Winds of Fire, стр. 39
The women looked up when the door suddenly opened. George entered swiftly and stopped at the edge of the space where their two desks faced one another.
“Good afternoon, ladies.”
“Nice to see you, George,” Johanna said.
“Is there something you need us to do for you, George?” Frankie asked noting how uncomfortable he looked as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. “We waited the other day for you to call about some more summonses you wanted delivered. When you didn't call we stopped by the office and Kate said Arlan was delivering them.”
George pulled on his chin. “There was a change of plans. I should have called. Things were slow, so I had Arlan take care of it.”
Frankie wanted to say more about it, but caught Johanna's eye and kept her mouth shut. She wished she knew why George was so ill at ease. Even though he was forcing himself to be friendly, she felt the chilliness in his attitude. Something was off.
“Just thought I'd stop in for a minute.” He craned his neck trying to read the opened file on Frankie's desk. “It's good to see you back at your desk, Johanna,” he said as his eyes moved from the file to her.
“It's good to be back.” She flashed a bright smile. “You're still coming over on Saturday, I hope.”
He returned her smile with a weaker version of his own. “I wouldn't miss it.” He cleared his throat. “Well, I'd better get back to the office. We've got our hands full with all of those arson fires.”
Frankie leaned back in her chair. “Any clues?”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he studied her for a minute. “We're working on it. Is there anything you'd like to share with me?” He tilted his head toward the folder.
Frankie closed the folder. “No. We just hope, as does the entire community, that you catch the arsonist soon.”
“We will.” He turned and walked to the door where he stopped and turned back around to face them. “I'll catch you two later.”
They watched the door close behind him. Frankie looked pointedly at Johanna. “What the hell was that all about? If I didn't know that was George, I'd say we had an imposter in here.”
“Something's definitely not right. I wonder what the hell's really going on.” Johanna frowned.
* * * *
Alec leaned forward in his chair. “You two have been busy.” He smiled. “I like the interviews you conducted at Bronson Enterprises. It looks like you've gotten some good information. It's a lot to take in.” He peered at them. “I agree with you about your assessment where the baby is concerned, but we need definite proof that the child is actually Thatcher's. And he hasn't made any physical contact with Kristin that we can use to prove infidelity.”
“Can't you get an order to at least check the financial records?” Frankie asked. “It's obvious that Becca Manning and Thatcher are involved in embezzling money from the company.”
He frowned. “Not yet. If I order an investigation, he'll know we're on to him. Right now, he believes I'm on his side as far as Kendall's mental health is concerned so he's not going anywhere. I want to bring him and Becca Manning down when he least suspects it.”
Johanna's brow puckered. “Won't that also give him and Becca Manning time to plan their escape? They could be planning to leave the country.”
“Not from what you two have learned about the stormy encounters between them. He might be hatching a plan to keep Becca quiet. And then there's the baby to consider.”
Frankie shrugged. “Maybe Kristin and Thatcher are planning to eventually flee the country and leave Becca holding the bag.”
“Possibly, but I doubt that's his top priority. He'll want complete control of Bronson Enterprises. If he gets it, then he won't need to go anywhere.”
“True,” Frankie conceded. “Was he convinced when you let him know you were worried about Kendall's state of mind?”
“He gave me that impression. I'm hoping that might cause him to let his guard down.” He rubbed his jaw. “Do you know what your next move is?”
“I want to find the connection between Kristin and the Kramer Insurance Company.” Frankie looked at Johanna and then back at Alec. “We'll continue tailing him, but he never deviates from his schedule, which includes picking Kristin up every night from the insurance company and dropping her off at the Bronson Hotel.” She paused. “I'd also like to make a visit to the Bronson Hotel. I haven't worked out the details, but I thought if Johanna and I can somehow gain Kristin's trust, she might open up to us.”
He stared thoughtfully at her. “Whatever you can do to connect Thatcher to the baby.”
Johanna's brows drew together. “Even if she admits Thatcher is the baby's father, he can still deny it.”
“True.” He pulled on his chin. “Kendall could request him to willingly submit to a DNA test to determine if he is indeed the biological father. If he refuses, we could submit a petition through the court seeking the test. But we need to be absolutely certain. If he feels threatened, he could flee with Kristin and the baby. Since I believe he's been filtering funds to a bogus company in an offshore account, he may decide to get out before everything blows up in his face.”
“So why not just bring charges against him and be done with it?”
“It's not that easy. We need concrete proof and Becca Manning is good at what she does. I'm sure the phony company or companies are well hidden.” He folded his hands. “I think this has been going on for quite some time, and again, we can't prove it. How would we look if we brought charges and nothing was found? Due to what he's done to Kendall by having her institutionalized, no one would ever believe anything she ever