Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights

by Kyra Davis

  “Anatoly,” I said in a warning voice.

  “Did Sophie talk to you about that possibility?” Anatoly continued, ignoring me.

  Leah looked up to meet my eyes. “She told me about your suspicions regarding Taylor, but that’s it.”

  “She didn’t tell—”

  Leah stood up abruptly. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She threw her napkin down on the table and hurried down the hall to the guest room.

  Anatoly turned to me. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Well, it sounds to me like Taylor was shtooping my brother-in-law.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Let’s pretend it is.” I sat down next to him. “So what’s our next move?”

  Anatoly shook his head in confusion. “Why are we avoiding the topic of Erika?”

  I looked away and took a long drink.

  Anatoly made a noise of frustration. “In that case, I think we should visit Taylor Blake and talk to her about the true nature of her relationship with Bob.”

  Spectacular. With my luck she’d be hanging from her showerhead. “Why don’t we call first?”

  Anatoly examined me carefully. “Are you trying to avoid a face-to-face confrontation?”

  “It seems prudent.”

  “Now I know something’s wrong.”

  “You know, maybe we should talk to Erika,” I said slowly. “Why don’t we pop in on her at work?”

  “I thought that was precisely what you didn’t want to do.”

  “I just don’t want to spread rumors about something that may never have happened.” I tore off another piece of croissant. “But if we just ask her directly while she’s at work, then I suppose it won’t do any harm.”

  Anatoly was watching me carefully. “It’s not the kind of information most women would want to discuss at their place of business. Erika might be more forthcoming if we catch her at home.”

  The croissant caught in my throat and I had to make a grab for my drink to keep from choking. “You know, I’m not even sure where she lives. Besides, we might be able to find someone at Chalet who has information about Taylor. We could knock out two birds with one stone.”

  “Kill,” he said. “You kill two birds with the stone.”

  “I’d really rather wound them.”

  Anatoly stared at me for what felt like an hour. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll go to Chalet.”

  We both stood up, but Anatoly grabbed my arm before I could go to tell Leah that we were leaving. “Sophie, I know we haven’t always been honest with each other, but if you’re in some kind of trouble you need to tell me. If I can, I’ll help you.”

  “And if you can’t?”

  “I’ll help you anyway.”

  I broke into my first real smile of the day. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a lamb in wolf’s clothing?”

  Anatoly grunted and released me. “I give up. Get your coat—we have an interview to get to.”

  CHAPTER 11

  “You know how some people say that with every step forward they’re forced to take five steps back?” he asked. “Well every time I try to move forward I inevitably step right off a cliff.”

  —Words To Die By

  It took us a while to find out that Erika had been reassigned to James Sawyer’s office and a lot less time to find out she hadn’t shown up or called in. I made an effort to put on my best surprised face as James relayed the news.

  “Has she done this before?” Anatoly asked, leaning against the desk that Erika had just begun to make her own.

  “No, the reason I offered her the job as my assistant was that I knew I could count on her,” James said. “I’m actually very worried.”

  “Has anyone called her?” I asked innocently.

  “I’ve called several times but there’s no answer. I’m at a loss as to what to do next.”

  Anatoly absently jotted something down on a Post-it on Erika’s desk before stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans. “If you give us her address, we’d be happy to stop by her house and check on her.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t think we have the time.” I kept my eyes glued on James so that I could better avoid Anatoly’s questioning stare. “We have a pretty full day ahead of us. But as long as we’re here, perhaps we could ask you about Bob’s relationship with Taylor Blake.”

  “What exactly would you like to know?” James asked cautiously.

  Anatoly shrugged, his eyes shifting from me back to the items decorating Erika’s desk. “Were they just coworkers, or did they share a friendship?”

  “We’re all friends here at Chalet. We strive to maintain a warm, family atmosphere.”

  I resisted the temptation to puke and instead studied James’s stance. He had shifted his weight back onto his heels and his arms were now crossed over his chest. He wasn’t making eye contact with me or Anatoly.

  “James,” I said, in a purposely familiar tone, “Taylor and Bob were seen at Hotel Gatsby together on a few occasions. Why were they there?”

  James’s shoulders sagged. “Why don’t you step into my office.”

  We followed him inside the double doors, which he quickly closed behind us. He gestured for Anatoly and me to use the two available leather upholstered chairs and sat down behind his desk. “I didn’t want this to become public knowledge. It seems disrespectful of Bob’s memory and it could only harm Taylor’s flawless reputation as a businesswoman.”

  Anatoly’s lips formed into a wry smile. “It’s not going to look too good for Chalet, either.”

  “You must understand, as soon as I found out about them I pressured Taylor to resign her position,” James said. “I gave her a stellar recommendation, of course—she deserves it. She was offered an executive position at JVW and will be starting there within the next few days. There’s not a doubt in my mind that she’ll be a major asset for them. But she broke company policy. We don’t allow upper management to get romantically involved with those who report to us.”

  Anatoly crossed his ankle over his knee. “What exactly is the wording of your company policy?”

