A Taste of Tragedy

by Kim McMahill

  Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “Are we done here?”

  “For now,” Sofia replied.

  After Aaron left and shut the door, Preston paced to the window. Turning toward Sofia, he pierced her with his most powerful stare. “In Coterie, we have equal status and I have more seniority. Don’t talk to Aaron like I’m not in the room or no longer in charge here. He is no longer your employee, he’s mine. This is my company. I built it, and I will continue to see it grow.”

  Sofia’s smile came off as a sinister sneer, sending chills through him. He stepped back, increasing the distance between them, and waited for her response.

  “Think what you like, but remember this. We all exist to provide benefit to each other, especially J.R. When you become more of a liability than an asset, you have a negative worth to the collective, and there is no longer any need to maintain your membership,” Sofia pronounced through clenched teeth. “You had an opportunity to bury the problem caused by your greed and stupidity, but you’ve allowed it to resurface. This isn’t baseball. You don’t get three strikes. You’re fortunate to get a second chance.”

  His pulse was still racing long after she left his office. He wasn’t sure why she unnerved him so. He had no proof she was an assassin, only rumors, but he wouldn’t discount anything. The only person he ever met that didn’t fear her was J.R., and he feared nothing.

  Preston removed a locked box from his bottom desk drawer and set the heavy container on his desk. Pulling a small key from his pocket, he unlocked the box and stared at its contents for a moment, wishing things hadn’t come to this.

  He lifted the small gun from its form-fitted foam lining and checked the load. Satisfied, he took off his blazer, slipped on a shoulder holster, and secured the weapon. Standing in front of the full-length mirror mounted on the door of his private en-suite, he buttoned his jacket and adjusted the fabric until the blazer hung loosely, giving no indication of the item concealed within.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  “Goodnight, Aaron,” Morgan said as she left her office and strode toward the elevator.

  When the elevator stopped at garage level, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light as she scanned the area more thoroughly than usual, looking for anything or anyone out of place. She hated her newfound paranoia but couldn’t help herself. Quickly closing the distance between the elevator and her car, she clicked the fob on her keychain, peeked in all the windows to make sure it was empty, then got in and promptly locked the doors.

  Morgan stopped at the exit to the parking garage, looking in all directions for Agent Tanner, but saw no one watching or waiting. Trusting that he was nearby, she eased onto the street and drove to the busy car rental facility not far from the airport. Nick hadn’t checked any luggage, so if he called the minute his plane landed, she could be there by the time he exited the terminal.

  The flight status application on her phone verified that his flight was on time and would be landing any minute. She continued to check her mirrors but located nothing out of the ordinary, including her “shadow.” After what felt like an eternity, her phone buzzed. Looking down, she saw the text.

  On the ground. See you out front.

  Morgan forced herself to keep a moderate pace, knowing how long it would take her to get to the airport and about how long it should take Nick to navigate the terminal. She didn’t want to beat him to the curb since she couldn’t park and wait for long due to the enhanced airport security regulations enacted after 911.

  As she coasted along the pickup lane, she spotted him and her heart nearly stopped. She had forgotten how handsome he was, and the longing to be part of his life again was overwhelming. She wanted to put the vehicle in park, jump out, and throw herself in his arms, but she resisted the temptation.

  As she slowed to a stop, he quickly tossed his carry-on in the back seat and got in. She pulled away from the curb and glanced over at him just in time to see him nod at someone concealed by tinted side-windows of a dark sedan idling curbside.

  “Agent Tanner?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s good.” She chuckled. “I tried to spot him as I left work and on the way here with no luck. I thought maybe he ditched me for something more important.”

  “Nothing is more important than your safety,” he replied. There wasn’t a lot of warmth in his voice, but his words touched her deeply.

  “Thank you. Thank you for coming.”

  “How far away do you live?”

  “Only about twenty minutes.”

  “Plenty of time for the thumbnail version.”

  Morgan had hoped for a more personal conversation, but she knew this wasn’t a social visit. She tried not to be disappointed when Nick dove right into the issue.

  He explained about four other incidents surrounding employees of pharmaceutical and research type companies that were originally classified as accidents by local investigators, but later turned out to be murders. He gave her a brief overview of the latest incident, which started in Utah and ended in Wyoming, and had tied all the incidents together and launched a full-scale investigation. She knew he left out a lot of details for obvious reasons, but she got the gist of the connections.

  “So, prior to my call, it appeared that the pharmaceutical industry, primarily those dealing with weight-loss drugs, was being manipulated. Now, it looks like it’s much larger in scope to include the entire diet-and-health product industry, including innocuous-sounding frozen entrees and desserts.”

  “That’s it in a nutshell. We believe a group calling themselves Coterie is behind this. We don’t know how large the group is or the identity of the players involved. We have a good idea who one member is, but still haven’t nailed down her true identity, only a couple of aliases.”

  “My division manufactures frozen meals and desserts utilizing a supposedly miracle sweetener, but other than that, what makes you think the situation here is related to this Coterie group?”

