NATHAN SHIFTED IN his Wranglers and boots in the white pickup he’d rented, intently watching the entrance the bank. He should have listened to his gut when it told him Brendon was trouble. From their first meeting, Nathan hadn’t trusted him. Watching him walk into the bank now confirmed his suspicions.
Sliding out of the driver’s seat, he followed Brendon into the bank, watching as the other man sat down at a desk and waited for an account manager. Nathan walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Morning, Brendon. What brings you here?”
Brendon spun and rose to his feet. “What are you doing here? I thought you left.”
“I did.” Nathan settled into the chair next to Brendon and let a smile curve his lips. “And now I’m back.” He leaned back in the chair as if preparing for a long visit. “You know, it’s odd that we should show up here at the same time.”
Brendon sat back down, one brow raised in question. “I think it’s odd to see you here at all, City Boy. What happened? People didn’t buy your bullshit urban cowboy act, so you had to come back here to try to look important? Sorry, we don’t have enough money around here for your kind of white-collar criminal.”
Nathan’s smile widened slowly as he met Brendon’s anxious gaze. The accountant wasn’t nearly as confident as he wanted Nathan to believe he was. Nathan could almost smell the fear seeping from his pores.
“You know, it’s funny you, of all people, should mention white-collar criminals.” He slid a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone and a business card, shifting his eyes from the card back to Brendon’s face. “Contrary to what you told Justin, my name is clear and my record is clean as a whistle, but thanks to my father’s case, I’ve been in close contact with federal investigators.”
“So?”
“They were pretty cooperative when I asked them to look into what appeared to be someone embezzling from Heart Fire Ranch.”
He watched Brendon’s face redden as he shifted in his chair. The man refrained from commenting, but Nathan saw his fingers grip the arms.
“When they contacted the local authorities and suggested we set up a sting, I was more than willing to do whatever I could, as well as provide any resources I had to protect Jessie.”
He punched a button on his phone and played back a recording of Brendon on the phone with Nathan’s secretary while she pretended to be a bank representative. Brendon paled, his mouth falling open, as he heard the woman inform him there was trouble with the Heart Fire Industries account and that she needed the account holder to come in to correct the error.
“Which brings us back to this bank and your business here.” Since the meeting with Brendon and Trevor, Nathan had suspected the accountant of routing money from Jessie’s ranch into his own hands. He was the only one with the ability to hide the crime without creating suspicion. Nathan pressed several buttons on his phone, dialing the number on the card but not putting the call through just yet.
“You think I’m the one taking money from Heart Fire.” Nathan noticed it wasn’t a question or a denial of culpability. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” Nathan leaned forward in his seat. “The account holder is told to come solve and issue with Heart Fire Industries, and here you are. That account is now nearly emptied out. But, of course, you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“What?” This time, Brendon paled. “No, there’s nearly fifty thousand in that account.”
“Not anymore.”
Brendon was on his feet, flagging down an account representative, dragging the disgruntled employee back to the desk. “I need you to look up this account.” The bank employee eyed Nathan who remained rooted to his spot, phone still in his hand. “Now! What in the hell are you waiting for, you imbecile? Do it now!”
Either Brendon was a tremendous actor or he had no idea the account had been emptied. Nathan didn’t think he was faking his frantic state.
“Sit down, Brendon,” Nathan ordered. “The man will do his job better without you screaming in his face.” He sent the call and put the phone to his ear. “We need some assistance at First National.”
“Who are you calling? The police?” Brendon’s eyes shot toward the front doors as if contemplating his escape.
“I don’t think so,” Nathan said into the phone, ignoring Brendon’s questions. “Let’s find out what’s going on before we call in the troops.”
“You don’t understand.” Brendon ran a hand through his hair. “I . . . he said . . . ”
“Who said?” Brendon had his attention now. There was no doubt Brendon had set up the account and the money transfers that had nearly sent Jessie into bankruptcy, but his reaction to this news made it clear there was someone else involved.
