The Deadliest Institution Collection

by Holly Copella

  “I assure you,” the first man announced in a jovial tone. “The security cameras can’t be shut off without triggering the fire alarm. If someone is screwing around, it’s going to be caught by security.”

  “There goes your chances of getting lucky in the elevator,” the second man teased the third man.

  There was another round of laughter. Whatever perverse fantasy the three men had been laughing about came to a sudden halt when they noticed Jacey seated at her desk. The three expensively dressed men were the country club investors and board members. Essentially, they were the men who owned the country club. The first man was Davis Lowe, Jacey’s boss and president of the country club. Davis was a pleasant looking man in his forties. Although not excessively handsome, he was easy on the eyes. His hair was prematurely gray for a man of his age. The second man was Nathan Stanley, the vice president. Nathan was ruggedly handsome, taller than Davis, and had the build of a man who spent hours playing racket ball. Although in his early forties, he looked much younger than Davis. His neatly trimmed, golden-brown hair didn’t have a trace of gray; of course, it was possible he colored his hair. The third man was Carl Wexler. A moderately meek man by nature, Carl wasn’t nearly as physically fit as Nathan despite being almost ten years younger. Carl kept his blonde hair trimmed close to his head to conceal that he was losing his hair.

  The fourth and final investor was mysteriously absent, although he was the only one working a day job in addition to his position with the country club. The missing investor was Dr. Brian Murdock, Professor’s associate at the museum.

  “Oh, Jacey,” Nathan announced cheerfully. “You’re back from lunch. Good. If anyone is looking for us, we’ll be in the Men’s Smoking Lounge.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The term ‘Men’s Smoking Lounge’ was almost enough to make Jacey sneer with disgust. She was definitely in the middle of the boys’ club. For some reason, wives of wealthy club members overlooked sexism at the country club. They seemed perfectly contented with their Garden Room parties and other snotty, froo froo frilly women stuff. Another reason Jacey felt out of place often. She was always more of a tom girl. The only thing girly about her was her work attire and the hideous purse she carried. Both things would easily fall by the wayside if she worked at the library or the press. Men’s Smoking Lounge! No women allowed! She had half a mind to snag one of Asher’s stogies and light up in front of all the ‘men’ in the Men’s Smoking Lounge. Her fantasy was short lived as she watched Carl and Nathan leave the reception area.

  Davis stopped at Jeannette’s desk and sorted through some mail. He didn’t seem in much of a hurry to join his fellow board members. Jacey knew he was seeking confidential mail. It was his usual practice to leaf through the stack of mail looking for anything marked confidential. She didn’t know why he insisted on searching through the mail. Jacey and Jeannette were always diligent about placing confidential mail on their bosses’ desks and never mistakenly opened those letters. Jacey had to admit, she was curious about their confidential mail. The return address was always vague. Usually just Stony Ridge, the state, and zip code. When Davis didn’t find anything to his liking in the pile of mail, he approached Jacey’s desk and offered his usual, pleasant smile.

  “Is Asher back from his business trip yet?” Davis asked, seemingly making small talk.

  “No, not for a few more days,” she replied and felt herself smile more naturally.

  She liked when people mentioned Asher by name in general conversation. Not so long ago, most feared breathing his name, and if they did, it was never in a good way.

  “I hate when he misses poker night at the museum,” Davis remarked then shook his head. “Someone needs to keep Timon in line.”

  Jacey laughed at the comment. She’d witnessed Timon playing poker with the boys. He was about as serious with his poker game as he was with everything else, which wasn’t saying much. The reception office door opened to reveal a tall, well-built man with a pleasant but stern look about him. Nick was the man Jacey fondly referred to as ‘the muscle’. He was technically in charge of security, but he did have a certain henchman appeal. Handsome by anyone’s standards, Nick was a lady’s man, or so Jacey had heard. He’d made his way around the female employees at the club, although none could keep his attention longer than five minutes after the dirty deed was done.

  “Roxy’s looking for you, sir,” Nick announced without acknowledging Jacey.

