Chapter 12
It took them another day to get to the cabin. Nathan half expected them to be greeted with police cruisers or ATVs but the road was clear to the house. He located his spare key and unlocked the door before stepping aside for Haley to enter. He realized he was a bit nervous to see her reaction to his basic cabin.
She stepped inside and took a breath. “It’s lovely.”
Nathan glanced around at the wood walls, oversized couch and easy chair. The cabin had two rooms, along with a bathroom. He’d been willing to go for a composting toilet but not for an outhouse. Now, he saw the shortcomings of living off the grid. “It’s not much?—”
She turned to him with shining eyes. “It’s you.” She looked at the couch, with its leather cushions and laughed. “It’s really you.”
“Crude and worn?” he said in a half-joking manner.
“Comfortable and straight forward.” She countered and started to sit on the sofa before glancing around. “Where’s the bathroom? I’d love to wash up then I want to get on your computer.”
He showed her the bathroom, tucked away in the corner of the bedroom. After exclaiming over the composting toilet and asking about the water sourcing, she shooed him out of the room and into the main living room.
Nathan opened his laptop and booted up his satellite system then headed toward the kitchen area. He grinned as he glanced in the refrigerator. He’d been to town a few days before the assignment and now had some fruit and vegetables, albeit slightly stale, waiting for them. He started pulling food out for a salad and glanced up at her when she returned to the room, straightening her clothes as she did. “It’s not easy doing things with one hand,” she said, her eyes on the waistband of her pants.
“Want me to do anything?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear her answer.
“No. I managed,” she said and looked at him. Taking in the veggies on the worktable she grinned. “Can I eat and work on your computer at the same time?”
He laughed and gave her permission. Refusing her help, he motioned toward the laptop. “It’s ready to go on the net. I’ll finish up the salads. I’m making a steak for me. Want one?”
“Please, medium. Just a hint of pink.” She stared at him. “Do you have potatoes?”
He laughed. “A baked potato with butter?”
“And sour cream?” she asked hopefully. When he shook his head, she sighed. “Butter will be great.”
He watched her out of the corner of his eye and wondered at her strength. Other than throwing up, she hadn’t shown any sign of pain or discomfort on their trek down the mountain. She’d stumbled a few times and he knew she had to be beyond tired. He was used to rambling in the mountains and he’d pushed them over the past several days. She should be resting in bed with some pain killers instead of searching for evidence on the computer.
He put the potatoes in the gas oven while he worked on unpacking the backpacks. Stowing the excess supplies, he repacked the kit he kept in the truck and then turned to their clothes. He’d stored the still damp clothes in a plastic bag and then put them in the bottom of his pack. He wrinkled his nose as he unpacked them. Stale, slightly sour and clammy, the jeans and shirts needed a good wash and then dry. He went outside and hung each item over the porch railing, pausing when he came to Haley’s underthings. Shaking himself, he finished hanging the clothes out for airing and returned to the house.
Haley was hyper focused on her task and he went to check on the potatoes, noting they were getting there. He took the steaks from the fridge and started on them.
Haley was aware of Nathan behind her at the stove. She made herself focus on the screen in front of her. Winters and Madden had made a lot of profit, especially in the first few years of their being incorporated. Over the more recently, things had leveled out. She frowned. How was that possible? She’d worked for the company for five years. Five years of high-end construction and real estate development. Sales of multi-million dollar estates and homes in the mountains. Sales that should have garnered a hefty profit.
As she opened another folder in the server, Haley was grateful she had a memory for numbers. The company server used a string of numbers as both the identifier and passwords. Most of the employees had to keep the server information on paper to remember how to get inside. Haley had never had to depend on paper for memory. Her talent for math and numbers, something that had made her an oddity in school and even in university, had come in handy with this job. Now, she thanked God she could remember how to get into the private server.
She closed out the familiar accounts folder she worked with on a regular basis and stared at the menu screen. During her workday, she accessed any number of files and folders but she’d never opened any that weren’t associated with her job. Now, she wondered at the niggle of anxiety she felt when she moved the cursor to hover over a blank folder. With a breath and a prayer, she clicked on the icon then sighed. Nothing.
Empowered, she started reviewing each unfamiliar folder. While she did, she wondered at Winters. What could tempt someone so much that they were willing to harm another?
