Lee hid her embarrassed smile. “I’ll buy that.”
“You’d better get back to your computer and make that adjustment while you can.”
“Yes, I should,” she announced and straightened from where she had leaned against his desk. “Samuel will hover over my desk until he gets his check.”
Lee turned and left the office. Wiley stared after her and appeared deep in thought while strumming his fingers on the desktop. He glanced at a gold tube of lipstick, picked it up, and removed the back to reveal a USB drive. He again glanced at the doorway then inserted the USB into the computer port and transferred several files onto the fancy thumb drive. Once he was finished, he removed the lipstick flash drive and replaced the cap. He set the faux lipstick back on his desk and removed a standard USB flash drive from his drawer. He stared at it a moment and then stuck it in his pants pocket. Wiley inhaled deeply, leaned back in his chair, and stared blankly at the computer screen.
†
Lee sat behind the desk in her cozy office. She handed the revised paycheck to the man standing before her desk. Samuel nodded his appreciation and left. Lee returned to her computer and logged off the banking program. The computer suddenly flickered and the screen went blank. She stared at the screen with surprise and pressed the space bar several times. Nothing happened.
“What the hell--?”
She attempted to turn the computer off and then on again, but nothing happened. Lee groaned then stood and headed into the corridor. She walked along the hallway toward the computer closet. As she opened the door, Wiley straightened and looked back at her. He attempted a smile.
“I’m already working on the problem,” he informed her. “Just one more glitch for a Friday afternoon.”
“Should I notify Tonya so she can call ComServe for tech support?”
“Why bother?” he replied. “They’ll give us the runaround and refuse to come out until Monday anyway.” He fiddled with the computer system then frowned. “I’m sure I can figure out what’s wrong. And if I can’t,” he glanced at her and smiled, “it’ll give you an excuse to leave early.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she teased then left the computer closet.
†
It was a little after five o’clock that afternoon. Lee walked along the corridor on the nineteenth floor while routing through her purse. She was frustrated. Once again, she was unable to find her car keys. She passed by Wiley’s office, noting that he still sat behind his desk.
“Lee,” he called to her.
She paused within the corridor then returned to his office and stepped into the doorway.
“It’s Friday, Wiley,” she reminded him and added a teasing smile. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to be packing it in for the weekend?”
“You know me,” he replied. “I’m a workaholic. Now that I’m a recently single workaholic, I have more time to spend on my addiction.” He fidgeted slightly. “Are, uh, you and Tonya going out tonight?” he asked almost timidly then forced a tiny smile. “God that sounded desperate.”
Lee hid her smile as she approached his desk. “You’re always welcome to come out with us, Wiley,” she boldly informed him. “I couldn’t live with myself if they found your rotting, cobweb covered corpse in that chair Monday morning.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind my tagging along? There’s a good chance I’ll just ruin your good time,” he replied while leaning back in his chair. “I’ll probably spend the entire evening crying in my beer and telling you how much better things were before that shrew, Polly, cleaned out my bank account and left me.”
“And I’ll tell you how all men are pigs,” she announced cheerfully. “It’ll be fun. Now, come on.”
Wiley laughed softly and straightened, his mood miraculously improving. “How about I meet you there in an hour? The computers just came back online, and I have to figure out what the hell I did wrong.”
Lee cast her purse on the vacant chair before his desk and joined him behind the desk. His computer screen was blank. Lee appeared puzzled then glanced at him.
“I thought you said the computers were up and running?” she remarked.
“Well, they are,” he announced. “I just have to reboot first. This thing isn’t as young as it used to be.”
“So what’s the big problem this time?” she asked in a teasing tone. “Did you lose another fifty cents?”
“Sort of,” he replied and raised his brows in suggestion. “But you’d have to move the decimal point another eight spots.”
She stared at him with surprise as her mouth fell open. “Are you telling me that you lost fifty million dollars?” Lee gasped, almost unable to fathom such a large amount.
“Not lost,” he replied simply. “Just misplaced. I mean, it’s still--” Wiley indicated the screen before him and tapped it. “--in there somewhere. I just need to find out where it’s hiding and put it back where it belongs.”
“I don’t think you’re going to get much done tonight,” Lee announced while reclaiming her purse and set it on the edge of his desk. “It looks like the server is still down, and I don’t think it’s coming back on until Monday.” She laughed softly, although she didn’t find it that funny. “Which probably explains why I’m actually going home on time myself.” Lee again routed through her bag for her keys and no longer paid attention to him. “I’ll look for you at ‘The Roadside’ in an hour.” She cast a glare at him. “But no excuses or I’ll come back and roll you and your chair out of here and down to the parking garage.”
While Lee routed through her purse, Wiley secretly nudged his desk blotter, jolting her purse from its perch on the edge of the desk. It dumped onto the floor, spilling more than a dozen items alongside Wiley’s chair.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Lee exclaimed. “I’m such a klutz lately!”
Wiley sprang from his chair to his knees and helped her pick up the discarded items, returning them to her purse. She reached for her keys just beneath the desk and groaned while staring at the small assortment of keys on the ring.
