Alone in the Dark

by Karen Rose

  Diesel lifted the mug, wordlessly requesting a refill. The man was all about the caffeine, because he never slept, always working hard or playing harder. And it showed.

  Pot still in hand, Marcus refilled the mug and waited while Diesel downed it just as fast as he had the first. Marcus poured him a third cup, then poured himself his first and sat down. ‘Why?’ he asked, and Diesel stared blankly back at him.

  ‘Why what?’

  ‘Why do you fucking love Tuesdays?’

  Diesel’s mouth curved, reminding Marcus a little of the Grinch as he’d contemplated cleaning out Whoville on Christmas Eve. ‘It’s Cal’s day to bring the doughnuts. He brings the best ones.’

  Marcus snorted. ‘And I thought it would be something a lot more, oh, I don’t know. Profound, maybe.’

  ‘You want profound, go to church,’ Diesel drawled lazily.

  ‘As if,’ Marcus muttered, then decided to take advantage of the fact that they were the only ones who’d shown up for the morning meeting so far. ‘You were here last night, right?’

  ‘Closed up shop at two, just like always.’ Diesel’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because Jill was here when I came in this morning at 4.35. She never left last night.’

  Diesel’s eyes widened. ‘What the hell? I did a sweep.’

  ‘Of the ladies’ room too?’ Marcus asked, and watched Diesel flinch.

  ‘Hell, Marcus,’ he muttered like a little kid, his face turning a dark red that women found charming – if they were lucky enough to see it. Diesel was not a man to romantically entangle himself. ‘I can’t go in there. I opened the door and said, “Hey, anybody in here?” and nobody answered.’ He shuddered. ‘I can’t go in there,’ he said again. ‘There’s . . . women stuff in there.’

  Incredulous, Marcus just looked at him. ‘Are you kidding me? You have stormed enemy bunkers with bullets flying all over the damn place.’ Marcus should know – he’d been shoulder-to-shoulder with Diesel every time. ‘Are you seriously trying to tell me you’re scared of “women stuff”? What the hell, Diesel? Just . . . what the hell?’

  Diesel’s glare promised retribution. ‘Why would Jill not answer me?’

  Marcus sighed. ‘As it turns out, she’s been secretly intercepting incoming threats and keeping the worst of them from Gayle.’

  Diesel’s expression turned glum. ‘Because of Gayle’s heart attack.’

  Marcus’s eyes popped wide. ‘You knew?’

  ‘You didn’t?’

  ‘No!’ Marcus cried, exasperated. ‘I was slightly hospitalized at the time.’

  ‘Oh.’ Diesel frowned. ‘Yeah. I forgot about that.’

  Marcus leaned over the table to slug Diesel’s shoulder. ‘You asshole. I almost died.’

  ‘Ow.’ Diesel rubbed his shoulder, scowling. ‘For real, I thought you knew. I figured she’d told you. I thought we were all being discreet for Gayle’s sake.’

  Marcus scrubbed his palms over his face. Diesel’s social skills were less than polished. ‘How did you know?’ he asked.

  Diesel shrugged. ‘I was here when it happened. Down in the basement. When I heard all the ruckus upstairs, I came up and had a look. Medics looked like they had everything under control.’ Something flickered behind his eyes. ‘So I left them alone to do their job.’

  Marcus sighed, reading between the lines. Diesel had had an ‘episode’, which meant he’d gone into a panicked shutdown mode at the sight of paramedics. Diesel was a poster child for PTSD. ‘All right,’ Marcus murmured. ‘The issue is, Jill has read the threat list. She’s been fielding all the new threats, and Gayle hasn’t seen them.’

  ‘That could be bad,’ Diesel mumbled.

  ‘Yeah, it could be. Especially if she puts two and two together.’

  Diesel slumped in his chair. ‘Oh, shit.’ He met Marcus’s eyes. ‘Just tell her, man. She’s okay for a kid.’

  ‘I can’t. Not until I know for sure.’

  ‘What’s that going to take?’ Diesel drained his third cup of coffee and slammed the mug back on the table. ‘A fucking blood oath?’

  Marcus rolled his eyes. ‘No. But . . . I don’t know. She bothers me.’

  ‘Well, you’ve always been a better judge of people than me,’ Diesel conceded. ‘How are you going to keep her contained?’

  ‘Stone’s watching her.’