“Sir, this account had a final withdrawal yesterday and is showing a zero balance. There are also no pending deposits, per your request. Now,” he said, glaring at the two men at his desk, “if you don’t mind, I was helping a customer.”
Nathan nodded and saw two officers enter the building. Brendon had buried his head in his hands, muttering, as Nathan rose and motioned for the officers. “Brendon, you might want to call your father, or a good defense attorney.”
“What? No!” He jumped up from the chair. “Wait, it wasn’t me!” The officers reached for Brendon’s arms, twisting them behind him roughly as they clipped a set of handcuffs over his wrists.
“Brendon Gray, you have the right to remain silent.”
Nathan walked toward the front door, wanting to feel satisfaction now that Brendon was in custody. But hearing that almost fifty thousand dollars had been stolen from Jessie made his heart sink. The chance of them ever seeing that money again was slim. He’d failed her after all. He was too late.
“HEY, JESS! I heard some interesting news today in town.” Bailey breezed into the office, eyes alight with mischief, and plopped into the chair in front of Jessie’s desk as Moose trotted up and dropped his head in her lap for attention.
She barely looked up from the computer and the pile of receipts and invoices that seemed to never end. She really needed to spend some time figuring out this computer program. Nathan could’ve helped—
Stop! she warned herself. Thoughts of Nathan only led to tears.
“I don’t need to hear gossip, Bailey. Don’t we get enough of it in this town without you spreading it?”
“You don’t even want to know when it’s about Heart Fire?”
Bailey had her full attention now. “What about the ranch?”
The last thing she needed was people talking about her. She was in the black for the first time in over six months, thanks to Nathan. Enough that she’d been able to convince Jennifer to let her hire Mitch and Clint full time. She didn’t want to risk anything driving them away, especially small town gossip.
“Brendon Gray was arrested.”
Jessie’s eyes widened in surprise, and she dropped her pen. “What?”
“Thought you didn’t want to know,” Bailey teased, laughing.
“This isn’t funny, Bailey. What was he arrested for?”
“Embezzling.” A knot began to tighten in Jessie’s belly, fear gripping her, coiling around her chest as she waited for Bailey to go on. “From what I hear, Nathan nailed his ass to the wall right there in the bank.”
Her heart dropped to her toes. Nathan? He was here? When had he arrived? Why hadn’t he come to the ranch?
“Once they started questioning him, he started singing like a bird. Keeps insisting he was set up.”
“Wait, go back to the beginning. Nathan is here, and Brendon’s been embezzling money? From us?”
“Yes, yes, and apparently.” Bailey slapped her hands against her knees and stood up. “Justin canceled his afternoon appointments and closed up the clinic to head into town to meet with Uncle Trevor. He wants to see what all of this is about and what sort of ramifications it might have.”
“Where’s Julia? We need to get into town.”
Bailey shrugged. “She’s not home, so she probably took the dogs out on some training exercise. Do you want me to drive?”
“No, stay and wait for Julia. Then you two meet us in town. I’ve got to find Justin.” Jessie hurried into the kitchen and snatched her keys and purse from the counter. “Tell Mitch and Clint to just finish working the two mares, and I’ll be back later.”
“Jess!” Bailey chased her down the front steps of the porch. “You realize what this means, right?”
She nodded. “Justin was wrong.”
Bailey’s smiled spread even wider. “It also means Nathan kept his promise to you.”
“We’ll see.”
ALL HELL WAS breaking loose in the small sheriff station when Jessie finally made her way inside. Two deputies tried to calm Uncle Trevor as he threatened everyone within a five-foot radius with slander and libel lawsuits if any rumors left the building. He should have known it was already spreading through the entire town. Several people had stopped Jessie on her way inside to ask if she’d heard. She could see Brendon holed up in the sheriff’s office with his head in his hands, while Nathan leaned against a doorway as Uncle Trevor continued his barrage.
