Before doing anything, Lila called her brother and cousins to tell them what she had in mind. They thought it was a great idea. Everyone needed to know if it was a forgery. She then called Heath. He was startled at first but listened to what she had to say. He then talked to Carter and Carter gave him a name and a phone number and told him to use his name, if needed.
The next morning, Carter went over to Heath’s office because he had asked him to. Carter looked at the original will and spoke to his expert friend on Zoom. Heath was afraid he wouldn’t be able to give the expert enough detail to take the case. The expert said parts of the document looked doctored and agreed to delve further into it and ask some of his colleagues to participate. It was a win-win all around. It would give everyone time, except her grandmother. Lila expected a call at any minute.
She and Carter were worlds apart and acted more like friends than lovers. Last night they’d talked and talked about Sapp’s involvement with the fire. It didn’t make sense and they couldn’t figure it out. Like always, it was nice to have someone to share her life with. They shied away from a personal level. He slept in the guest room and she slept in hers, just as if their nights together had never happened. In two days he would be gone and she wondered if she would ever get used to that.
That morning, Lila had an appointment with the insurance agent about her car. It wouldn’t take long. Her cell rang as she reached for another cup of coffee. Rossini Realty? Why would they be calling her? The only way to find out was to answer.
“Hello, Ms. Colton. I’m Mona Tibbs, Mr. Rossini’s secretary, and I would like to go over some things with you.”
“Like what?”
“We have a list of the items that were taken out of the safe and we need your signature to say that everything is correct so Mr. Rossini couldn’t be held liable if items come up missing.”
“You need me to sign a piece of paper?”
“Yes. They are tearing down the big safe tomorrow and I’m trying to get all these papers in order.”
It sounded strange to Lila, but she agreed to meet in Rossini’s office in thirty minutes. She should call Carter, but she knew he was busy with Heath. He was meeting her later at Richards’s office to see if they could get a confession out of Sapp. He had no reason to burn down her gallery. He profited nothing.
As she was going out the door, her phone rang again. “Hey, you okay?” Savon asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I have two job interviews today.”
“Good for you.”
“But if you change your mind, please let me know.”
“Rossini’s secretary called and I’m headed there to sign some papers.”
“For what?”
“About the inventory in the safe. He wants to make sure that I can’t come back and sue him for a missing item.”
“He’s covering his butt.”
“I’ll talk to you later and it’s great about the job interviews. Let me know how they go.”
Rossini Realty was in a large two-story sparkling and bright building with many office spaces. The glass and steel made it stand out. Rossini occupied the upstairs, which she’d heard through the grapevine, but she wasn’t sure where to go. He’d always come to the gallery for the rent, and when she’d signed the lease, they’d done it at the gallery.
A huge chandelier hung over her head. In front of her was a desk with pamphlets on it. She glanced at a few, then noticed a map on the wall of all the offices. She studied it and found Rossini’s office was right above her head.
She went up the stairs to double doors leading to his office. It said so in gold letters. Opening the door, she found a big foyer and a receptionist’s desk, but no receptionist. She looked around and took a seat in a plush chair, hoping the receptionist would return.
At the sound of heels tapping against the wood flooring, Lila got to her feet. A blonde with long hair and dark eyes came into the room and offered her hand. The woman was the opposite of what Lila had been expecting.
“Mona Tibbs. Come this way.”
She led her into a large office, and Lila noticed some of the artwork had been bought from her gallery. Maybe he wasn’t such a scumbag.
“Have a seat,” Ms. Tibbs said and handed her a document. “Mr. Rossini just needs to know if this is correct.”
Lila sat and pulled a file out of her purse. She compared the two documents and noted they were the same.
“If they’re the same and you’re satisfied with it, please sign at the bottom.”
She scribbled her name and said, “I would like a copy.”
“Yes, of course. My printer is broken. I’ll go down the hall to make a copy.”
The woman disappeared out the door and Lila had an uneasy feeling. She got up and looked at the paintings she’d bought in France. It had been a good deal. What was taking so long? She walked into the receptionist’s office. No one was there, either.
She opened the door to the landing and saw Walter Fox coming through the big double-door entrance below. There was no mistaking him. He always walked with quick steps as if he was in a hurry. His vests on his suits were an eye catcher, the fabric interwoven with different colors of threads and ribbons. It was topped off with a bow tie and a fedora. He was a colorful character.
She quickly jumped back so he couldn’t see her. Mona had a private bathroom and Lila hurried there. After several minutes, she went back to the secretary’s office to get her copy. Pulling out her phone, she started to call Carter, but then she heard voices and clicked off.
“What the hell are you doing here?” That was Rossini’s voice.
