The CEO Came DOA

by Heather Haven

  I nodded, unable to speak. I took them out of the box and with shaky fingers, clipped them on my ears. I didn’t mention the diamond drop earrings Gurn had given me as a wedding present. Time enough to wear those as his wife.

  “I should get back outside,” Mom said breaking the spell. “I’m trying to keep things afloat.”

  “Every pun intended?” I teased her with a smile and reached out for a hug.

  “Every.” She embraced me and squeezed harder than I can remember her doing before. “The next time we meet, you’ll be a married woman,” she whispered then broke free. I gazed into her eyes.

  “Let’s hope this one takes.” My voice was light and teasing.

  “It will.” Her voice was light and sincere. “And put on a darker shade of lipstick. That gloss makes you looked washed out. The ceremony is scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes. You’ll have some peace and quiet until then. I’ve seen to it.”

  I barely had time to nod my head before she swept out of the room. I limped to the door, locked it then kicked my train aside for the short walk back to the counter where my travel bag rested. I rummaged inside for the tube of hot pink lipstick called Bright Rose.

  I turned back to Mom’s full-length mirror, leaned in, and began to apply the lipstick. For the first time I sniffed a scent of perfume over the lemony smell of the room. Simultaneously, the closet door that previously held the ironing board opened slowly. The cloying fragrance became more powerful as the door widened.

  Unable to move, I watched as a hand holding a revolver, followed by a woman dressed in the standard white shirt and black trousers of the food servers, stepped out of the closet.

  She was a brunette with short curly hair and large horn rimmed glasses. But I would have recognized her anywhere. I would have known her even without the distinctive scent or the bruise on her jaw put there by my fist.

  Sharise.

  There are a lot of billionaires in Silicon Valley, but in the end,

  we are all heading to the same place. If given the choice between

  making a lot of money or finding a way to make people live longer,

  what do you choose?

  Bill Maris

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  “You didn’t drown.”

  I can’t say I was completely shocked. A nagging niggle had been living inside me ever since she took the dive into San Francisco Bay two nights before. Bad penny and all that. But it did surprise me to see her emerge from the ironing board closet.

  “I didn’t drown, no thanks to you.” Her voice sounded strong but playful, with an undercurrent of hostility. “I stayed close to shore and came up maybe two hundred yards away. I have friends close by I can go to, a few who will help me. I store things with them like my disguises and laptops. You never know when you’ll need a new look. Like now.”

  “How did you get in here?”

  “One of my friends runs a temp agency.”

  “You have a lot of friends.”

  “When the price is right, everybody is your friend. He got the call for extra help, and I signed myself up. I was one of the first to arrive, a real opportunity to look around.”

  She lost the chit-chatty element of the conversation, becoming hard and accusatory.

  “You have ruined everything, everything, you interfering, nosy bitch. I’ve been waiting inside the closet for the chance to get you alone for nearly two hours. I thought you’d never figure out to lock the door so no one else would show up. I didn’t come out when your mother was here. I didn’t want to have to shoot her.”

  My eyebrows darted up right into my hairline. She sniggered before saying more.

  “Consider it my wedding gift to you.”

  Either the snide comment about shooting my mother or the snigger pissed me off. It doesn’t do to piss me off; there’s no telling what I might do. Sometimes to my own detriment.

  “What do you want?” My voice was strong and steady now.

  I took a defiant step forward. Sharise took a defiant step forward. I glared at her. She glared at me.

  We were at a Mexican standoff. I’m allowed to say that because I’m Mexican-American. On second thought, we weren’t quite at a standoff. She had the gun and I didn’t. There was that.

  “What. Do. You. Want?” I repeated the words, crossing my arms across my chest.

  “You’re going to call in that boyfriend of yours --”

  “Fiancé,” I interrupted. “And why would I do that?”

  “Because if you don’t, I’m going to shoot you.”

