A Deadly Promotion

by Melanie Jones Brownrigg

  “Yes, sir,” I replied, standing to leave.

  “One last thing, I found this on the floor after all the chaos at the party. Do you have any idea who might have dropped it? I only mention it to you because I found it between your employees’ table and the next one over.”

  He handed me a handwritten note which I unfolded to reveal a flight itinerary. “No, I have no idea.”

  “Well, there were a lot of people rubbernecking to see what was going on. It could have been any of a hundred or more guests.”

  After returning to my office, I sent Lisa up to speak with Mr. Harrington. She had barely disappeared from the doorway when Carter came rushing into my office. “Is it now? Is she getting gone?”

  “Yes, Mr. Harrington will either fire her, or transfer her.”

  He exhaled a huge breath of air and fell against the doorframe. “Oh, thank God. She’s the worst girlfriend I’ve ever had. I’m going celibate after this.”

  A loud laugh rolled from my mouth. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, I like women … but stable ones.”

  “What’s Angela up to?” I asked, thinking she was as unstable as it could get, though, surprisingly, she didn’t create a scene at the birthday party.

  “You can never tell with those two. We just need to get them both out of our lives.”

  “Yes, we do,” I wholeheartedly agreed.

  Some forty-five minutes later, Lisa came storming in, carrying a box. She tromped to her desk and began throwing things wildly into the container. In less than two, maybe three minutes, she clonked her heels into my office. “I hate you! You’ve separated me from my love. Carter’s going to die when he finds out I’ve been fired.”

  Fired. I was shocked. Mr. Harrington was a softie. She must’ve mouthed off to him, like she was to me.

  Carter overheard our conversation, which was easy, considering she was screaming. “Lisa, you were fired?” he asked, coming to my doorway.

  “Yeeessss,” she said in a pitiful moan. “Can you believe we’re going to be separated?”

  “Well then, I’d like to break up with you,” Carter stupidly announced.

  “YOU WHAT!!!!” she shouted. “You can’t be serious!”

  Then Carter looked to me for protection. “Tell her … tell her she’s a psycho stalker … just like her friend Angela. Make her go away.”

  “I’M A WHAT! Did you call me a psycho stalker! My God, can’t you recognize true love when you see it? You’re an idiot, Carter, and certainly not worth my time.” She turned on her heels, shoved Carter to the side and clunked her way out of the department.

  “Do you think it’s over?” Carter asked, his eyes blinking a few times. “Could it have really been that easy?”

  I looked at him and shrugged. “There’s always hope.”

  Chapter Seventy

  David Ross

  “Now, how come we had to sell the house?” David’s mother asked for about the tenth time.

  He gripped the wheel, sick and tired of telling her the same thing, over and over. She was making his head pound with another headache. “I told you Momma, it’s because I was offered a lucrative position as a computer programming analyst. We couldn’t keep the old house.”

  “But it was the house Tom and I lived in ever since we were married. It’s where you lived after we brought you home from the hospital. I loved that place.”

  “I know Momma. Don’t worry, we’ll find an amazing place to live and you’ll love it.”

  “What about your girlfriend? You’ve just up and left her behind?” David’s mother continued with her bazillion questions.

  “I have to make us a living,” he agitatedly responded. He hated leaving Paige. But then again, he’d already lost her to that attorney.

  Paige had made him so angry one day, he’d done a stupid, stupid thing. His revenge had been focused on Ethel and Lidia. But he’d let Paige get in the middle. His plan was to make it look like Lidia had written herself a check for the $175K. But late one afternoon, when he was working on the company embezzlement, he had felt empowered and had asked Paige on a date.

  “Paige, would you like to have dinner with me?” She had no freaking idea how hard it had been for him to work up his courage to ask her out.

  “Oh. Thank you for the offer, but …”

  Her face and unfinished words said it all. She wasn’t interested in David. Lidia had called him “Weirdo” on many occasions. And now he could see Paige thought he was too.

