Family Man

half-cocked. It was time to slow down and sort this out. “Have you talked to Eden?”
    “No. I can't confront her with this. You know how she is. She'll be furious if I try to interfere.”
    Maureen was right about that, Katy reflected. Gilchrists frequently got annoyed when people tried to get in their way. “I think you should ask her what's going on before you do anything drastic, Maureen.”
    “I know my daughter better than you do,” Maureen snapped. “Katy, I want that man out of her life once and for all. You introduced him to the family. A great deal of this is your fault.”
    “My fault?”
    “Go and see him. Find out what he's after. I'm sure it's money. Find out how much he wants.”
    “Maureen, I can't offer him a blank check. He'll bleed you dry. You know that.”
    “Find out how much he wants to get out of my daughter's life. I'll find the money somewhere.” Maureen hung up the phone.
    Katy gazed at the humming receiver and then slowly replaced it in its cradle. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Nate Atwood. The man was a snake.
    Eden knew that. It was Eden who had wanted the divorce. And she was too proud to take him back. She was a Gilchrist, after all. She knew all there was to know about pride.
    So what was going on here? Katy wondered. She sat on the arm of the sofa a moment, swinging one foot as she contemplated the situation. Then she picked up the phone again and dialed her own number up at the mansion. Liz answered on the first ring.
    “Gilchrist, Inc.”
    “Liz? It's Katy. I'm not coming into the office today. I'm going to take some personal time off. I've got some things to do in town.”
    “What things?” Liz asked with her usual forthright approach.
    “A dentist appointment. Some shopping. Small stuff. I'll see you in the morning.”
    “If you say so. Are you all right, Katy? I think I detect some anxiety in your voice.”
    “I'm fine, Liz. I'll call you this afternoon and pick up my messages. What is Luke's schedule today?”
    “He went into Seattle this morning. He's got meetings most of the day. He'll be back this afternoon. Want me to give him a message?”
    “No, that's all right. There's nothing urgent I need to tell him.” Katy hung up the phone, frowning in thought. If Luke was in Seattle, she dared not meet Eden at corporate headquarters. There was too great a possibility she would run into Luke. He would start asking questions, one thing would lead to another, and matters would get complicated.
    Katy glanced at the clock and decided Eden would not have left for her office yet. She dialed her home number.
    “Yes?” Eden's voice was naturally sultry, even on the phone.
    “Eden, this is Katy. I have to talk to you. I can be in Seattle in an hour. I want you to meet me at one of the espresso bars near Westlake Mall.”
    “What's this all about?” Eden demanded. “Have you got some information about what Luke is going to do? What is it? What's happening?”
    It occurred to Katy that keeping Eden in suspense might be the most efficient way of getting her to agree to the meeting. “I'll explain everything when I see you. One hour.” She named the espresso bar and hung up.
    * * *
    “What the hell do you mean, Katy's not in the office?” Luke gripped the telephone receiver with one hand and flipped through a file with the other. “Where is she?”
    “She said she had some errands to run,” Liz explained. “She's going to pick up her messages later this afternoon.”
    “Have her call me here in Seattle as soon as she checks in.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Luke tossed the phone back into its cradle. He paused to read an entry in the file, and then he closed the folder. He looked up at the young man sitting across from him.
    Roger Danvers was thin, wiry, and agitated. He was constantly in motion. He fiddled with his earlobes, tapped his feet, and drummed his fingers. It made Luke nervous just to look at him. But Danvers was the best there was at what he did.
    “You're sure about this?” Luke asked softly.
    “I'm sure about which access code is being used to get into the restaurants' accounts and skim money out of them,” Danvers said. “And we both know who that access code is assigned to. It's possible someone other than that person got hold of it and used it to embezzle the funds.”
    “But you don't think it's very likely?”
    Danvers twitched. “No. Access code security is fairly good here at Gilchrist. The skimming is done during regular