“It would be just as easy for you to fake paperwork as it would’ve been for Tammy,” Jennings retorted.
Emily met his eyes without blinking. “But I didn’t.”
To her satisfaction, Jennings was the first to look away. “You aren’t going to do anything about this?” he demanded of Davenport.
The police chief nodded. “I’ll look into it. I’ll need the name and new address of your former employee, and of course I’ll want to see all the paperwork.”
“I—er—don’t know where Tammy is now,” Jennings muttered. “I’ve tried to contact her a couple of times, but I can’t seem to locate her.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve got a lot more reason to suspect Tammy than Emily,” Marshall Hayes commented, gi
ving her a reassuring nod.
Emily knew exactly why Sam Jennings would rather suspect her than his former employee. Emily was a McBride. Daughter of Nadine, sister of Lucas. That was reason enough for Sam Jennings to accuse her of all manner of sins.
She looked pointedly at her watch. “If there’s nothing else I can do for you now, I need to get back to work. Friday afternoons are our busiest time.”
“Go ahead, Emily,” Hayes said promptly. “I think you’ve given us all the information we need for now, don’t you agree, Chief?”
Davenport nodded, looking at Emily with thoughtful brown eyes. “Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. McBride. I’ll be in touch if I need anything more.”
“You’re going to just let her go off and handle other people’s money?” Jennings asked Hayes with a show of incredulity.
“Yes,” the bank president answered. “I am. Chief?”
“I have no further reason to detain her,” Davenport agreed, to Jennings’s visible disgust. “I assume Dr. Jennings is aware that he shouldn’t be publicly casting blame while the investigation is ongoing.”
Jennings scowled.
Emily nodded, turned on one heel and left the office. She didn’t speak to Sam Jennings on the way out. Nor did she look at the police chief again. But she was aware that both men watched her until she was out of their sight.
She could hardly take in the fact that she had just been accused of embezzlement. Surely no one who knew her could ever believe such a thing. And yet...she was a McBride. McBrides had been falsely accused before. Her brother Lucas. Her cousin Savannah. No one had believed claims of innocence from either of them.
Would anyone believe Emily if Sam Jennings persisted in his allegations? Or would they see her as just another McBride turned bad?
2
OLIVER WENT NUTS when Emily’s doorbell rang Sunday afternoon, just before four o’clock. The little gray poodle yapped and bounced in front of the door, ferociously warning off potential invaders.
“As if you could do anything, anyway,” Emily muttered, trying to step around the excited dog. “You don’t even have any teeth, you silly old mutt.”
She shifted the lace curtain over the triangular window in the old-fashioned front door so that she could look outside. Her eyes widened when she recognized the man on her doorstep. Her pulse fluttered, but she tried to write that off as uneasiness about his reasons for being there, rather than a reaction to his ruggedly attractive appearance.
“It’s the cops, Oliver,” she muttered with a grim attempt at humor. “Looks like we’re busted.”
She opened the door. “Are you here to arrest me, Chief Davenport?”
He gave her the lazy smile she remembered from their first meeting. “No, ma’am. I’ve just got a couple more questions for you, if you have the time.”
Ignoring the poodle yipping frantically at her heels, Emily frowned. “Does this mean I’m still a suspect?”
Davenport shrugged one broad shoulder beneath the chambray shirt he wore with faded jeans—hardly standard police uniform. “I don’t know that I would go that far,” he replied. “But you are an integral part of an ongoing investigation.”
She frowned. “That sounds to me like a fancy way of saying I’m a suspect.”
His sudden smile took her breath away. The man was entirely too attractive for her peace of mind, especially considering his reason for being on her doorstep.
“Is this a good time to ask a few questions?” he asked, nodding toward the door in an obvious hint.