[Avery Shaw 11.0] Unwritten & Underwater

by Amanda M. Lee

  “You’re so funny, Eliot.”

  “Yeah, he’s a real laugh a minute,” I said dryly, fighting the urge to slap her down. “Do you think we can talk in your office?”

  Eliot spared a glance for Fawn and then nodded. “Sure. Come on.”

  I waited until the door was shut to unload. “I can’t stand her.”

  “Gee, I never would’ve noticed.” Eliot remained calm. “You hide it so well. You should be an actress.”

  “I’m not trying to hide it.”

  “I noticed. Are you here to get into another fight about Fawn, or are you here to tell me what happened?” Eliot asked. “I have a lot of searches I need to run on the files we found and I haven’t had a chance to do any of it yet today.”

  “What have you been doing? I’ve already had a meeting with a big lawyer, found out the little lawyer ran, had a meeting with Fish, had a meeting with MacDonald, set Duncan up to take a fall, swore eleven times in the newsroom without consequences and pushed Fish far enough that he banned me from the office.”

  “Wow, even for you that’s a full morning, Trouble.” Eliot beamed. “Wait … did you say the little lawyer ran? Are you talking about Haugh?”

  I filled him in on my morning. When I was done, he was impressed. “So he ran while you were in this Denton guy’s office, huh? Where do you think he ran to?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I can’t be sure that he killed Cara. For all we know he ran because of the embezzlement.”

  “That’s true. Still … It seems like it could be him.”

  “It does,” I confirmed, “but I don’t want to focus on him and then find out he’s innocent. We need to run searches on everybody else.”

  “We?” Eliot cocked an eyebrow. “Are you here to volunteer for drone work?”

  Hmm. That wasn’t my initial choice, but I was bored. “Sure. Park me in front of a computer and put me to work.”

  “And those are words I never thought I’d hear you say. Still … come on. Let’s see what we can get set up for you.”

  AN HOUR LATER I’d listened to Eliot conduct a client meeting over the phone, survived four bouts of Fawn’s insipid whining when she insisted on poking her head into the office – secretly I believed it was because she wanted to make sure we weren’t having any fun – and I’d managed to wade through two of Cara’s blackmail files.

  I was feeling productive … and unbelievably numb. “This is so boring.”

  “That’s what happens when you do the jobs you usually ignore.” Eliot didn’t bother looking up from his computer. He’d set me up at a small table and chair in the corner. I felt like the classroom dunce, which wasn’t a pleasant sensation.

  “Whatever.” I turned back to the computer screen. “She had some interesting stuff on Winston Comstock.”

  “Who is he?”

  “He owns three funeral homes and serves on several county boards,” I replied, distracted. “He’s one of the richest guys in the county. Gives a lot of money to certain political candidates.”

  “Which political candidates?”

  “The ones who help him cover up his environmental mistakes. This is actually a really good story.”

  Eliot lifted his head. “You know you can’t use Cara’s files for your stories, right? You need to validate that information first.”

  “Oh, really?” I made an exaggerated face. “I never would’ve figured that out on my own.”

  Eliot held his hands up in a placating manner. “I’m not telling you how to do your job. It’s just … you seem excited about all of these potential stories when you still have a big one to wrap up.”

  “I’m focusing.” He was starting to get on my nerves. “By the way, you know we have family dinner tonight, right?”

  “I generally have to remind you.”

  “What’s family dinner?” Fawn popped into the open doorway, her fake smile pointed in my direction.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I replied.

  “Every week Avery’s family has a very large dinner at the family restaurant,” Eliot explained. “We are expected to go unless we have a severed limb.”

  “Oh, severed limbs aren’t an acceptable excuse,” I countered. “Unless it’s a head. You can miss the dinner if you don’t have a head.”

  “If you don’t have a head how do you eat?” Fawn asked.

  “Did you just make a joke?” I was mildly amused.

  “No. It was an honest question.”

