Family Money(19)

Stepping into my home office, I walked around my desk and pulled open the middle drawer. Sure enough, I’d forgotten to pack our passports. They were sitting in the drawer wrapped up in a rubber band. I shook my head, rolled my eyes at myself. Saved again by my wife—story of my life. I pulled them out, checked to make sure I also had the girls covered, and then closed the drawer.

Joe stepped inside my office with me. “Wow, the girls are really wired tonight.”

I laughed. “You think?”

“You want them to stay with us? Carol has a way of getting them down more easily.”

“You mean bribing them with sweets?”

Joe smiled, shrugged. “Whatever it takes, right?”

“You read my mind. I just mentioned that possibility to Taylor.”

“Great. I’ll start rounding them up and get them out of your hair.”

I began to move past him into the hallway, but Joe stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, are you sure about this trip? I’m second-guessing it.”

I pitched my head. “Why?”

“Maybe Taylor is right. It can be dangerous across the border. Maybe we should reconsider. Plus, I’ve got a case I really need to work on here this next week.”

“Come on, Joe, I think we’ll be fine. But if you need to stay back to work, it’s no problem. I can take care of everything myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. But you’re going to have to tell the girls yourself. They’re going to be crushed that you’re not coming with us. They’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.”

Joe sighed, rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. “Who am I kidding? I can’t be away from the girls for an entire week.”

I smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that. We’re going to have fun.”

“It was dumb of me to even think about it.” His forehead wrinkled a touch. “But just as a precaution, I’ve shown you where I keep all of my personal financial info at the house, right?”

“Yeah. Top drawer of your file cabinet.”

He nodded. “Right. And you know to go see Craig Kinney if anything was ever to, you know, happen?”

“Yes.”

“Good. One more thing. Have I ever mentioned my, uh, old friend Ethan to you?”

“I don’t think so.” My eyes narrowed. “Joe, what’s up? Aren’t you being a little paranoid? We’re not traveling to a war zone. We’re going to be fine.”

But my father-in-law didn’t get the opportunity to expound because Olivia and Nicole had tracked him down. The girls grabbed him on both arms, trying to drag him back to the living room to keep watching their performance. My girls were a force to reckon with when they wanted something.

Joe looked at me, forced a smile. “It’s nothing, really. It can wait.”

That entire brief exchange with Joe felt eerie now in light of everything that had unfolded afterward.

“Is there any contact info for Ethan Tucker?” I asked Missy.

“There’s a phone number listed on the transaction. Do you want it?”

“Yes, I do, thanks.”

Missy wrote it down on a sticky note for me. After walking out of the bank, I sat in my Tahoe in the parking lot and stared at the phone number. A 214 area code—Dallas. I pulled out my cell phone and quickly called the number. Disconnected. Sighing, I sat back in my car seat. Five million from an offshore account in the Cayman Islands? Did Joe have more money there? If so, how much? I again thought about what Joe had said the other night before our trip. He almost pulled out of the trip at the last minute, which was so unlike him. He then wanted to make sure I knew what to do in the event of his death. Did he know he was in some kind of danger? Is that why he didn’t look shocked when those men grabbed him? Was his abduction not random?

I needed to track down Ethan Tucker ASAP.





TWELVE


When I got home, Olivia and Nicole were outside in the pool, splashing around on an oversize mermaid float. It was good to see them laughing today. There had been a lot of tears last night while tucking them into bed. If possible, I wanted them to somehow enjoy their last few weeks of summer before school started. Carol was sitting in the shade on the back patio, watching the girls with Lizzie in her lap. Taylor was in the kitchen, making peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and cutting up strawberries and bananas. I felt unsure what to share with her about what I’d discovered this morning. It was still a lot of speculation. I didn’t want to unnecessarily freak her out when she was already emotionally taxed. At least not until I’d had a chance to chase down Ethan Tucker and see if I could figure this thing out first. Still, I didn’t like withholding information from her. She could usually tell.

I walked over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Hey,” she said. “How’d it go with Craig Kinney?”

“Uh, good. As expected, your mom is completely set. She’ll never have to worry about money. Your dad made sure of that.”

“So you think she’ll be able to stay in their house?”

“Yes, I do. If that’s what she wants.”

“That’s a relief. Although I’ll probably have to teach her how to pay her mortgage now that . . .”