Since you don’t pay me overtime, you don’t care if I go home now, do you?” Jill’s secretary, Sheila, asked from the doorway of her office. “I mean, I could do like you and work around the clock, but like I said, I don’t get overtime.”
Jill didn’t have time to trade quips with Sheila. She’d been going over depositions from the Nathan case and was too deep in concentration. “Sure. You can go home.”
“’Cause it’s after dark, you know.”
“You were late coming in,” Jill said, finally looking up at her.
“I figured you’d be sleeping late, since you’ve been working so hard.”
“Even if I had, the phone would still need to be answered, Sheila, and there’s lots of work to be done.”
“Did you realize you didn’t wear makeup today? I can’t figure out if it makes you look older or younger.”
Jill set her pen down and leaned back in the chair, staring at the woman. Sometimes she just wanted to throttle her…or worse…fire her. But she had done it once before only to find that there wasn’t anyone else in town as qualified as she. She’d hired her back with the stipulation that she get an attitude adjustment, but apparently Sheila hadn’t taken that too seriously.
“What?” Sheila asked, as if innocent of offending her boss.
“Did you expect me to respond to that, Sheila?”
“No, I was just making an observation.”
“Thank you. I didn’t wear makeup because I forgot. I had too much on my mind.”
“Older, I think,” Sheila finally decided. “Has Dan seen you like that?”
Jill turned the page of the deposition and began reading again. “Good-bye, Sheila.”
The woman backed out of the room, and in moments, she heard the front door close. She was gone. Jill got up and stretched, then went in to the bathroom connected to her office and looked in the mirror. She did look awful. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t worn makeup, but she’d had all those questions about Celia on her mind…Sheila was right. She did look older. Old and unmarried. And if Dan saw her this way, he’d be even more repulsed then he’d been by her behavior last night.
She heard the door open and close again, and she went back to her desk, not wanting Sheila to catch her looking in the mirror. She didn’t want Jill to have the satisfaction of thinking her comment had bothered her.
But it wasn’t Sheila who appeared in the doorway. It was Sid.
“Got somethin’ for you, Jill,” he said.
Jill didn’t want it. Whatever it was, it had to be bad news, and she wasn’t up to it. She just stared at him.
He crossed the room and dropped a 5 x 7 snapshot down on her desk. “Now tell me Celia ain’t guilty.”
Jill looked down at the snapshot. Her face fell. It was of Celia and Lee Barnett, standing close with his hands on her arms. “What is this?”
“Your client went to see her boyfriend this afternoon,” Sid said. “Because Stan made us promise to keep somebody on her for protection, Vern Hargis followed her there.”
Jill frowned, studying the picture. Her heart was pounding out a dirge-like rhythm, and she wanted to cry. But that wouldn’t do. “There’s an explanation,” she said weakly.
“Oh, yeah? Did you know she was goin’ to see him?”
“No, but I’m sure…”
“That’s cause she’s fleecin’ you, too, Jill. Wake up, woman.”
Jill studied the picture and realized she couldn’t see either of their faces. Just Celia’s ponytail and Lee Barnett holding her. How could she have gone to see him in broad daylight, and necked with him right out in the open? Did she want to get caught? No, she told herself as reason took over. Something wasn’t right.
She got to her feet and grabbed her briefcase with one hand and the snapshot with the other. “Excuse me, Sid. I need to go speak to my client.”
“Be my guest,” Sid said. “But don’t eat nothin’ she feeds you.”