Page 78 of Bling

He stared at her, bewildered.

“I promise, Sir. It will make the screening process faster if you just leave those things here.”

He reluctantly agreed.

“Make sure your pockets are empty too. You really just want to bring your ID and that’s it. I’ve got quarters for the vending machine so we can get her some snacks while we talk,” she said, holding up the clear plastic bag of coins.

“Seriously?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Isabelle gave him a mirthless laugh. “Seriously. It’s not pretty or comfortable.”

One of Garrett’s attorneys was already waiting inside for them and had managed to pull some strings to get them in a little before normal visiting hours started.

It was going to be an interesting conversation, and she hoped her sister would cooperate.

When they had been screened and were led into the large visitor center, Isabelle went straight for the vending machine to get her sister the snacks she knew she would want.

Ten minutes later, they brought her in looking a bit sleepy. She scowled when she saw Isabelle.

“I didn’t know you were coming too. Everything OK with the girls?”

She nodded. “They’re good. They’ll be back next month.”

“So, what’s this all about? I got a call saying a lawyer and a big shot want to talk to me about my time at the Colorado Logistics warehouse.”

Garrett nodded. “I guess I’m the big shot. Garrett Oliver. This is my attorney, George Perry. We’re wondering what you can tell us about why you were fired and how Darren Gunn was involved.”

Her sister’s eyes went wide at the mention of Darren and Isabelle knew there was something she didn’t know.

“I’m not sure what this is about, but I don’t want any part of it. That fucker Darren can rot in hell.”

Garrett propped his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “That would be my preference as well, but I’ll be content to see him rot in jail, and I think you can help us with that.”

“I don’t see how.”

George Perry spoke. “Why don’t you start by telling us why you were fired. There isn’t anything in your employment file about the reason.”

Carmen snorted. “That’s because any reason listed would be bogus. I may not be entirely innocent of the things that landed me here, but I damn sure didn’t steal money from that place. It was those damn accusations that led me to doing the things I did though.”

Isabelle looked down at her hands, trying to keep her mouth shut. This wasn’t her meeting, she was just the facilitator.

“So, you’re saying he fired you for stealing money from Colorado Logistics?” the attorney said.

“That’s what they said. Darren told me if I left without incident, he wouldn’t call the police.”

Isabelle couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “How did you getting fired cause you to commit credit card fraud?”

Her sister turned and glared at her. “I don’t want to talk about that. I’m doing my time, that’s all you need to know.”

Isabelle folded her arms over her chest and looked away. This is why she usually sent Henry or her dad with the girls to visit. Carmen had always stonewalled about her reasons for committing the crime. It seemed to Isabelle that she’d just gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd, but now it looked like there might be more to the story.

Garrett spoke in his velvet smooth voice—the one he sometimes used when scolding a sub. “If I’m understand your criminal record correctly, your sister and your children are some of the people you defrauded as part of your crimes. I would think that absolutely makes this her business.”

Carmen leaned back in her chair and fixed her glare on Garrett. “What are you, her knight in shining armor or something? We get the gossip channels in here too, you know, Izzy. That was some kiss.”

Garrett stood. “I came here hoping we could help each other but you’re clearly not capable of being reasonable. We can just leave.”

Carmen jumped up. “Wait. Can’t you just let me finish my snacks first? They make us throw them away.”

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