  Of course it was. “Right. Next file.” I flipped to the next folder and widened my eyes. “She has a folder on you, Eliot.”

  “Oh, yeah? Didn’t I tell you that last night?”

  I couldn’t remember. “Did she come up with anything good?” I flipped open the file and found only a handful of documents. “I guess not.”

  “Almost everything in my file has to do with you,” Eliot supplied.

  “Who has a file on you?” Fawn asked.

  “No one,” I answered, ignoring the sigh Eliot pushed out. “It doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business.”

  “I was simply asking,” Fawn said, adopting a little girl voice that made me want to steal her Barbie and set it on fire. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

  I wasn’t about to fall for her act. “Well, next time you’ll know.”

  “Avery.” Eliot’s voice was low and full of warning. “The file is part of a bigger investigation, Fawn. We can’t really talk about it because we’re not the only ones involved.”

  “Oh.” Fawn brightened considerably. “I understand.”

  I muttered something hateful under my breath and kept my focus on the files as I grabbed the next one, straightening my shoulders when I saw the name on the tab. “Richard Aiken?”

  Eliot shifted his eyes to me. He was well aware of my suspicions regarding the county commission candidate. “What about him?”

  “Cara has a file on him,” I replied, opening it. “It’s much thicker than your file.”

  “Size isn’t everything.” Eliot winked when I glanced up.

  “Anyone who told you that was lying,” I shot back. “Size always matters.”

  “I don’t think that.” Fawn’s words were laced with faux sincerity … and a bit of flirtatious energy. “I think it’s what you do with it that’s more important.”

  “Not me. I like big things … like files.” I read the first page, furrowing my brow as I concentrated. “He’s part of one of those older dude civic service groups.”

  “Like Rotary?”

  I nodded. “They all get together and drink in the middle of the afternoon.”

  “I thought he was a lawyer or something,” Eliot challenged.

  “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t drink in the afternoon. Heck, if I was setting my own schedule I’d block out the hour between two and three on weekdays so I could watch General Hospital with a fifth of Jack Daniels.”

  “You’re the classiest woman I know.” Eliot smirked. “I’d expect nothing less.”

  “That sounds like a good way to develop a drinking problem,” Fawn interjected.

  “That’s what I’m hoping for.” I flipped another page. “His wife goes to wine tastings at the same place Cara did. Ding, ding, ding.” I leaned forward intrigued. “I’ll bet that’s where she started ferreting out information on Aiken.”

  “Who is Richard Aiken?” Fawn refused to leave the doorway. No matter how hard I tried to ignore her, it was nearly impossible.

  “He’s a real dick,” I replied.

  “That’s not nice to say.”

  “I’m fine with that.” I flipped another page. “Aiken owns two houses in Michigan. The first is in Clinton Township. He lives in one of those gated communities, which suggests I really need to dig into his financials. The second is a lakefront cabin in the Thumb.”

  “Why is that important?” Eliot asked.

  “Because I have to wonder why a guy who has that much money is lowering himself to serve as a county commiss
ioner,” I answered. “They only make, like, thirty grand a year.”

  “They only work part-time,” Eliot pointed out.

  “Yeah, but this guy seriously looks to be rolling in money. I’m suspicious.”

  “Trouble, you were born suspicious.”

  “Maybe he just wants to give back to the public,” Fawn suggested, severing my last nerve with her annoying voice. “Some people are like that.”

  “Not people with this much money,” I gritted out. “Is there a reason you’re involving yourself in this conversation, Fawn? Don’t you have work to do in the other room?”

  Fawn was understandably affronted. “I’m trying to be friendly.”

  “It’s really not necessary.”

  “Avery.” Eliot sounded weary when he slapped his hand on his desk. “I’m trying to work here.”

  “And I’m not?” I challenged. “I’m not the one asking a series of dumb questions simply because she wants to be close to you.”

  “Who is doing that?” Fawn asked, her gaze bouncing around the room. “Wait … are you saying I’m doing that? That is not true.”

