by Dawning, Dee
She was right. "Baby, why don't you get our drinks while I tell Amber what I told you?"
"All right, but don't start the recording without me."
"I won't."
He slipped out. "What do you want?"
Amber raised a finger. "I'll have a frozen margarita."
"I'll have a double Maker's Mark with water back."
After Brad returned with our drinks, I pulled the recorder out of my purse. "Amber, why don't you slide around by me? I don't dare play this too loud and we'll hear it better if we're close together."
She sidled up to me and I turned the recorder on. No one asked questions as the recording played, but while the emotions that played across their faces ran the gamut from disbelief to outrage, they did utter exclamations such as, "Jesus Christ!", "What a dick!" and "Good for you!" when I called Grimes an effing asshole.
When the recording ended, Amber asked, "You aren't going to do it, are you?"
"Not likely. The position and the money are tempting, but if I couldn't go through my first try with Councilman Warren, I doubt it's in me to do something like Grimes is proposing. Besides, I detest the man."
"I detest him too, and I forbid you to become his client's plaything. You are better than that."
"But Brad baby, that's what you did when you were me."
Brad shrugged. "I know. I was single, wasn't even interested in anyone let alone in love and the only steady jobs available paid minimum wage." Now that I'm a man, and have someone in my life, I see things differently."
My nostrils flared. "Of course it helps that you have the investment banking job you always wanted and a corner office with a view."
Bonnie, the waitress appeared. "Hi, guys. When did you sneak in? I didn't even see you until a second ago." She glanced at our empty glasses. "Do you need refills?"
Brad nodded. "Please."
She picked up the glasses and set down cocktail napkins in front of us. "What were these?"
"Frozen margarita, double Maker's Mark with water back and a Pink Lady. And while you're at it bring an order of those delicious nachos."
Bonnie nodded. "Anything on them?"
"Just cheese. Lots of cheese."
When Bonnie left, I turned to Amber. "Now, that you've heard the recording, what do you think I should do?"
Brad chipped in, "I don't think you should do anything with that man. Remember, Bella's missing sister was Grimes' last personal assistant."
"Brad's right. If it was me, I'd sue his ass for sexual harassment. I'll bet that recording alone is worth several million."
Bonnie returned with our drinks. "The nachos should be ready in a couple minutes. I'll bring them out as soon as they're ready."
After Bonnie left, I switched the Pink Lady she left in front of me with the Maker's Mark and water she'd left in front of Brad. "I agree. I'll definitely sue him, but what will I do after that? The only field I've worked in since college is investment banking and Grimes said he'd blackball me."
Brad looped his arm around my shoulders. "Well, sweetheart, I'm not going to stay there if you're not there. We're a team and between us, we have a tidy sum of money and…we have a list of Bayside clients."
I dipped my brow. "What are you saying?"
"That we start our own service oriented securities firm. You're good and I'm good and together, we could make a ton of money for our investors and us."
Amber's eyes grew wide. "That's a capital idea. I have money too. I'd love to work with you guys. I could work the marketing end and bring in new clients. I'll bet I could talk Lew into joining us, too."
"Awesome." Brad held his open hand up in front of me and Amber hi-fived it. "I know you're good and Ginger says Lew is good."
I was wary. "I love your idea, but isn't using Bayside's client list to raid their client base unethical?"
"Yes, at a minimum. It even be illegal." Brad sipped on his Pink Lady. "But what's on your recording is definitely illegal."
"And unethical and immoral," Amber chimed in, "The man is a pervert."
We paused as Bonnie set the hot plate of nachos and three small plates down. "Here you go. Careful the plate is hot. Anything else?"
Brad delicately took a nacho and said, "Ooh, hot! Nope, that's all for now. Thanks."
I grabbed a nacho and held it a few inches from my mouth. "Okay! If we are going to do this, I have an even better option than starting a company from scratch, and we could help a good friend of mine in the process."
Both of them leaned forward and Brad said, "We're listening."