  “Don’t worry about it. It was just an offer for food. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved her on as if it was no big deal. But inside he was crushed to the bone.

  “Uh, okay.” Paige bolted out of the room so fast, she was nothing but a blur.

  With everyone gone for the day, David logged into Lisa’s computer – if you worked with people long enough, you could figure out all their passcodes. But instead of setting up the account to go into Lidia’s name, Paige’s rejection had gotten the best of him. And, in a spiteful, spiteful act, he’d set up the Cayman account in Paige’s name instead.

  Then, the next day at work, Paige approached him with a kind look on her face. “Yesterday was kind of awkward. Your invitation caught me by surprise. I’d like to apologize. But I want you to know, it wasn’t anything against you. It’s just … well, I haven’t dated in a long time and I’m not ready for a man in my life … not right now, not even for a dinner out. I hope you can understand.” Then she smiled sweetly at him, making him go all gooey inside.

  “But you will be ready some day? Right?” David asked, hope blossoming in his chest.

  “Yes, of course … someday,” she said with a roll of her beautiful blue eyes.

  “Then we’ll be friends until you’re ready … okay?”

  “I’d like that very much,” his beautiful girlfriend told him.

  But by now, the money had been sent to a Cayman account in Paige’s name. So how was he going to rescue Paige and get his revenge on Lidia and Ethel?

  David, being a clever man, quickly came up with a solution. He already knew Lidia and Ethel were planning a cruise … a family trip taken without him, and at a time when Ethel was pretending to be in rehabilitation. He was going to expose that lie in due time. But right now, he had to concentrate on the Cayman bank account. He had already found the perfect patsy. Amanda Smith. He’d met Amanda in one of his computer classes. She had the same height as Lidia, same dark hair, and same dark eyes. She fit his needs perfectly. And with the promise of money and a cruise to the Cayman’s, Amanda became a willing accomplice. And with an expensive set of fake passports, he booked himself and Amanda on the same cruise as Ethel and Lidia.

  “Amanda, tomorrow’s the day I need you to do me that huge favor,” he reminded her as the giant ship chugged along, cutting waves in the dark ocean waters.

  “I know. I know. You want me to get the money and pretend I’m someone else,” she said, gazing up at the white sliver of a moon. “We’ve gone over this how many times?”

  “Just making sure you’re onboard.” The account had been set up in Paige’s name, which matched Amanda’s fake ID. But instead of the blonde locks and blue eyes Paige had, it was a picture of Amanda, whose features were so similarly shared by Lidia.

  “You hand me the $50K you promised, and I’ll even give you a blowjob.”

  David cringed. Amanda reminded him too much of Lidia. And not only did he hate Lidia, it’d be like having sex with your half-sister. “Just get the money.”

  True to her word, the next day Amanda met him back at the cabin with a big smile on her face. “Look what I have,” she bragged, lifting and lowering a brown leather case. “It was a piece of cake.”

  “Did you keep your head down, like I told you?”

  “Duh, of course I did.” She tossed the case on the bed. “Split out my portion right now.”

  David willingly complied. But later, in the dark of night, when no one was watching, Amanda Smith
, slipped and fell off the boat to her death. What a tragedy, David thought as he wiped his hands on his trousers and went back to his cabin.

  “How come we had to sell the car?” his mother asked, interrupting David’s thoughts of Amanda. “This air conditioner ain’t cooling me off.” She fanned her face with her hand. “Pardon my language, but this thing’s a piece of shit.”

  “I’m going to buy a new car when we get there,” he promised. David had sold his car a few days ago and purchased an old Ford Taurus off Craig’s List. He’d purposely left it in the name of John Jones – does the name get any more common?

  “I can smell the oil burning,” his mother criticized. “Do you seriously think this heap will make it across the desert heat?”

