The Poison of Bitterness

Prologue

The hacker seated behind the desk laughed. The numbers were dead on, he said and slapped his hands together.

How much? the blond male asked, his blood pumping furiously in excitement. He hadn’t thought it would be this easy to begin exacting his revenge on the people responsible for putting his father in jail.

They’d ruined him, taken his good name, and most of his savings had gone to fighting the charges. His father had lost his business and the respect of his colleagues. He was broken and not just in his own eyes, but in the eyes of the community.

Those women hadn’t just taken his father’s life but had sliced through his family leaving him and his mother the subject of gossip and dirty looks.

A million, the hacker told him. The other account has another mill in it. I’m going to see if I can get into it, too.

Not yet, he said quickly. Wait another day. Then, go for it, and I’ll pay you then, before we move ahead with our next break in. She’ll have to replace that money for payroll.

The hacker gave him an annoyed look. She might have changed the codes by then if she’s smart. Getting back in won’t be so easy.

You can do it, he snapped. That’s why I brought you in.

You brought me in because you thought I was good, and I am, but the system she has in place is boss, man. I couldn’t break it and even her back doors are traps. We’ll need to strike while the iron is hot.

I’m sure the next go round will be harder, the blond man said, lips pulling into a hard line. But you’ll have to pull it off to get paid.

That’s why I say let’s just do it now and walk away before it turns into a game we can’t win.

No, the blond man snapped, staring into the cold brown eyes of a man he’d known as a teenager. Listen to me. I want this to hurt her as badly as it’s hurting me.

I know you want revenge, but that’s a sword that cuts both ways, his friend muttered.

This wasn’t going to cost him anything, it was only going to purge him of the rage building up inside him more and more every day. His family was on the edge of destruction and it was up to him to do something to salvage what he could—his sanity.

Did you send that note like I asked you to?

Yeah, the lawyers got it, he said with a confused look. Why are we fooling with that when she’s right here, right now? The more variables you introduce the harder the outcome will be to control.

The blond man smiled. Ashbury had been on the verge of closing out a deal with some old employees, but he’d made sure that didn’t happen. Their lawyers had to be certain by now that Ashbury meant to fuck them over in their settlement.

Good, he said with a grin. Now—

We’d have to go down there in order to wreak further havoc, though, the hacker said.

I know—we’ll deal with that later, he replied. What about the girlfriend? Anything in her past we can use to rip Ashbury’s life apart? Anything that points to her as the person who actually got this all started?

The other man looked at him, shaking his head, a lock of hair falling over his forehead. I haven’t found a digital footprint, so if her father sent her info and told her to do this, it was by snail mail.

The blond man blew out a breath. What about her life though? Any exes we could entice out of the woodwork?

"She’s not much for social media, man. Her FB account was deleted, she has no Instagram, and her Twitter is sparse. She doesn’t talk about her personal life much. I’d have to go down to

where she lived and detective shit ain’t my forte."

I can get one of the guys to do it.

His agency was small, but a few loyal employees remained working cases and bringing in a little money. One of them was a good friend of his. He’d send him down to Mississippi to check things out.

Hey, where are we on finding the other one? Ava Murrow, the woman he’d thought had started all this, seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

The woman he’d thought was her, wasn’t. She was just a woman whose name happened to be the same as his quarry.

Nowhere, the hacker replied. Without a real target, I can’t hack into anything. She’s like hunting for a ghost in a haunted house.

She’s out there, he said. Find her. I want her dead for opening this can of worms.

Chapter One

I can’t find her, Lang Washington told Remi Ashbury as she faced him across the table in the restaurant of her casino.

She held a cup of coffee in one hand, her thoughts coming to a complete stop. The Murrow girl had been of interest to her for two months. After the trial of the men who’d killed their fathers, Remi had been intent on finding the other woman.

In part, she wanted to thank her and partially because she wanted to know why the woman had wanted to open the old wounds of their childhood.

Both of their fathers had been convicted of embezzlement and murder. Hers had been innocent as it turns out. Was Ava’s?

What do you mean? Remi asked of the brown eyed man. Why? She couldn’t have just vanished off the face of the earth.

I didn’t say she did, he answered. I merely said I couldn’t find her.

Remi blinked. Lang was the owner of a successful security firm out of Texas, but he’d come down here to handle her case personally after sending some of his men to protect her lover and train the casino’s security staff.

Okay. She thought his words over again. What are you going to do about it?

I’m going to keep looking, he told her. She was sent to her relatives after her father’s death.

That had been the best thing despite how hard it had been. Living in a small town where they were the anomalies to be pointed at and whispered about behind their backs hadn’t been any way for either of them to live.

I’d like to talk to her in this century, Lang, she told him. So, find her.

I’m going to, Remi, he replied with a hint of a smile. Just be patient. How is security working out for you?

Fine, she replied. My fiancé is comfortable with the guys because she knows them. I’d like to keep them on.

They’re willing to stay another few months, but, Remi, these are men used to action. They won’t stay beyond that, so I’ve already started looking for replacements.

As long as you trust them and they have a proven track record of good results, I’m fine with whoever you select.

I’ve spoken to a woman who’s ex-military. She didn’t see any action in the Middle East, but she was over there assigned to an Embassy.

