MARY ALICE RUBBED her throbbing temples. This had turned out to be the worst day of her life, absolutely the worst. First, she didn’t know where Luke was, and now she had been accused of stealing money. “I don’t understand what Luke has to do with this,” she repeated.
Lori sat in the other chair and leaned toward the teller, speaking earnestly. “Have you ever given him money?”
“Y-yes, of course, many times. He doesn’t make much, you know, and he’s been saving like crazy. But Luke and I are engaged. It’s no one’s business if I give him money.”
“More specifically,” Cody said, “did you give him two thousand dollars in October?”
“Two thousand?” Mary Alice looked at him as if he were crazy. “Of course not. Where would I get two thousand dollars?” Then awareness struck. Her lips pinched together in a tight line. “You think I stole two thousand dollars from Mrs. Trent’s account and gave it to Luke.”
“I don’t know, Mary Alice,” Cody said. “It’s just one of the many possibilities I’m exploring.”
“Well, it’s not a possibility, not even a remote one. Why would anyone think that, even for a minute?”
“I don’t like telling you this,” Lori said, “but Luke has a history of getting money from women.”
“I don’t understand any of this. How do you know that? You don’t even know Luke well.”
“I’m afraid I made it my business to find out.”
“Why, Lori, why? I thought you were my friend.”
“I am, and that’s why I made the phone calls to places Luke had worked before. I wanted to know what kind of man you’d gotten mixed up with. All down the line the story was the same. Lonely women would give him money, and he would disappear. It didn’t happen once or twice, Mary Alice. It happened many times. Luke’s nest egg was not acquired through hard work.”
Mary Alice’s hands twisted nervously. She thought of the five hundred dollars and felt her upset stomach return. But she shook free of her thoughts. She knew Luke, and she was being horribly disloyal to him by doubting him and his motives for even one second. She owed Lori and Mr. Hendricks nothing. Soon they wouldn’t be part of her life, but Luke would be everything.
“I’ve given Luke money, but I certainly didn’t steal it. I saved for years and years to get that five hundred, and…” She stopped, realizing she was giving Luke’s accusers ammunition.
She was right. Lori put a hand to her head and groaned. “Oh, Mary Alice, please tell me you didn’t…you didn’t give him your savings!”
Mary Alice’s chin came up defiantly. “He needed it to buy the ranch. He had all but five hundred, and the old rancher wouldn’t come down a penny.”
“Did Luke know you had saved five hundred?” Lori asked.
“I…guess so.”
“Didn’t it strike you as odd that he lacked exactly the amount you had in your savings account?”
“No! Why are you involved in this, Lori? This is bank business. Why would you be the one to call around and spy on Luke?”
Lori felt her face flush. “I…I heard some things about Luke that alarmed me. I was worried about you.”
“Well, I just wish everyone would leave me alone.”
Cody had been watching the exchange between the women, and something had occurred to him. The missing two thousand dollars seemed of far less importance to Mary Alice than the awful things that were being said about Luke. She appeared to be angry, not scared or worried. It was an interesting observation but one he hadn’t yet had time to analyze.
“Mary Alice,” Lori was saying, “have you actually seen this ranch Luke is buying?”
“I…no, I…”
“Where is it?”
“It’s twenty miles from Fort Worth.”
“Where is Luke now?”
“I’m sure he’s on his way back from Fort Worth. He went up there over the weekend to wrap up the deal. He’s probably already back. There’s probably a message for me downstairs.”
No, Lori thought, Mary Alice’s money was probably on its way to parts unknown. Lori wanted to kick herself. She should have warned Mary Alice the minute she had talked to Luke’s former employers. Perhaps the young woman wouldn’t have believed her, but she might have planted just enough doubt in her mind to make her think twice before giving Luke her life savings. “Oh, Mary Alice,” she moaned. “I’m sorry…so sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry for what?” The teller suddenly jumped to her feet and squared her shoulders, tossing her long blond hair as she did. Lori thought what a completely uncharacteristic gesture that was.
“I don’t have to stay here and listen to any more of this!” Mary Alice declared emphatically.
“None of the things you’re thinking about Luke are true. If someone told you they are, they’re lying.” She whirled toward Cody, eyes blazing.
