Chapter 13 Brian
THIRTEEN
brIAN
At lunchtime the next day, I entered the diner.
I wished I had time to sit down in a booth, order a big meal, flirt with my favorite waitress, and leave an enormous tip—but I was too busy to do more than pick up a takeout order and eat at my desk.
I couldn’t help thinking it was a shame that today of all days found me too rushed for a long lunch.
Our evening on the couch had done a lot to restore a friendship between us and I wanted to enjoy time with her while I could.
“Where’s Caitlin?” I asked when Aurora brought me the bagged order.
“She seemed upset about something, so I sent her on break a little early. I think she’s out back. I’d check on her, but…” Aurora gestured to the full diner behind her.
“I’ll do it,” I said. My workload was enormous today, but I didn’t like the thought of her being upset.
I headed to the small parking lot. Caitlin was facing away from me, but her hands covered her face. “Caitlin?” I kept my voice soft.
It took her a few seconds to turn, and I imagined that she was trying to compose herself. “Getting lunch?” she asked, and I held up the bag in a silent answer.
“Want to split it with me?”
“Not hungry.” She shook her head. “I just needed a minute, some fresh air, you know.”
“Aurora said you seemed upset about something.” I could see it on her face, too. “Did your mother pop in again?”
“No, not that. I did see her in Hastings yesterday, but she didn’t see me.” Her hands dropped to her waist, and she rubbed them together nervously.
“Then what?” Now that things were friendlier between us again, I couldn’t resist prying a little.
If she was in trouble, then I wanted to help—and I hoped that now that we were friends again, she’d let me.
“Why don’t you come sit down with me and we’ll talk?
” I was almost surprised when she turned and moved past me to sit on a small bench.
I sat next to her and waited for her to begin.
“The short version is that my ex-boyfriend stole money from me,” she said after a minute. “I’m trying to recover it, but I keep hitting roadblocks.”
“How’d he steal it?” I asked. The situation wasn’t unusual, but the method varied, and I wanted as much information as I could get so I could help her.
“He accessed my personal bank account, transferred the money to another account, withdrew it all in cash, and skipped town. And before you ask how he got into my account, I’ll confess that I kept my passwords stored on my laptop for easy access, and I let him have access to my laptop whenever he wanted to check email and his socials.
Stupid, I know, but please don’t lecture me on that.
Seamus taught me several lessons. That was only one of them. ”
“Where is Seamus now?” I asked, wanting to find the guy and pound him. “Do you know?”
“The rumor is he’s in Tampa, Florida, where he’s probably hanging out on a beach, enjoying my money, and having a grand time.”
“Are we talking enough money for this to be a felony?” That would make the difference on how dedicated law enforcement would be to pursuing the case.
“I…think so? I’m not really sure what the line is for that. He took ten thousand from my personal account, and twenty from a business account my friend Mel and I had set up so we could start our own tattoo parlor.”
Mel must be short for Melody. She’d been the one to text that she couldn’t deal with Caitlin’s guy drama because she was still pissed about her ex. That made sense if they had planned to go into business together and her money had gotten stolen, too.
“I’m trying to deal with the bank to get my money returned since it was illegally taken from my account, but they said that I need a police report because of the amount,” she continued.
“That’s definitely a felony. You didn’t file a report?
” Anyone would in that scenario unless…she still had feelings for Seamus and didn’t want to see him go to jail.
I tugged at my collar. It suddenly felt tight, restrictive.
I didn’t like the idea of Caitlin with this guy and worse, protecting him, if that’s what she was doing.
“I tried to,” she sighed. “But the officer I spoke to in Austin seemed to think that I was somehow in on the theft—that it was some insurance scam Seamus and I were running together. And that if I really was a victim, then it was my fault. He belittled me about my password and about being too trusting.”
From what Caitlin had told me about her upbringing, being made to feel stupid and insignificant was a definite trigger for her. I took her hand and held it in his. “You should have asked to see a different officer.”
“I couldn’t,” she insisted, her voice rising. “He was threatening to have me charged with committing fraud unless I let it drop. I was telling the truth, but he made me feel so…inferior that I told him to forget it and I ran out of the station.”
I wanted to ask for the officer’s name and which substation he worked out of, because the guy shouldn’t be wearing a badge.
I’d get to that, but first I needed to do something for her.
“Thirty thousand is at the top end of felony theft before they start adding numbers to it, like second and third degree. I can help you file the report and start the process of getting your money back.”
“You can?” She perked up. “From here?”
“Yeah, come to the station after your shift ends. I’ll need to call the substation you originally went to in Austin. Just so you know, I plan to report your negative experience,” I said. “No victim should be made to feel guilty or inferior by a police officer. Ever.”
“You’d never do that, would you.” It wasn’t a question.
I felt warmed by her trust in me. She squeezed my hand.
“Thank you. Really, I’ll feel like a weight’s lifted from me if I can get even part of the money back.
It wasn’t just mine but Mel’s, too. She shouldn’t have to suffer because I trusted the wrong guy. ”
“Happy to help you.” I could have let go of her hand then, but it felt right to sit there with her in the sunshine and have her hand in mine.
“Caitlin? Can you come back in, hon? We’re slammed,” Aurora’s voice reached us from the kitchen.
“Gotta run.” She jumped up, breaking the contact between us. “Thanks, again.” Then she placed her hand on my shoulder and leaned down to kiss my cheek. A second later, she was gone, leaving me to wonder how else I could help her.