Tell Me Something Good (39 page)

“Too bad,” Julie said in a flat tone. “I
still don’t know why you’re talking to me.”

“I—” Lyrissa broke off when the waitress led
two men in suits to a nearby table. She leaned forward and lowered
her voice. “I was nowhere near that house when it caught fire. I
was with Noel. Uh, sorry,” she put in, when Julie winced.

“The theory is you hired someone to do your
dirty work,” Julie retorted with a stiff expression. “A suspicious
type would say being with Noel was the perfect set-up.”

“That’s crazy! I’d never do such a thing.”
Lyrissa wrung her hands. “Look, I know we’ve had our problems.”

“Yes.”

“But I think we can help each other,” Lyrissa
went on.

“This I’ve got to hear.” Julie folded her
arms and gazed at her. “I can’t think of one reason why I should
care what happens to you or why I need your help.”

“Noel is being difficult.” Lyrissa wore a
miserable expression.

“He’s a St. Denis, darlin’. They don’t easily
forgive, and they never forget.”

Lyrissa lifted her chin. “But he wants to
believe me real bad, Julie. He’s agreed to see me again. I’ve still
got a chance.”

“He’s not that big a fool for you!” Julie
snarled.

“Don’t count on it,” Lyrissa tossed back. “No
matter what you’d like to think, the man still wants me. I’m more
than his latest distraction.”

“You’re so wrong. I’ve seen him toss aside
better women than you,” Julie huffed in anger.

“Are you sure?”

Lyrissa watched fury and uncertainty flash in
her eyes. So her guess had been correct: Julie still held out hope
that she could have Noel.

“Noel has too much to lose,” Julie blurted
out. “The board would fire him. His family would cut him off cold.
You wouldn’t get your hands on their money.”

“Maybe not, but I’d have him. You wouldn’t.
Then there’s the small matter of his substantial trust fund.”
Lyrissa wore a tight smile. “We wouldn’t exactly starve, from what
he’s told me.”

“What makes you think I care at this point?
He’s no prize if you’re his taste these days!” Julie hissed.

“Don’t try it, Julie. You want him so bad you
can’t see straight,” Lyrissa retorted.

Julie blinked as if she’d been slapped hard
across the face. She recovered after a few seconds. “Why should you
give him up?”

“As you pointed out, his family will shun us
both. I won’t have the bigger prize, their money. I won’t have
status. Hell, I might not even have the painting they stole.”
Julie’s eyes narrowed. “I knew it! You were after his money and
social position all along.”

“Then there’s the problem of these charges
hanging over my head.” Lyrissa scowled. “He’s not worth that much
to me. Besides, hiring the best criminal lawyer could wipe out his
nice trust fund like that!” She snapped her fingers. Such callous
words about the man she loved dearly made Lyrissa’s stomach twist,
but she had to be convincing.

“You’re too devious,” Julie murmured. She
wore an expression close to admiration.

“But I’ll take what I can get if...” Lyrissa
let her voice trail off as she stared hard at Julie.

They studied each other in silence for
several minutes, each looking for weakness in the other. Julie
sipped from her glass from time to time as the seconds ticked by.
Finally she shrugged.

“What do you think I can do?” Julie patted
her lips with a cocktail napkin.

“Call off the dogs,” Lyrissa said
bluntly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Julie’s expression didn’t change.

Lyrissa leaned forward and lowered her voice
even more. “I know I didn’t set the fire or steal the painting.
I’ve been thinking about who else had a motive. I came up with you
and Carlton. Noel told me about the audit.”

“You are desperate,” Julie said with a snort.
“Nobody would believe that fairytale.”

“If I’m out of the picture, you could play
Noel the way you want to. Otherwise, I’ll encourage him to follow
up on the audit. They’ll find dirt on Carlton, maybe even you. Noel
would still be CEO and I would get the whole package.”

“His family would never accept you.” Julie
stabbed a forefinger in Lyrissa’s face.

“Fine. Take the chance. I’ve got nothing to
lose either way. How bad do you want him?” Lyrissa said
fiercely.

Julie drummed her fingers on the white linen
tablecloth. “I’ll consider it. I might just decide he’s not worth
it to me.”

“You might, but I don’t think you will.”
Lyrissa let out a shaky breath. “Look, don’t be stupid. All I want
is to stay out of jail and at least salvage my career. I didn’t
plan on being arrested.”

