Lone Star Santa (19 page)

“Why? What have you done?”

“What makes you think—okay. I logged into our office files using Jeremy’s password when I found out mine no longer worked.”

“Why would you think your password would work? They kicked you out.”

“Actually, they didn’t. I left because Jeremy thought it would look better. It was near Thanksgiving, so I went home. Which got me to thinking.”

This looked like it was going to be a long story. “Before you think—do you want your pickled ginger?”

“Take it.”

“Thanks.” Kristen speared it with her fork. “Okay, what were you thinking?”

“It’s been weeks. Why haven’t I been arrested? They tipped their hand by impounding all my stuff.” Mitch reached into the cooler and withdrew the bottles of tea, twisted off the caps and handed her one. “They haven’t even brought me in for questioning or whatever.”

“My dad thinks it’s because they didn’t find what they expected to.”

“I’ve got a theory.” Mitch took a long swallow of tea.

All that soy sauce had made him thirsty, Kristen thought.

“Jeremy did a heavy-handed thorough job of setting me up. It was too easy. These investigators have seen
a lot of cases and, since I was oblivious, I wasn’t fitting the pattern. I went home to visit my folks. I didn’t contact my shifty clients, and anytime I talked with Jeremy, I’d ask if he had any idea of what was happening. So, they find this trail in my records. But they don’t find any in my e-mail or any of my accounts, or anywhere in my stuff.”

Kristen had been eating her sushi as he talked. It wouldn’t hurt to cut back. “But you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to use your regular records and e-mail. You’d set up hidden ones.” She set one of her California roll pieces into Mitch’s soy sauce lake.

“Exactly. So why would I be stupid enough to leave all the financial records on my office computer?” He ate her sushi piece.

“You wouldn’t.” She drank some of her tea and pretended not to notice when Mitch stole the last of her sushi. “And somebody realized that. They haven’t arrested you because they’re not sure you’re the right guy to arrest.”

“That’s what I’m hoping. And I also think Jeremy is down here because he and his father can’t figure out the delay. They must be getting nervous.”

“They’re not the only ones. You know what your father has been doing, right?”

Mitch nodded. “He gloats every night. And my mother has destroyed her efficient schedule and randomly sends people to the Sloane house to set up for the party and over to the construction office to get more float supplies, so they pretty much have no privacy.”

Kristen laughed. “I know it’s not funny, but I almost feel sorry for them.”

Mitch gave her a look.

Oops. “But I’m over that now. Jeremy and his parents deserve to suffer.”

Mitch checked his e-mail again. “I can’t believe I haven’t heard from him yet.”

“Because…?”

“You’ll love this.” Mitch appeared smugly proud of himself. “So I log in and I find out that Jeremy has changed his password and there’s an encryption program on my files. Remember, we’re talking about a guy who has used the same password since college. Obviously, someone has been helping him and I hope it wasn’t our IT guy, because it was a sloppy job.”

“Fortunately for you.”

“Yeah. Jeremy lacks finesse with computers, which he will never admit. For example, he overwrites files and is real quick with the delete key. I set up a shadow drive for him that backs up his backups.”

“I could use one of those,” Kristen muttered, knowing she lacked a certain finesse, herself.

“I could install one for you,” Mitch offered. “It’s no biggie.”

“That’s okay. Go on.”

“Well, whoever was helping Jeremy reset passwords and encrypt data didn’t know to ask about a third back up system. He probably gave Jeremy a list of instructions, obviously assuming he knows more about computers than he does. Jeremy, being Jeremy, wasn’t about to correct him. So, the shadow drive was never changed and I was able to get into the system. The files weren’t the latest version, but they were close enough. Here’s the good part.”

He looked so gleeful that Kristen smiled.

“I switched drives and put in a macro so that when Jeremy logs in and tries to open certain files, code scrambles and he gets gibberish. And I locked him out of my files.”

Okay. Okay, maybe she wasn’t
quite
getting it. “Just so I can fully appreciate your brilliance…basically, Jeremy is stupid when it comes to computers—”

“Not
stupid
stupid.”

“But stupid enough that he needed help to fix it so you couldn’t access your company files anymore.”

