“I kept it. I didn’t know what else to do. I meant to give it back toJoe when he got well. But then Joe died and Miguel’s little girl got sick, so I gave it to him.”
Linc just shook his head. “Jesus . . .” Unbelievable. He sure as hell hadn’t seen that one coming.
Carly stood up behind her desk. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how much of what you’re telling me is true. I know twenty thousand dollars showed up in Miguel’s bank account. Apparently it went to a doctor for Angelina so some good came out of this. If I’d come home earlier, maybe I could have done something. Joe and I could have found a way to deal with the problem and maybe none of this would have happened.”
Linc’s anger began to build. “You’re not taking the blame for this,” he said to Carly. He focused his attention on Donna. “Whatever your reasons, it wasn’t your decision to make. Joe was a smart man. Over the years, he’d faced men as tough as El Jefe. He would have figured a way to handle things.”
It took every ounce of his willpower to keep from overstepping and firing the woman on the spot. Tossing her in jail? That was another matter. There was a good chance she’d actually thought she was helping Joe.
“Carly?” he said, hoping she would make the right decision.
“Whatever your reasons, you can’t work here anymore, Donna. I don’t trust you now, and in your job as office manager, that’s crucial.”
Donna started crying again. “I don’t want to go to jail. Maybe I can find a way to pay you back.”
Carly glanced over at Linc, but he stayed silent. The decision was hers.
“You have to leave Drake, but I don’t think you should go to jail. You were doing what you thought was best. You didn’t spend the money you got from El Jefe. You gave it to a sick little girl. Joe might have done the same thing.”
Donna made a sound in her throat. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“One last thing,” Linc said, regaining Donna’s attention. “After Carly took over, no more payments were made to El Jefe. Is that the reason Miguel Hernandez was murdered?”
Donna crossed herself. “Dios mío, I pray that’s not the reason, but I don’t know.”
“Pack your things,” Carly said. “I don’t want to see you when I come in here Monday morning.”
Donna just nodded. Tears in her eyes, she rose from the chair and left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.
Linc walked over to Carly and eased her into his arms. He could feel her trembling. “You did exactly the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
Carly buried her face in his chest and started crying.
* * *
Carly sat in Linc’s truck as he drove back to the ranch. It was only eleven o’clock in the morning and already she’d had one hellacious day.
Her gaze went to Linc where he sat behind the wheel. “When we were talking to Donna, I remembered something El Jefe had said.”
His eyes met hers. “What was it?”
“Something about money—that after I started working for him I wouldn’t have any more financial problems. He knew the company was in trouble, Linc. He knew because he was draining the profits, putting Joe in a financial bind.”
“He was trying to push your grandfather into a corner, leave him no choice but to cooperate. At least that was the plan.”
“Grandpa Joe would never have agreed. He’d have lost the business before he’d do anything illegal.”
“So you believe Donna’s story. You think most of the money she embezzled went to El Jefe and not to her.”
Carly glanced over. “I’m sure your investigator can find out, but I know what El Jefe’s like, how vicious he can be. I think Donna’s telling the truth. I think she believed El Jefe would kill Joe.”
“Miguel is dead, so maybe she was right.”
Carly thought of the crime scene photos, the pool of blood beneath Miguel’s head, and a shudder rippled through her.
“Donna cost you a couple hundred thousand dollars,” Linc said. “That’s not chump change.”
“I know. You may not believe it, but it’s partly my fault. If I’d come back when I should have, it might not have happened.”
