“I’m in.” Nancy hopped off the stool.
“Me too.” Roger slapped the bar. “Right after I make another drink.”
Replacement started to rack another game while Jack headed to the dartboard.
“We’ll keep it simple. Do you know Call Three?” Jack asked.
“It’s been a little while.” Nancy grinned.
“Three people. You go first,” Jack explained. “I call three numbers, and you need to hit them. One point if you hit the number. Two if you hit the number and the first ring, and it’s three for the second ring.”
“Bull’s-eye?” Roger asked.
“Two for outer ring and three for inner. Ten rounds and most points win.”
The games quickly got loud. Roger soon started boasting. The more he drank, the louder he became.
Replacement played pool with Pierce and slaughtered him every game.
Roger scored five points in the last round and made a big show out of it. Jack was doing his best to throw the game, but Roger wasn’t making it easy on him.
“Yeah, baby!” Roger cheered. “Pulled it out. Winner.” He grinned broadly while Mrs. Maier gave a consolation smile Jack’s way.
“You did very well, Jack.” She quickly erased the scores.
“What say I take on the pool shark next?” Roger headed to the bar again. “But first, Naughty Cinderellas all around. On me!”
“I’d like a go at darts, if I could.” Mrs. Maier rolled up her sleeves.
Nancy smiled. “You’re on. Jack?”
“Sure.” Jack looked away from the e-cigarette case still on the table.
“Do you want a pointer?” Nancy asked Jack. Her voice had softened. She took another sip of her drink and smiled up at him.
“Sure.”
“Relax.” She mimed throwing a dart and gave him a wink. “The trick’s in a nice soft but not too soft touch.”
Both games started back up, and Replacement coughed.
“Did I make it too strong?” Roger asked before he sunk another ball.
She shook her head.
Jack caught Replacement’s eye. She gave him a quick wink.
Replacement started to mop the floor with Roger. Jack would’ve loved to throw the dart game again, but neither of the women played darts well at all. Mrs. Maier had a hard time hitting the board.
Jack won. Mrs. Maier stomped her foot and giggled.
“Now we’re talking.” Nancy lightly pushed up against Jack. “See what happens when you relax?”
“I’d like another game.” Mrs. Maier nodded her head. “Right after I come back from the restroom. Excuse me.” She headed out the door on the right.
Nancy tossed a dart at the board. “You want to practice?” She grinned at Jack.
“I’d better.”
“You’re a local, right?” Nancy asked.
“Born and raised.” Jack hit the seven. “You?”
“A little dot in the Midwest.” Nancy’s dart just made the board.
“Weston’s out in California. What brought you there?”
“I floated on the tech bubble.” She laughed. It was light but Jack caught the sigh at the end. It was the kind that told a story without a happy ending.
“I guess the wind was pushing west?”
She laughed. “It blew east first. I went to college in New York.” She shrugged. “Then the winds changed. They gusted west.”
“You’re the VP of Human Resources at Weston?”
“I am.” Her eyes darted over to Pierce, and she held her finger in front of her mouth. “I make it a point to never talk about work with my boss in the room.”
“That’s a good rule to follow.”
Nancy walked over to the board, and Jack followed. “So, you don’t look like the typical computer geek. What’s your story?” As she gave Jack the darts, her fingers brushed his hand.
“I should follow your rule.” Jack nodded over to Replacement. “I shouldn’t talk about work with my boss in the room.”
Nancy took a long sip of her drink. “Is she your boss or your girlfriend?”
“Both.”
“I give you credit. Most men would be intimidated by having a girlfriend with power over them. But you like that arrangement?” Nancy’s grin warmed into a leer.
Mrs. Maier hurried back into the room. “You didn’t start without me, did you?”
Jack shook his head. “How could we?”
She smiled and rolled up her sleeves.
Pierce headed over to the bar, and Jack followed.
“What are you drinking?” Jack asked.
“Roger goaded me into one of those Cinderellas.” Pierce reached over the bar and grabbed a water. “Only one gave me a huge buzz. I’m trying to slow down.”
“We need to stay the night. Invite Alice and me to stay.”
Replacement hopped over to the bar, her drink in her hand. It was almost empty. Jack smelled vodka on her breath.
“Don’t have another one,” he said.
“Why? It’s so good.” She smacked her lips. “I think he may have given me a naughty one.”
“I think so too.” Jack grabbed a water bottle. “Here.”
Roger walked over, whacked his hand against his head and laughed. His laugh had an edge to it. He leaned down so he was nose to nose with Replacement. “Sorry. I forgot you’re the virgin.”
Replacement turned beet-red.
Jack shot forward. He was four inches taller than Roger, and it looked like more as he glared down at the man.
Roger stepped back. “Bad joke. Stupid joke. Sorry.”
Jack felt Replacement’s hand on his forearm.
“Apology accepted.” Replacement gave Jack’s arm a squeeze. “Now I’ll really mop the floor with you in the next game.”
Roger took another step back and looked back and forth between Jack and Replacement. “Sure. Sorry again. I’ll rack.” The ice cubes in his drink clicked against the sides of his glass as his hand shook.