  Diesel stared a second, then snorted, then threw back his head and laughed so hard that he nearly knocked his chair over. When Stone walked into the conference room, Diesel only laughed harder, until tears streamed down his cheeks.

  ‘What,’ Stone asked when Diesel stopped to gasp for breath, ‘is so damn funny?’

  Wiping his cheeks, Diesel started laughing again, this time more quietly. ‘You,’ he said with a snicker, ‘babysitting Miss Lush-n-Lusty.’

  Marcus’s eyes widened again when Stone just huffed out an angry breath and went to get his own coffee. ‘Miss Lush-n-Lusty?’ Marcus repeated. ‘Diesel, you can’t say that here. Even if it wasn’t inappropriate and just plain . . . disrespectful, it’s legally sexual harassment, and you know I won’t tolerate that.’

  Diesel shrugged his shoulders, wider even than Stone’s. ‘Whatever you say, boss.’ He sat up straight, cleared his throat and, folding his hands on the table in front of him, tamed his natural growl into a sophisticated tone any butler would envy. ‘I merely found it humorous that Mr Montgomery O’Bannion would have to babysit Miss Jill Ennis.’

  Stone’s glare turned glacial. He hated his given name. He’d earned the nickname Stone when he’d fallen on his head as a toddler and been pronounced unhurt by a doctor who’d proclaimed his head to be harder than a stone. The nickname had stuck, because Stone was also as stubborn as a rock. ‘Call me that one more time . . .’

  Diesel’s veneer cracked, his grin delighted. ‘You’re on, Montgomery. Just name the time and place. I’ll be there.’

  ‘Stop it,’ Marcus snapped when Stone opened his mouth to reply. ‘Good God, are you both five-year-olds?’

  ‘Ten-year-olds,’ Diesel allowed, not insulted.

  ‘Asshole,’ Stone grunted as he sat down with his coffee. ‘I left Jill with Bridget in Accounting while we’re in morning meeting. They’re running budgets. Even Jill can’t hurt anything when they’re running budgets. Where’s Cal with the damn doughnuts? It’s Tuesday, for God’s sake.’

  ‘I’m here.’ Cal trudged in and set the box of doughnuts on the table with an eye roll. ‘Here. Devour. Use napkins.’

  Calvin Booker had been at the Ledger since the mid-sixties, working his way up from the mailroom to become Marcus’s grandfather’s right-hand man and the paper’s editor-in-chief. Cal should have retired years ago, but kept pushing the date out further and further. He said he would just be bored at home, but Marcus knew the old man had stayed on to help him. He wasn’t sure where he’d be without Cal.

  ‘Save a jelly for me.’ Lisette Cauldwell entered the room, followed closely by her brother, Phillip. The managing editor, Lisette was Marcus’s age. Phillip, who managed all the advertising, was in his late twenties, although he could pass for far younger. Marcus had known Lisette since high school, and her father had been a Ledger editor until the day he died. Lisette had earned Marcus’s trust long ago, and both she and Cal had vouched for Phillip, which had been good enough for the rest of them.

  Both Lisette and Phillip had started out as reporters and would still pinch-hit from time to time when the newsroom got busy. Or when the story was so big that Marcus needed all hands on deck.

  ‘Close the door,’ Marcus said, and waited until everyone had coffee and the box of doughnuts had been emptied.

  ‘Where’s Gayle?’ Stone asked.

  ‘At the doc— Oof.’ Phillip cut himself off with a wince, glancing at his sister, who glared at him. ‘Don’t kick me,’ he whined. ‘That hurt.’

  Stone huffed in annoyance. ‘Those two knew about Gayle?’ he asked Marcus.

  ‘I suppose so. So did Dies
el.’ Marcus met Cal’s eyes. ‘Did you know too?’

  Cal sighed. ‘Not till last week. We’ve used the same doctor for years, and I ran into her at his office. She made me promise not to tell you two or your mom.’

  Marcus folded his arms over his chest, grinding his teeth. ‘What were you doing at the doctor’s office, Cal?’

  Cal met his gaze unblinkingly. ‘My annual checkup.’

  Marcus shook his head, pushing his anger down deep where it could explode without damaging his team. ‘You do know that I have won every damn hand of poker we’ve ever played, don’t you? Your “tell” is that look. The one on your face right there. The one you think makes you look like you’re not lying.’

  Cal rolled his eyes. ‘And all this time I thought you were just cheating. Shit, Marcus.’