  “Oh, just stuff it.” I was at the end of my patience rope. “We’re trying to work, Fawn. Go in the other room and stare at your reflection in the glass display shelf or something.”

  “Eliot!” Fawn’s voice turned from innocent to shrill. “Will you please tell her to be nice to me?”

  I could’ve made things worse by mimicking Fawn’s voice and asking for the same consideration. Instead I turned to Eliot and pursed my lips, waiting.

  Eliot met my gaze without blinking. “I know what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

  “Oh, I know what you’re thinking.” Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose. “We have a lot of work to do. We don’t need distractions.”

  “I’m not providing the distraction.” It took everything I had to maintain even a mild sense of calm. “I’m trying to work. For once, I’m being the good one. How can you possibly blame this on me?”

  “I’m not blaming anything on you,” Eliot gritted out. “I’m simply … .” He broke off, struggling.

  “What he’s trying to say but doesn’t want to actually say because he’s a good guy is that you need to get out, Fawn.” I forced the fakest smile in my repertoire for her benefit. “We’re in the middle of something, and it’s above your pay grade.”

  Okay, that was rude, but I think I’ve been more than pleasant for an extended period. What more is expected of me?

  “Eliot!” Fawn folded her arms over her chest. “You can’t let her talk to me that way.”

  “Avery.” Eliot slid me a pleading look. “Can we just get through the day?”

  “Sure.” I clutched the stack of files to my chest as I stood. I’m not one to admit defeat, but I was in no mood to beat my head against the hollow wall that was Fawn’s brain. “I think it would be better if I get through the day somewhere else.”

  “I think so, too.” Fawn looked pleased with my announcement.

  “Well, I don’t,” Eliot countered. “Why can’t you stay here and work?”

  “Because I can’t work with Fawn, and you’re not going to say anything to her,” I replied. “I don’t blame you. You’re a good guy. I’m not going to sit here and be treated like the third most important person in the room, though. I don’t have it in me.”

  “The third most important person in the room?” Eliot jumped to his feet. “You don’t really feel that way, do you?”

  “Sometimes.” I hated to admit it, but it was true. “Only when she’s around, though. Don’t worry. I get it. You’d never cheat on me. But Fawn is so good at playing the victim that you can’t help yourself from swooping in.

  “I’ll never be the person who needs you to swoop in and save me from a verbal disagreement,” I continued. “I don’t have it in me, so I’m going to save a bit of pride and walk away. I’ll go to the coffee shop.”

  “Now … wait a second.” Eliot dragged a restless hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “Think it over, Eliot,” Fawn argued. “She’s ruining our day.”

  “Yeah, Eliot, I’m ruining your day.” I rolled my eyes. “Stay with your needy employee. I’m going to do some real work.”

  “I am not needy,” Fawn barked, taking me by surprise with her vehemence. “I happen to be a good employee. I’m a loyal employee. You probably don’t understand how that works because everyone says you’re a terrible employee.”

  “She’s not a terrible employee,” Eliot argued.

  “No, I am.” Something clicked in my head. “I am a terrible employee, but I’m a good worker. That’s why I get away with so much.”

  “So?” Eliot knit his eyebrows. “What are you getting at?”

  “Fawn is a loyal employee, and she always knows what’s going on with you even when she doesn’t share it with me,” I mused, my mind kicking into overdrive.

  “No, that’s not what I said at all,” Fawn argued. “I’m merely loyal. I admire Eliot and respect him. He’s a good boss. What I can’t understand is why he’s with you. You’re like an anchor around his neck.”

  “And you’re the mermaid ready to save him from the sharks as he sinks to the bottom of the ocean,” I muttered. “Oh, oh. I think I figured something out.” I scrambled toward the door, leaving the files behind. “I’ll be back later.”

  “Wait a second!” Eliot moved to stop me, but I was already halfway through the opening. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To play a hunch,” I answered. “If I’m right, you’re going to owe me a big dinner.”

