car.
She remembered once how she’d asked Greg to pick her up at the airport, and he made the kind of face that said she was inconveniencing him. She’d wanted to shout, I’m not asking for a ride to Montana! But in the end, she’d just called a car service and had a nice chat with the driver all the way from Houston Intercontinental to her apartment. But now a man she didn’t even know had gone out of his way to make sure she was safe and secure, and it gave her the kind of warm fuzzies she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“It was no coincidence, you know,” Gus said.
“What?” Kari asked.
“You could have gone off the road just about anywhere, but you ended up at Marc’s place. That means the good Lord was looking out for you tonight.”
Kari was so exhausted from dragging that god-awful wedding dress around for hours that the moment she crawled into that glorious king-sized bed with the pillow-top mattress and the softest linens on the planet, she went unconscious. When she woke the next morning, it was almost eleven o’clock.
She threw back the covers. My car. I have to check on my car.
Half an hour later, she was heading downstairs, this time wearing a tropical print dress and turquoise sandals, more clothes from the resort wear collection in her suitcases. Gus was at the front desk.
“Morning, Kari,” Gus said.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile. “Sorry I missed breakfast. I just couldn’t drag myself out of that wonderful bed. Those linens are amazing .”
“Estelle would love to hear you say that. They cost more than the beds did, but she insisted.”
Kari leaned over and gave Jasper a pat, and he gave her a happy pant in return. “I need to go to Rick’s Automotive and check on my car. Can you tell me how to get there?”
Gus gave her directions, and she said, “After I see him, I think I’ll grab some lunch at the cute little café I saw on the square.” She started toward the door.
“Uh, Kari…”
She turned back. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a little problem,” Gus said.
“What?”
“I ran your credit card this morning. It was declined.”
Kari froze. “Declined? Why?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that the bank declined the charge. Is there any reason you can think of why that might happen?”
“No. Of course not. There’s no way—” She stopped short, putting her hand to her mouth. “Oh, wait a minute! Yes, there is. I charged a whole bunch of stuff for my honeymoon. I probably reached my credit limit.” She walked over to the desk, pulling out her phone at the same time. “If you’ll give me a minute, I can transfer some money from my checking account, pay the card off, and then you can charge my room to it.”
A minute later, Kari had her account pulled up on her phone. She looked at the balance. Looked again. It couldn’t be.
Her account had a zero balance?
No. That was impossible. There should have been thousands in there, and yet there was nothing?
“Is something the matter?” Gus asked.
“No, everything’s fine,” Kari said, even as her stomach turned over with apprehension. “There’s just a glitch of some kind. I’ll give my bank a call.”
But Kari had a horrible feeling that everything wasn’t fine. She looked up her bank’s telephone number and called them. She was shocked when the customer service rep told her what she already knew.
She had no money.
“All the funds were transferred out of that account,” the man said.
“That’s impossible,” Kari said. “It’s my account, and I didn’t touch it. There must be some mistake.”
“No, ma’am. There’s no mistake. That account was emptied last night.”
Kari felt a rush of anxiety. Identity theft?
She’d heard those commercials over and over about the dangers of somebody stealing her identity. She’d always thought maybe she should get one of those services that alerted people of any suspicious activity on their accounts, but like everything else,
She remembered once how she’d asked Greg to pick her up at the airport, and he made the kind of face that said she was inconveniencing him. She’d wanted to shout, I’m not asking for a ride to Montana! But in the end, she’d just called a car service and had a nice chat with the driver all the way from Houston Intercontinental to her apartment. But now a man she didn’t even know had gone out of his way to make sure she was safe and secure, and it gave her the kind of warm fuzzies she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“It was no coincidence, you know,” Gus said.
“What?” Kari asked.
“You could have gone off the road just about anywhere, but you ended up at Marc’s place. That means the good Lord was looking out for you tonight.”
Kari was so exhausted from dragging that god-awful wedding dress around for hours that the moment she crawled into that glorious king-sized bed with the pillow-top mattress and the softest linens on the planet, she went unconscious. When she woke the next morning, it was almost eleven o’clock.
She threw back the covers. My car. I have to check on my car.
Half an hour later, she was heading downstairs, this time wearing a tropical print dress and turquoise sandals, more clothes from the resort wear collection in her suitcases. Gus was at the front desk.
“Morning, Kari,” Gus said.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile. “Sorry I missed breakfast. I just couldn’t drag myself out of that wonderful bed. Those linens are amazing .”
“Estelle would love to hear you say that. They cost more than the beds did, but she insisted.”
Kari leaned over and gave Jasper a pat, and he gave her a happy pant in return. “I need to go to Rick’s Automotive and check on my car. Can you tell me how to get there?”
Gus gave her directions, and she said, “After I see him, I think I’ll grab some lunch at the cute little café I saw on the square.” She started toward the door.
“Uh, Kari…”
She turned back. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a little problem,” Gus said.
“What?”
“I ran your credit card this morning. It was declined.”
Kari froze. “Declined? Why?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that the bank declined the charge. Is there any reason you can think of why that might happen?”
“No. Of course not. There’s no way—” She stopped short, putting her hand to her mouth. “Oh, wait a minute! Yes, there is. I charged a whole bunch of stuff for my honeymoon. I probably reached my credit limit.” She walked over to the desk, pulling out her phone at the same time. “If you’ll give me a minute, I can transfer some money from my checking account, pay the card off, and then you can charge my room to it.”
A minute later, Kari had her account pulled up on her phone. She looked at the balance. Looked again. It couldn’t be.
Her account had a zero balance?
No. That was impossible. There should have been thousands in there, and yet there was nothing?
“Is something the matter?” Gus asked.
“No, everything’s fine,” Kari said, even as her stomach turned over with apprehension. “There’s just a glitch of some kind. I’ll give my bank a call.”
But Kari had a horrible feeling that everything wasn’t fine. She looked up her bank’s telephone number and called them. She was shocked when the customer service rep told her what she already knew.
She had no money.
“All the funds were transferred out of that account,” the man said.
“That’s impossible,” Kari said. “It’s my account, and I didn’t touch it. There must be some mistake.”
“No, ma’am. There’s no mistake. That account was emptied last night.”
Kari felt a rush of anxiety. Identity theft?
She’d heard those commercials over and over about the dangers of somebody stealing her identity. She’d always thought maybe she should get one of those services that alerted people of any suspicious activity on their accounts, but like everything else,
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