He nodded. Row popped the tops and set two icy bottles down in front of them. “Here you go.”
A customer walked up to the other end of the bar, a lanky young guy in jeans and a battered straw cowboy hat. He sat down on a stool and Row headed in his direction. Linc could hear the guy laughing, saw the way his eyes strayed to Row’s full breasts.
Linc felt a tug of amusement. He knew Rowena fairly well. He doubted the cowboy would get lucky, but he’d have a good time trying.
“Let’s get a table.” Linc grabbed Carly’s beer and his own, slid off the stool, and headed for a quiet spot along the wall. Both of them sat down at a battered wooden table that had years of initials carved into the top.
“What’s up?” Carly asked, picking up her beer and taking a drink.
“The call I got outside? That was Glen Barker, the CPA I asked to look at your account books.”
The color drained out of her face. “Did he find a problem? I swear, Linc, I wasn’t trying to hide something so you’d give me the loan.”
He reached across the table and caught her hand. “Hey, I know that. Someone’s been stealing from you. Actually from Joe before you took over.”
“What?”
“That’s right. Been going on for nearly two years, about the time Joe first started having serious heart trouble.”
“I can’t believe it. How much?”
“Pushing two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Who writes the checks, Carly?”
“Joe did, but . . .” She took a deep breath. “Until a couple of years ago, Joe personally oversaw the checking account. When he started havinghealth problems, he delegated the task.” She looked up at him. “Until I started working there, Donna was paying the bills.”
* * *
They didn’t leave Jubal’s right away. Carly was too stunned to get out of her chair. Donna Melendez had been stealing money from Drake for nearly two years.
“You’ll need to call the sheriff,” Linc said. “The woman is a thief and the money she embezzled wasn’t small change. This isn’t something you can handle on your own.”
Carly nodded, feeling a mixture of anger, resentment, and sadness. “I want to talk to her first. I’ll call her in the morning. She isn’t scheduled to work, but I’ll tell her I need some help in the office, see if I can get her to come in.”
“I want to be there. I’ll have Glen send whatever he’s found. If she tries to deny it, you’ll have the proof you need.”
“It’s hard to believe. Joe considered her a friend. When I took over, her help was invaluable. I don’t know if I could have done it without her.”
“Yeah, and all the while she was helping herself to your money.”
The anger returned, stronger this time. Footsteps sounded, coming toward the table from behind her.
“Hey, look who’s here!” Delroy Aimes, Linc’s beefy black biker friend, walked up, earring glinting in his ear. Johnnie Banducci sauntered up beside him, smoothing back his hair as if he wanted to be sure not a glossy black strand was out of place.
Instead of leathers, the men were in jeans and T-shirts and both of them looked hot.
“Good to see you guys,” Linc said.
“You gonna ask us to join you or what?” Johnnie asked.
Linc looked over at Carly.
“I could use another beer,” she said.Or five.Followed by a couple of tequila shooters.
Linc relaxed. Carly could read his thoughts: he’d given her the badnews but she hadn’t panicked. She wasn’t happy, but she hadn’t fallen apart. And he was about right. She’d handled the information—barely.
