Page 35 of Rescuing Carolyn

The inspector shuffled through a stack of papers and pulled out a sheet. “We’re aware of the amount of debt the business is currently carrying.”

The paper was a balance sheet from the previous month, showing just how little was left after I met expenses. Full disclosure required me to report my business statements to the insurer, but I didn’t see what my debt had to do with paying on my claim. “Remodeling the store was costly, and rotating debt is typical of the jewelry business as we buy and sell merchandise.”

“I’m aware of the nature of your business, but your debt is enough to trigger an internal audit and raise suspicions.”

I suddenly saw where this was going. “Are you suggesting that I caused this?” I waved my hand at the burned-out remains of my showroom.

“It’s been known to happen. A business gets in financial trouble and?—”

“I am not in financial trouble,” I insisted. “My cash flow is tight, I’ll admit that, but that’s because I’m investing so much into making the store the best that it can be. You think I paid for all those renovations when my plan was to burn them all down? I’m committed to this store, and that’s why I give it everything I’ve got. And that’s why I’ll be repairing and reopening it as quickly as possible.”

“We’ll wait for the final report on the fire and the police investigation before issuing any kind of payment,” the adjuster concluded.

Biting my tongue to hold back a sharp retort, I escorted the adjuster out the temporary plywood front door. As he drove away, I turned to survey the exterior. Other than the blown-out glass and some smoke damage to the bricks, the building had held up and passed a safety inspection. At least I didn’t have the worry of a structural problem.

As I was turning to re-enter the building, a hard metal object pressed into the small of my back. I stiffened, having no doubt it was a gun. How had I not noticed someone on the street?

“Open the door and get inside,” a male voice commanded in my ear, his breath hot on my neck.

The thought that this was a simple robbery never crossed my mind. No, this was the person responsible for the sabotage. The one who wanted to see my business destroyed. And if he’d come here in person, to confront me directly, that meant that he’d decided it was time for me to die. Knowing my life depended on it, I went through the door. Inside, I whirled around to face the man, putting a little distance between us and keeping my hands clear. My heart was racing with fear, but on the surface, I remained calm.

I studied the intruder, taking in little details about him. A narrow scar ran from his right ear to his chin. He limped slightly, favoring his left leg as he prowled back and forth in front of me. I searched my memory. Those two details felt familiar, as if he was someone I’d met before. But where?

“I know you,” I said, opening the conversation.

“I’ve been here before, talked to you on the phone even.”

The cadence of his voice filled in the blank for me. “You work for my IT company.” He’d been one of the techs on the team that set up equipment for us after the remodel.

“Very good, princess,” he snarled. “What’s my name?”

I searched my memory. Dan? No. Dale. I didn’t think he’d ever given his last name, but I couldn’t shake the idea that I knew him in some other way. I’d seen him more recently, but in what capacity? The memory of an image I’d seen during my online research came to me. Except it wasn’t him. It was someone he resembled. I took a guess. “You’re Dale. Dale Huntly.” The son of my mother’s former partner. My instinct had been right after all. The sabotage was connected with Marta Huntly, even if she wasn’t the one carrying it out. It was a hollow victory, considering he had a gun pointed straight at me.

“Smarter than I thought you were, princess,” he said.

“You’re the one trying to destroy my business?” I wanted the truth from him.

He smiled, a terrible smile. “How’s it feel to finally face me?”

How did it feel? It felt infuriating. Maddening. I wanted to yell at him, but I needed to buy some time so I could plan how to get away from him. My mind was drawing a blank, too dominated by fear and loathing.

“The robbery?” I questioned to get him talking.

“Yeah, I started with that. Robberies look bad to customers. I thought you’d take more of a hit there—even thought that maybe I’d get lucky and you’d end up catching a bullet. Hell knows that the guy was jumpy enough that someone was bound to get shot. Didn’t expect it to be him, but it worked out for me in the end, thanks to you finishing him off for me. Thanks for tying up my loose end.”

I wanted to shiver at his gratitude. “And the orders and email? That must have been easy for you, considering your access to my accounts.”

“Sure. I just did a little dancing around in the coding to hide my tracks. Since I work with morons, I didn’t think they’d be able to track it back to me. I was right until you sent in the expert.” His expression changed to one more sinister.

“Steve?”

“Yeah, the guy knows his shit. He was closing in on me, but I got a little revenge.”

“Against him?” I hoped not. Zach’s friend was doing me a favor.

“Against you, princess. It’s all about getting you and yours. Just so you know, I rearranged your employees’ direct deposits and transferred money out of your accounts. Going to clean you out.” He seemed to feel a sense of triumph. “But the fire was the best. It was fun watching it burn.”

He’d been in the crowd, then. That figured. I’d done some reading about arson and had seen that the arsonists usually enjoyed watching their work.

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