BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure Read Online Free PDF Page A

think I had anything to do with those calls? Did you see my area code on the caller ID?”
    Erin felt her neck warm. “I…don’t actually have caller ID yet.”
    “So someone seems to be targeting you, and I showed up at the wrong time. I can understand Megan’s concern, believe me.” Realization dawned in Jack’s eyes. “And that’s why you got the dog?”
    “Partly for security, though I’ve wanted one for ages and wasn’t allowed to at my old condo in Colorado.” She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “There’s just one other thing.”
    He rested an elbow on the railing and leaned back, hooked a heel of his hiking boot on the steps and silently waited.
    “Megan did a search of the NCIC criminal database.”
    “I’m sure she found a lot of hits there,” he said dryly.
    “None. But…um…I did.” Now she felt thewarmth rise to her face. “When I did an Internet search on your name.”
    She expected a flash of guilt. Perhaps an angry or defensive retort. The look of resignation and sorrow on his face took her by surprise.
    “So you read about my investment firm, then.” He searched her face. “And about my business partner? It was in the papers for months, so it’s certainly no secret.”
    “I…only know what I read in the online newspapers.”
    “I’ll be glad to fill you in.” Jack stared at the child playing with the puppy at the far end of the yard, and lowered his voice. “The past six months marked the end of almost everything in my life that mattered. I lost my only sister and her husband—who were also my closest friends. The reputation of my firm came into serious question, and my business partner, Ted, proved he’d never been a friend at all. Oh, and my fiancée, Elana, found it all just a little overwhelming, so she split.”
    Erin fought the urge to give him a long, comforting hug. “That’s awful.”
    “The only good thing is that I have Max, though honestly, he deserves better than a single guy without a clue.” Jack’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “And maybe it was best to find out about Elana’s character early on, though less dramatic circumstances would have been nice.”
     
    The enormity of what he’d been through nearly took her breath away. “What happened? With Ted, I mean.”
    “You want to hear my version?” He gave a wry laugh. “That’s a first. People back home liked the slanted newspaper articles a whole lot better.”
    “The press got it wrong?”
    “Ted and I were partners for fifteen years. I thought we were as close as brothers. He managed his own accounts, and I managed mine, so I didn’t know what he was up to until the day he disappeared with a half-million dollars of his clients’ money.” Jack’s mouth flattened to a hard, determined line. “Many of them were elderly, and he’d been managing their retirement funds.”
    She’d read the newspaper articles online, which had subtly implicated Jack, though he’d never been arrested and charged. The reporters had made a good point, though. In such a small firm, how could he have been unaware of his partner’s dealings? Or had he been involved, and simply better at hiding his tracks?
    His steady gaze and the raw pain in his voice told her otherwise.
    But the full impact of the theft hadn’t hit her until now. “I can’t believe anyone would prey on such vulnerable people.”
    “I can’t, either. And I also can’t believe my friend did it, or that he was spineless enough to commit suicide after he was caught, but it’s the truth.”
     
    “I…I didn’t realize he’d killed himself.”
    “He was found up near the Canadian border. The investigators are still trying to figure out where he stashed all the money.” Jack looked up, his gaze riveted on hers. “I suppose you find me guilty by association, because the press and the people on the street sure did—even though the forensics accountants found absolutely no evidence.”
    Megan’s warnings about renting the house to this