by Laina Turner
“John?” I called, not wanting to wander around.
“Back here in the small conference room,” I heard him call out.
I found my way back to the conference room where he was sitting at the long glass table with a bunch of papers around him. It appeared as if he had been here a while working. He looked exhausted. This was a lot to deal with right now. A reason that the thought of owning a business freaked me out, having that ultimate responsibility. He stood up when I walked in and shook my hand.
“Good to see you, Presley,” he said and sat back down, motioning for me to have a seat.
“You, too. Looks like you’re hard at work here.”
“I’m trying,” he said ruefully, shaking his head. “I just can’t sit at home idle, worrying about what is going on. This at least takes my mind off it a little. Though if I can’t figure out what the hell is going on, all this work won’t need to be done.”
“I know what you mean. You want to feel like you’re doing something even when you’re not.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you have any idea who would want to see the business fail? Is there anyone who would gain from you losing accounts?” I asked, jumping right in and going through the same spiel I had gone through with Sally. I figured he wouldn’t want to waste time with chitchat when his business was at stake and I thought this would be easier to talk about than his employee being murdered.
“No one that I can think of and I’ve wracked my brain. This is a nightmare. All of it is a nightmare. I can’t believe that Becky is gone. My dad already thinks I can’t handle running the company and now this is going to cement his belief. I’m just lucky he doesn’t know what’s going on, or he would have already cut his trip short and come back to take over,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “If we lose too many more clients it could put us in a bad financial position, and we’ve lost our three biggest this year because of someone upstaging us. My dad will never forgive me if I tank his company the first year running it. It will prove all his concerns were right.”
“It’s not your fault Becky was murdered and as far as the other, it’s not all you, is it? Don’t you have a partner?”
“He’s more an investor partner rather than a working partner. He just shows up at the annual board meeting. As long as he receives his dividends, he’s never around. So the running of the business all falls on me, but if he gets wind of this and thinks his investment is at stake, who knows what might happen?”
“If it’s not someone who already works here, who is sharing your ideas? Is there any way someone could access them from the outside?”
John thought about that for a minute and I could tell he was thinking hard.
“Not unless they hacked into our computers and gained access to our files. But who would go to those lengths for marketing designs?”
“Would that be difficult? You know to access the company computers.”
He shrugged. “No idea. I know how to work our computers but have no clue as to how they work, if that makes sense. But doesn’t that seem a little extreme? I mean we’re just a design firm. Breaking into our database is like high-level espionage stuff. It’s not like we have some trade secrets or anything.”
“Well, you do have someone stealing your ideas. So you’ve got something people want. In a way it’s flattering.”
“I guess you have a point. I’m just having a hard time wrapping my brain around this.”
“I think we should take a look at all the possibilities, no matter how far-fetched they may seem. Something could jump out and make sense.”
“I guess, but I still don’t know what anyone would have to gain by doing this.”
“Maybe you’re just too close to the situation. You work with these people so it would be hard to fathom someone doing this to you.”
“You could be right. That’s why I appreciate you helping. Someone who is more objective to look at the situation.”
“Do you have any idea who might have killed Becky?” I said, finally fully comfortable enough to ask.
“Oh, God no. I didn’t know her at all outside of work. And everyone here seemed to get along with her. She was a very sweet girl.”
“Even Glenda got along with her?”
He seemed a little surprised I would ask that.
“I just heard there may have been some animosity there.”
“Glenda didn’t really get along with anyone but that’s just who she was.”
“Has she been in contact with you since she left?”
“Not at all. She couldn’t wait to retire and move to Florida.”
I left John after a little more conversation, not any farther ahead, and was really wondering if this wasn’t just coincidence. I felt bad; I could see he was really upset over the position the company was in and the possibility of disappointing his father. I could understand where he was coming from. I pulled my phone out of my purse to see if I had missed any calls, hoping maybe Glenda had called back. Instead, I saw Cooper had called, which immediately made me feel frustrated I had missed it and anxious that I may not want to hear what he had to say. I was glad he called, but then apprehensive again. There was some small comfort in not knowing what it was he was going to say. Denial could be a great thing, but eventually my curiosity would drive me crazy.
I knew I needed to call him back and not sit and stew about what he might say. Better to hear it now and get it over with. I decided calling him back would be the best idea, so I dialed the familiar numbers.
“Hello,” a voice answered. That wasn’t Cooper’s, unless his voice had increased several octaves since our last conversation. “Hello,” said the voice again, annoyed this time, but not half as annoyed as I was.
I hung up the phone without saying anything, unable to wrap my brain around what had just happened, wondering if it was too early to stop at the bar to drown my sorrows. Wanting to be upset, but not wanting to let myself.
I looked at my watch and it was not yet ten-thirty, so definitely too early for a drinking binge. No matter how bad I felt, I couldn’t bring myself to drink when it wasn’t yet noon. No matter that it was five o’clock somewhere.
I needed to hurry up and get home where Katy and Jared were waiting for me. If there was a time I needed my friends, it was now.
