Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [83]
Monday morning, Faith’s BlackBerry started vibrating the instant she sat down in her cubicle. She didn’t have it set to ringtones when she was at work. She hoped it was Caine, who’d stopped by her condo last night and made love to her again and stayed long enough this morning to make breakfast for her, but a quick glance at the screen let her know that the call was from her friend Sherry Weiss, the forensic accountant.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Sherry said. “Another forensic accountant is checking into the same account you asked me to investigate. I’ve got her name, but I don’t know who hired her.”
Faith Googled the woman’s name and found a photo of her. It was the woman her dad had dinner with when Faith had spied on him.
Tired of beating around the bush, Faith went directly to her dad.
“Why did you hire a forensic accountant to look into Karl Hunter’s case?”
“Who says I have?” he countered.
“Don’t bother denying it. I saw you having dinner with her. Unless you’re having an affair with her?”
“What? No!”
“Then you’d better tell Mom that.”
Her dad blinked in confusion. “Tell her I’m not having an affair with a forensic accountant? Why would she think that?”
“Because you’ve been acting strangely, showing all the signs of a husband cheating on his wife. Come on. As the wife of an investigator, you don’t think she knows all the signs? The late nights, the preoccupation, the secrets, the guilt. But it wasn’t caused by another woman, was it? It was caused by Karl’s case, right? You were having second thoughts about it. Admit it.”
“Okay, I admit I had a few concerns. But I can’t talk about it now. I’ve got an important meeting across town. We’ll discuss this later.”
“Later today. I mean it, Dad.”
He nodded. “I promise.”
As soon as he left, Faith stayed in her father’s office and made the call to her mother. “He’s not having an affair. I saw him having dinner with a female client, and I discovered today she’s a forensic accountant Dad asked to look into Karl Hunter’s records.”
“I thought that case was closed two years ago.”
“It was, but it’s been reopened now. That’s why Dad’s been so strange. Because there could be more to this case than we originally thought.”
“But that poor man committed suicide.”
“I know.”
“Is that why Caine was dancing with you at the charity ball? Was he asking you about his father’s case?”
“Naturally he’s interested in the investigation.”
“He looked interested in you. Very interested. First you meet him in Italy, and then you hook up with him here.”
Faith hoped her mom didn’t know what the current definition of hooked up meant.
“Yeah, well, um, I just wanted to tell you that Dad is not having an affair,” Faith said. “Vince King was just trying to make trouble. He’s very good at that.”
“You didn’t tell your father that I thought he was cheating, did you?”
“Of course not. Well, not exactly. I’m not sure how I worded things or precisely what I said, but I told him to call you, which I’m sure he’ll do.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” her mom said.
Faith was looking forward to talking to her dad about Karl’s case, but instead of calling her, he sent her a text message. “Urgent. Don’t tell Caine. Need you to come to . . .”
She recognized the address. It was Nolan Parker’s house. Why would her father want her to join him there? She called his cell, but it went right to voice mail. That left her with only one way to find out what was going on—by doing what her father asked.
She took a cab to Nolan’s house and climbed the front steps. The door was ajar, and her knock opened it wider. She stepped inside. “Hello?”
She was grabbed from behind and a gun stuck in her side. “Welcome to the party,” a man growled.
Chapter Seventeen
“What’s going on?” Faith couldn’t breathe. She told herself not to panic and not to pass out. She’d skipped lunch. She was lightheaded. She was scared spitless. “Where’s my father?” The voice hadn