  As with most young, single female employees, Nick had suavely put the moves on Jacey. She politely informed him she was involved. Of course, he wasn’t about to let that get in his way and stepped up his propositions. When Asher dropped by for lunch, Nick learned of her unusual friendship with the local legend and that was enough to sever all interest. Despite Asher’s restored reputation, some still avoided him at any cost. Jacey had to admit, being friends with Asher did tighten her circle. Some people avoided her based solely on her association with the infamous man. Davis nodded to Nick in response. Nick left without further comment. Davis then smiled pleasantly at Jacey.

  “Can’t keep my daughter waiting,” Davis announced cheerfully. “She’s filling in as receptionist next week while Diane’s on vacation.”

  “I heard she’s very excited,” Jacey replied. “We’ve already made plans to have lunch together.”

  “I appreciate that, Jacey,” he announced. “It can be intimidating being the new girl. I only want my daughter to be happy.”

  “It wasn’t that long ago when I was the new girl, so I know how she feels,” she remarked then flashed a teasing smile.

  Davis held back his laugh. “I sometimes forget you’re technically still new,” he replied. “You’ve only been here two months and you run circles around Jeannette.”

  “In Jeannette’s defense, she’s only been here a month longer than me,” Jacey informed him. “I think she just needs to get used to working a full-time job.”

  “Perhaps,” he replied but didn’t appear interested in the subject. “I’ll be back later. Hold my calls.” Davis smiled and hurried from the room.

  Chapter Six

  The exclusive neighborhood was bustling with activity on the warm, sunny afternoon. Women pushed young children in strollers, children rode their bikes along the quiet streets, and several lawn service companies tended to the landscaping of the wealthy homes. Jeannette’s house seemed quiet compared with the other homes surrounding hers. Within the large sitting room, Jeanette paced the length of the room. Despite her flawless make-up and perfect hair, she looked stressed from last night’s ordeal. Her bruised cheek was almost completely hidden behind a layer of concealing make-up, but it wasn’t enough to erase the bruise altogether. She picked up her glass of whiskey and drained the remaining contents. She approached the portable bar and immediately refilled her glass. She took another large swallow then hesitated and removed a flash drive from the cleavage of her shirt. She flexed her hand over the thumb drive several times before returning it down the front of her shirt. She drank the entire glass of whiskey then hurried from the sitting room and down the hall.

  Jeannette crossed the massive study and flopped into the antique leather chair behind the elegant, carved desk. She snatched a padded envelope from the bottom drawer and found a pen lying on top of the desk. She was about to write on the envelope then hesitated and carefully considered her next move. She tapped the tip of the pen on the envelope a moment then carefully printed the name ‘Konrad Asher’ on the front. It didn’t take long to find his address in her husband’s old rolodex. She removed the flash drive from her cleavage and, with trembling hands, slipped it into the envelope. She then sealed the envelope and placed several stamps on it, not caring if she used too many. Jeannette jumped up from the chair and hurried from the room.

  Within minutes, Jeannette was walking down the residential street toward the blue postal drop box near the entrance of the exclusive development. She placed the envelope into the drop box then stared at it for sever
al minutes while chewing on her fingernail. Her distressed look remained. She ran trembling fingers through her hair and exhaled softly.

  †

  Jacey sat before her desk with the phone to her ear while scribbling notes onto the phone message pad. Two other lines were ringing simultaneously. She had set Jeannette’s line to ring on her phone, so she wouldn’t have to jump from desk to desk. She could barely concentrate on her caller while listening to the phone ringing on two other lines. Jacey thanked her caller, hung up the phone, and then glared at the flashing red lights. She cried out with frustration and hit the ‘out of office’ button. All three lines silenced. Jacey groaned softly while holding her head. The silence was a welcomed relief. She snatched a large pile of papers from the ‘out’ bin and left the office.

