Chapter 8



"Thank you for coming in, Mrs. Jernigan. I'm afraid we've had a rather disturbing morning," said Carlton Whittaker, president of Dade Savings and Loan. He dabbed at his forehead with his breast pocket handerchief as he ushered her down a hallway off the lobby.

"You remember Jonah Tompkins, senior vice president?" A tall, thin man stood as they entered Whittaker's office. His eyes darted nervously from Whittaker to Natalie.

"Of course. How are you?" asked Natalie.

Whittaker indicated an overstuffed chair in front of his enormous desk. Natalie dropped into it.

"Look, I know Jeff's in some kind of trouble. I've already had a run-in with the feds this morning so whatever you have to say can't be any more shocking."

Tompkins sucked in a breath. "We were hoping you could provide some answers. Jeff failed to meet his clients in Zurich and the authorities say there's no record of him even boarding his flight from Miami. Do you know where he is?"

Natalie glared at the man. "Trust me, if I knew where he was I'd be the first one asking questions! I've been threatened at gunpoint and treated like a common criminal today!"

Whittaker cleared his throat. "Was Jeff, uh, I don't know how to put this delicately, was he depressed about anything? Would he . . . "

"Would he kill himself?" Natalie finished for him. "Don't be ridiculous. But he may wish he was dead when I find him and get to the bottom of this shit!"

Whittaker recoiled as if he'd been slapped. "Now, now, you have to stay calm. We have to stay calm."

"I want to look in his office," said Natalie. She picked up her purse and stood.

"Wait, please!" said Whittaker. "There's something else." He slid a piece of paper across the desk. "The FBI froze your accounts until their investigation is resolved."

"They what?" Natalie snatched up the paper and quickly read it. "Those bastards!"

"I'm sorry, Natalie. Truly I am," stammered Whittaker. "Jeff had such a bright future here at Dade. I can't imagine what's happened."

Natalie glared at the two men, then marched out of the office and around the corner to Jeff's office. Desk and file drawers stood open and the files were in disarray. His computer hard drive was missing and the phone was unplugged. The bamboo plant that normally sat on the credenza lay on the floor with dirt spilling out.

The final insult was the broken picture frame on the bookshelf. Natalie picked it up. A smiling vacation photo of the two of them looked back at her. She studied it for a moment. Twenty-four hours ago her life was normal. Now it seemed like a bad movie-of-the-week.


**

The Next Day

Natalie perched on the high stool beside her best friend Liza's jewelry kiosk in the mall.

"I really appreciate this, Nat," said Liza as she herded her snow-white poodle into his carrier. "Grover's way overdue for his haircut. Not to mention Katie keeps bugging me for new ballet slippers."

"Hey, no problem. What else do I have to do? My husband's vanished, my house is trashed, and my money's frozen. This is better than crying in my beer." Natalie blinked rapidly to ward off the tears.

Liza straightened and frowned. "You don't even like beer." She gave Natalie a reassuring hug. "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry. Things will get better. You'll see."

Natalie wasn't so convinced. "Maybe. I know one thing, there'll be hell to pay when Jeff turns up."

"You go, girl," chuckled Liza. "That sounds more like my friend." Liza's smile faded and she shook her head. "Honestly, I just can't believe all of this is happening to you."

"Tell me about it." Natalie took a sip of her diet soda.

A cell phone chirped deep within Liza's bag. She pulled it out and checked the display. "Ballet class is over. Gotta go. I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours."

"Go. I think I can sell jewelry for that long without having a nervous breakdown," said Natalie.

Liza hoisted the carrier as Grover growled. She started toward the exit with a wave.

Mall traffic was slow. Natalie half-heartedly worked a crossword puzzle. She smiled pleasantly whenever someone approached the kiosk, but nobody was in a buying mood. Maybe when Liza returned she'd wander over to the food court for an artery-clogging cheeseburger and fries and people-watch for a while. That way she could postpone thinking about the sorry state of her life.

