AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her voice cracked. “I have to. Not just because I need the job, but also for Peter and Allison. They’re such good people. When my mom died, Peter let me take off as much time as I needed and Allison brought a few dinners. They don’t deserve this.”
Allison didn’t, Erica thought. But from all she’d heard, Peter had totally screwed up and was getting exactly what he’d earned.
She thought about all the accounting that needed to be done to keep his business running. One person couldn’t possibly do it by herself, and she doubted Hillary was a CPA, so there were legal limitations on some of the reports and filings. But she could do some things and right now that was better than nothing.
“Where do you live?” she asked.
“North Bend.”
A town just a few miles east. That could work, Erica thought.
“I can give you an office in my Issaquah salon. It’s not fancy, but it’s quiet and we can get you a direct phone line for clients to call. I’ll text you my IT person’s number. Tell her what you need. A new computer, probably a printer and scanner. She’ll have it waiting for you. In the meantime, email me the hours you’ve worked since Peter was arrested and I’ll cut you a paycheck. Moving forward, report your hours and I’ll cover you until—” Erica realized she didn’t have any idea how this would play out “—until we get the situation straightened out.”
Hillary’s breath caught. “You’d do that for me?”
“Of course. You have children to feed. Plus, Peter and Allison are family.”
She half expected to be struck by lightning for saying that, but fortunately the powers that be were busy elsewhere.
Hillary took down Erica’s email address, along with the info for her IT person. Erica gave the other woman her work cell number and the call quickly wrapped up. That done, she sent an email to her office manager in Issaquah to tell her what was happening. There were at least a couple of small empty offices that Hillary could use. As for paying her, well, that was annoying but inevitable. Plus now she could tell Summer how much she was handling. Maybe that would calm down her daughter.
Wishful thinking, she knew. Without someone in charge, Peter’s business would quickly spiral into disaster. Clients would find out their CPA was in jail and move elsewhere. Even if the charges were dropped, his firm would be significantly diminished and his income reduced. It would take years for him to recover, assuming he could.
She leaned back and thought about what Gail had said about his illegal activities. She had trouble reconciling that with the man she’d known. Or did she? After they’d split, she’d moved her accounting business to another firm. Within a couple of weeks, they’d discovered Peter had been skimming money from Twisted. No single amount had been huge but it had added up to over a hundred thousand dollars.
She’d been shocked and hurt by the revelation. That pain had quickly been followed by anger at her soon-to-be ex. She’d considered talking to a lawyer, but hadn’t wanted the mess that would create. At the time she’d assumed he was acting out of spite—trying to hurt her in a passive-aggressive way rather than confronting their problems head-on. Once she took her business away, he couldn’t get access to any accounts, so she hadn’t been worried about future theft.
But maybe she’d been wrong to think of his actions as a one-time thing. Maybe instead they’d been a statement of his character. Something she hadn’t seen in him at all. She wasn’t sure what that said about her judgment and she didn’t know what would happen next. But one thing she knew for sure—it was going to be one wild ride.
At this point in her pregnancy, pain was a constant companion. The longer shifts at the grocery store didn’t help. Worse, Allison knew she couldn’t keep them up much longer. Not when every day she got bigger and bigger. Standing put so much pressure on her joints and her back. But she needed the money.
She tried to shut down the familiar litany of worry and fear, but her brain refused to cooperate. Adding to her sense of discomfort was guilt. She felt awful for walking out on Peter when she’d visited him. They could have had a full two hours together, but she’d gotten upset and once she’d left, she hadn’t been allowed back in. Now she had to make another appointment and wait to be approved again. Not only did she miss Peter, she needed answers.
She sat across from Jackson on the living room floor, playing with several stuffed animals. In a few minutes she would start dinner, then wait for Peter’s call. At least she’d arranged for a calling card through a vendor that served the prison. She wouldn’t have to deal with the expense of a collect call every time.
“I’m thinking spaghetti,” she said, hoping it wouldn’t trigger too much heartburn. She had leftover chicken she could throw in, along with some steamed vegetables. It was a meal Jackson would eat and it was relatively healthy. These days she had to force herself to eat—for the sake of baby Bethany.
Someone knocked on the front door. Both she and Jackson looked up. Allison half waited for Summer to burst in, calling her happy “It’s me!” Only her stepdaughter had a game that day.
“Ugh.”
She tried to get to her feet, which was tough going. She grabbed the sofa arm and used that as leverage, then lumbered to a standing position.
“Can I help—”
Allison stared at the man standing on her porch. She’d never seen him before and, given a choice, she never wanted to see him again. He was big and mean-looking, with too many muscles and tattoos, and an air of menace. He had a big knife sticking out of his right boot.
“You Peter’s wife?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“I, ah, yes.”
He thrust a brown envelope at her. “He asked me to give this to you. It’s all there. You need to remember that. Tell him Cappy gave you every penny.”
As he spoke, he stared with such intensity that she instinctively stepped back. “Okay.”
He shook the envelope again. “Here. Take it. It’s for you.”
She took the thick package. “Thank you.”
