The Perfect Solitaire. Carmen Green

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СКАЧАТЬ her composure, she acknowledged him. “I remember your brother.” She looked back at Ben and several curls came to rest against her MAC lip gloss. She slowly peeled the hair away from her mouth.

      Ben sucked his teeth and muttered, “How well I remember.”

      She faltered, with Rob approaching from the right and Ben closing in from the left. Rob was a step ahead and her palm met his first. “Rob, I won’t take up much of your time.” She turned to Ben and couldn’t quite meet his gaze. But she saw the pulse beating above the white collar of his shirt. Her tongue had been there.

      “Zoe,” Ben said. “Long time no hear.” He made it sound as if each word weighed a hundred pounds.

      He captured her left hand and held it, leaving it up to her to take it back. Damn him.

      “Good to see you, too,” she managed. “I’m here because I need your help, please. It shouldn’t take too much time.”

      “Take as long as you need,” Ben said. The same words had been issued that night, when she’d told him it took a long time for her to come.

      Her legs seemed to have a mind of their own, but Zoe made herself stand still. The portfolio she’d been carrying slipped from her hand and papers scattered. Ben and Rob bent to retrieve them.

      There was no denying it. The twins could pass for guards on any professional basketball team. They were tall, handsome, dark-skinned men with beautiful smiles, short haircuts and big hands.

      The magic for Zoe had been in Ben’s eyes. Almost as soon as she’d looked at him the night of the party, she’d known she would know him, and once she’d heard his voice and experienced his intelligence, she’d known she’d have him. The White Linen Party had been an auction and wine-tasting party designed to raise money for local animal shelters, and Ben had bid against her several times for exotic vacations. He’d gotten so bold, he’d come to stand beside her and bid. She’d found his boldness alluring and for the remainder of the night, he’d held her rapt attention. He’d won one vacation, she’d won one and he’d taken her home.

      “Here you go,” Rob said, handing her the fallen papers, effectively bringing her back to the reason she was in his office. Ben stood, too. “This way, please.”

      Zoe followed, but remained acutely aware that Ben was behind her every step of the way. She felt his gaze on her back, hips and legs. Every time she moved she remembered what it was like to have his lips all over her. She shrugged off her shoulder bag and entered a small conference room that resembled a comfortable living room.

      “Rob, at the Young Entrepreneurs meeting you gave a lot of tips for working your business. I took a lot of your suggestions to heart, and my business tripled. That could be why I’m having the trouble I am today.”

      “Not to worry. Hood Investigations doesn’t have a near-perfect record for nothing. Some refreshments,” Rob suggested.

      Zoe helped herself to water. “Near perfect?” she queried, sitting down, crossing her legs. “That’s impressive. One got away?” She looked between the two men and a sliver of darkness passed between them that was at once hot and cold and deadly.

      “There’s always one that we’d like to have done better. But that’s it. One,” Rob said. Danger and safety commingled then retreated to their respective corners.

      “What’s going on, Zoe?” Ben asked. “I read the report and wondered why the last three break-ins hadn’t been reported to the police.”

      She put her water on the coaster and pulled out her computer. “I’m planning an expansion worth millions. I’ve been warned by the mall owner that if my loss numbers, which are theft or shrinkage numbers, don’t decrease, I’ll lose all the money I’ve invested. The owner of the mall has stated that his insurance rates increase the more incident reports the police respond to. He will not bear a greater liability because I can’t control theft in my store. If I can’t resolve this theft issue, he’ll drop my bids for future business in his malls, and I’ll lose my investment.”

      “That hardly seems fair,” Rob said. “Who is this?”

      “Mitch Turner of MT Worldwide Development.”

      “I’ve heard of them. I thought they were a reputable outfit, but this sounds questionable. Let’s back up.” Ben said. “How much have you invested already?”

      “A million and a half dollars. That’s for two additional stores. I have two now. Zoe’s Diamonds on Peachtree, and Zoe’s Diamonds at the Galleria.”

      Ben nodded. “Do you have any idea who might be breaking into your stores?”

      “No.”

      “You’ve done background checks on everyone? Staff, workmen, and the like?”

      Zoe smoothed a wide curl behind her ear. “Staff only. If we’re remodeling, then it’s the company’s responsibility to do a background check on all their employees and provide the paperwork to me. For me to do it would be cost prohibitive.”

      “That could be how you’re getting robbed.”

      “Excuse me?” Zoe turned to Ben. “If they’re going to be there five days or more, I do a background check.”

      “That’s your criteria?” Ben drummed his fingers on the edge of the table.

      “I do a standard criminal background check. A more in-depth check is counterproductive for a retail outfit. At fifty dollars a pop, I can’t afford to do a more expensive check on someone who might quit after two days.”

      “Has that happened?”

      “It happens all the time.”

      Zoe realized he was asking typical questions and reined in her defensive responses. Ben was just doing his job.

      “What’s the average salary for sales associates?” Ben asked.

      “They start at ten an hour and the highest is fifteen plus commission.”

      The room was quiet for a while and her defenses slid up again. “These people make a decent hourly wage. With expansion plans, I can’t afford to pay more right now, but we’re competitive.”

      “Zoe, you don’t have to defend your salaries.”

      “Thank you, Rob. I want to add that the bad guys seem to be one step ahead of me. A few weeks ago I forgot my purse at work and since I was only twenty minutes away I turned around and went back. In that short amount of time they’d been in and out of the store.”

      “How’d they get in?”

      “I’m not sure, but the front gate was unlocked when I got there. I’m positive I locked it before I left. It’s the last thing I do.”

      “Who has keys?” Ben asked.

      “The three opening and closing managers. I do. My father. That’s a total of five people.”

      Ben’s look was skeptical. “Your father?”

      “That’s right. Captain Anthony McKnight СКАЧАТЬ