Sweet Caroline (20 page)

Her appetite gone, Caroline pushed aside her plate. Ian was making this into a grudge match. Get the Mahoneys at all 189

Sweet Caroline

by Micqui Miller

cost.
Gosh darn it.
She mentally drew the line.
I might be a
Mahoney, too, and there's no way in hell I'm railroading any
of them.

After a deep breath, she faced him, resolute. "If the Mahoneys are guilty, I'll make a case so strong, they'll rot in prison and pay back every dime they've stolen from you. But I'm telling you right now, Ian, I think you're wrong. What's more, I'm going to prove it. I promised you the truth, and that's what I'm going to give you."

"Perfect. That's all I ask." He picked up his napkin, shook it open and laid it on his knees. "Now let's eat, shall we?

Suddenly I'm starved."

Caroline stared down at her entrée through the pounding at the back of her eyes. She had aspirin in her purse, but she doubted she'd be able to swallow even water to chase down the pills.

"Caroline, you're not eating. Is something wrong?" She raised her hand to her temple and rubbed the spot throbbing the most. "I sometimes get migraines."

"Do you take anything?"

"Mostly aspirin, sometimes prescription drugs." She picked up her handbag, opened the front flap, and ferreted among the things jammed inside. At the same time her fingertips found the aspirin bottle, her cell phone rang. She answered on the third ring. "Hello, this is Caroline."

"Hello, yourself, this is Mick."

At the sound of Mick's voice, a rush of pleasure swept through her. She had never been so glad to hear from anyone.

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With Ian watching closely, she turned away, afraid he might see the excitement in her face or hear the delight in her voice. "Hang on a sec."

"What's the matter, Caroline?" She heard his urgency and concern. "Is something wrong? Is someone there?"

"I'm in a restaurant having dinner, so I'm going to take this outside."

"Is someone bothering you?"

"No, not at all. I'll be right with you." To Ian, she said, "I have to take this call. Will you excuse me, please?" She didn't wait for his answer. She simply stood and walked away. A few seconds later, she was on the street. "Oh, Mick, I'm so glad you called. Where are you?"

"At the ranch. Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine. It's just been a long day."

"If someone hadn't charmed me into driving her around in the middle of the night, both of our days might have been better." He chuckled. "Can you hear the noise in the background?"

"Sounds like Texas Stadium during a Cowboys' game."

"Just a full scale Mahoney reunion."

"You're having more fun than I am."

"You could be here. Did you read my note?" She sucked in a steadying breath before answering. "Yes, and the locksmith gave me the new keys, too."

"I'm not talking about the locks, Caroline. I don't want you staying there alone. I want you here, with me." Desire pulled at her. "Mick, I can't."

"Why not?"

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Why not?
Because she had her living room strewn with enough evidence to start a formal investigation against his brother, because the man who hired her would stop at nothing to hurt the Mahoneys even if it meant accusing an innocent man, and because tucked away inside her suitcase, she had documents that could condemn Mick and her for the kiss they'd shared only hours ago. "There are things I have to tell you, Mick, and you don't have time to listen tonight."

"I always have time to listen to you." He sounded so sincere, his tone so intimate, so permanent, it transcended the static in their wireless connection. She almost melted right into the sidewalk.

"Oh, Mick, you don't understand." Misery hung from her every word. "If it were just that simple."

"It
is
that simple. I'm inviting you to stay at my mother's house. You'll be safe here," then he added, "even from me if that's what's worryin' you."

A long moment passed before Caroline answered. She knew Mick would never do anything she didn't want him to do. But could she trust herself?

"Mick, you'll be back soon. We can talk then. It's better this way."

"How? With you there and me here." She sensed his irritation building.

"Mick, please. You have to trust me." His voice had lost its warmth and its silken quality. "I trust you, Caroline, but it's obvious you don't trust me. I'm sorry I interrupted your dinner."

