On Saturday afternoon I went to the office, feeling like I’d taken enough precautions for a stealth mission. At first the building was so quiet, it felt creepy. I hate to confess this, but I almost changed my mind. You know that sensation—the one that feels like something crawled up your spine? It hit me in the elevator as I rode to our floor. But, hey, I was a woman with a mission and besides what kind of a spy wimps out so easily? If there was anything about Superior or Alaric that wasn’t under lock and key, I was determined to find it.
I stepped into the empty corridor. Dim energy-saving weekend lighting added to my already jangled nerves. I unlocked the door to our suite and pushed it open slowly, almost expecting to find someone there. My mind raced with possible excuses, but there was no need. I keyed the code into the security pad on the wall just inside the door, then heard two beeps confirming the alarm was disarmed.
As a precaution, I called, “Julia? Matt?” while I moved toward Julia’s office. No answer. Her door was slightly ajar and the light was on but I didn’t hear any sound from inside. I had no idea if she was there or not, and almost left. Then I rationalized she might have forgotten to turn the light off when she left the night before. Besides, if she was there and had heard me, it would look suspicious if I just left without saying anything.
So, I knocked and called her name again. Still no answer. On impulse, I opened the door cautiously. The room was empty. Piles of papers sat neatly stacked on each side of her desktop just the way she always leaves them. My forehead and blouse grew damp with perspiration as fear set in. Something felt off. My attention shifted to her computer. It was on. A loud sound from the corridor practically gave me a heart attack. Could I get out before she blasted back into her office?
That was all I would need—to be caught red-handed in Julia’s lair.
I stepped out into the hall and, with my voice shaking, called tentatively, “Is someone there?”
A gravelly voice answered, “Jes the janitor, Ma’am.” An old man stepped into the hall, clutching a polish bottle. He held it out toward me. “After I finished up the other offices on the floor, I realized I’d left my granite polish on this here fancy desk.”
With my heart slamming against my ribs, I managed to smooth out my voice. “Well, you scared the hell out of me. Next time if you see lights on, call out even if you don’t think anyone is here, okay?”
“Hmmm. That’s just what the other lady said when I was in here cleanin’ before. She was kinda angry-like, stormin’ out like a hurricane. She told me she was goin’ out for a few hours but would be comin’ back later and said be sure to set the alarm when I left. I knowed I set it but it weren’t on when I came back in jes now. Thought maybe she changed her mind and came right back.” He shook his head.
“How long ago?”
“How long ago, what Ma’am?”
“How long ago did she leave?”
He shrugged. “No more’n 15 minutes ago I reckon. Maybe not even that. I’ll be goin’ now.” He headed for the door and I started back down the hall.
I called over my shoulder, “Hey, turn the alarm back on and lock the door on your way out, okay?”
With the alarm armed and the janitor gone, I figured I could risk poking around in Julia’s office for 10 or 15 minutes. She probably went to grab a bite of lunch or something. Throwing caution to the wind, I went back into her office. First I tried file cabinet drawers in the lateral file I’d seen her take the spreadsheets from, but every one of them was locked. Well, that wasn’t surprising.
Next I moved to her desk. Focusing on the computer, I brought up her emails. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary in her inbox, so on impulse I clicked “recently deleted.” Right at the top of the deleted messages was one from Bruce, and although somewhat cryptic, I was sure it was pay dirt.
As I read, I thought, “How stupid to even hint at something like that in writing.” But who ever said Bruce was overly clever?
Julia,
Got your phone message. If that was a threat, it won’t work. I have ways to get things done. Don’t underestimate me. B.
I read it twice, then hit the print button. On second glance, it really didn’t say that much. It could easily be interpreted to relate to some procedure Julia wanted to implement. But, knowing what I did, his note had a totally different meaning for me.
I looked at the time stamp. That tingling sensation I’d felt earlier wasn’t misplaced. She must have left right after deleting it—probably furious, too. I might even have passed her going down in the other elevator.
The mere thought scared the hell out of me. Maybe our email had panicked her to the point she was threatening him to save her own skin.
I shoved the copy of Bruce’s email into my purse while running down the hall, made sure the alarm was set and locked the door. She could be back any time. I really wasn’t cut out for this cloak and dagger stuff.
Some people would have needed a drink after that. I needed a sweet fix and stopped at the Frozen Delight Ice Cream Parlor two blocks down. I treated myself to two scoops, one Chocolate Dream and one Tropical Coconut, topped with generous dollops of hot fudge, whipped cream and nuts. I savored the mix of flavors, while thinking about Bruce’s email. One thing was certain. We definitely couldn’t wait until next Friday. We had to move faster than that.
I dialed Cami’s number on my cell while driving back to the condo. She answered on the first ring. “What’s up Kimberly?”
“A lot. I went to the office this afternoon. Couldn’t get into any files, but I found a deleted email from Bruce on Julia’s computer, and it wasn’t friendly. Oh yeah, apparently I just missed her by minutes. That’s scary in itself. I’m afraid we might have opened a hornet’s nest. Do you think you can set it up with Nathan for Tuesday instead? I don’t think we should wait any longer.”
“Uh, sure if he doesn’t have other plans. I don’t see a problem. It’s probably easier for Kate and me to get away. We just need to list dummy appointments and no one will know we’re gone. It sounds like you’re driving right now. Want me to call Kate?”
“Yeah, that would be great. Don’t worry about me. I’ll calm down and figure out how to be out of the office for a few days without Julia suspecting anything. Cell phones and email makes that a lot easier these days.”
• • • • •
By the time I got home, there was an email from Cami and one from Kate. Everything was set. Cami had reserved three rooms at an airport hotel in Arlington. She said since we would probably be flying back to our respective homes the following day there was no point in actually going into D.C. Nathan had been fine about changing the time and planned to pick her up at the hotel at 7:30 Tuesday evening. Boy, he was in for a surprise.
Kate emailed us that she had completed putting everything together. She added that a person would have to be blind not to see this had turned into something that appeared to be a colossal ripoff. She asked me to scan the note from Bruce and email it to her so she could include it with everything else. All I had to do now was book a flight and figure out why I was going to be out of the office.
It came to me in a flash. I must admit, this whole caper made me pretty good at lying.
When I went in on Monday, I asked Julia if we could talk privately. She looked confused but agreed.
She knew nothing about what happened with Ryan so it was easy. I pasted a sheepish expression on my face and said, “I need a few personal days off. This is a little embarrassing, but before I started working here, I was involved with a guy who turned out to be a completely different kind of person than the man I thought he was.” I allowed my eyes to water up. “He…he took me for a bundle and quite frankly, that’s one of the reasons I needed this job.”
Did I actually see a spark of sympathy in those stone cold emerald eyes? She nodded. “Go on, Kimberly.”
“Well, it turns out I wasn’t the only one he ripped off. They caught up with him at the home of his latest victim in Boca Raton. I promised to testify. I hope you understand.” I allowed a tear to slide down my cheek.
She bought every bit of it. “Take the time you need Kimberly. Sometimes we just can’t trust men, can we?” There was a tightness in her face as she said, “I hope it turns out okay. When do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow, and I’ll probably be back by Thursday or Friday at the latest. This isn’t a pleasure trip, Julia, but it’s something I have to do.”
Now that part wasn’t a lie.