I’m not mistaken you are on the run right now without any credits to your name.” Nick’s voice sounded harsh, even to his own ears. He exhaled and forced a calmness he was far from feeling. “Speaking of running, it is time to tell me what is going on, Tru.”
“I know.”
Chapter 7
“Why were you on Lodestone? If I’m going to help you, I need to know the truth. Don’t even think about lying to me.”
Tru glared at him and then looked away.
“I don’t have all day, Tru,” he snapped.
“Fine! I worked in the department handling accounting for my grandfather’s many interests. I’m good with numbers, but the job killed me with boredom. I wanted adventure and to travel, not sit in an office all day.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and waited, his patience growing thin. Tru sat a little straighter in her chair and rushed to continue. “I was responsible for Lodestone Mining’s account, and I began to suspect something wasn’t right with the accounting. Money was being funneled into subsidiaries. It all looked good on the surface, but I kept running into walls when I tried to track it further. It was small things I couldn’t explain and it made me take a second, deeper look.” Her voice rose. “I tried to talk to my father about what I noticed, but he patted me on the head and told me not to be ridiculous. Lodestone Mining was a sound investment and I was letting my imagination run away with me.”
“Go on,” he encouraged, before relaxing enough to sit on the corner of his desk. He plucked a small, decorative glass disc from the desktop and tossed it from one hand to the other.
“I decided to take matters into my own hands and prove I was right.”
Nick raised his eyebrows in mock alarm.
“I informed my family I was going to visit a friend. I didn’t want them to worry, you see. I caught a transport to Lodestone under a false name so no one would know where I was and come after me. I informed the operations manager, Anto Geir, I was an auditor from Creighton Mutual doing a routine check. Everything was going as planned. I had even been able to discover the head of Lodestone Mining was not correctly accounting for the amount of mineral being shipped for sale–”
“How did you manage that?”
“I made friends with a shipping clerk. It wasn’t hard to get him to talk about his job and fairly easy to figure out some of the shipments were conveniently going astray.” Tru shrugged.
“Him? Just how, exactly, did you get him to talk, Tru?” Nick’s voice was dark, dangerous as unwelcome jealousy stirred at the mention of another man. The emotion was so alien and so out of place, given the circumstances, it caught him off guard. He put the glass disc down with a little more force than necessary and curled his fingers under the edge of the desk, waiting for her answer.
Tru’s shirt hem had ridden up her thigh again and she tugged it down. Nick almost groaned out loud.
“Oh, you know, we had drinks at his place a couple of times,” she replied.
“Just drinks?” There it was again, a slight growl in his voice, and he winced. Damn it all, she was driving him crazy.
“Of course, just drinks. Good grief, Nick, what did you think was going on? He thought he impressed me with his importance. A few cups of the local ale and he prattled on without much encouragement. It was easy to cross-reference the dates he let drop on shipments against delivery. It wasn’t until Anto Geir started questioning me that I got a little nervous.”
“What kind of questions?”
“At first I didn’t think much about it. He wanted to know how my audit was going, was everything in order, that kind of thing. He tried to make conversation about the people I spent time with. He started to really make me nervous.”
She clasped her hands in her lap tight enough to turn the knuckles white then continued in a small, strained voice, “The next work cycle, the shipping clerk wasn’t at his
“I know.”
Chapter 7
“Why were you on Lodestone? If I’m going to help you, I need to know the truth. Don’t even think about lying to me.”
Tru glared at him and then looked away.
“I don’t have all day, Tru,” he snapped.
“Fine! I worked in the department handling accounting for my grandfather’s many interests. I’m good with numbers, but the job killed me with boredom. I wanted adventure and to travel, not sit in an office all day.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and waited, his patience growing thin. Tru sat a little straighter in her chair and rushed to continue. “I was responsible for Lodestone Mining’s account, and I began to suspect something wasn’t right with the accounting. Money was being funneled into subsidiaries. It all looked good on the surface, but I kept running into walls when I tried to track it further. It was small things I couldn’t explain and it made me take a second, deeper look.” Her voice rose. “I tried to talk to my father about what I noticed, but he patted me on the head and told me not to be ridiculous. Lodestone Mining was a sound investment and I was letting my imagination run away with me.”
“Go on,” he encouraged, before relaxing enough to sit on the corner of his desk. He plucked a small, decorative glass disc from the desktop and tossed it from one hand to the other.
“I decided to take matters into my own hands and prove I was right.”
Nick raised his eyebrows in mock alarm.
“I informed my family I was going to visit a friend. I didn’t want them to worry, you see. I caught a transport to Lodestone under a false name so no one would know where I was and come after me. I informed the operations manager, Anto Geir, I was an auditor from Creighton Mutual doing a routine check. Everything was going as planned. I had even been able to discover the head of Lodestone Mining was not correctly accounting for the amount of mineral being shipped for sale–”
“How did you manage that?”
“I made friends with a shipping clerk. It wasn’t hard to get him to talk about his job and fairly easy to figure out some of the shipments were conveniently going astray.” Tru shrugged.
“Him? Just how, exactly, did you get him to talk, Tru?” Nick’s voice was dark, dangerous as unwelcome jealousy stirred at the mention of another man. The emotion was so alien and so out of place, given the circumstances, it caught him off guard. He put the glass disc down with a little more force than necessary and curled his fingers under the edge of the desk, waiting for her answer.
Tru’s shirt hem had ridden up her thigh again and she tugged it down. Nick almost groaned out loud.
“Oh, you know, we had drinks at his place a couple of times,” she replied.
“Just drinks?” There it was again, a slight growl in his voice, and he winced. Damn it all, she was driving him crazy.
“Of course, just drinks. Good grief, Nick, what did you think was going on? He thought he impressed me with his importance. A few cups of the local ale and he prattled on without much encouragement. It was easy to cross-reference the dates he let drop on shipments against delivery. It wasn’t until Anto Geir started questioning me that I got a little nervous.”
“What kind of questions?”
“At first I didn’t think much about it. He wanted to know how my audit was going, was everything in order, that kind of thing. He tried to make conversation about the people I spent time with. He started to really make me nervous.”
She clasped her hands in her lap tight enough to turn the knuckles white then continued in a small, strained voice, “The next work cycle, the shipping clerk wasn’t at his
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