AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Houlihan turned to the other police officer. “Connor, take Andra into the other room and get the information we need.”
Ruth watched Andra walk away with the police officer, then pulled her own money out of her pocket and slapped it on the desk. As she started to leave, Houlihan blocked the door. “You’ll have to wait here until Connor is finished with Andra,” she said. The woman transferred her gaze to Carole. “You’re next. Keep in mind that battery charges are still on the table. And unless you turn over three hundred twenty dollars right now, I’m going to search you. If I find that money, you’ll be arrested and booked for theft. Probably spend the night in jail, because bond court isn’t in session this late.”
Anger blazing from her eyes, Carole slapped a wad of money on the desk, then turned to storm out of Julia’s office. The police officer stopped her. “Wait here. Ms. Stewart, please count that money and make sure it’s all there.”
Julia thumbed through the money from Ruth. “All here.” Then she counted the money from Carole. Her jaw clenching, she stared at Carole. “A hundred dollars short.”
The officer reached for her handcuffs and stepped toward Carole, who pulled out the rest of the money and slapped it onto the desk. Julia counted it. “This is the rest of it.”
The officer stepped outside of Julia’s office, waiting for Ruth and Carole. As Carole left the office, she looked over her shoulder at Julia. “Restaurant jobs in this town are a dime a dozen. I’ll find a better job than this stupid place.”
“You do that, Carole,” Julia said. Too bad she didn’t realize that most of the restaurant owners in the Seattle area were part of an email loop. It was set up for this sort of situation -- if an employee stole, or vandalized, or did something else detrimental to their restaurant, the owner could post their name and the details. They’d have a hard time getting another restaurant job.
The police officer escorted both Ruth and Carole toward the dining area. As soon as they were out of sight, Nico stepped in close and wrapped his arms around Julia. “It’s over, babe. You got your money for tonight, and you’ll get more on Tuesday. Mel will get her forensic accountant on the case tomorrow, and eventually you’ll get it all back.”
It wasn’t over until they uncovered why the other things had happened to Julia -- the spyware on her home computer. Being pushed in front of the bus. The stove incident. The employees who’d called in sick.
But since the spyware on her office computer was the same as the malware on her home computer, everything was connected. And he’d make sure he got to the bottom of it.
