He pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped the face, and held it out to her. “Those blinking red dots are spools of welding wire worth nearly fifty thousand dollars, and they’re sitting at Warrior Homes.”
Right. She’d forgotten in all the turmoil of Alex getting arrested. “He said he was going to donate wire to the site. But I thought he meant one or two spools, not that many.”
He turned his head and met her gaze. She’d seen that look before—on so many faces. Doubt. Suspicion. Distrust. “There’s no donation request. No one in the company knows anything about it. And your truck delivered the spools to the site today. Pete Holloway verified it.”
Tension sang through her shoulders. She pushed off the tailgate and crossed her arms. “You called Pete Holloway before you asked me?”
He didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to. It was all written on his face. The distrust, the accusation.
“Alex asked to borrow my truck this morning to move supplies around the site. He said he’d drop the wire at Warrior for me.” She threw her arms out to the side. “I guess I should have followed through to make sure all the paperwork was done, but I’ve never handled that before. I assumed Alex would do it. Maybe he would have if he hadn’t been arrested before the end of the day.”
Jack lowered his head and walked a tight circle. “I want to believe you, Miranda. I really want to believe you.”
“You want to believe me? Why wouldn’t you believe me?”
“Alex told the police you stole the wire. That you’ve been stealing supplies for Warrior Homes for a year.”
Ice filled her stomach. “Alex would never say—”
Her mind flashed to his anger toward her earlier in the day. It won’t take long for him to show his colors. Why won’t you listen to me? Then to the rage on his face just before he was placed in the police car. I told you. Just wait. You’re next.
Her brain tangled. Had Alex had lied because he was pissed? Or had Alex been right about Jack all along?
He faced her again. “And you haven’t been exactly transparent with me.”
“Transparent?” Anger erupted beneath her ribs. “I’m not a fucking politician, and I’ve never lied to you.”
“But you haven’t been truthful either.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means your history is even sketchier than you told me.”
“Did you just call me sketchy?” A dark and dirty storm kicked up inside Miranda. Her past coming back fast and furious.
“You’ve been arrested multiple times,” he said, clearly both angry and troubled by the fact. “You’ve stolen in the past. Why should I think you wouldn’t do it again?”
“I was a kid,” she yelled. “A stupid, scared kid. What makes you think I would do it again?”
“You need that wire to finish the job. That job is earning you credibility for investors.”
Miranda shut her mouth so hard, her teeth clicked. Looking into his eyes now, it was clear doubt outweighed whatever feelings he’d developed for her.
“You convinced yourself I was guilty before you ever got here.” A wild frenzy of emotion broke open inside her. Hurt, disappointment, anger, fear. “If you really think I did it, why didn’t you have the police arrest me today along with the others?”
“Because I promised I’d never confront you at work again.”
That stole her breath. Not because he couldn’t believe she would do this. Not because he cared about her too much to hurt her this way. But because he was keeping a promise.
Tears came out of nowhere and blurred her vision. Pain stabbed her chest.
“I’m not having you arrested,” Jack said, his voice low and solemn. “But I have to suspend you until we figure it out.”
She took an aggressive step toward him before she stopped herself. “Are you serious right now? After six spotless years with Pinnacle and the word of your enemy who’s been stealing from you, you’re…” Words choked in her throat, and she took a second to find them again. “I’ve told you all you need to know to figure it out. What it comes down to is whether or not you trust me.”
He held her gaze, but had no answer.
Wrong place. Wrong time. Wrong friends. Wrong decisions. Jack Taylor was just one more wrong turn. Story of her ever-loving wrong life.