“They’re going to be a huge hit with our customers. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll take another and run next door to give it to Mother. She adores white chocolate.”
That said, Hannah rose from her chair, grabbed a brownie, wrapped it in a napkin, and hurried out the door, totally ignoring Lisa’s warning about taking her parka. As she hurried across the parking lot to the back door of Granny’s Attic, her mother’s antique shop, Hannah began to feel slightly better. The cold air was having a bracing effect and her stomach was no longer roiling. Perhaps she’d overdone it on the coffee this morning and that was why she’d felt sick. Or perhaps skipping breakfast hadn’t been a good idea and she’d just been hungry, after all.
*
Several hours later, Hannah stood outside the door to Lake Eden First Mercantile Bank and knocked loudly on the glass. She could see several workmen and the bank president, Doug Greerson, inside. Since one workman was holding a nail gun and the other was using a framing hammer, Hannah assumed that they were probably making too much noise to hear her knock. Since Doug was out in the main part of the bank and not in his office it probably explained why, that despite her repeated telephone calls, Doug hadn’t answered the phone.
Hannah stood there, waiting. Although it was cold, the bank had a covered portico and she was out of the wind. This made it fairly comfortable. She didn’t bother to knock until the workman with the nail gun put it down and turned to say something to Doug. Then she knocked again, as loudly as she could.
This time, Hannah got results. Doug looked up, saw Hannah standing under the portico, and walked quickly to the door. He pointed to the sign and Hannah gave a nod. She knew that the bank was closed, but she still had to speak to Doug. She motioned toward him, mouthed the words I need to talk to you, and began to smile as Doug held up one finger and hurried back to the counter to pick up his key ring.
“Let’s go in my office,” Doug said after he’d unlocked the door and let her in. He relocked the front door behind Hannah and led her toward his office in the back.
“Thanks, Doug,” Hannah said, following him through the corridor and into his private space.
“Coffee?” Doug asked her, gesturing toward the espresso machine that his wife had given him for Christmas several years ago.
“Thanks. That would be great,” Hannah responded, even though her stomach still felt a bit unsettled.
“You drink cappuccino, don’t you?”
“Yes. Thank you, Doug.” Hannah waited until the coffee machine had finished brewing her coffee and then she reached out for the cup and took a sip. The chocolate that Doug had sprinkled on top of the cappuccino seemed to settle her stomach and Hannah began to feel much better.
“How can I help you, Hannah?” Doug asked, settling in his chair behind his desk with his own cup of coffee.
“I brought you some of Lisa’s White Chocolate Brownies.” Hannah set the small bakery box on top of Doug’s desk and lifted the lid. “They have pink frosting because we’re going to use them for Valentine’s Day. Have one with your coffee, Doug.”
“Thanks. I will.” Doug took a brownie, bit into it, and made a sound of approval. “They’re really good!” he said once he’d swallowed his first bite. “Now tell me why you needed to see me.”
Hannah took another sip of her coffee and drew a deep breath. “Ross asked me to come in and . . .”
“You saw Ross?” Doug asked, interrupting her.
“Yes. Don’t worry, Doug. Mike knows about it. Ross claimed he needed the money from the safe deposit box so he could ask his wife for a divorce and marry me again. Except, it’s not really again since we weren’t married in the first place.”
“Oh, Hannah!” Doug looked thoroughly disgusted. “You didn’t fall for that, did you?”
“Good heavens, no! And that’s what I told Ross. I said I wouldn’t marry him if he was the last man left on earth!”
Doug nodded. “I’m glad to hear that, Hannah. I didn’t think you could possibly be that much of a . . .” He stopped himself and looked slightly embarrassed. “Well . . . you know what I mean.”
“I do. And you’re right. I’m not that much of a fool. You’ve heard the old saying, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!”
“I certainly have. My mother used to say that.” Doug looked thoughtful. “So what do you want me to do, Hannah?”
“I don’t know what you can do, Doug, since it is his money. I just came to you for advice. Ross threatened me when I said I’d put all the money he’d given me back in his checking account and he’d have to go to the bank himself to withdraw it.”
“How much money did Ross want to withdraw?”
“A hundred thousand dollars, exactly what was in his safe deposit box.”
“The bank won’t be open until Monday, Hannah.”
“I know that, but Ross wanted me to contact you personally and get the money for him.”
“No.”
“What?”
“No. Even if I wanted to, and I don’t, I couldn’t give you that money, Hannah.”
“Why not? I put it back in his account.”
“I know you did. I helped you make the deposit. But it’s not in Ross’s checking account any longer.”
Hannah was confused. “But . . . it was there a week ago! What happened to it?”
“We’re a small bank, Hannah. We don’t keep that much money on hand in our safe. It’s a matter of bank security. If someone wants to withdraw a large sum in cash like Ross does, we have to request the funds and wait for the cash to be delivered by armored truck.”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “I guess that makes sense. So the money is there, but . . . it’s not physically here?”
“That’s right. We don’t take any chances with sums that large. What if someone robbed our bank and broke into our safe? Or there was some kind of natural disaster that destroyed our safe and its contents? If that happened, the physical cash could be lost. It’s a lot safer at the central depository. That’s a much more secure location.”
“Yes, I suppose it is.” Hannah was silent for a moment, and then she thought of another question. “How about the money that Ross put into my checking account? I transferred that to Ross’s checking account, too. It was seventy thousand dollars. Is that still here?”
“No, we keep enough cash here for normal banking business, but not for withdrawals of large amounts in cash. Does Ross know he can’t get his hands on that cash immediately?”
“No. I explained about transferring the money to his checking account, but I didn’t realize that the money wasn’t here and he’d have to wait for you to get the cash. He was really angry when he found out that the bank wouldn’t be open until Monday.”
“No doubt.” Doug sighed. “Is Ross coming in on Monday to try to withdraw that money?”
“I don’t think so. He expects me to do it for him. Mike warned him not to show his face around Lake Eden because people here were really upset about the way Ross treated me. Mike told Ross that if he came back to Lake Eden, he couldn’t guarantee his safety.”
“But Ross came back anyway.”
“Yes, but he came back so early that none of the other businesses were open and most people were still sleeping. He told me he needed the money. That’s when I told him that I’d put all that money in his account. And that’s when he accused me of trying to get him killed!”
“Did Ross say that his wife was going to kill him if he didn’t produce the money?”
Hannah shook her head. “Not exactly. He didn’t say who was going to kill him, just that someone was.”
“Makes sense. I’d guess that Ross is involved in something bigger than a troubled marriage.”
“So what do you think I should do?” Hannah clasped her hands together tightly in her lap. She was beginning to feel very afraid and she didn’t like that feeling at all!
“I think you’d better watch your back. And I think you’d better tell Mike exactly how you feel.”
“I did that. And Mike decided that I needed bodyguards round the clock. Norman’s sitting outside in his car right now, waiting for me to come back from talking to you.”