Free A Bargain with the Boss by Barbara Dunlop Page A

found out by accident. In fact, I don’t even know for sure.”
    â€œWho do you suspect?”
    Who it was might have no bearing on Dixon’s situation. Then again, it might. Had Dixon known about the affair?
    â€œThat would be gossip,” said Amber.
    â€œMy father is in the hospital. My brother is missing . Gossip already.”
    She glanced from Tuck to Jackson and back again. “Can I swear you two to secrecy?”
    â€œAmber,” Tuck all but shouted.
    This wasn’t a negotiation. There were no conditions. She was answering the question.
    â€œYes,” said Jackson. He glared at Tuck. “We’ll keep it to ourselves. As you say, it’s speculation. It would be wrong for us to act on hearsay.”
    â€œMargaret,” said Amber.
    â€œHis Margaret?” Tuck asked.
    â€œWho is Margaret?” asked Jackson.
    â€œHis assistant,” said Amber.
    â€œBut—” Tuck couldn’t wrap his head around it. Margaret Smithers could best be described as matronly. She was middle-aged, slightly overweight, her hair was partly gray and her clothes were polyester.
    â€œExpecting a blond supermodel?” asked Amber.
    Tuck wasn’t about to admit that was true. “I was expecting him to be faithful to my mother.”
    â€œDid Dixon know?” asked Jackson, his thoughts obviously moving along the same lines as Tuck’s.
    Dixon had just been a victim of infidelity. Finding out about their father might have angered him enough to leave. Tuck couldn’t help but wonder if he planned to stay gone.
    â€œNo,” said Amber.
    â€œHow can you be sure?” asked Tuck. It would at least have been some kind of explanation.
    Amber had to think about it for a moment. “I’m as sure as I can be. I didn’t figure it out until the heart attack. And Dixon never acted as if he knew.”
    â€œHow did you figure it out?” asked Jackson.
    â€œThe way Margaret acted when Jamison collapsed,” said Amber. “She mentioned they’d had wine together the night before. Then when she realized what she’d said, she panicked.”
    â€œYou were with Jamison when it happened?” asked Jackson.
    â€œI was in his office. He was upset, grilling me about Dixon. When I wouldn’t tell him anything, he got really angry.” She fell to silence, and her shoulders drooped. A cloud came over her eyes. “Maybe I should have told...”
    Tuck looked to Jackson. Both men waited, but she didn’t elaborate.
    â€œShould have told what?” Jackson prompted in a soft voice.
    Amber refocused on him. “Nothing.”
    â€œWhat was he asking?”
    â€œWhere Dixon went.”
    â€œBut you didn’t tell him.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œTell us.”
    She drew back. “I don’t know.”
    â€œYou just admitted that you did,” said Tuck.
    She shook her head in vigorous denial.
    â€œYou said maybe you should have told him, but you didn’t tell him.”
    â€œThat’s not what I—”
    â€œNo,” said Tuck. He kept his tone carefully even, but inwardly he was furious. She’d been lying to him. She’d watched him struggle all these weeks. She’d pretended to help him, when all the while the solution had been at her fingertips.
    â€œYou can’t walk it back,” he said. “You know where Dixon went. Tell me. Tell me right this second.”
    She compressed her lips, staring at him, her expression a combination of guilt and defiance.
    â€œThat’s an order,” he said. “Tell me, or you’re fired—”
    â€œTuck,” Jackson cut in.
    â€œNo,” said Tuck. “She’s sat back and let Tucker Transportation fall down around my ears. She doesn’t get to do that and keep her job.”
    â€œI can’t,” she protested.
    â€œThen, you’re fired.”

Five
    T uck’s final words echoed inside Amber’s ears.
    She