Chapter Ten

Kate settled down in front of one of the library computers. Several people had been downstairs browsing the shelves, but it was blissfully empty on the second floor, and she turned her thoughts to her task.

Jessica had told Kate she wasn’t ready to involve the police. Did she, deep down inside, suspect Trace? Had Monica’s accusation planted any doubt in her mind?

Please don’t let it be Trace, Kate prayed as she logged on to the Internet. Then she amended her prayer. If Trace had stolen Jessica’s money, he needed to be caught, and Jessica needed to know the truth. If not, he needed to be cleared. “Please help me discover the truth. Amen,” she whispered out loud.

Kate pulled the printouts from her last visit to the library out of her purse and smoothed the crumpled edges. She scanned the article for Art Franklin’s name, typed it into the search window and waited.

Nothing came up. Keep looking, Kate reminded herself. She typed “Appomattox Commercial Bank Corporation” into the search engine and found the bank’s Web site. The bank had branches all over the Southeast. Kate decided to jot down e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for all the branches in case she had no luck tracking down Art Franklin through the Lynchburg branch.

The bank site had a calendar of community events. Kate was impressed by all the charities the institution supported. A list of events included a 5K race for cancer, a blood drive, a bowl-a-thon to raise money for a local firefighter who’d been burned, the Special Olympics, and Secret Santa Christmas projects.

Kate remembered Trace mentioning the Special Olympics. He’d included donations to the organization in his budget and said he’d been supporting it for some time. She didn’t know if it meant anything, but she filed that thought away for consideration.

Then Kate remembered seeing Jessica and Brian out riding horseback. How did Brian fit into all this? She searched for his name and found pages and pages of referrals to Brian Levy, owner of Arroyo Robles Thoroughbred Ranch in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Clicking on the ranch’s site, Kate found pictures of beautiful, proud horses for sale or breeding. The ranch offered boarding, training, and stud service. A list of champions attested to the ranch’s success, and a picture of a large indoor arena showed horses being led around a ring.

She clicked on the home page and gasped. The page listed the ranch’s owners as George and Brian Levy and Gordon Mackenzie. Kate stared at Gordon’s name. That little fact changed the picture.

Bertie had mentioned that Brian and his father had a horse ranch, and Brian had been in town to discuss horses with Gordon, but she hadn’t realized that Gordon actually owned a stake in Brian’s business. With Gordon’s hand in the pot, there was much more going on than Brian and his father simply boarding and training Gordon’s horses.

Was Brian pursuing Jessica because of business interests? Marrying into the family could certainly change his whole situation. Kate pictured Brian and the way he had looked at Jessica in church on Sunday. Was his interest in Jessica genuine? Or was it strictly practical? Either way, marrying her would be to his advantage, but Jessica was now out of his reach unless he could convince her that Trace was a thief.

Kate stared at the screen for a minute, then gathered her information and went downstairs. Livvy was in her office. The door was open, so Kate stuck her head through the entry.

“Hi, Liv. How’s your day going?”

“Good. Slow.” She laid a pen down on her desk. “Got time for coffee? I need a break.”

“Always.”

Livvy rose, and Kate followed her to the employee break room. They helped themselves to the rich brew and sat at the small table with their mugs.

“How did the dress fitting go?” Livvy asked, inhaling the soft steam that rose from her mug. “Is Amelia’s wedding dress going to work for Jessica?”

“It’s going to be beautiful.” Kate took a sip of coffee and let the hot liquid slide down her throat. “Her cousin Kristin had an odd reaction, though. I gather her tastes are more like Monica’s.”

“Really? She loved the frilly dresses Amelia used to buy for her when she was little. She always dressed exactly like Jessica, as if they were twins.”

“They don’t seem to have the same style these days,” Kate said, thinking about the red watch and Jessica’s penchant for pink. And Kristin had eyed all the designer dresses with avid interest, while Jessica hadn’t liked any of them.

“No, I guess not. Isn’t it interesting how people change?” Livvy ran a finger around the rim of her mug. “The Mackenzies always treated Kristin like a daughter. Jessica and Kristin would enter events at the county fair together. Kristin rode fast and jumped high and always placed, but Jessica was the one chosen Fair Junior Queen, then Queen. She’d win top ribbons in every event.”

“It must have been tough for Kristin to always feel like she was in competition with her cousin.” Kate stared down at her coffee. “What happened to Kristin’s parents?”

“Kristin’s mother is a single mom. She’s Gordon’s sister. After Amelia died, I think he hoped that sending her to boarding school with Jessica would help Kristin adjust to her loss.”

No wonder Kristin seemed jealous of Jessica. She was the poor relative nearly forced to be Jessica’s companion. Gordon might not have meant it that way, but young girls were sensitive.

“Things will change after Jessica gets married,” Livvy said. “Their lives will go in different directions.”

“Which should be good for both of them,” Kate added. She had watched Kristin vie with Jessica for Brian’s attention. Just how far would she go to compete with Jessica?

“APPOMATTOX COMMERCIAL BANK,” a voice answered. “How may I direct your call?”

“Hello. I’d like to speak with Art Franklin, please,” Kate said. She sat at the kitchen counter, a notepad beside her on one side and a cup of tea on the other.

“Do you know his extension?”

“No. I believe he works in the encoding department.”

“I’ll transfer your call. Have a good day,” the voice said. The phone went to a recorded message describing all the services the bank offered. The message repeated once, then elevator music came on. Kate tapped a pen on the counter as she waited on hold.

After a few minutes, a man’s voice came on. “Encoding Department. Ted speaking.”

“Hi, Ted. My name is Kate Hanlon, from Copper Mill, Tennessee. I need to speak with Art Franklin, please.”

“Art doesn’t work here anymore.”

“Oh. Do you know how I can reach him?”

“Sorry. I couldn’t give out that information if I did know, but I don’t. I think he moved out of town.”

“Oh. Well, thanks anyway. In case you should run across him, will you take my number and pass it on?”

“Sure. Haven’t seen him in two years, but I’ll hang on to it.”

Kate left her name, phone number, and e-mail address, just in case, then hung up.

She tried the other branches of the bank but got the same response. Art Franklin no longer worked for the bank, and no one knew where he was.