Ellie looked at him with a flicker of recognition. “I think we met briefly at the motel.”
Leena beamed at her daughter. “She never forgets a face. That’s why she’s such a great private investigator.”
Ellie laughed. “Well, there might be other reasons, but thanks.”
Cole smiled, but inwardly his mind was racing. Private investigator? Why had Sam been talking to a private investigator?
Suddenly, he realized that the friendly vibes he’d gotten from Sam had all been a lie. The whole time, she was having his father investigated, most likely to find out how much money he had and how they could best work an angle to get it. Meanwhile, she’d been acting friendly, trying to lull them into a false sense of security, and it had almost worked. Almost, but not quite.
CHAPTER23
Sam shoved her rolled-up yoga mat into the closet and flopped down on the bed. Contrary to what she’d thought, yoga hadn’t helped soothe her guilty conscience.
But it wasn’t just guilt over the wallet that was bothering her. She’d sensed something was off with Chuck and Cole. And what had her mother meant when she’d said things weren’t always as they seemed?
Just this morning, things had seemed so bright, but now… she wasn’t sure what to think.
She’d planned on leaving town in a few days, but maybe she should think about staying on until next week. That reminded her she needed to check her emails to see if there were any emergencies at the office.
She flipped up her laptop screen and logged into the computer. All the windows with the articles she’d found about Chuck on the internet appeared.
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if she scrolled through them just a little bit.
An article caught her eye: “Local Man Invests in Business, Makes a Bundle.”
What was that about?
She quickly scanned the article. Apparently, Chuck had invested in a woman’s dry cleaning business. Mary Newcomb. There was a picture of them standing side by side. He had his arm around her, and they both had big smiles on their faces. Had he been romantically involved with her too?
Apparently, her business had been struggling until Chuck invested in it. It didn’t say if the two were romantically involved, but they sure looked chummy in the picture. What the article did say, however, was that Chuck had negotiated a stake in the business. The business took off, and he ended up profiting. Though the article didn’t name specific numbers, it did say he’d made quite a big profit.
Did her mother know about this Mary Newcomb?
Thus far, Sam had had no evidence to back up her suspicions of Chuck, but this article changed things. Before she thought things through, she was on the phone to her mother.
“Hi, Mom. How did your hair come out?”
Deena sighed. “Oh, you know. The same.” Sam sensed a note of dejection in her mother’s voice.
“You don’t like it? Maybe you need a hairstyle change.”
“Maybe I need a lot of things to change,” Deena said.
That was odd. Her mother hardly ever talked that way. Something was up.
“Maybe. Say, Mom, did Chuck ever mention a Mary Newcomb?”
There was hesitation on the other end then, “I don’t think so, why?”
“Did he mention he owned a business with someone else?”
“No. Sam, what is this about?”
“I hope you won’t be upset, but I just happened to do a little surfing on the internet, and an article about Chuck came up. Apparently, he was involved with this Mary Newcomb and owns part of her business.” Sam paused, gnawing on her bottom lip. How far should she go with her suspicions? There was a chance that this could all be innocently explained. Her mother might never forgive her if she accused Chuck of something and was wrong. Heck, she might not forgive herself.
“He never mentioned it, but to be fair, I haven’t told him exactly everything about myself, either. He did say I was the first woman he was involved with since his wife died, though. Are you sure he was involved with this other woman?”
“Well, I guess I’m not exactly sure. They could be just friends. But did he ever mention anything about taking over part ownership of Saltwater Sweets or acquiring an equity stake in it?”