  “It’s very clear-cut,” James explained. “Any romantic involvement with a coworker can result in immediate termination. Employees have to sign a document saying they understand that, among other things. So, as you can see, Taylor knew the risks.”

  “Your corporation seems to have some sexist leanings,” Anatoly pointed out. “Why else would Taylor be asked to leave while Bob was offered a promotion?”

  James’s eyes narrowed. “If Bob had offered his resignation I would have been content to have Taylor stay. That didn’t happen, and since Taylor was officially Bob’s supervisor, it was her actions that left the company open for a possible sexual harassment suit. I assure you, sexism had nothing to do with it.”

  “No need to get defensive.” Anatoly threw up his hands, as if to surrender the argument. “But hypothetically speaking, you could have fired both Taylor and Bob without the fear of legal repercussions. Bob did sign the same document.”

  James hesitated before nodding his agreement. “I could have gotten rid of both of them, but then I would have been left with a royal mess. Taylor and Bob were the two top executives in the financial department. To lose both of them at once would have been devastating for Chalet.” A pained look crossed his features. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what ended up happening. Thank God our sales are strong, otherwise the stockholders would be fleeing in droves.”

  “How did Taylor react to your decision?” Anatoly asked.

  “Taylor accepted her fate fairly graciously. Granted, she did contact me a few times after all was said and done in hopes that I might have changed my mind, but when she determined that I hadn’t, she certainly didn’t make a fuss. And as soon as she found out about Bob, she offered to come in a few times to help me figure out which of Bob’s projects could be delegated to the rest of the accounting staff and which needed to be taken care of by me personally.”
>
  I wrinkled my nose. “That was excessively generous of her.”

  “I suspect Taylor is grateful to me for my discretion.” James glanced at his watch. “She’s due here any minute to go over a few things with me and the new comptroller one last time.”

  “If she did ask for her job back, would you give it to her?”

  “Perhaps. Unfortunately, I think my chance at wooing her back has come and gone.” James released a troubled sigh. “Normally, I don’t like to rehire former employees, but as I said, it doesn’t look good for a company that just went public to lose both its CFO and comptroller in the space of a month….” James’s voice trailed off and, with a tired smile, he sat farther back in his chair. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Now that Taylor has another job she may not want to come back. She could simply be helping me today out of the goodness of her heart.”

  Anatoly nodded, although he didn’t look all that convinced of Taylor’s altruism. “Do you have any reason to believe Bob was carrying on with anyone else here? Perhaps someone who worked for him?”

  I shot Anatoly a warning glance, but he ignored me.

  “Of course not,” James said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Bob was a married man having an affair with his boss.” Anatoly flicked a piece of lint off his jeans. “That had to speak to a certain moral flexibility that would lend itself to future misconduct.”

  “Now you sound like one of those right-wing puritans who made such an issue over Clinton’s affair.” James laughed as if he had just made a hilarious joke. “Bob had a weakness for women, but he learned from his mistake with Taylor. He was determined to keep his personal and professional life separate, and that’s all that mattered to me. It was not my job to punish Bob for the questionable decisions he made with regard to his personal life. My job was to reward him for the good decisions he made at Chalet. If he had lived to fill the CFO position, it would have been his second promotion in as many years. You don’t get that kind of advancement without being damn good at what you do. Taylor was a great worker but, truth be told, Bob was better.”

  “James? I—” Taylor stopped short as her eyes fell on Anatoly and me. “I didn’t realize that you had company. You haven’t forgotten our meeting, have you?”

  Anatoly’s mouth stretched into a satisfied smile and he stood up to face her. “Actually, Ms. Blake, we were just talking about you.”

  Taylor’s posture stiffened. “Do I know you?”

  “Taylor, this is Anatoly,” James said. “He’s a family friend of Bob’s. He’s also a private detective.”

  “I see.” Her voice had a new edge to it. “Are you investigating something?”

  James sighed and steepled his fingers. “Close the door, Taylor.”

  Taylor did so but didn’t bother to enter the room.

  “They’re looking into Bob’s murder,” James said. “I know that every one of us wants to do whatever we can to bring his killer to justice. Unfortunately, that means a lot of things that we’ve been keeping under wraps are going to become exposed. Specifically your involvement with Bob.”

  If we had been in a 1950s sci-fi flick, laser beams would have been shooting out of Taylor’s pupils right now, vaporizing James in a flash of cheap special effects.

  “I had to tell them, Taylor.” James’s voice rose to an almost whiny pitch. “A man is dead. Surely the search for his killer is more important than the secrecy surrounding your short-lived office romance.”

  “I trusted you—”

  By the look on Taylor’s face I’d say she was one step away from qualifying for a restraining order.

  “You tossed me aside in order to accommodate that middle-class half-wit and yet I still agreed to come in here and clean up the mess he left behind.”

  “Taylor, I had to let you go. You know that.” James’s voice had gotten stronger but he had also slumped lower in his chair. “You knew the risk you were taking when you took up with Bob. You made the choice, and even after you left I kept my mouth shut—”

  “Only because no one asked you the right questions,” Taylor snapped.

