Page 39 of Flash Freeze

Still, if someone were doctoring the finances, keeping a little extra for himself, what would that have to do with Nolan’s murder or the bomb? Could Nolan have discovered that the numbers didn’t add up?

“It is your job to ensure the bookkeeping is perfect in case you’re audited by the IRS,” Bach declared. “And given your company’s track record of safety and environmental violations, it will happen sooner or later. Did you make any ‘corrections’ to your ledger so everything would look hunky-dory?”

Ellis presented Bach with a cool expression and adjusted his glasses. “Well, to the best of my recollection, everything balanced out in the end. Of course, we’ll never know, since all the records were lost in the fire.” Then an irritated grimace marred his calm exterior, and he grumbled. “Now I have to start over.”

The background check they’d run on Tyson Ellis turned up no ethical or financial red flags. He was an active member of the Brookhollow nondenominational church, had one marriage and two children, and held a master’s in accounting from UT Austin. He donated to the BakerRipley 1907 Giving Society and occasionally volunteered with several of their youth programs. Still, his livelihood depended on Gulf Allied Chemicals’ success. Would he have covered up embezzlement to save his job and reputation? Athena suspected it depended on how long it had been going on and when he first became aware of it.

“Take heart, Mr. Ellis,” Athena said cheerily. “Perhaps our lab can recover the bulk of your records from the damaged ledger book. Those leather bindings can really protect the pages inside. We’re asking that you not leave the county, as we’ll likely have more questions for you once the book has been analyzed.”

Ellis left, and Bach strolled with Athena back toward the bullpen. “I wonder where Mr. Booker got the money to buy the office new computers?” he asked.

Athena smirked. “I have a pretty good idea, but we have to prove it.”

Athena’s apartment was cold and empty when she arrived that night. How did I spend so many years thinking this was OK, that it was normal? she wondered and turned on the TV.

“The winter storm is expected to arrive tomorrow evening,” the anchorman reported. Images of cars lined up at gas stations and empty supermarket shelves flashed across the screen. “School will be in session tomorrow, but here’s a list of announced closings across the city for Wednesday.” The names scrolled in a never-ending column. Athena sank onto the sofa with a sigh and opened her phone to place a delivery order.

“Now over to meteorologist Melody Palmer to tell you what to expect.”

Athena switched off the screen. Enough, already.

After placing her food order, she checked her texts—again. Nothing. Flash must be swamped with calls today, she thought. Athena punched in Cam’s number.

“Hey there, A.” Her friend’s bright tenor voice rang in her ear. “Listen, what are you doing next Saturday? The gang wants to try out this new Asian fusion restaurant. You can bring your eye-candy if you want.”

Athena let go of the day’s tension and laughed, shaking her head. “You know I can’t plan that far ahead. I’ll let you know the morning of. And don’t let Flash hear you call her ‘eye-candy.’”

“Well, she is,” Cam responded in a factual tone. “But then, you are too. What a pair—hunky Ms. March and a glamorous femme stunner. There’s a power couple if I ever saw one. What d’ya need, kiddo?”

Gravity descended on Athena, and she lay back, putting her feet up. “I need to come up with a Valentine’s gift for Flash. Problem is, we’re about to be snowed in.”

“Yeah, bummer. Hey! Why don’t you ask her to marry you?”

Athena balked. “Are you crazy? I’m not ever getting married again. You know what happened the first time. There’s no way I’m going to try identifying Flash by the bits and pieces they scrape up off the pavement.” Terror ripped through her as she recalled twenty-some-odd years ago when she was informed a car bomb had killed her husband.

Flash would never be involved with criminals like Timothy had been, but FBI agents made powerful enemies. If one came after Flash as payback for something Athena had done …

“Ok, I’m sorry,” Cam said. “But really? You’re still so affected by something that happened decades ago that you won’t even consider marriage? I know you love her.”

“I do,” Athena confirmed. “And that’s why. On a chronological timeline, it might have been decades ago, but sometimes it feels like yesterday. God, Cam, I’m really stupid. I let myself fall so deep in love with this woman that … I can’t. I just can’t go through that again—especially if something happens to her because of me.”

“Does she get a say in it?”

“No.”

“How equitable of you,” Cam muttered. “You know, the two of you aren’t exactly a secret anymore. If some bad guy does his homework, he’ll know what button to push even without a marriage license on file.”

“Not making it better,” Athena ground out through clenched teeth. “I should have broken it off months ago, but I was selfish. She just makes me so dadgum happy. So here we are, and I don’t know what’s an appropriate gift at this point in our relationship.”

“Forget about that,” Cam said in a dismissive voice. “Just get her something she’ll like that expresses how you feel. I was going to say an engagement ring, but I fear for my life.”

“I can’t push things too far too fast, Cam, or I’ll scare her away. I thought you’d know what butch women like.”

“Oh, you mean like an accessory for her motorcycle, or a new video game, or some Doc Martens? A new tattoo, maybe?” Her tone sounded mocking. “Honey, stop trying to generalize. You talk to her every day, share her bed whenever you can. Stop thinking of her as the butch firefighter and imagine what your lover, Flash, likes.”

“She loves her dog,” Athena said, “her loft, her friends. Music, games, doing athletic stuff.”

“You mean like hiking, white-water rafting, rock climbing, axe throwing, and all that?”