by R A Wallace
Her office mates were busy working at their computers when she entered. Although Michael Wolfe was completely focused on his computer, Sierra Knox looked up from hers when Callie entered their shared office area. She could hear the music leaking from Michael’s earbuds.
“We wondered when you’d get here.” Sierra glanced over at Michael. He remained focused on the code he was writing.
“Any particular reason?” Callie asked as she settled behind her own desk. She immediately turned on her computer.
“We have another job for you,” Sierra said.
Callie raised her eyebrows in anticipation. She often asked for help from Sierra and Michael when she worked on her investigations. They had advanced computer skills that enabled them to find even the most obscured data. As payment for their assistance, she sometimes performed background checks at their request on the companies that offered contract work to Sierra and Michael.
“You have questions about this one?” Callie asked.
Michael removed his earbuds. “Hey, Callie. When did you get here?”
Callie shared a smile with Sierra.
“I was just telling her about the new background check we’d like her to run for us,” Sierra told him.
“Yeah, we’d like to have your results before we agree to anything,” Michael said before sticking his earbuds back in.
Callie looked back at Sierra.
“I’m sure they’re okay, but it never hurts to check,” Sierra said. Her eyes drifted back to her computer.
Callie knew Sierra’s mind was returning to the work in front of her.
“Let me know what you have on them,” Callie said.
“Check your email,” Sierra said, almost to herself as her hands settled over her keyboard.
Callie did and found the information she needed to run the background check. She would get started right on it. That is, right after she checked on Krista Danforth, the reviewer for the newspaper. It didn’t take Callie long to find other reviews recently written by the same reviewer. For the most part, those reviews all seemed positive. Callie zoomed in on the photo she found of Krista. If the photo was current, she looked to be around thirty or so years old.
Remembering what Gemma had said about her last visit to The Regal Pomelo, Callie checked for other web sites that allow postings by anyone who wished to leave comments about restaurants. She scrolled through the list of postings starting with the most recent. What she found didn’t surprise her. The ratings were all consistently high. The comments were all positive.
Callie continued scrolling and found one slightly negative comment posted three months earlier. It mentioned that the service that night had been unusually slow. Ginny had logged on and posted a response with an apology and an explanation. One of the servers had been in an accident on the way in to work. It had been a particularly busy night at the restaurant.
Ginny had found a replacement within thirty minutes but the customer with the negative comment had been at the restaurant in the small window of time in between and had had to wait a few extra minutes as the other servers picked up the slack. Callie figured such things happened occasionally. It seemed that Ginny had dealt with it as well as possible. She’d even offered the person who posted the comment a free desert on their next visit.
Callie pushed her thoughts of Ginny aside and began running the business background check for Sierra and Michael. There were several things she routinely checked, including the information the company filed with the state to do business. That, in turn, gave her more information to do a deep dive on the legal history and even the company’s holdings.
Callie stood and retrieved a bottle of water from the small fridge they kept in the office before returning to her desk. After twisting off the bottle cap, she clicked on an icon on her desktop to log into an online legal database. She took a long drink from the bottle before entering the keywords for her search. Based on the number of the results, it was going to be a lot of reading. She took another long drink from the bottle and pulled up the first document.
Chapter Three
The rumblings in her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Callie stood from her computer and stretched. After clearing the debris of empty water bottles from her desk, she grabbed her purse from her desk.
“I emailed the results back to you,” Callie said to Sierra.
Sierra stopped typing. “How did it look?”
“I didn’t see anything that threw up any flags,” Callie said.
“Thanks. I’ll check the report.” Sierra leaned back in her seat. “Is this still working for you?”
Callie looked over at Michael. His focus remained on his computer.
“Is what working?”
Sierra motioned between her and Michael. “This. Us. Sharing the office. I mean, I know you’re getting a lot more business now. We were wondering if we were getting in your way now that things have taken off for you.”
Callie remained standing but leaned back against her desk.
“I won’t lie. I have dreams of a much nicer office space than what we have now,” Callie said truthfully.
Sierra looked around the spartan office space.
“I wouldn’t mind that either. But you can afford a space without us now.” Sierra glanced over at Michael again.
Callie thought of all the times they had helped her with cases in the past.
“Yeah, but I like the arrangement we have. You guys can find information that I can’t. Besides, I’ve gotten used to you guys being here. I know that we don’t do the same thing, but I feel like we’re a team when we work together.” She wondered if Sierra and Michael didn’t feel the same. She knew they had more business than they knew what to do with. They could easily afford their own space. “What about you guys? Would you rather we come up with another arrangement?”
“Based on the work we do, we could actually work from our own homes.” Sierra motioned to Michael. “We wouldn’t even have to see each other, except for when we meet with clients.”