“Jessie, thank goodness you’re finally here! Will you please explain to Deputy Dip-shit over here that Brendon has been acting in your family’s best interest and that you weren’t taken advantage of. This man,” he said, flinging his hand in Nathan’s direction, “seems to think Brendon has been stealing money from the ranch. I think with his background, Officer, you should be checking his credentials and handcuffing him in that office instead.”
She’d never seen her uncle so worked up. He was always in control and never lost his cool; however, right now, he looked ready to pull his salt and pepper hair from his head.
“Sir, please relax. Your client needs you right now, and if you can’t settle down, I think you need to recuse yourself from this case,” the deputy said.
Nathan looked hard as steel, his eyes barely registering any tenderness as they took in her presence. “That would probably be best anyway, Gray. Seems like this might be a conflict of interest.”
Uncle Trevor shot daggers at him, lunging toward the doorway, only stopping when the deputy wrapped an arm around his chest and forcibly pulled him away. “That’s it! Into this room.” The deputy pushed her uncle into one of the other smaller offices as Justin came running into the office, pushing his way past her, freezing when he saw Nathan.
“What in the hell, Nathan?” Justin spun to face her. “Please, tell me you’re not a part of this.”
“I just got here. I don’t even know what’s going on.” She turned back to Nathan. “What is going on?” Jessie looked from one man to the next, waiting for someone, anyone, to provide some sort of answer.
Nathan pushed himself from the doorframe and ambled toward them. Jessie clenched her jaw.
Was he seriously going to strut toward her like he had nothing to prove? Like some sort of superhero who’d just rescued the damsel in distress? She might be itching to throw her arms around him, to feel him under her hands, but she wasn’t about to tolerate this macho bullshit from him any more than she would from her brother.
“Does this look like an Old West shoot out? Spit it out already, Maverick. I don’t have all day.”
The corner of his lips curled into a grin and that damn dimple sunk into his cheek. “I’ve missed you, Jess.”
Her heart might have done several flips in her chest at his words and the way her name slid from his lips. Not to mention the way the green in his eyes seemed to skim over her from head to toe, heating every inch of her along the way, but he didn’t need to know any of that. She folded her arms and cocked her hip to the side, waiting for him to answer.
“You had our accountant arrested for embezzlement?” Justin’s voice was strained, and Jessie could tell he was aching for a fight.
“Brendon is CFO, and the only person with access to the Heart Fire Industries account, the only person who could touch that money. He was the only person able to access funds from each one of you, and now, the Heart Fire Industries account is empty. If he diverted those funds, Justin, that’s embezzlement, whether you trust me or not.”
Jessie noticed Nathan wasn’t quite able to keep the hurt from his eyes at the thought of Justin not having faith in him. She looked at her brother. He was torn, and she could understand why. He’d known Brendon since they were kids, but what else was it going to take to convince him Brendon had lied?
“Is this about Jessie?”
And again, it was none of his business who she dated. She turned to her brother and shoved a hand against his chest, knocking him back a few steps.
“About me? Why would anything be about me? It’s always about you and Julia or the ranch. Nothing is ever about what I want.” She pushed against his chest again. “What goes on between me and Nathan is none of your business. I don’t remember asking for your permission, Justin. Whether you realize it or not, I’m an adult woman who makes her own choices. The way Mom and Dad taught me.”
Justin looked down at her and grabbed her wrist gently. “Jess, you don’t know what you want or need.” His sweet, mocking tone made her feel like a child, and she was done with him treating her like she needed his help.
“Don’t ‘Jess’ me. I didn’t ask you to take Dad’s place. I love you, but that’s something you can’t do.” She jerked her wrist away from him, angry tears filling her eyes. “Why can’t you see I don’t need your protection?”
“Because you do,” Nathan moved closer to where she stood.
“You have no right to be involved in this discussion at all.” She turned on him. “You lied.”
“I didn’t—”
She held up a hand. “It may have been a simple omission to you, but you didn’t tell me about your family. I trusted you.”
“I know you did. I just didn’t know where things were going between us.” His eyes flicked toward her brother and back. “How was I supposed to bring up something like that?”
