But it was true. I was in ahurry.
In a hurry to get to the bottom of Cassandra Morgan’sfeat.
In a hurry for the duel to beover.
In a hurry to get back in August’s goodgraces.
A moment later, another teller called out, “Next.”
I smoothed out the check again before handing it over, along with my debit card and a pictureID.
The employee squinted at my ID, then at my card, then flipped the check over. “Sign at the back, please.” She tapped a long acrylic nail against thecheck.
I signed it nervously, my name looping off the faint line. This felt too good to be true. I expected the check to bounce and security guards to escort me away for questioning. I moistened my lips with the tip of my tongue and waited as the teller clicked and clicked her computer keypad with those long nails ofhers.
Finally, she printed out a sheet of paper and handed it over. “Yourbalance.”
I snatched it, and my heart stuttered to a stop when I saw the new number. “Um. I think there’s amistake.”
“Amistake?”
“Are you sure this is myaccount?”
“Are you Ness MarianneClark?”
“Yes.”
She leveled her gaze on her monitor, clicked on her keyboard again. “Then there’s nomistake.”
My heart hurtled around my ribcagenow.
“Were you expecting a higher balance?” she asked when I still hadn’t moved. As I read the number over—and over—she added, “We have some great investment opportunities. I’d be more than happy to set up anappointment.”
I licked my lips again. Was there any other way of depositing money into someone’s account? “Can you give me a printout of the latest activity? Wire transfers or checksor. . .”
“Surething.”
Her printer burst to life and spat out another sheet of paper, which I all but ripped from her fingers this time. When I saw the name on the check that had been deposited into my account barely an hour ago, my hands started shaking anew. Or maybe they’d never stoppedshaking.
“Thank you,” I whisperedhoarsely.
“Everything all right, honey?” Charlotte asked from her teller’swindow.
I nodded even though nothing was really all right. It was all wrong. “I’ll . . . I’ll—Um. I’ll tell Evelyn to call.” I waved, then slipped my phone out of my bag and, fingers stumbling over the slick screen, I dialedAugust.
It went tovoicemail.
Ugh!
ME:I just stopped by the bank. What did youdo?
I tried calling him again. Again, he didn’t pickup.
ME:If you don’t answer me, I’m going to hunt youdown.
A dropped pin on a map appeared in mymessages.
5