  Stone fumed. ‘Did you have a heart attack too, Cal?’

  ‘No. Just a stent. I have an arrhythmia. I’m fine.’

  For the second time in fifteen minutes, Marcus scrubbed his palms down his face. ‘This is fucking insane,’ he said tightly. ‘What is wrong with this picture? Does anyone else have secrets they’re keeping from us?’

  Phillip shook his head hard and fast.

  Diesel just looked at him.

  Lisette sighed. ‘Things haven’t been . . . comfortable around here lately. Nobody wants to add to your stress, Marcus. Or yours, Stone. Nothing’s suffered on the business side or on the special business side. We’ve got your back. You know that.’

  Everyone around the table nodded, and Marcus’s shoulders sagged wearily. ‘Thank you. But you don’t have to treat us with kid gloves. We need to know what’s going on around here. And that means what’s going on with all of you. We’re not going to break. No more secrets. Right, Stone?’

  ‘Right.’ His brother raised a brow in challenge. ‘So on that note, tell them the secret you’re keeping, Marcus.’

  All eyes turned his way. With a sigh, Marcus retold the story, from the first time he’d seen Tala in the park, all the way up to finding Jill alone in the building that morning and assigning Stone to watch her. When he was finished, they were all twitching in anger, but it was directed squarely at him.

  ‘You have the nerve to get pissy with us?’ Lisette said from behind clenched teeth. ‘You nearly get yourself killed and you’re pissy at us?’

  ‘I’m not pissy,’ Marcus said. ‘I’ve never been pissy once in my life.’

  ‘No,’ Diesel drawled, his eyes angry. ‘Not you.’

  Marcus ignored him for now. He’d deal with Diesel’s temper later. He was more worried about Cal, who’d paled, his hands trembling. ‘Cal, are you all right?’

  ‘Yeah. I’m fine. Absolutely peachy. I’ll order you another vest.’

  ‘I’m okay,’ Marcus assured him. ‘I had the paramedics on the scene check me out, but you can look at my back yourself if you want.’ Cal had changed his diapers, as the old man often reminded him. Marcus supposed he owed it to him to at least offer.

  Cal shook his head. ‘No. If the medics checked you out, I don’t need to. You’re a grown man now. You’re going to do whatever you want to do, and what I say doesn’t matter.’

  Marcus frowned. ‘Of course it matters. And I was going to tell you this morning. I was going to tell everyone in the world. I had Stone write up an article for the website.’

  Stone slid a printed sheet across the table. ‘Make sure I didn’t leave anything out.’

  Marcus dropped his eyes to Stone’s story, grateful for the momentary respite from the accusatory stares around the table. ‘It’s complete,’ he said after scanning it twice. ‘Thank you. Put it up online.’

  Lisette reached for it, her own hand trembling. ‘You do so get pissy,’ she muttered. ‘Who is this Bishop woman? Can she be trusted?’

  ‘No,’ Stone said.

  ‘Yes,’ Marcus said at the same time.

  Diesel resettled himself in his chair. ‘Now this just got interesting.’

  Marcus rolled his eyes. ‘God help me,’ he murmured. ‘She’s a good cop,’ he told Lisette. ‘She and Stone have history, so you have to take his opinion with a grain of salt.’

  ‘I remember her,’ Phillip said, looking up from his phone. He held it up so that everyone could see the photo of Scarlett he’d pulled off Google. ‘She was at Mikhail’s funeral. I’m not ashamed to say that she scared the livin’ shit out of me.’

  Lisette studied Scarlett’s photo on Phillip’s phone. ‘Why?’ she asked her brother.

  ‘Because she looked . . . cold. Like she’d freeze a guy’s balls with a single look.’

  ‘Told you so,’ Stone muttered under his breath.

  ‘I’d like to let her try,’ Diesel said, speaking to Phillip, but his curious gaze never left Marcus’s face.

  Marcus sighed. ‘If you’re expecting me to go all jealous caveman, you’ll be disappointed,’ he said to Diesel, then turned to Cal. ‘I’d like you to find a consultant who does training in sexual harassment in the workplace. Schedule a session for Monday at the latest. Everyone attends. Everyone.’

  Everyone except Cal groaned.

  ‘I don’t need no training on that,’ Diesel said.

  ‘He’s plenty good at it already,’ Lisette said. ‘They all are.’