“Right.”

“But he forgot that there was another copy of everything on a ‘shadow drive.’” She made finger quotes.

“Or didn’t think it mattered.”

“So you sabotaged it and magically—” she wiggled her fingers “—switched it for the real one?”

“Magically?”

“You did all that without actually being on his computer?”

“Our files are stored on a network server,” he explained.

Or thought he explained. “Uh…”

“Big central computer.”

“Gotcha. So why will Jeremy contact you?”

“Because he always calls me when he has computer trouble. He doesn’t want anyone else to know how inept he is. And when I help him, I’ll see what he’s got hidden on his laptop. They have to have the laundering records somewhere.”

Mitch was so confident and all Kristen could think was that his plan hinged on Jeremy’s pride. “Still, I
can’t believe even Jeremy would have the audacity to ask the man he’s trying to—”

Mitch’s hand buzzed. Or rather the phone in Mitch’s hand buzzed. He checked the display and then triumphantly held it so Kristen could see.

Jeremy.

“What do you know,” Kristen said.

They high-fived each other and Mitch answered the phone.

Chapter Eleven

Things began to move after Jeremy’s phone call.

Up until then, Mitch had felt as though he’d contributed nothing to his own defense. Kristen and her parents—even Mitch’s parents—had done more than he had.

After playing detective, his father had insisted on hiring a lawyer.

Mitch had been against it because he already
had
a lawyer to whom he paid a very nice fee, and now doubted Jeremy’s conflict of interest explanation.

His father had listened to everything Mitch had said, and then announced, “I hate shopping, so when I find the perfect gift I buy it. I’m buying you a lawyer. Merry Christmas.”

Even Mitch’s mother, in the midst of parade frenzy, assembled a list of VIPs who would be in attendance at the kickoff party and gave it to Barbara to see if there were any hits on
her
list.

So basically, it was the Save Mitch project and he’d felt useless.

That was about to change.

But not before Kristen got a hold of him.

They were in his parent’s bedroom because that’s where the full-length mirror was. He could smell his mother’s perfume and see his dad’s suits lined up in the closet.

This was the opposite of an aphrodisiac.

“Let’s go over this again.”

“Kristen…”

“Mitch, you’re playing a role and you need to practice so you’ll be convincing.”

“I’m playing me. Jeremy knows me.”

She shook her head. Her forties-movie-star hair had frizzed during their lunch, and she hadn’t reapplied her red lipstick, so in her black skirt and white blouse, she looked more like a strict school marm than a femme fatale and Mitch could go with that.

Or he could have gone with that if his parent’s king-sized bed hadn’t been visible behind him in the mirror.

“But you know what Jeremy has been doing. You have to play a Mitch who still doesn’t suspect. Jeremy is going to be watching for any sign that you do. And I’ve got to tell you, if you give him one of your disgusted looks, he’ll know.”

She had a point. She had a very good point because it was so much more than disgust. “Okay.”

She made him practice greeting Jeremy, rehearse a few conversational lines and craft an explanation of what he’d been doing with his time.

“Would you ask about your clients?”

“Yes. I’d be frantic about my clients.”

“What kind of answer would you be willing to accept?”

“That they’ve been taken care of.”

“Then if Jeremy’s explanation is the least bit believable, you accept it. You express relief, gratitude and admiration.”

“Admiration? No way.” He would have inserted a certain crude adjective, but they were in his parents’ bedroom, after all.

“Admiration,” she reiterated, crossing her arms over her chest. She was utterly sure of herself and this was serious to her.

He should respect that. “Okay.”

“Remember that Jeremy’s ego is the key. Next step. You’re at the computer. What’s your explanation of the problem and how much are you going to fix?”

“I’ll access the registry—”

Kristen held up a hand. “You don’t have to tell me, but you have to know. If Jeremy doesn’t leave you alone with his computer, then you’ll have to distract him.”

“How? Yell, ‘Look, it’s Santa Claus!’ and download files when he runs to the window?”

“Think ego. What does he do better than you?”

Mitch remained silent.

“What does he
think
he does better than you?”

“People. Women.”