“There they are,” she muttered. “I need to get a smaller purse. This is ridiculous carrying this much crap around.”
Wiley slipped the gold lipstick flash drive into her purse along with her sunglasses. He returned to his chair and offered a pleasant smile as she stood. She placed her car keys in her jacket pocket, so she wouldn’t misplace them again.
“I’ll be sure to be there in an hour,” he announced with an odd cheeriness to his words.
“Talk about switching gears,” she remarked while eyeing him. “Are you admitting defeat in the battle of man versus machine?” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “Or are you lying so I’ll get out of your hair?”
He laughed softly and rocked in his chair. “Yes,” Wiley replied and appeared amused by the stray look she gave him.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on staying,” she remarked. “Your office is like a sauna.”
Lee removed her jacket and immediately felt relief from the intense heat. Apparently, Wiley wasn’t a fan of air-conditioning.
“Actually, I had a small revelation,” Wiley announced. “I think I solved the fifty million dollar dilemma.”
“Oh,” Lee replied with surprise, although it was a relief. “I’m glad to hear. We’ll expect you in an hour.”
Lee gathered her purse and left the accountant’s office. Wiley watched her leave then returned his attention to his desk. He sank into thought while rapping his fingers on the desktop then looked at the picture of his wife and two boys. He picked up the framed picture, stared at it a moment, and then removed the back. He pulled out a business card hidden behind the frame and removed his cell phone. Wiley’s fingers trembled as he entered the phone number. He waited a moment and again rapped his fingers on the desktop as the phone on the other end rang. He jumped with surprise to the responding voice.
“Hey, it’s Wiley.” There was a brief pause. “I found what you were hoping I’d find, alt
hough it wasn’t easy.” He listened a moment then looked at his watch. “No, I’d rather you didn’t. Things have been very tense around here. I feel like I’m being watched. I know I’m probably just being paranoid. Can you meet me in an hour at a local dive called ‘The Roadside’?” Wiley hesitated and listened to the person on the other end. “Yeah, I have the flash drive. I’ll see you in an hour.”
He disconnected the call with a trembling finger and again stared at the framed photo of his wife and kids. He sighed deeply and frowned.
“When this is all over, I hope you’ll understand why I had to do this,” he muttered.
The office door closed, causing Wiley to look up from the photo. His expression dropped slightly, and he appeared surprised as his visitor approached his desk.
“What are you doing here so late?” he asked.
Chapter Three
Only a few minutes later, Lee exited the elevator and approached the security guard at the front desk within the first floor lobby. Jenner, the moderately out of shape security guard, greeted her with an electronic tablet in his hand. She set her jacket and purse down on the counter and didn’t notice her jacket slipping from the counter to the other side. She accepted the tablet and signed her name on it.
“You’re leaving late again on a Friday, Miss Whitley” he announced while attempting to sound cheerful. “You’re always the last to leave.”
She eyed him with surprise by the comment. “Everyone else left?”
“Well, except Wiley in accounting, but he’s always here late since his wife, well, you know. Want me to walk you to your car?” he asked as he reached for her purse on the counter, apparently not seeing her jacket fall to the floor behind the desk either. He handed the purse to her.
“No, I’ll be fine,” she replied while accepting her bag.
“It’s creepy in the garage when most of the cars have gone,” Jenner announced. “Lots of perverts out there. Never know when one might slip into the garage.”
“Maybe,” she announced and hid her smile, “but I’m from the country. I have one hell of a right hook.” Lee fumbled around inside her purse, removed a silver tube of lipstick, and proudly displayed it. “And this.”
“Lipstick?” he announced with a look of doubt.
“Not lipstick,” she announced and removed the cap to reveal a spray nozzle. “Mace.”
Jenner grinned with approval. “Nice.” He again turned serious and almost fatherly. “Still, I’d feel better if I walked you at least as far as the parking garage door.”
“Deal.”
Lee and the security guard walked in virtual silence on their hike to the parking garage entrance. They passed another elevator not far from the rear entrance. Lee glanced at the lit penthouse button. The lightly used elevator was Salvatore’s private elevator to his penthouse accommodations. Despite having a grand mansion in the suburbs, he had a lavish penthouse suite in the office building, which he used mostly during the week to avoid the city traffic. The lit button indicated he was upstairs. His private elevator was the only one that went as high as the penthouse on the twenty-first floor, and its access was restricted to those with an access card. Beyond his private elevator was access to his reserved parking spot next to the door. Jenner walked with her to another set of doors further down, which was the quicker route to the main parking structure. He paused before the main parking garage exit door and punched a code into the panel, indicating he’d already set the building’s alarm system from the main desk. He held the door open for her.
“Good night, ma’am,” he announced cheerfully.
“Night.”