The door was slightly ajar, and Lila took a peek to see if she could see them.
“I want my money.” Fox’s beady eyes narrowed in anger.
“Haven’t you heard Sapp’s been arrested?”
“Everything is clear now for you to get the insurance money, just like we planned, and I want my share. I need to get out of town.”
“I’m not giving you anything until the police are off my back.”
“You can pay me ten thousand now and pay me the rest later. No one knows what really happened that night and it will stay that way if I get my money. Do you know what I’m talking about, Lou?”
“You sorry—” Lou stopped and then started talking again. “They’re going to arrest you anyway. The forger gave you up, Walter. Money is not going to save you now.”
“It was a stupid idea. I don’t know why I let you talk me into it.”
“You kept selling those fakes and were afraid of getting caught. Finch was on your trail and it was just a matter of time. When you get greedy, bad things happen. Now get out of my office.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you give me the money.” Walter pulled out a small gun from his jacket pocket.
Lila gasped before she knew it. She covered her mouth, but it was too late. Rossini yanked open the door. “Walter, we have company, the lovely Ms. Colton.” He grabbed her arm and almost flung her into the room. Catching Walter off guard, Rossini swiftly took the gun from him.
“What are you doing?”
“Shut up, Walter. The better question is, why is Ms. Colton eavesdropping?”
Lila tried to swallow and then she tried to speak, but fear had a death grip on her throat. She managed to sputter out, “You...set...the fire. You burned down your own building and everything I own for no reason but money. You are scum, Rossini!”
“Shut up.” The gun wavered in Rossini’s hand. “What are you doing in my secretary’s office?”
“She...called me.”
“Why?”
“You told her to.”
“What?”
“To sign a document that stated I took all of my belongings out of the safe. She went to make a copy and I heard you and Mr. Fox talking.” She glanced at Mr. Fox. “How could you take profit from an old man who had such talent? You are more than scum.”
“Ms. Colton, my secretary was supposed to call you this afternoon. Why are you here now? Who sent you? Finch? Richards?”
“I told you it was your secretary...”
“Where’s the paper?”
“Your secretary has it. She went to make a copy.”
“Shut up.” A dark shade of red colored his face. “Get the duct tape out of the bottom drawer of my desk.”
Duct tape? She’d seen all kinds of movies and TV shows where victims were duct-taped and then their bodies were disposed of, dead or alive. Chills popped out on her skin. She would not make this easy. She bolted for the front door. Rossini caught her and tumbled to the area rug in front of his desk. She saw stars for a second.
“Get the tape, Walter.”
She recovered quickly, kicking out with her feet, trying to dislodge Rossini from her back. Her hand hit the gun and it went flying.
“Walter!”
She scooted toward the gun and Rossini put a knee in her back. She screamed in pain just as duct tape went around her wrists and then her ankles. She still didn’t give up. She raised both arms to hit Rossini as Fox slapped duct tape across her mouth. Fear held her motionless and a scream died in her throat. What were they going to do to her?
“Now what?” Mr. Fox asked.
“Open the closet door,” Rossini ordered.
No, no, no! She couldn’t breathe. She would suffocate.
Carter left Heath’s office and called Lila. She didn’t answer and that puzzled him. She had a meeting with the insurance guy and then she would wait for his call. Five minutes later, he called again and still didn’t get a response. Where could she be? The meeting could have lasted longer than she’d expected, but she would still answer her phone.
He tried Savon. “Have you heard from Lila?”
“Earlier this morning.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“She had to meet with the insurance agent, but Rossini’s secretary called and needed her signature.”
“On what?”
“Basically it was a document that said everything that was in the safe is now in her custody.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Is anything wrong?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll call you later.”
He called Richards and told him the story. “You think something’s up?”
“Yes, I do. I’m going over there and I would like backup.”
“I’ll meet you there. Don’t go in without me.”
It didn’t take Carter long to reach Rossini Realty. He drove into a parking spot, and Richards drove in right beside him, followed by a police car. The man had covered his bases. Carter hurried in and Richards and two police officers were behind him. People stared and stretched their necks to see what was going on.
A young girl about eighteen greeted them at the receptionist’s desk. She was on her phone. They walked straight through to the secretary’s office. A woman with brown hair and tortoiseshell glasses got to her feet. “May I help you?”
“We’re looking for Lila Colton,” Richards informed her.
“I haven’t seen her.”
“Are you sure? Are you Rossini’s secretary?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Mona Tibbs.”
“Is Rossini in?”
“No. He was supposed to be, but when I got back from my beauty shop appointment, he wasn’t.”
This was taking too long. Carter stepped closer. “Ms. Colton came here to sign a document. Do you know anything about it?”