“Easy, Jack,” Replacement whispered.
“Oh, the big meeting is tomorrow.” Mrs. Maier swigged the last of her drink and walked over to Pierce. “I think it would be best if we all called it a night.” She angled her head toward Roger.
Pierce nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”
Roger frowned. He tossed the pool cue on the table and grabbed his drink. He looked at Pierce, and his hands went out.
Pierce turned to Replacement. “It’s late. Why don’t you stay here?”
Jack stepped forward. “No. It’s too much trouble.”
“No trouble.” Pierce nodded. “I’ll just get Sophia to set up a room.”
Jack looked at Replacement, and she nodded. “If you don’t mind. We could get an early start that way.”
“Well, I guess I’ll go watch TV.” Roger took his drink and headed for the door. Jack caught the wink he gave Pierce as he passed.
“Me, too.” Nancy walked over to Pierce. “Thank you for dinner.”
“Thank you, Nancy.”
They were all heading for the door when Mrs. Maier called out.
“Oh, Mr. Weston.”
Jack held his breath but didn’t turn around.
“You forgot your case again.” She hurried over to the window and picked it up.
Jack saw Replacement grimace.
“Ready for bed?” Jack put a restraining hand on her shoulder.
Chapter 38
~
She’s Sweet
Pierce held the door open for Jack and Replacement. The bedroom he led them to was on the top floor and down the hall from his. There was a long study that separated the rooms.
Pierce shut the door and tossed his hands up. “At least we can take Mrs. Maier off the list.” He chuckled. “She gave it back twice. I was just about ready to strangle her.”
“It was making me crazy, but she’s so sweet.” Replacement sighed.
Pierce laughed. “I think you’re one of the few people who would refer to her th
at way, but I agree. Maddening, but it is nice to have someone watching your back.”
Jack shrugged as he looked out the window.
“Don’t tell me you still suspect her?” Pierce leaned against the doorway.
“Don’t take it the wrong way.” Replacement rubbed her eyes. “He suspects everybody. Wow, Roger makes a strong drink.”
“Before tomorrow, we need to pull the full backgrounds on everyone. Can I get printouts?” Jack asked.
“We can send them to your phone,” Pierce offered.
Replacement shook her head. “He’s old-fashioned. He likes hard copies.”
“Does your bedroom door lock?” Jack asked.
“Yes. There’re actually two doors. There’s a little staircase that leads to the side door. It locks too.”
Jack frowned. “Lock both doors.”
“Do you think someone would be that brash? Is that why you’re here tonight?”
“Someone wants that case badly. I do think they could make a play for it.”
“Well, I know we can rule out Mrs. Maier,” Pierce said.
“We don’t rule anyone out yet. Alice, I need you to set up your laptop,” Jack said.
“Sure. Why?” She walked over to her bag and took it out.
“I need you to look up someone tonight. Can you?”
Replacement nodded. “If I can get on the Net, I can do anything.” She turned it on.
Pierce made a face. “Who?”
“Did you get something?” Replacement asked.
“I just need you to look.”
Pierce stared at Jack for a moment and nodded. “Sure. Do you want to get an early start or should I go put on a pot of coffee?”
“The morning’s fine,” Jack said.
Pierce hesitated with his hand on the door. “Are you going to be up for a while looking?”
Replacement opened her mouth, but Jack answered, “Not too long. That meeting’s at two?”
Pierce nodded.
“We’ll get an early start,” Jack said.
Pierce opened the door. “Well, let me know if you need anything.”
Replacement gave a little wave. “Night.”
Pierce shut the door.
“Okay…” Replacement frowned. “That was a little rude. I think he was just trying to help.” Her laptop beeped as she turned it on.
“I know he was but…” Jack looked at her for a minute and shook his head. “Look, we’re going to be looking at people Pierce works with every day. People he trusted. Just in case I’m wrong, I don’t want to get him going one way or another. If I told him I wanted to look closer at someone, and it turns out to be nothing, he could still hold a grudge.”
“He’s not like that.”
Jack frowned. He wanted to say she didn’t know that, but he wasn’t sure whether she did.
“I need you right now,” Jack said.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Pierce said he has a tablet, right?”
“What? When?”
“At U-Do2. He was getting a connector for his tablet.”
“You’re right.”
“Does it have a camera?”
She nodded. “It should.”
“Can you stream a feed to your phone? It sure beats me staying in his room all night.”
“You really think someone would try to take it from his bedroom?”
“Something really bothers me about this. Look, the guy hit Gerald hard enough he could’ve easily killed him. Whoever wants this data wants it bad enough to kill.”
“I’m sure I can get the camera going. Do you want me to do it now?”
“In a minute. I need to call Mrs. Stevens.”
“I already did.” Replacement smiled. “She said she’d have a girl’s night with Lady. They’re going to watch TV. Wheel of Fortune, Murder She Wrote, and Downton Abbey.”
“I’m glad she loves that dog. I need to pick her up some buffet coupons to thank her. Did you find out anything at dinner?”
“Not really, but you’re the one who reads people, not me. If I were looking at money as a motive, it would be Roger, hands down. He’s got to have cash problems and he gives me the creeps. I think Pierce has blinders on with him anyway.”
