Page 39 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
“Tink thinks he’s uncovered everything there is to find. Bill and George have been hiding quite a bit of things through shell companies,” I started. I didn’t sugarcoat anything this time. She deserved to know what her ex has been up to.
“Shell companies?” She asked, clearly surprised by the information. “They don’t own any companies.”
“We couldn’t find where they own anylegitimatecompanies,” I clarified. “But they’ve been moving money around for years from one place to another.”
“But,” she started. Stopped. Drank some tea. Started again. “Ok. So, Bill has been hiding money from me.”
“Not only that,” I continued, “there have been several large withdrawals in the last few years and there isn’t much left in the accounts we’ve linked directly to Bill.”
“So Bill is hiding money from meandhe’s going broke.” She set the mug down and leaned forward with her arms on her legs. “I don’t know what to do with that information.”
“There’s more,” I said, and I pulled up my phone to show her the proof of this one.
“How can there be more?” She said with a pained laugh and she turned back towards me.
“Apparently, he’s been gambling.” I showed her recent footage of Bill at a casino high roller table. I didn’t ask Tink how he got this information. On his lap was a young woman in a tight green dress that rode dangerously high on her thighs.
She took my phone from me and stared at the picture. I let her look as long as she needed. “I guess it’s a good thing I already left him. Though maybe I should get tested just to be safe.” She didn’t show much emotion with this, and I was a little worried about her reaction. She finally handed the phone back to me, picked up her tea again, and took a sip. She held it a little higher and a little tighter than before, like it was a shield that would guard against the news she had received.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wish I didn’t have to share that with you.”
“The news isn’t great, but I’m glad you shared it. I needed to hear it,” she finally said as she met my eyes. The corners of her mouth pulled up in a sad smile. I vowed to myself then that when this was all over, she would never have a reason to wear a smile like that again. “So, what does all this have to do with people trying to kidnap me?”
“We think he’s run out of funds and is in deep with some loan sharks,” I said. “He seems to have disappeared. That footage is the last time he was recorded anywhere Tink can find and his credit cards haven’t been used since, either. The loan sharks could have gotten to him and he could have thrown you under the bus with him, or he could be trying to get you so he can getmoney to pay off the loan sharks.”
“I don’t know what money they expect to find,” she muttered, more to herself than to me. “What does George have to do with any of this?” She asked. I liked that she asked questions and didn’t just hide from the information.
“Maybe nothing,” I answered. “Maybe he’s pissed Bill blew all the money and is the one behind all of it and not Bill or some loan sharks.” I shrugged. “The accounts that used to be linked to both of them dried up a few years ago. Either George pulled all the money out and cut financial ties with Bill or Bill spent it all.”
“You mean gambled it all,” she said bitterly.
The timer went off just then for the last batch of cookies. Grace got up to pull them out of the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack, which I didn’t even know was something that existed until today. She brought back some cookies with her so we could eat them hot. They were my love spell cookies. I gave her my cockiest and best smile when she passed them to me, just to see how she would react. She didn’t even blush.
I took a bit of our creation and the spices hit my tongue first. They were — too much. I choked down my bite and then laughed at the face Grace made when she bit into her cookies.
“I can admit when I’m wrong. You were right, that was too much spice,” I said as I lifted the cookie for another bite. This time I could taste the honey and the contrast between the sweet honey and strong spice was pleasant. I finished the cookie and reached for the one Grace abandoned and finished that off, too.
“Seems like you don’t mind too much,” she snickered when I polished off the second cookie.
“Well, I had to see the spell through, right?” I said with a wink.
Her returned laughter was bright and clear. Her smile faded quickly, though. The weight of all that is happening keeping it from lasting.
“What are we going to do about Bill? How do we get more information? How do we end this?” She asked, her voice seeming more determined with each question.
“Those are excellent questions,” I said, trying to buy myself a little time to find a good answer.
“You don’t know,” she surmised rather quickly.
I shook my head. Failing Grace would eviscerate me, but giving her false hope wouldn’t help. Bill hid enough that finding what we needed to tie him to the threats against her, and end it was like groping around in the dark. We might land on what we need, but we were more likely to knock over the lamp and let him know we were looking for him.
“What can I do to help?”
“Stay safe and let me figure it out.”
“I’m serious, Anders,” she said as she curled back up. How did women squeeze themselves into the smallest little balls when they sat down? “This is my life and I’m grateful for the help. I wouldn’t even be here right now if it wasn’t for your help, but you don’t have to fix it all. We are a team.” She said it like it was so simple.
“I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you,” I said on a whisper. The words wrenched from my being by some invisible force. “Let me take care of this, Grace. Let me take care of you.”