“Yes. Mr. Rossini told me to call her later in the afternoon to get her signature. I left the document here on my desk and when I got back it was gone. I just assumed Mr. Rossini took it.”
“Where is Rossini’s office?” Carter asked.
She pointed to the door on the left. Richards opened it and they went inside. They looked around at the lavish office with mahogany furniture, hardwood floors and windows from ceiling to the floor that looked out onto Chicago. “Look at that view,” Richards said.
“Concentrate, Richards. Where’s Lila?”
Richards scratched his head. “She came here to meet with the secretary, but Ms. Tibbs hasn’t seen her. Do you think she’s lying?”
“No. She seemed more confused than lying.”
Richards picked up a gold paperweight from the desk. “Twenty-four-karat gold. Nice gift.” Richards cleared his throat. “If she didn’t meet Ms. Tibbs, who did she meet?”
“Whoever was in the office, and that’s a chilling thought. Rossini was supposed to be here, so I can only conclude that it was Rossini. Now, where did he take her? Let’s check the security cameras. I noticed them on the way in.” Carter hurried back to the secretary. “We’d like to look at the security cameras footage.”
“You’ll need a warrant for that.”
Carter leaned over and said, “If you don’t tell me where the security cameras footage is, I’m going to make sure your name is on the indictment. Ms. Colton told a friend she was going to a meeting with you and that’s the last we’ve heard from her. Where do I find the footage?”
“I’m not involved in this. I’m just Rossini’s secretary.” She ran her hand up her arm in a nervous gesture.
“Do you know what jail is like?” Carter asked.
Her face turned a pearly white. “Down the hall, last door. Tell Steve I sent you.”
“Call him.”
Carter ran down the hall and into the room. A young man got to his feet. “What’s this about?”
They showed him their credentials. “We need to see the footage from nine o’clock this morning.”
“Sure. I guess you talked to Mr. Rossini. He gets very upset if we don’t follow the rules and the rule is you need a warrant.” A smug expression told its own story. He had them.
Just when Carter thought all hope was lost, the door opened and an officer came in with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it to Richards.
He waved the warrant in front of the young man. “Is this what you need, you little piece of crap?”
“I have to follow the rules or I’ll get fired.”
“Sit down and start showing us pictures.”
“Let’s start with the camera that faces Rossini’s office,” Carter said. “That should take less time.
“How did you get that so fast?” Carter whispered to Richards.
“It helps when you’ve been around for twenty years.”
The young man tapped on the keyboard, no smug expression. Carter and Richards stood, one over each shoulder of the guy, and watched as a few people entered the office. Two businessmen who the young man said had offices at Rossini Realty. A janitor and cleaning crew flashed across the screen and then...
“Stop it,” Carter asked. “Back it up.” The young man did as asked and Carter pointed to the screen. “That’s Tanya Wilcox. I’m almost positive, but she’s wearing a blond wig. What the...? Keep going.”
Soon after, Ms. Tibbs came out. A minute or two later, Carter asked him to stop again. Lila was on screen. She opened the door of the office and went in. “That’s it. We don’t have cameras inside the offices. That would violate a person’s privacy.” The film kept rolling.
“Wait. There’s Tanya Wilcox again in the wig, leaving alone.”
After a minute, Carter said, “Stop it.” He looked at Richards. “Did you see him?”
“Yeah. Fox went into the office.”
“Does Mr. Rossini have a private entrance?” he asked the man.
“Of course. He has a private parking space in back and can go straight into his office.”
“So we won’t find him on these tapes?”
The man shook his head. “Not likely.”
“Do security cameras cover the back?”
“Yes.” He sighed.
“Bring them up from about nine this morning.”
“I’m sure to lose my job,” the young man mumbled under his breath.
It didn’t take long for the photos to come up. Rossini and Fox came out of the office, hurried down the stairs and got into Rossini’s car.
“Now, isn’t that something?” Richards said.
“But Lila’s not with them.” A tremor of fear ran through him. “Where is she? She went in, but she didn’t come out. She still has to be in there.”
“I’ll call in more officers and search every inch of this place.” Richards looked at Carter. “Do you have a photo of Ms. Colton?”
“No, but I know somebody who would.” He called Savon and she sent him a photo. She wanted to talk, but he told her he didn’t know anything. He had to get back to searching for Lila and he couldn’t let himself get involved in endless conversations.
He showed the young man the photo from his phone. “Transfer it and keep looking for this woman.”
“Wow. Now I know why you’re anxious to see her. She’s gorgeous.”
“Shut up,” Carter told him with a spark of anger.
“Run off some copies for us,” Richards said.
“I don’t run a photography shop,” the young man replied.
Richards glanced at an officer. “Arrest him for obstruction of justice.”
