The 5-Year Plan (Friends to Lovers Romance Book 1) (7 page)

Turning to her, Trent spread his arms. “The master at work.”

She slapped his arm. “Well, master—our work’s just starting.”

Heading back to the living room, Victoria glanced at the clock. An hour had already slipped past. Unless the restaurant was really busy, or unless Shane decided to linger over coffee and dessert, they were running out of time.

“Aren’t you supposed to text Sue?”

Victoria shook her head. “She can ask, but she’s going to have to wait.”

After riffling through the papers on the counter, she moved to the drawers and cabinets. She found nothing of interest in the kitchen. “No bank statements. No credit card bills,” she muttered. “Okay, maybe this was a stupid idea. Please tell me you found something on the computer?”

“More like a lack of anything that could be held against her—and she’s smart enough not to keep her financials on a computer.”

She glanced around. Sue had gone out with a small evening clutch and had left her handbag lying on the floor. Taking a chance, Victoria pawed through it. She found a bank envelope and pulled it out. 

Pulling back the curtain, Trent looked out the window. “I thought I heard a car pull up. Looks like they’re back already.”

“Oh great.” Victoria glanced around. The envelope was already open, so she pulled out the bank statement.

“You don’t have time,” Trent muttered. “Come on, we need to look relaxed and like we’ve just been hanging out, looking after Liam in there.”

Thrusting the envelope into her purse, Victoria glanced around. “Does everything look normal?”

“Other than you—yeah. Come here.”

Heading over to the couch, she sat down next to Trent. He put a hand on her thigh. She glanced at his fingers. “What are you doing?”

“What do babysitters do with a guy over? Shouldn’t we pretend we were making out? I guarantee that’ll distract Sue from anything looking out of place.”

She opened her mouth to complain. “I—”

Trent’s mouth covered hers, stealing her breath. She couldn’t think with him kissing her. Couldn’t move. Her muscles and her will vanished into his warmth—and she could only think he tasted better than chocolate.

She heard the door open and jerked back, her hand going to her mouth. Looking over her shoulder she saw Sue and Shane in the doorway of the apartment. Sue had a knowing glint in her eyes, and Shane looked ready to thump Trent if he needed to.

Glancing back at her husband, Sue called out in a too-cheerful tone, “We brought dessert home for everyone. Coffee anyone?”

Standing and smoothing her jeans, Victoria forced an unsteady smile. “Yes, sure.”

Sue headed past with a wink at her and got busy with the coffee maker. Victoria followed her into the kitchen to help with the mugs. Leaning close, Sue whispered, “So you took my advice.”

“No—I. It’s—”

“Complicated. Sweetie, what isn’t with you? Come on, I don’t think we can leave the guys alone too long. Shane had that ‘I must protect the lady fair’ look going, which means he’s going to be worse than your dad at grilling Trent for his intentions.”

Heading into the living room with a tray of coffee, sugar and cream, Sue smiled. “So, Trent, I’m surprised you came along with Victoria tonight.”

“He’s been keeping me company.” Victoria winced. That hadn’t come out right—it sounded like they were dating. “Helping me, I mean. Uh…with...things.” She let the words trail away. The weight had come down on her shoulders again.

Trent came over and put an arm over her shoulder. “Losing her job’s been hard on Tori.”

Sitting up, Shane glanced at them. He was a tall man, beefy, but Victoria knew he was all marshmallow inside. But his short brown hair and serious eyes spoke of military background and a no-nonsense attitude. He was the sort of guy she’d always thought she’d end up with—but while she thought Shane was great for Sue, she’d never felt any chemistry with him. He was more like a big brother. “What’s this about the job?”

Knowing she had to explain, Victoria held up the mugs. “Isn’t there cake?”

Sue pointed to the couch. “Sit. Explain. I’ll get the cake.”

Taking the mugs from Victoria, Sue left her to stumble through the story of how she’d lost her job. By the end of it, Shane’s eyes had darkened and he shook his head.