  David couldn’t imagine ever being linked to Julie’s murder, or even to the girl who went permanently swimming with the fishes, but, just in case, he’d left information on his computer, suggesting he had taken a job at Amazon in Seattle, Washington. In another false lead, he’d purposely left a note on the floor the night of the party, containing information about a flight from Denver to Miami. He wasn’t heading for either of those destinations. He wasn’t even planning to drive across the desert like his mother presumed. David was only planning to make it to Albuquerque, and then he’d ditch the car and fly the rest of the way. And just like Amanda didn’t return from the cruise, the flight would be without his mother.

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Paul dropped by the office to take me out for a late afternoon lunch. We dined at a nearby Italian place and while we were both devouring the lasagna special, I told him about Carter breaking up with Lisa.

  “You’re kidding …he actually expected you to help him break up with his girlfriend?” He laughed, envisioning the scenario, causing his fork, piled high with pasta covered in red sauce to dribble onto his pale blue tie. “Look what you made me do,” he said with a chuckle, quickly dabbing his napkin into his water glass and trying to clean away the spot. “I should wear a bib when I eat tomato sauce.”

  “What did you just say?” I asked. My thoughts going into a whir.

  “That I should wear a bib when I eat tomato sauce,” he repeated.

  “No, before that.” I paused, letting my brain process what I’d heard. “You said, ‘Look what you made me do.’”

  “Oh sorry, I wasn’t blaming you. I’m just messy. That’s all.”

  I replayed the sentence over and over in my head. And then I looked up at Paul and blinked. “I remember now. Everything is perfectly clear.”

  After telling Paul what I had remembered, we quickly finished lunch and headed for the police station. Detective Sutton was hovering over his desk, looking at several documents when we appeared in his doorway.

  “Funny seeing you two. I was just about to call you,” he said, gesturing for us to take a seat. “There have been several developments. First off, you know how they always take your picture just before you board a ship?” We both nodded. “Well look at this.” He handed us a photo of David boarding a cruise liner with some girl. “This is Amanda Smith with David. Look how much she resembles Lidia.”

  “My God, they could be twins,” I remarked, my mouth hanging open.

  “Yeah, well we did some checking and she never returned from the voyage. Her parents were unaware of her plans to go on a cruise. When they couldn’t get hold of her for four days, they reported her missing.” Paul returned the photo to him. Detective Sutton placed it back on his desk and reached for another document. “And then there’s this … it’s a copy of the identification presented to the bank. The picture is of Amanda Smith, but the name and address are for Paige Davis. She used the same fake passport to get on the boat and the plane. It seems David might be behind this embezzlement and he may have used her to get the money. And then he made sure she didn’t get off the boat.”

  “I think you might be right,” I agreed. “Let me tell you why I’m here.” I paused and took in a deep breath and then let it out. “I’m clear now about the stairwell. It’s the same scenario I described before, but it wasn’t Ethel. It was David. Now I remember, after David’s initial push, he threw Julie down the remaining stairs and then he went to the bottom and killed her. Then he came back and hit my head against the wall and when he did, he said, ‘Look what you made me do.’” I explained Paul’s comment had triggered the memory. “Just before I was hypnotized, he told me about Ethel’s fake disability claim, and that she and Lidia had gone to the Caymans. It must have served as some sort of power of suggestion.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” Detective Sutton said with a nod. “A suggestion, especially before going under hypnosis can unconsciously change your behavior to bring into reality a manipulated thought. In this instance, it also explains why you were fuzzy on the recall.”

  I sat up straight and looked him in the eye. “I’m not fuzzy anymore. I remember clearly. It was David.”

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  David Ross

  “When are we going to stop and get something to eat? It’s late in the afternoon and I’m about to starve to death over here,” David’s mother complained.

  “Next town … okay? We’ll go through a drive-thru.”

  “No, I need to get out and stretch my legs and take a bathroom break. We’ll be dining inside,” she snipped.

  David made no response. His mother was certainly demanding. But then again, he loved her, more than anyone or anything. More than he loved Paige. And he had let Paige live. Did he really have what it would take to kill his mother?