  “Because we’ve recently learned the man responsible for all the killing in Utah and Wyoming is also responsible for Dexter Fowler’s death. We were grasping for a motive until I saw Dexter’s name on the e-mails you sent. He and Stan Jacobson had apparently uncovered evidence that the sweetener was addictive, stimulated the appetite, and might even have greater negative health concerns if ingested over the long-term. We did a little digging into Giant Cactus, and as I imagine you know, the Healthy and Delicious Foods line is carrying the whole company. If it collapsed, so would Giant Cactus.”

  “Yes, I know. I have the largest portfolio in the company, though I didn’t realize it was carrying the company. The Healthy and Delicious Foods division has slipped a bit, but it’s still performing well, so I was a little confused by the pressure to increase profits. With Stan gone, they had to hire behind him, and I guess the most logical sounding line for why they got rid of Stan was the usual need-to-increase-profits excuse. Also, if my division is keeping the company profitable it can’t just do well, it’s got to do great.”

  “The Phoenix field office is looking into Stan’s death, but it will probably be difficult to prove it wasn’t a suicide after all this time. It’s pretty hard to dispute the autopsy report. He died of an overdose, had the needle marks in the arm and drugs in the system to corroborate the initial theory. Whether or not he shot up himself or had help is the big question.”

  “Wiley said Stan was deeply religious and would have turned to God, not drugs, if things got too bad.”

  “Who’s Wiley?”

  “My plant manager. He was the only guy I trusted around there, and my boss went behind my back and temporarily reassigned him out of my division just this morning.”

  “When we get to your house, I need you to make me a list of all the employees, including your boss, who you interact with or who are involved with any aspect of the sweetener in question.”

  Morgan nodded as she pulled up in front of her duplex, and all conversation stopped. She eased into the garage and sh
ut the door. She got out of the car and Nick followed her inside. With their previous discussion on hold, she suddenly felt awkward. Treating someone who was once such an intimate part of her life like a casual guest unsettled her.

  “The guest room is at the end of the hall on the left. It has its own bathroom, so if you want to freshen up after your flight, make yourself at home. I’ll go put on something more comfortable. Like shorts,” she added, fearing the phrase, “more comfortable,” could be interpreted more than one way.

  Morgan changed quickly and returned to the kitchen. Digging through the refrigerator, she realized she had little food on hand to create a decent meal. She hadn’t planned or shopped for company. Maybe she would just order pizza. In the meantime, she would at least open a bottle of wine. She couldn’t help but wonder if Nick would remember this particular label. They had discovered this lovely California Red during a long weekend to Napa Valley, and she had drunk it ever since.

  She turned at the sound of his footsteps. He hadn’t changed his clothes. He hadn’t needed to. As usual, he’d arrived looking like he just stepped off the cover of a men’s fashion magazine.

  “Can I get you a glass of wine?”

  “No, thanks. Water will be fine.”

  Nick was never much of a drinker, but they had enjoyed the occasional glass of wine together. Maybe he’d changed, or maybe he was still on the job. The thought of the real reason he was here made her shudder.

  “You cold?”

  “No, just had an unpleasant thought, but enough of that. I wasn’t expecting company, so there’s not much in the fridge. Would you like to go out or should I call for pizza?”

  Before he could answer, his phone rang.

  “Melonis.” He paused for a moment, listening to the caller. “Sounds like you’ve done all you can do for now. Anyway, I’m glad you called. I’ll send you a list later of employees at Giant Cactus that I want you to run background checks on.”

  Nick fell silent. Morgan could see furrows form on his forehead as he listened to the voice on the line.

  “And why should I send the list to Gardner?” After a short pause, he lowered his voice. “You did what? Where are you now? Hold on a second.” Nick lowered the phone. “My partner, with help from my boss, managed to hitch a ride with a retiree on his private plane to St. George. She’s rented a car and is about a hundred miles south of St. George. How would you feel about meeting her in Sedona? We could grab some food on our way out of town, and the drive will give us plenty of time to talk.”

  “No problem. Actually it sounds like a good idea. I’m anxious to meet her.”

  Nick rolled his eyes before lifting the phone. “We’ll meet you at Morgan’s place in Sedona, which will save you a couple hours of driving. I’ll send the GPS coordinates. And, Devyn, this isn’t over.”

  Though Nick tried to sound angry to his partner, Morgan suspected he was as relieved as her to get on the road. She worried that spending hours staring at each other in her small duplex would be uncomfortable. Driving meant there was something else to focus on besides each other, and having a third person overnight would help fill in any gaps of silence and awkward moments.

  “Let me throw an overnight bag together and we can hit the road.”

  “Would it be possible for you to call in sick tomorrow? I fear this may be a long night. It might be good to slow down, focus, and decide where we go from here. I’d like to hear what Devyn’s learned, and I wouldn’t mind having those background checks done before sending you back into that building.”

  “I imagine Preston will see right through it, but he won’t question me. We kind of had it out today over Wiley. I also insinuated to my assistant that I might quit, which is almost the same as telling my boss to his face.”

  “Sounds like part of that conversation we’ll have in the car.”

