by KC Burn
“When are you going to make an official announcement?” Mattie and Cody made the same sour face. But if this truly was a done deal, someone was going to have to break the bad news to François and Floriana, and it sure as shit wasn’t going to be Riley.
“I’ve put a meeting on their calendars for after lunch. Once we’ve told them, we’ll send out an email to the entire company,” Mattie said.
“Wait, François and Floriana are both working today?”
Mattie nodded, but her expression mirrored what Riley was thinking. Bereavement leave wasn’t just some nice, fluffy, feel-good perk. There were damn good reasons people should have some time to get their heads back on straight after the loss of a loved one.
“Right. Well, I’d better get back to my desk and finish dealing with the messages.”
“I’ve talked to IT. Cody’s inbox is set up already, and now they’re going to close down Gabrielle’s email account and route any messages to your inbox. They’ll let you know when they’re going to do that,” Mattie said.
“Thanks. Cody, where will you be in the meantime, in case something comes up?”
Cody smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hiding out in my office, setting up the accounts I’m going to need.”
“Got it. As soon as you get the chance, give me access to your calendar and email.”
Cody nodded, and they all stood. Riley shook their hands before gathering the coffee cups, his mind awhirl as he returned to his desk.
“Back to work,” he barked at the fresh knot of people craning their heads around the corner by his desk, probably hoping Gabrielle’s office door was open.
They scurried away like frightened mice, and Riley grimaced as he realized the office door was open a couple of inches. He specifically remembered closing it, which meant one of those vultures had opened the damn door.
Indecision hit him hard. All those messages needed replies, but if he was going to be working for Cody, it might be better to get Gabrielle’s office cleaned up so there wouldn’t be anything for the damned gawkers to see when there was no gatekeeper at his desk.
He had express permission to clean—Tad had said the police were done with the office. Riley sighed. It wasn’t a task he looked forward to, but it would be better for everyone to have the office put back to rights. He sent quick messages to Alisha and Cody to let them know where he’d be if anyone came looking for him.
SEVERAL HOURS later, a soft knock startled him out of his concentration. He strode to the door, prepared to deliver a blistering dressing-down, but it was only Alisha.
“I’m ordering lunch. What do you want?”
Riley frowned. “Ugh. Nothing for me, thanks.”
Alisha narrowed her eyes. “No, I don’t think so. You need to eat. You’ve had a rough couple of days, and you already told me you didn’t have any breakfast. So you’d better think quick about what you want.”
There were so many different types of food in the vicinity: Greek, Asian of just about any variety, Indian, Lebanese, Ethiopian. But what he really wanted was some comfort food. Macaroni and cheese or something that involved mashed potatoes or maybe spaghetti. Riley glanced down at his pale blue button-down shirt. Penne instead of spaghetti if he wanted to save his shirt.
“Italian maybe, or someplace that’s got mac and cheese.”
“If I go Italian, what do you want?”
“Red sauce and penne.”
“I’ve got you covered. I know just where to go.”
Suddenly Riley remembered his new responsibilities, and that responsibility was currently hiding out in his new office, hoping François and Floriana didn’t notice he was there until their afternoon meeting with HR.
“Uh, could you also pick me up a meatball sub? With a side salad?”
Alisha’s eyes widened. “I thought I was going to have to hold your nose and stuff food in to make you eat.”
He did his best to look unconcerned and innocent. “Just… I can’t quite decide what I want. This way I’ll have a choice.” He could offer Cody his choice of both, and Riley could pick over what Cody didn’t want.
“Then two lunches you’ll get. By the way, you did a great job in here.”
Riley wrinkled his nose. He had done a lot of work—the office was almost back to normal. “How do you know?”
Alisha rolled her eyes. “I took a peek when I got here this morning.”
“I’ve been chasing vultures away all morning, and you were one of the first!”
“I don’t count. Remember, I was there Friday night. And honestly, I mostly wanted to check to make sure we didn’t need to call in special cleaners.”
The thought of needing cleaners specializing in crime scenes made him shudder. “Go, get out. Any more of this talk and I won’t be able to eat anything, no matter where you get it from.”
As it was, he’d shoved Gabrielle’s office chair into the corner and given it a wide berth as he worked. He was pretty certain the chair would have to be disposed of—he didn’t know anyone who’d want to sit in the death chair. One place he’d worked at had a pregnancy chair. Everyone who’d used it got pregnant within six months, whether they’d been intending to or not. Riley’d had a bit of fun with that one, pretending he’d also managed to get pregnant.
The death chair was no laughing matter.
Alisha slipped out of the office and closed the door behind her. Riley checked his watch. Not too much longer before the fireworks would start, and they would probably be easier to deal with if he was fortified. A quick glance around the room confirmed he was mostly done.
After ensuring all the file cabinets and Gabrielle’s desk were locked, he approached the massive tea caddy and opened it. All the teacups and teapots were covered in fingerprint powder, and Riley sighed. Presumably the police hadn’t found anything useful, or the china would have been absent entirely. After washing all those dishes again, he’d be done.
