By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс
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So it’s a fake, but from the picture it looks like a decent one. I don’t know that it’ll bring us much more information. I did send the photo you took to some people I know, but don’t get your hopes up.”
Tucker had figured as much and tried to tamp down his impatience. He was more interested in the possibility he’d raised yesterday. “What about the coercion angle? Any evidence she was pressured into taking the money?”
George hesitated long enough for Tucker to tense. “Nothing’s changed,” George said finally. “Not since I checked a year ago. Leanna had no known criminal associates or unsavory friends or family problems. If she took the money under duress, I haven’t seen any evidence. Doesn’t mean I won’t be looking. We did have a different agenda back then, and I might have bypassed something crucial.”
“All right.” Tucker rubbed his eyes. “You have anything on the men in her life?”
“There were a few in college, nothing too serious. When she worked at Keystone as a fundraising assistant, she was with a man named Alex Phillips. They were a couple for three years. He moved to D.C. and is now a lobbyist for a New York telecom consortium. He’s married and has a son. No arrests, no ties to any scandals.”
“Okay,” Tucker said. “And Shea Monroe?”
“That’s still tough. She’s worked on highly classified projects, and if I tug too hard on any of those strings we could be inviting more problems than we want. I did find out that she’s still under contract for something big, but I have no idea what.”
“Do what you can with that. And maybe start looking at Annie’s family more closely. It could be one of them in trouble, I don’t know.”
“Look, Tucker…” Shit, George was using his fatherly voice. “We never thought we’d get this far, right? I mean, worse comes to worst, we let the authorities know, they come in, do their own digging. Running like that makes her look awfully guilty.”
Tucker’s breath caught at the cavalier words. “We already decided that finding her isn’t enough to clear Christian. I need to dig more and understand what happened, before the D.A.’s office gets wind of this. My instincts are telling me we’re missing a big piece. I’m not even going to mention anything to Christian, not until I know more. So, do your best, huh?”
“You know I will, Tucker.”
“I appreciate it.”
His next call would have to wait until after coffee, because Darren wouldn’t be in yet. Irene wouldn’t be awake, either. Though Tucker wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her at the moment, anyway. She still didn’t know his trip out of town was a fact-finding mission to help Christian, and Tucker aimed to keep it that way for the time being.
Now, it was going to be coffee or death. Personally, he voted for coffee, and he knew the day was going to be a good one because the scent of a rich dark roast greeted him halfway down the big staircase.
He’d known he wasn’t the first one up, but he had hoped that he’d recognize someone in the kitchen.
Instead, there were a lot of young women. Pretty young women at that. They were bustling about with an older Hispanic woman, making what looked like enough breakfast to feed an army.
“Well, hello there.”
It seemed early for a greeting like that, especially coming from an attractive brunette whose jeans were so tight he wouldn’t recommend she do much sitting. “Morning.”
“Who are you, and when did you get in?”
Another stare, this from a woman with a spatula in one hand and a smile that reminded him of this year’s Miss Texas posters. “Rachel didn’t tell us there were any men coming to stay.”
“That’s because he’s not here for a vacation.” At Shea’s no-nonsense voice, Tucker turned. She entered the kitchen frowning at the spatula girl. “Rachel asked me to tell you that you’re all leaving for Glacier National Park in an hour, whether you’ve eaten or not.”
Tucker could tell the other girls were intimidated by Shea. He doubted they had reason, although she’d been a big surprise. The woman who’d written emails about the financial viability of Safe Haven—who’d outlined their immediate plans for fundraising campaigns and upgrades to the facility—had come across as a smooth communicator, one who had the kind of social skills that went along with certain high levels of government contracts.
What he’d found instead wasn’t so easy to classify. There was a bluntness about her that wasn’t rude, just…raw. He wondered if she could be manipulated, say, by a woman in hiding waiting to make a last big score before darting over the Canadian border.
The bad thing was, the very traits that drew him to Annie were what made her role in the theft all the more believable. Hell, even knowing what he knew, Tucker had been drawn in and wanted to at least give her a chance.
“Morning, Tucker,” Shea said. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
“I assume I should put it in a to-go cup?”
“I have a few minutes.” He smiled at her unguarded sigh. “I thought maybe we could talk.”
With a resigned expression and a glance at the guests, she took out a large insulated mug, poured, then handed it to him. “Let’s go into the other room.”
He nodded and followed her past the dining area into a parlor with an expansive view of the Sundance and the snowcapped Rockies in the background. She leaned against a wooden post, which would have fooled him into thinking she was comfortable if he hadn’t seen how she avoided his eyes.
“If you had any questions about Safe Haven, about the financials or the fundraising, I mean,” she said, “I can probably help you. Because Annie’s very private.”
“Really?”
Shea toyed with her cup, slightly lifting one shoulder. “Most of us don’t know much about Annie except for her work ethic and her commitment to saving every animal she can. The things that matter.”
“She works extremely hard. I could see that yesterday.”
“She’s driven, you know?” Shea met his eyes, her caution fading. Perhaps acknowledging Annie’s dedication had earned him an ally. “Or maybe she just prefers the company of animals. I get that. Mostly I do, too.”
Tucker smiled at her candor. “There are days, a lot of them, when I’d have to agree.”
“Well, as long as you know that she’s worked miracles with virtually no assets. I can only imagine what she could do with proper funding.”
“I assure you, I’ll give Safe Haven every consideration. So far, I like what I’ve seen. Is there anything else you can tell me that would help sway the vote?”
She blinked, then narrowed her gaze. “Like what?”
So much for bringing her over to his team. “I don’t know.” He paused to think. “In your opinion, what’s Safe Haven’s biggest selling point?”
“Annie.”
Exactly the answer he wanted. “Well, there’s a problem with that,” he said, letting his words settle, then studying Shea’s worried frown. “We don’t know if Annie will be here long. She could leave tomorrow and then who’d run Safe Haven?”
Shea relaxed. “Annie’s not going anywhere.”
“She might get homesick,” he said, and Shea shook her head with a sadness she quickly masked. “Or find someone and get married. Have kids.”
“No,” Shea murmured quietly, her gaze downcast. “She won’t.”
He almost felt guilty for the pain he’d seen flash in her eyes. But he hadn’t caused it, not directly. Annie had. He’d bet his Range Rover she’d