DANIEL LOOKED AT THE STACK OF LOAN APPLICATIONS on his desk and thought about Destiny. Trying not to think about her was a futile activity. In a short time, she’d come to touch every aspect of his life. He looked again at the stack of applications. She had been right to go through the deacons and other church leaders to identify families who might be helped by a loan. The quickness with which the applications had been returned was a testament to how much the loan program was needed. He only wished he could focus on them. He’d probably been through the stack twice. Why did he even bother? He was going to fund them all anyway.
Now that that was settled he let his thoughts freely go to their chosen destination: Destiny. He hadn’t liked the way he had left things between them in California. At first, he’d thought he should have fought harder to stay out there with her and help her work through whatever she had to work through about their relationship. Now though he recognized the wisdom in her decision.
“How was Memphis?”
Daniel looked up at the sound of Gavin’s voice. “Hey,” he said, welcoming the interruption. “Come on in.”
Gavin walked fully into the room. “So how was it? Did the trip help keep your mind off Destiny?”
Daniel looked up at his friend. “That wasn’t the purpose of the trip.”
Gavin only grinned. He took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. “It was either that or you were avoiding Natalie.”
“Why would I avoid Natalie?”
Gavin chuckled. “Because she’d hound you for an update on your relationship with Destiny. We’ve noticed that you two have been seeing a lot of each other. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hound you about it. I’ll leave that to Natalie. I want to hear about Memphis and the guys.”
Daniel looked at his friend and knew that it was time to tell him the truth. “I misled you about the reason I went to Memphis, Gavin. It wasn’t a social visit, it was work.”
“What work? Were you doing something related to the financial programs you’re planning?”
He shook his head. “Not that kind of work.” He sighed deeply. “There’s something I need to tell you. I wanted to tell you when I first got to town.”
“Tell me what?”
“About the case I’ve been working on for GDW Investigations since I’ve been here.”
Gavin leaned forward in his chair. “Case? I thought you stopped that work when Gloria became ill.”
“I did, but George and William asked me to take on one last case when I came to Atlanta. It was a fraud investigation involving a temporary services business. A lot of good people have gotten caught up in the scam. They were offering high-paying jobs as a cover for a money-laundering and identity-theft crime ring.”
“Sounds serious, but why all the secrecy?”
“This is a wide-reaching scam and George and William were concerned that some members of your congregation might be involved.”
Gavin’s eyebrows shot up. “I know George and William. Are you telling me they thought I was involved?”
“Not really,” Daniel said. “They were more concerned that you might know people involved or that you or Natalie would somehow tell the wrong person about my investigation. It was safer all around to keep you and Natalie in the dark.”
“Since you’re telling me now, I assume you’ve wrapped up the case.”
“Almost,” Daniel said. “There are still a few loose ends that have to be tied up. I’m telling you now because you and Natalie know a couple of people who got caught up in it.”
Gavin sat back in his chair. “Are you trying to tell me that some people from the church are involved?”
Daniel nodded. “It’s even worse. It’s a couple of people who are close to both you and Natalie.”
“Who?”
Daniel let out a deep breath. “Destiny and Bertice.”
“Destiny and Bertice?”
Daniel nodded.
“How did they get involved?”
Daniel shrugged. “They were both having money troubles and the opportunity presented itself to make some easy money. They couldn’t walk away from it. It’s a scam and a lot of good people fall for scams. Even though the whole thing was too good to be true, they let themselves be convinced that it was all on the up-and-up.”
“Man, I hate this. How much trouble are they in?”
“It’s a long story.”
“This is important,” Gavin said. “I can make the time. Tell me.”
Daniel told Gavin everything, starting with Phil Harris’s initial involvement, his recruitment of Bertice and Destiny, and his decision to reach out to GDW for help to get out.
“I don’t believe it,” Gavin said. “I thought Bertice and Destiny were smarter than that.”
“Scams wouldn’t work if smart people didn’t fall for them.”
“But still—”
“Don’t judge them too harshly, Gavin. They’re not going to be prosecuted but they will have to pay.” He eyed his friend. “In fact, Destiny has already paid.”
“Explain.”
Daniel took a deep breath. “I didn’t only go to Memphis this weekend. I also went to Los Angeles.”
“Los Angeles? You went to see Destiny?”
“Not exactly,” Daniel said. Then he explained how Destiny had ended up at the police station. “Somebody stole her identity and then used it to commit credit card fraud.”
“That must have been pretty scary for Destiny. I’m sorry to hear it happened. How is she?”
“Overall, she’s fine,” he said. “She’s angry at herself for getting involved with HR Solutions. And she’s angry that the whole mess landed her in the police station. Being taken to the police station was traumatic for her.”
“I’ll bet it was,” Daniel said. “Are you sure she’s all right? I can’t believe she didn’t call Natalie but I find it very interesting that she called you. Sounds to me like you two have developed a close relationship in a short time.”
“Before she left, I would have agreed with you. I’m not sure where we are now. She thinks we need to reconsider our relationship in light of the new information we have about each other.”
“In other words, she’s a little upset that you kept the secret from her?” Gavin asked.
“That’s part of it.”
“Well, I think you made up for it after you went all the way to Los Angeles to help her out of a legal mess that she created by her own reckless actions.”
“You’re being too hard on her, Gavin.”
“And you’re letting her off too lightly. She should be holding on to you with both hands and both feet.”
“Of course I agree with you, but she says she needs time to reconcile her feelings for the Daniel she knew before she left town and the Daniel she met in Los Angeles. I think she likes both of us, but she’s unsure what the future holds. She’s also worried that my feelings for her may be complicated by her role in the case. It’s a mess.”
Gavin shrugged. “Women can be unpredictable. You both have got to put yourself in the other’s shoes. That’s relationship rule number one. It seems you’ve forgotten it.”
Daniel pondered Gavin’s words long after his friend had left him alone in his office. As he sat there, his thoughts turned to Gloria. GDW had brought the two of them together and it had almost torn them apart. Was that history repeating itself with Destiny?