Chapter 11
“Are you sure?” Katy asked me. I had just arrived back at the condo and hurriedly told them what had just happened with Cooper, not John. I couldn’t even think about that right this minute, though I felt selfish since my personal life probably wasn’t as important as what was happening at Sleeping Bear right now. But for this minute it was and I had to get it out.
“Katy, I know a girl’s voice when I hear one.” A girl had answered his phone. I couldn’t believe it; another girl had answered his phone. That sentence just kept wanting to play over and over in my head. I couldn’t stop it. “And girls don’t answer a guy’s phone unless it’s serious. I never even answered his phone. I felt it was an intrusion on his privacy. A trust issue. Clearly whoever this girl is, she doesn’t feel the same.”
“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions, Pres. That could have been anyone. Doesn’t mean he is dating someone. It’s probably a friend or work acquaintance,” Katy said, as usual trying to put her positive spin on things and pouring some Baileys in my coffee cup. I wasn’t sure even that would make me feel better. But if nothing else, I could drink until I fell asleep.
“She does have a point, Katy. It does seem a little odd that some chick would be answering Cooper’s phone,” Jared said, and Katy turned and gave him a dirty look.
“Shut up! That’s not helping, Jared.”
“But he’s right, Katy.” I sat down on the couch feeling defeated. Taking a long drink of my coffee and feeling the Baileys warm me up through my toes. “I wonder if it’s that girl we saw him with. That really pretty one. God, I hate pretty girls. I hope all pretty girls wake up with a bad case of acne tomorrow.”
; Katy laughed. “Stop. No pity parties. What can we do that will make you feel better?”
“I wish there was a way to find out who that girl is,” I mused, feeling a little more mellow now that I had a few sips of Baileys in me. “Knowledge is power, you know.
“Maybe we can find out,” Katy said.
“How?”
“We saw them coming out of Techman Industries so maybe she works there. If it’s the same girl we saw him with outside the building.”
“That’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I think it’s a fairly large size company,” I said. “And besides, if we do find her am I supposed to prank call her and see if it’s the same voice?”
“Maybe. What else would you like to do? At least this way we’re doing something and keeping our minds from dwelling—you on Cooper and Jared on his job. You guys are bringing me down; let’s do something about this. We need to take action.”
“She’s right, Jared,” I said. “I can’t just sit here. Get dressed and let’s go.”
Jared usually took longer than most girls to get ready, so I was surprised when a quick fifteen minutes later he was ready and we all headed out the door. He must have really wanted to get out of the house.
Snow was lightly falling and the wind was picking up. Winter in Chicago was not my favorite time of the year. Though I could admire how pretty the snow looked, I would like it better if it were seventy degrees outside. I was not a fan of cold weather.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked Katy.
“Whatever it is, why can’t it be driving? Walking in the cold isn’t my idea of fun,” Jared grumbled.
“It’s good exercise to walk, plus it will make us feel better, endorphins and all that crap,” I said, though secretly agreed with him. I didn’t like exercise either, but I tried to walk as much as possible around the city. It helped me fight the fat. It was Katy who was all gung-ho to walk down the beautiful city streets because she wasn’t able to do that at home. I thought she was nuts, but she was the guest, so who was I to not let her do what she wanted?
“If I wanted exercise, I would go to the gym.”
“You don’t belong to a gym,” I said.
“Exactly my point.”
“If I remember correctly, the building isn’t too far now,” Katy said, ignoring Jared, which honestly was the best course of action when he was cranky like this. For a guest in the city, she had a decent sense of her surroundings. I was pretty impressed.
“I think you’re right, Katy,” I said.
In total we walked about six or seven blocks, which wasn’t bad. Even in the cold. Finally, we were standing in front of Techman Industries, looking at the sign on the door. And then at one another.
“Now what?” Jared asked and we both looked at Katy, since this had been her idea.
“Don’t look at me. At least I got us this far. Now it’s your turn.”
“Coffee shop,” I said pointing across the street. One of the things I loved about Chicago was the fact you were never more than a few steps away from being caffeinated. “We can warm up and stare at the front of the building and see if she comes out.” It seemed like as good a plan as any, especially the warm part and the coffee part. The walk hadn’t been bad, but I didn’t want to stand out on the street all day because just in the few minutes we had been standing here I could really feel the cold.
An hour passed and nothing had happened, except the fact we were all hopped up on caffeine. Or at least Jared and I were. Katy had got passion tea. She said she had already had enough coffee. As if!
Only one person had gone in and no one had come out. I assumed many people were off for the holidays. The streets were a lot slower even. Luckily, there had been some good people watching in the coffee shop to entertain us.
“Stakeouts are boring. You need to ask Willie how cops pass the time and don’t fall asleep when they’re supposed to be watching for bad guys,” Jared said, resting his chin on his hands.
“Maybe that’s why they eat donuts,” I joked. “To stay hyped up on sugar.”
