Taking Stock (25 page)

The brothers squeezed in around the table. Gregg nudged
Eric
a over until she nearly touched elbows with Frank. The boys rehashed the morning’s events for their father’s entertainment. Gregg dropped five birds, his proudest shot from directly underneath. The bird fell to earth with a thud ten feet from him. Rick dropped three birds and Tom only two. Frank was riveted as the three brothers mimicked the twists and dives the birds used to avoid them. When they were through, Gregg goaded them that today’s result was typical; it took both of them to do the work he did in a day. Frank agreed when it came to shooting or golf.
Eric
a wasn’t sure if she was proud or disturbed by his success.

Gregg and
Eric
a spent a quiet day together touring the farm and the town where he grew up. Everything was small scale; the single elementary school that served the whole town, the two convenience stores too distant to be convenient. Just getting to the grocery store took twenty minutes. Every road was humped and the residents compensated by driving down the center, that way they were on top. It was odd at first, but they rarely saw another car. What they did see was trees. Everywhere they went trees blocked them in. Now and again they passed a corn field or a hay field that stretched impossibly long, bigger than she could have imagined.

When the sun started sinking in the afternoon, they settled into a clump of trees that looked down over a long brown field. This was Gregg’s favorite spot as a boy, far enough from the house to be secluded, but not a long walk.

Gregg sat with his back to a sturdy pine and
Eric
a reclined against the solid muscles of his chest. “What do you think of the farm
?
” he asked.

“I’ve never seen any place so big and your family’s so nice,” she said, rubbing his arm. “You can’t help but be at peace here.”

“Could you live here
?
”

“It’s too far from
Boston
.” She felt him sigh. “If I didn’t have to work, I’d live in a place like that.” She pointed to the hilltop. “I bet there’s a great view over the trees. And I like the way the long grass swishes in the wind. The house wouldn’t have to be big, but it would have a barn and horses.”
Eric
a imagined a house in the empty field and what she’d do with a horse. She’d always pictured herself living alone in a city apartment. No apartment building would be erected here. This was a place for a family. There had never been children in her future, but they were a big part of Gregg’s.  

“My dad’s been saving this spot for me since I was ten.”

“It’s beautiful,”

He could start building anytime. Owning the land meant he could build it piece by piece as time and money allowed. He might not know anything about construction, but if he grew up on the farm he had to be comfortable with tools. Adding herself to this picture brought a sickening feeling. Things would go wrong inside the new house and his parents would hear them arguing.

“Do you really want to live a hundred yards from your parents
?
More importantly, would your wife
?
”

Everyone in his family seemed eager to be together. Would he ever understand what her childhood was like
?
Would he be afraid of her if he knew that her mother had killed her father when she was four
?
She might never get a better moment than this to explain, but she couldn’t get started. It sounded horrible even to her. He didn’t pry into her thoughts, rubbing the tiny muscles near her spine instead.

“I guess I’ll have to ask my future wife.”

“What
?
”

“I’ll ask her if she wants to live a hundred yards from my parents.”

“Tell me what she says.”

“I think you already know.”

“You’re getting way too confident. I’m still trying to get over you killing birds so they don’t eat the corn.”

They sat snuggled into growing shadows and watched the birds fly here and there to pluck seeds from the field.
Eric
a brightened as he held her close and the sun dipped lower.

“What happens when we go back to
Boston
?
I don’t like the thought of you in that apartment alone. What if that guy comes back
?
”

“I’m a big girl. Ten years of Karate, remember
?
If he comes back, he’ll be in more trouble than he knows.”

“I’d rather you stayed with me.”

“I’m not Claudia or Dianne.”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t worry. A break-in isn’t a joke.”

Eric
a let herself nuzzle into his shoulder, turning her face up toward his. “You’re adorably overprotective.”

He protested again so she kissed him there in the cool shade of the pine. His safety concerns were replaced by desires she wouldn’t quench out here in the open. Need welled in the depth of their kisses, bodies molded together. In all the time he’d been pursuing her, she’d never imagined this moment. The desire sprang up on its own, consuming her thoughts until they were just two intertwined bodies exploring each other.

Back in
Boston
they could have spent the evening in bed. She wished he’d ask to pack up and go. She craved him. Not the desire to go through the motions and satisfy her man; to do what needed to be done. She rubbed her hands over his solid chest, pressed herself against him, hot with desire to feel his skin against hers.

Gregg didn’t know how to react. He was shocked by the change. Every time she eased the intensity of her kiss, he drew back, satisfied. Each time she drove back into him she felt his delight as he surged to meet her.

When they finally left the tree,
Eric
a was shivering from the cold and plotting ways to casually sneak into his room.