A slow, confident smile spread across Julie’s
face. “You are in a tough situation, aren’t you?” She put on her
sun-glasses and stood. “I’ll be in touch.”

Lyrissa watched her stride out of the cafe,
head held high. “Yeah, do that, bitch!” she muttered.

Noel slammed a fist down on the oval table.
Lyrissa and Eddie both jumped and exchanged a glance. The three of
them were in the small conference room next to Noel’s office. He
stared at the thick final audit report before him.

“Good thing Carlton isn’t here right now,”
Eddie whispered aside to Lyrissa.

“Honey, I thought you’d calmed down,” Lyrissa
told Noel.

“Every time I think about what they pulled—”
His jaw muscles worked as he controlled his rage. Noel held up his
hands palm out. “Right, right. There’ll be plenty of time to crush
those two later. The report will fix Carlton.”

“You really think Julie will talk? She’s
pretty tricky,” Lyrissa said.

“And arrogant. So is Carlton. They think
they’ve won,” Noel replied with a scowl.

“Yeah, they’re both walking around like they
run the place already,” Eddie said with disgust in her voice.

Noel looked at her. “Did you set up the
speaker phone? I don’t want them to notice it’s on.”

“No problem, boss. They won’t, not the way I
positioned it. I’ve got it set to the vacant office down the hall.
We can listen in and they’ll never suspect a thing.” Eddie
grinned.

“You’re pretty tricky yourself, Mr. St.
Denis.” Lyrissa looked at him.

He grinned. “It’s in the blood,
remember?”

Eddie stood. “I’ll make sure no one is in the
hall so Lyrissa can sneak into the office.”

“Right. Then get back to your desk fast.
Julie will be looking for you soon,” Noel said.

“Check, boss! This is s-o-o-o cool.” Eddie
giggled. Lyrissa started to follow her out when Noel pulled her
into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his muscular body as
he kissed her.

“What was that for?” she asked when they
parted.

“I needed something sweet. This whole thing
has put a nasty taste in my mouth.” Noel brushed her hair with one
hand. “You were right about my family, baby.”

“Come on. I’ve said a few nasty things about
them, but every family has its share of shady characters.” Lyrissa
snuggled closer to soothe him.

“I have to face facts. The St. Denis family
has a monopoly on low people in high places,” he said in a dry
tone.

“We can’t change the past or take the whole
burden for what they did.”

Noel let out a long breath. “I want to try
and right some of those wrongs. I can’t brag about the good and
avoid responsibility for the bad.”

Lyrissa caressed his face. “Another reason I
love you, Noel St. Denis.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you
back.”

Eddie peeked in the door. “They’re circling
like vultures, Noel.” She came in with both hands on her hips.
“Listen, people, we’re in the middle of a critical operation here.
Save the gooey stuff for later.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lyrissa saluted her.

“Sorry, chief.” Noel winked at Eddie.

“All right. Come on, Lyrissa. Andre has
everyone distracted.” Eddie herded her out the door.

Lyrissa waved to Noel and darted out the side
door. She

strode quickly down the hall and into the
vacant office. A phone sat on the desk. A green light glowed,
indicating the speaker was on. Seconds went by and Lyrissa grew
antsy. A loud thump from the speaker made her yelp in surprise.
Lyrissa clamped a hand over her mouth and prayed.

“What was that?” Carlton’s voice came
through.

“Sorry, I dropped my pad and pen,” Eddie
said.

Lyrissa let out a silent sigh of relief and
turned down the volume on the phone. There was more rustling and a
second solid thump. The others entered the large conference room
and closed the door.

“Let’s get going. I’ve got one hell of a busy
day,” Noel said.

“Fine,” Julie said. Her voice was crisp and
composed.

“I’ve already met with Carlton about the
audit findings.”

“He told me. Why isn’t Andre here? I think we
should nail his ass. Carlton says—”

“There’s no need to bring Andre in at this
point,” Noel cut her off.

Carlton spoke up. “He’s been stealing from
us. I realize you hired him and don’t want to believe it. We all
know the board won’t be happy to hear this latest news.”

Lyrissa grimaced at his gloating tone. The
guy had nerve. She itched to slap him across his moon-shaped
face.

