"What did you do? The day you found out, what did you do?"
"I sat there at my desk, reeling. I didn't want to believe it, so I checked."
He would have banked on it "How?"
"I accessed the libr
ary back in New Hampshire, ordered faxes of newspaper articles, contacted the lawyer who handled the details. I hired a detective."
He considered. Every one of those steps generated data. Phone records, computer records, paper trail. "And noted the data in your Filofax."
"Well, yes, the names and phone numbers, but—"
"And the transmissions to and from New Hampshire were on your computer?"
"I—" She began to see, began to feel ill all over again. "Yes. The records of faxes sent and received. If someone wanted to look. But still, they'd have to have my password, and—"
"Which is noted in your Filofax," he finished. "Who would be the last person questioned coming out of your office if you weren't mere?"
"Any one of the partners, I suppose. One of the executive assistants." She shrugged, unsurprised to find that her shoulders were tightening up again. "Hell, any of the other accountants on that floor. No one would think twice about seeing an associate breeze out of another associate's office."
"Then we'll concentrate on those. The third Bittle you talked about. Who is it… Marty?"
"Marty wouldn't embezzle from his own company. That's ludicrous."
"We'll see. Meanwhile, how do you think he'd react if you asked him to get you copies of the forms in question?"
"I don't know."
"Why don't we find out?"
An hour later, Kate hung up the phone in Byron's kitchen. "I should have known he'd come through. He'll make copies as soon as he's able to and bring them to you at the hotel." She worked up a smile. "It's like a little intrigue. I'm surprised he didn't ask for passwords. He's actually enjoying it."
"Our man on the inside."
"I should have thought of this angle right from the beginning. Now I can add feeling stupid to the rest of it."
"Emotions tend to cloud logic," he told her. "Otherwise I might have hit on it earlier myself."
"Well…" She wasn't sure she was ready to deal with that line of thought just now. "Anyway, Marty told me that they decided to turn it over to the police after my showdown the other day. His father's not happy about it, but the vote carried."
"Do you regret facing up to them?"
"No, but there's going to be gossip now. Plenty of it." Trying to keep it light, she smiled at him. "How do you feel about having an alleged embezzler of dubious lineage for a lover?"
"I think that requires a test." He gathered her close, skimming his hands up her back and into her hair in the way she'd come to anticipate.
Her mouth lifted to his, opened for his. "I guess this means you're not going back to work this afternoon."
"Good guess." His mouth stayed busy as he circled her out of the kitchen.
"Where are we going? Haven't I already mentioned all this floor you have around here?"
He chuckled against her throat. "I haven't shown you my new sofa."
"Oh." She let him ease her back on the generous cushions. "It's very nice," she murmured as his weight pressed her deeper into them. "Long." His fingers parted her blouse, exposing her as she arched to his touch. "Soft."
"We so rarely make it to the bedroom." He lowered his head, nipped lightly at her breasts. "I wanted something… accommodating… on the main level."