Hide and Snoop (The Odelia Grey Mysteries)

by Jaffarian, Sue Ann

  “Zee Washington agreed to watch her today, but my friends should not be used as daycare any more than I should. If Erica’s sister has taken off, then Erica needs to step up and take care of her own niece.” I stopped my rant long enough to take stock of my words, remembering how scruffy Lily was getting as the days wore on. “Although my guess is Lily is far better off with me or Zee. It’s just not right, though.”

  “I agree.”

  Carl swiveled around in his chair and looked out the window. I wasn’t sure if it was an indication I was dismissed or if he merely needed time to digest the situation. After nearly a minute, I started for the door.

  “Odelia.” My name came from the chair, but Carl still did not turn around.

  I took a careful step back in the direction of Carl’s desk as he spun back around to face me.

  “I know Erica has been stacking the deck against you. We all know it. She hasn’t been very discreet about it. She’s even been lobbying the Woobie partners against you on the liability issue and has succeeded in catching the attention of a few. I’m not sure why she’s doing that, do you?”

  I swung my head back and forth as if on a hinge. “Not a clue.”

  “Have you tried talking to her about it?”

  “Yes, but she shuts me down and won’t give me the time of day. I’m practically barred from her office.”

  I took a seat in the chair across from Carl again, about to unload an unsavory thought. “Carl, do you think Erica’s sleeping with Mark Baker? It wouldn’t be the first time a boss couldn’t keep their hands off the staff.”

  I knew my remark conjured up thoughts of Steele, who loved getting up close and personal with coworkers, especially secretaries—until we hired him a lesbian assistant. He fell in love with Jill’s secretarial abilities and baking skills instead. But as long as I’ve known him, Steele has never used his influence to help or hinder his lovers.

  “I have no idea,” Carl answered after giving it consideration. “It could just be a case of her preferring to work with a paralegal she knows. You know, her comfort level.” Even though the words came out of his mouth, I could see Carl was thinking there might be more to Erica’s motives than mere familiarity.

  Crossing my arms, I leveled my eyes at Carl and let loose a barely veiled threat. “If she is sleeping with Mark, or has some other personal connection to him, and is going around bad-mouthing me to the partners to get me fired, she’s the one opening the firm up to liability, not me.”

  Carl’s a smart boy. He knew instantly I meant Erica was exposing the firm to a possible discrimination suit on the issues of sex and gender, with possible age-discrimination allegations thrown in. Not that I’d thought about filing a suit until that very moment, but now that I’d thrown the comment out, it had become part of my arsenal.

  Carl’s eyes bore into mine to see if I meant business. I didn’t crack under the pressure. I had nothing to lose.

  “Go back to your desk, Odelia,” he finally said. “Do your work in the same efficient manner you always have. It’s rather slow right now across the firm as a whole, but I’ll rustle up some work to keep you afloat for the time being, and I’ll have other attorneys divert billable work to you as much as possible. Don’t forget, you have a lot of loyal supporters here.”

  “What about Lily?”

  “I know it’s an imposition, but if we can’t iron out that problem today, do you think Zee would keep her tomorrow while you’re here?”

  I thought about Zee cuddling with Lily. Kids were like crack to her. “I believe she would.”

  Carl reached for his phone. “In the meantime, I’m going to get in touch with Erica.”

  “Good luck. No one seems to know where she is at the moment or when she’s returning. She might even be gone until Monday.”

  “Hmm.” He held up a finger, indicating for me to stay put. After unhanding the phone, he swung around again to gaze out the window to think. Thirty seconds later, he turned back around.

  “We’ve shelved the decision about the paralegals for a few weeks,” he told me. “That should buy me time to get to the bottom of this. How about you putting some time into locating Erica? But do it quietly. When you do find her, make sure she gets in touch with me immediately.” His eyes were almost glowing. I knew that look. It was how he looked when he had enough evidence to nail an opponent in court.

  “More unbillable work, Carl?”

  “For now, it might be necessary.” Carl picked up a pen and started twirling it between his fingers as he set out his battle plan. “Remember that internal billable code we used when Steele went missing? Use that for your time. If anyone asks, you’re on a special assignment for me.”