Lee walked along the empty, enclosed parking garage. The sound of her dress shoes clomping echoed throughout the entire level. She hated the sound her shoes made and the way it echoed. It always sounded as if there were multiple people surrounding her. Having Jenner walk her to her car would have been appreciated, but she didn’t want to trouble him. He had a lot of building to secure as the only guard on the nightshift. Despite her overactive imagination, she knew she was safe in the building’s parking garage. She paused before her car and rummaged through her purse. Her expression dropped when she once again couldn’t locate her keys.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered with disgust. “I just had my keys--”
Her thoughts strayed to her jacket. She looked around then groaned softly.
“Great.”
Lee turned and headed back for the parking garage entrance. If she wasn’t losing her keys, she was losing her purse. If not her purse, her jacket. She never understood how she could be so forgetful. Lee approached the rear entrance and pressed the security call button. She waited several minutes, but the guard didn’t respond. She looked at the security pad, inhaled deeply, and then pressed in a code. To her surprise, the light changed from red to green. She opened the door and entered the building without fear of setting off the alarm, because that would be all she’d need to increase her embarrassment. Lee walked the long corridor and eventually entered the lobby. Jenner wasn’t at the front desk. She looked around but didn’t see her jacket anywhere. She then realized she must have left it in her office, although she’d have sworn she’d put it on before she left. She approached the nearby elevator and pressed the button. It arrived almost immediately, which never happened during normal work hours. It was the only perk to staying late or arriving early.
†
Lee walked along the hallway on the nineteenth floor and suddenly stopped as a realization hit her. She hadn’t left her jacket in her office. She distinctly remembered having it in Wiley’s office on her way out, so she had to have left it there. Lee switched direction and headed for the accountant’s office. Their floor was always eerily silent after hours, lending a unique creepiness that tended to set her on edge. Her overactive imagination always made things worse. She entered Wiley’s office and saw him leaning back in his chair, staring at nothing in particular.
“I must’ve left my jacket in your office,” Lee announced as she approached. “Since I had to come all the way back here, I guess that means I’m dragging you along with me. So let’s go.”
She stopped a few feet from his desk while staring at his moderately pale face and the vacant look in his eyes. She then noticed his black suit jacket appeared shiny as if wet. Lee suddenly realized he wasn’t blinking and his expression was more than just vacant.
“Wiley?” she gasped and reached for him.
As she touched his shoulder, his head dropped to the side, revealing a large puncture wound on the side of his neck, which bled freely.
“My God, Wiley!”
She pulled his jacket away from his chest and saw his white shirt beneath was soaked in fresh blood. Lee suddenly gasped and jumped back with horror. She couldn’t take her eyes off what was almost certainly a bullet wound to his jugular vein. She wasn’t sure how long she stood staring at her dead co-worker before finally lunging for the desk phone. Lee stopped short of touching the phone when she realized she was standing in a crime scene. Wiley was murdered! Then a terrifying thought hit her. It was possible his killer was somewhere nearby! Lee wildly shot looks around the office then hurried to the open door while fumbling in her purse for her cell phone. She grabbed her cell phone as she entered the hallway. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone dart into one of the nearby offices. Lee gasped while gripping her cell phone and ran down the hall for the elevator. She entered 911 into her phone and cast several looks around the corridor while awaiting a response.
The elevator door opened as if on command. Lee saw a shadow from the nearby office. Fearing it was the killer; she suppressed her scream and jumped into the elevator, colliding with someone. Lee suddenly screamed and looked at the guard, whom she’d just run into. Jenner was possibly more startled by her scream than she was by his presence. He held his chest and panted heavily.
“How did you get back into the building?” Jenner suddenly demanded.
She could only stare
at him, unable to speak.
Chapter Four
Lee sat quietly huddled in one of the plush lobby chairs with a fire blanket over her shoulders and a cup of water in her hand. She’d finally managed to stop her body from trembling after her ordeal. She couldn’t believe Wiley was dead. She couldn’t believe he’d been murdered. Several police officers milled around the lobby and talked with the security guard. A police detective in a tired, old suit with a matching face approached her and flipped through his equally worn tablet.
“You’re Leeann Whitley?” he asked while briefly glancing over her.
She nodded in response.
“I’m Sgt. Grimm, Homicide,” he announced with little emotion, which didn’t help put her at ease any. “I know you’ve been through a lot, so I’ll try to be brief.”
“Thank you,” she replied weakly.
“According to what you told the security guard when you ran into him on the nineteenth floor, you found the victim murdered in his office.”
She nodded.
“You claim you saw someone sneaking around one of the nearby offices,” he announced then looked at her overtop his small tablet. His tired eyes conveyed his distrust toward her and her story. “Ma’am, there’s no one up there, and according to the security guard, the elevators would have brought our killer here into the lobby.”
As the words registered, Lee stared at the detective with disbelief. Did he just accuse her of murder?
“You were the last person to see the victim alive,” he stated then suspiciously raised his brows. “The guard walked you to the parking garage, yet you turned up only ten minutes later outside the dead man’s office.”
His moderately accusing tone was almost more than she could handle. “I didn’t kill him,” she blurted out in panic while resisting the urge to leap up from her chair. She could feel her body trembling once again.
Witness Protection 2: The Return of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Page 2
