by R A Wallace
Callie asked Janet several more questions before Isabel returned. The next person that Isabel led Callie to worked in a small cubicle. The large room they were in held dozens of people, all in their own cubicles. From what Callie could tell, all of them were talking on the phone at once. She sat down in the single plastic chair across from a small desk in a tight space.
“Carlos, thank you for speaking with me. Did Isabel tell you why I was here?” she asked.
Carlos picked up a stress ball and began tossing it back and forth between his hands. Like Wayne, Carlos was wearing a tie, but his clothing was more trendy office wear for twenty-somethings. His dark hair was worn short, and his face was dark with stubble. He wore a hands-free headset with a thin mic hanging near the right side of his mouth.
“She did. I can’t say that I knew Mrs. Tenley-Mulhern, though.” The stress ball continued to fly back and forth.
“What about their secretary, Tessa Guthrie?”
The ball stopped moving and Carlos sat up in his seat a little.
“Tessa? Sure, I knew her. Well, I didn’t know her, really. I just knew of her.” Carlos looked past Callie’s shoulder to see if anyone was around. He leaned forward a little and lowered his voice. “Word is, she could have gone places.”
Callie narrowed her eyes as she contemplated what he meant based on what she knew.
“Gone places?” she asked.
“Yeah, you know. She had talent.” Carlos started tossing the ball again. “Some buddies of mine used to talk about her.”
Callie wasn’t sure she liked where the conversation was going.
Carlos shook his head as though he couldn’t believe Tessa had wanted a career change. “Not everyone can program like that, you know?”
“Program?” That hadn’t been what she was expecting.
“Yeah, you know. Before she became a secretary, she was a programmer.” The phone on Carlos’s desk began to ring.
Callie turned her head a little when she sensed Isabel had returned. She thanked Carlos with a small wave as she stood.
“I’m not sure how many people you were hoping to speak with. There’s someone else on the other side of the room that just finished a call. They could speak with you now.” Isabel led the way around the maze of cubicles.
Callie heard snatches of one-sided conversations as she passed the others busy on their phones. She realized with a sudden clarity how generous Philip had been to allow her to take up his employee’s time. He could have just as easily had Isabel turn her away. Especially since he must have known what she would hear.
The young woman Isabel led her to next was probably in her early twenties. Like Carlos, she wore a hands-free headset. She gave Callie a friendly smile as Callie took the plastic chair across from her desk. Isabel faded away again. Ana sat quietly, waiting for Callie to speak with a look of anticipation on her face. If Callie had to choose one word to describe the younger woman, it would be animated. Even when sitting still, she seemed to exude her lively presence.
“Did Isabel tell you why I was here?” Callie asked.
Sadness crossed Ana’s face but was gone as quickly as it had come.
“Poor Mr. Tenley-Mulhern. He’s such a nice man,” Ana said.
“Did you know his wife?” Callie didn’t have to wait for an answer. She could tell Ana would say no by the look on her face.
“My job didn’t really have me crossing paths with her all that often,” Ana said.
“How long have you been here?” Callie asked.
Ana smiled widely. “Two years now.” She looked past Callie then lowered her voice. “I’m planning to work my way up the ladder.”
“What other jobs might you do here?” Callie asked out of curiosity.
Ana shrugged. “I’m good with computers. Even if I don’t stay with this company, I know I’ll find something. I’m taking some post-graduate classes to give me some more options.”
Callie took a guess. “Like programming?”
Ana’s face lit up. “You can make a lot of money doing that.”
“I understand Tessa has a background with that,” Callie said.
Ana frowned. “Yeah, I still don’t get that. From what I’ve heard, she was at the top of the game. Why would anyone waste their talents like that?”
Callie managed to ask a couple more questions before Isabel returned. At that point, she knew she had taken up enough of everyone’s time. She thanked Isabel as she was led back to the reception area. Callie exited the building, taking note of the décor. It reminded her again of the office space she would like to have.
Chapter Seventeen
The thin film of dust on her car was testament to the number of times she had driven across the sandy fields of the airport grounds during the course of the week. They were now on day four of the event. It was Thursday. The auction would run Friday and Saturday and they were still no closer to discovering what might be smuggled and how. Callie stood in her driveway and contemplated washing her car before leaving for the airport. The sound of Ramona’s voice coming from her sunroom next door decided for her.
“Good morning,” Callie said as she stepped up to the screen.
“Are you headed back out to the airport again?” Ramona asked. She was holding a large coffee mug in her hand.
“I am. We still have a few more days out there.”
“I’ve seen your mother on the news all week. That woman puts the rest of us to shame,” Ramona said amiably.
Callie smiled. It was true.
“Any luck with Emily Smith?” Callie asked hopefully.
“Not yet, sorry.”
Callie waved a bug away. “I spoke to Emily’s mom last night. Shana got another bill from a different credit card company.”