She looked between Nathan and Justin. “What is it with the two of you?” She slapped her brother’s arm. “You think you need to guard me like a vestal virgin.” She shook her head. “Guess what? This isn’t the Roman Empire, and I’m not a virgin.”
“Jess!”
“And you’re so worried about what Justin will think that you can’t make a decision. You need to grow a pair. Maybe stand up to my brother. Unless you lied, and this really was just a fling to you.”
Jessie turned to Deputy Chase McKee, who looked confused by their family drama. The poor guy had known Jessie and Justin forever and had just returned to the force. Jessie wondered if he wasn’t getting far more than he bargained for. “Do whatever you need to: press charges, book Brendon, whatever. Let these two handle everything. It seems to be what you do best anyway. I have a ranch to run.”
Jessie walked out of the office, leaving every man in the building staring after her, and for once, she didn’t care one bit if it made her the family failure. This time, if she failed, it would be on her own terms, and she would do it splendidly.
“SHE CAN’T DO that,” Trevor yelled, as he rose from the desk. “Justin, you need to talk some sense into her.”
Justin looked from Nathan to the father and son, both cuffed like common criminals. “Let’s figure out what’s going on.” Nathan nodded and headed toward the office where Brendon waited with the sheriff, but Justin stopped him with his hand. “You better believe I’m going to kick your ass for hurting my sister when this is over with.”
“You already did,” Nathan argued.
“Then I’ll do it again.” Justin said, not leaving any further room for argument. He sat on the edge of the sheriff’s desk and let Nathan take the chair. Then he addressed Brendon “I don’t know what’s going on, but as your friend, man, seeing how your dad is losing it in the next room, you might want to appoint someone else.”
Brendon ran his shackled hands through his hair, hitting himself in the forehead. “I didn’t do this. Not really.”
“Wait,” Nathan warned, glancing back at the sheriff. “Do you want your father in here?”
“Don’t say anything, son, until I can make some calls.” Trevor’s voice carried through the thin walls of the offices, while they could see the deputy trying to calm him again.
“I don’t need an attorney. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Brendon’s voice was tired, but it didn’t stop the sheriff from pulling out a pad of paper and a small recorder.
“Then tell me what happened, Brendon, because I really don’t want to believe you’d do this.” Justin shook his head, disappointment showing.
“Before your parents went on their trip, your dad came in and said he wanted me to open an account and to set up recurring transfers from the ranch equal to fifty percent of the monthly income. He just said it was to help Jessie down the road and that he’d explain more once the companies were incorporated. Something about rescuing horses.” He buried his head into his hands again. “But then they were killed. I never touched that money, Justin.” He looked up at all three men. “Not once in the six months the account was open. I should have said something but, honestly, I forgot about it until this guy came asking questions.”
“Jessie was drowning in debt, almost declaring bankruptcy, and you forgot about the account?” Nathan knew he sounded dubious, but the man’s story was asinine. “This is just your word against a dead man’s.”
Brendon shook his head, slowly. “No, my father knew. He set up the incorporation. He and your father were the first ones on the board of directors. After the trip, they were going to add the three of you. And I’m not the only one with access to the account; I’m just the first listed because I’m the CFO. Justin, you’ve got to believe me, man. You’re like a brother to me.” He looked up at Justin with watery eyes full of regret. “And you know how I feel about Jessie. I would never do this to her.”
Nathan’s jaw clenched at hearing Brendon even mention her name. He gripped the arm of the chair to keep from pulverizing the man.
“I think we need to have a chat with Trevor.” The sheriff’s voice broke through the rage blinding Nathan. “Maybe he can shed a little light on this situation.”
“I don’t need light; I need air. The stench of bullshit is beginning to choke me.” He rose and walked out of the office, the glare of the sunlight reflecting off the windshields of cruisers, nearly blinding him.
