Paper Hearts

Chapter 32

Up until this point I had been putting off all the accusations as false, trying to find the leak that been spreading misinformation about Marnie for such a long time. But the contracts that now lay before me painted a significantly different picture than before.

"So what you're telling me... is that some of this is actually true?" I asked uneasily. There had never been a moment that I had doubted Marnie's sincerity, and although I still didn't, this information made me hesitate.

He nodded his head, clasping his hands together in front of him.

"And what if it was the manager at the San Diego hotel?" I asked, looking for alternatives.

"I'm afraid that there's only one person who can sign off those expenditures..." he trailed off.

"And that one person is Marnie" I finished his sentence for him. I didn't like any of this, I couldn't imagine that she'd do something like that. We had talked about the accusations several times, and she had been genuinely hurt that night when she cried.

"I want you to find out everything you can about these contracts. Anything that's relevant I want to see." I said eventually as Mark stood up. "I'll have to talk to her about these when she gets back"

The two men excused themselves from my office, leaving me to mull over the information again. Nothing seemed to fully add up. Marnie had been nothing but excited about her work, and invested time and energy into it to make sure she did her best. When she didn't understand something she asked me about it and worked on it until she had perfected it.

Frustrated I ran a hand through my hair, tempted to call her back right now. But a small nagging voice in the back of my mind demanded to see all the information first before asking her about it.

*

I felt a cold sense of apprehension gnaw at my insides as I unlocked the door. Gabe wouldn't be home for another four hours and I was bone tired but sleep was out of the question. We had talked briefly three days ago but he had held the conversation short and avoided calling again after that.

At first I thought he had had a long day at work and has been too tired to call, but after the second day without word from him I couldn't help but worry that something bad had happened in Maine. Something to do with the rumours that had been relentlessly spread.

Rolling the suitcase into our bedroom I sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands. I wasn't sure what the best course of action, deciding eventually to try and get some work done for my master's degree.

I heard the car pull into the driveway and set aside the cup of coffee I'd been cradling. A sense of hope clashed largely with the dread I felt of what might come.

"Gabe?" I called out as I ascended the steps to the ground floor. The door had shut but instead of one pair of shoes, there were two.

I reached the landing and had to swallow when I saw Jacqueline standing in the middle of our living room with folded hands. Her eyes were sweeping across our furniture before they rested on me.

"Where's Gabriel?" I asked her, not bothering with a greeting; the woman infuriated me. A sly smile graced her blood red lips as her eyebrow arched slightly.

"Do you want to explain this to me?" Gabe's voice trembled with anger, making me spin around to face him.

He was leaning heavily on our dinner table, his hand on a thin stack of papers. Walking over to him I leaned up to kiss him but he straightened up and took a step back. A rush of blood shot to my head as I stared at him. My hands began to tremble slightly as I bent over the papers to see what they contained.