Page 19 of Mending Fences
CHAPTER TEN
“Daniel?” Mandy heard muffled voices in the background. She stood and started pacing—almost. Stupid crutches.
“I’ll be back in town on Friday. Can I take you to dinner?”
In town? Where was he now? “You have already done enough. You don’t need to take me to dinner.”
“I want to.”
Mandy hopped over to the bed and sank down on it, glad Daniel couldn’t see the burning cheeks she could see in her mirror. “Yes. Friday, I am free.”
“I’ll text you the details. They called my flight. Bye, Amanda.”
She stared as the screen turned from green to orange. “Amanda.” She hadn’t noticed what he called her the other night, but painkillers could be blamed. He used to call her Amanda, saying his name was Daniel, not Danny, and she should go by her proper name too. Apart from a few teachers, Grandma Mae when she was in trouble, and the IRS, no one else ever called her by her given name.
She opened her browser and searched for Daniel Crawford. She raised her eyebrows at the number of fangirl groups she found. He had been sighted at the Chicago airport boarding a flight to London. Who took a two-day trip to London?
A half hour later she got up from her computer. What was she doing reading about his life like some crazed stalker fan? This was just Danny. The boy who didn’t know how to skip rocks or climb trees. Yes, he was wealthy, but according to C&O’s annual reports, he was working for every penny and was a smart businessman. Dumb with women, though. The only thing she found to recommend Summerset Vandemark was her father’s money, and Daniel didn’t need that. Why had he dated her for almost two years? One fangirl site speculated DC had dumped Miss Vandemark and that the breakup had been the catalyst for the EMT/Paparazzi fiasco before New Year’s. DC had been seen with various women at events, but Summerset maintained they “remained close but had chosen to check out the options before making a further commitment.” Mandy returned her focus to the screen and wondered if she could find out more.
What was wrong with her? A tiny reaction to his hands on her waist and she was drooling like the rest of the world. She leaned over and tapped the screen, closing the search.
Daniel settled into his seat. Window—his preference on red-eye flights. Bonnie was good. He hated to lose her. But whether he married or not this year, she deserved to retire.
He opened his phone. Should he text Mandy now?
A coded text from Colin interrupted his musing.Found things about IN offer you flagged. Look on L’s S in locked file.
How much do I need to worry?Daniel entered the question that would give him the password to the locked file Colin had stored on the London server.
5. Did you get M a birthday gift?
Five and Mandy’s birthday, February 9. Now to establish the three letters.Gave her a Nikon.
K
Daniel switched his phone to airplane mode. Whatever Colin had found, it was big. Big enough to resort to talking in code. He wondered what he would find when he typed 5M209Nik into the second password box in the London office’s secure server tomorrow and why Colin chose Mandy’s birthday as the number for the code.
When the flight attendant announced the closing of the plane’s doors, Daniel turned off the overhead light, hoping to get some sleep.