“Mr. Hendricks, any time you want me to take a lie detector test, you just say the word. And in the meantime…in the meantime, I just might think about getting myself a lawyer.”
Turning on her heel, she went to the door and angrily flung it open. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. “Luke!” she cried.
Lori and Cody exchanged startled glances, then craned their necks. From where she sat, Lori saw Luke Harte uncurl from one of the chairs in the outer office.
“Hi, sugar,” he drawled with a lazy grin. “One of the tellers told me you were up here, so I thought I’d come up and wait for you.”
“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I’ve been worried sick. I couldn’t even sleep last night.”
“Hey, things took longer than I thought they would.”
“You could have called.”
Luke walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t say positively when I’d be back. What’s the matter with you anyway? Why do you have that funny look on your face?”
Mary Alice’s shoulders sagged. She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him ferociously. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.”
“Good grief, you’d think I’d been gone a month.”
Mary Alice took him by the hand. “Come in here, Luke. Just come with me. I want you to hear the terrible things they’re saying about you.”
“About me? Why would anyone be saying terrible things about me?”
She propelled him back into the office and closed the door. Luke glanced around, a perplexed expression on his face. “I sure would like to know what the hell is going on here,” he said.
Mary Alice waved a hand in Lori’s direction. “Luke, this is Lori Porter.”
“Yes, I know. We’ve met.”
Lori acknowledged the cowboy with a nod and a wan smile.
“And I think you’ve met Mr. Hendricks, my boss.”
Cody got to his feet and shook Luke’s outstretched hand. “Have a seat, young man.” When Luke was seated, Cody sat down, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Damned if he didn’t feel a headache coming on. He had no idea where all this was heading, but he had a feeling it was in no direction that he had previously envisioned.
He was wondering if there was a tactful way to get the confrontation going when Mary Alice saved him the trouble of trying. “They think I stole money from the bank, Luke,” she said.
Luke stared at her in disbelief for a second or two, then turned to Cody and chuckled. “Mary Alice? If you knew her as well as I do, you’d know she’s the last person in the world who would steal anything, much less money.”
“Actually, Luke, almost everybody in the bank was suspect,” Cody said.
“Well, everybody else might have done it, but not Mary Alice.”
Lori noticed the fond smile Luke bestowed on Mary Alice, and her hopes rose. The smile looked genuine. He was back, wasn’t he, after Mary Alice had given him her savings. Could Hank finally have come up with a dream that was pure imagination?
“They also thought you had something to do with it,” Mary Alice told Luke.
“Me?”
Cody decided he’d better take charge before this thing jumped the track. “Tell me, Luke…did someone give you two thousand dollars in October?”
“How in hell did you find out about that?”
“So someone did.”
The cowboy hesitated, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Then he relaxed and shrugged. “Maybe.”
Mary Alice gasped and turned to him, clamping her bottom lip between her teeth, but Luke didn’t look in her direction.
The hint of a smile played at the corners of Cody’s mouth. Hank, you’re incredible! “Do you mind telling me who it was?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Luke said with cool indifference. “The person in question might not like it. It was a personal matter.”
Lori studied Mary Alice and realized that all this was news to her. No matter what the outcome of all this proved to be, Mary Alice apparently was guilty of nothing but poor judgment in choosing a boyfriend. Lori was absolutely positive the teller had not withdrawn that money, and she couldn’t have been more pleased. For one thing, it renewed her confidence in her intuition.
“Luke, if you’d cooperate with us,” Cody said, “you might help us quietly clear up an important matter without having to resort to a full-scale audit.”
“Look, what you people have to resort to is your affair. I’m not going to tell you who gave me that money, so you’re wasting your breath.”
“Did you work for it?”
“You could say that. Mostly it was just a gift.”
“People are in the habit of giving you gifts in the form of money, aren’t they?”
Luke frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The woman in Amarillo. The sisters in Kerrville. And there were others. There were always lonely women around who were willing to give you large sums of money.”
Lori noticed that Luke’s unconcern seemed to slip a bit. Maybe he realized Mary Alice was hearing things he’d rather she not.
“Seems to me the people in this bank have damned little to do if investigating my past is so important to you.”
“Why did they give you money, Luke?” Cody continued the grilling, speaking in a soft, measured voice.
