Heart of Gold Read online

  Tara laughed. “Spoken like a single woman without children. Delivery is the easy part.”

  “Daniel just wanted to know where I might like to go for dinner,” she said. She’d dated in college and some after, but most hadn’t lasted long. When Daniel came along, it had been a while since she’d had a boyfriend. Often, that made him seem too good to be true.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of doing that with Bud,” Tara cried. “Who knows where he would take me. He’s tried surprising me with a home-cooked meal. The man can’t boil water. He set the kitchen on fire.”

  Charlie laughed. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

  “That’s what the firemen said.”

  “Daniel doesn’t apparently cook either or know the way to a grocery store. So don’t be too jealous.”

  They went back to work when Amanda walked past, giving them both The Look. Once she was gone, they shared a conspiratorial headshake.

  “I used to think that she just needed to get laid,” Tara whispered. “But apparently not even that can change her disposition. Did you see the ring?” She laughed. “How could you not see it? She waves it in everyone’s face. That diamond set Greg back plenty.”

  Charlie wondered if everyone in the building saw how much Amanda disliked her. “I heard she’s quitting work after the wedding.”

  “And the wedding is less than a week away.” Tara pretended to thank God and they both chuckled.

  For a moment, Charlie felt as if everything was right in her world again as she went back to her work. She loved her job. She loved her coworker, her friends, and she had Daniel. She thought about how lucky she was and pretty much convinced herself that everything was fine.

  Of course she hadn’t seen Lindy. It was just an optical illusion. Maybe a reflection from the snow and Christmas lights that made her think that was Lindy’s face, Lindy’s pale eyes, Lindy’s smile.

  Taking her cell phone, she went to the ladies’ room to find it empty and placed the call. It had been years since she’d been given the emergency telephone number to call if she was ever in trouble again. Again she got voice mail.

  “It’s Charlie again. I’m sorry about calling earlier. I feel so silly. I’m fine. It was nothing. Just my overactive imagination. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  She disconnected. She didn’t need any help. Her horoscope had been wrong. She hadn’t seen Lindy. If it wasn’t for the pain in her skinned knee, she could pretend she hadn’t fainted.

  Charlie took a deep breath and she left the ladies’ room. She assured herself that her good luck wasn’t so fragile that one little thing—like thinking she’d seen the dead woman she’d gotten killed—could destroy it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  HOURS LATER, CHARLIE glanced up from her work to find the office empty. This time of night, the place took on an eerie feel with all the empty cubicles and only dimmed exit lighting. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. That often happened when she was involved in her designs. She lost all track of time.

  As she glanced around for her purse to leave, she figured everyone had left at five. Stretching her tired back, she vaguely recalled Tara saying goodbye much earlier. Now she saw that the only light still blazing was in Amanda’s office at the far end of the building.

  The office manager had probably left her light on since she never worked late, Charlie thought as she turned off her lamp and rose. The pain in her knee reminded her of the incident that morning with Lindy’s look-alike across from her apartment. For a while, she’d gotten so involved in her designs, she’d been able to put thoughts of the woman out of her mind.

  The memory brought back a stomach-knotting sense of fear even as she assured herself it couldn’t have been Lindy. People didn’t come back from the grave either figuratively or literally. But if anyone could perform such a feat to mete out retribution, it would be Lindy Parker.

  Finding her purse, she pulled on her coat and scarf and started out of the building, which meant going past Amanda’s office. She planned to turn out the woman’s light on the way.

  Charlie wasn’t looking forward to going home to her apartment. Who knew what could be waiting for her in the dark? The thought sent a chill through her and she pulled her coat more tightly around her.

  Partway down the hall she heard voices. One voice. Amanda’s. It sounded as if she was on the phone. Darn, so she hadn’t left.

  Charlie cursed her bad luck. She had no desire to run into her. Amanda had never seemed to like her from the start. Charlie had never understood it entirely. After the morning she’d had, she didn’t want to have to deal with the woman this evening.

  As she hurried down the hallway, she saw that Amanda’s office door was open, which would make it even harder to slip past. But with relief, she noticed that Amanda had her ear to the phone and her back to the hallway. Charlie figured with a little luck and if she was really quiet, she might be able to slip past without the woman noticing her.

  She moved stealthily down the hall, keeping her gaze ahead of her. As she passed the open door, she heard Amanda nearly purring on the phone.

  “Baby, I know. But I can’t. I want you, too. It’s been too long.”

  Charlie felt an eyebrow shoot up. She’d never understood what a nice guy like Greg saw in Amanda. According to office gossip, Greg had gone through a bad relationship a few years ago. When everyone had heard that he and Amanda were dating, a shock wave had gone through the building. It was far worse when they heard about the engagement.

  “He can’t know what she’s really like,” Tara had said when she heard the news. “Like on those television bachelor shows where all the women know that the man is about to make the biggest mistake of his life, but he won’t listen. You should try to warn him. He likes you.”

  Charlie had been adamant about staying out of it. She needed this job and she had enough trouble with Amanda. The woman threw fits if Charlie was even two minutes late in the morning, not aware that Charlie was often among the last out of the place at night.