“Then you tell him you’ve met someone. You act sappy. That’ll also explain away any weirdness in your behavior. Now, show me sappy.”

Mitch made kissing sounds and batted his eyes.

Kristen thwapped him on the arm. “You are going to thank me later. You will be down on your knees in gratitude. You will owe me. And I will collect.”

A wave of affection washed over Mitch. He deliberately tamped down any desire, primarily because of the psychological unease of being in his parents’ bedroom with a woman he desperately wanted. In every way.

He usually delayed getting physical in his relationships and to his surprise, more often than not, the woman complained or wondered what was wrong with her. Mitch wanted to get to know his bed partners before doing the deed—didn’t they want to get to know him?

Sometimes, they didn’t. And that was a deal breaker for him.

Mitch liked to let the initial fizz of attraction develop into something many sided, and certainly one of those sides was physical. He was well aware that it was time to work on the physical side with Kristen. Not that it would be work. But she deserved all his attention and all his emotional energy, and until he cleared his name, that wasn’t possible.

His eyes skimmed her face because if they skimmed her body, he’d never be able to concentrate on her instructions.

“Excellent.” Kristen was watching him in the mirror.

“What?” He’d zoned out for a moment.

“Your sappy look.”

Mitch cleared his throat. “Okay, what next?”

“Describe her to Jeremy. He’ll ask. In fact, use me. I’m perfect.”

Mitch raised his eyebrows.

Still holding her arms above the elbows, she paced as she thought. “As soon as you say my name, he’ll stop paying attention to what you’re doing at his computer.
Think ego. He’s jealous of you. You’ll go on and on about me so he’ll know you’re really infatuated.”

“No acting, there,” Mitch said.

She broke off to give him a big smile and then stepped forward and raised her arms. She was going to kiss him. He stepped back before he could stop himself.

She halted, arms in midair. “You’re totally creeped out by being in your parents’ bedroom, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Kristen dropped her arms. “Completely understandable.” She glanced at the bed. “Completely. Now, where were we?”

“How wonderful and fabulous you are.”

“And hot. Don’t forget that.”

“I never do.”

She grinned. “I bet Jeremy says something like, ‘Is Kristen still as hot as she was?’”

“Jeremy’s ego isn’t the only one I wonder about.”

“I’m not naturally hot. I have to work at it. Hot is a state of mind.”

Mitch thought it was a state of body.

“The point is to make me seem like exactly the type of woman Jeremy would want to attract.”

She
was
exactly Jeremy’s type of woman.

“And my Miss Sweetest crown won’t hurt. Remember distraction and ego. By this time, he’ll be thinking about trying to get me away from you so he can finally feel he’s the better man. This is where you feed his ego. You admit that you’ve never dated someone like me and you are unsure of yourself. Ask his advice, since he’s had lots of experience. He’ll have forgotten all about his computer.”

Kristen had been pacing behind him as she came up with this little scenario. “Oh, oh!” She gestured wildly. “Tell him you hope your situation gets straightened out soon because a woman like me expects certain things and you haven’t been able to afford those things.”

She’s right. And you’ve bought her exactly one delicious, but cheap, Mexican food dinner
. Mitch gazed stonily at himself in the mirror.

“Wrong face.”

He met her eyes directly.

“Mitch.” She put her hands on either side of his face. “A woman
like
me. Not me.”

He was kidding himself. What did he have to offer her?

“Do not insult me by arguing with me about this,” she demanded fiercely.

“You deserve more.”

“So do you. And you’re going to get it. Now, from the top. I’m Jeremy and I’ve just let you in the house.”

“S
O HOW HAVE YOU BEEN
keeping yourself busy?” Jeremy leaned against the massive wooden desk in the downstairs office that Mitch had seen through the window several days ago.

He studied Jeremy’s open laptop. “My mom is a total stress bunny with all the parade stuff.” He mentally apologized to his mother. “Dad and I are just her minions.” He logged in using Jeremy’s new password—which Jeremy had given to him after explaining that federal agents had insisted that he change everything. Yeah, right.

Garbage filled the screen. “Oh, I see. Have we got a server problem?”