  Just a short walk down the back corridor took Jacey to the basement file room. She escaped through the door and down the dingy, wooden stairs. Once within the basement, there were four rows of metal shelving containing file boxes nearly up to the ceiling. She walked past the four rows filled with boxes and escaped to the back corner. There was a large wooden bench, a small table, and an industrial sized shredder in the back corner. Several bags filled with shredded files were lined against the back shelf. The room was completely silent, being the only place Jacey knew to escape her bad days. She collapsed on the bench and lazily fed documents through the large shredder. She heard the door open at the top of the steps and listened a moment.

  “Jacey?” came the familiar male voice.

  Jacey drew a deep breath and was almost relieved. “Down here, Brian!”

  She listened to the footfalls creaking on the old steps. A man in his late twenties appeared in the aisle in which she hid. Brian Murdock was the fourth board member and Professor’s colleague at the museum. He was a sharp dressed, handsome man with short brown hair and a million dollar smile. Brian was a known womanizer but had wormed his way into her life through Maxwell and the other scientists, who were now her friends. Theirs was a complex relationship ever since the scientists took up shop at the institute a little over three months ago. He glanced over where she sat in the corner of the aisle.

  “Davis said I’d probably find you here,” Brian remarked and again glanced around, giving her an odd look. “Are you hiding from someone?”

  “Just the relentless ringing of phones,” she replied. “What brings you to my dungeon?”

  “Professor said you were having a rough day, so I thought I’d drop by and see if there was anything I could do,” Brian replied with sincerity.

  “Can you command the phones to stop their endless ringing?” she asked with a sly grin on her face.

  “No,” he replied with a chuckle. “I’m afraid that’s out of my hands.” Brian sat on the bench near her and appeared sympathetic. “I know you’re overworked with Jeannette calling out every other day, and I realize you’re frustrated with a lot of the problems around this place.”

  “Oh?” she asked while raising her brow. “Which problems are you referring?”

  “Come on, Jacey,” he announced firmly while studying her. “It’s me. We both know this place is the last of the boys’ clubs. It’s filled with sexist, egotistical men parading around their trophy wives. And when they’re finished, they put them back in the china cabinet for safekeeping. Most of the women in town want to see the club members strung up by their balls. You don’t have to pretend with me.”

  “Wow,” she remarked while staring at him with a surprised look on her face. “Some pretty harsh words coming from one of the four remaining investors.”

  “I have big plans for this place, Jacey,” he informed her. “Carl and I want to change the club into something better for everyone. If we get the right person to invest and become the fifth board member, we can get things done the right way.”

  “And your point?”

  “Just stick it out a while longer,” Brian replied, although he almost seemed to be begging. “I promise you, it’ll get better. Carl and I are working on it.”

  Jacey stared at him while frowning. “I have little choice but to stick it out,” she informed him. “I can’t afford to go back to the library and the paper. I racked up my credit card buying upscale clothing for this job.”

  “I know it sucks,” he informed her, “but I’m going to make it better. You’ll be glad you decided to stay on. Just give me a month or two. You’ll see.”

  Jacey stared at him a moment then smiled and laughed softly. “Honestly, Brian, you’re the last person I would have expected to stand up for women’s rights at the club.”

  “Are you kidding?” he suddenly proclaimed. “That shit turns women on.”

  She glared at him. He grinned causing her to laugh. Brian patted her arm, stood, and kissed her cheek.

  “You just take it easy,” he informed her. “I’ll bring up Jeannette’s constant absenteeism at our next meeting.”

  “Good luck with that,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m afraid you have some strong opposition. Of course, now that you’re dating Roxy--”

  Brian made a face. “Yeah, that didn’t exactly work out,” he replied. “She sort of dumped me.”

  Jacey groaned softly and shook her head. “Who was it this time?”

  “You’ll hear about it soon enough,” he replied. “If we’re lucky, some racy photos might start to circulate.”

  She eyed him with surprise, although she shouldn’t have been. “You’re a dog, Brian,” she muttered.

  He grinned. “Woof woof.”

  Jacey wanted to scold him, but it would be a waste of time. “Why would you document your affairs?” she demanded while folding her arms across her chest. “What possible good could ever come from such things?”