Then he frowned. One of Gabrielle’s favorite teas—the lapsang souchong that tasted and smelled like campfire leavings—was missing. He traced a finger over the gap where it was supposed to be. The rest of the squat airtight containers on that shelf had been shuffled, just a bit, to make it look less like there was a specific gap, but Riley remembered everything on that shelf.
It was possible the police had removed it—and it gave Riley chills to think that he might have held the murder weapon in his hand just last week. But it was an unusual detail, one he’d tell Tad about when he let him know about the new marketing department.
After he made quick work of washing the china, he put everything back and inspected the caddy once more. Surely no one would mind if he took a little keepsake. No one was going to keep this around. Riley selected the best Earl Grey and a masala chai, as well as three of the honeys—plain, blueberry, and cinnamon flavored—and tucked them all in his top desk drawer.
But it wasn’t really his desk, was it? It was Aaron’s. Aaron Brown, who thought he’d be coming back to work for Gabrielle after he recovered from whatever he had. It hadn’t even occurred to Riley to ask Mattie or Tad—had anyone let Aaron know about Gabrielle’s death? Riley had seen it briefly on the news, but she wasn’t a beloved celebrity. It wasn’t trending on social media. If Aaron didn’t watch the news, he might not know.
And really, how awful would that be, to turn on the television and find out that way? Riley did a quick search of his email—Gabrielle had directed him to send Aaron a fruit basket on his first day of work. There it was: Aaron Brown’s address, and it wasn’t out in the fucking suburbs or anything.
Riley went back into Gabrielle’s office. She’d received a gift set, three types of teas with rose honey that she’d only opened enough to place on the shelves. The individual containers were still sealed. He took those back to his desk. He’d go visit Aaron Brown, make sure he knew about Gabrielle, and find out if Aaron wanted a little memento from Gabrielle’s tea caddy. The china itself might be valuable enough for Bethany or Floriana
or even Cody to want it, but he knew none of Gabrielle’s family cared about tea with the same passion.
ALISHA DROPPED off an aluminum container filled with penne, marinara, and giant aromatic sausage meatballs, and another bag with a sub and salad. She also offered to eat with Riley, but he needed to deal with the ever-increasing messages, and he also wanted a bit of privacy to call Tad.
As soon as Alisha was out of sight, he grabbed the bag of food and a couple of soft drink cans from the kitchenette and made his way to Cody’s office. He didn’t see anyone else, which wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was also lunchtime. On most days, the second the clock struck noon, Gautier Cosmetics bore an unfortunate resemblance to the stark, desolately empty lab in Resident Evil before they figured out the zombies were hiding around the corner, waiting to pounce. Riley just hoped the zombies were out getting their own lunch, instead of milling around his desk hoping to catch a glimpse of a potential crime scene.
He tapped on Cody’s closed door and placed a hand on the handle. His heart skipped a beat, because the last time he’d done this, he found Gabrielle dead. The odds of that happening again were astronomical, but that didn’t stop an irrational niggle of fear from spawning in his gut.
Fuck it. Riley swept the door open, and Cody looked up from his computer with a strained smile. “Riley. What did you need?”
He held the bag aloft. “Penne marinara or meatball sub with salad?”
Reddened, puffy eyes blinked at him. “It’s lunchtime already?”
“Yes.” In other circumstances, like once everyone knew Cody was here and working for Gautier Cosmetics and Riley hadn’t spent the last hours clearing away the evidence of crime scene technicians, he’d be sure to ask Cody what he wanted for lunch and figure out his preferences. But today wasn’t a normal day.
“I’m not really hungry.”
Riley had a moment of sympathy for Alisha. “Maybe not, but you need to eat.” They both did. “So pick one.”
A half smile brightened Cody’s face for a split second. “You’re going to be a pushy assistant, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Stubborn too, so you might as well just give in and eat something.”
“The sub and salad. Thanks, Riley.”
Riley nodded and pulled out the meal, leaving it on Cody’s desk with napkins, utensils, and a drink.
“I, uh, have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?” Riley asked.
“Can you sit in on the HR meeting with François and Floriana? I know I have to face them down, but it might help if it looks like it’s not just me taking on Gautier Cosmetics on my own.”
The reasoning was almost sound, but Riley also didn’t begrudge Cody simply not wanting to be alone. He felt bad for the whole family. A death was stressful enough without having to add all this other drama. “I can do that.”
“Thank you.” Cody’s eyes brightened, but he ducked his head, attention back on his computer, before Riley could do anything to try to comfort his new boss.
Taking his cue, Riley grabbed the rest of the food and left, making sure to close Cody’s door behind him.
AT QUARTER after twelve, his own desk was almost as silent as it had been when he’d come looking for Gabrielle on Friday night, although all the lights were on, making it less creepy. He ate a few bites of pasta before getting his phone out.
Riley pulled up Tad’s name and called him.
“Detective Tad Martin. Leave a message.”
So that was how he always answered the phone, even voicemail. Riley had been expecting to leave a message, but hearing Tad’s voice still rattled him a bit. “Uh. It’s Riley. Parker?”
Again he’d introduced himself as though he couldn’t remember his own fucking name. Tad was going to think he was completely clueless.