  Like with Erica, Carl didn’t give me a chance to decline the assignment. “Sure, Carl,” I answered as if everything was hunky-dory.

  “And while you’re at it, find out more about Erica and Mark’s relationship. Again, with discretion.”

  With that order, my task went from locating a boss for a conference call to digging into her personal life like one of those slimy divorce detectives. I had already planned on finding out more about Erica and Mark. After all, if she was slinging mud at me with the partners, I had to be prepared to do battle. From time to time, the firm had called upon me to research the background of questionable corporations and individuals connected to them. It usually involved digging around on the computer through public records and connecting the dots. But this was different. A name partner had given me the green light to burrow into the personal life of another partner. If this went sour, it would taint us both with a stink that would be hard to shake.

  Carl put his hand back on the phone, then stopped and looked into my face. “We were all very pleased when you didn’t follow Mike Steele to Templin and Tobin. I think it’s time to remind the partners about that.”

  With one foot out his door, I let loose with my final volley. “Don’t you think it’s equally important to remind me why I didn’t?”

  Carl stared at me, grunted something indecipherable, and turned back around to gaze out his window. He was still twirling the pen.

  I walked down the hall to the other side of the building, towards my office, thinking how Zee had seen this coming. She’d told me not to get involved, not even if they asked. But what was I to do? I had to find Erica, hand Lily off to her, and hopefully show the powers-that-be that of their two paralegals, I was the keeper.

  Truth is, unemployment was beginning to look pretty damn snazzy.

  I was barely back in my office when Alyce rushed in. “I got your message that you were coming back.”

  As soon as I agreed to return to the office, I had called Alyce to keep her in the loop and tell her not to bother with my computer. With Alyce was a tall, thin man I’d never seen before. Due to confidentiality issues, unknown individuals are not allowed to drift through our hallways. My questioning eyes settled on him.

  “Oh,” jumped in Alyce, noting my attention to the stranger, “this is Gary, my husband. He was in the area and stopped by to say hello and see the office.”

  I extended my right hand towards Gary Allen. “I’m Odelia Grey. Nice to meet you.” He smiled, showing uneven teeth, and took my hand. His shake was firm and dry, his blue eyes serious and intelligent. His face was broad through the forehead and narrow at the jaw, like an inverted pyramid.

  “My pleasure, Odelia,” Gary Allen said with warmth. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Alyce hooked an arm through her husband’s. “Gary and I were talking, Odelia. We’d be glad to take Lily back to our house until Monday. Gary works from home mostly, so tomorrow wouldn’t be a problem, and we have kids of our own.”

  Gary patted his wife’s arm. “One more child wouldn’t make a bit of difference, I can assure you. The Lord provides for all who enter our home.”

  It was then Alyce noticed I was toddler-free. “Where’s Lily?” she asked.

  Mark Baker materialized out of nowhere, the three of them crowdi
ng my door. Standing slightly behind the Allens, Mark watched in silence like a deadly crocodile waiting in the shallows of a swamp.

  “That’s very generous of you,” I said to Alyce and Gary, “but a friend is watching her.”

  They seemed genuinely disappointed.

  “Carl called me back in for a meeting,” I explained, “and I didn’t think it wise to have her underfoot.”

  A hand shot to Alyce’s mouth. “You’re not … you know.”

  “Relax, I still have my job.” I took a seat behind my desk and stashed my purse in the bottom drawer. “Carl assigned me a special project he needs done right away.” I looked pointedly from Alyce to Mark, letting my gaze linger on the latter. “I’m sure you’re both relieved to hear I wasn’t canned … yet.”

  seven

  When I picked up Lily after work, she was clearly glad to see me. She was scrubbed clean, top to bottom, including her clothes, and her cold seemed better. She ran to me and threw her arms around my legs, chattering a mile a minute about cookies and trains. Or maybe it was clubs and twine.

  “You’re a miracle worker, Zee. Lily looks factory new.”

