A/N This is going to be a double post of chapters 5 and 6. Sorry for the delay in posting, chapter 6 fought me every step of the way.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. Your comments were very much appreciated. I really hope you enjoy the conclusion to this story.

Chapter 5

Melany looked up as a crowd from the Accounts team walked into the lunch room. There was only one topic of conversation.

"And I wouldn't mind but they're nice people. Even Jennifer his wife is nice. She'd talk to anyone.

"Apparently there's whispers of money stolen from the company. Substantial amounts like."

"Did Mr Hart take the money and run?"

"No, why would he. This company is very healthy and anyway he lives for this place. He does be in here on Saturdays and he wife brings him in a big lunch. They sit at his desk eating together."

"But if someone else stole the money how would they hide it? An amount of money like that would be suspicious if it showed up in your bank account. You can't easily hide 50,000 dollars. "

Melany's face darkened as she remembered the bags of money Raymond had her bring to go bet on the horses. He was always adamant that she bring back the winning slips with her. Did he want them as proof of his win? She tried to dismiss this but it was becoming harder to dismiss everything.

Suddenly she knew what she had to do. She took her favorite snoopy note book out of her duffel bag and taking her pen in hand she quickly wrote one final entry. She looked over the note carefully and then closed the note book . Then she stuffed it back into her duffel bag and quickly fled the lunch room.

~o~

Raymond was bent over his desk hard at work. That was another thing that didn't sit well with her, his sudden work ethic. He'd been out all morning trying hard to make sales for the company and had actually secured them a new contract. This wasn't like him at all.

"I was thinking." She said as she put her duffel bag in the corner "I'm passing the betting shop on the way home tonight do you want me to put bets down."

He looked up sharply and stared at her, then his face relaxed slightly.

"No, its fine. I'm not betting anymore."

She went to his desk and began putting it in order.

"Melany its best you don't say anything about that to anyone. Betting on horses would be frowned upon by the higher ups here. "

He tried to smile.

She did not offer a smile in return.

He suddenly got up from his chair startling her. He frightened her even more when he quickly went to the door and locked it. She watched as he walked up and down the room looking suddenly very agitated.

"I wanted to keep you out of this, I didn't want you involved at all but we are partners in crime. It wouldn't be fair to keep you in the dark."

She spoke out past a desert dry throat. "Where is Jonathan Hart?"

"He's at my place." He whispered desperately.

Melany stumbled to a chair and sat down.

"He was like a mad man. He came at me. I had to defend myself. I somehow pushed him off and he smacked his head on the side of the desk. He saw that I was drinking and he just lost it."

"Is he badly hurt?"

"No, it's just a flesh wound, he's fine. Driving me crazy if you want to know the truth. I'll be glad to see the back of him. "

"You….you need to bring him to a hospital."

"He doesn't need one, I came off worse if you want to know the truth."

Melany tried to nod.

"Come with me now. We can knock off early and you can see for yourself."

She nodded and got to her feet.

~O~

It was a long drive. Every ounce of her needed to believe she was doing the right thing or she'd just open the car door and bail out. They were driving up winding narrow roads surrounded on all sides by pine trees. They had been driving a good hour and the sky was beginning to darken. Melany hugged her duffel bag close to her and tried to remain calm. Finally they pulled up to a gravel drive way. Raymond pressed a button on his keychain and the large wooden doors began to open.

He gave her a brief smile before putting the car in gear and swinging up into the drive way. She followed him out ignoring the shaky feeling in her legs.

"We'll get something to eat first, I'm starving. Do you want some ham and eggs?"

"We should see him first maybe. You haven't been with him all day."

"He's fine." Raymond went to the kitchen and switched on the light. It was modern and spacious. It had metal cabinets and an island in the middle with pans hanging down on hooks. Any other day Melany would have been impressed.

He was starting to take a pan out and casually went to the fridge to get some eggs.

"I need to go to the bathroom,"

"It's out in the hall, second door to your right."

Of course Melany tried every door. She longed to go upstairs but he'd soon be up there after her. Reluctantly she went back to the kitchen.

"Did you find him?" Raymond asked with a smile.

~o~

Jennifer was incensed. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Why aren't you out there looking for him. I don't understand. I don't need to be prepared for anything. Please…."

The chief inspector leaned forward in his chair and tried to make her understand.

"Mrs. Hart, we would have expected a ransom note by now. His jacket has washed up at the beach. Mrs. Hart sometimes men just get overwhelmed. Especially men in business. They take it as a fault on themselves when things aren't going right."

"Now you listen to me, Jonathan is not dead. He did not take his own life. Now If you won't help me find him then I'll find someone who will. I don't care if I have to sell everything I own to do it."

She hastily wiped away tears as she reached under Jonathan's desk and pulled out the yellow pages.

"I'll find someone," she said as she opened up the large book.

They both looked up as Stanley came running in. The guard at the door tried to stop him.

"I spoke to your man outside. He said it was ok."

"What is it Stanley?"

"A lead Mrs. Hart, a very substantial lead."

"In a Snoopy notebook?" the Inspector grinned.

Before Stanley could hand it over to Jennifer the Chief Inspector took it from him and began reading through it. His smile began to fade as he read.

"What is it Stanley?" Jennifer asked.

"It was left on my desk Mrs. Hart. Its a very detailed account of the movements of a salesman who works here, a John Raymond. I used to see him briefly in Mr. Harts office. It seems he was into some very shady practices. For instance…."

The Chief inspector interrupted.

"Whoever wrote this did a fine job. She's documented everything, names, dates. She has stated on the last page here that she believes that John Raymond is somehow involved in the disappearance of Jonathan Hart and she has signed it."

Jennifer's breath caught in her throat.

"Do you think she's right. Do you think he's involved."

The inspector grinned "If what she has written here is true it is very damning evidence. This guy sure had motive."

Jennifer closed her eyes and letting out a breath she said a little prayer of thanks. When next she opened her eyes she turned to her most loyal friend.

"Stanley, will you go through the records. We need an address for John Raymond."

"Right away Mrs. Hart."

~O~

Melany watched him eat. She hardly touched her food. She had no stomach for it. She wasn't even sure she wanted to see Mr. Hart. Was he dead? Raymond hadn't told her and she couldn't bring herself to ask.

Raymond spoke around his last mouthful of food.

"Here, bring a cup of water."

She hurried to the sink. She poured a good mug full of water and followed him as he went out a side door into the darkness. The security light came on as they skirted around the house. Her heart sank as he walked up to a small shed. He fished in his pocket for his keys and got to work on the padlock.