Noah felt ice dash through his veins. “Will you check and see if there was, by chance, another Arnold Gunterson who graduated with a degree in early-childhood education?”
“Dr. Gunterson is an old friend, Reverend. I’d know if there had been another student in his field with his name. Did the man you’re researching graduate more than thirty years ago? Because that’s how long I’ve been here, as well as Dr. Gunterson. We’re both sixty-two and I’m thinking of retirement, but he’ll never stop. Now, who is this man?”
Noah sighed. “Obviously not who I think he is. You might want to give my number to Dr. Gunterson and have him call me. He might be the victim of identity theft.”
While he waited for a call back, Noah did an Internet search of a couple of the private schools Arnie had listed on his résumé and found that they’d closed. One of them was an Arizona school and there was an article in an Arizona newspaper archives online. Small private schools are very hard to keep going. A regular infusion of money was required—high tuition, lots of fund-raising and often corporate sponsors. There was no shame in having worked for an accredited private school that couldn’t keep the doors open. And this particular Arizona school had a successful fifteen-year history. And no one around to answer questions about teachers who had worked there years ago.
Could Arnie have convinced the current board of this new school of his positive role at the old school and his grief over its closure?
Noah immediately told Ellie what he’d learned—or not learned—about Arnold Gunterson. That night after her kids were tucked in at Jo’s, he showed up at her apartment with Lucy in tow, as usual. She was confused by his information, but not surprised. Of course, after the things Arnie had done, it hadn’t come as a shock that he was a liar. “But why?” she asked Noah. “What does he hope to get by doing that?”
“There’s no innocence in this, Ellie. There’s no reason to take on a false identity without a motive. We’ll take this information to Brie at once. You have to tell Jo and Nick and be extra careful until the facts are in. Okay?”
“Of course!” she said.
“If he calls you or comes around here, get away from him fast and don’t tell him what you’ve found out,” Noah said. “Promise?”
“You can bet on it. The shitbag,” she said. “Oh, there was another swearword, not even on the cusp, even though he is definitely a shitbag.” She smiled at him. “I bet you’ve just about had it with me, huh?”
He pulled her close. “I’ve had it with you, all right. And not enough of it, either.”
“Oh, Noah,” she whispered. “I think you’re insatiable.”
“I want to spend the night with you, but I don’t have to. If you’d rather be alone….”
She smiled at him and snuggled into his embrace. “I love it when you stay, but I think you’d better go. I feel like I’m playing with fire every time I let you talk me into bed. I don’t want to become too dependent on you. And I don’t want the whole town to know we’re sleeping together. I have children to think about.”
“Are you cutting me off?” he asked nervously.
She smiled at him. “Did you just whine?” She chuckled at him. “Noah, much as I love cuddling up to you, I don’t want your new town, your future congregation, to think the worst of you.”
“I’m not worried about that. I think I’d get a standing ovation for finding you. But, to ease your mind and your reputation, I’ll be very discreet,” he said.
“That’s about half the problem…There are also children to think about…”
“We’ll be very cautious there, sweetheart. They’re your top priority, which makes them mine also.”
Then he pulled out his secret weapon. He kissed her. Hard and deep. He pulled her against him and it took her less than fifteen seconds to melt into him and fully enjoy his arousal. When he released her lips, she said, “You are a very bad boy and no one with an ounce of sanity would take you for a minister.”
“Could I be taken for a man who wants the woman he loves?”
“Yeah, you qualify,” she said. She melted to him again. And he stayed. Again.
Brie Valenzuela listened very patiently while Noah laid out what he’d learned about Arnold Gunterson, Ellie with him while he did so. Brie asked for the pages he held. When he was finished, she asked, “Have you heard from Dr. Gunterson in Maine?”
“I talked to him early this morning. He took a year’s sabbatical to research and finish his dissertation right about the time Arnie was settling into his new school, so if anyone from the school board tried to check his credentials, they would only learn that he was a graduate working on his Ph.D. Dr. Gunterson can’t imagine who would do something like this to him.”
“I’ll call Dr. Gunterson,” Brie said. “Now, listen. No more amateur sleuthing. Stay away from Arnie and his school, keep the kids away from him. If you see him around here, call me at once. I’ll take it from here. I’ve already filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. I’m going to talk to the district attorney about this, but more importantly, I’m going to ask Mike to speak to the sheriff about a possible fraud and identity theft.
“Here’s what I want from you, Ellie. Vanessa is out of town with the little ones right now, but she’ll be back next week. I want you to pay a call on her and ask her a favor. Ask her to dress you for court. Borrow something from her, something conservative and appealing, and be ready. Vanni will know exactly what to do—she’s the best. And you two are almost the same size.
“Beyond that, stay alert and cautious. And hear me when I say this—no more investigating. If you make one little slip, he might find out what you’re doing and it could spoil everything.”
“Spoil what?” Ellie asked.