I sipped my bourbon and chased it with a swig of water. "You don't know him, but when I first came to Bayside a man named Cliff Burns was my mentor. He taught me most of what I know and we became good friends."
"Go on," urged Amber.
"Cliff was a fixture at Bayside. Having been around for years, he was quite a bit older than me and three years ago, when he became eligible for Bayside's twenty year retirement plan, he took it and did something he'd always wanted to do—he started his own equities company. His fledgling company hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but despite the extremely tough times we've been through, they managed to show a profit in each of the first three years."
Brad nudged me. "Get to the point, Baby."
"I am. Three months ago, Cliff had a debilitating stroke. He's recovering, but he's in no condition to work, let alone run the company."
"It's for sale?" Amber asked.
"I think so. Meg, Cliff's wife, talked like she'd like to find a buyer…or at least someone to run it."
Amber swallowed a nacho. "What's the name of this company?"
I snickered. "Don't laugh—Bayview Equities."
They laughed.
Amber pulled her smartphone from her purse, touched in a number and hit send.
I frowned. "Who are you calling?"
"You're going to sue Bayside and we're going to buy a company. Seems like we need a lawyer, so I'm calling Bella. Do you mind?"
I laughed. "I'm sure she would get a kick out of suing her sister's former company. Be my guest."
"Bella?"
"It's Amber. Listen, I have Ginger and her boyfriend here and we want to ask you some things. Is it alright if I put my phone on speaker?"
"Okay, here goes."
"Hi, Ginger."
"Hi, Bella."
"So good to hear from you both. I miss you and Amber terribly."
"We miss you too!"
"I haven't seen you and Amber since you came to my graduation from Harvard and we partied 'til dawn. Do you see each other much?"
I snickered. "Only every day. We're still roommates."
"Ooh! Lucky you. I live with an accountant. Did you ever try to carry on a conversation with an accountant? Boring. They're horses of another color—green, I think. So, How about boyfriends? Do you have any boyfriends?"
"Yes, both of us. Mine is named Brad, and he's right here. Say hi to Bella, Brad."
"Hi Bella."
"Hi Brad. Have you been going with Ginger long?"
"Only a week."
"What do you do?"
"I'm an account executive with Bayside Securities."
Bella started coughing.
"Are you all right?"
"I was until you mentioned Bayside."
"Sorry. Amber told me about your sister. I'm so sorry, but that's one of the reasons we called."
"Thank you. What reason is that?"
Ginger explained, "Brad, got me a job at Bayside as his secretary."
"Oh, you aren't escorting any more?"
"Not while I'm trying this. Anyway, I landed on the President's radar and he called me into his office not two hours ago."
"Really, he didn't waste any time. What did he want?"
"Essentially, to take your sister's place as his personal assistant."
There was silence. I thought the connection was broken, then. "That pig. We must talk. Can you guys have dinner with me tonight?"
"Ce
rtainly. Where?"
"Michael's at 6:00."
"We'll be there."
"Ginger?"
"Yes."
"I'll have somebody with me, if he's available."
"Fine, we'll see you there."
I leaned back in the booth, a low ball glass of Maker's Mark in my hand, and glanced at my friends. "Poor Bella, she must be agonizing over what happened to her sister."
Brad sighed. "I know. I had no idea. I'd never heard about Mr. Grimes' personal assistant. And I certainly hadn't heard about her vanishing."
I glanced at my watch—4:20. "We're meeting her at 6:00. It's a good thing you're going to be there, 'cause I’ve never met her.
Chapter Nineteen
At six o'clock, since the dinner crowd hadn't quite arrived yet, Michael's was less than half full. Telling the Maitre d' we were meeting someone, he allowed us to look for her. Brad had described Bella—beautiful, like her name, with long black hair and large doe-like brown eyes—so finding her wasn't that hard. Brad spotted her in a booth about half-way back along the left wall of the dining room. "There she is."