“Wait, wait. Man, you guys have hair-trigger tempers.”
“No more lip. We don’t have time for it.”
Carter and Richards stepped outside the room. “What’s your take?” Richards asked Carter.
“She’s still in there somewhere. I don’t want to think about her being hurt or anything else, but I can’t be naive. I have to be realistic. She was a thorn in their side and...” He had to take a breath. Thoughts of Lila made his heart ache and his nerves stretch near the breaking point. His feelings for her had happened so suddenly. The moment he saw her standing in the gallery, looking at him with those beautiful green eyes, he was lost. He was supposed to be thinking about the Tinsley paintings, but his concentration was totally on her. If he had been doing his job, he would’ve seized the paintings and kept them until he could prove they were fakes. Instead, he let her keep them for the showing. That should have told him something. Now he might have lost her.
“As soon as the guy gives us the photos, I’ll get officers to start searching. I’m going to shut the building down until we find her. And I’ve got an APB out on Rossini’s car. We should catch them shortly and we’ll learn more about what happened in that office.”
“I’m checking Rossini’s office. We must’ve missed something.”
“Sure. Just hang on, man. We’ll find her.”
That was his fervent prayer.
He went back into the secretary’s office with a fierce determination. “We’re going to go over this again, Ms. Tibbs. Who else came into this office?”
“I don’t know. I get my hair done every week on the same day at the same time and I wasn’t here.”
“Who was?”
“The receptionist is supposed to be here answering phones, but she’s in the bathroom a lot talking to her boyfriend. Mr. Rossini was going to fire her.”
“So she wasn’t here earlier?”
“She was supposed to be, but when I got back, she was gone, and then later she told me she went to lunch early.”
“Did she say anything about what happened while you were gone?”
“No. The less I talk to her the better.”
“Someone else was here, Ms. Tibbs. Who was it?”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“We just looked at the film and another person came into these offices. Do you still want to keep on saying you don’t know?”
She frowned. “You mean Tanya?”
“Yeah, Tanya with the blond hair.”
“She was here in that ridiculous wig.”
Carter moved in closer, anger chewing at his insides. “Ms. Tibbs, when I said another person, that’s exactly what I meant—another human being like Tanya Wilcox. Did I not make myself clear?”
“I just didn’t think she was of any interest.”
“Let me decide that.”
“She wore a god-awful tight dress and ostentatious wig. She said she was going to surprise Mr. Rossini. A minute later, she was back in my office, complaining that he was on the phone and ignored her. She asked what I was doing and I told her I was preparing a document for Ms. Colton to sign later on this afternoon. She said she could do that and I told her no thank you. Mr. Rossini has told me several times not to let her do anything in the office. She wants to work here but he keeps refusing. His wife and his kids come in occasionally and he doesn’t want her here.” She let out a long breath, having used every ounce of breath she had saying what she had to.
“Wait a minute.” He thought about everything she’d said and something stood out. “What time did you go to your beauty shop appointment? And remember I can check it.”
“I left about ten minutes to ten. My beauty shop is just around the corner.”
“Was Tanya still here?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And Mr. Rossini?”
“He was in his office.”
“And Ms. Colton?”
“She was never here while I was.”
“Thanks.” He hurried down the hall to the computer guy. “I need to know something.”
“I don’t work for you, Mr. Finch.”
He calmly picked up the warrant on the desk. “This says you do, and if you don’t comply with what I want, you’ll be spending some time behind bars. Have you ever spent a night in jail?”
That line always worked and didn’t take long to work this time, either.
“All right. All right. What do you want?”
He reached for a pen and paper. “I need to know the time Tanya Wilcox entered the office and the time she left. The same with Ms. Colton, Walter Fox, Ms. Tibbs and Mr. Rossini.” He laid the names in front of the guy.
“You want me to do it now?”
“Like an hour ago.”
“You guys don’t ask for much.”
Carter waited patiently until the guy handed him back the paper. “Thanks,” he said and walked out. He went back into the office and studied the times. Everyone who entered the office from nine o’clock that morning until almost eleven had come out. Lila was the only one who hadn’t. What stood out the most was that Lila and Tanya were in there together alone for at least fifteen minutes. What was Tanya’s part in this?
“They caught Rossini and Fox, both at the airport,” Richards announced as he entered the room. “They’re being transported to the jail. We should be able to interview them in about an hour. Rossini had a gun on him and... It had been fired.”
What?
“Now, man, don’t freak out. We’ll get the whole story soon enough.”
Soon enough.
He clenched both hands into fists and wanted to lash out, wanted to hurt somebody. Lila didn’t deserve this. He sucked air into his tight chest and tried to breathe without feeling the pain.