An hour passed. Natalie sold a necklace and matching bracelet to an elderly woman. "My granddaughter is graduating from middle school," she beamed.

"How nice. I hope she'll enjoy these," Natalie said as she put them into a little box.

The woman moved off. Behind Natalie's back came the sound of two little girls chattering. She swiveled on the stool and her jaw dropped. Less than twenty feet away was Paolo. The girls apparently belonged to him.

He looked like he'd just come from work, minus his jacket and shoulder harness. His tie was loosened and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. She'd never pictured Paolo as a family man. A playboy with multiple girlfriends, yes. She didn't remember seeing a wedding band. Probably divorced. He was so arrogant and bossy who could tolerate living with him? The direction of Natalie's thoughts surprised her. She chalked it up to stress.

The little girls were twins, but not identical. The slightly taller one wore a pink tee shirt with a sequined flower design. Her ebony hair and blue eyes were an exact replica of Paolo's. The shorter one also had ebony hair, but her eyes were chocolate-brown. Her tee shirt matched her sister's except that it was purple.

"Look, a butterfly!" squealed the pink-shirted one. The girls bent their heads to examine the various necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.

Paolo strode up to the kiosk. Natalie scowled. "I'm still waiting for that update."

Paolo glanced at the girls to be sure they were occupied. "Nothing to report at the moment."

"Oh, nothing other than the fact that my accounts are frozen?" Natalie knew she should not draw him into an argument in front of his kids, but her frustration was at a breaking point.

"Don't take it personally. That's standard operating procedure. If you like, you can come by the office tomorrow to discuss any concerns."

"You couldn't have warned me yesterday?" Natalie demanded.

"I'm a cog in the machine. I take orders like everybody else."

"Damn," muttered Natalie.

The girls gasped and purple shirt piped up, "You said a bad word!" Then they giggled.

Paolo tried hard not to smirk as Natalie blushed. "Yes, I did. I'm sorry," she said to the girls.

Then to Paolo she added, "I didn't mean to offend your daughters."

More giggling from the girls. "They're my sister's kids," he said. "Sofia in the pink and Serena in the purple. Today's their birthday."

"We're eight years olds!" They vibrated with excitement.

"But I'm two minutes older," asserted Sofia.

Natalie couldn't hide her surprise. "You don't say."

"Can I try this one on?" asked Serena.

"Sure. That's one of my favorites," said Natalie. She slid off the stool to open the clasp of a dragonfly necklace.

Paolo let his eyes roam over Natalie. Today her short, brown hair was combed and she was clad in a mint-green sleeveless blouse, white capri pants, and sandals. She'd gained only a few pounds since high school and all of them in the right places. Her wedding rings were absent, but she wore small pearl earrings and a Cartier watch. That alone would have cost Jernigan a small fortune. Paolo wondered again why the fool would jeopardize his marriage to this beautiful woman.

Better not to think too much about Natalie as a woman, decided Paolo. That was getting into dangerous waters. He checked his watch. "Sofia, hurry up and decide on something. Your mom's expecting us back by six-thirty."

The girls made their selections of matching necklaces and earrings. Paolo handed his credit card to Natalie, their fingertips brushing. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you Uncle Paolo's girlfriend?" asked Sofia.

"No. Why would you think that?" Natalie was shocked by the question.

"He kept staring at you while we were eating ice cream a while ago," said Sofia.

"Yeah, and he even took a picture of you with his phone," added Serena.

Paolo frowned down at them. "I was checking messages from work."

Serena shook her head. "No way! It makes that funny noise when you take a picture."

"Nonna says he should find a nice girl and settle down. What does that mean?" asked Sofia, her face all innocent.

"It means . . . " Paolo's cell phone rang. He looked at the ID and groaned. Work. "It means I need to take you guys home now."

Natalie glared at him. "Saved by the cell."