“I’m not convinced Andre has done anything
wrong, Carlton,” Noel said calmly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I gave you the results
of my investigation. The evidence against him couldn’t be clearer,”
Carlton replied.

“I had our accountant hire a specialist, a
forensic accountant is what I think they’re called. He hasn’t quite
un-tangled the mess. Someone has been very clever, but not quite
clever enough.”

Carlton spluttered. “I-I don’t understand.
Why didn’t you consult me? I’ve spent hours working to find out
what was going on. I could help this forensic accountant.” “That’s
great, but I decided to put it in the hands of an expert on this
sort of thing. Damn it, I left his preliminary report in my
office.” Noel sounded harassed.

“I’ll get it for you,” Eddie said.

“No, I locked it in my file drawer. Besides,
Tyson is faxing me more details. It should be coming in on my
machine now. I’ll be right back.”

The door opened and closed again. Seconds
later Noel joined Lyrissa in the empty office. He wore a fierce
expression on his handsome face. Lyrissa gasped at the sight of
him. He towered over her as he placed both hands on the desk and
leaned forward over the speakerphone. Noel looked like a beautiful
avenging angel about to deliver justice. She couldn’t resist
touching him. His eyes softened with affection when her hand
covered one of his large ones.

“I’ll get you guys something to drink, since
we have to wait,” Eddie said after a time. Once more the door
opened and closed.

“He knows,” Carlton burst out.

“Sit down and get a hold of yourself. Did you
do what I told you to?” Julie snapped.

“Yes! I posted payments to contractors we
actually used. The money passed through the active company bank
accounts. Then I made it look like clerical errors whenever I
could. I don’t see how they could find out.” “They’ll reach a dead
end. We can still hang it on André and Keisha if we work fast. I
said sit down!” she barked. “Noel could walk in here any
second.”

Carlton groaned. “God, I hope that guy didn’t
find those foreign bank accounts. I haven’t had a chance to close
them all yet.”

“You idiot!” Julie’s voice cracked like a
whip.

“I need more time, Julie,” Carlton whined.
“I’ve been up to my neck in work, trying to juggle it all.”

“All right, all right. Let’s just calm
down.”

Julie was silent for a while. Lyrissa could
almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

“Okay, look, we probably do have a little
time. But you take care of those damn accounts today. Stay up all
night, if you have to,” she commanded.

“Today,” Carlton repeated.

“In the meantime, we could use a diversion.”
Julie gave a vicious laugh. “I’d make sure the rest of those stolen
items are traced to Lyrissa no later than tomorrow.”

“She hasn’t been charged yet. So far, your
brilliant plan hasn’t worked.”

“My plan is going better than yours,” she
shot back. “The woman had the nerve to try and bargain with me. She
should have known better than to threaten me!”

“I hope you bum her good. She’s caused us too
much trouble not to pay for it.”

“Poor Lyrissa. Pretty soon she’ll be wearing
one of those lovely orange jumpsuits with ‘Orleans Parish Prison’
stamped across the back.” Julie laughed again.

“Great, but what about me? I’m not sure I can
handle the accounts, deal with Andre—”

“Don’t whine,” Julie cut him short. “Give me
a list of the accounts. In the meantime, I’d keep Noel busy.”

“How? You know how single-minded he can
be.”

“Now that I’ve eliminated Lyrissa Rideau,
I'll work my magic on him,” Julie replied with confidence.

“The witch.” Lyrissa glared at the phone.

Noel put a finger to his lips. “Shh,” he said
softly.

As Julie prompted him with sharp questions,
Carlton explained how he had diverted money into his accounts. Noel
scribbled notes until he’d filled two pages of a legal pad.

“I’m going back in now,” he whispered close
to Lyrissa’s ear. “Come in. You’ll know when.” He pointed to the
phone.

Lyrissa nodded and Noel left the office. A
minute later he was back in the conference room with Julie and
Carlton.

“Did you find out anything?” Julie asked.

“Everything I needed to know,” Noel
replied.

“But you couldn’t have—” Carlton croaked. He
cleared his throat. “I mean, did you get the fax?”

“I didn’t need Tyson’s addendum. In fact, I
have a confession. I wasn’t expecting a fax. I made that up,” Noel
said in a placid tone.

“We’re in a crisis. I think you have enough
problems with the board, don’t you? Stop playing games,” Julie
said.