Opportunity (Office Roulette, Book Three)

by Kennedy Layne

  “Meredith,” Gareth greeted before indicating she should take a seat. “I fly back out on Friday.”

  Gareth didn’t feel any need to explain to her that he would be in Minneapolis a lot more in the coming weeks, months, and years. It honestly didn’t matter that he intended to make this city his home base. He and Meredith were mere acquaintances at this point.

  “What exactly can I do for you?”

  He steeled himself against the usual request, having gotten used to the appeals for money. Brad had a lot of debt acquired at the time of his death, not that he’d shared that information with Gareth. They hadn’t really been on great speaking terms toward the end.

  “I found some pictures going through Brad’s things that I thought you’d like to have,” Meredith replied tentatively before reaching into her purse and pulling out a couple of photographs. “They must have been taken at the hospital the day you were born.”

  Gareth didn’t like to be taken off guard. This moment definitely qualified in that arena, but he leaned forward to take the pictures from her anyway. He’d come to terms with his childhood and adoption long ago. This didn’t change anything. Why, then, did something about this offering feel off?

  “I appreciate you bringing these to me.” Gareth wasn’t about to look at something so personal with someone looking on that he had no connection with. He set them down alongside his pen before carrying on the conversation so that this visit didn’t become any more awkward than it already was. “I know that you and Brad had remained friends after your divorce. I’m sure it’s not easy going through his personal items.”

  “I’ve been finding out a lot about Brad that I’d wished I’d known when we were married.” Meredith’s wistful expression caught him off guard. He’d heard about her affair with Steve Lewis. She’d obviously gotten over the embarrassment of it all. The divorce had been years ago, and both she and Brad had moved on with their lives. This was a development Gareth hadn’t seen coming. “Did you know that he still kept our wedding picture in his wallet? Or that he gave me the house when his lawyer had advised against it?”

  Gareth didn’t know any of that, though he was aware that Brad had still been paying on the mortgage. His life insurance policy had barely been enough to pay it off, though Meredith had acquired some shares in Manon Investments. It wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it wasn’t like Meredith relied on any income Brad had been giving her since their divorce. She’d carved out a life for herself, and it seemed to be going pretty well for her.

  “I think it’s safe to say that he never stopped caring for you, Meredith.” Gareth thought back to when he’d found out that she’d been having an affair with Steve Lewis. It shouldn’t have made a difference, seeing as Meredith and Brad hadn’t been married for quite some time. But it did take some type of odd courage to sleep with a colleague of her ex-husband. “You know that Brad and I didn’t have the closest of relationships, but what happened was a tragedy for us all.”

  “I remember when you reached out to Brad’s mother,” Meredith recalled with a fond smile that Gareth found oddly confusing. She hadn’t treated him with the most openness of affection. “Brad had conflicting emotions over your return. You do know that he was jealous of you, right? It’s the reason he held you at arm’s length for all those years.”

  Well, that solidified it. She was crossing into territory that wasn’t any of her damn business. He sure as hell wasn’t having this conversation with a woman who had nothing to do with his past, nor anything to do with his future.

  “Meredith, Brad and I were related by blood. There was nothing more between us.” Gareth pushed back his chair and held his tie against his shirt as he stood, signifying that this visit was over. “I appreciate you bringing me the pictures.”

  Gareth was relieved that he hadn’t told Meredith that he was moving his home base to Minneapolis. Honestly, there was no reason for them to see one another after she left the office today. It wasn’t like she had anything to do with Manon Investments, especially considering she’d already had a discussion with Paul to give her shares back to the company.

  “Oh. Okay. I didn’t mean to keep you.” Meredith gave him an apologetic smile, though he doubted she regretted stopping in to see him. He didn’t know what game she was playing, but he didn’t want any part of it. “I should be getting back to Brad’s apartment, anyway. The last of the furniture has been moved to the house, and I’m expecting a cleaning crew in a couple of hours.”

  Once again, Gareth wasn’t sure why Meredith was sharing all of this with him. He walked around the desk and patiently waited for her stand before he walked her to the door. He didn’t stop there, either. He escorted her through the foyer.

  “Meredith, what are you doing here?”

  Both Gareth and Meredith turned at the sound of her name, but not before he caught sight of the confliction crossing her features. It was then he understood the real reason for her visit, and he had nothing to do with it.

  “Oh, I was just dropping something off to Gareth,” Meredith replied casually, contradicting the fact that she was clutching the strap to her purse. She was now completely facing Steve, waiting for his reaction. When he didn’t reply right away, she filled in the silent gap. “How are you?”

  “Um, do you have a second?” Steve inquired, scratching the back of his head as if he were unsure of asking her such a question. “I’ve been meaning to call you, but I think having this discussion in person would be better.”

  Meredith slowly stepped forward, leaving Gareth standing in the middle of the foyer as he watched the two of them walk into the trading room. It wasn’t like they would get a ton of privacy in there, but then again, Gareth wasn’t even remotely sure about what he’d just witnessed.

  “What was that about?” Cynthia had sidled up next to him, giving her light perfume a chance to surround him.

