by Adrianne Lee
“Gwen, you’ve had too much to drink. And I’m not in a dancing mood.”
“It’s her, isn’t it?” Gwen swayed on her feet.
Mac cringed at the scene she was making, but he felt sorry for his old friend. Apparently she’d loved Grant. This ruse he and Tia were perpetrating was hardest on her, and if she was another innocent victim in this mess, she’d suffer a worse heartache when she learned the truth. “Please, just sit down.”
“It is her, isn’t it?” She raised her voice. “You really love her?”
He murmured, “Yes.”
“Beep. Wrong answer.” A spaghetti strap had slipped off one of Gwen’s shoulders, revealing more than he cared to see of her. He reached for the strap. She slapped his hand away. “You’ll rue the day you messed with me, Grant Coy.”
She tossed her drink in his face. Mac jerked back. Will let out a gasp, then rushed to his aid with a napkin. Suzanne went to Gwen’s aid and got the same brushoff as Mac. Gwen stormed away. Suzanne turned to Mac and tugged him out of his soiled jacket, dabbing it dry with a second napkin. Red wine dripped from his chin down the front of his shirt. Felt sticky. He hurried to the men’s room to wash it off.
Nancy stood near the ladies’. She straightened, looking as guilty as if Mac had caught her defiling a nativity scene. What was she up to?
TIA AND GINNY were standing beside the table chatting when Mac returned. Tia gazed at his shirt in horror. “What happened?”
“Gwen.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” Ginny inquired.
“Long story,” Tia told her. “Later, okay?”
“Sure.”
Mac stepped closer to Tia. “I’ve had about all the gaiety I can stand for one night. How about you? Want to leave?”
“It looks like things are breaking up, anyway. And we do need to compare notes.”
Again Ginny raised an eyebrow. “What are you two up to?”
“Ginny, I’ll tell all, soon. I promise.”
“Okay. I have something I should have told you sooner, too.” That worried expression was back in her eyes. She bade them good-night and went in search of her brother.
“After we talk I want to go to the lab and test this chip,” Mac said. This time he would give her the chance to tell him about her past. This time he would listen and assure her it meant nothing to him, show her exactly how little it mattered. Desire teased his groin.
Mac gathered his jacket and slipped it on. He reached into the pocket for the car keys. A chill tripped along his spine. He whispered to Tia, “It’s gone. The box containing the chip. Someone stole it.”
He scanned the room, seeking any of their suspects making a stealthy departure. But party-goers seemed to be leaving in droves—as though everyone was guilty. He considered calling them all back, demanding to know which of them had taken it. He grimaced. Just as he’d demanded to know which of them had left it? Fat lot of good that had done.
He found the hostess and settled the bill, then guided Tia out to the car.
By the time he started his car, the parking lot had emptied. The temperature had dipped below freezing and the roads were slick. Keeping an eye out for black ice, Mac listened as Tia related her conversation with Bijou.
His frustration and anger twisted like ribbons in the wind. He cursed his trusting nature. First thing tomorrow he and his head of sales would be having a long conversation. But for now he felt more disheartened than ever. “The party was a joke. Nothing we learned tonight has put us one step closer to finding Grant’s killer.”
His cell phone rang. He answered, “Grant Coy.”
“Mr. Coy, it’s Bud Gibson. I’m at the plant, sir. I think you should come down here right away.”
“What?”
“The security team you hired have taken off. I found the place wide open.”
Chapter Sixteen
“What!” Mac’s blood ran cold. He swore.
“What’s wrong?” Tia asked, the anxiety in her voice matching the tension gripping him.
Mac couldn’t answer her yet. “Bud, what are you doing there?”
“I guess I should have told you right out, instead of taking the coward’s way,” Bud said. “But after Mac died, I didn’t know who my friends were.”
“I don’t know what you’re taking about.”
“I came back to the plant tonight to return the chip. I’m the one who’s been leaving you those gifts from Santa.”
“You? Why?”