  She brought the gun forward and aimed it right between my eyes. As it was a smallish room, there was no way her shot would have gone wild. Her voice quivered a little when she spoke but the gun’s aim remained steady and true.

  “Your fiancé has a plane. I read all about him on the internet.”

  Curse the internet. I said aloud, “So?”

  “He’s going to fly the three of us to Canada. I can’t get out of the Bay Area on my own. Thanks to you, all the airports, bus stations, train stations are being watched. I can’t even rent a car.”

  “So borrow one from your many friends.”

  “You haven’t thought this through, Lee.” Her voice dripped with irony. “The Canadian border checks passports and visas. But a private plane is just airport to airport. And your guy is an army bigwig.”

  “Navy.”

  “So he’s going to take you and me in his little Sester --”

  “Cessna.”

  She took another step forward, almost touching my nose with the gun. “If you correct me one more time I’m going to shoot you, even if I never get out of here. Do you understand?”

  I nodded, my eyes crossing. I looked down the barrel of a gun now touching my nose, deciding to use a more tactful approach. Belligerence wasn’t working, especially with a woman who had obviously lost touch with reality.

  “Let’s calm down a little. We can work this out.”

  She backed up, dropping the gun an inch or two. I let out the trapped air in my lungs and inhaled a snootful of her perfume. It made me cough.

  “Yeah, right, okay, whatever you say,” I said, while trying to think my way out of this mess. “I’ll call or text him. Why don’t you hand me my phone on the counter?” I tilted my head in the direction of my cellphone.

  Without taking her eyes off me, she backed up until she bumped into the counter. With her free hand she felt around on it for the phone. When she picked it up, I hoped she would toss it to me. But instead, she asked a question.

  “What’s his name, Gary or something? I can’t remember.”

  “Gurn.” Nobody can get his name straight.

  “Is he on your speed dial?”

  I reached out, nodding my head like an idiot, still hoping she would give me the phone. If I could just signal Frank; he’s on my speed dial. Or maybe she’ll look down at the phone long enough for me to rush her.

  All these thoughts were going through my head as I stood there, inanely nodding. But Sharise didn’t toss me the phone. Instead, she gave a quick glance at the last call I made, which was to Gurn, and pressed redial. I didn’t even have a chance to move. He must have answered on the first ring, because she gave her short but cryptic speech right away.

  “No, this isn’t your ‘darling’. This is Sharise and I’m holding a gun on your bride-to-be in the butler’s pantry. And if you’re not in this room in less than one minute and alone, I’m going to shoot her. Not a word to anyone or I’ll shoot her. If anybody else shows up with you, I’ll shoot her. Are we clear that I will shoot your bride at the slightest provocation?” Gurn must have said yes, because she smiled. “Good. I’m starting the countdown now. You have, max, one minute.”

  He must have said something she wanted to hear, because she disconnected and threw the phone back on the counter.

  “He sounds like a reasonable man. Maybe you’ll live through this.” Sharise stepped aside and with the gun, gestured to the ironing board closet,
door still open.

  “Get in.”

  “What?”

  “Get in the closet. I’m going to shut you in there until it’s time for us to leave.”

  There must have been an expression on my face, defeat, fear, I don’t know what. But it was there and she saw it.

  “You really didn’t think I would leave the two of you together in this room? I don’t like to be outnumbered, even if I am armed. I’m not as stupid as you think. Or as you are.” She let out another snigger.

  My piss level rose again, so I stood my ground. There was a knocking at the door, firm but just under pounding. Not a sound you could dismiss.

  “Lee, Lee, let me in.” Gurn’s voice was quiet but powerful. I know him when his tone is like that. It means he’s scared, but in complete control.

  “That’s him,” I said.

  “Don’t open the door.”

  “I am opening the door. You started this. Let’s finish it.”

  Even Silicon Valley investors have put well over

  a $1 billion in new energy technologies.

  Daniel Yergin

  Chapter Forty

  I unlocked the door, and opened it slightly. Gurn slipped in and stood beside me, closing the door behind him.