  Now, if she could just get past the door and out of the building without being spotted... She did not want to hear any more of this particular phone conversation.

  “Royce, I’m an engaged woman.” A chuckle. “Oh, if you really can’t live without me, okay. But just for a quickie. I told Greg I had to work late, but he’s no fool.” Another snicker. “Not that much of a fool.”

  Charlie felt shock and distress ricochet through her. Amanda was cheating on Greg? She increased her step, wanting to run as she tried to ignore what she’d heard, but the words were echoing in her ears.

  She heard Amanda disconnect from her call, and the woman’s chair squeaked as she turned around to face her desk and the hallway.

  Almost to the exit, Charlie felt the woman’s gaze pierce her back as if Amanda had picked up a gun and shot her. She practically ran the last few steps, shoved open the door and fought looking back for fear the woman would chase her down—literally. At the last moment before the door swung shut, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She looked back.

  Amanda had risen to her feet, her face completely drained of blood, her blue eyes wide and hard as ice chips. She was staring at Charlie with a deadly glare.

  The door slammed shut. Charlie rushed down the street, cursing her luck. She hadn’t wanted to hear any of Amanda’s phone conversation and wished she could expunge it from her memory. She had enough problems with the woman without this new information.

  She couldn’t help her surprise. Amanda was cheating on Greg—just when Charlie thought she couldn’t dislike her more.

  * * *

  WESTLY “SHEP” SHEPHERD had just finished picking up his classroom for Christmas vacation when he looked up in surprise to find Judge WT Landusky silhouetted in the doorway.

  Years ago, he’d found his troubled teenaged self standing before the toughest judge in Montana.
To say he’d been quaking in his boots was putting it mildly. Much to his amazement, the judge had found something worth saving in the troubled youth before him and made an offer no one in that position could refuse. Landusky had saved his life and they both knew it.

  “Come on in, Judge,” Shep said as he finished packing up the papers he hoped to grade over the Christmas holiday. He tried to hide his shock at not just seeing the judge after all this time, but now seeing him here. He wondered when was the last time the judge had been in a middle school classroom. “You have a long addition problem you need me to help you with?” he joked, realizing he was a little nervous.

  The stern older man actually smiled. “Since I’m retired, you can call me WT.”

  No matter what the man said, Shep couldn’t see himself calling this man he respected so much by his first name or even his initials. “What brings you out to this neck of the woods?” He knew it wasn’t a social visit.

  “I’m here to ask a favor. I understand you’re on holiday break from school? I was hoping that would give you enough time to help me with a particular problem a friend is dealing with right now.”

  He cocked a hip to lean against the edge of his desk, wondering if he should offer the judge a seat. “If I can help...” They both knew that he’d do whatever the judge asked him. He owed him. After going before the judge all those years ago, he’d been offered a form of boot camp that had kicked his butt good and turned him around. The judge wasn’t anything if not tough.

  Shep, along with the others he’d met, had been pushed to the limits as part of Landusky’s second chance program. Those who hung in didn’t go to jail. Those who gave up... Well, they were probably behind prison bars by now. Shep was still grateful that the man had seen his way to giving him a second chance. When he’d thanked the judge all those years ago, Landusky had said that one day he might ask him to pay it forward. Shep had said he would do anything and he’d meant it. He still did.

  It seemed the judge was calling in that promise. “Though I can’t imagine what problem it is that you think a middle school math teacher can help with,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Charlotte Farmington seems to be having a little trouble. She says she’s fine now, but I suspect not.”

  He frowned. The name didn’t ring any bells.

  “I believe you know her only as Charlie.”

  Ding! Ding! “Charlie? Not—” He almost said, my Charlie.

  The judge gave him a wry smile. “When she called, I thought of you.”

  * * *

  CHARLIE HADN’T SLEPT a wink the night before. She’d gone straight from work to Daniel’s but she’d found the apartment full of his friends. They’d all been drinking and playing video games. There was cold pizza on the coffee table among the empty beer bottles.

  Daniel had apologized and tried to get her to stay, saying the game would be over soon and he’d kick everyone but his roommate Jason out.

  She’d wanted to tell him about her unbelievable day. She’d wanted peace and quiet. She’d wanted to curl up in her boyfriend’s arms, have dinner and maybe make out on the couch while watching a movie.

  Instead, she’d begged off and gone home, trying not to cry. Her knees hurt and the December temperature outside had dropped. She could see her breath on the icy night air. While the walk was only a few blocks and while she’d assured herself since that morning that the woman she’d seen had just resembled Lindy, she couldn’t help being anxious. She found herself looking into all the shadows as she hurried along the snow-covered sidewalk.

  It was late enough that the streets were quiet. Only a few cars passed, their tires crunching on the frozen slush on the street. She sucked in the frosty air as she practically ran under the twinkling Christmas lights along Main Street.

  While it was a beautiful winter night, she was happy when she reached her apartment. She hurried inside and locked and bolted the door, relieved beyond words that she hadn’t seen the woman. There was little in the way of sustenance in the refrigerator since she hadn’t been to the store. She was no better than Daniel on that count. She told herself that she wasn’t all that hungry anyway. A lie. Her stomach growled but she refused to go back out.