  ‘Which is why we’re having it,’ Marcus said firmly. ‘Phillip, you know you shouldn’t talk like that. I don’t care if you’re talking about a cop or a hooker or the lady who makes the damn doughnuts. And if you say it about a woman like Scarlett Bishop, be prepared for unpleasant consequences if she finds out, because she’s every bit as tough as you think she is. And Diesel, no more comments like “Miss Lush-n-Lusty”. What the hell was that about anyway?’

  Diesel just smiled his curly-mouthed Grinch smile. ‘She has been snuggling up to Stone ever since she started working here. Even a blind man could have seen it. Oh, wait. Sorry. Was I supposed to filter stuff about disabled people too? And minorities, too, I bet. Damn. What’s left to say?’

  ‘You’re an asshole, Diesel,’ Stone said, shaking his head. But he was biting back a smile.

  ‘Thank you,’ Diesel said with a magnanimous nod. ‘I strive for perfection in all things.’

  Lisette sighed loudly. ‘Back to the Jill issue. She’s been angling for Stone even before she started working here. I really can’t believe you didn’t notice, Marcus. Even I feel sorry for Stone. The child is relentless.’

  Marcus turned to Stone, who looked uncomfortable. ‘Is this true? Why didn’t you say something? I wouldn’t have put you with her if I’d known.’

  ‘She’s had a crush on me since forever,’ Stone said. ‘She’s just a kid and I didn’t want to hurt her. I was always able to hide from her because I was off on assignment, but the past nine months since I’ve been home have been increasingly . . . difficult. I had to confront her about it sooner or later, so I did it this morning, since we’d be spending time together on this list project you gave me.’

  ‘How’d she take that?’ Cal asked quietly.

  Stone’s answer was terse. ‘She cried. I feel like shit. We both decided we should complete this task and never speak of it again. So please don’t tease her.’

  Lisette rose and gave Stone a hug. ‘You did the right thing.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Stone sighed, patting her shoulder. ‘Though every time anyone says that, they sound so damn surprised. Anyway, we’re going over the old list and the one Jill had been keeping from Gayle. There are some pretty explicit threats on it. I don’t think Jill understood all of them, but at least she doesn’t think you’re a mob boss anymore, Marcus.’

  Lisette took her seat, eyes wide. ‘She thought you were a mob boss?’

  Marcus nodded dryly. ‘She thought I was rubbing out my detractors, which was why they stopped threatening me.’

  ‘Now there’s an idea,’ Diesel said.

  ‘Shut up, Diesel,’ everyone said together.

  Diesel shrugged. ‘I’m just sayin’.’

  ‘Well stop s
ayin’,’ Cal said. ‘What kind of threats are we talking about this time?’

  ‘Mostly more of the same,’ Stone said, ticking them off in an affected bored voice that fooled no one. Stone took these threats as seriously as any of them did. ‘I’m going to gut you, shoot you, slit your throat, ruin you. About half are targeted at Lisette, Phillip and me for reporting the stories. But the worst ones were targeted at Marcus as the publisher of “that rag”.’

  ‘Same old, same old,’ Marcus said, playing it down like he always did. Play it down and never go anywhere unarmed was pretty much his motto. ‘Any escalations?’

  ‘Just one – a woman who said she was going to stake “that lying reporter” down, pour honey on him and leave him for the fire ants for even suggesting that her “innocent” husband – “the real victim here” – could have molested young girls. The “lying reporter” was you, Phillip.’

  ‘I guess the fire ants are a nice touch,’ Phillip said lightly.

  ‘I bet that came from the drama coach,’ Lisette said. ‘The one whose husband had recorded said molestations with his iPhone and uploaded them to the cloud.’

  ‘Breaking into his account was child’s play,’ Diesel said with disgust. ‘His password was the name of his dog.’

  ‘At least the wife is consistent,’ Stone said. ‘There’s drama in her threat just like there was in her denial, even though the police showed her the evidence in full color. We didn’t address the first threat, because we didn’t see it – because Jill was sitting on it – and this woman ended up making others, the most recent just last week. Said she was going to make you suffer by hitting you where it really hurts. That she was losing her house because her husband had lost his job after being arrested and the bank is foreclosing on them. She says she’s planning to sue the paper and you personally, Marcus, for slander.’

  ‘She’s not suing me,’ Phillip said, tongue in cheek, ‘because I have nothing of any value for her to win. Sucks to be the rich boss.’