N. Walters - Past Promises

Shamus shook his head. “I’m in.” He paused and cleared his throat. “As long as we’re not talking about physically harming anyone.”

Levi shook his head. “You’ve got a vivid imagination there, Shamus. There are much better methods of getting results. We don’t want to create an even bigger mess. The trick to getting what you want is information.”

His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, not bothering to check the caller ID. The men he had digging into the lives of the Fletcher and Dyson families would be using disposable phones—easily discarded and impossible to trace. He should know. That’s what he was using.

“Talk.” He listened as his contact reported what he’d found. “You’re sending pictures now?” Levi sat back down at his computer and brought up his email.

Jonah pulled up a chair and sat back to wait. Shamus started to pace, his long legs quickly eating up the short distance between walls. The difference between the two men was marked to Levi. Jonah was like him, possessing the patience of a hunter. Shamus lacked that killer instinct, but he was a good man and Levi counted him as a friend.

“Got it.” He tapped several keys. “That’s good. Send me anything else you get. Payment is in your account.”

Shamus looked startled by the last exchange and Levi shrugged as he hung up the phone. “Information doesn’t come cheap. Not the kind we’re looking for. If we had more time, I’d do it myself, but time is a factor. I want this mess straightened up quickly. It’s not good for Linda’s health.”

Jonah, the bastard, grinned at him. “Like that, is it?”

Levi didn’t even bother to deny it. “Yup.”

“’Bout time.”

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.” Shamus stood beside the table, legs splayed with one hand fisted on his hip. “But I can take a pretty good guess.” He grinned at Levi. “I guess we’ll be seeing you for a long time to come in Jamesville.”

“Maybe,” Levi countered. That would depend on Linda. He ignored both men as he concentrated on the flood of information coming in. The devil was always in the details. And somewhere in the midst of all this information was something he could use.

Dyson, and people like him, continually underestimated Levi because of his appearance. They took one look at his large size and casual clothes and dismissed him as all brawn and not much brain. He cultivated that image, used it. It was as natural to him as breathing and had served him well in his former profession. What most people didn’t know about him was that he had an IQ that was off the charts and could manipulate computers and information as well, or better, than anyone else on the planet.

The other two men settled in to wait. After a while, Jonah got up and went into the kitchen, rummaging around. “You don’t have much food in here, do you?”

“I need to shop,” Levi muttered. He’d planned to do that this morning. One of the laptops dinged. He went around the table to the right laptop and pulled up the program. Scrolling through pages of financial information, he found exactly what he was searching for. “Gotcha.”

Linda had been expecting it, but it still stunned her to find out there was absolutely nothing she could do about the situation. The local bank had sold some of their loans to several larger institutions to offload some of their debt and hers had been one of them.

Stupid! She should have waited until she’d had the money in hand from her grandmother’s estate. But she’d been impatient and she’d found the perfect building for Past Promises. After all those years of waiting, she’d jumped at the chance to finally have what she’d always wanted. Now she was paying the price for her impatience.

Either she came up with the money or she’d lose the building.

She watched the scenery go by as Cyndi drove her home. They’d made a quick stop at the bakery, but she’d stayed in the car while her friend ran inside for snacks. Cyndi kept sneaking her worried glances, but she wasn’t ready to talk. Not yet. Amanda would want to know everything and she only wanted to go through this once. Not that Cyndi didn’t already know the score. Linda had given one shake of her head when she’d stepped out of Albert’s office. It had been enough to let her friend know that nothing had changed.

Cyndi parked the car in front of the store and turned off the ignition. Linda stared at the beautiful window displays that she’d spent hours lovingly creating.

“I’m sorry.” Cyndi’s voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the sincerity.

“Me too.” Linda took a deep breath. “It’s just the building. They can’t touch the business.” Once again, she was thankful that the loan for the building was a personal one, not connected to her business.

Reaching into the backseat, Cyndi pulled out a baker’s box. “Let’s go in. Amanda’s got her nose pressed to the glass watching us.”

Linda smiled. Amanda was indeed watching them, motioning for them to come in. She had the door yanked open by the time they reached the entrance.

“Well?” Her green eyes flashed as she reached out to hug Linda.

“We have chocolate and lots of it.” Linda glanced around, grateful for once that there were no customers. “Quiet morning?”

“Yes, but I sold the dining room set, as well as the hutch. Oh, and she wants the dishes too. All the details are on your desk. I didn’t know how you handled delivery, but it’s local so I said you’d take care of it.” Amanda nibbled on her bottom lip. “Was that okay?”

Linda could barely wrap her head around what her friend was telling her. “I think I need to sit down.” She groped her way over behind the counter and sank into her office chair. “You sold the set, the sideboard and the Royal Albert dinnerware?”

With her red hair and fair skin, her friend looked younger than a woman in her early thirties. Amanda often said it was the smattering of freckles on her nose that did it. She might look like the girl next door, but Amanda was obviously one hell of a saleslady.

“And the silver service too.” Amanda grinned as she handed Linda the bill of sale. I gave the customer a ten-percent discount and free delivery. Oh, and I threw in the doilies as well. She liked those.”

“Do you want a job?” Linda asked her.

Amanda laughed, obviously pleased. “I’ve got a job, but thanks.”

“No, thank you .” That was a huge sale she would have missed if the store hadn’t been open this morning. Closing her eyes, Linda once again thanked the heavens for her friends. Her relationship with her family might suck, but she had the best friends ever.

“Thank you. Both of you.” She opened her eyes and stared at the two women. They were all so different in many ways, but they’d forged deep friendships that would last a lifetime.

Cyndi opened the bakery box while Amanda poured up coffee. Linda smiled when she saw that Amanda had set up cups, saucers and tea plates she’d plucked from the miscellaneous dishes that were stacked in one hutch. They were mismatched, but colorful.

It was perfect.

Touched by the gesture, Linda took the cup of coffee Amanda handed her and set it on the desk beside her. Cyndi handed her a plate with one of the sinful chocolate éclairs she’d purchased from the bakery. It probably had a zillion calories, but it would be worth every single one of them.

Lifting her cup, she raised it high. “To friendship.”

“To friendship,” they echoed.

Amanda pulled up a Victorian chair and handed Linda a sheet of paper. “This is a list of empty properties around town. Cyndi doesn’t have vacancies in any of her properties that are suitable for Past Promises but Jonah knew of a few places.” She shrugged at Linda’s quizzical gaze. “Being an electrician, he knows everyone in the construction business. I called the real estate agent, got some prices and details. I figured you’d call him about setting up some appointments to view when you were ready.”