Callie noticed that Sierra’s gaze remained on Michael. “Is that what you’d prefer?”
Sierra’s eyes returned to Callie. “I think we’re introverted enough.” She shook her head. “At least here, we interact with other humans on a regular basis. That includes a lot of your new clients.”
It was true. Often, her new clients either treated Sierra as the office assistant or they were incredibly impressed that Indigo Investigations had such a large staff. She thought about the sumptuous office she had visited the previous day.
“I like our current location,” Callie said thoughtfully. “But I wouldn’t mind some renovations.”
“Something to consider,” Sierra agreed as she leaned toward her desk again, her arms poised over her keyboard.
Callie continued thinking about it as she drove across town. She pulled over about a half a block away from the newspaper office and parked her car. Based on everything she had seen during her research of the restaurant reviewer, Krista Danforth kept up a regular visitation of restaurants in the area. If she wasn’t writing full-length reviews, she used the information she gained from her visits to add to her weekly articles featuring current events in the area.
When her phone rang, she glanced at the number before answering.
“Hey, Ginny. Any luck?” Callie asked as she watched people walking along the sidewalks.
“As you suggested, I tried to find out where Krista goes a lot for dinner in the area,” Ginny said.
“Did anyone you spoke with have any information that might help?”
“Maybe,” Ginny said. “Mostly what I got was what someone heard someone else say. If any of it’s true, she does eat out at local restaurants a lot.”
Callie wondered what that meant. “Does she stop in your place a lot?”
“No. Just that one time.”
“Who did you speak with?” Callie sat up straighter. The front door of the newspaper office opened and someone ste
pped out. It was the end of the business day, so that wasn’t surprising. It was what she’d hoped for. From her vantage point, she could tell it wasn’t Krista. She slouched back in her seat.
“Well, I didn’t want to tip anyone off, like you said. I actually had someone in my kitchen talk to someone they know in another kitchen and they knew someone else.”
“Good job. What did you end up with?”
“The Pomelo Wharf, The Cove, and The Orange Quay,” Ginny said.
Callie was familiar with the names. She had recently been at The Cove while working another case. She’d never dined there.
“It’s a start, thanks. If I can’t find her, I’ll check them out and see if I get lucky.” The door to the newspaper office opened again. “Never mind. I’ve got her. Thanks, Ginny. Talk to you soon.”
Callie watched as the woman matching the photo she’d found online walked part of the way down the block before going into a parking garage. A few minutes later, a small red car pulled out onto the street. Callie started her own car and began following it.
Several minutes later, the red car pulled into the parking lot of The Orange Quay. It was another restaurant Callie had never been to. She continued driving past the restaurant. She could see Krista walking toward the entrance as she drove past. After going around a couple of blocks, she returned to the restaurant and parked the car in the lot.
Another group of people entered the restaurant in front of her. Callie waited patiently behind them as they were greeted by the hostess. Once the group in front of her was seated, Callie asked the hostess for a seat near the windows. Callie took her seat and asked the waiter that introduced himself for a glass of wine. She had checked out the restaurant while waiting for her turn to be seated and knew where Krista had been seated. She now had a great view of Krista sitting alone at a table near the center of the restaurant.
A server set a drink down at Krista’s table just as someone else came out of the kitchen. Based on Callie’s limited experience working with Ginny in her restaurant, she would say the man speaking with Krista was the owner. He wasn’t dressed to work in the kitchen like a chef, but he looked like he was in charge. He seemed very pleased to see Krista.
“Here she is,” the hostess said as she led someone to Callie’s table.
“Thank you, Marissa,” Greyson said with a smile as he took the seat across from Callie.
“You’re welcome.” Marissa remained where she was a moment longer to smile back at Greyson.
Callie waited until the hostess departed before leaning forward in her seat.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
The waiter returned with Callie’s wine.
“Hello, I’m Peter. I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with something to drink?”
“Hello, Peter. I’ll have what she’s having,” Greyson said with a pleasant smile.
Callie watched the waiter walk away. She raised her eyebrows at Greyson.
“I’m having dinner with you,” Greyson said amiably as he looked across the room from Callie and checked out Krista. “Who’s our subject?”
Callie gave him a cold smile for an answer as the waiter set another glass of wine in front of Greyson.
“Do we need a few moments?” Peter asked.
Greyson picked up his menu. “I think we do, Peter. Thanks.”
Callie smiled at Peter in agreement.
“What do you recommend?” Greyson asked her.
“I have no idea. I’ve never eaten here,” she said as she watched Krista being greeted by another employee.
“Then we’ll get to share this new experience together.” Greyson glanced up from his menu to check on Krista. “She seems well connected here.”