“That’s just not right,” Ramona said with feeling.
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll get lucky tracking down the credit charges though and find someone with video of the buyer.”
Callie waved goodbye to her neighbor as she drove her dusty car out of her drive. She grimaced as new dust swirled around her car on the airport campus during the drive to the building where their office was located. She could see the large all-terrain vehicle that Greyson had been using parked out front. She found him in the office with some of the other members of the team.
Greyson looked up from his phone when she entered. He saw her taking a count of those present.
“I have Nigel and Julio out tracking the two buyer reps I was checking into yesterday,” he explained.
“Serena Duval and Lee Cabal.” She glanced over at the monitors. She could see a group of people with her mother. “Did you learn anything else?”
“Maybe.” Greyson rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
Callie’s eyes shifted to him.
“I’ll get to that in a bit. I just got an update on Sheree’s death,” he said.
Zach, Lenora, and Kate stopped what they were doing to listen to Greyson.
“They found a cause of death?” Kate asked.
Greyson made a face. “It was the dog food.”
“Say again?” Lenora said.
“I don’t have all the details yet, but apparently she was allergic to the dog food.” Greyson tucked his phone away. “It will all be in the report. I asked for a copy, but it may be a while before we get it. If ever. The police don’t necessarily want our help on this. I sense they aren’t planning to give us much, if anything at all.”
“Why was she eating the dog food?” Zach asked with a confused look on his face.
Greyson shook his head.
“How did you do yesterday?” he asked Callie.
“Afraid I’m going to win the bet?” she asked quietly before raising her voice. “There didn’t seem to be much love loss between Sheree and the employees at Philip’s company. No one there seemed to think much of her. They all said that the marriage was over before the ink was dry on the license.”
“That seems a bit harsh,” Kate pointed out.
&nb
sp; “It’s all over social media,” Lenora said. “Wouldn’t really make sense for them to deny what everyone else on the planet already knew.”
“That’s about what they told me,” Callie agreed.
“You still think the secretary had something to do with it?” Kate asked.
Callie pulled out her phone. “Yeah, maybe.” She checked her phone but didn’t like the signal. “I’m going to go outside to make a call. Be right back.”
She pulled up her contact list and pressed send just as she stepped out of the building. The phone rang several times before Ginny picked up. She had been meaning to call her friend and check up on her anyway. Maybe Ginny could give her some ideas.
“Callie?”
She could tell that her friend was still groggy. “Did I wake you up?” She knew that Ginny often worked late at the restaurant.
“Yeah, that’s okay. I need to get moving anyway. What’s up?”
“I have a question to ask. It’s mostly hypothetical.” She could hear Ginny moving around on the other end of the phone. The sound of water running was followed by the sound of a machine. Ginny was making coffee.
“I’m not sure I’m up for anything too scientific this early in the morning,” Ginny cautioned.
“This question might not be that hard for you. I have a woman who died from an allergic reaction.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Ginny sounded a little more alert.
“Thanks. The thing is, the report is coming back that it was something in the dog food.” Callie listened to the noises on the other end of the phone. She could picture Ginny fixing her cup of coffee the way she liked it with lots of creamer and a dash of white chocolate sauce.
“Is this about your friend that died from the allergic reaction?” Ginny asked.
Callie didn’t bother to correct Ginny about her relationship to Sheree. “Yes. I was wondering if she reacted to the dog food without necessarily eating it. You know, if she transferred it somehow to her mouth, or even her eyes or nose. Would that be enough to cause a severe reaction?”
Ginny paused before answering. “Some people have severe reactions to whatever they’re allergic to. I mean, I’m not a doctor. You should check with one for real. Like you said, I’m just hypothesizing, and I could be wrong. In my world, I just know that cross-contamination with foods is a serious issue for people who have allergies to certain foods.”
“Like using the same spatula or work space with foods that cause a reaction?” Callie asked.
“Yes. Sorry I can’t be more help. My best advice is to ask a doctor. Allergies are nothing to play around with.”
“No, that’s good, Ginny. Thanks. That’s exactly what I needed.” Callie shifted some of the information she’d discovered so far around her head. “How is business?”
“Better, I’m happy to say. In fact, it’s back to normal. That’s why we got out late last night.”
“What happened?” Callie asked.
“I called the editor of the paper and explained the negative review and the connection to my former boyfriend. I think it helped that the editor has eaten at my restaurant in the past. Anyway, they pressed the reviewer, Krista Danforth, and she owned up to everything. The paper printed a full retraction and offered me some free advertising.”
“Excellent. Listen, I have to go. Thanks for the hypothesis.” Callie went back into the office and explained what Ginny had said.
“Nothing definitive, sorry,” Callie finished. At least she found out Ginny was doing better at the restaurant.
“It got us thinking about other possibilities,” Greyson said. “Good work.”
Callie took her seat. “Now we just need to figure out why she was handling dog food that had a known allergen in it.”
