Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge (15 page)

“Presley, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but there is no way Glenda had anything to do with hurting Becky. Glenda was the most loyal person, to my dad, to this company, for thirty years. She’s the one who trained Becky. Now Glenda might not have been the sweetest person, but she would never do anything to hurt Sleeping Bear Designs.”

His voice got louder as he talked and I could tell he was mad which is why I hadn’t wanted to bring it up. Especially after finding out about Sally. I wouldn’t want to believe it either if I were him.

“Well, I didn’t mean to take up your time. I was just in the area and wanted to let you know what he said. I thought it might make more sense to you.”

“I’m glad you stopped by. Like I said before, I’m very appreciative of your help and this does give me another direction to try. I didn’t mean to snap at you about Glenda. Man, I just want it to be business as usual.”

“I can imagine. Have a good day.”

“You too, Presley.”

I arrived to an empty house. Katy and Jared had texted they were going out shoe shopping. They had said they would wait for me, but strangely enough, I wasn’t in the mood.
Very unusual for me. I was always up for shoe shopping. On the way home I had been thinking about John’s protesting about Glenda and it just made me think more and more that maybe she was the link. After all, she had access to the money. I sat down at my computer and opened it up. Typing in Glenda’s name in the search bar along with Chicago and then Florida. Nothing. I don’t know what I expected. Hopefully to find some nefarious act she had committed. Well it was a long shot.

I should probably do something productive while I had this time alone without interruptions. Like
plan my next blog post or something but Cooper was weighing too heavily on my mind and I didn’t feel like doing anything. Today I was in the same funk Jared had been in. Just no motivation. I couldn’t believe Cooper was staying at the W. Or why he was even in Chicago this time of year. His home base was San Diego. I was pretty sure it was work related but still. Why hadn’t he told me he was coming? I hadn’t been able to get a hold of him on his cell but maybe I could call the W and get him in his room. Hotel phones didn’t usually have caller ID, so he couldn’t see it was me and ignore the call if that’s what he was doing.

I looked up the number and dialed the front desk.

“Cooper Sands, please,” I said when someone picked up.

“Just one moment, please,” and a second later the phone started ringing.

”Hello?” he answered.

“Cooper,” I said, a smile coming to my face at hearing his voice in spite of what had been happening. I loved the sound of his voice; it made me melt.

“Presley,” he replied and it sounded like he was happy to hear from me.

“I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that …”

“Cooper, who is that? Is it room service?” I heard a woman’s voice in the background. My heart dropped and I felt sick. No wonder he hadn’t contacted me.  He was in Chicago with a woman. I felt so stupid for not even thinking that might be a reason. I guess even after everything I had still hoped things would end up being OK.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be bothering you,” I choked out, wondering why on earth I thought calling his hotel room was a good idea. I should have at least anticipated something like this happening.

“Presley
wait, I can explain.”

“No, it’s OK. You don’t need to. I understand. I understand perfectly. Take care, Cooper,” I said and hung up.

While I couldn’t believe he hadn’t had the decency to tell me he was dating someone else, he clearly was over me, over us. He had a girl staying in his room.  How stupid was I to think he was just busy and that’s why he hadn’t called back. I started crying, glad I was home alone. I was still sitting in the kitchen in the dark with my phone on the counter when Jared and Katy came home. I hadn’t moved since getting off the phone with Cooper. They walked in and Jared flipped on the light.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?” he asked and then saw my face. “Oh my God, honey, what’s wrong?”

“What happened?” Katy said, looking concerned.

I started crying again. “I called his hotel room and he had a girl there,” I said in hiccupping spurts.

“Oh no! Presley, I’m so sorry,” Katy said, not even having to ask who he was.

“It’s over, it’s really over,” I said, not wanting to believe it, but it was true. “I just don’t understand why he didn’t at least tell me. I thought I meant more than that.”

Katy came over and hugged me. “I know this is so hard.”

“I mean I knew it probably was over, but I guess nothing really prepares you for that final shock of knowing for certain. But now I know and I need to deal with it,” I said and grabbed a tissue to blow my nose, trying to act stronger than I felt.

Jared went to the cupboard and pulled out a wineglass and poured a glass of wine. Pushing it in front of me, he said, “Here, this will make you feel better.”

“It’s not even noon,” I weakly protested, but accepted the glass anyways.

“So what. Now drink up.”

As I was taking a sip of the sweet
moscato, which was helping me calm down a little, I heard my phone buzz. For a brief second I got my hopes up thinking it might be Cooper calling back, but then Jared gave my phone a sideways glance and said, “What’s John doing calling you?”