“Because Mac Coy was good to me. He gave me a chance to turn over a new leaf and I owed him. A couple weeks ago I had my sister bring me back one of those Lei Industries bears and several little boxes. She flies to Taiwan with T, you know?”
“What were you trying to do with them?”
“I was trying to make you realize someone in this place is crooked. Trouble is, I don’t know who. But Mac told me you were a clever detective. So I figured with some prompting you’d try and figure it out.”
“Where did you get the chip?”
“From the bear in your office. I came here tonight to put it back. That’s when I found the security guards gone. The plant unlocked. I’m going to check out the place now. I’ll call you back soon.”
He hung up.
“Something’s going on at the plant.” Mac stomped harder on the gas. The Porsche lurched ahead like a trusty steed carrying the good guys to the rescue. But would they be too late? His heart thundered in his chest. He related Buddy’s conversation to Tia.
She blew out a taut breath. “So that’s what Ginny’s been too nervous to tell me. She probably thought he had her smuggling drugs into the country.”
“Somebody sent the security team away.”
Tia gasped. “Who could do that?”
“Gwen is the only one besides me who has the authority.”
“Do you think she’s the killer?”
“I hope not. Bud’s in there without a weapon.”
“Should we call the police?”
“Not yet.” He didn’t want the police interfering if it wasn’t necessary. “Let’s see what’s going on first.”
Tia exhaled. “Bud swore to me he was trying to turn himself around. You’ve been a good influence on him, Mac. Made him feel like he could overcome his background.”
Mac smiled at the compliment, but decided this might not be the best moment to mention what Bud had told him about her background.
The driving was tense, through busy roadways, over slick pavement. His nerves were raw by the time he pulled into the parking lot near the shipping bay. He braked, cut the engine and placed his hand over Tia’s. “Stay here. Please. If I’m not back in ten minutes, call 911.”
Tia waited exactly three minutes. Each second felt like an eternity. She got out of the car and slipped into the building, the same way she’d seen Mac enter. The only light on the first floor issued in a dim glow from the product room. Suzanne Chang’s area. The bite of disinfectant filled the air. Only a tinge of smokiness remained.
Her nerves jumping, Tia crossed the concrete floor. Her steps echoed in her ears. Where was Mac? She dared not call his name. No telling who might overhear. She called softly, “Grant?”
The sudden hum of machinery riveted her. She jolted and spun toward the noise. The conveyor belt. Why would it be running? Fear licked through her. She pivoted. Her gaze winged into every shadowed corner. “Grant?”
Still no answer. Her gaze moved unwittingly back to the conveyor belt. Through the flapped opening something began to appear. Something large. She stepped closer. A body. Tia froze. Horror chilled her blood. Gwen. A dark patch stained the vivid red dress. Gwen’s bright eyes stared at the ceiling. Seeing nothing. Dull now. Dead.
A scream ripped from Tia. She wanted to run. Her legs were leaden. She stumbled back and bumped into something solid. A man. Her heart stopped. “G-Grant?”
“Why don’t we join the guys upstairs.” Strong fingers dug into her arm and a gun was rammed against her temple.
“Fred?” Shock waves rolled through her. “But…you’re in the hospital.”
He laughed, a mean-spirited chortle. “That was my little joke on your stupid fiancé. I’m the one who called him earlier tonight to give him an update on my ‘condition.’” He laughed again.
The vision of Fred being worked on by the paramedics filled her head. “But you were unconscious.”
“Faked it.”
She was incredulous. The paramedics would have known. She dredged up the memory and recalled the female medic saying she didn’t know why Fred was unconscious. Had she suspected he wasn’t? “But the bump on your head? You couldn’t have faked that.”
“A stroke of luck I used to my advantage. I banged my head earlier loading those damned bears into the truck. I set fire to the boxes and then I just hid out in the john until the flames were extinguished, blackened my face a little and climbed under some charred cardboard.”
“But…why? Why did you kill these people?”
He tightened his grip on her arm.
Tia winced in pain.
