“I guess that all makes sense. It seems to me maybe one of the maintenance guys could be the suspect. They are down here all the time and putting this stuff together.”
“Funny you say that. I did see Ben skulking around outside. He didn’t really belong there,” Logan said.
“I saw Ben, Noah, and George with a computer. You know, the ones on the carts they use for inventory. Can’t they access the files from there, the ones on the main server? If so, then in theory it would be easy to change things without arousing suspicion.”
“That computer has the same access as the others, if the person has the right login and password, and if they know some system commands, they could change the rights, and access the files from the command line,” Logan explained.
“In English please,” Harper said.
“They could access the blueprint and invitation files from there.” Logan laughed.
“Well, it looks like we’re in for a long night then. Considering the suspects, I think we need to make a list of things we need to triple-check for the event and cross them off, one by one, tonight.”
Big T walked into the room where the runway was being assembled and saw George and one of the other maintenance guys, Hank, working on it, tearing it down. He wanted to scream but kept his composure, he'd worked hard to make sure the runway had been perfect, and it had been when he'd left the night before. Now they were screwing around with it and he didn’t like how it looked.
“Hey, can you help us out T? We need to move this around. It was set up wrong and everyone is flipping out about it,” George asked him as he struggled with one of the giant pieces of wood.
Big T nodded his head yes and started to help them, his face turning bright red from anger. First, he'd gotten the test results that were not what he'd expected, and now this. His plan had been ruined! He knew exactly who had done it, too. Harper. She'd been snooping around down here way too much lately.
He'd caught her on more than one of the nanny cams he'd set up around the mill, including in her office. He'd watched as she hid a GoPro in the room where all the lights were. The same room he'd already hacked apart wires in the day before. Ha! Too late!
But then she'd hooked up that GoPro and watched a bunch of footage from it in her office. He couldn’t see her monitor, but he could see her face and tell she'd seen something that might be incriminating. Maybe she'd seen him doing something else. He didn’t know if she had any other GoPros around, he couldn’t hide his nanny cams everywhere without them being seen. She'd also been asking all those dumb questions about the computers the other day. Why did she even care?
He knew she was trying to trap him, but the joke would be on her. He was way too smart for her. He would take care of her, and Gertie, in one fell swoop. It would happen so fast, neither one of them would know what happened.
11
Harper entered the lobby humming, a noticeable spring in her step as she walked across the floor.
“Well, someone certainly seems to be in a great mood this morning. And look at that updo, if I didn’t know better I would ask if a certain young man has anything to do with this great mood,” Myrtle said to Harper, causing Harper to blush as she smiled. She started to reply but was interrupted by Edward, who came bursting through the doors with his usual dramatic flair.
“Did Marly bring the clothes for the models? Where are they?” he demanded as he marched up to her desk and looked around, as if Myrtle was trying to hide them.
“Oh, hello, Edward. Perhaps if you asked me a bit nicer I would be more inclined to give you the answer to your question,” Myrtle said, sounding like she was scolding a child.
Harper stifled a giggle.
“Oh fine,” Edward replied in a huff, sighing loudly. “Good morning, Myrtle. You look stunning today. By any chance, would you happen to know if Marly is here with the clothes for the models for tomorrow’s fashion show?”
Myrtle smiled approvingly and nodded her head.
“Well, yes, Edward, as a matter-of-fact she is with Veronica in her office right now. However, Gertie requested you leave them be so they can work everything out and have it all set up before you get involved.”
Harper watched as Edward’s face turned into a scowl.
“But, well I …” he stammered.
“Eddie, I know you like to control things but …”
Harper scurried out of the lobby, almost positive there was some bizarre flirty spark between the two of them. She was torn between wanting to watch the show, but also knowing she needed to get things underway to find out who the perp was.
She and Logan had gone around the building late last night and ensured things were as they should be for the show, that nothing else had been altered. After that, they'd kept an eye on the runway in case the person tried to mess with it again. Whoever it was hadn’t come back, and she and Logan had spent hours just talking. He'd lived an exciting life as a cop, he had so many stories. Harper loved listening to them all and had joked to him he should think about writing a book.
She headed towards Veronica’s office, eager to see the outfits. When she'd first heard Gertie was working with Marly and Edward on a fashion line for wheelchair-bound people she'd thought it was strange, but after Gertie explained things to her she'd felt a bit stupid for assuming all clothing was the same, aside from sizes.
She knocked on Veronica’s door and entered her office, her eyes widening as she saw how the room had been transformed into a massive dressing room.
There were racks and racks of clothes, each rack had a name assigned to it, which Harper assumed was for the model who would wear the clothes on it. The clothing seemed to cover all styles: sporty, casual, elegant. From gowns to jeans and yoga pants, Harper could see them all neatly lined up.
Gertie was in the middle of the room, wearing a gorgeous lavender top. The sleeves flowed loosely at the very top then tapered down towards the bottom. As she walked closer to her she could see the top had thin strips of silver woven into the material. It was stunning.
“What do you think, dear?” Gertie asked Harper, as she zipped around the room in her wheelchair, pulling out different styles and checking the material and sizing.
