AddingHeat (10 page)

She nodded again. She was starting to feel like a bobblehead
doll.

“If this new software is correct, and if my handwritten
figures are correct, it looks like, since the beginning of 2009, you overpaid
Skyway Gravel and Paving close to nineteen thousand dollars.”

“What?” She jerked around, sloshing coffee onto her hand.

Con stood and faced her. “Giselle, when I saw the results, I
was at a loss to explain the discrepancy. I thought the software might have had
a bug in it. But you said you changed suppliers a couple of years ago.”

“Yes.” Giselle put a hand to her heart. She could almost
anticipate what Con would say next.

“Could it be that Larry knows something about it?”

Giselle reached out for her chair and sank into it. “Is that
the only discrepancy?”

“Afraid so.”

“So it’s probably not a software glitch?”

“I doubt it.”

She placed her elbows on her desk, lifted her palms and
buried her face between them. Blew out a few deep breaths to keep from
hyperventilating. Lifted her head to look directly into Con’s eyes.

“Why don’t you get dressed? The guys will be checking in
soon. We’ll ask Larry together.”

Con came to kneel at her feet. “I’m so sorry, hon. I didn’t
know it would take such a turn.”

“No, it’s better that we know.”

And maybe Larry’s out-of-the-blue declaration of love was
deliberately designed to keep her from finding out.

* * * * *

Giselle was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full
of rocking chairs. She couldn’t out-and-out accuse Larry of anything.
Nineteen
thousand dollars
. If Con was right, her business was making a profit. But
dear lord, Larry? Was he ripping her off? How? Why?

Con came into the office and stood behind her as she sat,
dumbstruck, staring at the bookkeeping columns he’d penciled in. Vaguely she
recognized the smell of her shampoo on him. He leaned over to give her a quick
hug, his cheek grazing hers. “Courage,” he said, and she realized he’d shaved
as well. Even with all her angst, she found a small comfort at his
thoughtfulness in offering the illusion that he’d arrived early this morning
instead of yesterday evening.

They spent a few moments strategizing then Con stepped back
into the kitchen.

As usual, Larry arrived first, and today, again, he arrived
early. Apparently having seen Con’s truck, he stormed into the room. “Did that
son of a bitch spend the night with you?”

Thunder couldn’t have sounded louder than her heartbeat did
at that moment. Giselle faced him, chin outthrust. “Yes.”

Larry looked sucker-punched. Then he rallied. “Is that your
way of answering my declaration of love, ’Zelle? I give you my heart on a
platter and you put it through the meat grinder for hamburgers?”

“I’m betting your earnest declaration was just a
smokescreen,” Con said, coming to stand beside Giselle. “Tell us about Skyway
Gravel and Paving.”

She had to hand it to the older man. He didn’t blink an eye
at the sudden change in subject, but went on the offensive. Taking a menacing
step forward, he clenched his fists. “You bastard! I know all about guys like
you, preying on older women who need a man.”

Giselle bristled. “Larry, it’s not about Con and me. It’s
not even about you and me. It’s about Stonehedge Landscaping and Skyway Gravel
and Paving. How did they get to be one of our suppliers?”

The foreman took a reluctant step back. “Why this sudden
inquisition, ’Zelle? What kind of poison did this kid infect you with?”

“It was the new software that detected the discrepancy,
Larry,” she said softly. “There’s an unexplained difference of nearly nineteen
thousand dollars between what I thought we ordered over the past two years and
what Stonehedge Landscaping actually paid them.”

Con reached down to a particular sheet containing columns of
numbers. “After I saw the printouts, I dug into the files. I’m a forensic
accountant, you know. Just like my dad was. You might remember Con Senior, the
man who was raked over the coals in public but was vindicated in the courts? He
taught me how to search for clues to embezzlement, to malfeasance. And I found
a lot of clues right here in these filing cabinets.”

He lifted his chin, straightened his spine, and seemed to
Giselle to grow an inch taller. Taking a step toward Larry, whose shoulders
slumped, Con asked, “Who besides you and Giselle approve invoices? Who besides
you and Giselle can access the accounting software? Who besides you and Giselle
signs checks?”

“Larry doesn’t sign checks, Con. I’m the only signatory.”