  “Yes. I’ll just leave a message on Preston’s phone now, so I don’t have to talk to him in person.”

  Morgan left a brief message for her boss then hung up the phone. She turned to find Nick standing close. She looked up and their eyes locked. She couldn’t interpret the expression on his face.

  He reached up and twisted a strand of her hair around his finger and then tucked it behind her ear. He leaned in close, and she wasn’t sure what he was doing. “Still the same fragrance. I always knew when you entered a room, even if it was crowded with dozens of other women.”

  “You’ve never mentioned it before. Did you like it?”

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he used to when he returned after being gone for weeks on an assignment. There was a bit of desperation in his kiss, as if he needed to prove to himself she was real and couldn’t get enough of her taste. She missed the passion and wondered if it was too late to recapture what they had lost.

  “Yes, I liked it very much. Let’s roll in ten.”

  Back to business. Morgan was disappointed the spark came and died so quickly, but at least she now knew that Nick hadn’t forgotten what they had and still felt something. She didn’t know if it was enough, but for once, she’d play it his way.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Aaron encountered no one else in the building, except for the cleaning crew, as he made his way down to the plant where Sofia waited. He found her sitting behind Wiley’s desk, going over the production quotas for the next day.

  “How do you do it?”

  “What do you mean?” she replied.

  “How do you walk into a new company and take charge like you have decades of experience in exactly that field?”

  “It’s a simple survival skill. I’ve learned to adapt to the circumstances around me and make any necessary adjustments to create an illusion of belonging. Exude enough confidence, and no one will question your decisions. As far as specifics, there’s nothing I can’t teach myself with a few hours of pouring over records, financials, schedules, and anything else I can find in my predecessor’s office. I don’t have to make the food here. I just have to ensure the staff reaches the quotas outlined here on Wiley’s tidy little spreadsheet. He’s very organized, which makes this brief assignment relatively simple.”

  Aaron was awed by Sofia, but that still didn’t make up for letting him down. He was living on the street the first time they’d encountered each other. He had watched the woman leaving her office often. She was always dressed for success, so he felt certain she had money in her purse and jewelry worth his while. He had followed her late one evening on her way to a public parking garage.

  When he grabbed her, his life changed forever. Her reactions were lightning-quick, and he was sprawled on the filthy pavement before he even realized what had happened. She stood over him, a spiked heel digging into his heaving chest. She studied him for several minutes, and he was too entranced to move or look away. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled a card out of her purse and jotted something on it.

  “Be at my office at 8:00 a.m. Give this to the receptionist so she doesn’t call the police,” she had stated.

  After she left, he moved to another office building and waited in the shadows until a man about his size passed by. He efficiently relieved the man of his suit. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t blow off the encounter with Sofia, but the classy-looking woman with back-alley skills intrigued him.

  The next morning, he kept the appointment in his stolen suit. She was blunt, stating she saw something in him, and it was nothing good. She sent him to college, trained him in martial arts and other self-defense and combat skills, and employed him at her Foundation. Occasionally, he took outside jobs for Coterie, just as she did, but he always came back to her. This time was different. J.R. said he was no longer needed at the Foundation and sent him to GCF.

  “Are you still angry I sent you to assist Preston?” she asked, breaking into his remembrances.

  “You didn’t send me. J.R. ordered my transfer and you let him. Since when do you let someone else tell you who you employ?”

  She didn’t like
the fact that he had hit the mark. She was even less thrilled someone had seen her weakness.

  “Preston needed you.”

  “He’s an idiot, and you know it. How he survived as a member of Coterie this long is beyond me.”

  “That’s why J.R. and I thought you would be better utilized here than with me. I wasn’t happy about losing you, but it was time to see if my investment had paid dividends.”

  He hated it when she referred to him as an asset, though in reality, that’s exactly what he had become. Not only was it dehumanizing, it reminded him that every asset eventually lost its value.

  “Then why are you here?”

  “You made a tiny but dangerous error. That missed flash drive has turned into quite a problem for Preston, and he, in exchange, has turned into a liability for Coterie.”

  “What do we do now?” Aaron asked.

  “We need to find out if Ms. Hunter actually took a sample. The security footage was inconclusive. Preston might be able to mitigate the damage even if she did steal the sample if he truly destroyed all of the synthetic sweetener that I ordered him to and returns to the approved formula. If anyone questions her results, he could just demand another test since there would be no proof of where she obtained the sample. The e-mails are much more damaging if she kept copies. You destroyed the ones on her computer, but that doesn’t guarantee she didn’t put them on a flash drive or print them out.”

  “I’ve searched her homes in Sedona and Phoenix, and her office. All have come up clean. I don’t know what else I can do. She’s not going to just tell me if she made copies or if she gave them to anyone. It’s too late to gain her trust, thanks to Preston.”

  “True, another mistake by Preston. They’re adding up quickly.”

  “Maybe we could use Wiley to pry the information out of her. She trusts him. If we could get him to confide in her that he has suspicions about the sweetener, especially after his time in R & D, I’ll bet she’d confess to the e-mails,” Aaron offered.