Harper wasn’t sure how to answer her, was she asking about the clothes or her speed in the wheelchair? Both were impressive as far as Harper was concerned! She opted to answer about the clothing.
“The blouse is gorgeous. I assume it’s the sleeves that are tailored to be for wheelchair-bound people?” Harper asked.
“Yes! And the pants. See? They look like normal pants, but they have a special waistband and are cut a tad longer at the bottom, so they don’t ride up. Only took about ten tries before these people got it right!” Gertie winked at Marly as she said it.
“Yes, it’s been a challenge, but I think we finally nailed it, Gertie. Thanks to you.” Marly looked exhausted. Harper knew it couldn’t be easy to have been right in the middle of Gertie and Edward’s design sessions as Marly had been.
Harper smiled, at the same time still worried someone might still be plotting to screw things up. She wasn’t sure if she should say anything about what she and Logan had talked about the night before.
As if reading her mind, Veronica caught Harper’s eye and shook her head subtly, as if to say to keep quiet. Harper wasn’t sure that’s what it meant at all but opted not to say anything, and, instead, thumbed through some of the designs on the racks.
“Okay, so, Harper, if you can take these down to the dressing area that would be great.” Veronica motioned to a rack of clothes that was set aside. “Some of the models will be coming in and trying the clothes on today, so I’m trying to get as many outfits down there as I can.”
Harper took the rack, wheeling it out of the office and taking the long way to the elevator, past Logan’s office. As soon as she walked by and saw he wasn’t inside she felt stupid. What was she doing? Acting like a high-school girl, that’s what. She hurried down the hallway and got on the eleva
tor, pressing the button inside for the lobby as she squeezed herself close to the door to avoid brushing up against the clothes.
The elevator dinged, and the doors whooshed open, and as she pushed the rack through the lobby she heard a familiar voice talking and she peeked over them, seeing her Uncle Tanner in the lobby.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him as she moved some of the clothes around on the rack to space them out more.
“I’m taking Gertie to a private breakfast to show her the new buffet setup at one of the restaurants, it’s a new layout that’s specific for wheelchair height. I’m trying to make things up to her … you know. She's been asking about this for a while, no other restaurants have it! So, this is a great start, at least, I think it is.”
Harper did know what he meant about making things up to Gertie.
“Yes, I think that is a great start,” she said as she smiled at him, happy he seemed happy.
“Yes, well it’s just minor really. I caused so much pain I need something really, really big to redeem myself.”
Gertie wheeled into the lobby and Tanner’s smile widened.
“You just missed Mr. Big Pants, he’s in the men’s room,” Myrtle said to Gertie, referring to Edward.
Harper watched as Tanner’s smile turned into a frown as soon as he figured out to whom Myrtle was referring. Both he and Edward were obviously smitten with Gertie, she thought it was kind of cute how they both fussed over her. At the same time, she thought Myrtle and Edward might have a little flirty thing going on, they were always bantering whenever she saw them together. Then again, that was Myrtle’s style, she liked to be the boss up front and anyone who tried to mess with her, or Gertie, got an ear full.
“Oh, for crying out loud, why do you insist on hanging out around here?” Edward’s voice boomed through the lobby, his question directed towards Tanner.
“I’m not hanging out. I’m consulting with Gertie on the changes I am making in my restaurants for handicap accessibility that goes above and beyond what everyone else does. It's a first in the restaurant world. What are you doing? Checking out the bathroom design?” Tanner asked, a smirk on his face.
“Ha! I’m creating an entire line of clothing with Gertie for people with disabilities! And it will be shipped worldwide!” Edward shot back, a triumphant look on his face.
Harper watched as Myrtle swiveled her head back and forth between the two men, as if she were watching a tennis match while they tried to best each other with who was doing more for Gertie.
“Boys, Boys!” Gertie clapped her hands loudly, like a teacher would to a kindergarten class to grab their attention.
Harper took the opportunity to scoot off to the dressing rooms with the rack of clothes. She couldn’t help giggling as she heard Gertie’s words as she left the lobby. “There’s enough of me to go around.”
Logan walked down the hallway, pausing in front of Harper’s office. What was he doing? Embarrassed, he quickly walked away, shaking his head at himself. He needed to focus. He was trying to figure out who was sabotaging things and hanging outside Harper’s office like a lovesick puppy wasn’t going to help him.
He walked to Gertie’s office and stepped inside. She wasn’t in, or at least if she was, he couldn’t see her amidst all the flowers. It was like a funeral home there were so many giant arrangements all over the place. The air was heavy with their perfumed scent, there were so many arrangements that some were on the floor as there was no more room on her desk or conference table.
He walked towards the window and moved one of the large flower sprays with his hand, so he could see out of it, his eyes catching the card in the flower. It was from Tanner. Out of curiosity he grabbed the arrangement to his left and looked at that card. It was from Edward. The one behind it was from Tanner. The one on the right from Edward. He laughed out loud, he could cross those two off his list of suspects. They would never hurt Gertie unless they were trying to kill her with flowers.
