He looked up at me with one eye closed and said, “It’s Maggie.”
Of all the answers in the universe, that was the one I least expected.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Imade several confused facial expressions, contorting my features in ways that showed I was trying to think, process, explain, justify, accept, deny… I couldn’t land on any of them.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
Grant ran a hand through his hair and grunted. “I didn’t really want to tell you like this.”
“Tell me what? You can’t be serious!”
He took a loud breath in and started, “When you told me everything about the wedding weekend, I realized that there was no way Maggie managed all that on her own. Something didn’t make sense. I tried calling her, but her phone was disconnected. So I went to her apartment. Just showed up.”
He shook his head, remembering. “She wasn’t good, Kate. I’ve never seen her like that. Completely shut down. I convinced her to shower, made her tea, and we talked for hours. And I was right. She didn’t do it out of greed.”
My arms crossed defensively. “So she did it for… what? Charity?”
“She’d started dating Landon, and it turned out that he wanted her to give Kirkman the leads and new accounts, andafterward Kirkman would fax the information on to Blake. She did it for Landon, but she didn’t realize the information was leaving the company. He told her he was using the accounts to help him join the Gordon Agency and have his father finally give him a chance instead of seeing him as good for only one thing—baseball. But that was a lie, and by the time she realized it, she had to keep doing it or Landon said Kirkman would turn her in.”
I gasped.
“That Monday she disappeared? Kirkman cornered her in the parking lot after he’d been fired. He assumed she’d turned him in, not knowing yet that he’d been let go over Kaitlin’s accusations. That’s probably when he dropped his keys. She panicked and called Landon, and he hauled her off to Brightwater Island to hide out. Later, Landon found out the real reason Kirkman was let go had nothing to do with the accounts being leaked. He warned Kirkman never to approach Maggie again, and she decided to return home after she considered it safe enough. But Landon and Blake wanted her to continue what they’d started.”
“And she refused, which is what you overheard,” I murmured.
He nodded. “Their relationship, if you can call it that, had turned into them arguing all the time. She tried to end it, but he wouldn’t let her.Hethreatenedherwith telling his father what she was doing.”
I listened with healthy skepticism, but everything Grant was relaying made sense with what Grant had overheard between Maggie and Landon. It also gave a convincing justification for her disappearance.
“I guess we were right,” I said. “Maggiediddisappear because of something bad. We sadly didn’t figure out what it was until much later. But Grant, how the hell did you two start dating?”
“I kept checking on her every day after work. Then I helped her with the deposition,” he said.
“Deposition? Wow, I really have disconnected from everything. Is there a trial?” I asked.
“Probably not. Kirkman and Blake left a paper trail. The lawyers will push for a settlement. Landon’s situation is harder—his father won’t press charges, and without him cooperating, the DA won’t have much. Maggie won’t be charged; she never personally transferred accounts. But…” He sighed. “She won’t get her job back.”
“That must be a blow to her. And her father, who’s on the board of directors.”
“He’s never been very involved in her life, so his silence now doesn’t bother her. She’s had a few interviews, but having been fired at the same time that her boss is being charged… It doesn’t look good.”
“And you’re only there to be a shoulder to cry on?” I laughed.
“You can laugh all you want. If you would look up from that computer every once in a while, you might try to be happy too.”
“You’re happy? With Maggie? This is too weird.”
“You might be happy with Colin,” he said.
I laughed again. “A very happy, very sneaky foursome we’d be.”
“It’s not like that. We’re honest with each other. I’ve told her things I’ve never told anyone before,” he said solemnly.
I was floored.
“In that case, Grant, I hope your date tonight goes well.”