He snarled, “You don’t know what it’s like, struggling through life in a dead-end job you hate, never having what you want, always settling.”
“You’re wrong. I know exactly what that’s like. But I wouldn’t kill anyone.”
He jammed the gun harder against her temple. Tia’s throat tightened. He growled into her ear, “You haven’t had your dream snatched from you time and time again. You’re too young to know the feeling that your life is slipping away. My time is now. Or never. Nobody is taking this cartoon from me. It’s my last shot at making it big.”
“I’m sure Mac would have given you the rights to the cartoon.” Her voice came out in a squeak. “If you’d asked.”
He laughed again. “You don’t understand how much money is involved. He’d have squandered the profits on little kids—same as he had since I’d known him. He couldn’t even get this company into the black. Money wasn’t important to him like it is to me. He’d always had it. He never knew the hell of being poor.”
“So you killed him?”
“Ah, well, I hadn’t planned on that, hadn’t planned on anyone dying, but he caught me in Bijou’s office talking to my connection at Lei Industries. He was going to turn me over to the police.”
Tia couldn’t speak from fear. He shoved her into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. “Lei is giving me full rights to the cartoons for their bear. And I’ve got an agent in New York shopping my proposals.” He grinned at her as though undressing her. A wooden matchstick poked between his fleshy lips. “Too bad I don’t have time to sample your wares, but I’ve got a plane to catch. While you and your fiancé are walking through the Pearly Gates, I’ll be winging my way to Taiwan to seal the deal.”
The elevator glided past the second floor.
Pearly Gates? Had he already killed Mac, too? Her heart hurt so much at the thought she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t bring herself to ask. “You broke into Grant’s offices, didn’t you? Why?”
“Because I found the strangest thing in Mac’s pocket—keys to Quell Inc. and one of those creditcard things that bypasses a security system. Made me wonder if he’d secretly gotten wind of the Lei deal and involved his brother the snoop.”
Her heart hitched. Then he really hadn’t known it was Grant he killed. She glared at him. “You hit me on the head.”
He gnawed the wooden matchstick. “You got in my way.”
Her bluster withered. She shivered. “Is that what Gwen did?”
“She showed up when I was trying to figure out how to get past the security team.” He shifted the matchstick to the other side of his mouth and grinned slyly. “She sent them home. I waited until they split, then found her in the lab. She wasn’t about to let me take that precious chip of hers, but I need those chips to cinch the deal with Lei. Without Mac’s brainbaby, their bear is a no go.”
The elevator doors swung open. A light shone in Mac’s office. As they approached, she saw him. Her lungs filled and her pulse leaped with hope. Then she realized he was kneeling beside a man sprawled on the floor. Buddy. Blood oozed from his forehead and his face was the color of cream cheese. Her heart dropped to her toes. Poor Buddy. He had tried reforming and been killed for his effort. Oh, Ginny.
Fred steered her into the office. Mac’s head jerked up. Shock washed his expression. And fear. His gaze locked on the gun trained on Tia. The tips of his ears reddened, and she knew it was from anger. He started to stand, his fists curling at his sides. “Fred? You? You killed my brother?”
“Oh, Mac, don’t be mad.” The tinny voice of Holly Beary issued from the shelf behind Fred.
Fred jerked as though he’d been hit. He released his hold on Tia and spun around, looking confused. “Mac?”
Tia knew this was their only chance. She smashed her fist on the hand holding the gun. It fired, but flew from his grip.
Mac dove past her, tackling Fred. Tia scrambled for the gun. In trembling hands she aimed it at the struggling men. “Stop fighting or I’ll shoot.”
But Mac was too angry to listen. He rammed his fist into Fred’s fleshy belly, then once more into his jaw. Fred groaned and collapsed to the floor. Out cold.
Sirens sounded outside. In minutes the factory would be overrun with police.
Tia laid the gun on the worktable and ran to Mac. He threw his arms around her. Breathless, he said, “It’s over, love.”
Tia blanched. It was more over than he knew.