My eyebrows raised and I shrugged as I answered it.

“Hello, John.”

“Presley, you’re not going to believe this. I just got off the phone with our accountant and he said he was planning on calling me after the holidays about some double
billing that he uncovered. He was double-checking a few things, which is why he hadn’t called yet. He wanted to make sure the error wasn’t on his end before bringing this to my attention.”

“So what are you saying?” I asked.

“I think someone might be messing with our finances. Just like you mentioned.”

“Oh wow, really? That’s horrible.”

“He said it seems like there have been some invoices to long-standing clients being directed back to a different account than our normal one. So certain payments are going to someone else not us. So basically someone is embezzling money.”

“Can he find out what bank it’s going to or whose account?”

“He’s looking into that right now. So once I find out, I will let you know.”

“Thanks, John, for keeping me in the loop.”

I hesitated asking him if he thought Glenda could be involved but he saved me the trouble.

“I still don’t think Glenda had anything to do with Becky’s death or with embezzling, Presley, but someone has been stealing from us.”

“The accountant said its small amounts of money, but it could add up to a lot over time. Tell Jared hi for me, will you?”

“I sure will.” I hung up and turned to Jared. “John says hi.”

Jared looked thoroughly confused. “Why was he calling you?”

“To tell me the accountant found some shady things. I stopped by the office after coffee with Willie, because when I told Willie the situation, he said we should follow the money. I guess John decided that was a good idea and called the accountant to follow it and clearly found some irregularities.”

“This is just all too crazy. First Sally, now this,” said Jared. “You just don’t know who you can trust these days.”

“No you don’t,” I said. “I have a feeling that Becky’s murder and Glenda both have something to do with this. I just am not sure what and John is convinced Glenda is not involved in any of it.”

“I kind of agree with him. Besides, I have some information that might be useful. That new guy I told you I thought was kind of shifty. Well come to find out he is in a mountain of debt. Maybe he’s been stealing from the company?”

“How did you find this out?”

“Phil called when we were shopping. He heard it from a mutual friend who said got the information from a reliable source.”

Katy and I just looked at him.

“You know how convoluted that sounds?” I asked.

“It’s something,” he said defensively. “You never know.”

Chapter 21

“Dammit, my hair isn’t wanting to straighten. I knew I should have made a hair appointment,” I said, frustrated with my flatiron. “If only it were possible to take your hair off, style it, and then put it back on. It would make it so much easier.”

“That’s called a wig and most people find them hot and itchy. Besides, I told you already I would do your hair. After all, it’s what I do for a living. At least for a little while longer. Plus, I want to,” Katy said.

“You’ve got to get yourself ready. You don’t need to try and do my hair, too.”

“I’m ready. So shut up and sit down,” she ordered.

I looked over at Katy, not believing at all she had already gotten dressed with hair and makeup done for the party, when I wasn’t even close to being ready, but I was wrong.

“Wow, Katy. You look fantastic!” And she did. Her twenty-five-dollar find from H&M in the form of a short silver metallic cocktail dress, paired with sexy silver heels and chandelier earrings made her look like a knockout. She had her hair swept up in a messy bun and had stuck an ornate silver hairpin in the bun to sparkle it up. “Did you find that in my jewelry box?” I asked, because it looked familiar.

“Yes. I like it. Think it added exactly what I needed. Hope you don’t mind I grabbed it without asking.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t think I’ve ever worn it because I didn’t know how. I just knew I liked it when I bought it.”

“Why, thank you,” she said and curtsied. “See. I’m ready. Jared is even ready and you are next. Now, hand me that flatiron.”

Fifteen minutes later and my hair was straight as a pin. “Katy, you’re awesome. It never turns out this good when I do it. I actually don’t look half bad.”

“Stop. You look great! That black really suits you. I’ve never really been able to pull off black. It just washes me out.”

My black dress was strapless and just a simple, straight sheath. Sometimes simple was more glamorous and this was definitely one of those times. It fit perfectly and did a good job of hiding those couple extra pounds I had gained over the holidays. I felt it was very elegant. A diamond necklace—cubic zirconium—and real diamond stud earrings completed the look, at least from the knees up. I still needed to find shoes. Now I kind of regretted not going shoe shopping yesterday with Katy and Jared.

“What shoes. Black patent leather, gold booties or sassy red?”

“What about those black and white polka dot ones you have?” Jared suggested. “Those are classy but also fun.”

