30
Jack took a deep breath of the thin, icy Denver air and raised his hand to knock. Roman Steele’s front door was a gorgeous, hand-carved slab of wood. The home itself was a modern marvel of steel, glass, and aged wood, situated on a hillside with a view of the Rockies. Easily worth millions.
The door opened to Roman’s curious stare. He wore old jeans, a faded T-shirt, and bare feet, yet somehow still had a presence that said he was always in charge. “Jack. I was surprised to get your call.”
“Thanks for seeing me.”
Roman stepped aside. “Come in.”
As soon as Roman closed the door behind him, Jack couldn’t help but ask his most pressing question. “Aren’t your feet freezing?”
Roman grinned. “Heated floors.”
“Ah.”
The foyer was large, with stone floors and high ceilings. Roman wandered into the living room, where glass, glass, and more glass framed the extraordinary view. Jack followed, appreciating the floating stairwell off to the side, the deck wrapping the house beyond the living room, the high ceilings.
“This is stunning,” he said. “Did you have it built?”
“I did.” He sank into the corner of one leather sofa and gestured at large to the living room. “Have a seat.”
Jack took a seat on the lounge chair closest to Roman, perched himself on the edge, and rested his forearms on his knees. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’ll get right to the point.” Jack took a deep breath. “I screwed up.”
“How?”
“In more ways than I can name, but the only way that matters to you is that I was wrong about Miranda Wright. She was in no way involved with the thefts that occurred at Pinnacle.”
“She said you suspended her. That there’s an investigation.”
He exhaled. “And I sincerely regret that. It was the wrong thing to do. I took the information given to me to make that decision instead of doing the research myself. I was trying to make a statement to the rest of the employees, hoping to keep the company secure. In doing so, I judged Miranda too quickly and too harshly.”
Roman had a still, intense presence. Jack could see him staying cool in any situation. “How do you know you were wrong?”
“The woman I got to know wasn’t a woman who would steal from the hand that feeds her. So I dug deeper, and when none of her bank records showed any influx of cash, I confronted Alex. The first time, he wouldn’t see me, but I sent him an offer of a reduced sentence if he talked to me. As soon as he sat down across from me, I knew I’d been wrong. He had that smug, pulled-one-over-on-you look on his face, and the first words out of his mouth were ‘How does it feel to have something you want taken away?’ He and I have a long, conflicted relationship.”
“He admitted to it, then?”
“Sure did. Matched Miranda’s story exactly. But he’d been planning something from the minute I stepped foot in Nashville. Only decided to use Miranda when he found out she and I were seeing each other.”
Roman rested his elbow on the arm of the sofa and his temple against his hand. “Guess it worked.”
“Sure as shit did. We’ve never liked each other, but he and Miranda were close. I was surprised he would throw her under the bus.”
“People do the damnedest things,” Roman said. “Bet Miranda’s glad this shadow has lifted.”
“She doesn’t know yet. I’m going straight there when I get back to Tennessee. But I wanted to speak with you because I heard you pulled your funding for Miranda’s company.”
“Miranda called me herself to tell me what she’d been accused of. We agreed that, given my business of catching the bad guys, investing in someone who was under suspicion of felony theft wouldn’t be a sound business decision.”
That surprised Jack. “Miranda called you?”
“She did. She was very professional about it, but I could hear the stress in her voice. I’m sure she’ll be relieved to hear you uncovered the real issue.”
Jack huffed a laugh. “I think she’ll be livid. But, yes, in the end, she’ll be relieved.”
“You two had a good thing going,” Roman said. “I could see the energy and connection between you when I toured the development.”
“Had being the operative word.” He shook his head. “Biggest mistake of my life, not trusting my gut where she was concerned.”