DAWN POKED GRAY through the blinds in Mac’s office, the perfect backdrop for Tia’s mood. She and Mac had spent the whole night at police headquarters. Her body ached. Her mind felt fuzzy. But the red tape and paperwork created because of Mac’s lie about Grant’s death were being handled. Expedited.
The district attorney had assured them the only painting Fred Vogler would be doing for the rest of his life would be behind bars.
Buddy Gibson would have his chance at a new, honest future. He’d been lucky. The bullet had cut a swath across the top of his skull, but hadn’t entered his brain. He’d have a permanent reminder, an ugly scar, but he would mend quickly.
She wished her own wound were as easily healed. But as the night wore on, as each detail was resolved or started toward resolution, the time drew closer for her talk with Mac. Their final talk. Her heart felt as though it were shredded.
She wanted to disappear, but she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t let Mac think she’d left because she didn’t love him. He wouldn’t suffer the doubts she’d lived with all her life. And she loved him so much she had to tell him the truth.
It was a morning of truths. Suzanne Chang had admitted there was no factory in Mexico. The bears were being made in Seattle. In the Asian district. But not in the sweatshop Tia had feared.
Through her mother, Suzanne found a group of women needing to work from home. They were fast and efficient. They produced a great product, under the allowed budget, yet all were well compensated and could work their own hours and in comfortable circumstances. Plus, shipping costs for transporting the bears to the plant were kept low.
She hadn’t told Mac because most of the seamstresses were her relatives. She feared he’d disapprove.
Mac not only approved, he was relieved.
He closed the door behind Suzanne, and for the first time in eight hours, Tia and Mac were alone.
He looked weary. Dark circles underscored his eyes, and there was a tightness to his mouth. Besides Grant, he’d lost Gwen, his vice president, head of electronics and longtime friend. He’d lost Fred, who’d run the shipping department. And he’d lost a lot of illusions about all the people who worked for him. He’d had a hell of a week. She was about to make it worse. The pain in her chest doubled. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted and the only thing she could do.
Mac ran his hand over his head. He needed a shave. Somehow it made him more vulnerable. “Enough of the bears are in the warehouse to get the shi
pment under way. The launch won’t be as grand as planned, but Lei Industries is no longer a player. Their bear is history.”
Tia smiled. Under normal circumstances she’d have cheered loud and long. It was a huge success for the children of the world.
And Holly Beary would be a success for Mac.
She crossed the room to him and reached for his hand. His wonderful hand. She stifled the image of that hand on her, the ache for that hand on her. She placed her engagement ring into his palm. “This belongs to Gwen. I’m only sorry I couldn’t give it to her when she was alive. More sorry that we couldn’t ease her mind about Grant’s love.”
He nodded. “She’s with Grant now. It’s not the way it should have been, but at least he’s not alone.”
Tears filled her eyes and she saw that his, also, glistened with grief. Pure, guilt-free grief for Grant. He reached tender fingers to wipe the dampness from her cheek. “At least I’m not alone.”
His words scared her. Tia pulled back. Her heart breaking for him. For them both. “Mac, I have to tell you…”
He caressed her jaw. “I already know about Crimble Industries.”
Tia tensed. “What?”
“Bud told me at the party last night.”
“That rat.” She grimaced, her childhood animosity roused. “To think I felt sorry for him.”
“He said the charges were dropped.”
“The charges were trumped-up. My boss was the one selling company secrets. I was young and naive, and when I stumbled onto what he was doing, I was easily framed.”
“Bud said you didn’t go to jail.”
She made a face. “Not because the police didn’t try to put me there. They invaded my home like thieves, robbing me forever of my sense of security.” She hugged herself. “It was an ugly experience.”
“Is that why your apartment resembles a motel room?”
“Yes. If anyone ever paws through my possessions again, there’s nothing to touch that I care about.”
Mac looked as though he wanted to touch her so she would never question how much he cared…about her. Her pulse wobbled. He frowned and took a step toward her. “I don’t understand why you didn’t feel you could tell Grant this.”