Leaving the coffee and cake, Sue came over to hug her. “Don’t worry, darling. They’ll discover that they got the wrong person soon enough. I’ll bet no one really believes you did it.”

“Peter believes it.” She sniffed and rubbed her nose. “And of course, I’ll bet everyone in the office thinks I’m guilty.”

Trent looked up from his chocolate cake. “Hey, I don’t.”

Sue shot him a look and rubbed Victoria’s arm. “It’s all going to work out. It must be some kind of a terrible mistake. I just know it. Hang in there!”

She knew Sue couldn’t be that good an actress. She couldn’t sympathize that much if she’d stolen the files and had framed her. With a nod, Victoria waved at the bathroom. “Excuse me just a minute.”

Picking up her purse, Victoria headed into the bathroom while Shane and Sue grilled Trent for more details. Thankfully, Sue didn’t ask about Trent’s pregnant ex-girlfriend. Flipping on the light, Victoria locked the door and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Tears shimmered in her eyes—they were genuine enough. But the real reason she needed to be alone was to check that bank statement. Washing her face, she dried her hands and took out the envelope. Her stomach tightened and she bit her lower lip.

Sue held a joint account with her husband, and the statement showed no huge payments over the past month. What’s more, Sue didn’t need money. They had a solid savings account and the deposit of her husband’s paycheck showed he was earning a really good salary. A sigh of relief spilled from her. Tension bled from her shoulders. Eager as she was to find the person who had left her jobless, she hadn’t wanted it to be Sue. Of course, Sue could have another account, or she could be taking cash for the files. But given that the thefts had all been via a computer, and that Sue had reacted with real surprise, Victoria was certain Sue couldn’t possibly be responsible.

Victoria slipped the bank statement back into the envelope. Holding it pressed tight against her thigh, she peeked out. She could hear Shane, Sue, and Trent talking, and it sounded like they’d moved from the living room, into the kitchen. Now was her chance. Slipping out, she walked past Sue’s purse. She dropped her own purse and bent down, slipping the bank statement back into Sue’s purse. She headed into the kitchen and took her chair.

Trent glanced at her. She shook her head and gave a very small thumbs up. Shane had taken off his coat and now he looked at her. “I was just telling Trent I could talk to your boss. My firm doesn’t have much influence with TerraDyn, but my boss knows yours. He might listen to me and give you another chance to prove your innocence.”

Leaning on the kitchen counter, Victoria shook her head. “Thanks—and it may come to that. But I don’t want to bring in a lawyer—no offense—unless I have to. So far, they said they wouldn’t prosecute—I don’t want to bring that idea up again.”

Sue came over and handed Victoria a slice of cake. “You poor thing! I know how you loved your work. This is just awful. Are you sure you don’t want Shane involved?”

“Only if TerraDyn insists on filing charges—then I’ll definitely need a lawyer.” Victoria picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. “I don’t want to be rude, but can we please talk about something else? How was dinner?”

“Sure, sweetie.” Sue gave her another hug and herded everyone back to the living room. She chatted about the restaurant, complaining it wasn’t as good as she’d been told, and switched to talking about how Liam had caught a spider.”

“I was just glad he didn’t eat it,” Shane said and settled on the couch with his arm around Sue’s shoulders.

Stories about Liam dominated the rest of the evening. Victoria was happy enough to talk about something other than her own problems. She noticed Trent stayed in the background, watching her. That was a little unnerving, but she enjoyed the visit.

At ten, she glanced at her watch and said she should head home. Trent left with her.

Outside on the street, Trent shrugged into his jacket and shook his head. “That was a waste of time.”

“No, it wasn’t.” She told him about the bank statement. “Sue doesn’t need to steal anyone’s files—she’s set.”

Taking her hand, he headed for the subway. “You said it yourself—she could have another account.”

She pulled away from him and strode past the other late-night subway riders. “It’s enough.”

“Well, I’ll agree with that. No way could she have put on that act tonight. Sue didn’t do this to you.”