  “Do you finally want to redeem your Red Lobster meal? We can skip family dinner. I’ll even take the heat if your mother has a meltdown.”

  “Ooh, I love Red Lobster,” Fawn enthused. “It’s my absolute favorite.”

  I ignored her. “If everything turns out how I think, I will totally let you fill me up with Red Lobster before romancing my Jaws boat shoes off me. I’ll even reward you for taking on my mother.”

  “That sounds like the best offer I’ve had all day.” Eliot flashed a smile. “We’ll talk about the rest of this then.”

  “I’m honestly fine.”

  “We’ll talk about it.”

  I was almost out of the shop before Fawn spoke again. “I like Red Lobster. Don’t you want to buy me Red Lobster?”

  “Yeah, you and I need to have a talk, too,” Eliot said, heaving out a resigned sigh. “Take a seat.”

  29 Twenty-Nine

  I had an idea.

  Most people hearing that would be terrified to their very bones. For me, though, it was the only thing that made sense.

  Once I escaped from Eliot’s shop – casting the occasional glance over my shoulder to see if Fawn would storm out, which would’ve brightened my day – I called Grandpa for a favor. He answered on the first ring, and when I explained what I was looking for he told me to sit tight and wait for him to call back.

  Patience was never going to be one of my virtues, so to kill time I picked up a café mocha from the coffee shop next door and paced the sidewalk in front of Eliot’s shop. I wasn’t surprised when the door opened and he walked out.

  “I thought you were going to check on something?” His expression was hard to read – he could be coming to make up, for all I knew – but I was in no mood for a fight.

  “I am. I’m waiting for someone to call me back with an address.”

  “So you thought you’d stand in front of my store while waiting?”

  “I’m drinking coffee.” I held up the cup for emphasis.

  “I see.” Eliot licked his lips, his hands shifting to his hips. He was clearly bracing himself for a fight. “I had a talk with Fawn … .”

  I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “I don’t want to get into this,” I warned. “We’ve had this talk so many times I’ve lost count. I don’t expect you to fire her.”

  “But t
hat’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “I would definitely like you to fire her and hire someone ugly.” I saw no reason to lie. He already knew how I felt about the buxom brunette and her idiotic tendencies. “She has a huge crush on you, which makes it hard for me to be around her. I know you’d never cheat on me, so it’s not as if I can say something.”

  “That’s never stopped you before,” Eliot muttered. “What’s your idea?”

  “Huh? About hiring someone ugly to work for you? I’m thinking you either need to hire a hot guy for me to look at or someone no one wants to look at. It’s really not my place to tell you who to employ.”

  “Not that.” Eliot wrinkled his nose, his temper wearing thin. “What’s your idea for the Cara story? You clearly had some epiphany in there.”

  “I did,” I confirmed, nodding and taking a sip of coffee. “When Fawn said she was loyal and would do anything for you – and believe me, I think that includes killing me or getting naked without being asked – it made me think of Jenny.”

  “Who is Jenny?”

  “The lobby secretary at Haugh’s law office,” I replied. “She clearly has a crush on him. She thinks he’s, like, the last Jedi knight in the galaxy. She’d do anything for him. When we headed for Haugh’s office to confront him she tried to distract us from entering.

  “At first I thought it was because she was trying to protect him while he was in the office,” I continued. “But the office was empty. There was only one way to escape. She had to see him leave.”

  “So what do you think now?”

  “I think she tipped him off that Grandpa and I were meeting with Max and that something serious was going on. I think Haugh realized right away that he was in trouble. He packed his stuff and fled.”

  “So how does that play into this Jenny woman?” Eliot asked. “She’s already played her part.”

  “She has … but Haugh has to know that it won’t be easy for him to run. Even if he has a plan to fly out right away, the state police will run a search on all outgoing flights. Haugh won’t have an easy time getting out of here.”