Page 40 of My One and Only

The coffee pot had been cleaned out since it was last used. Cam? His secretary? She had no idea, but she was glad it was clean. She dropped in a filter, spooned the correct amount of coffee into the basket and poured in a carafe of water. After switching it on, she glanced over her shoulder at Cam. “Anything else you need?”

He began to shake his head. Stopped immediately. “No, I’m good,” he said, but his voice was tight with pain. “Go ahead and get to your own work.” He pointed at the empty desk near the window. “You can use that, if you like.”

“Thanks, I will,” she said. “Who usually sits there?”

“No one, now. Used to be my secretary’s desk. But she’s a talker. Couldn’t shut her up. That’s why she’s out in the reception area.” He smiled. “She’s great with any customers who come in. And she knows all the sales people. Best move I made, putting her on the other side of my door.”

“Sounds like it,” Jo said.

He went back to work, but she studied him for a long moment. That was another reason he’d been successful with his company. Cam had a gift for reading people. She’d seen it in high school but had forgotten all about it until now.

Which made her wonder why he hadn’t seen what she did when she’d known his partner Don all those years ago. Was Don his blind spot?

Or was she judging Don based on what she’d seen in high school? If she was, that wasn’t fair to Don. No one should be judged on who they were fifteen years ago. From now on, she’d give Don the benefit of the doubt.

She found a legal pad and made a list of what she needed to do. First on the list was calling Mel. So she dialed her boss’s number. The phone rang twice before Mel picked up.

“Hey, Jo. You bored with your leave time? Want to come back early?”

“Hell, no,” Jo said. “I’m keeping busy.” She explained what had happened with Cam and the accident. “So I’m using the rest of my leave time to act as his bodyguard. If we haven’t resolved this by the time my leave is up, he’ll contact you and sign a contract for me to stay on.”

Mel was silent, the rat-a-tat of her pen bouncing off her desk the counterpoint to her thoughts. Finally Mel said, “Leave time is for you to relax and recharge your batteries. Not to do volunteer work.”

“I understand, but I went to high school with Cam,” Jo said. “He was my best friend. Now he owns a construction company and he’s building a house for my mom. He’s had some issues with his workmen, and we were on the way to the job site when he was T-boned. He managed to avoid a direct hit so he escaped with only a concussion, but he clearly needs protection.”

“Were you hurt?”Mel asked, urgency in her voice.

“No. I was in a car behind him,” she said. “I’m fine.”

“And you stopped to help your friend instead of chasing the car that hit him?”

“Yes,” Jo said. “It didn’t even occur to me to follow the truck that hit Cam. I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“I see,” Mel said.

Jo got the uncomfortable feeling that Mel saw far too much in her explanation. “Cam’s my friend,” she repeated, and she knew she sounded defensive. “I couldn’t just leave him there without knowing how badly he was injured.”

Another silence. Finally, Mel said, “Okay. I get it.”

Jo wanted to ask exactly what Mel got, but she pressed her lips together. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t like the answer.

“The truck was a dark blue Ram four by four, new the last year or two. Its license plates were obscured with what looked like mud. Can you check the license registration records in Illinois and send me all the trucks that fit those criteria?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Mel said.

“Thanks, Mel. I’m going to call the police and see if they found an abandoned vehicle of that description. If they haven’t, I’ll start calling repair shops and see if anyone brought in a truck like that with front-end damage.”

After a long moment, Mel said, “Good. That’s what I’d do.” She sighed into the phone. “Thanks for the heads-up that you might be away for longer than your leave,” she said. “There’s a job I was going to assign to you, but I’ll send someone else. Let me know ASAP if you need to stay.”

“I’ll do that, Mel. Thanks.”

“Be careful,” Mel said. “Both personally and professionally.”

“I will,” Jo said. “I’ll talk to you as soon as I know what’s going on here.”

“Thanks, Jo,” Mel said, then hung up the phone.

Jo stared at the cell phone in her hand, wondering at the odd tone in Mel’s voice, then set it on the desk. She heard Cam talking and turned to look at him. He was trying to hire a carpenter.

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