by G. K. Parks
“Who is this?” When I didn’t get a response, I clicked end call.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been getting blocked calls all morning.”
Mark took my phone and checked the call log. This was the third time today. “Hang on.” He picked up his phone and called the office. “Hey, Anita, this is Jablonsky, I need you to do me a favor. Can you find out who the last caller was to this number?” He gave her my phone number. “Okay, call me back whenever you have it. I owe you.” He hung up and turned to me. “It’ll just take a few minutes, hopefully.”
“Come inside. You can stare at some horrible surveillance footage while we wait,” I offered.
Martin was in his second floor office on the phone. I could tell from his half of the conversation he wasn’t getting very far with the accounting department.
“What’s going on?” Mark asked. I filled him in on the missing funds, and he shook his head. “When it rains, it pours.”
“Don’t I know it?” I found the disk and the corresponding paperwork sitting on the coffee table. I turned the video footage on for Mark to watch as I listed everyone who signed in to work that day and then crossed off all the names which corresponded to the list of people who were paid for working that day. Only three names didn’t match up.
“What am I looking for?” he asked. I had already seen the video once when we were at the plant, and there wasn’t much to be gained from it.
“Well, ideally, the saboteur. So which of these things or people don’t belong?”
We both stared at the screen. Everyone moved with purpose. No one loitered or seemed lost.
“What about this guy?” He paused the screen.
“Looks like everyone else,” I responded dismissively.
“No, see how everyone else just mills about.” He rewound and hit play. “But,” he pointed out the guy, “this one makes sure he keeps his head down. He turns away from the others as he walks past.” He rewound and played it again. I had no idea how he noticed that. The guy was so inconspicuous I never would have seen it.
“That’s our guy.” I checked the timestamp on the tape and double-checked the sign-in sheet. No one signed in immediately before this guy appeared on camera. “I just don’t know how to identify him.”
“Can I take this?” he asked, indicating the disk. “Maybe I can call in some favors and have our techs run it through, clean it up, see if we can get it cross-referenced with the employee IDs in our facial recognition software.”
“There are a million dirty things I’d love to do to you right now,” I joked, expressing how incredibly pleased I was to have help identifying a suspect.
“How come you never say anything like that to me?” Martin asked, appearing in the doorway.
“Maybe if you had better surveillance cameras installed, I would.”
“Glad to see you’re still in one piece.” Mark nodded at Martin.
“Yeah, my security’s been racking up a lot of overtime hours to make sure I stay that way. What happened with Suzanne?”
Mark gave a brief rundown of the interview, leaving out the part where Griffin expressed her favoritism for Denton. I didn’t know if this was to spare Martin’s feelings or not.
“Is she married?” My memory was like a steel trap.
“Used to be,” Martin said. “She got divorced years ago.”
“I’ll head out and see if I can get a rush put on this.” Mark held up the security tape. “I’ll check in with Anita. She probably got bogged down with other things, but if she gets a number for you, I’ll let you know.” We said our good-byes, and Mark left.
I turned to Martin. “How are things?” I asked.
“Not so good. Accounting doesn’t know where the money went. Oh, and it gets better. They’ve also misplaced funds from three other accounts.”
“When did they go missing?” I had a sneaking suspicion the threats and the money were connected. Maybe this was why I was making the big bucks.
“They didn’t even notice they were gone until I had them run through everything.”
“Okay, I’ll give Kate a call. Do you have the relevant account numbers handy?”
“I’ll go get them.” He headed back to his office while I dialed the number.
“Hartley,” Kate answered instantly.
“Hey, Kate. It’s Alex Parker. I know it’s been too long, but I have a favor to ask. I’m working private security right now for CEO James Martin. Some funds have gone missing in the last seventy-two hours or so. Do you think you can track them down? See where they went and who authorized the move?”
“Sure, just give me the account information,” Kate said. Martin returned and handed me a sheet of paper. I read the numbers off. “I’m a bit backed up, but I’ll get to this as quickly as I can.”
“Thanks. When this is all cleared up, we’ll go out for a girl’s night and catch up. Drinks are on me.”
“Can’t wait.” She hung up.
“She’ll get to it as soon as she can,” I relayed the message to Martin. This seemed to be the story of our lives right now.
Sighing, he sat down next to me. “You realize it’s only a little past two o’clock, and there is nothing left to do today. Everyone else has jobs, and they go to work. But we’re waiting on Mark to give us a suspect, and Kate to find the money, and…”
“Stop it,” I cut him off. “I know, okay. I know.”
“I wasn’t criticizing you.” He must have realized that’s what it seemed like. “But I don’t know how to just do nothing.”
The wheels in my head were turning around something that had been bothering me for quite some time. “Did you sleep with her?” I turned to face him.
“Who?”
“Mrs. Griffin. Suzanne.” It was out of the blue, but it was driving me crazy ever since the conversation in my office. “Did you sleep with her?” I repeated.
“Yes.” He got up from the couch and went into the kitchen.
Well, that’s just fucking fantastic. “When?” I called into the kitchen. I almost felt jealous. Quit being idiotic, I berated myself.