Her large doe eyes grew even larger when she saw me and the corners of her full lips curved up, turning into a full fledged, winsome smile. She was everything Brad described except she now wore her hair in a shoulder length bob.
With Amber in the lead, Brad took my hand and headed for the booth, which gave me time to appraise her companion, who'd risen and waited. I'd expected him to be, and maybe he was, her man friend, but he was at least a dozen years older than Bella. He was tall, muscularly trim and handsome, but not in a pretty boy way. No, he was handsome in a hard-edged, rough, 'don't mess with me,' sort of way.
When Amber drew close, he embraced her. Then as she slid in next to Bella, he turned and smiled at me and extended his arms. "Hi, you must be Ginger." He embraced me as I bobbed my head. "So pleased to meet you, I'm Gino Maroni."
"Ginger Allen. Gino, this is my friend, Brad Fairchild."
As I slipped into the booth, Gino shook Brad's hand and they introduced themselves. Meanwhile, Bella gave me the requisite cheek kiss as I slid up to her on the opposite side from Amber. "It's so good to see you."
"Good to see you, too."
"How long has it been?"
"Your graduation?" I meant it to be a statement, but it came out like a question.
"Right, almost two years when you and Amber visited me in Cambridge." Bella reached across me and offered her hand to Brad as he eased up beside me. "Hi, I'm Bella Landers, Ginger's long time friend."
Brad smiled and shook Bella's hand just under my breasts. "I'm sorry. Bella this is Brad Fairchild, my boss, roommate and boyfriend."
Bella smiled. "Now, I'm truly pleased to meet you."
"And I'm thrilled to meet you. Ginger's told me all about you and from her description, I would have known you anywhere. Except she did say you had long hair."
"I did last time she saw me, but you know—conservative law firm—wear it up or cut it."
"I can imagine."
The busboy brought fresh bread and butter. The waiter followed him carrying a magnum of red wine. After going through the wine tasting ritual with Bella, he poured everyone's glass. When he finished he introduced himself in a French accent. "Good evening. I'm Gastineau, but I go by Gus." Gus proceeded to recite a long list of specials then took our drink orders, stating he would return with our drinks and take our dinner orders.
"You both met my friend Gino. Gino is an independent, private investigator, who does a lot of work for our law firm. Gino took an interest in my sister's case and has been working on it in his spare time and that's all I'll say about the case until we finish eating. I want to enjoy your company and I don't intend to spoil my dinner talking about my sister and thinking about your problem."
Bella obviously felt emotional about her sister, dabbing her eyes with her napkin while she spoke.
Gus returned with our drinks and took our orders. Bella insisted we all have a Michael's specialty appetizer—escargot—so we started with that. It was fantastic as was the Caesars salad. Amber ordered the catch of the day, some rare fish from the Dead Sea. Brad and I shared a rack of lamb. It was delicious. So was Bella's lobster thermidor and Gino's beef medallions, so they said. For dessert we had crème brulee and coffee. When they served the after dinner cordials Bella ordered, she leaned back, brandy snifter in hand and sighed. "Okay, it's time to talk turkey."
I dragged Brad's recorder out of my purse. "Before we start, I need to tell you that I recorded the entire meeting with Milton Grimes."
Bella's eyes rounded as she leaned forward. "You did?"
"Yes, and it's pretty damning."
"Damning! What do you mean?"
Amber said. "Sexual harassment. That's one of the things we wanted to talk about with you."
I nodded. "Yes, I'd love to sue him. Would you be able to represent me in a lawsuit?"
"Absolutely." Bella glanced around and laid her hand across mine. "But before you play the recording, let's get the waiter to move us into the private dining room, so no one else can hear anything."
Bella got Gus's attention and in two or three minutes we were situated at a rectangular table in the private dinning room."
Bella placed her hand on mine again. "Okay dear, let's hear the recording."
I pushed the recorder's play button. Unlike the first time when I played the recording for Amber and Brad, no one said a word.
