With the heavy caseload, Riley took on another case for him so that Neal could concentrate on this one, which was personal.
As he drove by and parked, Neal noted Templeman’s house was very close to the Buchanan mansion. He knocked on Templeman’s door for the one o’clock interview.
“Detective Hawkins, please come in. I’ve been out of town for a couple of weeks, or I would have called back sooner.” Templeman was in his mid-sixties, well dressed, with a full head of gray hair, but his eyes betrayed his emotional, worn-down state. He escorted Neal past an unused formal living room and dining room and into a family room with tan walls wrapped with crown molding, a comfortable leather couch, and a recliner facing a brick wood-burning fireplace and flat-screen television.
Templeman apparently lived alone since his wife’s death. Neal stopped at a picture of Templeman and Gloria Buchanan on a side table.
“That was taken at the twenty-fifth anniversary dinner. I hope you don’t mind if I have a drink?” Templeman poured himself a scotch.
“Were you in a relationship with Gloria Buchanan?” Neal looked him directly in the eye.
Templeman took two slow sips of his scotch before answering. “Yes, Detective, for the past ten years.” He sat in his leather recliner. “She was lonely after her husband died, and so was I after my wife passed. You know, the four of us used to spend a lot of time together outside work. Gloria and I were very close friends, and later, companions. We didn’t let anyone know.”
“Did you know about her illness?”
“I was with her at the doctor’s office when she found out. She was never sick. Gloria was made of steel. When she lost her energy and had difficulty eating, we both knew it was serious.” He downed half his drink. “We thought we’d have more time. She was responding well to the treatments. The doctors said she had another year.” Templeman stared into his drink. His eyes turned glassy, and his hand shook. “I… never said goodbye.”
Neal waited for him to regain his composure. “You worked at Synergy for a long time.”
“Almost twenty-eight years.”
“After serving the company for so long, you must have been angry when Jade fired you in front of everyone.”
Templeman pulled the glass away from his lips. “Is that why you’re here, Detective? Is this about Jade?”
“Yes. How did you feel after Jade fired you?”
“It should have been handled differently.” Templeman shook his head. “At the time, I was shocked. Jade made a decision, and Gloria would have wanted me to support it. But now, after I’ve had time to think it through, she’d been trying to make changes, and I was getting in her way. I thought I was helping guide her, and she seemed to accept what I was saying. But then she’d go off and do what she wanted to anyway. Jade was struggling to find a way to assert herself as the CEO, and I wasn’t helping. I see that now. Firing me was probably the best thing she did. The company is…” Templeman broke off.
Neal waited for him to continue.
“I don’t know if Jade told you this, but the company is having financial difficulty. I’ve known about it for years. When Gloria was ill, all I could do was be there for her. The company didn’t matter. All that mattered was her.” Deep sorrow washed over Templeman’s face.
Either Templeman was a good liar, or he was in considerable pain. Neal would have to check other sources to see what they said about Stan Templeman’s relationship with Gloria. “Someone attacked Jade Buchanan in the parking garage.”
“What?” Templeman’s head snapped up. “Is she all right?”
He doesn’t know. “She’s fine. Can you tell me your whereabouts at seven-twenty p.m. last Friday?”
“Of course. I was here at home.”
“Were you with anyone?”
“I was alone. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to socialize, Detective. It came as quite a shock when Jade fired me. I left for my sister’s the next day.”
“Were you in enough shock to attack Jade?”
“I care about Jade. She meant the world to Gloria. Besides, I’m an old man. I can assure you, she could hurt me worse than I could her.”
Unless you hired someone to do it for you. Neal made a mental note to check if any large amounts had left Templeman’s bank account recently. Templeman could be telling the truth, but Neal wasn’t ready to rule him out just yet.
JADE WAS HUNGRY FOR MORE THAN just food, and she was thrilled that Bryce had asked her to go out to dinner while they worked. Technically, it was their first let’s-see-where-this-goes date. The flurries in her stomach reminded her of being a teenager. They hadn’t kissed since four days ago, though they were finally easy with each other again, working great together, even flirting. But they hadn’t touched since that day.
Nerves had kept her from doing anything to compromise the good relationship they had now. She couldn’t risk going back to him ignoring her. They needed to work as a team to run this company, but more importantly, she couldn’t bear not being around him.
She took a deep breath and knocked on Bryce’s office door, making sure she had a friendly smile on her lips. “You ready?”
“I’m always ready for dinner with a beautiful woman.” Bryce laid a file on his desk, reached for his leather jacket, then walked out to the elevator with her.
His comment about her being beautiful took the flurries to full-on blizzard. “Don’t you want to bring that contract with you?”
“Nope, we have plenty of time to work when we get back. What do you say to being really crazy and actually taking an entire hour away from work?”
“I don’t know.” She tried to keep her tone light. “It sounds really risky. The company might go under if we take a break.”
“You’re right. I better go back and get it.” He wheeled around, as if to retrieve the contract.
Jade playfully pushed Bryce toward the elevator. It felt good to laugh and even better to touch him again. “Okay, I have to know what that is.”
