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Chapter 8
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2021-08-23 02:30:38Alex tried to concentrate on the employee applications his fellow postmaster Richard Drew had put in front of him, but the pages were a blur.
“Sorry, Richard. I didn’t get much sleep last night. These all look pretty good to me.”
They all look pretty much the same to me, he thought.
“I don’t know why you need my help picking a clerk.”
“Actually, Alex, this was just an excuse to get you out of the office. You spend way too much time behind that desk. How about her?”
Alex read the file Richard handed him. “Cynthia Anderson? What’s so special about her?”
“Her entire family are all employees of the postal service. Her dad worked his way up from letter carrier to postal supervisor and was promoted a few years ago to head the maintenance contracts division, and her mother manages all the computer systems for the entire state of New York. Cynthia aced the postal exam with a perfect score. She’s not the typical college kid looking for some eas
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As she had predicted, Rachel slept past noon, way past. It was two-thirty when she opened her eyes and another half hour before she felt fully awake. She dumped out the morning coffee, made a fresh pot, and took a shower. She was just starting to dry her hair when the phone rang. “Rachel. It’s Alex.” “Hi, I was just getting out of the shower. What would you like for dinner?” “That’s what I was calling to tell you. I’m afraid I have to cancel our plans. Something really important just came up and I have to go to a meeting right after work.” “Oh,” Rachel tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Can you stop by after your meeting?” “I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Besides, I really do need to get some sleep.” She laughed. “Sorry, I forgot. I just woke up a few minutes ago. I need to get started on that book outline for Peter, anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow?” “Absolutely. I have some incredible news to tell you, but
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“That sonovabitch! That lying bastard!” As soon as Rachel returned to her cabin, she began tossing clothes into her suitcase. Every item she packed was accompanied by a series of very loud curses, aimed at the, fortunately absent, Alex Bentley. “He knew,” She yelled at the laundry. “All these weeks. He acted so innocent, when he was the one who did it. God, how could I have been so stupid?" Rachel grabbed the suitcase and headed out to her car. Even though she didn’t have to be back in the City until after the weekend, there was no way she was going to spend one more night anywhere near Alex Bentley. She was about to close the trunk when she saw headlights coming up her driveway. Instinctively, she knew those headlights were attached to a very familiar truck, and she also knew she didn’t want to have anything to do with the driver of that truck. Not bothering to turn off the headlights or the engine, Alex jumped out of the truck and
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It was unusually cold and cloudy for mid-July. The gloomy weather perfectly mirrored Alex’s mood when he returned to work. His right ear throbbed painfully after being subjected for several hours to the monotonous, repetitious ringing of an unanswered telephone. Exhausted and frustrated, he’d finally fallen into an oblivious sleep sometime around two a.m., only to be awakened by an obnoxiously chipper radio dj a scant five hours later.The usual routine of the day was transformed into an emotional roller coaster ride, with Alex the only passenger. Each time the front door opened, or the telephone rang, he felt a jolt of heightened anticipation, immediately followed by a sharp plunge into an abyss of disappointment when he realized that whoever it was, wasn’t Rachel.Alex tried to put her out of his thoughts by concentrating on a variety of mindless chores as he got ready for his move to Albany. He organized his files, straightened out his desk and com
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The glare of the early morning sun reflected off the smooth mahogany desk and shot straight into Alex’s face. He got up from the floor, where he had been trying to adjust the height of the massive desk chair, and closed the blinds. From the moment he had stepped into the ornate office, he knew it was going to take much more than a few slight modifications to the furniture to make him feel comfortable in his new surroundings.The shiny metallic nameplate that read “Alex S. Bentley, Director of Postal Operations”, looked as out of place on the antique wooden door as Alex felt sitting behind the hand-polished desk surrounded by the luxurious paneling, leather furnishings and plush carpet. He was only three hours away from his quiet rural home, but he felt as if he were in a foreign country. He had six months to adjust to his new surroundings, but for now, he needed only to adjust one piece of furniture.Alex continued to struggle with the stubborn chair
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“Jane, did the mail get here yet?” Mark shouted into the hall.“That’s the third time you asked me in the last five minutes, and the answer is still no,” His wife walked into his office with a fresh cup of coffee. “I’ll check again.”“Dammit! It’s after three and I have to file those papers before five. I told that ass to use FedEx, but he’s too damn cheap.”Mark threw some files into his briefcase, slammed it shut, and began pacing the floor. Maybe Rachel was right, he thought, leaving all this behind to pursue a more relaxed, less stressful career. It had been wonderful to see her again, but when she began to ask questions about their relationship, he hadn’t been totally honest. Yes, he had walked out, abruptly, letting her think that the reason was because of her lack of interest in their profession, but that was only part of it. He had, in fact, been planning to break up with her w
