Acquiring Trouble (22 page)

Her heart was pounding as she plugged it into the computer’s USB drive. She copied the documents to the flash drive. She powered dow
n the computer and stepped around the desk when she saw the light coming from under the office door. Oh
G
od, she was caught!

She stood frozen b
y the filing cabinet
as she watched in horror as the door slowly opened. If they caught her with the flash drive there was no doubt what would happen to her. She’d disappear and no one would be the wiser.

“Morgan? Is that you?” David asked when he poked his head in through the door.

“Oh David!”
s
he sighed in relief. “You scared me to death!” Morgan laughed as she relaxed some.

“I can say the same to you. I was sound asleep when the alarm company called me to say that an expired code was used to get into the building.  What are you doing here?”

“Miles is kicking my ass. I wanted to copy his file and see what I could find out. If I couldn’t find
anything
tonight, I was hoping to convince you to have one of your
in-
depth reviews made,” Morgan explained as she held up
the
thick file.

“In the middle of the night?” David asked as his brow wrinkled.

“Time is of the essence. Miles won’t be working this weekend
—h
is brother is getting married. That gives me a leg up. If I can find something on him to force his hand, I can have this wrapped up by Monday.
”

“I hear you hid the bad news with the good. I must be honest, I’m not too happy with the fact that Miles is doing so well. I was hoping this whole thing
would’ve
been wrapped up weeks ago
,
” David
said seriously.

“
I know. I’m just as upset. These people are loyal to a fault.”

“H
ave you reviewed the file yet?”

Morgan shook her head
. In fact, she had a copy of it in her hotel room. She always made copies of his master fil
e. “I got about half
way through it so far. I was just going to make a copy of it now.”

“No. You know I don’t allow copies of these files.”

“You’re right. I’ll go in my office
and take notes
of the pertinent items. Is there
an in-depth
personal
review in the file
along with my business report
?”

“Yes. It’s already been done. It didn’t show too much. Our evaluation was that the best way to hurt h
im is to go after what is he holds close to him
—h
is
business, the farm, his family.”

Morgan was thankful for the darkness or David may have seen her face pale. “I’ll get right on this. I think I’ll be here for a while. Do you want me to set the alarm when I leave?”

“Yes. You
r
old code will work for now. I’ll give you the new one once you’re back in town. Give me a call on Monday and let me know what’s happening. I don’t want to send
Tad
to take your place, but you know I’ll fire you and give him the job if you can’t get it done
soon
.” David waited for Morgan
to
acknowledge him before he turned
and held the door
open for her.

Morgan walked past him and to her office. She laid the file down on her desk before heading to the window and looking out. David had parked on the street and was heading toward
Alexa
with his cell phone to his ear. Who was he calling in the middle of the night?
She ducked behind the curtain when David
turned around and looked at the
office. The
streetlight
sho
ne
on his features and she knew her time was up. His face was set in a glare. His hand grasped his phone with such anger. He knew. She put her hand on her keys and the one thing that would save her.

Miles stood in front of the bathroom mirror and pulled his black bow tie
tight
. Katelyn and Marshall may be a low
-
key couple, but Mrs. Wyatt, Katelyn’s grandmother
,
wasn’t
. It was to be a black
-
tie affair tonight. He and the rest of the groomsmen were to be in tuxes
and the women
were
in red
floor
-
length
bridesmaid gowns
.

As he slid his muscled arms into the tuxedo jacket he heard his phone ring. The number came up as blocked an
d he instantly knew
who
it was.

“Long
time
no hear
,
Cy.”

“Hey Miles. I hear today is a big day. I tried Marshall’s cell, but he never pick
ed up,” Cy said into the phone.

“He’s next door getting dressed. Do you want to talk to him?”

“In a minute. How are things going with you?” Cy asked him.

Images of Morgan, naked and riding him flashed through his mind and went straight to his groin. “
Okay
. I take it you won’t be making it to the wedding. Where are you?” Miles asked even though he knew the answer.

“You of all people should know the answer to that,” Cy chuckled. “No, I c
an’t make it. I just left Russia
and
now I’m
going someplace warm.”

“Have fun, don’
t get burn
ed
,” Miles said dryly.

“I really a
ppreciate you not telling every
one what I’m doing. You’re a good big brother and I owe you. If you need s
omething, I’ll be there for you. Y
ou know that, right?” Cy asked sounding as concern
ed as Cy ever got
—w
hich wasn’t
much.

“Let me guess, you’ve been t
alking to Cade,” Miles groaned.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cy laughed again. “Tell me about Morgan. Is she as hot as she was in high school?”

Miles couldn’t explain it, but jealousy shot through him at the thought of his brother thinking of Morgan. “I didn’t know you knew her in high school
.
”

“I didn’t. I was in middle school, but that didn’t mean I didn’t look and appreciate. She had some curves you could lose yourself in for days,” Cy said wistfully.