  “I have no earthly clue,” Gareth muttered, still trying to figure out if Meredith had used the photographs as an excuse for her to come into the office. “I thought it was Meredith who cut things off with Steve.”

  “You could say that,” Cynthia said somewhat distractedly. “Meredith asked Steve if he killed Brad. It was a pretty big thing, and he was basically crushed. I don’t believe they’ve spoken since that day.”

  Gareth was a little taken aback by the manner in which she’d just conveyed the events of Steve and Meredith’s relationship. Cynthia usually would have interjected her opinion in the middle, but she wasn’t even looking in the direction of the trading room anymore.

  Her gaze was intently locked on Marilyn.

  “I was on the phone for forty minutes,” Gareth said wryly. He’d thought this day was a turning point. “What could I have possibly missed in that amount of time?”

  “Kurt’s condition still remains critical, Smith is conducting interviews for Vern’s position, and Marilyn has been using Brad’s office to make personal phone calls since you’re using the guest office,” Cynthia summed it up before flashing him a smile. “How was your overseas conference call?”

  “I think I’m going to go make another one.” Gareth was well aware that when Cynthia tugged on a string, she got the immense need to unravel the entire sweater. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the carnage when she was done figuring out why Marilyn could manage to use Brad’s office after having had a crew brought in to clean up all the blood. “Just remember, the woman is in her sixties. It’s doubtful she committed murder by herself.”

  Did Gareth believe that Marilyn slit Brad’s throat until he bled out? No, not even for one moment. That wouldn’t stop Cynthia from needing to prove that to herself. Her tenacity was one of the reasons he loved her.

  “Try to stay out of trouble, Cyn.” Gareth didn’t care who was watching. He leaned in and stole a kiss. “I know it’s not your strong suit.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one who found my boss dead or got falsely arrested for his murder,” Cynthia reminded him, purposefully leavi
ng out the fact that she could have very well been included in that list had Kurt Langston been the guilty party. “One, I don’t do blood. Two, I don’t look good in orange. Three, it’s part of my job to keep things running smoothly here.”

  “Uh-huh,” Gareth agreed half-heartedly. He stepped to the side when she would have backhanded him softly in the arm. “You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. I’m getting back to work. Remember, we have a lunch date today at noon.”

  Cynthia didn’t know that Gareth was leaving the office at around eleven o’clock. He’d be back before she even realized he was missing. He had an appointment with one of the best jewelers in the city, fully intending to ask Cynthia for her hand in marriage in the proper manner before he was needed in some far-off corner of Africa.

  He’d also have to begin looking for office space locally, because he wouldn’t be able to use Manon Investments as a temporary workplace forever. He wasn’t going to worry about that now, but it was something to add to his long list of priorities.

  Maybe it was time to hire a competent personal assistant—one who was capable of lifting some of the weight without becoming a hindrance.

  Gareth returned to the guest office, unable to forget about the photographs Meredith had brought in for him. He had little regret in his life, but his relationship with Brad hadn’t been as healthy as it should have in the grand scheme of things.

  He chose the first picture, holding the old square photo gently in between his fingers. His biological mother was holding him in her arms, where he was swaddled in a white blanket. She was staring down at him with a mixture of regret and hope. Her expression reassured him that she’d made the right decision for everyone involved.

  Gareth instinctively reached for the second photograph.

  The image spoke a thousand words.

  He slowly sank into the leather of the desk chair, absorbing the fact that Meredith had been right in her assumption of the situation. A young boy could be seen standing in the corner of the hospital room, looking on as Gareth was being handed to a nurse…presumably to be taken to his adopted parents.

  The look of yearning on the youthful face was heart wrenching. Brad had to watch on as his infant brother had been given away, escaping a life of the unknown. The Manons had struggled on and off throughout their lives. That was, until Brad had attended college and put everything into his career path.

  “You should have been proud of yourself, Brad,” Gareth muttered, sitting back in his chair as he continued to stare at the little boy who hadn’t gotten to live a full life. “You were taken too soon, before you learned what was truly important in life.”

  A ball of emotions formed in Gareth’s throat at what could have been instead of what had been. If anything, this was a valuable lesson to never take anything for granted.

  Gareth made a snap decision, deciding to head to the jewelry store a bit early. He dropped the photograph on the desk before standing and grabbing the keys to Cynthia’s vehicle.

  Today was the day he was going to make their engagement official.

  Today was a new beginning, and an end to regret.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “…make a decision sometime next week,” Paul continued, having been speaking for the last ten minutes about the upcoming changes to the firm. All the employees were gathered around the trading desk, allowing Steve to continue to monitor the day’s trades. “Smith has asked me to stay on as CFO of Gallo Capital Management, and I’ve chosen to accept.”

  A round of congratulations went around the room, though this wasn’t an unexpected announcement. Smith had been pretty upfront with everyone, not allowing any doubt about the future of his new firm.

  “Steve has decided to join his brother-in-law in London. As most of you know, Joshua Green will be joining Gallo Capital Management when the switch is official. There will also be considerable positive changes to the benefits package for everyone.”