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When Alex arrived at his office the next morning, he found a huge stack of files waiting for him. Sighing in frustration, he sat down and began the seemingly endless task of reading through and sorting yet another pile of mindless paperwork. It was well past noon when he finally finished the last file and he was just about to leave for lunch when Brad walked in and dropped a new stack on his desk.“This is ridiculous!” Alex’s irritation was obvious, “Most of this stuff is just interoffice memos and application forms. I’m sure we can eliminate a great deal of this paperwork by sending e-mail. Brad, where’d Nate hide the computer?”“Mr. Richman didn’t use a computer, Alex. In fact, he refused to have any modern technology in his office at all. He was quite adamant about it, too. He’d mail letters to Washington, protesting the sales of stamps at ATMs and grocery stores, accusing these modern conveniences of steal
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“Rachel, what kind of crap is this?” Peter practically threw the pages in her face. “Look, I read Legal Briefs, so I know you can write a helluva lot better than this. I suggest you take the next few days and show me I didn’t make a big mistake signing that contract,”Feeling like a little child being called to the principal’s office, Rachel collected the papers and meekly put them back into her briefcase.“I’m sorry, Peter. You know it’s been a very hectic week with the interviews and promotion..,”“I’m not interested in excuses, Ms Clark,” Peter interrupted her, which made Rachel feel even smaller. “I’m only interested in results. You have the weekend. Three of your best written chapters had better be on my desk Monday morning, or I may have to call your agent. Do I make myself clear?”“This homework assignment had better
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On a normal work day, Cynthia Anderson would never have been rude to a customer, but this was no ordinary workday. So, when the woman had called looking for Alex, she had to quote right from the rule book. She couldn’t take the chance of her conversation being overheard by the two men who had walked in that morning flashing official badges from the US Postal Inspection Service.They told her that they were only performing a routine audit and asked to see the books, which she produced for them in less than one minute. The badges might be a new contemporary design, but the anxiety they created when shown to a postal employee was the same as it had been ever since they were first issued by Benjamin Franklin to William Goddard, the first post office Surveyor in 1776.Postal Inspectors performed their jobs efficiently and professionally, but so did the IRS. Even though the general public was grateful when their watchful eye put law breakers behind bars, no one e
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It wasn’t the six words Peter spoke that terrified Rachel, it was the frightening tone of utter devastation in his voice that paralyzed her vocal cords.“Peter? What’s wrong?” she croaked.“I don’t wish to discuss this over the phone, Rachel. You’ll need to come to my office immediately. I’ve already sent the car to pick you up,”“You sent a car? Peter, I’m not even dressed,”“Get your ass into this office dressed or undressed, within the hour, understand?”The phone went dead in her hand. Rachel jumped from the couch and ran into the bedroom. A concerned Alex followed her.“Rachel, what’s wrong?”“I have no idea,” She grabbed underwear from the drawer and hurriedly changed her clothes.“That was Peter. He said something about a serious problem and that he wanted to see me right now,”&ldquo
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Alex waited in the truck while Rachel met the officers, who were finishing their search of Cynthia’s house. Rachel was handed a stack of credit card receipts, money orders and several bank statements, which she put into her briefcase. She thanked the detective and the officers and left to join Alex.During the short drive to his house, he was unusually quiet. Rachel was excitedly telling him how important the papers were to their case, but his mind was a million miles away. After pulling into the driveway, Alex lefy the truck and waited for Rachel to meet him before unlocking the front door.He took three steps into the house and closed the door behind them. Before Rachel had a chance to sit down, he gently pulled her toward him, his arms encircling her slender body and feverishly began kissing her.Rachel dropped her briefcase and purse, freeing her hands and returned his embrace. His hands gently stroked her back as he lightly kissed her neck, his mousta
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Rachel’s breathing was beginning to return to normal. “I noticed you were leaving, which is why I just ran the three second dash to catch up to you. There’s been a lot of activity in the past few hours and we need to talk about your case,”“I was going to lunch. Can you join me?”“Absolutely. Let me get my purse and briefcase from the car and I’ll tell the officers to go along without me. I’ll be right back,”As Alex got into his truck and waited for Rachel to return, images flashed through his mind with lightning speed. Tanya flying to West Palm Beach. Cynthia getting arrested on her way to the same destination. Rachel showing up in Crystal Lake.The last mental picture froze his thought process. Rachel was here with him and all the other images were no longer of any consequence. He was about to light a cigarette when he heard the passenger side of the truck open.“Got one of those