“Maybe she didn’t know?” Kate suggested.
“I was thinking the same thing. And I have a good idea who may be involved,” Callie said.
“Who? Or, do I even need to ask?” Greyson leaned back against a desk.
“One of Philip’s employees yesterday told me that Tessa hates that dog,” Callie said.
“That doesn’t explain why they’ve suddenly become inseparable.” Lenora waved toward the monitors on the wall. “She has it with her everywhere she goes now.”
Callie looked at the monitors as she considered her next move. “That’s my next question. Who technically owns the dog now? Is it Philip? Or Tessa?”
“And who has been buying the food,” Greyson said with a nod. “Maybe we can get some help from the local police on that one. It’s technically their case.” He didn’t look convinced that the police would share information.
“What else are you working on today?” Callie asked him.
“I’m going to follow the rest of the buyer reps that we’ve been tracking.” He motioned to one of the monitors. “Specifically, I’m going to start with Leon Staverton and Andre Oberhausen.”
Callie saw that the two men in question were in the main hangar where the auction will be held. They weren’t together. They were on different sides of the room. Each was speaking to someone else. Based on their body language, their conversations were meant to be private.
“From what I’ve found, Staverton is representing a buyer with large sums of money that are currently in some offshore accounts,” Lenora said.
“What about Oberhausen?” Callie asked.
“Interestingly enough, he has often been seen in cities at the same time that some major bank heists have taken place,” Lenora said.
Callie raised her brows at Greyson. “That is interesting.”
“That’s where I’m headed next. I’ll catch up with you later?” he asked.
She nodded and waved at the computer on the side of the room. “I’m going to check a couple of things out here first.”
Greyson waved as he left the office. A short time later, he was walking into the area where Margaret was holding court. A group of people were just leaving. A couple of them had video cameras which explained the vans that looked like mobile news rooms parked outside of the building.
“More interviews?” Greyson asked.
“This one was mostly local,” Margaret said. “The mayor and some others were here to promote the area.”
“Maybe you should take a break today and rest back at the hotel? The real excitement is going to start tomorrow,” he cautioned.
Margaret smiled. “We’ll see how the day goes.”
Greyson snagged a muffin as he headed for the hangar.
Chapter Eighteen
The vibration in her pocket made her jump. Callie pulled her phone out and read the message. It was from Sierra. The message said that they had tried to call her, but it had gone straight to message. Callie glanced at the phone icon. It was showing that she had messages. She told the others that she was going back outside to make a call. She pressed send as she exited the building, sliding her sunglasses down at the same time.
“Sierra, what’s up?”
“Callie, can you come to the office?”
“Is everything okay?
“Yeah. We just want to show you something. It will make more sense if we don’t try to explain it on the phone,” Sierra said.
Callie hesitated as she looked around at the crowds of people.
“It’s technical,” Sierra added.
Callie replied that she would be there soon. She went back into the office to touch base with Lenora and Zach. As she turned to leave the office, something on one of the monitors caught her eye. She turned to Lenora and Zach.
“How much interaction did the buyer reps have with Sheree before she died?” Callie asked.
“On it,” Lenora said as she and Zach began pulling up video to review.
Callie turned her mind back to her office mates. Sierra was right. Any hopes she had of following a technical explanation from the two of them would be better done in person. She wondered as she drove back into town what could be so important to prompt the call. She had explained to Len
ora and Zach where she was going before she left, but she was still feeling guilty for leaving.
She parked on the little side street around the corner from the office. She couldn’t park in her regular spot. There was already another car parked there, but she was able to take the spot behind it. Sierra and Michael were working on their computers when she walked in the front door. Michael immediately pulled his earbuds from his ears. The music still leaked out, but he reached down and turned it off. That was Callie’s first clue that what they wanted to tell her was important.
“Okay, what’s up?” Callie headed for the small fridge and took out a bottle of water. She twisted the cap off as she went back to her desk.
Sierra and Michael shared a look.
“You’d better sit down,” Sierra said. “This might be painful.”
Callie made a face. “Please tell me there’s no higher-level math involved.” She saw the look on their faces and sighed as she took her seat.
“We’re actually going to try to make this as easy to understand as possible,” Sierra said as she turned to Michael. “Right?”
He shot her look before turning to Callie. “I promised I wouldn’t get upset if what Sierra tells you isn’t technically correct.”
Callie tilted her head as she made a face of agreement. “I can live with it not being technically correct.”
“You know that contract that we took on with the smart cars?” Sierra asked.
Callie wanted to show that she wasn’t a total idiot. “The one where you read and write data from the computer systems in the cars to different databases all over the world.”
She smiled at the look of surprise on Michael’s face, then took a swig of her water.
“Exactly. Our job is to make sure that all of those different systems can pull the data in and use it in their systems,” Sierra said. “That’s the easy part of what we want to tell you.”