“What?”
“In your pocket?”
Bryce pulled out a large coin and held it up between his thumb and finger, showing her the front and back of it.
“Why do you have a silver dollar in your pocket?”
“It’s always brought me luck. I found it on the floor of a casino on a senior college trip to Vegas and won fourteen hundred after I found it. I kept it in my pocket for luck during finals. Guess it became habit.”
“I wouldn’t mind having one of those.” Jade pressed the elevator button.
Bryce stepped in close behind her. “You’ll have to go to Vegas and find one of your own.” His voice was low, sensual. “Ever been?”
His breath was hot against her ear. “No, that’s one place I haven’t gone.” She closed her eyes. Just the mention of Vegas conjured up an image of satin sheets and heart-shaped beds.
The elevator door opened and to her disappointment, it wasn’t empty. She walked in and stood next to Bryce.
The elevator seemed to stop on every floor on its way down. The more people that got on, the closer she and Bryce stood together. At one point, their hands touched, and he linked his fingers with hers. Could the people in front of her feel the heat between her and Bryce in that cramped space? To her disappointment, he released her hand when they reached the lobby. Jade breathed in the fresh air when they left the building. It was cooler outside in early August than in the elevator with Bryce.
“It’s this way,” he said.
Jade lifted her face to the last of the day’s sunshine. “Have to soak up enough Vitamin D for next winter. I miss California.”
“Me too, but you have to admit, there’s no place on earth more beautiful in the summer than the Pacific Northwest. It wouldn’t be this green without the rain.”
Jade sauntered along the Seattle sidewalks, peering in shop windows. She stopped to look at a glass bowl with varying shades of red swirling throughout it in a classic Chihuly shape, similar to an oyster. Bryce wasn’t in a hurry and
didn’t seem to mind. “I just adore glass,” Jade said.
“That was apparent when I saw your place.”
“I love the way the colors change when the light reflects over it or shines through it.”
“I like the orange one.”
She considered the tall, sleek modern vase. The orange coloring seemed to float inside its clear rectangular base. “It’s beautiful.”
“So are you.”
Jade’s gaze shifted to Bryce. He’d stepped in close to her. “Thank you.” The words came out in a whisper. Gran had taught her always to thank a person who complimented you. Now, the words seemed foolish. She looked away. “Uh, where’s the teriyaki place?”
“Two more blocks.” Bryce grinned. He seemed to enjoy flustering her. They walked a little farther, then he stopped. “Hold on. Do you mind if I go in here for a second?”
“No. For what?” She followed him into a store full of dolls and stuffed animals.
“I have to get this for my niece.” He pulled a green stuffed turtle from the window shelf. “She collects turtles. Her birthday is next month.”
Jade couldn’t help smiling at the toy’s cartoon-like grin. She waited for him to pay. “It’s adorable.”
When they made it to the brightly lit teriyaki restaurant, Bryce held the door open for Jade. She followed him to a cozy booth for two in the back where he sat opposite her. A complete bummer, but she wouldn’t complain, not when she was here with him.
He checked out the menu choices. “Do you want to share? We can order family style.”
“That sounds good.”
After they ordered, he turned to Jade. “How has your research been going? Find anything to help our financial situation?”
“No, nothing concrete yet.” Jade sipped water from her glass. “Donald has helped explain some of it, but it just doesn’t add up. I’m still digging into it.”
Bryce’s eyebrows drew together and he reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Maybe there’s nothing there to dig up.”
“Hmm, maybe.” She was distracted by the feel of his thumb caressing the top of her hand. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about business for an hour?” She tilted her head and ran her fingers down the side of her neck.
“Right… personal question then?”
“You can ask.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “It doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“Fair enough. What happened when you left Synergy over a year ago?”
She pulled her hand from his and leaned back. That wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. “I already told you. I went to Stanford.”
“There’s something more than that. Gloria talked about you incessantly, and you used to come to the company in your free time. You didn’t say much, but you were always there. Then, just like that”—he snapped his fingers—“you were gone, and she stopped talking about you. I just assumed you’d moved on with your life and weren’t interested.”
Tears sprang to Jade’s eyes. She vividly remembered the day she’d decided to leave. It was a memory she would never forget—and one she now had a lifetime to regret.
JADE LOOKED AWAY FROM BRYCE as her mind took her back to the last time she’d spoken to Gran. It had been a beautiful, crisp sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, perfect for Jade’s graduation ceremony at the University of Washington.
Gran had arranged to have an early dinner afterward at Anthony’s on Lake Union. Friends and family, dressed in semiformal attire, had surrounded Jade at the white-linen covered table set against a wall of windows. It had been one of the best days of her life.
She’d ordered Alaska king crab with drawn butter. It was sweet and delicious, one of her favorite Pacific Northwest dishes, second to salmon.
Jade was sitting between Aleks and Gran.
“So when do you start the Executive MBA program at U-Dub?” Aleks asked.
Jade cracked a crab leg, twisting it back and forth until it relented and broke free. “The leadership retreat starts on September fourth. It lasts three days. I can’t wait. I’ll get a chance to meet all my classmates.”
