by R A Wallace
Isabel shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t pay attention to it.”
“What about Crystal?” Callie asked. “How would she have reacted?”
Isabel offered a wry smile. “She would have torn him apart. Trust me, he wasn’t stupid enough to make that mistake.”
“I understand you and Crystal were friends?”
Callie saw caution in the other woman’s eyes.
“Not really. I mean, we got along okay but that was mostly because I wasn’t competition for her, you know?” Isabel blew on her coffee.
“Competition?”
“I do the weather and sometimes the traffic report. That’s it. Everyone knew that Crystal was the hard news reporter.” Isabel shrugged like it didn’t matter.
“You never worked directly with Crystal?” Callie asked.
“No, and I’m glad that I didn’t. I learned early on to keep my distance and pretend that we were friendly. It made life here easier.”
“Was life difficult when Crystal was here?” Callie asked.
Isabel gave a half smile but didn’t answer.
Callie left the break room and followed Isabel’s directions to Lindsay Gavin’s office. The woman she found was probably close in age to Callie. She was wearing glasses, which threw Callie for a moment. She’d never seen the woman wear them on camera. Callie tapped on the door.
“Yes?” Lindsay’s eyes narrowed when she saw Callie. She slipped off her glasses.
Callie introduced herself as she stepped into the room.
She thought she saw a slight thawing on the other woman’s face.
“I assumed you were here to apply for a job,” Lindsay said. “Why are you here?”
“I’d like to ask you some questions about Crystal Delaney.”
“Oh, you’re the one that Al was babbling about.” Lindsay played with the folded glasses in her hands.
“Yes. I know that you were here when Crystal worked here. I’ve watched your reports on television for several years,” Callie said.
She watched the frost form in Lindsay’s eyes again.
“Those years speak to my experience and qualifications,” Lindsay said coldly.
Callie took a guess. “Crystal was several years younger than you, wasn’t she?”
She saw Lindsay’s hand squeeze reflexively around her glasses.
“What of it? She didn’t have my experience and she wasn’t going to take my job, no matter what she thought.”
“Can I guess that you and Crystal didn’t get along?” Callie asked.
Lindsay carefully set her glasses down on her desk.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. We had a very professional relationship,” Lindsay said.
“But you worried that she was after your job as the station anchor?” Callie asked.
Lindsay smiled coldly. “Thanks to Crystal, that’s not going to happen.”
***
Sierra leaned forward to check the code she’d just written. The pounding on the other side of the wall increased. It matched the pounding in her head. She rubbed her temples as she read through the code. Finally, there was silence next door. She turned to look at the wall and wondered how long it would last this time.
Michael pulled his earbuds out. “You okay over there?”
“Maybe they’re done for the day.”
“Maybe. They aren’t that bad. Sometimes they go for hours without making a lot of noise. They just seem to be really noisy for short periods. You need some earbuds until the renovations are over,” he said as he watched her.
“You think?” She glanced at her monitor. “Maybe.”
“Are you thinking about a field trip?” he asked.
Her eyes flew to his. “You want to try the place where Inez Chen got hacked?”
Michael looked back at his own monitor. “I should finish this first. Tomorrow would work, though.”
Sierra smiled. They were going to do some sleuthing on their own.
“What about the office?” Michael asked. “We might have to wait until someone is here to watch over things. Especially with the crew next door. They stop in to ask questions sometimes.”
It didn’t take long for Sierra to come up with the answer.
“I have Ariana’s number on my phone. I can text her and ask if she’ll cover for us tomorrow after school.”
Chapter Fourteen
Her mind continued to go over everything she’d learned about Crystal Delaney all night. Callie was out of the house early the next morning and the first one in the office. The contractor trucks began arriving as she walked from her car to her office. She touched base with them briefly, mostly to see what they’d accomplished already. She could see that they’d made some progress, but it looked like it was slow going so far. She then went to her desk and began compiling her notes.
Sierra arrived next. She looked surprisingly cheerful. It occurred to Callie that she rarely saw Sierra do anything spontaneous. If ever. Sierra was normally very even-keeled and played her cards close. She wondered what might have caused the change and if Michael had anything to do with it but knew it was none of her business. If Sierra chose to share, that was another thing entirely.
“Big plans today?” Callie asked.
Sierra looked surprised. “Ah, no. Why would you ask?”
“No reason,” Callie said as Michael entered the office.
He shared a smile with Sierra then went to his desk.
“Good morning, both. Beautiful day, isn’t it?” he asked.
Callie looked between the two of them. There was definitely something up with them. She was still wondering what it was when Greyson walked into the office. Her eyes immediately went to his.
“Any luck?” she asked.
“Not yet. She was there but she isn’t any more.” Greyson stopped by Michael’s desk.