Ignoring her, still looking at Larry, he repeated, “Who
besides you and Giselle signs checks?”

“Giselle, I was only trying to help you.”

“Help her?” Con interrupted. “Help her by embezzling
nineteen thousand dollars? What do you think she was living on, air and mulch?”

“Giselle, please, let me explain everything to you without
this kid interrupting. Can we talk privately?”

“Con is not a kid. He’s fully as adult as I am, and maybe
more adult than you. He can stay right here and listen. He’s my accountant as
of this moment, and he is being paid to advise and represent Stonehedge
Landscapes. As soon as we get to the bottom of this, I’ll be informing my
current accountant of her change in status. And for both her sake and yours,
Larry, I hope you have nothing to do with how she worked on my accounts or
calculated my taxes.”

She rested her hip on the desk and sighed. “I guess my
part-time administrative assistant is suspect now as well. She’s the one who
reconciled all my monthly bank statements.”

“I have a handwriting expert I can call on,” Con
volunteered. “He can tell us whether your signature was forged on any checks,
especially checks written to Skyway Gravel and Paving.”

At that, Larry collapsed. “Giselle, I didn’t mean to hurt
you. Please forgive me. Skyway is my cousin’s company. He knew how much I love
you, how it hurt me that you didn’t give me the time of day. It was always
business, business, business with you. I thought that if you saw the business
wasn’t doing well, I could suggest you take me in as a partner because I could
offer you lots of cash to stay afloat. Then I could become your hero by
negotiating better prices with Skyway and saving you all that money.”

“Oh Larry.” Giselle swallowed hard. It took three tries to
get enough saliva into her throat to be able to speak again. “Did—did you forge
my signature?”

He looked so abashed, so forlorn, that Giselle
almost—almost—felt sorry for him. “A few times. Most of the invoices were
legit. And no, your admin had nothing to do with it. I never knew her before
you hired her. She’s clean.”

Giselle closed her eyes. Even with Larry’s endorsement of
the admin, she’d better go over the bank statements and scrutinize all the
checks.

Con pulled out his cell phone. “I think it’s time we get the
authorities in here. Embezzlement is a crime punishable by hard time in
prison.”

“Con, no!”

“Giselle, he’s a thief.”

She stayed his action by putting her hand on his arm. “Con,
wait. The guys are coming in. Let me get them on their way quickly. I don’t
want them—or anyone else—to know about this problem until we have a handle on
it.” She looked into Con’s eyes. “Promise me.”

“You know I’d do anything for you,” he said softly. “Even
let slime slip through my fingers.”

Fighting tears, she nodded once, decisively. “Fine. I’ll
just give everyone their orders for the day and be back as soon as I can to
resolve this.”

Grabbing the day’s orders, she fled outside and tried to
wipe her mind clean of anything but how to advise her crews.

* * * * *

“I do love her, you know.”

Con snorted as he eyed the foreman. “You have one shitty way
of showing it.”

Larry seemed to shrink inside his leathery skin. “I was
desperate. He’d been dead several years and she still didn’t get it. I’d do
anything for her. I
did
do anything and everything she asked. I thought I
was making progress with her when she kissed me back the other day.”

Con stood up slowly from where he’d been casually resting a
hip against Giselle’s desk. “You. Kissed. Giselle. Your boss.”

“What of it? She enjoyed it, I know she did. Snugged up to
me and put her arms around me. Should have done it a long time ago.” He closed
his eyes, and Con was hard-pressed not to smack that blissful look right off
his face with a fist.

“Then you came along, you with your tight shorts and big
smile and hoity-toity way of talking. You talked yourself right into her bed,
didn’t you?” Larry snorted. “Didn’t take very long, did it? And you not much
older than her sons. There’s a name for guys like you.”

Con consciously waited a beat to get his fury under control.
“There’s a name for guys like you, too, old man. It’s ‘felon’ and that’s what
you are. Embezzlement and forgery are felonies. You could spend the rest of
your life in prison. You’ll spend hard time behind bars if I have anything to
say about it.”

Larry’s eyes widened. “She wouldn’t press charges. I meant
too much to her husband. I gave up my life for him, for them. For Giselle. She
wouldn’t do that to me. You heard her. She refused to let you call the police.”