“She does, doesn’t she.” A waitress brought out a sampler platter and delivered it to Krista’s table. “You didn’t answer me. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just wanted to touch base with my partner.”
Callie’s eyes darted to Greyson. “We are not partners,” she said emphatically.
“You’re saying that your current clients haven’t asked for me?” Greyson watched Callie drop her eyes to her menu. “I thought as much. They expect us to be a team. To work the cases together, like teammates do.”
“Then where have you been?” she asked. It wasn’t that she wanted him as a business partner. But he had left without any explanation.
Greyson smiled. “You missed me.”
“Hardly.” Callie smiled up at Peter when he returned to their table. She placed her order and handed her menu to Peter as Greyson placed his.
“Now then,” Greyson said after Peter left. “What did the chatty young woman across the room do to warrant surveillance?”
Callie let out a frustrated sigh. “She gave a bad review.”
Greyson glanced across the room again. “Ah. That certainly explains why she’s so popular.”
“It doesn’t explain why she gave the bad review,” Callie muttered, mostly to herself.
“The restaurant in question hired us to find out why?” Greyson picked up his wine and tasted it. “Oh, nice.”
Callie looked down at the wine glass in front of her. She’d forgotten about it when he arrived. She picked it up and tasted it. He was right. It was very good.
“No, the owner of the restaurant called me.” Ginny had asked about Greyson, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Another friend of yours?” His eyes held laughter again.
She remembered that look well. “She is, in fact. Which is why I know she didn’t deserve the bad review.”
“You’re thinking the reviewer has a motive?”
“She must.”
“You’ve checked her other reviews?”
Callie nodded after taking another sip of wine. “Of course. I know my job.”
“That you do,” he agreed.
She told herself she shouldn’t enjoy hearing him say it so much. The buzzing of her phone made her flip it over to check it. She held the phone over the table and quickly keyed in a response to her mother.
“Tell Margaret I said hello,” Greyson said as he lifted the wine glass.
Callie read her mother’s response. Her eyes narrowed. “How did she know to ask about you?”
“I may have mentioned that I’d be in town the last time I spoke with her.”
Callie looked up from her phone. “You keep in touch with my mother?”
Greyson smiled at Peter as he approached with a tray of food.
“Here we go,” Peter said as he set the plates in front of them. “Can I get you anything else?”
Greyson glanced at Callie briefly. She shook her head.
“No, thank you, Peter. I think we’re good for now.” Greyson watched as Callie took a small dollop of sour cream before removing the small bowl from her plate. “Are you going to eat the rest of that?”
Callie shook her head as she cut into her shrimp enchilada. Callie couldn’t stop the smile as she watched Greyson reach over and add the rest of her sour cream to his own on his plate.
“I see we both like the same kind of food,” Greyson said.
“I see one of us likes sour cream a little more than the other.”
Chapter Four
The bright morning sun prompted a reflex reaction to reach for her sunglasses when she stepped from her house. As she walked the short distance down the drive to her car, Callie heard a familiar voice calling to her. She turned to greet her neighbor.
“Good morning, Ramona.” Callie stopped when she reached her car.
“You’re looking spiffy today,” Ramona commented as she opened the lid of her trash can. “All that fame with your new partner looks good on you.”
“Thanks.” Callie didn’t bother to correct the older woman. “Do you need help?”
Ramona hefted the garbage bag into the can. “I’m good.”
“If it gets too heavy for you, just leave the can there. I’ll put it out by the street tonight
for you when I do mine.”
“It’s okay. I need the exercise. It keeps me in shape for my job.” Ramona closed the lid of the garbage can as far as she could. The bag on top remained mostly visible.
“Your customers keep you hopping at the store?” Callie asked as she opened her car.
“Keeping up with teenagers will keep you young,” Ramona agreed with a wave.
Callie returned the wave before driving away. She pulled into the gas station on the corner several blocks from her house. After filling her car at the pump, she went inside and bought the daily newspaper. Then she pointed her car toward her mother’s retirement community. If Callie needed groceries, there was a good chance her mother did also. She’d better check.
***
Paula lifted the plastic container from the passenger seat of her golf cart and joined Trudy at the front door of Margaret’s modular home. Both were dressed in casual capris with colorful tops. They heard voices inside and opened the door to enter without ringing the bell. Based on the number of golf carts parked around the house, they were the last to arrive.
Paula and Trudy set their containers down on the counter next to all the others. There was a small stack of plates, utensils, and napkins next to a pitcher of sweet iced tea and a coffee pot.
“Name your poison,” Paula said to her friend.
“I have to have my coffee, you know that.” Trudy reached for a coffee mug. After filling the mug two-thirds full, she liberally added creamer to fill it the rest of the way.
Paula poured herself a glass of tea. It emptied the pitcher.