“What are you doing today,” he asked Callie.
“I may have a lead on the guy I was looking for yesterday with the Inez Chen case,” Callie said. “And I’ll need to hunt down some details for an ongoing case for an attorney that I work with. But I want to touch base with Spencer Ives first.”
“I’ll go with you,” Greyson said as the door opened behind him. He turned to see who entered. “Hello, Rosemary.”
“Hello, all.” Rosemary held up a handful of mail.
Greyson reached out and took it from her.
“Looks like they’re making progress next door,” Rosemary said.
“Slow but steady,” Greyson agreed.
“You all have a beautiful day,” Rosemary said on her way out.
“Sounds like you’ll be busy,” Sierra said to Callie.
“Yeah. I probably won’t be in the office the rest of today. The guy I’m looking for doesn’t get out of work until this afternoon.” Callie gathered her things and stood from her desk. “And I’ll be working with the lawyer until then.”
“Ready?” she asked Greyson.
He turned to wave to Sierra and Michael and saw them looking at each other intently. He followed Callie out and walked around the corner to her car.
“Looks like Michael and Sierra are working some things out,” he said as he buckled up.
“That’s funny. I was thinking the same thing earlier.” Callie turned the corner.
“I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a problem,” Greyson said.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Office romances can get tricky.”
“Are you speaking from experience?” She asked.
He made a noise that resembled a grunt and changed the subject.
“Didn’t you just check in with Spencer Ives?”
“Yes, but his health is failing. I don’t know how many more chances I’ll get.”
“What are you planning to tell him?”
“The truth.” She thought about the many negative things Crystal’s co-workers had said. “Or some variation of it.”
“Sounds like he knew a different Crystal than th
e rest of the planet,” he said.
“Maybe. Maybe that was it. Maybe there was another side of her.” Callie reordered the thoughts in her head as she drove.
“Nice neighborhood,” he said after a while.
“It is.” Callie stopped at the gate and pressed the bell to signal her arrival. A moment later she drove into the long driveway. The view of the house, when it finally appeared, was as impressive as always.
“Nice,” Greyson said as he climbed out of the car.
Callie rang the doorbell. She knew the moment that it was opened that she was too late. She could tell by the sadness on Geoff’s face.
He moved back to let them step inside. Greyson closed the door behind them.
Geoff tilted his head to one side. “I regret to inform you…”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.” Callie held her hand out and rested it briefly on Geoff’s arm.
“It just happened this morning. He went peacefully,” Geoff managed.
“We won’t intrude now,” Callie said. “I’m sorry that I didn’t have his answer before…”
“He knew that you were working the case. He would want you to continue,” Geoff said.
“Of course.” Callie turned to Greyson. He opened the door and they walked back to the car.
Callie was quiet for much of the return drive.
“It isn’t your fault. You just got the case.”
“I still feel guilty,” she said.
“In all fairness, the police had it much longer and haven’t solved it yet.”
She shook her head. “I should have worked harder.”
He didn’t respond. She glanced at him quickly.
“What? You don’t think I worked hard enough?” she asked.
“You do manage to get caught up in doing favors for friends a lot.”
“You’re saying that’s why I haven’t solved the case yet?” She heard her voice grow louder.
“Let’s not argue,” he said. “You’re upset over the man’s death.”
She took a deep breath.
“What are you going to do next with this case?” he asked.
“I’m going to speak with the camera guy. I’m told that he was following Crystal almost like a stalker before her death. Crystal mentioned it to several people because it bothered her.” She stopped at a red light in town.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
“I don’t need a babysitter. I know my job.”
“You shouldn’t be placing yourself in danger.” He turned to look at her.
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” She heard the anger in her own voice.
“I’m not.” He blew out an impatient breath.
“First I’m wasting time on favors, now I’m too much of a girl to do my job.”
“That is not what I meant.”
She stopped the car in front of her office.
“Ride’s over,” she said.
“Callie, listen,” he said.
“I have work to do. Tell Michael and Sierra that I won’t be back to the office today.” She drove away as soon as he closed the car door.
***
Callie followed Jimmy Milstein from the Pomelo Cove Academy to his house after school. It hadn’t been difficult to pick him out of the crowd that had emerged when the last bell of the day rang. He looked very similar to the pictures that she’d found of him online. In addition to his high school yearbook, she’d also found photos of him in the local newspaper. The Academy often had various events involving students and teachers in the paper.
Jimmy was somewhere in his late thirties. He was probably around five nine and wore thin, round, wire-rimmed glasses. He kept his hair shaved, no doubt a proactive attempt to deal with early onset baldness.
Callie sat in front of his house for several minutes contemplating her next move. She didn’t want to alert Jimmy to the fact that she might be on to him. On the other hand, she needed to know if he was really involved.