Gran’s lips puckered as if her coffee were laced with lemon. “Didn’t you tell your friends you’ll be going to Stanford next year?”
“We talked about this, Gran. I want to work at Synergy part time during the school year and full time during my breaks and summers. If I go to Stanford, I won’t be able to do that.”
“You need to focus on school right now, dear. Synergy will be here when you come home. I think it best you go to Stanford.”
“I know you really like Stanford, and you helped me get in.” The reality was Gran had applied for Jade without her knowledge, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss it. “I’ve made my decision.”
“I’ve made an important decision as well. I know you won’t understand it, and you will be angry with me, but it is for the best.”
Jade put down the crab. Her stomach knotted. Gran had done it again, hadn’t she?
“Maybe now’s not the best time, Mom.” Grace smiled politely at their guests.
“There’s no point in delaying.” Gloria clasped her hands together and turned to Jade. “There will not be a position for you at Synergy, part time or full time, until you’ve finished the Executive MBA program at Stanford.”
“But Gran, you can’t—”
“I’m sorry, Jade, I know you’re upset with me, but I know you’ll understand someday.”
“This is my life. You can’t keep making decisions for me. I’m twenty-one. I’m an adult. I’m old enough to drink.” The pursing of her grandmother’s lips meant the item was closed for discussion. Gran had made up her mind, and she wouldn’t change it.
“Fine.” Jade threw down her crab cracker and stood. “You don’t want me at Synergy? Then you won’t see me or speak to me until I’m ready to come back. I’ll see you in two years when I have my Master’s degree. Since that’s what you want.”
She’d left her friends and family at her graduation celebration, packed up her bags, got on the first plane to California, and had not returned until she’d heard the news.
Gran was gone.
BRYCE PULLED HER HAND INTO HIS, when Jade finished telling him about that horrible day. “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She swiped away a tear. “I didn’t know it would be the last time I ever spoke to her.”
“Gloria was a very stubborn woman. She was used to getting exactly what she wanted. You remind me a lot of her in that way.” Jade laughed through her tears. “You were the most important person in her life. She was proud of you and couldn’t wait until you came to work for Synergy full time.”
“But, she said—”
“Given what we know now, I’m guessing she knew she was sick, and she wanted you to be in a position not to just work at the company, but to take over.”
“She didn’t tell my parents that she was terminally ill until a month before she died. She led them to believe her treatments were working. I could have spent the last year with her, but she robbed me of that. How could she?”
“That was Gloria’s way, and from what we see now, she got exactly what she wanted. You are CEO.” He rubbed his thumb over her fingers to comfort her.
“Yeah, because she forced me into the position.”
“Frankly, I was shocked when you didn’t sell. It would’ve been easy for you to take the money and never work again. But you made the tough choice instead. Takes guts.”
When he put it like that, it gave her a new perspective. She wasn’t forced to take over the company. She’d made the decision to do so. And yeah, it was tough. “Thank you, Bryce.”
“For what?”
“For not judging me, and for understanding my grandmother. You loved her, didn’t you?”
He smiled. “I loved that stubborn old woman like my own mother. It killed me when I found out she was sicker than she’d led me to believe.”
“She didn’t want anyone remembering
her that way.”
He shook his head. “Stubborn.”
“Exactly.” Jade pulled her hand away when their food was delivered. She scooped teriyaki chicken onto her plate. “We were so close when I was young, two peas in a pod. But when I became a teenager, I wanted to make my own decisions and make my own mistakes. My dad trusted my decisions, and my mom was too carefree to worry about anything. But Gran held Synergy over my head. Every time she made a decision for me, I rebelled.” She pointed to the four gems in her ears.
“Why the different colors?”
“They’re the birthstones of my parents and grandmother. My birthstone happens to be a diamond.”
“Fitting. I have to ask. What led to each piercing?” He twirled yakisoba onto his fork.
“The first one was when she told me I couldn’t go out with a senior at my high school. She said he was too old for me.”
“How old were you?”
“I was a freshman.”
“That’s a big difference at that age.”
“I guess.” She shrugged. “But it was still my mistake to make. The second one was when I didn’t want to do the college program in high school. I wanted the full high-school experience. Prom and all.”
“No prom?”
“College boys don’t like to go to prom, which leads us to the third piercing. She tried to stop me from dating a college freshman.”
“Guys only want one thing at that age.”
“And what is that?” Jade blew on her hot tea and gazed at him through her lashes.
The edges of his eyes turned an intense green.
“You know…” she said, “I have other piercings.”
His fork stopped midway to his mouth. “Where?”
“Not telling.” She licked teriyaki sauce from her finger, very… very… slowly.
The way his eyes darkened as he watched her lick her finger was very satisfying. It was clear he lusted after her just as much as she did him. She wanted badly to grab his tie from across the table and pull his lips to hers. But she wouldn’t risk ruining their relationship again, and they couldn’t risk an employee walking in and seeing them. “Do you have any plans Friday night?” she asked.
Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) Page 16