“I am the one that doesn’t deserve you,” Ronnie whispered. She held on for a moment longer before rolling back to her side of the bed. “It’s time for us to get some sleep.”
Despite her intentions when she closed her eyes, Ronnie’s body betrayed her as it did every night. Just as Rose was drifting off she felt the warm weight of the older woman’s arm flop across her stomach and warm breath caressing her shoulder. She smiled and allowed sleep to claim her. Deep in the land of dreams, they let the warmth of each other’s bodies fight off the night chill the two and a half century old home couldn’t keep at bay.
“Ronnie, got a sec?” Susan asked as she stepped into the office. “There’s a claim here that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Since when do you come to me about something like that?” She asked, not bothering to look up from the computer screen.
“Since it involves lost materials and equipment totaling over a hundred thousand dollars.”
“What?” Ronnie turned from the computer and motioned for her sister to take a seat in the chair on the other side of the desk.
“Orbison Contractors filed a claim for lost equipment and materials from that mini-mall remodeling site. They say that everything from lumber and tools to a brand new work truck were stolen.” She handed Ronnie a copy of the multi-page claim form. “Since they had full protection with us, they also are filing for lost wages due to lack of equipment.”
“Are you sure this is legit? Maybe they’re just trying to put one over for the insurance money.” Ronnie flipped through the pages, frowning at each figure. “Did they file a report with the police?”
“Sure did. They found the truck, stripped to the metal out in Arbor Hill.”
Ronnie read the report carefully, looking for any clue that it was a fraud. “Does Tommy know about this?”
“No. I can’t reach him. I’ve left messages everywhere for him.”
“He’s probably still drugged up from all the Percocet he stole from my house during the Christmas party,” the executive grumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing, never mind.” Ronnie’s teeth sank into the soft wood of her pencil while she continued to pore over the report. No sign of forced entry, not that much was needed to get past a simple chain link fence surrounding the work site. The truck was a total loss and there was no sign of inflated figures for the missing tools and materials. “I can’t see anything out of the ordinary here, Sis. Other than the cost, what is it that’s bothering you?”
“I ran a check against the reports we have on file and from what I can see, that project should have been finished or almost close to it. But according to the loss report, they had barely started. I gave Mike Orbison a call and he said they were at least six weeks away from completion.”
“If they were so far away from being finished….” Ronnie looked at the paper again. “Then why was so much stuff there? Look at this…all the large panes of glass, paint, sheet-rock, even carpeting. I thought those were the last things to be delivered.”
“That’s what I thought. Maybe they expected to be finished before this.”
“No…Mike’s been in business long enough to know exactly what he needs and when he needs it. I can’t imagine him ordering stuff to be brought on site without it being used right away. He knows how easily things are stolen from construction sites.” Ronnie’s brow furrowed as she tried to make sense out of the puzzle. “And you’re sure these things were on the site?”
“I can’t imagine him lying to us after all this time. His family has worked for us since the 60’s and this is only the fifth time they have ever filed a claim.”
“I’m sure it’s the first time it was in the six figures.” Ronnie picked up the phone. “Laura, get hold of Mike Orbison for me.” A minute later the buzzer and flashing light announced the task was accomplished. “Mike? Veronica Cartwright…fine and yourself? Good. Mike, I wanted to talk to you about this claim you filed with Cartwright Insurance. Sure, I understand that…yes, that seemed strange to me too, that is why I wanted to call you…no, there’s no problem with that….yes…absolutely…uh huh…yes…no, I didn’t know that….uh huh…when was this?”
“What’s going on?” Susan queried, drawing a frown from her sister.
“Yes Mike, I’m still here, go on….uh huh….when did you talk to him last? I see…Mike, let me ask you something, other than your people, who else had keys to the building? What? Well when did this happen? Did you ask him about it? When? And that’s the last time you talked to him?
Okay Mike…no, I understand perfectly….of course…you too…yes, say hi to Sarah for me….okay Mike, good-bye.” Ronnie hung up the phone and sighed.
“So what did he say?”
“He said everything was ordered weeks in advance but Tommy kept pushing the dates back, that is why everything was on site when the robbery happened. Did the police report say whether the truck was hot-wired or not?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t pay that much attention to it, why?”
“Mike said that Tommy stopped by there last week and after he left a set of keys turned up missing.”
“Keys for what?”
“The building, the truck, the equipment boxes, everything. Mike said they were on his desk when Tommy stopped by but he couldn’t find them later that day.”
“Ronnie, you don’t think….”
“That is exactly what I think.” The dark-haired woman rose and went to the window, the bright sun reflecting off the snow banks below. “Susan, I want you to contact all the other contractors and tell them to deal with me directly from now on, instead of Tommy. If he shows up anywhere, I want to know about it.”
“Why would he steal? It’s not like he needs money.”
“He stole from me!” Ronnie growled angrily. “Why are you defending him? The truth is right in front of your face.” The phone buzzer interrupted her tirade. “What?”
“John Means from Means Auditing on line one,” Laura replied.
“Terrific.” She slumped down in her chair and picked up the receiver. “This had better be good news,” she said before pressing the button. “This is Veronica Cartwright.”
Ten minutes later a furious Veronica and a shocked Susan stared at each other.
“Now do you believe me?”
“I can’t believe he would steal from his own family,” the redhead replied quietly.
“Well he did. A few more weeks and he would have crippled the Real Estate division, not to mention what it would have done to the company as a whole. We’ll be lucky to post a profit this quarter.”
“What could he possibly need with that much money?”
“What do you think, Susan? You’re the one who mentioned drugs last week.”
“I know I said it but I didn’t really believe it.”
“Well, you should have.” Ronnie picked up the phone and buzzed her secretary. “Laura, I want you to call the security company and the locksmith. I want all the locks changed and Tommy’s key codes blocked before the end of the day. Call downstairs and make sure no one lets him in. Then call all the heads in for a meeting. I don’t care what time, just make sure everyone is there.”