“Maybe not today. Or even tomorrow. But you heard the lady.
I’m her professional advisor and I’m totally inclined to throw the book at you.
In fact,” he said nonchalantly, “I’ll have that handwriting expert in for a
consultation just for insurance.”

His hard stare lasered into the older man. “You might want
to cover your ass and make restitution post-haste. It would go over well with
any judge prior to your sentencing. Shall we say double the amount of the
shortfall? You know, similar to the way the IRS assesses penalties?”

Con had the satisfaction of seeing the older man blanch. He
turned up the heat. “And I recommend that you tender your resignation
immediately along with your keys. Of course, it doesn’t really matter. The boss
will be calling in a locksmith as soon as you leave.”

The foreman’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I can’t just
leave her in the lurch like that. We’re in the middle of four jobs.”

Con shrugged. “It won’t be the first time that someone left
a job unfinished. As a business consultant, I see it all the time. She’ll
manage. Giselle Sheridan is one savvy businesswoman. Savvy enough to see that
you can’t possibly stay on as an employee.”

Pulaski seemed to deflate in front of Con’s eyes. Well, it
couldn’t be helped. Giselle had to be protected from predators, especially
those masquerading as friends.

“One of the euphemisms they use in the biz world to explain
an employee’s departure is ‘Leaving to pursue other interests’. That’s a
useful, all-purpose phrase you might want to consider. It doesn’t accuse, it
doesn’t point fingers.”

The door burst open and Giselle rushed in, her gaze bouncing
between Con and the foreman as though searching for bruises or blood.

“They’re all out on jobs,” she said breathlessly. “I didn’t
say anything to them, only that I was handing out the job orders because Larry
was working on stuff to discuss with me.”

“We’re cool,” Con said. “I think Larry has something to say
to you.”

It seemed to take a long time for the man to find the nerve
to look into Giselle’s eyes. When he did, he said, “I’m a fool, ’Zelle. I
thought I could…”

He choked up and Con was decent enough to say, “I need a cup
of coffee” and walk into the kitchen. Although he’d be damned if he’d go out of
their hearing, just in case the man got obstreperous.

“I’m so sorry, Giselle.” Con heard through the doorway. “I
just wanted you to think of me as more than a foreman. To get dependent on me.
But obviously I did it the wrong way, the stupid way.”

“I’m sorry, too, Larry.” Giselle’s soft voice held worlds of
regret. “But obviously you can’t—”

“I know. I-I— Damn, this is hard. I-I hereby resign from
Stonehedge Landscapes. To pursue, uh, other interests.” Con heard keys jingle
then Pulaski said, “Here. This is my office key. And the key to the garage.”

There was a long pause. Con decided he’d better remind the
man about offering restitution. When he walked back into the office, he saw
Pulaski staring out the window and Giselle seated at her desk.

“I’ll need your password,” she said in a subdued voice, her
eyes on the computer screen.

He gave it to her. Then Con cleared his throat and Pulaski
spun around.

“And, uh, ’Zelle, I’ll get you back every penny, don’t you
worry. And, uh, I’ll even pay a penalty. You just name it and I’ll give it to
you.”

Con watched as Giselle fought to control the emotions
swarming across her face. “I accept your resignation. And in recognition of
your loyal service to Felix, I’ll give you thirty days to repay Stonehedge
Landscapes. Nineteen thousand plus interest plus penalty, let’s say an even
twenty-five thousand. In exchange for not pressing charges.” She looked up at
him then. “Can you do that?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed several times. “Yeah. Yes. I can. I
will. Thank you, ’Zelle. I’m sorry. I’m sorrier than I can say.”

She sighed. “So am I, Larry. So am I.”

* * * * *

“Oh Con, it hurts.”

“I know, baby. It’s a huge change in your life. Come here.
You need a hug.”

More eager to accept his consoling arms than she should be,
Giselle snuggled against him in the quiet of the kitchen. “I never knew.”

For a moment she reveled in being coddled, protected. Loved.
Then she pushed away from him. “I have lots of work to do before the crews come
home.”

“I’ll stay if you want me to. I’ll also go if you feel you
need some alone time. But know this, Giselle, you’re going to be going through
all the stages of grief again. The anger, the disbelief. Because you’re losing
another big part of your life.”