“Honey, I’ve seen Willie, remember? I don’t think that man eats a lot of donuts,” said Katy.
“I guess you do have a point there,” I said back with a smile.
“It’s almost lunchtime, so maybe then there will be some action. You know, people leaving to get food. It is a holiday week so even if she does work here, she may not be working now. Let’s stay until after the lunch rush and if nothing, we’ll go home. Deal?” I said.
Katy and Jared nodded their agreement.
Jared and I started playing Tic-tac-toe on the backs of receipts I had in my purse—I really needed to clean the thing out—when I felt Katy grab my arm, causing my pen to mark across the paper. “Hey, I was just about to win! You know how hard it is to win at Tic-tac-toe?”
“Isn’t that her?” she said, pointing across the street to where three people had just come out the Techman Industries door and were heading down the sidewalk.
Looking across the street, I quickly recognized the blonde as the one we had seen with Cooper. Who could miss her? She was that pretty and after seeing her with Cooper, her face was seared into my brain. Probably forever.
“It is. So let’s go.” I stood up and grabbed my purse and the discarded receipts, which I balled up and tossed in the trash. My heart was racing and I didn’t know if it was from the caffeine or seeing that girl, but I felt it was about to jump out of my chest. Maybe that last cup of coffee was a mistake.
“C’mon, we don’t want to lose her,” I said to Jared, who was getting a coffee refill, which I hoped was decaf.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
“They’re heading down that way.” Katy pointed north and I could see the back of the girl’s head. Luckily, she was tall, which made it easier to spot.
Since the crosswalk was flashing the white walking man, we crossed the street and walked fast until we caught up with them and then slowed to stay a few paces behind.
“I feel like real spies,” I whispered, thinking this would be a little bit fun if we weren’t following a girl I saw Cooper with. It wish it was an exercise in finding out who was trying to sabotage Sleeping Bear Designs or who killed Becky. I felt another pang of selfishness that here we were spending time chasing down some random girl who may or may not be interfering in what was probably my non-existent relationship instead of finding a murderer.
“They’re probably just heading to lunch. There are a lot of good restaurants up this way,” Jared replied gently.
“I don’t think we need to whisper,” said Katy. “And yes, they are probably heading to lunch and this won’t give us any indication as to who she is or what she means to Cooper, but at least we’ll know what she likes to eat.”
“Which would be Italian,” Katy said, as we watched them turn into Mama’s Pizza.
“How does she stay so skinny eating Italian?” I said as we just stood on the sidewalk, wondering what we should do next. “So not fair. I bet she doesn’t exercise either.”
“And not even great Italian. Their red sauce is too sweet for me,” Jared added. “Are we going to wait out here for her to finish lunch and then follow her back to the office?”
“I don’t see any point to that. It’s way too cold out here anyways,” I said.
“Me either,” said Katy. “But at least now we know she does work in that building.”
“What good will that do?” I asked.
“Because now we have more information on her to search.”
About an hour later, we were sitting in the living room at our condo with the fireplace going trying to warm up.
“Here you are, ladies. Hot chocolate with whipped cream and just a touch of Baileys,” Jared said, serving us.
“Thanks,” I said and proceeded to Google Techman Industries. Once I found it, I went to the employees’ page and there she was.
“Found her!” I said excitedly and turned my laptop around so they could see. “She’
s Vice President of Technology, which means she’s smart and beautiful. I don’t know why we didn’t just Google in the first place and save ourselves the trip.”
“We followed her because we needed to get out of the house and well, because none of us thought about it first,” said Katy. “It also means Cooper could just have a professional relationship with her. If she’s a VP it would stand to reason if they were using Sands Security she could be the company contact.”
“Or that he decided he wanted a girlfriend with a real job. Besides, I don’t even know that this is the chick who answered his phone. So what’s the point of all this?” I closed my laptop and leaned my head back against the couch, cradling my hot cocoa in my hands and closing my eyes. “Maybe he now has two girlfriends?”
Katy frowned. “Now you’re just being silly. You know Cooper’s not like that. Stop trying to torture yourself.”
“I know. It’s just hard to know what to think. Maybe I should try to call him again,” I said, the Baileys giving me a little boost of confidence, and grabbed my phone off the coffee table.
I dialed his number, bracing myself for him to answer or even worse, a girl again, only to get his voicemail. I threw the phone back on the table. While part of me appreciated the reprieve and ability to live a little longer in denial, I was going crazy here and really needed to know. One way or another.
Chapter 12
“The salon just hasn’t been the same since the murder of Bethany Granville and I’m not sure what to do,” said Katy. I had just asked her how things had been going at the salon over our second round of hot chocolate and Baileys. We had been so wrapped up in Jared stuff and my problem with Cooper, I hadn’t had the chance to really ask her how she was doing. She usually had it as one of her main topics of conversation. She loved that place, always talking about it, but this time she hadn’t been. Now I understood why and I was definitely surprised. I had no idea she felt that way. I felt bad I hadn’t asked her before this.