“About five years ago. It only happened once.” He stood half in the kitchen and half in the living room, unsure of what to do. I was pretty sure he was trying to find an escape route from this conversation.
“Was she still married then?” I didn’t want to ask these questions any more than he wanted to answer them. Get a hold of yourself, Parker. I stared into his eyes, judging the veracity of his statements.
“No,” he swallowed, “newly single.”
“You remember the part where I said I needed to know about the skeletons in your closet? This would count as a skeleton.”
“Sorry, it’s something I’m not proud of and would rather forget.” He paced in the kitchen, out of my line of sight.
“Was she upset you didn’t continue the affair?”
“There was no affair. It was a onetime thing.” He came back into the living room. “Everyone makes mistakes. I shouldn’t be interrogated because of it.”
“I’m not interrogating you.” I tried a softer approach. “She’s angry at you.” He looked confused. “I know. It makes no sense. I get that, but I could tell. O’Connell asked if she preferred Denton to you. She made Denton out to be a saint.”
Martin rearranged the liquor bottles at the bar and snorted. “Some saint.”
“That’s beside the point. Not to mention, the conversation she had with me in the office, the one you so easily dismissed.” My accusatory tone crept back into my voice, and I tried to rein it in. “And then your comments on blackmail being in the box, blackmail against you.” I touched his shoulder and gently nudged him to turn around and face me. “She has dirt on you, doesn’t she?”
“It was a crazy night. I was three sheets to the wind. It was an office party. Things got out of hand. I don’t know what she does or doesn’t have. It’s been years.” He emphasized the years.
“Di
d she ever try to extort you? Why did you keep her at the company?”
“It was never anything that sordid, and I couldn’t just fire her. She was a reliable worker, not to mention the potential sexual harassment lawsuit. Hell, she could have sued me if she wanted, but we let it go, I thought. Let bygones be bygones. She got transferred to executive personal assistant to the Board. Her office is still on the top floor, but she works for all the board members and is in charge of the other assistants.”
“That’s it?” I was unsure if there was anything else to the story or anything else he had failed to disclose.
“That’s it. I treat her just like any other assistant. I don’t ask for anything special. Most of the time, I get one of the temps to fill in if I need an assistant for something. When I hired you, she just happened to be the only one in the office to make the call.”
I resisted the urge to bust his balls over how easy it is to make a phone call. “Ever hear any rumors about her with Denton or any of the other board members?” Before he could answer, my phone rang again. We both turned toward the intrusion. “Hello?” I asked, not checking the name.
Twenty-two
“Hello, Alexis. Please don’t hang up,” the last voice I expected to hear responded.
I turned and headed for the stairs, looking for some privacy. “I’m listening,” I replied, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“I just wanted to apologize for my egregious behavior last night,” Denton sounded remorseful. “I don’t know what came over me, but I was completely out of line. I hope you can forgive me.”
I made it to my room and shut the door. “Okay.” I didn’t know why he was calling, and I was apt to let him do most of the talking.
“Let me try to make it up to you. Perhaps you and James would like to meet for dinner, my treat. Or drinks? Coffee? Anything? I’m so ashamed.” Denton was laying it on thick. He was scared he’d be removed from his position as acting-CEO.
“James has a busy schedule.” My mind raced. I wanted answers about Denton’s connection to Griffin and if he knew anything about the missing money. “But I’d be willing to meet for a quick cup of coffee.” The thought of seeing that slime made my skin crawl; I must have caught that affliction from Martin.
“Really? That would be great. Just name the time and place.”
“Coffee shop on Third in,” I glanced at my watch, “thirty minutes?”
“See you there.”
I grabbed my purse, slipped my smaller caliber backup handgun into it, along with my MT ID card, and grabbed my keys. I went back downstairs to find Martin still standing where I left him.
“I have to go.” I pointed to the nine millimeter, resting on the end table. “In case of anything, remember point and shoot, just like a camera. Call the police first, then me.”
“Where are you going?” he asked, confused and somewhat suspicious.
“I have a semi-personal matter to take care of. I should be back soon. Just stay put in the meantime.” I tried to leave, but he grabbed my arm.
Spinning around, I confronted him, unsure of what my face reflected. It might have been anger, defiance, or hurt, but he let me go without another word. I went down the stairs, retrieved my car, and headed toward Third Street.
During the drive, I tried to figure out what I should say or do. I wanted to confront Denton, but I didn’t want to risk tipping him off either. Finally, I decided to play it by ear as I pulled into a parking spot and tossed a few coins in the meter. Inside, Denton was already seated at a table.
“Alexis, I’m glad you agreed to meet me.” He wore sunglasses, and I wondered if he had a black eye or maybe just a bruise across his cheekbone.
A waitress walked past and asked if we were ready to order. I requested a regular coffee, as did Denton. He sat back against the chair and removed his sunglasses.
“You might want to put some ice on that,” I suggested, hiding my internal cheering masterfully.