"Mick, wait. Don't hang up this way." 192

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"I've been honest with you, Caroline, but you won't stop lying to me, will you?"

"Stop it, Mick. I'll explain every..."
Click!

* * * *

"A PROBLEM?"

Caroline dragged herself back to the table and sat down. She'd taken a few minutes to compose herself, to fight the tears that were so near. "No, it was one of my friends from Dallas," she said. "Ian, I really don't feel very well." She reached inside her wallet and laid a fifty on the table. "This should cover both of our dinners."

"Put your money away, Caroline, I've already taken care of it." He stood and put an arm around her shoulders and scooped up her box of roses with his other hand. "Let's get you home. You're deathly pale."

* * * *

CAROLINE SAT IN darkness for more than hour, waiting, listening, hoping that Mick would change his mind and come home.

"Home," she whispered. Mick
was
home, with his family, with Annie. Yes, he might want Caroline, but he didn't need her. He didn't need any woman, and that's what hurt the most.

Caroline switched on the lamp and fumbled through her purse for her phone and the note where Mick had written the number of his cell.

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On the third ring, he answered. "Mick Mahoney here." She started to speak, but stopped. She had everything and nothing to say. She wanted to lose herself in his arms, to be held and loved by him until everything was right, everything that might never be right.

"Who's there? Caroline, is that you?" Before she said or did anything she might regret, Caroline pressed the End button and broke the connection. 194

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BY LATE THURSDAY morning, Caroline had gathered enough data to prove the ZyQyx Corporation was indeed under siege by a high tech bandit. Over the past twenty-four months—and in the last two weeks particularly—more than

$2.5 million had been diverted through an intricate network of bogus credit card accounts, banks, and several different computer addresses. She knew the points of origin and the transactions' final destinations. Each translated into another nail in Brian Mahoney's coffin.

Like someone had waved a magic wand, every time Caroline turned on her computer another diversion of funds revealed itself, leaving her little more to do than connect the cyber-dots. If it weren't so serious, it would have been comical. Someone was setting up Brian, someone with enough knowledge of programming and with sufficient access to the data to commit the fraud. The activity escalated almost hourly. By the end of the day, if it continued, the losses would total $3 million. Or so the plan's mastermind would think. Monday afternoon, Caroline had shadowed the hacker's program with one of her own. In its simplest form, she was interrupting the transactions and diverting the funds to a new destination at ZyQyx. Any hacker worth his salt would have seen her overlay immediately and either ceased activity or countered with one of his own. Never happened. It was almost as if they were more interested in taking the funds out of ZyQyx than using them once they had them. But who? And 195

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how would she convince Ian not to press charges against Brian? Everything she had on paper pointed directly to him. After their dinner on Sunday evening, Ian had backed off and agreed to let Caroline do her job. He'd told her to take as much time as she needed to amass the proof necessary to make charges stick once she'd identified the perpetrator. She had that proof now, not in eight weeks as she'd estimated, but in eight days.

Caroline sat back in her chair and watched the code roll. If the pattern held true, there'd be another theft in the next 45

to 90 seconds, in an amount anywhere from $100 to $300. They'd been going on since she'd signed on at six this morning, so regularly, she could have set her watch by them. She'd requested a meeting with Ian at one o'clock. That meant she had less than two hours to figure out how to keep Brian Mahoney out of jail on the eve of his wedding. Caroline ran her fingers through her tangles of curls and piled them atop her head, stretched her arms and tired muscles as she did. She'd liked Brian right off. They'd teased and joked, until it came to his job. Then he was the consummate professional.

Ramona, on the other hand, was the consummate blonde, although her hair was just this side of coal black. Twentyseven going on fifteen, she was charming, likeable and madly in love with her man. They made a darling couple. Caroline guessed Ramona would be pregnant before the year ended. No way Brian would give up everything he had and was heir to, simply to swindle his boss.

