The Perfect Solitaire. Carmen Green

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СКАЧАТЬ I saw which was you and Flint move into my house with my ex after he and I broke up. I saw you and Flint and Charles’ new woman become virtually best friends when I could have used a sister to comfort me. You brought her to the same salon I got my hair done at, our church here in Atlanta, even my favorite dinner spots when you were visiting Mom and Dad. If you weren’t trying to rub it in my face that you were Charles’ lady’s best friend, I don’t know what else to call it.”

      Faye looked humiliated and embarrassed. “Okay, Zoe. At the time, I wasn’t a VP at the bank, I was just a manager. Flint had gotten laid off so things were getting tight. You’d always had the best and I wanted to see how the other half lived. I got carried away,” Fay offered with a shrug. “I shouldn’t have forgotten that blood is thicker than water.”

      Anger pulsed through Zoe’s veins. She was surprised that her feelings were still so strong. “Why’d you come down here, Faye? This is the last day of your vacation, and you’re here in the store with me. I’ve got an appointment. Why don’t you go spend your last day in Atlanta with Mom and Dad?”

      “Because I just want it to be us girls. I do have a lot to atone for.” Faye looked like she wanted to cry, and Zoe didn’t want to deal with her emotions today. “I just thought we could recapture some of the days of our youth. We weren’t always fighting.” She laughed and it sounded like a sob. “I see how wrong I was now that Flint and I are getting divorced. I empathize with you.”

      Zoe had felt betrayed by her sister and she wasn’t sure there was a way to recapture the days they had gotten along when they were young. “The thing about that kind of hurt, Faye, is that it doesn’t come with an expiration date. Family is supposed to stick together, and I couldn’t tell you then and I can’t tell you now who to be friends with. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

      “So you’re dismissing me?” Faye no longer sounded sincere, but hard, and Zoe wasn’t intimidated by her older sister anymore.

      “It took you years to say those words to me. I need more than three minutes to process them. What brought about this change of heart, Faye?”

      “It’s just time to bury the hatchet. I mean—” she chuckled hard. “I really do need a break from all the stress of my divorce. Maybe when this is over, you can treat me to a sister weekend away to Savannah or something.”

      The real Faye had finally shown up. Her weak attempt at an apology was really the well-crafted pitch for a free vacation. Faye’s sour face and her woe-is-me attitude only served as a reminder of her constant defection to the Nathanson side of the road, and Zoe was short on sorrow.

      “I’ve got work to do. I’m sure Daddy needs you to do something for him at the house. Why don’t you go over there and help him with his exercises?”

      Faye scoffed. “He needs a physical therapist, not a daughter.”

      “That would be me the evenings I don’t work, and Mom when she’s not teaching. But since you’re here you can pitch in.”

      Zoe left the stockroom, heading to the front of the store spraying each display case with special cleaner so that they gleamed after she wiped them. She intentionally left a cloth to see if her sister would get to work. Faye neglectfully dragged her finger along the glass and pouted as she followed Zoe.

      “It’s just one more day,” Faye said in her own defense. “Besides, I’d rather be with you. I’m more accustomed to dressing up for work at the bank than dressing down to help Dad stretch, and I can meet handsome single men, right?”

      “Yes, they come in here to shop for their fiancés. Would you stop with the finger? I just cleaned the glass. Get that cloth and wipe off all those cases, Faye. You’re making double work for me. I’ll be back.”

      Zoe paced the small stockroom, stretching her tense neck muscles. She touched every drawer, making sure all were closed that held plastic and velvet bags of earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

      If she stopped moving, she might tell Faye she’d all but written her off. Zoe stopped herself from saying the words and tried to center herself. She had a job to do and that didn’t involve Faye.

      “All done.” Faye popped in back without the cloth.

      “I’m going with Hood. If you want to help me, stay here with Ireland while she opens the store. Be an extra pair of eyes and ears. Make sure nothing happens. When I come back, we’ll have lunch and really talk this out.”

      She threw out the conciliatory bone, hoping her sister would decline. Truth be told, Zoe was tired of entertaining and paying for her assistant-vice-president-of-the-bank sister to eat out nearly every night.

      Twice she’d asked Faye to pick up the check, but her cards had been declined. Though Zoe’d asked about Faye’s money troubles, her sister had claimed her paycheck must not have been posted yet.

      “Why waste the gas going back and forth when I can just go with you? Then after the meeting, we can eat.” Faye looked around anxiously. “I can listen in on your meeting with the Hoods and be a second pair of eyes and ears. I’ve got lots of experience you don’t give me credit for. I’ve sat in on security meetings at the highest levels, Zoe. I’m an officer at the bank in Greenville. I hold an extremely high security clearance. Possibly higher than your little security people.” Faye took another look at Zoe’s face and gave up. “I’ll stay here.”

      Zoe left the store, relieved. She needed some peace from Faye’s prying eyes and constant talking. She also needed to forgive her sister, she knew that, but not right now. Right now she needed a few minutes to compose her thoughts.

      There was so much she wanted to say to Robinson Hood. She’d met him at a Young Entrepreneurs’ luncheon of Atlanta three months ago, and had been impressed with his speech about the work he and his family did. Too bad. She’d done something she’d rarely done: gone back to a man’s house.

      Since then, she’d done her research and had found out that Hood Investigations was revered by cops because they didn’t have to play by cops’ rules. Cops who would hire them if they had a problem. With that endorsement, she’d made the call.

      Rob had set up the meeting right away.

      Settling in her car, Zoe locked the doors and inhaled and exhaled the warm June air until her nerves no longer felt like the jumbled ball of rubber bands she kept in her office. She needed Hood to move fast and catch these people that were threatening her future. That’s how she’d open. Then she’d outline the facts. She programmed the address into her GPS, and planned everything else she’d say all the way to the front door with the black block letters announcing Hood Investigations, Inc.

      Opening the door, she walked inside. “I’m Zoe McKnight to see Rob Hood.”

      The male receptionist asked her to wait, and she soon saw Rob Hood.

      “Good morning, Ms. McKnight. Rob Hood.” He approached with a confident stride, his features prominent and chiseled like his brother’s, yet slightly different from Ben’s. The magnetism wasn’t there. If she wasn’t attracted to Rob Hood, she wouldn’t be attracted to Ben, who was nearly Rob’s spitting image.

      “Pleased to meet you again. Please, call me Zoe.”

      “Zoe.” Her head jerked involuntarily at the sound of his voice.

      “Ben.”

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