  “Hey, I’m not the one doing it,” Brian insisted while attempting to look innocent. “There’s some lunatic running around peeping in windows, taking dirty pictures, and demanding money.” He casually shrugged. “I have nothing to lose by those photos being leaked, so what do I care.”

  Jacey stared at him with surprise. “You mean someone’s trying to blackmail you?”

  He snorted a soft laugh. “Yeah, pretty humorous, huh? It was just that one time before I started dating Roxy. I don’t know why they threatened to show those pictures, but I didn’t pay and nothing happened. I’m thinking it was the girl I was with in the picture trying to get revenge or something.” He flashed a smile. “I’ll leave you to your, uh, filing.”

  She shook her head and laughed as he left. It was nice she was able to joke around with Brian these days, particularly at his womanizing ways. She was just thankful she’d never been suckered into the drama of dating him.

  Chapter Seven

  It was the end of an exhausting day. Jacey felt relief as she finally shut down her computer and locked her desk drawer for the evening. If she hadn’t said it before, Mondays sucked. She was already exhausted and she still had an entire evening of work ahead of her. All she wanted to do was saddle her horse and go for a lengthy ride where there weren’t any phones. Since she took the job at the country club, there wasn’t time for that sort of thing during the week. Maybe she would be better off broke working for next to nothing at the library and the paper. Life seemed much simpler then. She walked away from the desk and toward the office door with her keys in her hand and her purse nearly dragging on the floor behind her. The phone rang, striking a raw nerve inside her. She considered not answering it, but it was still one minute until five o’clock. On the second ring, she groaned and reluctantly returned to her desk. She snatched the phone from its cradle and attempted a cheerful tone.

  “Nathan’s office.”

  “Oh, Jacey,” Jeanette chirped through the phone from the other end. “I’m glad I caught you.”

  “Hey, Jeanette. Are you feeling--?”

  “Can you stop by my place before you head home?” Jeannette suddenly asked without letting her get in a word. “I really need to talk to you. It’s important.”

 
; Jacey wasn’t sure, but it sounded as if Jeannette was drunk. She didn’t have time to indulge the woman’s need for attention or listen to drunken ramblings.

  “Could I call you after I get home? I really have--”

  “It’s really important, Jacey,” Jeannette informed her. There was a brief hesitation. “It has to do with Konrad Asher.”

  Jacey felt her body tense. Jeannette had said the magic words. It was difficult for Jacey to refuse anything involving Asher, especially when it came to damage control. She became Asher’s self-proclaimed P.R. person the moment their friendship finally stepped out of the shadows and into the light of day. Not that Asher cared about his reputation, but Jacey certainly did.

  “Well, okay. But only for a few--”

  “Thanks, Jacey,” Jeannette chirped. “You’ll thank me for it later.”

  Before Jacey could even mutter a good-bye, Jeanette hung up. Jacey shook her head and just about slammed the phone down with disgust.

  “Another drama queen moment,” Jacey muttered. “Thanks, Jeanette.”

  Just one more item to add to her lengthy ‘to do’ list for the evening. She hoped to get to bed at a decent hour, but it wasn’t looking good.

  †

  Jeanette hung up the phone where she sat behind the desk in Doyle’s study. She leaned back in the chair, and, despite her drunken condition, she appeared distraught and nervous. There was a thump from another room on the first floor. Jeanette quickly sat forward and listened intently. Although she didn’t hear anything, she removed a letter opener from the desk drawer as a precaution. She slowly stood, attempting to maintain her balance, and approached the door with some unsteadiness. She uncertainly peered into the hall. The hall was empty and quiet. Jeanette stepped into the hallway with the letter opener clutched in her hand. She slowly headed toward the front door while listening for any sound, although there wasn’t any. As she passed the dining room while heading toward the sitting room, someone silently stepped into the hallway behind her. Jeanette slowly approached the front sitting room not far from the front door. A floorboard creaked behind her. Jeanette gasped and spun around, but to her surprise, there was no one there. She groaned but remained tense.