She must have muttered the question because Nathan answered. “Greed. Hate. Even love.”
She looked up in surprise. “Love?”
“Or maybe envy? Lust? I don’t know the correct term, but there are people out there that want something so bad that it consumes them.”
“An all-consuming passion?” she asked then blushed as he studied her. “I’ve never had any feeling close to that.”
“Me neither but I’ve met men who do. Who crave power to the point they can’t think of anything else. Who preach in the name of a religion that should promote peace but that they twist into a weapon.”
She looked at him. “Is that why you have a problem understanding my faith?”
He smiled and reached into the cabinet for plates. “No. I understand faith, from afar at least. I just have a problem believing in something or someone to the point that I give up my autonomy.”
Haley stood and stretched then walked to stand beside him, rubbing her right shoulder. “Oh, I haven’t given up my autonomy. I can think and act for myself. I just don’t like the results when I do. I’ve learned that my faith makes me stronger. That and you, and Sam,” she chuckled as the hound shoved his head under her hand for a rub. “You and my faith have gotten me through this so far.”
He smiled down at her. “I’m glad. And I guess I’m a little envious.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to be envious. I can share my faith with you, maybe help you find your own.”
He shrugged, obviously not quite ready for that. Haley let the subject drop and waited for him to plate the steaks and potatoes then carried the plates, one by one, to the table. She waited until he brought the salad and dressing and then sat and waited for him. This time, when she lowered her head to say grace, he also lowered his.
After they ate, he insisted she either rest or go to bed, but she countered his requests with either helping with the dishes or working on the computer again. He left her to the computer and she resumed her search.
There were three folders remaining on the menu screen when she found the file. “Oh,” she said and leaned forward. “Oh! I’ve found something. Nathan!”
He walked over from the sink and stood behind her as she pointed to the string of numbers. “Look. There.”
“What am I looking at?”
She huffed an impatient sigh and pointed. “Look. This is the information about the acreage we bought for a couple of special projects. There was a listing of thirty-four acres for the Eagle One estate. Then we acquired one hundred forty-three acres for Eagle Two a year later. I wondered at the amount of land we bought, the differences in the size. Now, it makes sense. See? Eagle One was swallowed up by Pegasus Corp when it bought out the development. Mr. Winters sold it in a land swap the two corporations worked on. He said it was too small to bother with.”
“So?” Nathan looked puzzled.
“So, we took a loss for Eagle One on our taxes that year, since the swap had been for future developments with Pegasus. But if you look here, it shows us still owning and developing Eagle One three years later.”
She held her finger on the line and Nathan leaned forward to examine it. “Would that be enough to justify killing someone?”
She shook her head. “Remember my question from earlier and your answer? I don’t know. But if Winters manipulated that deal, then maybe he did others, as well. That loss alone was worth several thousand dollars in tax savings.”
He patted her shoulder. “Keep looking.”
She did and found two other discrepancies in the records. As she worked, she took note of the author of the records. Bruce Adams. So that was how he had been involved. He’d hidden the numbers in the accounts. In the course of her employment, she’d never thought of accessing files or folders, let alone accounts she wasn’t directly impacting. She had enough duties as it was.
Now she realized how easy it would be to hide accounts or files from internal auditors and the company, as a privately held entity, wasn’t currently required to get external ones. She sighed. “I think I’ve found enough to point the finger at Mr. Winters, or at Mr. Adams, at least.”
Nathan looked up from his notebook, which he’d been studying. “If we can’t pin anything on Winters, you’re still likely to be pulled in to a nasty case, Haley.”
She nodded and closed the laptop. “I know. But at least I’ve found something.”
He nodded. “Time to rest. We need to figure out our next step tomorrow.”
She stood and went to the sofa and flopped down on it. “I’m beat.”
“The bed is waiting for you,” he said with a smile. “I left some old shirts and things for you to sleep in.”
She shook her head. “I can sleep on the sofa.”
“No. Your arm needs good support to heal. The bed or nothing.”
His expression told her it was useless to argue so she stood and went over to him. Leaning over, she kissed him lightly on the lips, then straightened. “Good night.”
“Night.”
As she left the room, she felt his eyes on her back and wondered. Why had she kissed him? But then again, why not? She loved him, didn’t she?