“Ooh, I forgot about those,” I said and reached into the back of my closet to pull them out. I tried them on and looked in the mirror.

“Those are perfect,” Katy said. “And Willie is already downstairs, double parked, so hurry.”

I grabbed my coat and evening bag and we all headed downstairs.

“You look beautiful, Presley,” said Willie when I opened the car door to get in.  “You, too, Katy.”

I smiled. “Thanks!”

Katy echoed my sentiment and then asked, “How far to the hotel?”

“On a normal traffic day, ten minutes. Tonight probably more like an hour.  Everyone is out tonight but it’s not a big deal. The action doesn’t start until nine anyway. We have plenty of time.”

“Ugh! That’s one thing I would have a hard time getting used to living here and that’s this crazy traffic,” Katy said.

We chatted, sharing past New Year’s Eve stories and such. I even forgot about Cooper and Becky’s murder for a few minutes and before I knew it, we were pulling up at The James.

“Oh my! This place is gorgeous,” Katy said as she looked at the magnificent entrance.

“Told you. You can’t get much better than this,” Jared said.

Willie gave our tickets to the person at the door and then we checked our coats. Walking into the ballroom where the party was to be held was almost like something out of a movie. It was just so over the top, ornate, but not garish. It felt nice to see how the wealthy rang in their new year.

“Let’s grab a drink, shall we?” Willie said.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” I said.

We headed over to the open bar where Katy and I each took a glass of chardonnay and the guys grabbed bottles of some imported beer I had never heard of.

“Shall we find a table?” Willie asked.

“Yes. Preferably one that gives us a good view, so we can do some people watching and check out the gorgeous clothes,” I said.

We all laughed and we made our way to an empty table in the corner that gave us a great view of the ballroom and the crowd. Some of the evening gowns I saw on women were breathtaking. Made me feel a little underdressed but I couldn’t have afforded those kind of dresses anyway. I was just glad I was here and could be around all this.

There were hors d’oeuvres on each table so between that, the people watching, and the wine, I was in heaven.

There was a live band, which was doing some amazing covers of current pop music. Though I wouldn’t have expected less than the best from a place like this. 

When they started to slow things down, Willie turned to me.

“May I have this dance, young lady?”

“Why certainly, sir.” I set my glass down and grabbed his offered hand and we made our way to the dance floor.

“I have to warn you, I’m not a very good dancer, but I’ll try not to step on your toes,” Willie said.

“I’m sure you’re not that bad.”

“Just ask my date for senior prom. She couldn’t wear shoes for a week. I think that was the last time I tried dancing.”

I started laughing and then as we were dancing I noticed him looking over my shoulder, almost as if he were looking for someone. I started to ask what he was looking at when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and it was
Cooper. Looking tired but drop dead gorgeous in a dark grey suit. He took my breath away, but what the hell was he doing here?

“May I cut in?” he asked Willie, who nodded and smiled at me, not seeming at all bothered by this intrusion, which I was happy about and found odd all at the same time. Cooper took his place and I was speechless. He stayed silent as well, but I finally found my
voice and asked, “How did you know I was here? More importantly, why are you here?” I tried sounding mad but I don’t think it came across that way, because I wasn’t mad. I was happy and apprehensive at the same time. To have him show up like this, I didn’t understand and I certainly didn’t want to be toyed with.

“I wanted to see you,” he said softly, looking at me the way he used to before he left. What was going on here?

“You could have returned my calls,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. Not wanting him to know how much I was hurting, knowing he had moved on.

“King, I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I should have told you I was back. Things have just been so crazy and …”

“It’s OK, Coop,” I interrupted. “You don’t owe me an explanation.” I really didn’t want to talk about it and hear the details of his new girlfriend.

“You’re hurt,” he said, more of a statement than a question and tears filled my eyes. So much for trying to pretend I was fine.

“Like I said, you don’t owe me an explanation. I understand. We broke up.”

“What if I want to give you one? An explanation. I don’t think you have an accurate picture of what’s happening here. I think you’re making assumptions with not having all the information.”

“I guess I couldn’t argue with that,” I said, holding on to a sliver of hope that maybe we still had a chance.

“Good. It’s going to sound like a lame excuse, but I wanted to have time to see you and talk to you in person and things have just been crazy. I hadn’t planned on even stopping in Alkon for the holidays, but my dad had surgery, so I did, but it was last minute. I went by your parents’ house hoping you would be there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but of course you weren’t and Katy said your parents were on a cruise.”