She good at her job?

Such as it was, he said with a frown. Yeah. She can shoot, kick ass, and cuss like any sailor.

She was Navy?

No. He grinned. Army.

Okay. I’ll meet with her. She straight?

Afraid of a little competition? he asked, his tone mocking.

Sarina doesn’t look at other women.

Everyone looks, Remi, he said. It’s just a matter of intent from there on out.

Just send her down, Remi ordered. I’ll meet with her.

She did worry that Sarina would wake up one day and realize what she’d gotten herself into and walk away.

Okay. He sighed. I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for this woman. You changed your name. Happen to know what her mother’s mother’s name was? We haven’t found her under her mother’s name.

I didn’t know her, Remi said. She was—hang on. Sarina knew her. She picked up her phone from the table next to her. She input her fiancée’s number.

Hello, Remi, Sarina murmured in her ear. Is your meeting over already?

Almost, she said, butterflies filling her stomach. Finding Sarina back in Cozy Bend had been a surprise, but reconnecting with her had been a gift from the gods.

She’d liked Sarina more than she should in high school, but Sarina’s father hadn’t approved and wouldn’t have allowed a relationship beyond friendship. But they were all each other had now with their fathers and families gone.

Well, Sarina’s mother was still alive, but Sarina was all she had, and Remi didn’t intend to allow anyone to take Sarina from her.

I need to ask you something, she said.

I’m not naked, Remi, Sarina replied, laughter in her voice.

She cleared her throat. Sari, she groaned. The woman was smoking hot. Then, Remi had always thought Sarina was hot despite being overweight. Do you remember the Murrow girl?

What about her? she asked quietly.

Did she ever mention anything about her mother’s family?

Her mother was adopted, and she didn’t speak to them. Why?

The investigator has hit a wall in finding her, Remi replied.

Remi, why are you still looking for Ava? The trial is over. If she sent you that information, just be happy and let it go.

I can’t. So, anything you can tell me about her that you might remember?

There was a brief silence. Her father had family here. They owned a farm. Ava used to go out there.

She never mentioned any place she might like to see?

Spain, Greece. She was going to be a journalism major. Dad counselled her after her father was arrested. I’ll go through the files and see if I can find her.

Files?

Copies of all dad’s old cases were at Luckgood Manor. I thought I told you that, she said. I’ll go through them and see if I can find her.

I’m not sure that’ll help, but thanks, Remi said.

Talk to you later, sweetie, Sarina said.

No luck?

None, Remi answered. I’m not holding out much hope that her father had anything useful, but if I turn out to be wrong, I’ll let you know.

Call me, he said. I’ll do the same if I come up with anything.

Yeah. She walked him out, brow furrowed.

She probably should just forget about the Murrow girl as Sarina urged. There was really nothing that could come out of it except maybe a few answers as to why the woman had wanted to pursue this.

She headed to her office where Ella, the casino’s manager, sat behind the desk that would be occupied by Remi’s assistant once she found one. Her former assistant Thomas was in California playing assistant manager at her resort there.

She’d sent him there to curtail his growing interest in her. Remi was thinking of sending Ella away as well, but she wanted someone she trusted running things.

You have two meetings this morning, Ella told her. Both are assistant candidates. I think you should let Sarina handle this until you find someone.

I didn’t ask you, she retorted, giving the other woman a cool look. The woman’s blue eyes glittered with disapproval, but Remi wasn’t in the mood for her crap today.

Anyway, both are qualified, and both live around here. One is a college student and the other is a woman who’s been out of college a year.

She considered both, mentally calculating how much work she’d get out of the college girl. Her schedule would be a problem, but the other one—now, she was a better choice. She would be able to give her better hours with less distraction.

No to college girl, what’s the other one’s major?

Business.

Interview her for your assistant.

Are you serious? Ella demanded, incredulity shining on her face.

I think you need one more than I do at the moment, Remi said.

There’s one more thing, Ella said, her eyes growing serious.

What?

There’s been some activity on one of your business accounts, she said. It’s been hacked.

Remi lifted her brows curiously. Which account?

She had an accountant handling the casino’s finances along with a bookkeeper dealing with payroll. Both were local simply because she had wanted to add more jobs to the area. The accounts had more than a million in each, but that was just pocket money for her.

The casino’s accounts for payroll. Someone tried to get into the building fund, but couldn’t. The accountants don’t have access. Only you and I.

Right, she said. Well, dump another half mil in there. I’ll have someone monitor it and trace the thief. I dearly would like to know what’s up.

The men who’d killed her father and framed him were in jail. One of them had been guilty of embezzlement. He had children, two of which still lived here in town. They were both struggling to get by now that the company their father had once co-owned was bankrupt.

So, maybe one of the kids was looking for an easy payday.

Chapter Two

Sarina pulled several files from the box in her office. She’d be treating patients here in a few weeks, but she hadn’t even hired a secretary yet. She’d barely gotten the furniture delivered.

Remi had been excited that she was going into private practice, but she had suggested Sarina look around for another psychologist or a psychiatrist to partner with. The reason being she’d have someone to help carry the burden of patients which meant Sarina wouldn’t be at work late into the evening.

Her children’s home was nearly finished and would be able to house at least fifty