“Look, you might think you’re dealing with a hayseed, but I’m no dummy. I know I don’t have to answer questions like this. I don’t work for you. I haven’t done anything to you…or to anyone else, for that matter.”
“If you haven’t done anything, you shouldn’t mind answering my questions. What did you do to earn the money the women gave you?”
“Not much really.”
“Did you ask them for it?”
“No, never.”
“They just offered the money to you?”
“That’s about it.”
“You never promised them anything in return?”
“Never.”
Lori thought Luke was insufferable, but she believed him. She didn’t think he was more or less than an unconscionable opportunist. Her glance went back to Mary Alice, who looked thunderstruck.
And what was Cody doing? Treading on dangerous ground, that was what. He had no business asking these questions, and he surely knew that.
“You’ll have to forgive me, Luke,” Cody said, “but I find that hard to believe.”
“I don’t give a damn what you believe. You’re not the law.” He turned to Mary Alice and frowned when he saw the look on her face. Eyes flashing angrily, he turned back to Cody. “Okay, Mr. Banker, I’m going to give you a lesson in life, and then Mary Alice and I are splitting. We don’t have to sit here and listen to this crap.
“Look, the world is just full of people nobody pays any attention to. They don’t have anybody to talk to. Nobody ever tells ’em they look nice or cook good food. They don’t have anybody to mend a step or put a new lock on the door, and I can’t help it if most of them are women. A little bit of your time, a few kind words, run a few errands for ’em, trim a hedge, paint a garage door, and they’d give you the moon if they could. It’s kinda pitiful really.”
“Isn’t that totally unscrupulous?” Cody asked.
“Hey, like I said—I didn’t ask anyone for a thing. They all knew I was strapped for funds, and I’m not an idiot. I’ve been a working stiff all my life. My parents gave me zilch, zero. If someone says, ‘Please take this money. I’d feel so much better if you did. It would be a small token of appreciation for all you’ve done for me,’ you think I’m gonna turn it down? Get real.”
Mary Alice uttered a little whimper. Luke reached for her hand, but she jerked it away. Jumping to her feet, she glared down at him. “You’ve never trimmed a hedge or run any errands for Mama and me. For sure you haven’t painted anything for us. You’ve never so much as changed a faucet washer in our house. Is that why I never see you on Fridays? Are you out buttering up some poor lonely woman?” Whirling, she ran out of the office, her hand over her eyes.
The look Luke gave Cody was murderous. “Now see what you’ve done. I’ll have to talk till I’m blue before she’s all sweet again.”
“I didn’t do a thing,” Cody said. “Did you really buy a ranch over the weekend?”
“Man, you’ve got more nerve than anybody I’ve ever met, but since you’re so damned interested in my personal life, yes, I did.” His eyes radiated insolence as he reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew some folded papers. Shoving them toward Cody, he said, “Here’s the deed to the place. Look it over good.”
Cody barely glanced at the document before handing it back to Luke. “And you and Mary Alice are really getting married?”
Luke rolled his eyes. “How would you like it if I asked you about your love life, assuming you have one?”
“Are you?”
“Yeah…or we were. If you haven’t queered the deal, we still will.”
“Luke, may I ask you a question?” Lori’s voice cut through the tense atmosphere in the room.
Luke glared at her. “Might as well. Can’t be any worse than the ones the banker’s asking.”
“Given your reputation as…well, as sort of a drifter who doesn’t settle down…why Mary Alice?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? I fell in love, that’s why! I sure as hell didn’t plan on it. Junk happens.”
Lori took a deep breath. He fell in love. It was as simple as that. Why didn’t I ever once consider the possibility?
“Luke, I’d like to ask you one more question,” Cody said.
“Oh, good God! You never get tired, do you? Okay, what’s the question?”
“The person who gave you the two thousand dollars—is he or she associated with this bank?”
Luke shook his head. “No way am I going to answer that.”
“Were you aware that the money had been stolen from this bank?”
A moment of silence passed. Then to Cody’s and Lori’s complete astonishment, Luke burst out laughing. “Stolen? Boy, Mr. Banker, now I know you’re way off base. Shoot, Mrs. Merriwether doesn’t have to steal money. She’s loaded with the stuff.”