“For an entire month, lucky them.”

“Then when I came here, I had some business issues, which delayed things. The truth is none of these are good reasons for not calling but they’re the truth and I hope you’ll understand. I wasn’t trying to avoid you or blow you off.”

“But what about the girl who answered the phone, the one I heard in your hotel room?”

Cooper started laughing. “Oh, Presley. You think I was dating someone?” He brought me in for a hug. “I love you! That woman was the business issue I had to deal with. A very annoying, entitled business issue, which is a very long story.”

“And I saw you with a woman coming out of Techman Industries.”

“Business. I promise. I should have never thought being in town and not calling you was a good idea. So much for Chicago being a big town. Please forgive me. I was wrong for letting it go this long without contacting you,” he said, kissing me softly, and all my concerns melted away.

The song ended and I wasn’t sure what to do. I hoped he was going to stay, but then I felt a little awkward about Willie. After all I was his guest. I just hoped he would understand and not be mad.

“Are you staying?” I asked.

“Can I?”

I smiled. “Of course.” With his hand in mine, I led him back to our table where Jared, Katy, and Willie were waiting. They made space for us to sit together and Willie seemed fine with Cooper sitting down.

“Thanks, Katy,” I said.

“For what?”

“For calling Cooper.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t me. I thought about it but I didn’t do it.”

“Then who? How did you know I was here?” I asked Cooper.

Cooper looked at Willie. “He called me.”

I didn’t know what to say. “Really, Willie?” I asked and he confirmed with a nod.

“He called me and got me a ticket so I could get in. Thanks again, man. I can’t thank you enough for giving me this chance to make things right.”

“Not a problem. I hate to see things standing in the way of true love.”

Willie, a romantic; I never would have guessed. I walked to Willie’s chair and put my arms around his neck and squeezed. “Thank you,” I whispered in his ear.

“You deserve to be happy. I like my friends happy,” he said blushing.

After another round of cocktails, I found out that after coffee with Willie, he had called the W to confront Cooper for treating me so poorly and leaving me hanging, not knowing what was going on. Upon hearing how upset Cooper was that I thought he had moved on, and the real reason he hadn’t yet contacted me. Willie offered him a ticket to the party to make things right. I definitely owed Willie. He managed to make me so happy by his selfless actions. Most guys wouldn’t have gone that far to help out a girl they barely knew. I was glad he was my friend.

The next couple hours were fun and filled with dancing and laughter as the second hand ticked down to midnight. I thought about how lucky I was to be surrounded by great friends and to have a great guy. While we still had a lot to talk about, I was happy just being in his arms and I knew we’d figure it out. If only I could figure out who killed Becky and who might be stealing from Sleeping Bear, everyone would be able to have a fresh start for the new year.

“Earth to Presley! It’s the countdown.” Cooper nudged me, bringing my attention back to him.

“Five … four … three … two … one.  Happy New Year!”  We all yelled and hugged.

As Cooper kissed me and I looked into his eyes, I was so excited for what was to come in this
new year.

An hour or so later we were headed home. Traffic just as bad as on the way here. I was really glad Willie was driving and even happier Cooper was coming home with me.

“I think you’re evening bag is vibrating,” Cooper said, nudging me.

I pulled out my phone and saw four missed calls in the last fifteen minutes. I looked at my phone, trying to comprehend what this might mean.

“Who was it,” Cooper asked.

“A girl named Julie. Hey Katy,” I called to the front seat where she was sitting with Willie. “Julie has called me a bunch of times tonight. Just in the last few minutes.”

“Maybe you should call her back then.”

I didn’t particularly want to interrupt my time with Cooper but I was worried. Why wasn’t Julie out enjoying her New Years? I hit redial and waited for her to answer.

“Oh my God, I’m so glad you called back!” Julie answered on the first ring and said in a rush.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone is in Becky’s apartment. Can you come over here?”

I quickly calculated in my head and at best it would be twenty minutes before we could get there and the person might be gone, but it was worth a try.

“Willie, can you turn around,” I asked and told him why.

“Sure,” he said and put on the turn signal to get over and make a right.

“Julie, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“OK. Hurry. Whoever is in that apartment might be who killed Becky.”

“What have you got yourself into,” Cooper asked when I got off the phone.

“It’s a long story,” I said giving him the rundown. By the time I had finished, we arrived at Becky’s apartment complex. Willie parked outside and flashed his badge at the doorman, a different one this time, who actually looked up from his magazine and asked us who we were here to see.
A question that we didn’t answer.