Authors: Aubree Lane
The happiness which illuminated from her was contagious. Tanner couldn’t remember when he felt so lighthearted. On
e might even say he was joyful.
Mrs. Grimes
teased him mercilessly about the new skip in his step and twinkle in his eye. Tanner hadn’t minded a bit, and at one point he even suggested that Mrs. Grimes should take some of her own match-making advice and check out old Mr. Fuller who lived in unit 6-B.
Mrs. Grimes
cackled and assured Tanner that she had, and that there weren’t enough little blue pills in the world to get old Mr. Fuller’s engine working again.
For the next several hours Cara introduced Tanner to the fine art of maneuvering LOLA around the shoreline. Occasionally they would stop, drop the net, and haul in a load of fish. No invasive species were found until the last drop of the day. Tanner leaned over the side of the boat as Cara operated the boom and retracted the net. Something strange shimmered in the depths. Orange flashes of color wavered brightly beneath the clear blue water.
Tanner
lived on the lake for most of his life, and although he hadn’t been boating since the death of his wife, he fished the shoreline on a fairly regular basis. This curious thing was something new to him.
He could tell the creature was good size
d and was anxious to pull it in. “We have something.” He waved his hand in a circle, indicating he wanted the net brought up at a faster rate.
When
it broke the surface, Tanner reached out and grabbed the webbing. Their prisoner was at least a foot and a half long. The fish squirmed wildly, and its mouth panted desperately as it tried to escape. Its gold and white body bore the scars of age, and Tanner knew it had to be at least twenty years old. “Is this a goldfish?”
Cara came up beside him and studied their captive. “It sure is.” She removed it from the net and held it securely with both hands. Her fingers prodded the bulge of its belly. “And I think she’s full of eggs.”
She carried it over to a storage bin located in the middle of LOLA’s deck. “Normally, I would take her back to our lab for testing, but since school isn’t in session, I’ll give you a little preview of what we do.” She opened the bin with her free hand and pulled out a large knife.
Tanner watched the
surprising woman bang the lid closed and pin the fish firmly on top of its steel surface. With one swift arc of the blade, the fish head rolled off onto the deck. Next, Cara expertly slipped the tip of the knife in near the tail of the fish and slid it up its underbelly. Her fingers reached inside and tugged. Along with the entrails, out spilled a gelatinous glob of tiny transparent bubbles. The goldfish had indeed been pregnant.
She hadn’t used the typical cleaning method, but since dinner
was not her objective, he understood the difference. Tanner marveled at Cara’s abilities, he had never known a woman who would touch a fish, let alone chop off its head. His wife had been a girly-girl. Fishing had not been her cup of tea, and his catch hadn’t been allowed anywhere near the house until it was cleaned, bagged, and ready to be tossed in the freezer.
With each passing moment
, the grief he carried started to ebb. Tanner was beginning to realize how much he missed out on since Kate’s passing. It wasn’t that he hadn’t continued on with his life, but he hadn’t exactly lived it either. This unexpected blessing in Cara Lee had opened his heart again. It felt good to laugh, love, and feel. As good as the sex was, what he enjoyed most was the laughter. No matter where their relationship ended up, he would forever be indebted to Cara for bringing joy back into his life.
Cara picked up a bucket and wiped the fish and all its remains inside. With another bucket she scooped up some lake water. “It’s still rare to find goldfish in the lake, we wer
e lucky to catch this one.” She pitched the water on top of the storage bin and cleaned up the rest of the debris. “We saved the lake from at least a couple hundred more interlopers.”
Tanner shook his head. “That was only a couple hundred eggs? It seemed like much more.”
Cara washed her hands off in the cold water. “From our research, we know that most of them wouldn’t have survived. The ones that do are pretty darn hearty. Eventually, a new breed of goldfish which are fully adapted to the lake would emerge.” She shook the rest of the water off her hands. “We want to stop that from happening.”
Tanner waved his arm out across the expanse of Lake Tahoe. “How is that possible? The lake is huge.”
Professor Greene went into teacher mode. She shot Tanner an indulgent smile and said, “With a lot of hard work, anything is possible. Number one on our priority list is to educate the public. Without their cooperation, the probability of success is low.
“Modern Lake Tahoe was shaped over a million years ago during the Ice Age. A lot of st
reams flow into the lake, but the Truckee River is the only one that flows out.” She lifted her arm and pointed off into the distance. “The Truckee then flows northeast through Reno and into Pyramid Lake in Nevada.” She stopped when she realized she had been spouting her Tahoe 101 lecture and grinned apologetically. “Sorry, occupational hazard.”
Tanner reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ve lived here a long time. I doubt there’s much you could say about the lake that I don’t already know.”
A sly smile crossed her face, and Tanner chuckled knowing she had accepted the challenge. “Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest lakes in the United States―”
Tanner couldn’t resist and quickly interjected, “Second only to Crater Lake in Oregon, and it’s the tenth deepest in the world.”
Cara punched him lightly in the chest and relented. “That’s enough smarty pants. I deal with enough students trying to upstage me. I don’t need it from you, too.” She planted a quick kiss on his chin and ran her finger slowly down his jawline. “Besides, I don’t especially feel like talking anymore.”
The promise in her eyes was unmistakable. He pulled her in tight. Her hand
s smelled faintly like the fish she had just butchered, but he was willing if she was. “I thought there were too many boats on the lake today.”
Reluctantly she sighed and
offered an alternative. “Maybe we should head in.”
With LOLA
safely back in her dockominium, Cara and Tanner walked arm in arm down the marina. A Tahoe City police officer stood under the archway. His hands were planted firmly on his hips as he waited for the couple to reach him.
He nodded at Cara. “Professor Greene, I need you to come with me
please.”