  “That must have been what Steve was talking to Meredith about,” Grace whispered, holding up her coffee cup to block her voice from carrying too far. “She left here crying.”

  Laurel and Grace were standing on either side of Cynthia. They’d been listening to Paul for quite a while, and it was evident that Smith was about to step in and finish up the dialogue.

  “Meredith has no one else to blame but herself,” Laurel said softly, shaking her head at the fact that the woman had all but accused her own lover of murder. “That relationship was doomed from the very start.”

  “Speaking of relationships, you and Gareth seem to have overcome that former hurdle that had been in the way,” Laurel murmured, a knowing smile on her lips as her eyes drifted down to the pearls strung around Cynthia’s neck. “I like this new transition for us. Any bets on which one of us gets married first?”

  Grace nearly choked on her coffee, garnering stares from the other employees around them.

  “Looks like you might be in trouble, Laurel.” Cynthia let her gaze drift to the front of the room where Smith was raising an eyebrow their way. His displeasure was evident, and Cynthia couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t polite to talk over the speaker, but then again, Smith had been in enough meetings with Paul to know that these meetings could drag on forever. “Changing the topic here, but I haven’t had a chance to speak with Marilyn. She hasn’t been at her desk long enough for me to catch her, but I find it really odd that she can go into Brad’s office as if he hadn’t been found dead at his desk a month ago. She cried for almost a week straight anytime anyone would glance toward his door.”

  “People handle grief in different ways.”

  “Or she killed him,” Grace interjected with a shrug, having made a full recovery after clearing her airway.

  “Prison made you a hard bitch,” Cynthia replied with a smile, though nothing about this situation was humorous. “You were right, Laurel. We’re all going to hell in a handbag.”

  They all quieted down when Smith took over the meeting, hopefully to bring it to a close. Cynthia had some work matters to tie up before she went to lunch with Gareth, who seemed to have disappeared from the office earlier. She glanced at her watch. They were supposed to meet in the foyer a few minutes before noon, so she still had forty-five minutes to spare.

  The vibration of her cell phone that she’d been holding told her that she had an incoming call, but a quick glance at the display revealed an unknown number. She debated answering, but she figured it best she take the call given that so much had occurred over the last couple of days. Turning toward the back of the room to be less of a distraction, she accepted the call.

  “Hello?” Cynthia rested a finger against her other ear as she quietly took a few steps farther away from the meeting. The man on the other end of the line all but verified this call wasn’t going to be good. She walked as far as the foyer before her heart began to beat once more. “Detective Nielsen. Has something happened?”

  Cynthia closed her eyes, as if that was going to stop the detective from telling her that Kurt had either died or had woken up with some horrible confession that could potentially ruin her career.

  “Would it be possible for you to come to the hospital? The doctor has just been in to speak with Mrs. Langston, and it appears that her husband has awakened.” The detective’s long pause didn’t sooth Cynthia’s anxiety that the day wasn’t going to go as well as she’d hoped. “I know this is awkward, but Kurt Langston is asking to speak with you, Ms. Ellsworth.”

  Damn it. She should have worn those black heels.

  Cynthia rested a hand over her stomach, trying to ward off the waves of nausea that this call had initiated from the second she’d answered. This wasn’t the most ideal diet, but she didn’t doubt she’d lost a pound or two over the course of the last month.

  “I’ll be right there,” Cynthia assured him, wishing Gareth were here to accompany her on the drive. “Where should I meet you once I arrive?”

  Detective Nielsen explained that Kurt was still in ICU, so she shou
ld wait in the hallway until he could get her entry cleared by the doctor. She had a feeling that he meant Kurt’s wife, but Cynthia would have to worry about that complication later.

  Right now, she needed to figure out a way to the hospital. Gareth had taken her car for whatever meeting he’d had this morning, and a quick unanswered phone call to him told her that either he was out of range or unable to talk right at this moment.

  “Is everything okay?” Marilyn asked, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. “You’re looking a bit pale, Cynthia.”

  Cynthia glanced toward the hallway that led to Brad’s corner office, wondering if Marilyn had once again been using the space for personal reasons.

  “I’m not entirely sure,” Cynthia responded honestly, deciding that the morning was like an episode of “The Twilight Zone”. It was best to be direct. That way, her imagination didn’t run overtime. “Marilyn, what have you been doing in Brad’s office?”

  At first, Cynthia’s reaction was to back away. There was a glimmer of resentment in the woman’s gaze, as well as irritation. Cynthia shot a glance toward the trading room, knowing full well she could scream at the top of her lungs if she was to be stabbed right there in the foyer.

  Had Grace been right about Marilyn being able to commit murder? It was what they were all thinking today.

  Cynthia’s urge to call for help proved unnecessary when the older woman scrunched her nose in defeat, as if the secret of what she’d been doing had been too heavy to keep carrying around. Fortunately, the cloak and dagger behavior was easily explained away.

  When had Cynthia become one of those overly dramatic women?

  “I thought I was being so discreet,” Marilyn complained, urging Cynthia to follow her down the hallway. She didn’t move from her spot in the foyer. “You see, with the company switching names and with Smith taking over as portfolio manager, I thought ordering new business cards would—”