Chapter Twelve
“I don’t appreciate the way you invaded my privacy without my permission and without any justification. You went completely over the line with that.”
Andrew Walker accepted Natalie’s criticism without flinching, his expression impossible for her read. “I apologize,” he said quietly. “It’s a habit I’ve gotten into in my job—researching people, I mean. I didn’t hack into any of your personal accounts or anything, if you’re worried about that. Most of what I found was common knowledge among your coworkers in the firm.”“Most.” She seized on that word. “The firm didn’t publicize why they let me go. That was kept secret—more for the sake of their own reputation than out of any respect for me,” she added resentfully. “You wouldn’t have found that just by typing my name into a search engine.”
“I made a couple of calls,” he admitted. “The very secrecy of your firing piqued my curiosity. You’d apparently been doing very well at the firm, steadily climbing the ladder, earning a name for yourself, keeping a high profile in the profession—and then suddenly you were gone and no one was talking. That usually indicates a cover-up of some sort.”
“Who did you call?”
“Just a couple of sources in your area,” he replied vaguely.
Which meant he wasn’t going to tell her.
Having stood back with Casey while Natalie raked his brother over the coals, Aaron stepped forward then. “It wasn’t entirely Andrew’s fault. I sort of nagged him into looking into your background. I mean, I could tell that Molly and Kyle like you and I know they think the world of your aunt and uncle, but Molly seemed to think there was something going on with you.
“Not that she said anything specifically,” he added quickly, loyally defending his cousin. “She was just very vague about why you were here, probably because she didn’t know, herself. With all the problems Casey’s been through lately, I was concerned about him getting mixed up in someone else’s troubles and risking his own reputation back in Dallas.”
“Sticking your nose into my business,” Casey muttered.
Aaron sighed deeply. “We had this talk last night,” he reminded Casey. “Extensively. I’ve apologized to you, and now I’m trying to apologize to Natalie.”
“You aren’t apologizing, you’re rationalizing.”
Natalie lifted a hand to ward off what sounded like an impending argument. “Okay, the thing is, I didn’t appreciate the snooping. But I am grateful for the offer of assistance, if you really think you can help.”
“I can help,” Andrew said. “But first, I think I should tell you what I’ve found out about Ra
nd Beecham.”
She frowned at him. “Rand Beecham?”
He nodded. “When Casey told me last night that you’d hired Beecham and haven’t been entirely satisfied with his work, I made some calls.”
It was all she could do not to pull her own hair. “You mean you’ve made calls about me without my permission again? Even after Casey told you how upset I was with you the first time?”
Looking a bit surprised that she’d have any problem with what he had done, Andrew nodded. “Casey said you wanted our help. The first step was obviously to find out more about the guy who’s been working for you.”
She shook her head. “Has anyone ever mentioned that you have personal boundary issues?”
Both Aaron and Casey smirked as if they’d heard that accusation leveled toward Andrew before. Andrew, himself, merely shrugged. “I just think you should know that you can’t necessarily trust everything Beecham says. He’s been in some trouble before.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “But I’ve insisted on an accounting of the work he does for me. I didn’t intend to pay him without challenging some of the charges, which I could tell were somewhat inflated. And I told him I expected results within the next few days or I was terminating our professional relationship.”
Andrew nodded. “I wouldn’t hold my breath for those results, though you can probably expect another request for more money. Apparently, that’s how he operates. He dribbles out a little information while billing the clients for as long as they’ll let him.”
Because Andrew was making her feel a bit foolish, she spoke curtly. “I’d already pretty much figured that out. I just told you, I wasn’t going to let him get away with it much longer.”
“I’m not going to worry about stepping on Beecham’s professional toes while I find out what I can about your situation.”
She cocked her head to study him curiously. “Do you ever worry about stepping on toes?”
Andrew gave her a quick smile. “Not a lot, no. And speaking of which—you said you had nothing to do with the tabloid leaks?”
“That’s right,” she said firmly. “I had nothing to do with them. I would never violate confidentiality, not for my own clients and not for any of the firm’s other clients.”
“Then we’ll find out what happened,” Andrew asserted with a confidence that was strangely reassuring. “I just need to know the details.”
“Let’s all sit down and get comfortable for this,” Casey said, motioning toward the couch and chairs.