He leaned against one of the cars and took a deep breath, the heated air of late spring rife with car exhaust nearly choking him. Or maybe it was the fact that his accusation against Brendon wasn’t going to hold up in light of the man’s recent confession. Someone had stolen that money from Jessie, and he hadn’t been fast enough or smart enough to stop it before it happened. He slammed the heel of his hand against the car’s hood and stood, raking his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Damn it!”
“You know, I don’t think you need a vandalism charge with everything else on your plate right now.”
Nathan spun, his pulse speeding up at the sound of Jess’s voice. “I thought you left.”
“I did.” She shrugged. “But I came back.”
“Why?”
He wanted to tell himself to shut up, to stop asking questions and just be grateful for her return, but his mouth operated without consulting his brain. The same way his feet moved without his acknowledgment. Nathan buried his hands into her hair, not waiting for an answer, and sought her mouth. He didn’t need to hear the words from her; he could feel it in the way her body melted against him, in the sigh that left her lips, in the way her hands moved over his back, hungry for him.
“Jess,” he whispered, pulling back only far enough to lean his forehead against hers. “I left to keep you from getting hurt. My father’s a criminal. He’s been stealing money and hiding it in offshore accounts all my life. He saw you as a threat to his operation and said if I ever returned here, he’d destroy your family. I was young and stupid and powerless to stop him if he carried through on his threat. So I let go of you and tried to convince myself I’d done the right thing.”
His thumb traced her cheekbone. “But when Justin called, I couldn’t let the ranch go under. Not if I could help. And since I’m telling you everything, when I went back, he wanted me to help him falsify his books, but I refused. I never actually lied to you.”
His hands curved around her jaw, his thumb caressing the hollow of her cheek. He needed her to believe him.
She smiled up at him, her hands covering his. “Nathan, thank you for telling me the truth about your family, but as for the lying, let’s mutually agree you walked a fine line in a gray area.”
“I should have known you’d have to have the last word.” He smiled down at her, relieved. “I should have told you.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You should have, but—”
Trevor pushed open the door of the station as one of the deputies followed him and Brendon outside. He had a broad, evil grin on his lips when he turned toward Nathan. “Well, looks like the charges against Brendon were dropped. Prepare yourself for a lawsuit, Mr. Kerrington. It’s going to be an expensive one.” He looked past Nathan to Jessie and shook his head. “Your father would be so disappointed.”
Nathan felt the agony come off Jessie in waves, and the fact that this man would say something so deliberately cruel and hurtful infuriated him. He wasn’t about to let it happen. “Sue away, Gray. I have the truth and million-dollar lawyers at my disposal. I doubt we’ll lose. You, on the other hand . . . ” Nathan shrugged.
Trevor laughed. “Then, by all means, take your best shot, young man. I’d be glad to drag this out long enough that you end up with nothing left. Not to mention how the world would love to hear about the financial tycoon who went after a frail old man living on nothing but his retirement. You play chess, Mr. Kerrington? This is what we call, ‘check.’ ”
Nathan took a step toward the old man as Justin stepped between them. “Don’t. Not now,” his friend muttered. “Let’s go back to the ranch.”
“It will really be a shame to see another Kerrington reputation go down in flames.”
“Ride with me, Nathan.” Justin ordered. “We need to talk.”
Jessie looked up at him, worry creasing her brow, but Nathan knew his friend, and there was a wide chasm between them now that needed to be bridged. Jessie might have said differently, but Nathan knew, as much as Justin’s accusation had wounded her, she adored her brother and longed for his approval.
“I’ll meet you at the ranch, okay?” He pressed his lips to hers briefly. “We’ll finish our discussion then, too.”
She chewed at her lower lip. It might have been less than a week, but he needed this woman. Unfortunately, right now, her hulking linebacker of a brother stood between them. He walked Jessie to her truck and went back to meet Justin in front of the police station.
“Excuse me, Mr. Kerrington?” A deputy met him at the front of Justin’s truck. “Could we speak with you for a moment?”
“Go ahead,” Justin said. “This can wait until you’re finished.”