“I knew Brad.” He took a quick breath. “Please, don’t misunderstand me. Brad and I were close. He was a loyal friend. I respected him in many, many ways.”
“But?”
“But all along I knew there was one part of him that was unsettled. It was as if he was looking for an opening, and his boss unwittingly gave him one. Chester Hawkins was a crook. We both knew it. We discussed it many times. Bribes, kickbacks—you name it, Hawkins did it.”
“But padding expense vouchers—that’s small-time stuff. What could Brad have hoped to gain?”
“It’s not small-time when it’s done over and over again.”
“For how long?”
“Two years, maybe three. It adds up.”
“Butwhy?Why would he have done it?”
Matt dropped into a side chair. “Maybe he felt it was poetic justice, stealing from a thief. More likely he felt that an accumulation of wealth was the only way he could prove his worth.”
Lauren moaned softly. Her head fell back against the sofa and she closed her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was wobbly. “I knew there was too much money. It didn’t make sense. Right from the start I wondered, but I took it. I took it and I used it.”
“Which was exactly what youshouldhave done!” Matt sat forward and spoke with renewed force. “Brad earned every cent of that money. He was overworked and underpaid for years. What he did might have been punishable in a court of law, but there was still a certain justice to it. He gave Hawkins his life, for God’s sake, and there was only a piddling insurance policy on it! Hawkins wasn’t big on employee benefits. He gave the bare minimum. Brad earned that money, Lauren. And he wanted you to have it.”
Lauren swallowed hard, trying to ingest all that Matt had told her. “Did he really? Or did you tell me that just to make me feel better?”
“He said it. Believe me—ah, hell.” Matt flopped back in the chair. “Believe what you want. The fact is that you’ve put the money to good use. No one can ever take it away from you.”
They were back to square one. “Someone’s trying. Is it this fellow, Hawkins?” she asked nervously.
“He claims not.”
“Youspoketo him?”
Matt was out of his seat, pacing again. “What did you think I went to San Francisco for?”
“I didn’t know! I assumed it had something to do with your own work. You didn’t volunteer any details!”
“I went to confront Hawkins.”
“And?”
“He says he’s innocent.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I’m not sure.” Matt stopped his pacing and stared at her. “On the one hand, he wouldn’t dare try anything. I wasn’t the only friend Brad had. If Hawkins tries to pin something on Brad, even posthumously, any number of us will cry foul. Hawkins can’t risk that. There’s too much that can be pinned right back on him.”
“On the other hand …”
He took a deep breath. “On the other hand, I wouldn’t put it past him to try something on the sly. He and Brad had reached a stalemate. Each knew what the other was doing, so it was a form of mutual blackmail. Hawkins didn’t dare fire Brad for fear he’d squeal. But Brad’s gone now. It’s possible that Hawkins thought he’d go after some of that money—”
“By terrorizingme?”
“Sick minds work in sick ways. Besides, Hawkins wouldn’t do it himself. He’d hire someone. If he’s discovered that you’ve invested the money between the shop and this place, he may be out for his own private form of revenge.”
“So we’re back where we started.”
“Not … quite,” Matt stated with such quiet thunder that Lauren’s pulse skipped a beat before racing on. “There are still certain allegations you’ve made that have to be resolved. Y’know, you’re right.” He cocked his head and eyed her insolently. “I may well be the man Hawkins hired, playing you now just as I’ve played you all along—orchestrating events, then showing up and explaining them away.”
“But whywouldyou?” she cried.