Brad reclined across the aisle, his feet straddling the open cabinet in front of him. His chair pressed against the cabinet behind, his head resting on the sheet metal, his eyes closed. The cold room demanded late hours with only spurts of activity between the long cycles when the computer labored and the operator waited. At
10:30
p.m.
this posture was common. Marty would expect a bit more formality from his newly-minted senior vice president brother-in-law. He’d be furious if he knew about the program Brad was running in his computer room.

The numbers on the screen didn’t matter anymore. There weren’t enough transactions for this last run to make up the gap. He’d be at least two and a half million short and his mind spun with potential consequences. Would the boss take the shortfall from his share
?
Could he, if Brad was the one delivering the money
?
It sounded like a huge sum, but Brad didn’t need the two and a half to rebuild his little house in the French countryside and retire in style. His biggest problem was ending this thing and leaving BFS without arousing suspicion.

He needed a plausible reason to leave
Boston
. His first plan was to get married, but that had fallen flat. In a year of looking he’d had a few hot encounters, but nothing that would qualify as a relationship. No woman would pick up and move with him to
France
. He hunted for jobs in other cities, but nothing had panned out there either. He was stuck between an inept brother-in-law, a maniacal power-hungry partner and an employee with a grudge.

Brad wanted out. He didn’t want to return from this next trip, but the boss wouldn’t let go until they were in the clear for good. He wanted certainty, a closed investigation and someone else doing time in their place. Ludicrous. Stupid as throwing rocks at a sleeping bear, but it wasn’t Brad’s call. He’d do what he was told and help pin this on
Eric
a. The call from Sarah Burke showed promise, but it smacked of a prolonged investigation and a nasty legal battle. The truth would come out in a courtroom. Brad would face
Eric
a’s lawyer from the witness stand. She’d understand the crime once the charges were spelled out and she’d have years to research and prove her case. She’d know he was guilty, but knowing and proving were two different things. How long could he stand the intense scrutiny
?

The distinctive click and flash broke the steady hum of computers. Brad jumped out of his seat without pausing to breathe or even open his eyes. Scrambling to the end of the row and around the corner, he left the CD he’d used to steal over a hundred and seventy-five million dollars right in the server. The program was still busily changing customer transactions as Brad ran, ready to battle his way out of the server room and on to the Canadian border. He took two hard strides across the tile floor then stumbled awkwardly to a stop when he saw Herman behind the camera.

“Priceless.” The camera flashed again. “You pussy. Where the Hell are you going
?
”

Brad faced him dumbfounded, his heart racing, gasping, unable to catch his breath. He felt exposed standing in view of the hall. The photos proved nothing, but Herman didn’t need them. Why torment him this way
?
Herman had to be covering himself. If someone found them together, he’d show the pictures. Brad would go to jail and Herman would get a raise.

“It’s a miracle you haven’t been caught. Is that all it takes for you to cut and run
?
Someone walks in and you bolt
?
Grow some backbone.”

“Screw you. I’m risking my ass here and across the pond. All you do is hide behind the phone. Without me you’ve got squat.”

“Simmer down, Bradley. Let’s get our disc and cover our tracks before someone finds us and I’m forced to turn you in.”

The prick would do it.

Back at the server, the program finished. Brad put the files back to normal and removed the CD well before the regular backup started at
midnight
. As he did this he wondered why Herman picked this last run for his first late-night visit to the computer room. He seemed to know everything Brad did day or night. He didn’t need to come here.

The two men walked into the tiny security room, Brad watching every corner for trouble, Herman as calm as if he were ordering lunch in the company cafeteria.  

“Well, this is it. How much of my six million did you get
?
” Herman asked as Brad made the changes on the building access computer.

“I’m about two million short, but I was interrupted before I checked the final numbers. I guess we’ll see.”

“Interrupted
?
Looked to me like you were sleeping. Don’t worry. It’s not a big hit. We can handle it.”

Brad wondered if he meant they’d share the shortfall. Herman tucked the camera into his breast pocket and Brad was reminded of the dusty storage area the night Herman killed Stu Tinsley. Herman blocked the only door. He could pull a gun and end this in seconds or he could wait until morning and show his pictures to the police or the SEC. Not likely. He still needed Brad to deliver the money, but a similar line of thinking earned Stu Tinsley four bullets.

Brad stared at the computer a few moments after he’d finished removing the record of Herman’s computer room visit. When Sarah saw these records, she’d go full speed collecting evidence against
Eric
a. Brad would come through this rich for doing the heavy lifting and keeping quiet. He stepped away from the computer and Herman’s easy eyes made him believe it was true.