  Gurn looked at me. “You all right?”

  I nodded, but didn’t relock the door. Something in me hoped Sharise wouldn’t notice. No such luck.

  She came to life and snarled, “Lock that door!”

  Gurn flipped the lock behind him and turned his attention to the woman holding the gun. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he said easily. “But whatever it is I know we can resolve it without anybody getting hurt.”

  Gurn has mastered Negotiating Skills 101. His tone and body language made even me believe a happy ending was possible.

  “Glad to hear it.” Sharise snarled again. She had this snarling thing down pat. Then her lower lip quivered. It didn’t make her any less aggressive.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen. The three of us are going to go into the kitchen, out the back door, and to your waiting car, bridegroom. I know you parked it near the gate so you two could sneak away after the reception. It was the talk of the kitchen staff. You’re going to drive the three of us to the airport and fly us to Vancouver. I have another friend there who’s going to help me. Once I’m safe, I’ll let the two of you go.”

  “Your daughter’s here,” I blurted out. It was completely out of the blue. Even I was stunned to hear the words come out of my mouth.

  Sharise looked all around, her eyes searching.

  “What?”

  “Skye is outside waiting for the ceremony to begin. Actually, she’s in the ceremony. I asked her to fill in as a last-minute bridesmaid. You sure you want her to see any of this?”

  Sharise’s reaction was big. Her breathing became swift and shallow, the blood draining from her face. Hesitation and confusion colored her entire body. I never saw a woman spin out so fast.

  “You invited my daughter to be in your wedding? Why? You hardly know her.”

  “She’s been going through a rough patch, what with her father’s death.”

  I didn’t add the part about the woman standing before me being the one to do him in. It seemed unnecessary.

  “Lee wanted to give Skye something pleasant to be involved in,” chimed in Gurn, seeing we might have an advantage in the dangerous game we were playing. “Don’t do this, Sharise. For her sake.”

  “You don’t know anything, do you? Not either of you.”

  Sharise regained some control and scowled at us, waving the gun in our faces.

  “I did my child a favor. She didn’t know what her father was like, not really. How he controlled everything around him, no matter how it squeezed the life out of you. She’s still young, but as soon as she met a boy, fell in love, or wanted her own life, it would have started. His obsession, his mania to control the ones he supposedly loves. David used anything within his power to make you do his bidding. If he broke you, he didn’t care, as long as he controlled you.”

  Gurn and I stared at her in silence. She went on, rage enveloping her.

  “Do you know he approached two of my musicians a few months ago? Said he’d give them five hundred thousand dollars if they never played with me again. One of them took the deal, but the other came and told me. David wouldn’t be satisfied until he brought me to my knees; gave me no alternative but to go back to him and his tyranny. In time, my daughter will understand what I’ve done.”

  “Maybe someday you two can even be friends,” Gurn said. “But that’s only if you stop what you’re doing. Turn yourself in.” He took a step forward, both hands opened in an appealing gesture. “Let me help you.”

  “Come any closer,” Sharise said, aiming the gun at him, “And I’ll shoot both of you, I swear. Remember, I’ve nothing to lose.”

  Palms toward her in supplication, Gurn backed up with a shrug. “I’ll have to call the airport, register a flight plan. The weather’s a little dicey --”

  “Screw the weather,” Sharise said, her voice shrill. “Do it!”

  “Whatever you say.” Gurn’s tone was even and agreeable. “I can do it right now or in the car. Which do you prefer?”

  Sharise opened her mouth to answer but before she could, there was a knock on the door. A young girl’s voice, muted and soft, froze all three of us in place.

  “Lee? Lee? It’s Skye. I think you have my bouquet. At least your mother says it might have been left in the room by the florist. We can’t find it anywhere else. Could you search for it?”

  “Just a minute,” I called out, never taking my eyes off Sharise.

