Page 3 of Trust No One

“I did. But interest rates are so high right now that I’m afraid repaying a loan might put a crimp in my hiring plans, too. But I’m going to talk to one of the banks in town next week.” She drew a shaky breath. “You’ve done such a great job growing Computer Solutions. I was hoping you have some magic tricks I could try.”

Zoe shook her head slowly. “We have a different business model. We don’t have to send an actual person on any jobs. We sell software. We can sell an unlimited number of copies.”

She squeezed Mel’s hand and sat back in her chair. “I do have one thought, but you need to listen and not interrupt me. Can you do that?”

“Me? Interrupt my little sister?” Mel’s mouth twitched in a smile. “When have I ever done that?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “So many times, bossy big sister. Just promise to hear me out, okay? Without interrupting.”

Mel sighed. “Of course I’ll hear you out. I’m looking for solutions and not finding any good ones.”

“Okay.” Zoe bit her lip. “How much do you need to buy out Dev’s share of the business?”

Mel drew a deep breath. “I’d have to study the books more, run some numbers, do a deeper analysis of what Blackhawk Security is worth to come up with the exact amount.” She swallowed. “But I think, to buy Dev out, I’d need around two million dollars.”

Zoe whistled. “Wow! That’s wonderful. Your business grew super fast.”

“Yeah, it did, which is great. But now that I realize I need to buy Dev out and get him out of the compound, it doesn’t look so great.”

“Yeah. I get that.” She shook her head. “I had to let one of my employees go a couple of months ago. He was one of the first people I hired, and I needed to give him a big severance package. But I had a cushion. My business wasn’t a start-up, like yours is.

“But here’s my idea. I’d like to loan you the two million bucks.” She held up her hand as Mel opened her mouth. “No interrupting. Remember?”

When Mel reluctantly nodded, Zoe smiled. “Thank you. You pay Spence, so you know exactly how much money he makes.” Zoe’s mouth curled into a smile. “I make a lot more. And as horrible as it is to say, the situation with Ethan’s obsession with me, the way he kidnapped me and ended up dying, has brought a lot of publicity to Computer Solutions. I hate that I’m actually profiting from his death. I’ve donated a lot of money to mental health causes, but I’ve made more money in the past year than I ever have before. And it would make me feel a lot better about that if I could lend some of that money to you.”

Zoe leaned across the table and took Mel’s hands. “It would make me feel as if something good came from Ethan’s death. Like in spite of that horror, something positive came from it.”

Mel shook her head slowly. “I appreciate that offer more than I can say, Zoe. I really do. But two million dollars is a hell of a lot of money. I don’t know how I…”

Zoe stopped her by squeezing Mel’s hands. “I wouldn’t offer you the money if we couldn’t afford it,” she said. “It’s just sitting in a money market account right now. The stock market has done well by us, at least so far. Spence and I make regular donations to mental health causes, but the money just keeps pouring in.”

After hearing Dev on the phone that morning and having her ‘what the hell’ moment, Mel had thought she’d never smile again, let alone laugh. But she found herself laughing at her sister. “So you’re telling me I’d be doing you a favor by taking two million bucks from you?”

Zoe grinned at her. “I wouldn’t go that far. But I’d feel as if that money was doing some good. You need to get Dev out of your life.” She sat back in her chair and studied Mel. “You still love him, don’t you?”

Mel stared at her hands, joined with Zoe’s, and nodded. “Yeah. I do. And I’m not going to be able to deal with that and put him behind me until he’s completely out of my life. I need to move on. Getmeback.”

“Then take the money.” Zoe smiled, a mischievous devil in her eyes. “Take that horn dog out for a drink with the check and some paperwork for him to sign. And if he refuses? I’ll help you bury the body.”

Mel finally smiled. “He might try to refuse, but he can’t. I was smart enough to put a clause in the contract that I could terminate the partnership at any time, for any reason.” She laughed. “I know Dev well enough to know he didn’t read every line of that contract. So once I hand him that check and ask him to sign a receipt, he’s done.”

“That was brilliant, Annie,” Zoe said, nudging her sister.

“Yeah, well, I was still pissed off and hurt over the way he broke things off with me. I put that clause in the contract so I’d have an out if I needed one.”

“And now you need one,” Zoe said quietly.

“I do.”

Zoe slapped her hands on the table. “I’ll transfer the money to your account. Then you can either transfer it to him or write him a check.” One side of Zoe’s mouth curled up. “Me? I’d write the check. Makes a bigger statement than saying I transferred the money to your account. You know?”

Mel’s hand shot out and held her sister’s hand on the table. “Don’t you have to talk to Spence about this?” she asked.

Zoe sank onto the chair again. “We keep our money separate,” she said quietly. “Spence insisted. We both contribute a chunk of money every month for joint expenses, but we have separate savings plans. Separate accounts. So the money from Computer Solutions? That’s mine to spend.

“But I’ll talk it over with Spence if that makes you feel better.”

“It does,” Mel said.

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