Chương 12
“It was private.”
“You were already hiding the laptop.”
“No.”
“You deleted invoices last night.”
“I panicked.”
“And somebody went to the hotel this morning asking about security footage.”
Amber’s breathing changed.
Garnet saw it.
“So you know who he was.”
She shook her head too quickly.
“Amber.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
“I swear.”
“Then why are you scared of him?”
Her eyes filled again.
This time the tears looked different.
Not shame.
Fear.
She whispered, “Because he isn’t asking about the wedding.”
Garnet stopped moving.
“What is he asking about?”
Amber looked at all three of us, as if calculating which truth would damage her least.
Then she said, “The account wasn’t my idea.”
Garnet stared at her.
“Whose idea was it?”
Amber wiped both palms down the front of the sweatshirt.
“Trevor’s.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Garnet knew it.
His face changed immediately.
“Trevor Hale?”
Amber nodded.
Hazel looked at him.
“Who is Trevor?”
Garnet answered without taking his eyes off Amber.
“He used to do contract sales for us.”
“Used to?”
“I fired him last winter.”
Amber said, “He says you pushed him out.”
“I fired him because he was padding travel expenses.”
“He said that wasn’t true.”
Garnet laughed.
“Of course he did.”
I stood.
“Why was a former employee helping you open a bank account?”
Amber looked at me.
“He knew the paperwork.”
“That is not an answer.”
She looked back at Garnet.
“I ran into him.”
“Where?”
“At the tasting.”
“What tasting?”
“The hotel tasting in March.”
Garnet frowned.
“He was there?”
“He was meeting someone.”
“And you talked to him.”
“Yes.”
“About my company?”
“Not at first.”
Amber wrapped her arms around herself.
“He asked how things were going.”
Garnet said nothing.
“He knew the wedding was expensive.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Why?”
“Because we were talking.”
“You told a man I fired about our finances.”
“He asked.”
Garnet looked away.
There was hurt in his face now that had nothing to do with money.
Amber saw it.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You were thinking it.”
“No.”
He turned back to her.
“I’m thinking you gave somebody who hated me information about my company.”
Amber’s voice dropped.
“I didn’t know he hated you.”
“You knew I fired him.”
“I thought it was a dispute.”
“He threatened to sue us.”
“You never told me that.”
Garnet blinked.
That one landed.
“I didn’t?”
“No.”
He looked down.
“Apparently we were both keeping things.”
“That does not make this equal.”
“I know.”
Amber began crying again.
“I know.”
Hazel stepped off the porch.
“What did Trevor suggest?”
Amber pressed the tissue against her mouth.
“He said the company had cash moving through it all the time.”
Garnet’s expression hardened.
“He would know.”
“He said nobody would notice if I routed one payment and put it back before month-end.”
“One payment.”
“That was the idea.”
“And the fake invoice?”
“He showed me how.”
Garnet closed his eyes.
I asked, “Did he make the invoice?”
Amber shook her head.
“I did.”
“Did he tell you what client to use?”
“Yes.”
“Why Benton?”
“Because he knew they were slow with paperwork.”
Garnet whispered something under his breath.
“What?”
“They rarely reconcile until quarter-end.”
Amber nodded.
He stared at her.
“You knew that too?”
“Trevor told me.”
Garnet looked sick again.
Hazel said, “Where is Trevor now?”
Amber glanced toward the road.
“I don’t know.”
“That man at the hotel?”
“I don’t know if it was him.”
“Would you recognize him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see the lobby camera?”
“No.”
Garnet said, “Did Trevor know the laptop was there?”
Amber did not answer.
“Amber.”
“He knew I was staying at the hotel.”
“When did you last talk to him?”
“Yesterday.”
Garnet’s head came up.
“Before the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“Afternoon.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted his cut.”
The phrase was so ugly in its simplicity that nobody reacted at first.
Garnet said, “His what?”
Amber looked at the ground.
“He said if I was using the account, he should get something.”
“You paid him?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Five.”
“Five thousand?”
She nodded.
“From the diverted money?”
“Yes.”
Garnet paced toward the mailbox and back.
“What was the deal?”
“There wasn’t one.”
“There was.”
“I didn’t agree to anything.”
“You paid him five thousand.”
“Because he kept threatening me.”
“With what?”
“Telling you.”
Garnet laughed once.
“So he blackmailed you.”
Amber looked miserable.
“I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
“What did you think it was?”
“A mistake I could end.”
Garnet stopped pacing.
“How much does he know?”
“Everything.”
The word hit all of us.
I said, “Everything meaning the fake invoices?”
“Yes.”
“The second account?”
“Yes.”
“The diverted client payments?”
“Yes.”
“Your login access?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Amber hesitated.
Garnet pointed at her.
“That pause matters.”
She shut her eyes.
“He has copies.”
“Of what?”
“The messages.”
“Which messages?”
“Between us.”
“You and him?”
“Yes.”
“About the account?”
“Yes.”
Garnet looked toward me.
For the first time all morning, his fear had become practical.
Not just emotional damage.
Leverage.
Evidence.
Potential criminal exposure.
I said, “Do not contact Trevor.”
Amber shook her head.
“He’ll contact me.”
“When?”
“He already has.”
She pulled out her phone.
Garnet stared at it.
“Show me.”
Amber held it against her chest.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because some of it is personal.”
He closed his eyes.
“We are past personal.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Amber.”
“No.”
Hazel stepped between them.
“Give me the phone.”
Amber looked at her.
“What?”
“Not Martin.”
Hazel glanced at me.
“Not Garnet.”
Then she looked back at Amber.
“Give it to me.”
Amber hesitated.
Hazel held out her hand.
“I won’t read anything unrelated.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
Amber unlocked the phone.
Her fingers trembled as she opened the messages.
Then she handed it over.
Hazel read silently.
Her face remained controlled until about halfway down.
Then her mouth tightened.
“What?”
Garnet asked.
Hazel kept reading.
May you like
“What does it say?”
She looked at Amber.