“I found out something. A couple of things actually. Call me back when you can.”
Riley disconnected the call and stared at his phone, tapping his desk impatiently as the seconds crawled by. Tad wasn’t at his beck and call, but dammit. Why wasn’t he calling back?
An email notification dinged, and Riley leaped for it, anxious for the distraction. Unfortunately, it postponed the meeting with HR, and that meant even fewer distractions for him.
If he stayed here waiting for the phone to ring, he would simply go mad. With a huff, he dumped the remainder of his lunch in the trash, then got up and shut himself in Gabrielle’s office. Plenty still to do to prepare for her successor, and he might as well do something useful with his time. He was too antsy to simply answer emails.
A FEW hours later he emerged, only slightly dusty and disheveled, to find he’d missed a couple of phone calls from Tad.
Slightly mollified, although he should have taken his phone with him, he quickly called back.
This time, thankfully, he didn’t have to introduce himself.
“Well, hello, Riley Parker. What can I do for you?”
Oh, so many things. But there was a divide the size of the Grand Canyon between what Tad could do and what he’d be willing to do. And none of that pertained to the investigation.
“As I said in my message, I found out a few things.”
“I’m not close to your office, but perhaps we could meet for an early dinner.”
It might have been Riley’s imagination—or more like his wishful thinking—but Tad’s voice sounded warmer than Riley would expect. He also hadn’t been angling for a dinner invitation, but he’d take it.
“Sure. I’m off work at five thirty, so any time after that.” Since it was quarter to five now, he didn’t have too terribly long to fret.
“What about Alberto’s? At six?”
“That’s fine. I’ll see you then.” Riley disconnected the call quickly before he said something stupid, like he was looking forward to it.
He didn’t care that he’d be having Italian two meals in a row—he loved the stuff, although with just about anyone else, he’d have suggested another option. There wouldn’t be enough time for him to go home and take another shower before meeting up with Tad, but since it wasn’t a date, that shouldn’t matter. Riley assumed the only reason Tad had chosen a restaurant with cozy little alcoves tailor-made for romantic dates was so they could talk undisturbed without worry of being overheard.
None of the logic calmed the tiny flutter of excitement in his belly, but he had no right to feel excited about meeting with Tad. Not when the whole point was to catch whoever had killed Gabrielle.
What was with him getting all hung up on unavailable or uninterested men? It was like his subconscious had decided he needed to be alone forever.
Chapter FIVE
AT FIVE thirty on the dot, Riley stood by the reception desk, wondering what to do with himself. If the HR meeting had happened as scheduled, instead of getting postponed to the next morning, he might have worked late, because he was certain as soon as Cody was officially confirmed, there’d be plenty of additional work on his plate. But as it was, he had little to do, and he had zero desire to hang about in the rapidly emptying office, trying not to jump at every sound.
The problem was that it wasn’t going to take him long to get to Alberto’s. He didn’t have time to go home first, and he didn’t want to be early. Most times he didn’t mind showing up early—it was being late that he despised. But waiting for Tad at a restaurant? Unbearably nerve-racking.
Alisha was just closing down her station.
“Doing anything exciting tonight?”
Alisha snorted. “Not hardly. I have a date to catch up on my recorded episodes of Arrow, and I have a brand-new bottle of malbec desperate to be opened.”
Riley smiled. More proof that they were destined to be friends. Underneath Alisha’s glamorous exterior beat the heart of a fellow nerd. He might try inviting her to game night sometime, although some of the guys might faint at the presence of an actual female.
“What about you?”
Well, he hadn’t thought that out, had he? For all that his heart and li
bido had been treating his interactions with Tad like they’d met on a dating site, his brain was adamant that letting it be known he was meeting with one of the detectives in charge of Gabrielle’s case would not be smart, even if it was only Alisha.
“Uh. Just meeting up with a friend for dinner.”
“Shaun? I still have to meet that guy. I can always postpone my solitary drinking night until tomorrow and come with.”
Heat flashed into Riley’s cheeks. Bringing Alisha along was pretty much the last thing he wanted to do. “It’s not Shaun, no.”
“Oh.” Alisha looked a bit embarrassed too, before she laughed wickedly and got her air quotes out again. “A ‘friend.’ I see. I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel, but I’ll be expecting details.”
Details? Riley’s face got hotter.
“Oh my God, I’m not trying to give you a stroke. I only want details if it’s a date and if you like him. If you’re just fucking, well, my imagination will suffice.”
“Alisha!” Riley glanced around, making sure no one had overheard her.
She just rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Riley, and hopefully you’ll be less uptight.” Her expression became solemn. “All joking aside, you could use some relaxation. I know how difficult the past few days have been, and it’s probably not going to ease up for a while. So go have fun with your friend and know you can always call me if you need.”
“Thanks, Alisha. I appreciate that. And I promise I’ll get you out to meet Shaun soon.” Riley took a look at his watch. “I’d better get going.” Not that he was going to be late, but because he was too damned nervous to wait. If necessary, he’d walk around the block a few times or twelve.
Before he left, Alisha gave him another hug. If they’d moved their relationship into hugging territory, he was okay with that.
