Honor secured her condo and car, then threw her bags in the taxi and headed to the office to get a bit more done before her flight to Florida.
In the lobby, Debbie handed her a completed membership application form for The Circle. “I figured you could use my application to get started on the membership data base.”
Honor grinned. “This is great. You’re officially Member Number One.”
As she approached her office, Honor noticed Julie talking in hushed tones with Ben Dugan. Not wanting to interrupt, she awkwardly mumbled “good morning” and slid by the couple. She pulled out her desk chair and plopped down, pretending to be completely engrossed with Debbie’s application form.
The moment she sat, Honor heard paper crumple on her chair. She lifted herself up and pulled out a wrinkled document that had been left on her seat. It was a report very similar to the one Melody had printed out for her, except this one had the same kind of cryptic notes in the margins that Honor had found in the conference room recycling bin her first night back in town.
Honor puzzled over the pages of the report, trying unsuccessfully to understand what the notes meant, until Julie walked in and closed the office door behind her.
“Ben is going to quit his job,” Julie blurted. “He said William has flipped out and is trying to cover up all kinds of bookkeeping entries. He’s making changes to the histories of several accounts and threatening the jobs of anyone who questions his directives. Ben thinks William is afraid of what you’re going to find… or what you may have already found.”
“I get the same feeling…William’s hiding something and I’m getting close. The problem is I still don’t have a clue what it is.” Honor held up the report. “Did you leave this on my desk chair?”
“Nope.” Julie walked around to Honor’s side of the desk so she could read the report over her shoulder. “I think those notes are in William’s handwriting,” she observed.
“I agree, but can’t make out the notes. This word looks like it might be Duncan and that one might be Bay… or maybe Boy…or Buy. And these notes over here look like they might be acronyms…KFHG and SMLI. I just can’t make heads or tails of it.”
Further review of the report was pointless, so Honor hid it in her purse, away from prying eyes. After bidding farewell to her staff, she walked down to see if she could spot any unusual activity in the finance department, using the pretense that she was there to say goodbye to Helen.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Honor stepped into Helen’s office. She was on the phone.
“Later?”Honor mouthed.
Helen raised her pointer finger, signaling “one minute,” and quickly wrapped up her conversation. “Don’t worry… something will come up. Listen, I have to go now. We’ll talk later. Love you!”
Helen returned the phone to its cradle and explained, “I don’t usually take personal calls at work, but that was my daughter, Wendy. She’s the mother of this little guy in my pictures. Her company has just been bought out and they are laying off the entire administrative staff. Her worthless ex-husband hasn’t been in the picture for over a year now, so if she doesn’t get a new job pretty quick, she might lose her home.”
“Gee, I hate to hear that.”
“I guess she and Eli could move back in with my husband and me, but our home is so small…there really isn’t any yard for my grandson to play in, and we live on such a busy street.” Helen shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be bothering you with my personal problems when I know you have a plane to catch. What can I do for you?”
“Don’t apologize. I just stopped by to thank you. Your suggestion about the coloring book worked like a charm on Cody.”
Helen smiled. “No problem.”
“Now, about your daughter…what kind of work does she do?”
“She’s an administrative assistant to one of her company’s Vice Presidents. She’s really smart. Wendy was in her junior year of college when she got pregnant and had to drop out. She wants to go back and finish her business degree when Eli gets a little older, but it’s hard for a single mother to juggle so much.”
“Did Wendy inherit your work ethic and penchant for accuracy?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. We don’t have any openings here at Soft Fix, but we have a few customers that might have an opening. I’ll make a few calls before I head back to Florida.”
Helen’s eyes moistened. “I didn’t expect that…thank you so much.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I’ve come to believe that women should do more to help one another. I’ll let you know if I come up with any good leads.”
She started to leave, but then thought to ask, “By the way, Helen, do you know if we have a customer named Duncan?”
“I don’t believe so. Why?”
Honor didn’t want to tip her hand. “It’s nothing. I just found the name written on a scrap of paper in my office and couldn’t recall why I wrote it down.” She pulled out one of her business cards and wrote her personal cell phone number on the back. “Have Wendy e-mail me a copy of her resume, and tell her to call me at this number, if she has any questions.”
“I’ll do that right now. Thanks again.”
Honor walked to the back of the department to check on Melody. She was reviewing another huge stack of timesheets. When she saw Honor, Melody grumbled, “I’m trying not to complain, but man this job is boring. I hope William forgives me soon.”
Honor sympathized, “Hang in there, kiddo.”
“Wait a minute,” Melody brightened. “I have something for you. I decided to get my application form done before you left. You know, the early bird gets the worm… um, not that I mean The Circle is a worm or anything.”
Honor grinned. “I understand. Debbie completed her application, too.”
She glanced down at the goals section of Melody’s form and saw that, in addition to the writing and public speaking goals they had discussed, Melody added: “Earn My CPA.”
“Ambitious goals, but I like them,” Honor observed. “They embody the first principle… An intelligent woman can accomplish anything, as long as she has motivation and allies.”
Melody nodded with enthusiasm and wished Honor safe travels.
As Honor made her way toward the exit, she noticed Yvonne working on some files at a long table. Yvonne gasped when she saw Honor approaching. She slipped off her cardigan and tossed it over the files.
Subtle, thought Honor, wondering what Yvonne was hiding. She tried to think of Yvonne as a victim, but still couldn’t resist the urge to challenge her.
“Hey there, Yvonne. I saw you and William going into the corner drugstore last night as I was leaving the office. What were you guys up to?”
Yvonne’s facial expression resembled a deer caught in the headlights of an on-coming car, but she didn’t spew forth a sexual confession, as Honor half-hoped she might.
She sputtered, “Oh yes…the drugstore…uh, we just needed a few office supplies, like rubber bands and paper clips. We can get them at the drugstore for about the same price as the office supply stores, and we don’t have to buy such huge quantities there.”
Honor couldn’t let the lie slide that easily. “Really? I thought William used interns to run those kinds of errands.”
“Um, he does… but they were too busy doing… other things.”
“I’ll have to remember to tell William about the adorable young, blonde intern I just interviewed. She seemed eager to please, and I’ll bet she would be happy to stay after hours and help out whenever he needs something from the drugstore.”
The look on Yvonne’s face was priceless. A part of Honor wanted to drag out the conversation, twisting the knife a few more times, but she decided against it and made her exit.
As she walked back up the corridor, Honor thought about Yvonne’s pathetic situation. How often did she lie for William, and what was she hiding? Had William made enough pillow-talk promises that she was willing to risk her career to alter the accounting records that Ben refused to change?
Repulsed by this possibility, Honor considered turning around and demanding to see what Yvonne was doing. The only thing that stopped her was her fear that she didn’t know enough about financial recordkeeping to figure out what was amiss. She opted to discuss her concerns with Sarah Jacobs and follow her recommendations.
Honor said goodbye to a few more people and then headed for the airport. Once again, she spent the entire flight writing in her journal; this time adding entries about The Circle. Writing helped pass the time, but more than that, she liked the idea of leaving something in her own handwriting for future generations to discover, just as she had come across the journal of Darcy Loughman in her mother’s kitchen cabinet.
While waiting to deplane into Tampa International Airport, Sarah called.
“I won’t keep you, but something’s come up and I can’t make our appointment tonight. Can we reschedule for tomorrow morning at ten?”
“No problem. Actually, I’m happy not to have to rush over to your office right now.”
Honor hung up and boarded the shuttle between the airside and the terminal, just as she had done several dozen times in the past.
But this time, her arrival at the terminal would be different.
This time, Josh and Cody would be waiting for her.