Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge by Laina Turner

the non-Martha Stewarts. For those who want to move a step up from mac & cheese, but a baby step.”
    “I can see that and would assume there are more of those basic cooks than Martha’s out there,” he said. “It sound like a good concept.”
    “What about you? Still detecting?” I said, turning it around on him.
    “Yep. Never a shortage of murders and mayhem in Chicago. Speaking of which, did you know James was in trouble with the law again?”
    I didn’t, but it wasn’t surprising he was in trouble legally. He was the type who liked to skate the edge of what was right and wrong.
    “No! What happened?”
    “It’s been all over the news” He smiled. “How could you miss it?”
    “Unless it’s in People I don’t much care. The local news is depressing,” I said. “It’s all negative stuff out there.”
    “ Ahh,” he said with a smirk. “It’s not that high profile to hit the cover of People, but he’s in some hot water. Allegedly, he has been embezzling from his own company.”
    “How do you steal from your own company?” asked Katy. “Isn’t it his?”
    “Yes and no. He’s the majority stockholder, but he has investors. His company hasn’t been doing so hot, tough economic times for a lot of businesses, and he raised some funds and brought more investors into his company for shares of stock. He then used those funds for things other than the purposes he had raised the money for. Which isn’t exactly making his investors happy because they aren’t seeing a return for their money and feel like they invested under false pretenses.”
    “That’s not good,” I said. “But not really surprising either.”
    “Could he go to jail for that?” Katy asked.
    “Absolutely,” said Willie. “It’s considered fraud.”
    “I haven’t talked to him in a long time, Willie. Is that why you asked us to come out? You were hoping for some dirt on James?” I teased.
    He made a face. “No! It’s just a coincidence. This case landed in my lap a few weeks ago because of my previous involvement with him. I shouldn’t even be talking about it with you so what is said at this table stays at this table. Got it?” he said sternly, looking at both of us before laughing. “Seeing you was random and for that I am happy. It was like you had dropped off the face of the earth. Speaking of happy, you grilled me about my love life. So what about yours?”
    I felt a pit in my stomach and could see Katy looking at me , whether with sympathy or pity I couldn’t tell, but either way she knew this was going to be a hard question for me.
    “ No love life at the moment,” I said, not liking at all how that sounded and hoping it sounded like I got something caught in my throat. I certainly didn’t want Willie asking me any more questions about my love life. It was too hard to talk about.
    I had a feeling he could sense my discomfort , though, because he paused as if he was carefully thinking about his next sentence. Being a detective, he was more observant than the average guy.
    “Then I hope you will do this again with me sometime. You, too, Katy, if you’re still in town. I mean, what man wouldn’t want to take two beautiful women out on the town?”
    “Thank you, Willie. That’s very sweet,” Katy said. I still had my mind on Cooper and appreciated how he changed the subject.
    “Do you have proof he did it, or is it an alleged thing?” I said, going back to the James issue.
    “Who, James?”
    I nodded as I had my mouth full of spinach and artichoke dip, which was as good as the sushi though an odd thing to have on the menu at a sushi bar.
    “ It’s still at the investigation stage. There isn’t concrete proof yet, but so far the evidence points to guilt. Why?”
    “He’s tried to call me a couple times in the last few weeks. He didn’t leave a message either time and I haven’t bothered to call him back.”
    Willie looked surprised. “Does he do that often? Call you , I mean?”
    I shrugged.