Chapter Eighteen #2
“No, I can get it,” Chad countered, pulling out an empty chair next to his mom. “Sit.”
“Woof,” she teased as she looked up at him, sitting where he’d indicated.
Chad heard one of his brothers try to stifle a laugh. He leaned down and kissed Britt right on the mouth before heading into the kitchen. “Anyone want anything while I’m in here?”
“Bring the plate of bacon. We saved you some, but now that you’re here, we can finish what you and Britt don’t want,” Lincoln told him.
The amount of bacon sitting on a paper towel–lined plate was staggering.
Stuffing one of the pieces into his mouth, Chad barely held back the moan that threatened to escape his throat.
His brother was a fucking genius in the kitchen.
The bacon held just the right amount of heat from the jalapenos.
It wasn’t overwhelming, but left a nice tingle in his mouth.
He loaded up two plates for him and Britt and carried them to the table. Then he went back into the kitchen for the bacon. As soon as he placed it on the table, his brothers reloaded up their own plates with the delicious meat.
Chad was grateful his brothers gave him and Britt a chance to eat before discussing what was on everyone’s mind. As soon as Britt finished her egg tart, Lincoln spoke.
“Right, so before you guys came downstairs, we were telling Mom that we wanted to talk to Otis this morning,” Lincoln said without preamble.
“And I was telling them that isn’t going to happen. Like I said last night, no one will do anything without me being involved. And I want to be the one who sits down with Otis. And if I’m not satisfied with his answers, I’ll fire him,” Evelyn said firmly.
“Mom, I don’t think—” Knox started, but Evelyn interrupted.
“I appreciate you all being here. I do. But this is something I have to do. Otis and your father were best friends. At one time, we were as close as any three people could be.”
Chad frowned at that. “At one time?” he questioned.
His mom sighed. “Yes. At one time. We used to do everything together. But even before your dad died, Otis ... started to rub me the wrong way. He changed. Anytime he met with us about the businesses, he became condescending. When we questioned him about our taxes or how our money was being invested, Otis made it seem as if we were questioning his integrity. He made the conversations personal. I’m thinking now that he did that to keep us from delving deeper into what he was doing with our money. I feel like an idiot.”
“Mom—”
But Evelyn cut Chad off. “We were both idiots. We didn’t want to rock the boat.
We valued our friendship with Otis more than our own financial well-being.
Which was stupid. He was clearly smart about it, leaving us enough to run our businesses but not enough that we could really get ahead.
We should’ve asked a lot more questions.
Should’ve had someone else look at things years ago. But we didn’t. And now here we are.”
“Mom, we don’t know for sure that he’s been embezzling,” Zach said gently.
Evelyn turned to Britt. “You’ve been here for two point three seconds, and the first time you got a good glance at the Auto Body accounts, you had your suspicions. What do you think? Is he stealing from Lobster Cove?”
Britt shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable with being put on the spot.
“Mom, I don’t think—”
She held up a hand, cutting Chad off again, her gaze fixed on Britt.
“I’m sorry ... but yes,” she said after a moment.
“When he arrives today, I’d like to see him in Austin’s office here at the house. If one of you—and I mean one of you, not all four—could escort him to the house, I’d appreciate it,” Evelyn said firmly.
Chad wasn’t thrilled about his mom wanting to confront Otis, but he had a hell of a lot of respect for her.
His mom had never backed down from injustice.
He remembered when he was in middle school and she found out that there were kids who weren’t eating lunch because their accounts hadn’t been paid by their parents, because they couldn’t afford it.
The school said they couldn’t get any more lunches until the bills were paid.
She was outraged, and she took it upon herself to berate the school board for denying children food.
Then she rallied the citizens of Rockville and, with their help, raised enough money to pay off the overdue bills for students in not only the middle school but the elementary and high school too ... with money to spare.
“What about Camden?” Chad asked.
“I checked the schedule, and he’s supposed to work this morning,” Knox said. “Zach and I will meet him when he arrives and tell him his services are no longer needed at Lobster Cove.”
“Are you going to ask him about Mom’s car?” Chad asked.
“Oh yeah,” Knox said, with an angry glint in his eye.
“I called a friend at the PD, and he’s interested in talking to him as well.