  Stripping out of her work clothes, she crawled between the sheets, too tired to even put on one of the large T-shirts she slept in. She knew she would never be able to sleep though, afraid Lindy would show up in her nightmares again.

  Instead, it was Amanda who haunted her dreams.

  * * *

  IN THE LIGHT of morning, Charlie felt better. She’d slept well enough, even with Amanda appearing in some strange dream she couldn’t quite remember. She went through her usual morning ritual from shower to robe before she padded out to her living room and opened the door to get her newspaper. She knew it was old school, getting a newspaper delivered to her door, but she liked the idea of supporting the local daily. She liked checking her horoscope and the area events.

  After yesterday it was with trepidation that she flipped to the horoscope for Capricorn, already expecting maybe even a worse day than before.

  Brace yourself for important information. It may be shocking, but you can handle it. All will soon be clear to you if you’re open to it.

  She read it again. Shocking news? Something she could handle? Was this about Lindy or Amanda or something else?

  She knew she shouldn’t take her horoscope so literally, but still she already had good reason to be dreading going to work. She thought of a million excuses not to go. She didn’t want to face Greg this morning, let alone Amanda after what she’d heard. Not that she could stay home even if there had been food in the house and she didn’t have a design presentation coming up quickly.

  Telling herself to buck up, she found a bread heel in the back of the refrigerator and made herself a piece of toast before getting dressed. Daniel had promised to make it up to her tonight. She thought about a nice dinner and movie with him later. She was looking forward to it since they seldom went out.

  Was he going to give her some kind of shocking news? Or was the “news” coming from another source?

  Bracing herself, she checked out the front window before leaving her apartment. The Lindy look-alike wasn’t standing across the street. This time of morning, downtown Bozeman was fairly quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked the few blocks to her job.

  As she opened the door to the building, she hoped that she could slip in unnoticed. She was early for a change. Amanda would be expecting her to be late as usual. At least that was her hope.

  Unfortunately as she started past the woman’s office, she heard Amanda call, “Charlie, may I have a word?”

  Charlie plastered a tight smile on her face and stepped in.

  “Please close the door.”

  She did and waited.

  “You worked awfully late last night.”

  “I lost track of time. I have this design presentation coming up before Christmas. It’s much more quiet working at night and there aren’t any interruptions or distractions. It’s really my creative time. I always get more work done when no one is around.” She realized she was babbling and clamped her lips shut.

  “I saw you leaving,” Amanda said. “I was surprised. I thought you’d at least say goodbye on your way out.”

  “You were on the phone and I didn’t want to disturb you. I had a lot on my mind so I wasn’t...” she was going to say listening, but caught herself “...paying any attention. I didn’t realize you were working late, too.”

  Amanda’s gaze narrowed and locked with hers. “So you weren’t eavesdropping on my conversation with Greg?”

  Conversation with Greg, ha! Charlie tried to maintain eye contact, but couldn’t. Looking away, she said, “Like I said, I wasn’t paying any attention.”

  When Amanda didn’t speak, Charlie sneaked a look at her. The woman’s expression was carved
alabaster.

  “Let’s cut the shit. You heard my side of the conversation.”

  Charlie opened her mouth, but then closed it. Since there wasn’t much she could say, she said nothing and waited.

  “You’re probably thinking about running to Greg with some wild story.” Before she could deny it—Charlie would never want to hurt her boss that way—Amanda continued, “Well, put that idea out of your simple little head. I will deny it all, tell him that you’re a liar. I’ll be shocked and tell him that you’re jealous of us. It’s the reason I’ve never liked you. Because I’ve also heard that you’ve said some awful things about me and him, but this... Well this is just too much. I don’t see how he’ll be able to keep you on with you having those kinds of feelings about us, especially since we’re about to become husband and wife.”

  She stopped, narrowed her eyes and smiled. “You’re a smart girl. You get how this is going to go, right? I’m his fiancée. Who do you think he will believe?”

  “I have no intention of telling Greg anything.”

  Amanda seemed to wait as if expecting more. Maybe blackmail? The thought did have its appeal since Amanda had been riding her since she’d started work here.

  “Is that all?” Charlie asked. “I have a lot of work to do.”

  For a moment, the woman just stared at her as if it couldn’t be this easy, then she let out a hoarse chuckle. “Yes, I certainly wouldn’t want you to be late for work.” She waved a dismissive hand in the direction of the door, but her distrusting gaze was still boring into Charlie.

  Before Charlie reached the door, Amanda added, “You don’t want to cross me. You’ll regret it. I promise you that.”

  Charlie exited the office as fast as she could and almost collided with Greg in the process.

  “Everything all right?” he asked, looking from her to Amanda and back again.

  “Fine.” She realized she couldn’t look him in the eye. The poor guy. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Someone should warn him about the woman he was about to marry, but Charlie wasn’t going to be the one. She told herself that Amanda would screw up sooner or later and Greg would wise up—hopefully before the wedding. “I’m fine.”