  Skye jiggled the doorknob. All three of us looked at one another in horror. Careful not to make a sound, we scanned the room frantically with our eyes. Sharise found the blood red roses tied together with a forest green ribbon hiding behind a carton on the counter. She snatched at it and threw the flowers to me. Gurn unlocked the door and opened it just enough for me to squeeze the bouquet through. I reached around him and forced the flowers through the crack.

  “Here you go, sweetie. Sorry I can’t invite you in. I’m not dressed. You’d better get back to the others.”

  Gurn eased the door closed. We both leaned against it. Sharise quivered, even the gun shook in her hand. Once again, we three were silent, fearing any movement might give us away.

  Go away, go away, go away, I thought.

  But Skye didn’t leave. She called out to me.

  “Thanks…and Lee?”

  “Yes, sweetie?”

  “Can I talk to you for a moment? I want to tell you something.”

  A flicker of fear crossed Sharise’s face, and then it blanched white, so much so I thought she might pass out. Before I could reply to Skye’s question, Sharise shook her head vehemently, not to me or Gurn, but to herself. Closing her eyes, she took a step back hiding her face behind a free hand.

  That was the opportunity Gurn needed. In one quick, silent action he threw himself forward. Reaching for the hand holding the gun, he pushed it to the ceiling. A flick of the wrist and he twisted the gun from her taking it into his. In almost a balletic movement, he was behind her. He wrapped his arm around her neck gripping her in a vise-like hold. It took less than two seconds. Sharise let out a soft cry, more animal than human, the only sound coming from the room. But Skye heard it.

  “What’s going on in there?”

  She pushed against the door, the door I had forgotten to lock. It moved inward, coming flush against my back. Skye’s voice raised in volume.

  “Are you okay? What was that noise?”

  Rigid with fear, I pressed against the door to keep it from opening. Gurn and Sharise, locked in their combat embrace, froze as well. I fought to keep my voice cheery.

  “I’m fine. Just squealed when I dropped a hanger. All is cool in here. Are you cool out there? We’re cool in here.”

  I forced the door back in place and threw the lock.
r />   Skye was not mollified. The sound of her voice raised in pitch, becoming almost musical in her concern. “Who’s ‘we’? Is somebody in there with you?”

  At that moment she sounded a lot like Sharise. I’m sure her mother picked up on it as well, because the singer threw me a haunted look.

  I let out a laugh that didn’t have a trace of musicality about it, more like a referee’s whistle announcing a bad play. I did some fast thinking and shrugged.

  “Just me, myself and I. Sometimes I like to think of myself as royalty. You should really get back with the others, sweetie. Okay?”

  Skye giggled. “Okay. Lee, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to be a part of your wedding.”

  The girl sounded young and sweet, a one hundred and eighty degree turn from what was going on inside. I leaned against the door frame, trying not to shake, but my answer was sincere.

  “You’re so welcome, sweetie. I love having you a part of it. Now go back to the others, all right?” I could feel her hesitation through the door. “Is there something else, Skye?”

  “Lee, remember us talking about my grandparents, the Fitzhughs? I just wanted to tell you, I heard from them.”

  I inhaled a deep breath and looked at Sharise. But my reaction was nothing like hers. She looked as if she’d been physically struck, eyes wide, shaking in terror.

  I kept my emotions contained. “Really? What did they have to say?”

  “They said they just learned about Daddy’s death. They were sorry they hadn’t called me in all these years, but they were only doing what Daddy wanted. They said he told them he’d cut Sharise out of his will if they contacted me.” She hesitated. “Do you think it’s true?”

  I glanced at Sharise then Gurn then back at Sharise. She shook her head slightly and turned her eyes away, the only movement she could make with Gurn’s hammerlock on her.

  Did Sharise shake her head because that was the reason her parents gave up contact with their granddaughter? Or was it because now with D. H. Collier dead, they had a shot at his money through the kid? Nothing was revealed to me by the expression on the rock singer’s face. Skye asked the question again.