He also doesn’t want us to touch the CR-V.
He’s already working on getting it towed to the PD this morning, and they’ll check it for fingerprints and to see if the brakes and steering were tampered with.
If they were, Camden’s going to be invited down to the station to answer some questions. ”
“I already talked to Walt and Barry this morning,” Zach said.
“They both said Camden seemed especially motivated yesterday, and he refused to let Barry help with Mom’s car .
.. which was very unlike him. If necessary, they’re both willing to testify that Camden worked on the car before Mom and Britt left for their errands. ”
Chad’s hands clenched, thinking about what could’ve happened to both his mom and Britt. It was hard to believe anyone who worked here at Lobster Cove would actually try to hurt or kill the women.
He felt a touch on his fist in his lap. Looking down, he saw Britt had covered his hand with her own, and she was looking at him with concern.
“Fine, it’s settled. I’m going to do dishes,” Evelyn said, putting her napkin on the table next to her plate.
All four Young brothers stood at the same time.
“I’ve got it.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Sit, Mom.”
“Not a chance.”
Evelyn smiled and sat back in her chair. She looked at Britt. “I’ve got such good boys.”
“You’ve raised them well,” Britt said in return.
Britt kept his mom company as Chad and his brothers made quick work of the breakfast dishes.
He kept one eye on the table and was relieved to see that neither woman seemed to have any adverse effects from the accident yesterday.
Both seemed a little stiff, but not in pain, which was a relief.
Once more, he was grateful for Britt’s quick thinking and ability to crash the car in the one place that was likely to do the least damage . .. the water instead of a tree.
When Chad returned to Britt’s side, she looked up at him and said quietly, “All the passwords for the accounts Otis has access to need to be updated. Like the accounting software, the bank accounts, even the online tax system.”
Chad nodded. She was right. Hell, they should’ve done that last night.
At this point, he wouldn’t put it past the man to try to drain all their accounts completely.
If he could steal from his best friend for years, why wouldn’t he take as much as he could before he was fired?
And he had to know that his time here at Lobster Cove was done.
That Chad and his brothers and his mom would eventually put two and two together.
Of course, without Britt ... they might not have.
Guilt filled him at the thought. Why had he and his brothers never thought to question Otis long before now, even when their father was alive?
Maybe out of respect for the relationship the man had with their dad?
Because they didn’t want to risk upsetting their parents?
Because none of them were interested in taxes, accounting, or investments?
Considering just one man had been in charge of it all for so long, it was a huge mistake—and one that may have devastated his mother’s financial future.
They’d all moved home to help their mom secure Lobster Cove’s future ... and they’d failed spectacularly so far. Thinking about how much money Otis might have stolen from his parents over the years made Chad physically ill.
“I’m going to head to the shop. I want to be there when Otis arrives. Camden too,” Lincoln said.
Evelyn nodded and stood. “I’ll be in your dad’s office. Bring Otis up as soon as he arrives,” she ordered, before turning and heading down the hall.
Britt was frowning, and Chad could see the angst practically pouring off her.
“My mom’s tough,” he told her.
Looking up at him, Britt nodded and said, “I know that. She raised the four of you. She had to be. But the most dangerous time for a woman is when she tells her partner she’s leaving. I know this isn’t quite the same, but I’m worried about her being alone with Otis.”
“She won’t be alone,” Lincoln said. “While Knox and Zach take care of Camden, I’ll be in the office with Mom and Otis.”
“I thought she said she wanted to talk to him on her own,” Britt said.
“No. She said she wanted to be the one to talk to him, not that she wanted to do it on her own. Even if she did, there’s no way any of us would agree to that, and she knows it.”
Britt let out a relieved breath. “Oh, good.”
“Chad, you want to join me?” Lincoln asked.
“Hell yes,” he said. Otis had tried to harm not only his mother but the woman he’d fallen for in a big way. He definitely wanted to be there when the man was confronted.
“Forgot my coffee. That man has me turned every which way,” Evelyn said as she stomped back into the room toward the kitchen.
“What can I do?” Britt asked.
Chad’s knee-jerk response was to get her as far away from Otis and Camden as he could get her. Before he could say anything, his mom spoke from the kitchen, where she was pouring a cup of steaming-hot coffee into her mug.