  Zee was working on supper. “Nothing a nap and a bubble bath couldn’t fix. I went through her suitcase to see what was clean and dirty and ended up throwing almost everything in the wash. By the way, there’s a baby monitor in there. Make sure you use it tonight.”

  Lily babbled something and took off like a shot to watch something on TV.

  “She was in the middle of Dora the Explorer,” Zee explained.

  “Huh?”

  Zee laughed. “You’ll learn soon enough.”

  “I really owe you, Zee.” I hesitated. I had two other favors to ask her but didn’t want her to think I was taking advantage. One was taking Lily the next day, Friday, so I could go into work. I was sure she wouldn’t have an issue with that if she didn’t have plans. The other favor was Friday night. Shortly after I left Carl, I had called Greg to update him on everything.

  “If I don’t locate Erica soon, you and I will be playing Mommy and Daddy over the weekend.”

  “Sounds like fun, actually,” was my darling husband’s initial response. “I know Wainwright will love it. But what about Friday night?”

  “What’s Friday?” I asked, my mind a blank. Before he could say anything, I groaned, remembering we had plans. Isaac and Melina Thornwood had asked us over to dinner on Friday night. Isaac played basketball with Greg. He was also in a wheelchair but was an amputee. Like us, the Thornwoods entertained quite a bit. Usually their dinners were on Saturday night, but this Sunday they were leaving on vacation. Friday night was to be a small birthday bash for Isaac.

  “If Zee can’t watch Lily, I’ll have to stay home with her.” I was disappointed but felt very motherly and responsible as I said the words.

  “If Zee can’t watch her Friday night, maybe my parents could,” Greg offered. “You know my mother loves little kids.”

  That was an understatement. Between Greg, his brother, and his sister, only his sister had produced grandchildren for the Stevens family, and recently she and her brood had moved to Northern California. Renee Stevens was going through grandchildren withdrawal, just as Zee was going through the anticipation of getting her own one day.

  I turned my memory away from my earlier phone call with Greg and settled back on the present and Zee.

  “I have a really big favor to ask you,” I said to my friend as she stirred something in a large pot on the stove. The steam drifted over to my nostrils. It was aromatic, filled with scent of gentle spices and chicken—probably a homemade stew or soup. My mouth watered. Lunch with Steele had seemed like days ago. I hoisted my behind onto a stool in front of the granite kitchen counter.

  “You want me to watch Lily tomorrow while you go to work, don’t you?” Zee put the wooden spoon down on a spoon rest and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. She moved from the stove to the counter, standing across from where I sat.

  “Could you?”

  “Of course,” Zee replied in a happy voice. “I figured you might need a sitter for tomorrow.”

  I fidgeted on the stool, my short legs dangling uncomfortably until I could find the foot rail. “Can you also watch her tomorrow night? Greg and I have dinner plans.” Before Zee could answer, I gushed, “If you can’t, that’s okay—I do have a backup plan, and you’re already going above and beyond.”

  Zee didn’t answer the question, instead honing in on the obvious information behind it. “So Lily’s staying with you for the entire weekend?”

  “If I can’t locate Erica tomorrow, she is.” I gave her a quick update on my conversation with Carl.

  Zee didn’t say anything but returned to the stove, where she picked up the wooden spoon and started stirring whatever was in the big pot again. It didn’t need it, but Zee needed something to do. In her head I knew she was stirring the information I’d just given her as vigorously as she was whirling around the contents of the pot.

  “So in spite of my warning, you’re going to hunt down Erica Mayfield?”

  “You forgot, I’m also sneaking around to see if she and Mark are doing the nasty.”

  Zee didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She fixed me with the two pools of chocolate she called eyes and set her mouth into displeasure.

  “I didn’t have a choice, Zee,” I told her, going on the defense. “Carl gave it to me as an assignment. It could be the difference between keeping my job or not.”

  “Did you even put up a fight, Odelia? Did you tell him you were out of the attorney-hunting business?” Zee returned to the counter, still clutching the spoon. I worried she might bop me over the head with it. She didn’t, but she did shake it at me with determination while her left hand, knotted in a fist, latched onto her bulky left hip. “Well, did you?” Zee’s coffee-colored face was stern but not scrunched in anger. I took that as a good sign. Still, I leaned back from the counter.

