy portion of toothpaste onto the brush and began to scrub her teeth and tongue.
“What the hell were you doing out there?”
“Did you hear what he said?” she asked, the toothbrush dangling from her mouth.
“Of course I did. I heard every word and every silence.”
She continued brushing, her words garbled. “He’s done this before. Three times. And Ronald Pettibone isn’t even his real name. He wouldn’t tell me what his real name was, but I’d bet we could figure it out from the banks he ripped off. He touched the wineglass. Maybe we could send his fingerprints in and get a match.”
“Sure, I’ll just run the glass down to One Hour Fingerprints and we’ll see what they come up with.”
She looked at his reflection in the mirror, then spit. “You don’t have to be so sarcastic.” Ellie grabbed a glass from the sink, filled it with water, then rinsed her mouth. “I bought us a few days at the most. Do you think Sean got it all on tape? He never even went near the flowers. That was the perfect place to hide the microphone.” She grabbed a towel and wiped her mouth, then turned to him. “I did good, didn’t I? Now Sean can give the evidence to the bank and they can have him arrested.”
“You took too many chances,” Liam said, his voice tight with anger.
“What are you talking about? I got him to admit that he’d pulled other jobs. I got him to admit that he took the money from Intertel-and from three other banks. And now he wants to run away with me so I can help him embezzle even more!”
Liam’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. It was Sean.
“Let me talk to Ellie,” Sean said.
Liam handed her the phone and watched as she listened to what Sean said. A wide smile curved her lips and she laughed not once but twice before she thanked Sean and said goodbye.
“He said I did a great job. And that he got everything on tape. And he said you should quit complaining and thank me.”
With a low curse, Liam stalked out of the bathroom. He found the tiny microphone hidden in the flowers and extracted it, then looked directly across the street at the attic window. “Turn this damn thing off right now,” he said. To assure himself that his request had been followed, he tugged the mike off the wire and tossed it on the table. Then he reached for the curtains and yanked them shut.
He turned to find Ellie watching him, her hands hitched on her hips. “What is your problem?”
“You’re my problem,” he muttered, crossing the room to grab his jacket from the sofa.
“I’m
“Right. You’re innocent. I’m supposed to believe that after the way you behaved with Ronald Pettibone?”
“That was strictly professional,” she countered.
“And what kind of profession were you engaged in?”
Her eyes narrowed at his thinly veiled insult and she walked up to him, her body just inches from his. “I should slap you for that.”
“Go ahead,” Liam challenged.
Her eyes blazed with anger and her breath came in short gasps, but she didn’t rise to his bait. Her fingers clenched into fists and she started to turn away. In the blink of an eye, Liam’s own anger shifted. He snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her against him and bringing his mouth down on hers in a hard, uncompromising kiss.
At first she fought him, but as his tongue invaded her mouth, he felt her soften in his arms, her body growing pliant beneath his touch. His hands slipped from the sweet curves of her hips to her backside, pulling her even closer, his need hot and hard between them.
A tiny groan slipped from her throat and she wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering to his kiss. Liam knew if he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, he’d meet no resistance. But he wanted Ellie to need him as much as he needed her, to want him so badly, she couldn’t survive without him. So he pulled back, breaking the intimate contact and leaving her to stand alone on wobbly knees. He turned and pulled open the door.
“Wha- What are you doing?” she murmured, her forehead wrinkled with confusion.
“Just showing you what you’d be missing if you decided to run off with Ronald Pettibone,” Liam replied. With that he stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him. He was nearly to the second-floor landing, when he heard a crash of glass upstairs. And then another.