“How so?”
“They went to college together. Pierce seems real loyal.” She grabbed her left arm with her right hand. “I think that’s why…” Her mouth clicked shut.
“Why what?”
“Pierce is taking what happened to Gerald hard. Really hard. He doesn’t really say it, but I can tell.”
Jack nodded.
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Enough. He’s watching out for his friend’s father. He needs to find the guy who hurt Gerald. I understand that.”
Replacement paced. “But do you get the feeling that somehow Pierce…” She exhaled and looked at the ceiling. “I think he feels guilty about Tyler. How he died. Did he say anything to you?”
Jack nodded. “He does. Tyler pushed Pierce out of the way of a truck. Tyler died. Pierce lived. That can do a number on anyone’s head.”
Replacement’s arms wrapped around herself. “That’s horrible.” She turned to look at the door. “That must’ve been so hard on him.”
Jack walked over to her laptop.
Replacement stepped toward the door. “I’ll go get the camera set up.”
“Yeah. Just give me a minute.”
“Both of us? If I go and anyone sees me, I can say I’m talking to him about work. I thought you were going to look something up. I have the background search program running on my laptop.”
Jack frowned. “Okay. Make sure the camera gets both doors.”
“I will. I’ll be right back.” Replacement grabbed her phone and hurried out of the room.
Jack sighed. He rubbed his eyes as he walked over to the desk and sat down. Lights sparkled on the lake. He looked around the immaculate room with the polished wood furniture and huge bed.
“This stupid guest room’s nicer than my apartment.” Jack leaned his head against his hand and switched from Replacement’s background check program to Google. Something had bothered him tonight, and he wanted to check it out.
Chapter 39
~
Baby on Board
Replacement tapped on the door. Pierce opened it a crack. When he saw Replacement, he opened the door wide and got out of the way.
“Hi. What’s going on?”
Replacement’s eyes darted off his shirtless chest to the floor. “I need your tablet. Jack wants me to feed your camera to my phone.”
“Sure. One sec.” He walked over and took a shirt out of a drawer. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t.” She shook her head.
“Then I’ll leave it off.” He set it down.
She inhaled and felt her neck flush. “I meant…I didn’t…”
“I was kidding.” He pulled the shirt on. He walked over and picked up the tablet. “Here you go.”
Replacement bit her lip and closed an eye. She opened up the program selection on the tablet and her finger hesitated over the screen. “Boy, I can see how that Naughty Cinderella got its name. I can’t think straight.”
“Here.” Pierce moved next to her and his hands flew across the screen. “We can use this camera AP and just treat it like a video chat.”
“Thanks.” She pulled out her phone. “So I can just connect here and…” She looked down at the screen and the video appeared.
“Do we need volume? I might snore.” Pierce crookedly grinned.
Replacement laughed.
“If it’s going to be on all night, I should plug it in.” Pierce grabbed a power cord. “Where should we focus it?”
“You said there was another door?”
Pierce pointed to a panel next to the bookshelf and Replacement saw the door. It blended with the wall.
“That’s a weird door.” She moved to the far corner of the
room so the camera could get the front door, the bed, and the side door.
“It was put in so people could come and go from the master bedroom without being seen,” Pierce said.
“That’s dumb. Why would someone want to get out of the bedroom without…” Her voice trailed off. “Oh, I get it.”
Pierce sat down on the bed and waved at the tablet. “Does my baby monitor work?”
She laughed. “It’s not a baby monitor. We’re just worried about you. You should turn off your screensaver and power settings.”
“Thanks.” Pierce walked over to her. “You’re worried about me?” He stepped closer.
Replacement swallowed. She felt light-headed. She never drank and that Naughty Cinderella had gone straight to her head. Heat rose up from her chest, and she exhaled. Her eyes darted around the room because she now found herself unsure where to look.
“Alice?” Pierce’s voice was low.
Her eyes met his, and the heat rose straight to her cheeks. She blinked twice.
“It’s all set.” She darted for the door.
“Wait,” Pierce said.
She stopped. Her heart pounded, and she rubbed her hands on her pants.
“Can you turn around?”
She hesitated. The warmth in her chest was growing, but in a way that didn’t feel good. Slowly, she turned to face him.
When their eyes met, his smile faded.
“Pierce…”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “Don’t say anything. We both had a little to drink.”
She nodded and turned back around. When her hand landed on the doorknob, he spoke. “Alice. Thank you for helping me.”
She slipped out the door and pulled it closed behind her. She shut her eyes and tried to catch her breath. The stout hardwood felt good against her back. Her mouth felt dry.
After a minute, she opened her eyes and noticed the light in the study was now on. She hesitantly approached the door. Roger sat in a chair that was turned so he could see outside but still keep an eye on the hallway.
A leer spread across his face, and he held up an almost empty drink. “I had a feeling it would be you.”
“We had to go over tomorrow’s workload,” she explained.
He chuckled and then took a gulp of his drink. “Sure.”
Replacement’s eyes narrowed.
DATA JACK Page 18
