I just need one more day. I'll tell her tomorrow, let her have her event first. We’ll get Chet Morgan to the cops and then her name will be clear.
Chapter Nine
KARINA
The community center is sparkling clean.
All our supplies have arrived, ready for tomorrow, including a delivery of heart-shaped balloons and a banner that reads ‘Hugs for Hearts’ in cheerful script. A volunteer bustles around, unboxing pamphlets about mental health resources.
I built this.
For the first time in my life, I'm not the family screwup. I'm the woman who turned a room full of skeptical bikers into enthusiastic volunteers and charmed vendors into donating supplies. And tomorrow I’ll pull off a charity event that might actually make a difference.
Plus, I have a man who looks at me like I'm the only thing in the room worth seeing. A wonderful, gorgeous man who cooked me dinner and made love to me and held me afterwards.
Life is sweet.
“Karina?”
I turn at the sound of my name. Ty is walking toward me, and something about his expression makes my stomach knot. He’s pale beneath his usual tan, his eyes darting around the room, plus his khakis are wrinkled, which never happens. Ty is always perfectly pressed and polished.
I set down my clipboard. “Everything okay?”
“Everything's fine.” He runs a hand through his hair, messing up the neat comb-over. “Can we talk? Somewhere private?”
The knot in my stomach tightens. “Sure.”
I lead him to a storage room off the main hall. It's full of extra supplies: tablecloths, stickers, and the boxes of heart-shaped stress balls we're giving away as swag. Ty closes the door behind us.
“What's going on?” I ask.
He won't meet my eyes. “There’s been a complication with some of the donations.”
“What kind of complication?”
“Accounting stuff… a security breach. Boring backend things.” He waves a hand, but the gesture is jerky, nervous.
I nod. “Okay.”
“It's nothing to worry about.” He finally looks at me, and his smile is too wide, too bright. “Just some technical issues. I'll handle it. You focus on the event.”
“Ty, if there's a problem with the finances, I should know about it.”
“There's no problem.” His voice sharpens. “IsaidI'll handle it, Karina. That's what I do. I handle the backend so you can do your job.”
I stare at him. In three months of working together, Ty has never snapped at me. He's always been patient and encouraging.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “If you're sure.”
“I am.” He pats my shoulder, but the touch feels wrong. Clammy. “You've done amazing work here. Really. I'm proud of you.”
I stand in the storage room and try to shake the dread settling into my bones. It takes me twenty minutes to convince myself to snoop. Ty's been working on his laptop at a table atthe back of the hall. He gets a phone call and goes outside. He’s pacing the parking lot with his hand pressed to his forehead.
I shouldn't look. It's a violation of trust. Ty gave me a chance when no one else would. But the one-way flight I saw on his screen yesterday? And the financial problems he mentioned? It’s fishy. I glance around. No one's watching. I slide into his chair and tap the trackpad.
His email is open. I scan the subject lines, not sure what I'm looking for.
Then I see it.