She let out a breath. “So what’s next? Oh—I almost forgot. I found something.” She told him about the two logins that had shown up on a late Friday night.

“That’s good—you need to keep at it. We should try and see if that’s a regular pattern. Meantime, I can start a check for file accesses at those times. I can get Jason at work to start some traces, too. Security will just think we’re running regular checks.” He glanced at his watch. “I might even catch up with Jason tonight—I said I’d try and see him at O’Malley’s.”

“The bar?”

“Yeah. We usually meet up for a drink at least once a week.”

She rolled her eyes. “Investigation in a bar? Now I feel like I’m in a bad TV show.”

Touching her arm, he stopped her. His smile warmed his eyes, sparked a brighter green. Gently, he cupped her elbow. For a moment, she thought he would do more. He stood so close to her that she could almost hear his heart thudding as hard as hers was. Their train pulled into the station and the moment faded. Turning, Trent pulled her with him onto the subway. “Hey—if it works. The guy needs someone to vent with—he has the worst luck with online gaming.”

Victoria looked up at him. “Jason has a gambling addiction?”

“No—he bets. Sometimes...”

“Are you sure everyone on your staff really is innocent?”

Trent glanced at her, his head cocked. “That man is a genius. He could easily earn a lot of money on the side by picking up a few freelance jobs. And like I said—I’ve already vetted my staff.”

Victoria held her tongue. If Trent thought his staff was innocent, she was going to have to trust him on this. But she really wished Trent had found out that one of the IT people had done this.

Exhausted from the day—from everything—she closed her eyes and leaned against the window. The cold glass touched her forehead, but it didn’t sooth.

Were they really chasing a ghost here? Maybe they were naive to believe they could find out anything. Opening her eyes, she glanced at Trent’s profile—at his straight nose and firm chin. He seemed to realize she was staring at him because he looked at her. Wetting her lips, she asked, “Are we crazy? We don’t really have any expertise in this. Maybe I should hire a lawyer—or a PI?”

He covered her hand with his. “Now you really sound like a bad TV show.”

“No, I’m serious.
This
is serious.”

He squeezed her hand and let go. “It’s only been a day—give it a little time.”

She nodded. He sounded so certain. So calm. She could feel despair trying to creep into her, a think trickle of ice that left her wanting to dive under the bed covers and not come out again. She looked at Trent again, and let herself lean into him. He put an arm around her, and desire lanced through her in a sharp jolt.

She wanted to kiss him—to lose herself in those kisses. She wanted to forget everything in his arms. But she couldn’t.

He was strictly off limits, not only because he was her oldest friend, but he had enough complications in his life right now. So did she.

Leaning away from him, she asked, “Did you talk to Cynthia? You know—about…?” She let the words fade.

The subway car slide to a stop and Trent stood up. “My stop. You want to come with? I don’t know about you, but I really could use a drink.”

Was that relief she detected in his voice? He didn’t seem to want to discuss this with her, which meant she needed to give him the space to work things out. She was so used to talking to him about everything it was almost impossible not to butt into his affairs. If he hooked up with Cynthia again, she’d have to learn to do so.

Deciding she wanted to meet this guy, Jason, she stood up and followed Trent out of the subway and into O’Malley’s.

The bar stood two blocks down from TerraDyn’s offices. The bar’s dark wood and comfortable leather chairs and booths made for a cozy atmosphere. She knew a lot of employees came here for lunch or for a beer after work. She glanced around, wondering if she’d see anyone from the office—or if they’d see her. Or would they want to avoid her? She was surprised to see mostly young couples having a late dinner.

Trent put a hand in the small of her back and pointed to a slim, dark-haired guy in his late twenties, sitting at a table by himself. “There’s Jason.”

Jason stood up as they approached. He glanced at her and then at Trent, his smile strained. He gave a nervous laugh. “Victoria, I didn’t know you were joining us.”

“She’s also low and down, so I tugged her along.” Trent held out a chair for her, pulled off his jacket and sat.