Out of the Depths (7 page)

“I know. Sorry. Go on.”

“The other info you may already have heard through the local grapevine. Ronnie Randall? The kid you fired? His whole family has a reputation for being pretty unforgiving when they think they’ve been wronged. The boy’s father and uncles have been arrested for getting belligerent numerous times. One of the kids working on the canoes told me they’ve been spreading the rumor you let poor Ronnie go because you’re prejudiced against folks who have more influence than you do.”

“Humph. That would be just about everybody in Fulton County, if it were true,” Trudy Lynn said. “What I’m
prejudiced against is thieves. I don’t suppose anybody mentioned the little problem of missing sodas and candy from the camp store, did they?”

She was surprised to see Cody nod and refer to his notes again. “Matter of fact, they did. Ronnie swears he’s innocent. Naturally, his family believes him.”

“Naturally.” She sighed. “Is that all?”

“Not quite.”

The tone of Cody’s voice caused her to glance up at him. “Uh-oh. What else?”

“Did you know that your cousin Jim is on probation? He was convicted of drug possession.”

“Of course I knew. That was all a mistake. He was just holding a backpack for a friend. He had no idea there was anything illegal in it.”

“That’s the oldest excuse in the book, but okay. If you say so.”

“I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Jim can be kind of reckless when he’s hanging around with the wrong crowd but he’s not a criminal. If anything, he’s a genius. I’ve never known anybody so gifted with a computer.”

“Which reminds me,” Cody said. “When did he say he could spare me an hour or so of time on the Internet?”

“I didn’t get around to asking. Tomorrow’s his day off. Anytime then should be fine. Let me know when you want to come over to the office and I’ll send Will to get you on the ATV. Is that okay?”

“Sure. No problem. It’ll give me a chance to ask him about his prison time.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Why not? Aren’t you interested in hearing his side of the story?”

“Not if it means making him think I don’t trust him. People’s feelings are more important to me than dredging up details of a past that can’t possibly have any connection to my vandal.”

“How do you know it can’t?”

“I just do,” Trudy Lynn insisted. “In all the years Will has worked for me, this is the first time I’ve had any problems. If he were involved, the trouble would have started long ago, and you know it.”

“Probably. Unless whoever’s been smashing your canoes was incarcerated till recently.”

“A cell mate, you mean?”

“Maybe.”

“I’d sooner believe fish could fly.”

Cody chuckled. “As slippery as fish are, I imagine they’d have a real hard time roosting in trees. Birds wouldn’t like the competition for food, either.”

In spite of her worry over Will, Trudy Lynn couldn’t help joining in. “Neither would the squirrels. Big catfish actually eat acorns if the nuts happen to drop into the water. I’ve seen them do it.” She giggled. “You know, you have a very strange sense of humor.”

“So I’ve been told. Doesn’t it bother you that you always laugh at my crazy jokes?”

“Not at all,” she said with a broadening grin. “After my trick with the gravy boat the other night, I figure my reputation has nowhere to go but
up
.”

A
fter thinking it over, Trudy Lynn decided that even if his closeness was a bit unsettling, Cody would be safer riding the ATV with her than with Will. The older man was cautious, sometimes to a fault, but his peripheral vision and reaction time left much to be desired.

She picked Cody up at 10:00 a.m. and drove straight to the camp office. Instead of making him climb the front steps and enter through the store, she ushered him through her kitchen and out into the central hallway.

“Like I said before, the computer is in that room over there. I’ve locked Widget in the bathroom so he won’t bother you.” At the arch of Cody’s eyebrow she added, “It’s a trick I learned from a guy with a
really
big dog.”

“Glad to be of service.”

“Speaking of service, Anne’s on duty in the store. She’s a sweetheart. I’ll tell her you’re working in here. If you get hungry or thirsty, just holler and she’ll bring you whatever you want.”

“I should be fine. All I want to do is access my ac
counts and see if I need to make any modifications. It won’t take long.”

“Investments like that have always scared me,” Trudy Lynn admitted. “I prefer to put my money into things I can see and touch, like this place.”

“I’m glad it’s worked out for you.”

“Me, too. It’s been a long, hard road but I’m finally starting to see a small profit.”

“Good. Well…”

She gestured toward the open office. “Right. I’m keeping you. Go on in. Make yourself at home. If you want privacy, just shut the door. I won’t mind. If I need anything, I’ll knock. Just promise you’ll be careful. I almost never touch that computer. Jim gets really upset if he thinks I’m fiddling with his programs.”

“Understood,” Cody said.

Trudy Lynn noticed that not only was she babbling again, her hands were making exaggerated, fluttery motions to accent her words. That fit with the way the butterflies in her stomach were behaving. She’d been unnecessarily on edge all morning and it was beginning to rile her. What a ridiculous response to doing a simple favor. Surely, there was no need to be worried about Cody accidentally losing or corrupting important files, so why be nervous?