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She sat up and opened her desk drawer. She'd bought them a wedding present Monday evening, the night she'd gone shopping for a dress to wear to the wedding. She hadn't found one, and now it didn't matter. She hadn't heard from Mick, not since he'd hung up on her Sunday evening. Caroline took the elegantly wrapped gift, a desk clock they'd registered for, and set it on her credenza. She knew they'd be leaving soon, but if she gave the gift to them now, would it become a symbol of her betrayal—the Judas kiss if Ian pressed charges?

"No, I'm not going there," she said and picked up the phone.

"What's up?" Brian answered.

"Got a minute?"

"About sixty of them before we leave. Come on down." Caroline found Brian and Ramona sharing a Caesar salad and French fries at his desk. He popped to his feet and offered Caroline his chair.

"No, no, sit," she insisted. "I just wanted to give you this." She handed them the present.

"Caroline, you didn't have to do that," Ramona said, but her eyes sparkled.

"She's right, but we're awfully glad you did," Brian said with a chuckle. "Sure you won't join us?" With what she was facing at one o'clock, Caroline doubted she could keep water down, never mind a soggy French fry.

"I'm meeting with Ian in a bit and still have some things to do. I wanted to wish you a perfect wedding and a day you'll cherish forever."

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She watched Ramona and Brian exchange quizzical glances. "You're not standing us up, are you?" asked Brian.

"Mick will have a fit if you don't show up," Ramona added. Brian grimaced. "He's been driving us nuts, calling three times a day to make sure you're okay. I don't know what the heck he's so worried about, but if you're not there when the music starts, I'll be strolling down the aisle with two black eyes."

Caroline wondered if she'd heard right. "Mick's been calling you about me?"

"Are you kidding?" Ramona licked dressing off a fingertip.

"Mick said if anyone looked at you twice we were to haul you off to the ranch, even if we had to drag you."

"She's right," Brian added. "Mom's had your room ready all week."

Caroline opened her mouth, but words failed her. Mick allegedly cared enough to put his entire family on alert but not enough to call her and say hello. Hell, that made her mad.

Brian shook his head. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"I haven't heard from him."

"That's my big brother. Don't hold him against us, Caroline, we really want you there tomorrow. Mom wants to meet you, and so does Sr. Anne."

Surprised, Caroline asked, "Why?"

"Why?" Brian and Ramona answered in unison. "Mom had given up on Mick," Brian said. "You've given her new hope."

"For what?"

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"You're the first girl Mick has ever brought home. With all the weddings, baptisms, family reunions, and other things we party over, Mick's never brought a date. We don't even know who he's seeing until we hear it through the grapevine. By then, they're history anyway. This is a first."

"We're not dating," she said emphatically. "He's my landlord."

Ramona rolled her eyes. "I saw you two dancing at the party. I never danced with any of my landlords like that."

"Good thing, too," Brian said, but his loving smile showed he trusted her completely.

"No, really," Caroline protested, although she knew they didn't take her seriously, not with the grin she couldn't suppress.

"Okay fine," Brian said. "We'll pretend you don't know Mick, but we'll be crushed and take it very personally if you don't show up."

"Especially after giving us this gift," Ramona added. With one hand on her hip, and the other palm up, Caroline relented. "Okay, okay, I'll be there. Seven, right?"

"The magic hour."

On her way out of Brian's cube, Caroline turned back. "I understand you're honeymooning in Ireland. How long will you be there?"

"Ireland?" Brian looked surprised. "Did Ian tell you that?"

"I don't remember where I heard it," she fibbed.

"About a week after we set the date, Ian decided Brian needed to find his roots," Ramona said. "He offered to pay for the trip as a wedding gift." She frowned. "He knows how 199

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much we both hate flying. I'd never do it over an ocean for sure."

"We're driving down to Disneyland," Brian said. "We'll be back Wednesday or Thursday."

"Interesting," Caroline said, as much to herself as to them.

"Very interesting."