He tried to smile but winced. “I definitely deserved this.” He indicated his bruised cheek. “I can’t excuse my behavior, but I’ve hit a rough patch lately. Yesterday might have been my rock bottom. I told you about my girlfriend leaving. And while James has given me an amazing opportunity, I can’t shake the fear that I might screw it up.” He considered his words for a moment. “I drank too much and jumped to the wrong conclusions, and for that, I am deeply sorry.”
“Well, you know the old adage about assuming things.” I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with this, so I started with the simplest question I could come up with. “What was your girlfriend’s name?” Getting him talking would hopefully lead to more information.
“Jill,” Denton said. I thought back, positive he had said the same thing last night. At least he was consistent. “I thought we would get engaged, but…well, things happen.”
“Yeah.” I tried to figure out how to get onto the subject of work and how personal he might be with the assistants.
“Have you and James made any travel plans or anything? You should enjoy your time off as much as possible. Once he’s back to the daily grind, I’m guessing it’ll just be business as usual.”
“Not yet. You know James, he has to make sure everything works perfectly before he can relax. You’re the lucky one.” I tried to appear friendly, even though I was fighting the overwhelming urge to throw my hot coffee in his face. Don’t be vengeful, Parker, my internal voice insisted.
“How so?”
“You have the help of Mrs. Griffin and the other assistants. You have an entire staff of people working under you while I’m stuck at home, simultaneously trying to be travel agent, assistant, and significant other,” I over-embellished, but hopefully, he’d latch on to the bait.
“I didn’t think of that.” He leaned forward and gave my hand a friendly pat. I noticed his watch encrusted with diamonds. That must have cost a pretty penny. “If you want, I can have someone work on your travel plans for you.”
“It’s okay.” I resisted the urge to jerk my hand away and instead forced a smile onto my face.
“If there is anything you and James need, please don’t hesitate to ask. I owe him for this opportunity, and I need to make amends with you. Tell me how I can make it right.”
“Thanks for the offer.” I tried to change topics and find another way to get back on the subject of Griffin. “Is everything back to normal at work today? You know, after the explosion on Thursday.”
“Yeah, MT is a tight ship.” He assumed, albeit incorrectly, Martin asked that I inquire about this. “You can tell James it’s under control.”
“And everyone is back to work then? Well, with two obvious exceptions, of course.”
“I think everyone is back, at least as far as I know. HR didn’t report an abnormal number of call-ins or absentees.” He glanced at his watch. He was probably ready to get back to work, or maybe he was hypnotized by the shimmer from the diamonds.
“Have you seen Mrs. Griffin? She must be lonely on the seventeenth floor all alone. I haven’t seen her since Thursday morning and never got a chance to tell her we weren’t going to be in for,” my voice trailed off, “a while.”
“I talked to her today. She’s doing fine, moved down to some extra offices on the fifteenth in order to help me out.”
Before I could continue, my phone rang. This time it was Mark. “Sorry, I have to take this.”
Denton nodded.
“Hi, honey,” I greeted, trying to imply it was Martin.
“Alex?” he asked as if I had lost my damn mind, which maybe I had. “It’s Mark.”
“Of course. Did you find what you were looking for?”
Mark still seemed confused by my part of the conversation but understood enough to realize something was up. “If you’re in danger, name a type of fruit.” I waited. “Fine, you aren’t in danger, but you can’t talk, I take it.”
“Very good, dear.” I wanted him to get on with it. “So did you find it or not?”
“Ani
ta got the trace. The blocked calls came from the MT offices. Extension 325. Any idea who it belongs to?”
“I’ll have to check, but I’ll be home soon. Go ahead and start dinner without me.” I waited, positive he was still puzzled by my odd conversation. “Love you, too. Bye.” I clicked end call as Denton watched me intently. “I swear I don’t see how he managed to survive without me,” I said in an exasperated tone. I thought about trying to broach the subject of Mrs. Griffin again, but I didn’t want to raise suspicion. Also, I needed to get a running start on extension 325. It would be best to make a clean escape. I left Martin and needed to go back and patch things up. “I should head out. Thanks for apologizing in person. You’ll do just fine as acting-CEO.”
Denton stood as I slid out of the booth. “You take care of yourself.” He gave me a friendly hug, but something about his tone made me cringe.
I pulled away as quickly as possible, exiting the coffee shop. I had just gotten inside my car when my phone rang again.
“Where the hell are you?” Martin asked. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or concerned.
“I had something to do.” Mark probably phoned him to make sure everything was all right.
“Are you okay? Mark called. He was worried.” At least I knew my gut instincts still worked.
“I’m fine. Do you know who uses extension 325 at work?”
“No one. It’s a phone in one of the empty offices.” Great, anyone could have made the call. “Alex,” he sounded anxious. I heard him clicking buttons on his phone as if reading a text message. “Where are you?”
I put the key in the ignition and drove away from the coffee shop. Conceivably, now would be a good time for full disclosure. “I went to gather some information from Denton, and we stopped to get coffee.” I waited for a response. When none came, I continued. “I didn’t mean to leave you like that, but I just wanted to get some answers.” There was an awkward pause over the line. “Do you want me to pick anything up for dinner?” I tried to show my remorse with a peace offering.
