Free Silent Partner by Stephen Frey

and she wasn’t holding back. She told me what went on, and she told me what he’d promised before, during, and after he took her back to the cabin’s master bedroom. I called her a couple of months later, and Lawrence hadn’t done a damn thing for her.”
    “How did you know where to find her?”
    “I drove her to the airport after taking her back down the mountain, and right before I put her on Lawrence’s plane, I jotted down her telephone number. I told her I was his right-hand man, and that I might need to get in touch with her to follow up. She bought it.”
    “And Lawrence hadn’t done anything for her when you called?”
    Tucker waved his hand. “Hadn’t even contacted her.”
    “What was wrong with her mother?”
    “Lung cancer.”
    “That’s terrible,” she murmured.
    “Exactly what I thought. So I called Lawrence’s accounting sharks in New York and told them we needed fifty grand for a new barn out here. They wired it to me the next day, and I sent it on to the girl.” He patted the horse’s neck again. “Her mother died, but at least she was comfortable during her last few weeks. And the girl didn’t have a pile of medical bills to deal with when her mother was gone.”
    “Is all of that really true?” she asked. There was her natural instinct not to believe, not to fully trust even someone she felt comfortable with. The risks had outweighed the rewards too many times.
    “You think I’m lying?”
    “What if the accounting guys drop by to check up on the new barn? What will you do when they find out what you really did with the money?”
    “They won’t. At least, they haven’t yet. And if they do, I’ll get a message to Mr. Lawrence telling him to call off the dogs. If he ignores me, then I’ll call the National Enquirer and make a million bucks.”
    She didn’t ask, but the implication was that he had protected himself by sneaking a photograph. “What you did for that girl seems like a big risk to take for someone you don’t even know.”
    Tucker glanced over his shoulder. “You are a tough broad. I guess I oughta believe that your meeting with Mr. Lawrence was just business after all.”
    “Yes, you should.” She shivered. It was getting colder as the sun dropped toward the horizon. “How many times have you brought a woman up here for Jake Lawrence?”
    “You sound like a reporter.”
    “Answer me.”
    “More than twice, but that’s all I’ll say.”
    “How do you know he’s made promises to those other women?”
    “The story I told you isn’t the only one I’ve heard. And she wasn’t the only one I checked up on. And now you sound like a lawyer.”
    It was the second time in the last few hours she’d been accused of being a lawyer, which wasn’t unusual. Her father had always encouraged her to be an attorney because he said she never stopped asking how and why. “How can you be so sure Jake Lawrence makes all kinds of promises when you aren’t actually there?”
    “I can’t,” Tucker replied, guiding the horse around a sharp rock protruding from the snow. “Are you defending him?”
    “No, I . . . “ Her voice trailed off.
    “What’s this big project Lawrence wants you to work on?” Tucker asked.
    “I can’t say.”
    “Oh, I get it. I share a little inside information with you, but now you don’t return the favor. I see how it works.”
    “It has to do with a corporate takeover.”
    “What company is being taken over?”
    “I really can’t tell you that.” She didn’t want to let on that she didn’t know herself. She didn’t want Tucker to doubt the legitimacy of the meeting. “If I did, I’d be violating about twenty securities laws, which could get us both in a boatload of trouble.”
    Tucker snorted loudly. For a moment she wasn’t certain if it was him or the horse.
    “Here’s a chance for me to make a little money,” he grumbled, “and you’re holding back. I’m not as much of a cowboy as you think. I’ve got a stock