  I muffled a cough with my hand and Taylor started as if she had forgotten that I was there. She recovered quickly and rolled her shoulders back.

  “I suppose you think you’ve found another suspect.”

  I shrugged. “If the silencer fits…”

  “What?” James’s Adam’s apple did its bobbing thing a few more times. “You can’t think that Taylor killed Bob!”

  “Of course they do!” Taylor took three advancing steps toward his desk. “You just told them I had an affair with him and lost my job because of it!”

  “But you would never do that.” James quickly looked at Anatoly and me. “She would never do that,” he repeated.

  “And what makes you say that?” Anatoly asked.

  “Because she’s not a murderer. And…and…wait. She couldn’t have done it.” A relieved smile lit up James’s face. “I ran into her at the Grand Café the night Bob was killed. I bought her dinner.”

  Anatoly turned his eyes to Taylor. “Is this true?”

  “Yes, it’s true.” Taylor never looked away from James.

  “And what time did this dinner take place?”

  “I got there at around a quarter to seven and she was already there. She was about to dine alone at the bar, but I invited her to join me instead. So you see—Taylor couldn’t have killed Bob.”

  “When exactly did your affair with Bob end?” Anatoly asked, apparently unfazed by Taylor’s sudden alibi.

  Taylor’s eyes stayed locked on James, and she lifted her chin a quarter of an inch. “The affair ended several months ago.”

  I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head. There wasn’t enough Valium in the world to prepare Leah for this confession.

  “When exactly did it end?” Anatoly asked smoothly.

  “When,” Taylor repeated. “I suppose it ended mid-November. It was never serious.”

  “But you were still working together at that point.”

  “I just found out about it last month,” James piped in. Taylor glared at him but didn’t say anything.

  “How did you find out?” I asked.

  “I went to her office to go over some paperwork. She wasn’t there, but next to her wastebasket was a card.”

  “And you read it.” Taylor’s voice was cold and steady. “It was a complete violation of my privacy.”

  “What did the card say?” Anatoly asked.

  James sighed. “He wanted her back.”

  Anatoly was clearly listening to James, but he was watching Taylor, who remained by the door, radiating anger. “Is that when James asked for your resignation?” he asked.

  I saw Taylor wince. “It was for the best,” she said testily. “I don’t like working for spineless chauvinistic pigs.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded empathetically. “That’s got to suck.”

  James cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well then, now that all this unsavory business has been discussed, I suppose it goes without saying that it would behoove all of us if this conversation stays within these walls.”

  I clasped my hands together and brought them under my chin. “I don’t think that behooves me.” I looked up at Anatoly. “Does it behoove you?”

  Anatoly shook his head. “I’m not behooved.”

  “But what’s the point of telling people about this?” James sat up, clearly alarmed. “You know that Taylor didn’t kill Bob and this news will obviously upset Leah, not to mention our stockholders—”

  “I understand you’re angry,” Taylor said, cutting James off and directing her words to me. The funny part was that she was the one who sounded pissed. “Try to understand—what Bob and I shared was meaningless. I was newly divorced and Bob was a comfort. But we were never in love. It was just an ill-conceived fling.”

  “Yes.” I stood up to face her, although I was still forced to crane my neck to make eye contact. “It seems my brother-in-law’s life
consisted of one ill-conceived fling after another. What I don’t understand is why you chose Bob. Did it ever occur to you that the man you were making love to was a simpering idiot? Or were you unable to reach that conclusion until the affair was over?”

  Taylor’s mouth twitched at the corners. “Like I said, I was just coming out of a relationship with another simpering idiot. I was simply sticking to what I knew.”

  James let out a forced laugh. “Very well, now that we have that straightened out, I would like to get back to the matter of discretion. Taylor made a mistake, but I fail to see that any real harm was done. No need to make things worse than they need to be.”

  Anatoly pulled his keys out of the pocket of his leather jacket and smiled at James. “You’re right, there’s no need to cause any more embarrassment to the family or Chalet.” He put his hand on my back and began to guide me toward the door, but stopped before we got there. “As I said before, we would be happy to check on Erika if you don’t mind giving us her address.”

  I felt the muscles in my neck tighten as I struggled to come up with a reason that we wouldn’t be able to go on that particular errand.

  James’s brow creased and he rubbed the nonexistent stubble on his chin. “I’m really not supposed to give out the personal information of our employees, but I suppose in this case…”

  “No, no,” I said quickly. “We don’t want you to break any rules on our behalf.” I grabbed Anatoly’s arm. “Come on, we have other stuff to do.”

  Anatoly frowned but allowed me to lead him out of the office. “Why don’t you want to go to Erika’s?” he asked when we got onto the elevator.

  “She lives too far away.” I jammed my finger against the button for the lobby a few times, although the elevator was already on its way down.

  “Fine, don’t tell me,” Anatoly grumbled as the elevator doors opened to the bottom floor. “Let’s try another question. If a man had done to you what it seems Bob did to Taylor, how would you feel?”

  I smiled as we stepped out onto the windy streets and walked over to where he had parked his bike. “If it were me? I’d want to kill him.”