Cowgirls Don't Cry(48)

                At 12:15, a pizza delivery guy showed up with eight boxes. Pepperoni. Onions. Tomato sauce and baked cheese. The scents blended together, and her stomach growled. Offices emptied, the occupants all rushing down the hall to what she figured was a conference room. A security guard arrived and sat at the receptionist’s desk. He glowered at her from time to time.

                At four, she was thirsty, hungry, in desperate need of the restroom, but unwilling to give up. The man had to go home sometime. The phone on the desk buzzed, and the girl picked it up.

                “Yessir... No, sir. Hasn’t moved... Sitting here all day... Yessir.” The receptionist covered up the speaker end of the receiver. “Mr. Leonard can’t see you today. You might as well go home.”

                “I’ll stay in case he has a cancellation in his schedule. And I’ll just be back tomorrow. Tell him I’m not going away.”

                The girl sighed dramatically, swiveled her chair so that her back was turned and whispered into the phone. A door at the very far end of the hall opened. “Mr. Leonard can give you ten minutes. But that’s all.”

                Cass jumped to her feet and all but jogged down the hall. Leonard sat behind his desk looking distinctly uncomfortable. He’d rolled his sleeves down but they looked rumpled, and he’d made no pretense at straightening his tie. His florid face glistened with a sheen of sweat despite the cold air venting from the overworked air conditioner.

                “I can’t help you,” he began without preamble.

                “How do you know? I haven’t asked for anything.”

                “I know what you want, Miss Morgan. Your father owes this bank two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, give or take some interest. Are you prepared to pay that amount today?”

                “I can’t. I need an extension.”

                “The matter has been referred to legal counsel for collection and foreclosure on the assets and is no longer my responsibility.”

                She’d been ready to launch into her argument when the import of his statement sank in. “Wait... What? Foreclosure? But the papers—”

                “Ms. Morgan, loan payments were deferred to a balloon payment at the end of the loan period. If you are prepared to pay the full amount due and owing, the bank will halt the collection proceedings. If you aren’t, then the matter is out of my hands.”

                “You can’t just do things like this.”

                “I not only can, young lady, but it’s done. This bank is not in the habit of buying cattle, and that is essentially what we would have to do since your father defaulted on the loan.” He leaned back and rocked, his fingers laced across his ample belly. “I work for the bank. The loan is in default. Filing suit was the financially sound action for this institution. The matter is out of my hands.”

                “But...” She sat, stunned and speechless.

                “Your time is up. You need to leave, Miss Morgan, or I will call security and have you removed.”

                “But...”

                He leaned forward and tapped a button on his phone. “Call security to my office.”

                Cass glared at the man but rose from the chair. “My daddy trusted you.”

                She spun on her heel and marched out with her head held high, brushing by the startled guard. He shadowed her all the way to the parking lot and waited until she climbed into Boots’s beat-up old truck, started it and drove out of the parking lot.