“All right,” Bas said, sensing Reese’s hesitancy in discussing the matter. “Was it a loan? Blackmail? Help me to understand, Reese. We’re talking about a total of over a hundred thousand dollars here.”
Reese shifted nervously in his chair and met the intensity in Bas’s gaze. “No one was supposed to know and I only found out by accident.”
Bas lifted a brow. “You found out what by accident?”
Reese shifted in his chair again and lowered his eyes when he spoke. “That Jim and Noreen were lovers.”
Bas didn’t so much as blink since that had been one of his suspicions. “Why did they keep it a secret? Jim was a widower and Noreen is divorced.”
Reese shrugged and met Bas’s eyes. “Yes, but there’s the issue of the difference in their ages. We’re talking about fifteen years. And besides that, this is a small town that sometimes feeds on gossip, and Noreen has a teenage daughter they wanted to protect. They were very discreet and most of the time they planned out-of-town trips. They had been together a couple of years before I found out. I happened to be visiting a cousin in Atlanta when I ran into the two of them in a hotel there. Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable moment because it was the last thing I’d suspected.”
Bas nodded. “Did Jocelyn know?”
“I doubt it. At least Jim and Noreen assumed she didn’t know. I really don’t think she would have had a problem with it had she known. But like I said, Jim was uncomfortable about the difference in their ages. Noreen didn’t have a problem with it.”
“And they were lovers until he died?”
“Yes, and I really thought things would come out then, but Jim made Noreen promise not to say or do anything to give them away. That part was pretty hard on her.”
“I’m sure it was.”
“And he didn’t want to leave her a big chunk in his will like he did for me, to give everyone a reason to speculate why. That’s why he set up a special account for her in this bank in Memphis. She didn’t know he was doing it until right before he died.”
“I see.”
“That’s probably why he wanted you to come in and check out things before Jocelyn got a mind to call in an independent accountant to audit the records.”
Bas leaned back in his chair. “Thanks for sharing that with me. That clears up a lot.”
“Well, Noreen and Jim cared a lot for each other and although their affair wasn’t made public, they made each other happy, and to me that’s all that mattered. For some people happiness is a rare commodity these days.”
Bas said nothing for a moment after hearing the rancor in Reese’s voice. He remembered having to deal with his brother’s Morgan’s bitterness a few months ago when a woman he was interested in refused even to discuss the possibility of them pursuing a relationship.
Bas quickly made a decision about something. He might as well call it a day since he wasn’t thinking about work much anyway. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the day, Reese?”
Reese stood. “I’m going over to the gym to work out awhile. I feel like hitting something and I prefer it to be a punching bag than a human being.”
Bas nodded. He knew the feeling. He remembered passing the gym when he arrived in town. It seemed like a pretty new facility. He couldn’t remember the last time he gave his body a good workout. “Mind if I join you?”
Reese smiled. “No, not at all.”
“Good. I’ll run by Sadie’s and get my gear and then meet you there in about thirty minutes.” Bas locked the files in the drawer for the night.
Beating up on a punching bag wasn’t such a bad idea.
Chapter 9
This was the part of construction she loved the best. The finish. Or in this case, the part that was pretty close to being finished, because with Marcella Jones you never knew for sure. But since Bas had explained their pay-if-you-make-any-changes policy, she had kept the changes to a minimum. In fact she had made barely any at all.
Jocelyn glanced around with her hand on her hips. This was indeed a beautiful home and she could imagine how grand it would look furnished. Marcella wasn’t known to skimp when it came to getting what she wanted so there was no doubt in Jocelyn’s mind that this house would be the talk of the town for a while…at least until Marcella saw another design for a home that suited her fancy in one of those magazines of hers. Then there would be house number four.