“There are very few reasons for identity theft, Ellie. One is to profit from the victim’s bank accounts. The other is to hide who you really are because who you really are is not lawful. Since Dr. Gunterson never suspected his identity was borrowed, I assume there was no theft. I bet our Arnie has priors. He’s done something wrong somewhere and needs to be someone else. And if he’s hiding, he’s probably hiding from the police. And if he’s hiding from the police, there are probably warrants. And if there are warrants, I believe it would serve our purpose to let him be arrested.” Brie lifted an eyebrow. “Hmm?”
“Wow,” Ellie said. “I should have known. If he’s nothing but a criminal, shouldn’t I have known?”
Brie shook her head. “I can’t answer that one for you, Ellie. I spent years in the district attorney’s office in Sacramento, prosecuting crimes like this. I met a lot of very intelligent women who were victimized by manipulative men, as well as perfectly sharp men taken for a wild ride by clever, dishonest women. It’s a con, and you were at a vulnerable time in your life. Cons can smell that a mile away. Sadly, it’s common in the world of criminal law.”
“Can we get beyond this?” Ellie asked. “I can’t even think about my kids dealing with this in the years to come!”
“I think, if we get law enforcement help in handling this, we have a good shot at resolving the situation. If you see him or hear from him, call me at once. I’ll give you the house number.” She leaned over her desk and scribbled on the back of a business card. “I wrote down Mike’s pager number, as well. Your next call is 911. Got that?”
“Got it.” Ellie took the card.
“Now,” Brie said, relaxing visibly. “Don’t you have a church to finish, and a wedding to organize for Shelby and Luke? All sorts of really important things to get done?”
“We do,” Ellie said with a smile.
“Then do them. If I learn anything at all about your ex-husband, I’ll let you know.” She smiled. “You just have to hunker down for a little while longer. I’ll do everything I can think of to get this business behind you.”
By the time the weekend arrived, Vanessa, Paul and the kids had been in Grants Pass for three days. While Vanni had daily visits with Roberta Bradford at the nursing home, Paul spent a lot of time with his father and brothers at the corporate headquarters of Haggerty Construction. Additionally, they had a couple of meetings with Scott Hanson about adoption. That legal transaction was typically an expensive affair, but because Terri Bradford had worked for Scott and because the Hanson family happened to be quite fond of little Hannah, they were getting a good deal. The Haggertys would be charged just the filing costs. And the Hansons asked to see Hannah whenever it was convenient.
The good news was that Roberta Bradford was not lingering at death’s door. She was disabled and her condition would not improve, but if she could avoid illness and infections, she’d be around awhile. Long enough to have many visits with her granddaughter and supply information about their family.
Paul had spent most of the day out with his brothers, looking over some of their building projects, and when he went back to his mother’s house he found her in the kitchen, kneading dough.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Sweetheart,” she said, lifting her flour-covered hands. “Be very quiet. Vanessa and the babies are exhausted. All this running around, visiting, working things out…they’re shot. They’re napping.”
“And you’re baking?”
“I bake off stress,” she said. “And the weather turned cool at last—I love it when the leaves have turned and I can use the oven and fireplace again. It’s been just beautiful here.”
“What stress are you baking off?” he asked. “Have we been too much for you this visit? Two little kids?”
“Don’t be silly, I love having the babies,” she said, kneading. “I just want everything to go smoothly for you and Vanni, and for the children. I want Hannah to be content. And…” She paused for a moment. “And I want you to get one of your own, like you and Vanni were planning, and yet I don’t want Vanni to be overwhelmed. This thing you’ve taken on—it’s a huge undertaking. And I’m so proud of you both.”
He grinned at his mother. “It’s going to be a houseful. And me and Vanni? We’re not that young. Not as young as you and Dad were.”
“Yes, but we were young and dumb and poor. At least you’re not poor. You should’ve seen how we lived in the beginning. And every time your father walked by the bedroom door, I was pregnant again.”
He chuckled and went to his mother, putting his arms around her despite the fact that her hands were messy with flour. “Thank you for helping, Mom. This was so sudden, Vanni’s need to make this trip. I could see her warming up to Hannah, but it was overnight that she made her decision.”
Marianne smiled at him. “She must have wanted to kill you for bringing an old girlfriend’s baby home.”
“Pretty much,” Paul said. “Mom, I liked Terri, but it wasn’t out of affection for her that I took Hannah home. Have you held that little girl? Let her put her arms around your neck? Who, in their right mind, could have left her behind?”
Marianne put her hand against Paul’s cheek, leaving a trail of flour there. “You’re a good boy, Paul. I don’t know where you got it, but you’re a good boy.”
He laughed at her. “I know where I got it. I’m going to look in on my family, if that’s okay.”
“They’re napping together in your room. The kids were a little overtired and fussy and Vanni wanted them close.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He went up the stairs to the largest guest room, the one he shared with his wife. There was a smaller room right next to it for the kids and there were two cribs there. The door to the bedroom was ajar an inch or so and Paul pushed it open. Vanni had the kids on the bed with her. She was lying on her back with Matt curled up against her on one side and Hannah on the other, both of them sleeping with their mouths open. Vanni was sound asleep, but there was the smallest smile on her lips. She had her arms around them, holding them close, one of Marianne’s afghans pulled over them.
