I didn’t understand why my aunt was so upset. We’d figure it out. The event was over two weeks away, plenty of time for Amy to cut a second check.
This time my aunt sank back into the chair. “I called her. The check’s been cashed. She asked the bank for a copy but it takes a few days since their record department is in Omaha.”
“The city uses a Nebraska bank?” Now that didn’t make a bit of sense as we had a branch of Rotary Bank just down the street. The new manager, Claire LaRue, was a frequent customer, not just for her coffee fix, but she also was a little obsessed with the New Adult books we sold. The last time she was in and bought a stack, I told her I was going to have to start putting an upper age limit on buying the books as I had to keep reordering once she visited.
“I can’t help myself,” she’d giggled. “I need something that I can dive into after a day at the bank. These types of books fit the bill.”
I smiled at the memory and then realized my aunt sat glaring at me. “What?”
“I said, the city uses the Rotary Bank just like we do, but their records department is in Omaha. I guess the overhead is cheaper there than locally.” She waved a hand, changing the subject. “That doesn’t matter. What does is the check is missing and there are only a few people who had access to the office.”
“So you checked the account online?” My head was buzzing. This couldn’t be happening.
“You think I’m an idiot? Of course I checked our account.” She blew out a hard breath. “No, we have to face the facts that someone else deposited the check into their account.”
Her implication stunned me. “You think Toby or Sasha took the check? What, like we wouldn’t miss $3000? That’s crazy. I trust them. Heck, they’ve been making bank deposits forever. If money was to go missing, it would be easier to skim off the cash.”
“Who’s to say it hasn’t already happened? Maybe they got desperate. You did say Sasha was having daycare issues, right?” Aunt Jackie leaned forward. “And Toby’s next to homeless.”
“He’s not homeless. He’s living in the shed until the sub-lease on his apartment is up.” My mind started to whirl—wasn’t that supposed to have happened already? Why was Toby still living in the shed? I turned and looked at the door separating the shop from the office.
“See, now you’re putting the pieces together.” My aunt threw the pen she’d been tapping across the desk. “I hate even thinking this, but we have to keep the best interests of the business in the forefront of our minds.”
“Look, let’s hold off convicting either one of them on circumstantial evidence until we find out about the check. I’m sure Amy will get a copy and we’ll find the money.” I nodded to the computer. “Go ahead and transfer the money out of our savings to cover the event site. We’ll put it back when the money shows up.”
“I don’t have three thousand in the savings. We almost emptied it when we bought the food truck. I told you that.”
Now my headache was screaming at me. “I thought we were getting a loan for the truck?” I did need to be more involved in the financial end. Thank goodness I’d planned on taking classes this fall. “Just in case?”
“When I talked to Claire, she advised against it. She said our interest rate on a vehicle that old would be high and if we could swing the purchase in cash, that would be a better business decision. I thought I told you that.” She clicked on some keys. “I have a couple thousand in the account, but I’ve ordered almost that in books for the event.” We’d ordered a wide variety so people could donate real books rather than only writing a check during the event.
That had been my brainchild. We’d done a successful book donation for the Bakerstown Child Care center last Christmas and I’d seen how happy people had been to share their favorite book from raising their own children. I dug in my tote for my checkbook. “How much do I need to give you to hold the business over?”
As I wrote out the check, I blessed Miss Emily for the unexpected inheritance she’d left me. Right now, the money was keeping my business afloat. I ripped the check from the holder and handed it to my aunt. “Don’t deposit this until tomorrow. I need to transfer money into that account.”
She reached for the check but I held it firmly as she met my gaze. “And don’t lose it.” Aunt Jackie’s face flushed as I released the check. Immediately, I felt bad. “Just kidding.”
We made plans to sit down on Sunday morning to go over the event details and by the time Toby stuck his head into the office, her color was better.
“Do you need me to stick around late tonight?” He looked back and forth from Aunt Jackie to me, a frown growing on his face. “Something wrong?”
My aunt took a breath and shook her head. “Nothing. Let me get this computer shut down and I’ll be out to relieve you. I don’t want you going to patrol on an empty stomach.”
Toby shrugged. “I’ve already got my order called into Lille’s for dinner. I was going to pick it up on the way home.” He looked at me. “You want a ride back?”
I glanced at my watch. Greg would be at the house in an hour. I could walk the distance home in ten minutes and it would take Toby at least that long to stop to get his food. “I’ll walk.”
Toby closed the door, but not until he divided one more look between the two of us.
I watched my aunt close the laptop. “Let’s just keep this between us. Well, us and Amy.”
She nodded. “Believe me, I don’t want to admit to anyone that I’d left money lying around, waiting to be stolen.”
“The money’s not stolen.” I left the shop hoping that my words were true.
By the time Greg arrived, I’d worked myself into a tizzy. I couldn’t believe that either Sasha or Toby would have taken money from the store. Or, for that matter, from me. I’d offered Sasha money more than once to help ease a financial problem she’d been having, but she’d always waved it off, explaining she needed to solve the problem herself. I’d been proud of her determination, I couldn’t believe now that it was all a sham.
Greg knocked on the screen but when he saw me sitting on the couch, he let himself in. “You should keep the screen locked at least. What if I’d been some drifter off the highway?”
“Then you would have killed me and put me out of my misery.” I saw the surprise flare in his eyes from my answer, so I stood and folded myself into his arms. “Sorry, I’m just worried about something.”
“Tell me, maybe I can help.” Greg stroked my hair as he held me close.
Sure, he could help. He could start an investigation on the missing money and then arrest the guilty party, which appeared to be one of our friends. Sighing, I sank deeper into the hug. “Just hold me for a minute. Then we can head down to the restaurant. I’m starving and I’m sure I’ll feel better with some food in me.”
“Whatever you need.” He tipped my head up and kissed me, long and slow. I let the warmth of his kiss seep through my body and wash away all the stress I’d felt since I’d talked to Jackie. Afterward, he gazed into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re hungry?”
I