Cara’s
heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, and her eyes went wide with concern. “Has something happened? Is someone hurt?”
The officer
relaxed his stance. “I’m sorry, it’s nothing like that. One of our detectives received an anonymous tip about how some funds from the proceeds of the gala may have been misappropriated. My superiors would like you to come down and open your office at the Cascade Bay Resort.”
Cara studied the officer’s face. She no lon
ger had an office at the resort, and even when she did, it was only for a short period of time during gala season. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. If you have a search warrant, why do you need me?” The answer was obvious, they didn’t have a warrant.
“Ma
’am, we are simply asking for your cooperation in this matter.”
She scrubbed her face with her hands.
Cara turned her key in the moment it was no longer needed, she couldn’t help them. Besides, there were a multitude of people at The Bay who could let them into the office, it didn’t make sense for them to come out here and look for her. Red flags and warning bells went off in her head. Duncan had to be behind this, and the only thing Cara was certain of was that she wasn’t going anywhere without her attorney present.
She held up an index finger
to the officer and silently asked for his patience. She dug into her pocket and called a colleague and attorney-at-law, Martin Langley.
Martin answered on the second ring. “Cara! What’s up?”
The police officer and Tanner watched her every move, so Cara turned and took a few steps back down the dock. “Hi, Martin, this is not a social call. I believe the police think I had something to do with some funds that might be missing from the proceeds from the gala. I don’t have any details, but they want me to open my office up at The Bay for them to search.” With every word, the reality of what might be happening began to sink in. Her voice cracked when she continued, “Martin, I no longer have a key, and Duncan and I are no longer married. He was against the divorce, and I think he might be―”
“Cara,” Martin’s voice was calm but firm. “If anyone can hear you
, then I beg you to please shut-up. Just listen. Do not go anywhere with anyone. I’m going to hang up, but I’ll call you back in a few minutes. I need to see if I can find out what’s going on.”
Martin disconnected and
left Cara to face the officer alone. Not knowing what else to do, Cara walked over to Tanner and the policeman. “That was my attorney,” she explained. “He’s going to call me back.”
Tanner gra
bbed her arm and pulled her down the dock. “What’s going on?”
“Sir! Ma
’am!” The officer called out. “I’m going to have to ask you not to speak to each other and not to leave the area.”
Cara had watched Duncan handle a million situations such
as this. His behavior embarrassed her, but he never failed to get his way. She turned her head back to the officer and stated matter-of-factly, “Just because you asked for my cooperation doesn’t mean you’re going to receive it. I mean no disrespect, but my friend and I are going to walk down this way and engage in a private conversation. At this point and time you have no right to stop me, so I expect you to stay exactly where you are. As soon as I hear back from my attorney I will advise you of my decision as to whether or not I’ll be accompanying you back to the resort.”
She grabbed Tanner’s arm and tried to pull him far away from the policeman. His body was stiff with surprise and it took a mighty tug to get him moving.
When they were a few steps further away from the officer, he leaned down and asked, “What’s going on? And look at you all Law and Order like.” He shook his head in amazement. “I have to admit, I’m pretty darn proud of the way you handled that guy.”
Cara lowered her voice as they continued to put distance between themselves and the nosy cop. “I don’t have a clue what this is about, but whatever it is, you can bet my ex-husband is behind it.”
Wrapping his arm across her shoulder, Tanner gave her a little squeeze. “You think this is serious then.”
“Not yet.
I hope I can nip it in the bud before it has a chance to spiral out of control.” She sucked in a deep breath and shivered. “I may be overreacting by getting my lawyer involved, but it’s better to be safe than sorry where Duncan is concerned.”
Tanner shot her a pained look. “Please tell me you didn’t call your divorce attorney.”
Cara couldn’t help but chuckle. “No dad, my lawyer teaches part-time at the college, but he also has a thriving criminal practice in Tahoe. You may be surprised to hear this, but a lot of people in this gambling town try to work an angle for an easy buck. Fraud, money laundering, you name it, if it has to do with cold hard cash, Martin Langley is the man to see.”
Tanner’s
mouth opened in surprise. “You have Martin Langley’s phone number in your cell phone, and he drops everything to help you? You must be one very special woman, Cara Lee.”
Cara rolled her eyes. She and Martin had been friends since she first began teaching at UTC. He had come a long way since then
, and he was one of the few people she could turn to that Duncan couldn’t corrupt. He didn’t need the money teaching offered, but it was his way of giving back to the community, which in turn, helped make him so successful. The few times when Martin and Duncan talked, they hadn’t hit it off. The two didn’t get each other. Next to Martin, Duncan was nothing more than a spoiled child with too much money and too much power.
Tanner’s reaction at
the mention of Martin’s name irked her. She always hated it when Duncan casually threw out names of famous people and acted as if they were the best of friends. She knew she was out of line, but she couldn’t contain her irritation. “I’m sorry. Did I just drop a name? Is that the highlight you’re taking away from this conversation?”
Tanner rubbed her arms compassionately. “Not at all, you just caught me off guard. Do you realize how in demand
he is?”
She glared up at him. “He’
s a friend, Tanner. Friends help friends.”
Her phone rang and
Tanner was momentarily let off the hook. It was Martin. “What’s the verdict? Am I going to The Bay, jail, or home?” Cara barked sarcastically into the phone.
A few s
econds later she disconnected and looked at the man who had done nothing except be impressed that she was acquainted with someone of Martin’s caliber. Cara sucked in a deep breath and knew the man she was really angry at was Duncan. “I’m sorry for going off on you.” She took hold of his hand and pressed it to her cheek. “Martin is going to meet me at the Cascade Bay Resort. I am going voluntarily. I am driving myself, and I am not to get into that squad car,” she repeated Martin’s instructions verbatim.