Betrayal by Danielle Steel Page A

trusted her complete discretion, and Meg looked reassuring as she walked Tallie out of her office. It was just after eight o’clock. Tallie wondered if Hunt was already at home, but didn’t want to call him. He hadn’t called her so far that evening. She had gotten a text from Brigitte saying that she hoped she had gotten home safely, and wishing her a nice weekend. Clearly, Brigitte was running scared, which saddened Tallie too. Her two most important relationships, other than her father and daughter, had taken heavy hits that week, possibly fatal ones. It remained to be seen in the coming days how great the damage was.
    She felt numb as she left Meg’s office, and on the spur of the moment, she stopped at her father’s house on the way home. Amelia, his housekeeper, came in to take care of him during the daytime, and the rest of the time he still managed on his own. He had been a tall, handsome man in his youth, and looked a great deal like Tallie, but at eighty-five, riddled with arthritis, he appeared old and bent as he came to the door with his walker. But his eyes were as fiery and alive as they had ever been. His spirit was the same as it had been when he was in command of his cases in the courtroom. He looked worried when he opened the door to his daughter and saw how sad she looked.
    “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” he said, smiling at her, and moved his walker aside so she could come in. He had just finished the dinner that Amelia had left for him. He led a lonely life, was rarely able to get out, and a visit from her was always a treat. “What brings you here?”
    “I was on my way home. How are you, Dad?” She leaned over to kiss his cheek and sat down in the living room with him. It pained her to see his struggle to lower himself onto the couch, and she worried about him too. Her worst fear was always that he would fall and hit his head or injure himself in some other way, but he was stubborn and insisted on living alone.
    “I’m concerned about you. What have you found out about those spreadsheets I looked at?” They were a grave concern to him. If someone was stealing from her, the cash that seemed to have gone missing represented a great deal of money, and he knew how hard she worked for it. He had never been a rich man, but he had done well and was comfortable and had helped her whenever he could, particularly in the beginning, but her real success was only thanks to herself and her own hard work and enormous talent. He was immensely proud of her, and now her daughter Maxine. And he knew how thrilled Tallie’s mother would have been with her too. The look of pain in Tallie’s eyes as she gazed at him made his heart ache for her.
    “I just hired a private investigator,” she answered him. She took a deep breath. “I don’t know anything yet. I hope I do soon. Right now, none of it makes any sense. Brigitte says that Hunt is involved with another woman. I’ve got some hotel bills they’re both lying about, although Brigitte finally confessed about that. And there’s no reason for either of them to be stealing money from me. They don’t need it. I just don’t get it.” She looked tired and depressed. The whole thing was immensely distressing, and he was distraught about it too.
    “Could it be anyone else?”
    “I just don’t see who. Maybe it’s something my accountant is doing. Business managers and accountants steal from people like me all the time. But he seems so respectable and serious, I can’t see him doing this either. And why now? He’s been doing my accounts for nearly twenty years. And that still doesn’t explain Hunt cheating on me, if he is.” She still hoped in her heart of hearts that Brigitte was wrong and it would turn out not to be true.
    “Maybe your accountant is in some kind of financial trouble. People’s circumstances change. You should have him checked out too.”
    “I will. But I want to know what’s going on with Hunt and Brigitte first. I want