Looking down at the smoking area below he didn’t see anyone out there smoking, and there didn’t seem to be any cigarette butts laying around on the ground either. Gertie was so strict, maybe the smokers picked them up and threw them away every time they smoked? Then another thought struck him. Had Ben lied about that being the smoking area? Why would he do that?
He left Gertie’s office and went farther down to one of the conference rooms, which was almost directly above the smoking area. There was a dumpster and an area a few feet away from it was littered with cigarette butts. Noah was there. As he watched, Noah bent over and stubbed his cigarette out on the ground. He must have just gone down for a quick smoke since he hadn’t been there a minute ago when Logan was watching from Gertie’s office.
Something moving behind the chain-link fence caught his attention and the tabby cat emerged from between the overrun weeds. He'd thought more than once about bringing the cat home with him, but he knew his landlord probably wouldn’t like it. The old abandoned mill building loomed behind the fence. That was most likely where the cat lived. He knew the building had that rickety old water wheel inside it and didn’t want the cat to get hurt. He watched as the cat scurried away. When he looked back towards the dumpster, Noah was gone.
He decided to check on the catwalk and see how they were progressing with setting it up outside. In theory, everyone had the right set of plans, but he wanted to ensure it was built the right way and wasn’t at risk of collapsing again.
“Hey, guys, how’s it going?” he asked as he approached the crew. Ben, Noah, and George all grumbled hello to him, none of them looking too thrilled to be there.
“It will be better once this thing is all set up. I’m sick of building it, taking it apart, building it again!” Noah whined as he grabbed a heavy piece of the metal support.
“Relax, we are almost done,” George said, rolling his eyes at Logan.
“So, has it just been you guys that built it? I’ve only seen you three working on it any time I’ve been down in the basement and now out here. No wonder you’re sick of it.”
“Yep, just us lucky ducks,” George said, pausing for a minute. “Well, Harper was around, too. Actually, she just brought a rack of clothes into one of the rooms set up as a dressing room.”
Logan nodded his head as if he already knew Harper had been around them before, but inside, all he could ask himself was why.
12
Hurrying off the elevator Harper went straight to the break room, opening the fridge and grabbing some iced coffee. She poured some of it into a giant mug, thankful there was always a large carafe of it waiting for her in the fridge. She grabbed a straw from the gleaming stainless steel dispenser and headed to her office, sipping on the cool drink. After she'd dropped off the clothes downstairs she'd checked on a few other things and had found herself thinking again about the conversation she and Logan had the night before over their makeshift dinner, trying to figure out who was sabotaging things.
As she walked into her office she stopped for a minute and looked back at her door. Weird. She almost always left it closed when she wasn’t inside. It was just a habit, but she was sure she'd shut it earlier. Then again, she had a lot on her mind so maybe she’d left it open. It didn’t matter anyway, it wasn’t like she was trying to hide anything.
She took another sip of her coffee and placed the mug on her desk, making a clinking sound against the glass. As she was leaning over to her side drawer she noticed something in her in-tray. Odd, because she could have sworn the tray was empty. She picked it up, squinting to see it.
Her heart froze.
The picture was black and white, and the quality was that of a very grainy printout. But she could see it well enough to know it was a picture of her, walking into the room where the lights had been stored. It must have been taken when she'd put the GoPro inside.
Someone had been watching her. And, whoever it was, wanted her to know it.
Logan left the guys outside to finish setting up the runway. He
wanted to investigate Ben further, but since he was busy he couldn’t really hang around for too long without it being blatantly obvious he was checking up on someone. There was no way the runway could be altered now anyway, there were too many witnesses. So, if it was Ben who had messed around with it, it was at least safe, for now anyway.
He pulled open the heavy wooden door and walked towards the dressing room, wanting to see if Harper had discovered anything new since they'd spoken last night. He slowed his pace a bit after he entered the building and second-guessed his eagerness to keep Harper involved in the investigation.
Someone he'd cared about a lot had already gotten shot while working on an investigation with him, and he didn’t want that to happen again. That person had been his partner and girlfriend. He hadn’t been able to protect her, and it was something that would haunt him the rest of his life. He didn’t want Harper getting hurt because of him.
At the same time, he knew Harper wouldn’t stay away from the investigation until the person was caught. She wanted to redeem herself, and he sympathized with that. She’d clearly put herself out of her comfort zone to help capture the person, and he couldn’t really say the same about himself. If anything, he’d stayed in his comfort zone, minimizing risks. He shook his head at himself, feeling like a coward. If Harper hadn’t given him a little push he probably wouldn’t be as far as he was now in the investigation. He picked up his pace. He’d do whatever he could to help Harper figure out who the culprit was, then he’d let her be the one who brought him—or her—down.
He caught a whiff of a familiar smell in the air and stopped walking and looked around. With all the construction going on the smell reminded him of a power tool that had been used too much, as if it were overheating. Except no one was working inside here, they were all outside. And it couldn’t be coming from the kitchen, that’s all the way at the end of the building. Strange.
Careful What You Wish For Page 8