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Miles ground out before he could stop
himself.

C
y responded by laughing harder.
“I’ll be damned, the mighty oak has finally be
en
felled. Cade and I weren’t sure
, but now I am
. I can’t wait to tell the rest of them. Hurry, put Marshall on the phone!”

“Bite me. Remember, I’m not the only one with a secret and Mom will be way more upset if I tell her what you’ve been up to,” Miles threatened. It didn’t work. H
is brother just laughed louder.

“Oh my
G
od.  You don’t just like
her,
you’re in love
with her! I bet that’s a huge conflict of interest for you. I always saw you w
ith a serious yet pleasant blonde librarian
, but you fell for a
lawbreaker
turned corporate ball
-
buster. Oh, this is classic!”

“Cy…” Miles warned.

“Okay, okay. I won’t say anything. But Cade said there was some problem with Morgan. What’s actually going on?”

Miles sighed. Well, if he was going to confide in anyone, it might as well b
e
Cy. Most likely he wasn’t even on the same continent, so
he couldn’t cause too much trouble.  “I went and fell in love with her.”

“
She must be great in bed.
”

“Cy!”

“Sorry,” he laughed, not sounding very sorry at all. “I had to. So, what’s the problem?” he
asked more seriously this time.

“
There’s a chance that she’s forcing a takeover of my company through intimidation and criminal activity.
Oh, and that she may have hired a thug to try to beat me up.
” Miles sighed and ran his hand through is hair. Saying it out loud made it sound even more ridiculous. How could he
let himself fall in love with someone like her? A Keeneston Belle wo
uld be a better wife for him.

“What just happened? I heard you curse?” Cy broke his thoughts.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, right. I’m guess
ing
you just thought about the M word. It’s only normal when you’re at a wedding to think about marriage to the woman you love. I think it’s great. Morgan sounds like my kind of woman. Easy big brother
—I
just meant that I always pictured you with someone uptight and society
-
or
iented.
Like a Belle, any Belle.
I’m excited you fell in love with the opposite.
”

“You think it’s a good idea that I’m in love with a delinquent and possibly a felon?” Miles groaned, he
should’ve
just gone with the flow and started dating Jasmine, the current
p
resident of the Keeneston Belles.

“Do you actua
lly think she did everything she’s being accused of
?” Cy asked.

“Yes. No. Well, I don’t think she did them herself, but I think she either knew or now knows who did.”

“Ah! That’s the crux of your dilemma. If she didn’t do
it and does the right thing by
turn
ing
in the people who did or if she had no idea
who’s
behind it
,
then what would you do?”

Miles was quiet as the image of him and Morgan laughing
together
crossed his mind. “I’d tell her I love her and beg her to forgive me for acting like such a jackass.”

“If you want my advice,
I’d
stop being a jackass and start working to find out what you’re missing and then marry the girl. Now that I have fixed one brother’s problem, let me talk to Marshall and remind him not to do that nervous laugh thing
during his toast to the bride.”

“Thanks Cy. If I can ever return the favor, let me know. I hope you can make it home soon.” Miles walked down the hall and
handed the phone to Marshall. He couldn’t believe he’d been such an idiot. There
was obviously more going on than
she was sharing. If he hadn’t accused her, she might have trusted him enough to tell him
the truth
. Miles suddenly felt panic welling up. He needed to talk to her. To tell her he kne
w she wouldn’t do these things.

“Okay brother, let’s get me married
,
” Marshall grinned as he walked into
the
room.
Miles
didn’t have time to do it now, but the second the reception was over he’d go find her
and get to the bottom of this.

Morgan pressed the gas pedal down and felt her car respond immediately. She took the turn at sixty miles per hour and hoped she’d get there in time. The instant she had seen David turn to the window while on his phone she knew her time was up. She hoped she’d played the whole thing well enough to give her time
to get back to Keeneston a
nd talk to Miles.

She had
to tell him she had unwillingly put his life in danger. It was time to tell him the truth. Morgan hit the horn and
swerved around a horse van. She cut off the large truck as a pick-up truck came toward her in the opposite lane. Morgan took a deep breath as she continued to berate herself. If there was anyone in the world she could t
rust with her life it was Miles. I
nstead of trusti
ng him, she’d put him in danger.

The
Wyatt Est
ate
’s garden
was lit with white lights
surround
ing
the front of the historic house. Red roses in large standing vases lined a path around the side of the house leading to
the
reception site.

Morgan parked
her car and looked down at her black suit.
The
decorations around the house
hinted
she was going to be grossly underdressed. Morgan was already crashing the
wedding,
she didn’t want to stick out while doing so. She popped open her trunk where she had thrown in some clothes that
were
meant
for the cleaners
. She dug through the suits and
day dresses
until she
found what she was looking for: t
he black dress with a sweetheart neckline
that
hugged her bust before cascading down to the ground.