"You were right. The recording is damning and revealing. It fills in some things about my sister I never knew. The position he's offering you is exactly what my sister did. She was his personal assistant. She had an office in the publicity and public relations department. And with the money she made, I don't doubt she entertained his tycoons."
Brad asked. "So you think Ginger can sue Grimes?"
"Oh, yes and win. I'm sure Bayside's lawyers would fight tooth and nail to keep the recording from being placed in law, but since New York is a one party consent state, I don't think they'd win."
"How much would we sue for?"
"I'm not prepared to say at this time. If we went to trial, which I doubt that Bayside would want due to the publicity, we'd go for the moon and hope we get somewhere between ten and fifty-percent."
"Getting back to my sister, Gino, why don't you explain to Ginger what the police think happened to her and what you think?"
"Gladly." Resting his elbows on the table, Gino leaned forward. "Roughly four months ago, with no contact or explanation, Lily failed to show up at work for two days, so when Bella found out she called the police. Later that day, police visited her Park Avenue apartment and found nothing. Yes, there were signs that someone lived there. A dish and empty coffee cup in the kitchen sink, food, dishes and silverware in the cupboards. There was food in the refrigerator, closets full of clothes, toiletries in the bath. The only thing missing was Bella's sister.
"Police investigators found nothing out of the ordinary at the apartment. Nothing! Four months later, despite a massive media push and a reward Bella offered for information, no trace of her has turned up. No body, not even any evidence of a crime."
"So what do the police think?" I asked.
"The police suspect she ran away."
"But not likely," Brad added.
"What?"
Brad gestured with his hands. "It's obvious from the way you said what you said, that you don't agree with the police."
Gino gave a single nod. "I don't. Taking everything into consideration, I see things differently. To me the lack of evidence of a crime or information, it's like someone plucked her from here and relocated her somewhere else."
I frowned. "How is that different from running away?"
He looked at me. "Running away would mean she was in control, yet her car remained in the garage, her passport was in a dresser drawer and none of her credit cards have been used, since she disappeared."
Amber looked around then asked, "What do you mean plucked fr
om here and relocated somewhere else?"
Gino shrugged. "Kidnapped?"
Brad frowned. "Then why hasn't there been a ransom demand?"
"Kidnappers don't always want a ransom. Sometimes kidnappers just want the victim."
I gasped. "Oh my God! There's been so much talk of white slavery in the paper and internet lately… You don't think…"
Gino wrung his hands. "I don't know what to think. I don't have enough information. I just don't happen to agree with the police."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Enough of this gruesome talk." She lifted the recorder. See that I get a copy of this."
Brad said, "I've already uploaded it into my personal computer. I will email a copy to you."
"Thank you, Brad." Bella turned to me. "What are you going to do about Grimes' ultimatum on Friday?"
"I thought I'd give him my resignation."
"No, don't do that. Force him to fire you and get a recording of that meeting too, if you can. He probably won't fire you on the spot, but you will be fired, which will make the lawsuit all the better."
Gino warned us, "I wouldn't push my luck on getting a recording with that standard recorder again."
I glanced at Gino. "What do you mean?"
He handed me a card. "Come to my office tomorrow and I'll fix you up with a recorder that will go in the toe of your shoe. What size shoe do you wear?"
"Seven and a half."
"Okay, I'll have them ready for you when you come."
Bella took a deep breath. "Well that takes care of that issue. You mentioned that you had something else for which you needed legal advice."
Brad nodded. "Yes, I suppose I should talk to you about that. Since it appears Ginger and I will both be unemployed shortly, the three of us want to go into partnership to buy Bayview Equities, which belongs to an old friend of mine who has health issues. I will negotiate the price with my friend's wife and you will only need to do the paperwork."
"I assume when you say the three of you, you mean Amber too."
"Correct. She will be our marketing director."
"Oh what fun, the three of you together. Of course I'll do it for you. It'll be my pleasure."