  “No, Zee, I didn’t. I’m thinking the sooner I find Erica, the sooner all the crap about Lily and my job will be cleared up. Carl didn’t sound the least bit pleased with Erica and her shenanigans.”

  She put the spoon down on her spotless counter. “Would you really file a discrimination suit against that firm?”

  “Honestly? The idea never occurred to me until I found out Erica was trying to influence the Woobie partners against me. If they decide they want Mark over me strictly based on work product, I wouldn’t like it, but I could live with it. But Erica is going out of her way to make sure I fail.” I paused to think it over. Suing an employer had a lot of risks. “But if I found out Erica had special and personal ties to Mark Baker and that was her motive for sandbagging me, then yes, I’d consider legal action.”

  Zee issued a deep sigh and looked into my eyes a long time before looking away. From the den came the sound of a children’s song and giggles from Lily.

  “When you bring Lily over tomorrow morning,” Zee said, “why don’t you plan on her staying the night. That way you and Greg won’t have to worry about how late your dinner runs.”

  “Thank you, Zee.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ll pick her up Saturday morning.”

  She picked up the spoon and shook it at me again. A few drops of broth flew in my direction, landing on the counter with the droplets from earlier. “Just assure me there are no dead bodies involved.”

  With my right index finger I crossed my heart. “There are no dead bodies, Zee. I just have to locate Erica, so Carl can talk to her as soon as possible, and do some snooping into Mark’s connection to her. I’ll probably be able to do both tomorrow from the safety of my desk while chowing down on a tuna sandwich.”

  The spoon pointed at me like a lance. “Just keep it that way, you hear?”

  In the beginning, Lily wasn’t so sure about wanting to be pals with Wainwright, our big, friendly golden retriever. But he won her over, as he does everyone he meets, and soon she was rolling on the floor in a fit of giggles wit
h Wainwright and Muffin, our young gray cat. Our old man cat, Seamus, wasn’t having any of it and had disappeared into our bedroom for a quiet snooze.

  Greg was enchanted with Lily and she with him. If Lily were twenty years older, I’d have been a bit worried about her stealing my hubby’s heart. Greg loved kids and, like his mother, was grieving over the move of his two nephews.

  Kids had been a sticking point when Greg asked me to marry him—not a sticking point to him, but to me. I was in my late forties when we married; Greg was ten years younger. I knew he wanted kids, but for me it wasn’t an option. In the end, he assured me it didn’t matter, that he wanted me no matter what. For a while we considered adopting, but that never materialized. Now, with me in my fifties and Greg in his forties, children weren’t even on our radar, except for the children belonging to friends and family.

  When she first met Greg, Lily was fascinated by his wheelchair. She kept wanting him to get up and let her have a turn. Once she understood the chair acted as his legs, she’d asked for a ride. Greg had hoisted her up on his lap and taken her for a spin around our large, wheelchair-friendly house.

  Now the two of them were in the kitchen. Greg was whipping up grilled cheese sandwiches with Lily’s help and supervision, the planned catfish dinner long forgotten. Lily was kneeling on a chair dragged up close to the counter. Because our counters were built to be accessible to Greg, they were low and perfect for Lily’s use, with a little help. They were also perfect for me since I’m on the short side.

  Lily was in charge of buttering the bread. Wainwright watched with eager and hungry eyes for any fallout. He’d already snagged a piece of bread that had fallen to the floor—butter-side down, of course. I was at one end of the kitchen table with my laptop. Outside, the threat of rain had finally materialized. It started while driving home from Zee’s and had continued, soft and steady, since. Rain, the warm kitchen, and the happy domestic scene were acting as a balm to the day’s events. But watching Greg with Lily brought back the old worry and guilt that I might have robbed my husband of something important. Blinking back the tears threatening my vision, I moved my thoughts back to getting a bead on Erica’s whereabouts.