She solved her fidgeting problem by stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Okay. Have at it. I’ll go do some chores. See you later.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Trudy Lynn paused to watch him turn and make his
way to the office. He did seem to be getting around a little better. Was he? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part?

Make that wishful
praying
. Cody Keringhoven had been in her prayers ever since Becky had told her he’d been hurt, and there was certainly nothing wrong with affirming a positive result. She didn’t need the equivalent of thunder and lightning to convince her the Lord was working in Cody’s life. She knew He was.

Though she still wasn’t sure what part she might play in Cody’s recovery, she was open to heavenly inspiration, just as long as it didn’t require the kind of trust she’d once placed in Ned. Becoming involved with one overly controlling, pigheaded man had been an honest mistake. Falling for a second one who was carrying even more excess emotional baggage would be totally idiotic.

Besides, until she and Cody had recovered from the disappointments in their respective love lives, neither of them could count on thinking clearly. Entertaining the notion of becoming romantically involved again, let alone acting on it, scared her silly.

Trudy Lynn felt a sudden, overpowering urge to flee. She was outside, taking gulping breaths of fresh air, before she realized that no matter how much distance she put between herself and Cody Keringhoven, her tenderhearted sympathies would remain with him.

Okay. She could live with that. There was nothing wrong with well-placed compassion and concern. So what if she happened to like the man? That didn’t automatically mean she was falling for him, did it? Of course not.

Letting her thoughts gel, Trudy Lynn began to smile and relax. She cared about a lot of people, her friends, her pastor, her employees, even the folks who rented canoes and campsites from her. Why not extend that same innocent sentiment to Cody? He might be grumpy at times but who wouldn’t be, given his past? When he was in good spirits, he was a lot of fun to be around. There was nothing wrong with enjoying his company.

Satisfied with that logical conclusion, she skipped down the steps, feeling more lighthearted and more alive than she had for ages.

Cody was still seated in front of the computer monitor when Trudy Lynn returned and rapped on the doorjamb before poking her head in. “You busy?”

“No. Just finishing up. Am I in your way?”

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, maybe you can do me a favor. I called my insurance agent about the canoe that was damaged last night. She says she needs the date of purchase and the unit price before she can process my claim.”

“How can I help?” Cody pushed back from the desk to give Trudy Lynn access when she approached.

Instead, she paused and held up her hands. “Oh, no. I’m not touching that thing. The last time I tried I messed up days and days of Jim’s work.”

“Don’t you have the information you need on paper?”

She shrugged and quirked a lopsided smile. “Somewhere. Your guess is as good as mine. See those stacks of storage boxes over there? The white ones? Once Jim
started putting all the data into the computer, I kind of quit keeping up any other files.”

“Kind of?” Cody arched an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me like that. The stuff is in groups. I kept adding to a box till it was full, then started a new one. If I could remember approximately when we ordered those older canoes, I could probably locate the invoice. Eventually. Trouble is, the longer I take, the longer it’ll be till I get any reimbursement. I thought, since you’re good with computers, you could look it up for me.”

“I’m not sure I want to. How big is your cousin?” Cody teased with a wry smile.

“Not big at all. He’s a skinny teenager. Smart, but no muscleman like you.”

Cody couldn’t help feeling good about her description of him, especially when she began to blush. He laughed. “Muscleman? Thanks, I think.”

“You know what I mean. You’re taller, and…Oh, never mind.”

To his delight, her rosy cheeks darkened even more. “Okay. Enough compliments,” he said, carefully rolling the chair closer so it faced the desk. “Tell me how to access the accounts payable file and I’ll see what I can find.”

“I don’t know.” Trudy Lynn leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen. “The thingie was already running when I got myself in trouble the last time.”

“The
thingie?
” Cody chuckled low as he disconnected from the Internet and checked the listings of files. There were two with almost identical names. “Here you are. Which is it?”

“Beats me.” She scowled. “One must be from last year. Open the one with the most recent activity and we’ll work backward from there.”

Cody checked dates. “This shows they’ve both been accessed in the past few days.”

“Jim was probably looking for the insurance information on the other canoes that were ruined,” she said. “Just pick either one.”

“You could wait till your cousin comes back to work.”

“I could,” Trudy Lynn said, “but why dawdle when I have an expert sitting right here?” She pulled a face. “You are an expert, aren’t you?”

“I won’t accidentally erase anything, if that’s what you’re asking. I use a similar program to keep my investment portfolio. It’s a pretty simple system once you get the hang of it.”