  Once Julie had taken over the executive position, he had watched her like a hawk, just waiting for her to find the unauthorized withdrawal. It took her a whole freaking month, and when she finally did, she only went as far as Paige’s name on the check. He had expected her to follow through, get the authorities involved and obtain a copy of the bank video showing the look-alike Lidia withdrawing the funds. If Julie hadn’t been so nearsighted, his rash decision to put Paige’s name on the account would’ve been cleared up, and the finger would’ve been pointed at Lidia. But Julie was a stupid, stupid girl. It made him so mad. Couldn’t she see past the end of her nose?

  On the afternoon of the stairwell incident, he’d boarded the elevator, heading for the lobby. But then suddenly, he had decided enough was enough. He was going to have to spell it out for Julie. He mashed the twelfth-floor button just in time to exit. Coincidentally, when he opened the stairwell door, Paige and Julie were about one-quarter down the steps, between the two floors.

  Julie was prattling on, accusing Paige of stealing company funds. He knew Paige would never do such a thing. She was only being blamed because of his hasty decision to implicate her after declining a date with him.

  David headed for them, intending to make up a story about overhearing Lidia taking the money. If he had to, he’d divulge her as being his half-sister and claim she had confided in him. Lidia would deny it, but the bank video would suggest otherwise. David trotted down the steps, his midsection jiggling as he raced to catch up with them. The door slammed behind him, and Paige spun around to see what the noise was. He was momentarily distracted by her beautiful face, causing him to trip over his own two feet. He accidently shoved into her when he tried to catch his balance.

  Paige tumbled back, her frightened blue eyes staring back at David. Julie tried desperately to catch her. In turn, Paige latched hold of her. Paige crashed into the cinder block wall and slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood along the wall. His beautiful Paige was injured, and it was all Julie’s fault. And in that tiny moment, David just blew a gasket. Fury consumed him like it never had before. His immediate reaction was like a wild animal. There wasn’t room in his head for a single rational thought. David headed toward Julie with the force of a train.

  Julie screamed out, “What are you doing?”

  He yanked her to the next one-half of the stairwell and in fit of rage, he shoved her down the remaining flight. Julie let out an ex
cruciating scream as she bounced uncontrollably down each step and ended with a resounding thud at the bottom. David thundered down the steps after her to make sure she was good and dead. When he found her still breathing, he twisted her neck and left her sprawled out everywhere in front of the eleventh-floor door.

  He raced back to Paige to help her. But when he got there, the events of what had just happened slowly processed through his brain. Paige had seen him. She would tell the police. Upon reaching her, he found her trying to crawl her way up the stairs. David lunged for her, yanked her backward and drove her head against the wall with such force he heard the crack of her skull.

  “Look what you made me do,” he whimpered, his heart already breaking over the loss of his beloved.

  David returned to his car, reflecting on what had happened. His stomach churned with worry, realizing he hadn’t checked Paige’s pulse. What if she was still alive? Then he thought about the hallway camera. It would have captured him going in and out of the stairwell door.

  “The police will know I did this,” he muttered to himself. “I need to fix it,” he told himself.

  It took a while to work out a plan, but he finally came up with a solution. He just hoped Paige had remained in the stairwell and no one had found her. Finally, six o’clock rolled around when his birth father’s shift would begin. His birth father didn’t know David was his son. But if David altered the security tapes, the police would think Ethel’s first husband had assisted her. It was a perfect plan. Ethel did it. David didn’t.

  David popped his trunk and dug out his baseball bat and back inside he went. On the way in, he called the security number and reported a disturbance in the restaurant on the fortieth floor. Sure enough, his so-called birth dad had left his station to attend the phony altercation.

  He rode the elevator back up to the twelfth floor, knowing Julie was blocking the eleventh-floor door. He disembarked and made his way down a second hallway to the stairwell entrance. His plan was to whack Paige with the bat if she were still alive, and then get rid of the camera footage.