Mentally flipping a coin, she got out of the car and walked up to his front door. He answered the doorbell quickly.
“Jimmy Milstein?” Callie asked.
His face looked curious, but not overly concerned.
“Yes?”
“I would like to ask you some questions about the Pomelo Cove High School,” Callie said.
He beamed a smile. “Are they hiring? I applied there. I didn’t think they’d keep my application this long.”
“Do you know anyone else who works there?” Callie asked.
“No. It’s a great school though,” he said easily. “When are the interviews going to take place?”
“Someone will be in touch,” Callie said. “The school just wanted to make sure you were still interested in the job.”
His brows drew together. “You could have called.”
“They couldn’t make out your number on the application.”
“Oh.” His face brightened again. “Well thanks for stopping.”
***
Michael returned to their table carrying a tray.
“This is a nice place. We should come here to eat more often.” He took her salad from the tray and set it in front of her then did the same with her drink.
“Thanks.” Sierra opened a program on her computer.
“Do you want part of my sub?” he asked as he lifted it from the tray.
She glanced over at it. It looked good.
“Maybe just a little.”
“I’ll get a knife.” Michael stood and crossed the restaurant again. As he did, he checked out everyone else’s computer.
“Anything?” she asked as he sat back down.
“Maybe.” He cut off a small section of his sub and passed it over.
“The guy in the corner sure doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s doing,” he said.
“Yeah, I noticed that too. He keeps checking everyone else out and anytime someone goes near him he closes his laptop.”
“He could just be looking at things he shouldn’t be looking at,” Michael said as he glanced across the room.
“Maybe. What about the lady in blue?” she asked.
“That’s a definite maybe. You got anything yet?” he asked before taking a bite.
Sierra took a bite of her salad.
“Wow. This is so good. You’re right. We should come here more often.” She checked her network connections. “Got it. There’s an open WiFi. The name is similar to the real one, but they changed one character in the spelling. Instead of an L, they used the number 1.”
“Most people would never notice that,” he said.
“Yep.” She took another bite of salad.
“Well, we know whoever hacked Inez Chen is in the restaurant. What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Figure out which one it is,” she said as she brought up a command prompt on her computer.
He nodded agreement. “You know the name of the WiFi connection.”
“And now I know the IP address of the WiFi connection,” she murmured.
He looked around the room. “If you shut it down, it should surprise the person enough to react.”
“Good point.” She keyed in a command. “Ready?”
“Let me get you another napkin,” Michael said as he stood.
He walked back to the counter and turned to get a better look at the room. He nodded to Sierra and watched her press the enter key. The guy in the corner continued to look around the room furtively. The lady in blue became distressed and started hitting keys on her keyboard. Michael walked around her table to confirm. Her screen was dark. He tossed a napkin into the trash can and walked back over to the Sierra.
“We have a winner.” He passed a napkin to her.
“Lady in blue it is. What should we do next?” she asked before taking another bite of her salad.
Chapter Fifteen
She arrived at the television station early in the morning. The receptionist was busy dealing with a phone call and waved Callie through. Callie im
mediately went to the set where the newscast was filmed. The morning crew was finishing up and putting things away after the early morning show. Callie entered the room and stopped the first person she reached.
“Sam Albertson?” she asked.
The man pointed to someone else across the room and kept going. Callie crossed over. Sam Albertson was doing something with some camera equipment.
“Mind if I take a few minutes of your time?” Callie asked.
He gave her a cursory glance, then turned back to his work.
“What about?” he asked.
Callie introduced herself. “I was told by Shannon that everyone at the station would be happy to help me with my investigation.”
She heard him make a noise of disbelief. She ignored it.
“I understand that you were Crystal’s camera guy. That means you worked with her more closely than most.”
“So?” He kept his back toward her as he worked. He was a large man. It wasn’t so much his height as the width of his shoulders.
“That means that you probably know her better than most.”
He didn’t answer. Callie walked around him so she could see his face.
“I understand that you were in love with her.” She didn’t really know that, but it was a good guess given that he was known to have followed her around. It got his attention.
He straightened from his task. “Who told you that?”
He was pointing his finger at her chest. A deep red color infused his neck and was working its way to his face.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she said evenly as she looked directly into his eyes.
He dropped his gaze.
“I take it she didn’t reciprocate?” It made sense based on everything she’d learned about Crystal so far.
He stopped pretending to work on the camera.
“She treated me like dirt. Not at first, of course. That’s not her style. She was sweet as pie until she got what she wanted from you.”
“She led you to believe that she liked you,” Callie said. “Did you ask her out?”
“She laughed. That’s when she turned on me.”
“Why?” Callie asked.
“You know why. Look at me. There’s no way I could compete with the money that her great uncle has.” He shook his head.
“Did she tell you that?”