“Not for me it isn’t,” she said with a smirk. “All machines hate me, even my vacuum cleaner. The only reason I can keep the ATV running is because Will uses it more than I do and it likes him. I think it’s a guy thing.”

“If you say so.” Cody had been trying to open the chosen file and had failed. “What’s your password?”

“Password? For what?”

“This file. It’s password protected. Didn’t you know that?”

“No.” She laid a hand lightly on Cody’s shoulder and leaned closer to read what was on the screen. “That’s weird.”

He forced himself to pay no heed to the warm touch
of her hand. It was harder to ignore the light, floral fragrance of her long brown hair as it neared his cheek.

“Not if Cousin Jim was worried you’d mess with the program again and cause him extra work,” Cody said, fighting to concentrate on anything but his companion. “What’s his last name? When’s his birthday? Who’s his current girlfriend?”

None of those answers proved to be the password so he began to try more eclectic terms. It wasn’t until he used
weed
that he got a positive response. “Hmm. Not good. I’d rather he’d chosen something non-drug related.”

“You don’t know that’s what that stands for.”

“I have a pretty good idea,” Cody argued, “unless you’re going to tell me Jim is into horticulture.”

“Unfortunately, no.” Trudy Lynn squinted at the data. “Page down. Again. That can’t be right. I didn’t net nearly that much last month.”

He looked up and noted her scowl. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay. Let’s print this page and check it against the other file.”

“What good will that do?”

“Maybe none. Shall I go ahead and try it?”

“Sure.” She shook her head, clearly confused. “Things were a lot simpler when I used to save my receipts in a shoe box and pay the bills myself.”

“This system is more efficient,” Cody told her.

“I suppose so. I just miss having a clear picture of how the business is doing. Looking at the printouts Jim gives me is not the same.”

Cody clicked on the second file. To his surprise, it opened without difficulty. He leaned back in the chair and whistled softly.

“What?”

“Look at this. Is that more like what you think you earned last month?”

“Yes, but…”

“Wait a second,” he said. “I want this on paper, too. Then we’ll do some comparing.”

“How will that help?”

Cody started the printer, then turned to study Trudy Lynn’s expression. She was his sister’s close friend. He couldn’t imagine she’d be in on any scheme to defraud the government by keeping two sets of books in order to avoid paying income taxes. Although dishonest businesses did it all the time, or tried to, this woman didn’t fit the pattern. She was too open. Too honest. Too clearly perplexed. Besides, if she’d been involved in cooking the books she wouldn’t have invited an outsider like him to examine them.

Picking up the second printed sheet, Cody carefully compared it to the first, then laid them both facedown on the desk. He could see at a glance that part of the net difference was in the amount of hourly wage charged to her summer help.

“How much do you pay Anne and the other kids?” Cody asked.

Trudy Lynn quoted a figure far above what he’d seen on one of the sheets.

“How about Will?”

“I pay him about twice what the kids get. And I gave him a raise this year. Why?”

“One of these sets of books shows a good-sized increase. The other doesn’t show nearly that much.”

“So, one has to be from last year.”

“Nope. Sorry.” Cody could tell she was stunned. Good. That spoke well for her character. “I can’t be positive without doing some serious math, but I suspect your cousin has been siphoning off cash for himself and charging it to other sources. The teens who work for you are only getting part of what you think you’re paying them.”

Cody displayed his findings and pointed out the discrepancies. “See? According to this posting, Will hasn’t had a decent raise in at least two years, either.”

“That’s impossible!” Trudy Lynn snatched the papers from him, her glance darting back and forth between the two lists. Her eyes grew misty. “I can’t believe it. There must be another explanation.”

“I sincerely hope so,” Cody said. “For your sake and for Jim’s. Because if there isn’t, you have more than one crime to worry about. You’re a victim of embezzlement.”

Trudy Lynn had ferried Cody back to his cabin and was sitting alone in her office, mulling over the morning’s startling discovery, when her private phone rang. So few people knew that number she assumed it had to be a personal call. “Hello?”

“Ms. Brown? This is Billy Joe Potts, down at Seren
ity Realty, on the square. I brokered sales for several of your competitors last year. Remember?”

She tensed. “Vaguely.”

“Well, Ms. Brown, I have great news for you. I’ve had an offer on your place that you won’t be able to turn down. Isn’t that amazing?”

The fine hairs at the nape of Trudy’s neck were bristling. Her grip tightened on the receiver. “Amazing.”

“Then you’ll consider selling? That’s wonderful! I knew you’d appreciate the chance to make a big profit. I’ll bring the offer right over and get your signature. Say, in an hour?”

“No,” Trudy Lynn said, masking her wariness as best she could. “I’m not free this afternoon. And tomorrow is Sunday. Why don’t I stop by your office sometime Monday?”