Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sarah was surprised to see lights on in Harlan’s office. Normally, he avoided work like the plague on Sundays, but maybe, like his Saturday appointment with Mr. Rogers, he was also making up for getting behind this past week.
As she reached the top of the stairwell, the screen door opened, almost knocking her down. Jacob, still talking to someone in the office, stood in the doorway with one hand on the inner doorknob and the other on the storm door’s handle. Other than a small white bandage near his hairline, Sarah couldn’t help but note that his appearance was back to near perfection.
“Hey,” she said.
“Um, hey, yourself. What are you doing here?” Jacob closed the door behind him. He stood blocking the door as they talked.
“This is where my real day job is. And you?”
He pointed over his shoulder. “With me working every day, Harlan was nice enough to come in today to give me some advice.”
“Oh, is everything all right? How is your head?”
“I’m fine and yeah, it was just a matter of something I’ve been thinking of doing. Harlan’s got a good grasp of investment possibilities and their legal ramifications.” He jumped down the stairs two at a time. “I better get back to the Civic Center. There’s a lot to do before the contest.”
“Are you competing, too?”
“No, but I need to be around in case Jane or Emily need help prepping. Plus, I promised Chef Marcus I’d make sure the exhibitors’ refreshment tables stay stocked.” He gave her a quick salute with two fingers to his bandaged forehead and then took off whistling.
Sarah watched him go. For a second, an unformed thought floated through her mind, but it was gone before she caught it.
She opened the screen door. The wooden door was locked. She unlocked it and pushed it open. “Harlan.” She stepped over the threshold.
No answer.
“Harlan?” The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She slipped her hand into her purse and felt for her cell phone. After the past few days, one part of her brain commanded her to “leave and call Peter,” but then she thought about the possibility of Harlan lying in his office injured, or worse. She tiptoed to the doorway of his office. From there, she could see pads and files on his desk, but his chair was empty. She inched forward to check the floor behind his desk. “Harlan?”
“Yes?”
Sarah jumped a mile as his voice came from behind her. She turned to see him drying his hands with a paper towel. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She dropped her purse onto Harlan’s couch and followed it with her body. “I called your name a few times and when you didn’t answer, I was afraid something had happened to you.”
“I took something to my car and went to wash my hands. I must not have heard you over the water running. What are you doing here today? I thought you’d be helping your sister at the Civic Center.”
“The contestants aren’t allowed to have anyone help them. I thought I’d surprise you by typing the response brief before tomorrow. I know you hate things to be last minute. What are you doing here?”
“Same thing. There were so many interruptions this week, I came in this morning to take care of a few things.”
“I ran into Jacob on my way in.”
“Oh, yes. He stopped by for a few minutes.”
She waited, hoping Harlan would volunteer the reason for Jacob’s Sunday visit. There were lots of possible investments in Wheaton and Birmingham. She was curious what he was considering and if it had anything to do with Southwind.
“I was just getting ready to leave.” Harlan walked around his desk, threw the paper towel into his trash can, and picked up his aviator sunglasses from where they lay on the edge of the desk. “Now that I scared you, are you staying or going?”
“Staying.”
His sunglasses perched on the top of his head, Harlan swept a few papers into his briefcase and clipped it shut. “I’ll take care of the back door. Make sure you lock the front.”
“I will.” One time. One time she’d forgotten to make sure the door was locked and Harlan never let her forget it. She scooped up the contents of his “out” basket and took them back to her to-be-filed pile and the folder hidden in her desk.
The minute she heard Harlan walk out the back door, Sarah hurried to lock the front door. Once she felt secure in the quiet office, she quickly typed the brief and distractedly began her filing. Other than glancing at the headings on each of the memos and files in her stack to make sure she associated things correctly, her task was mindless. Sarah was surprised at how fast her to-be-filed stash began to diminish.
Seeing how much neater her desk could look without the paper clutter, she wondered why she always put off filing. She promised herself she would try to keep things current in the future, even if it meant coming in here and there for an hour on the weekend when there were no interruptions.
She still couldn’t believe Harlan had given up part of his weekend for Jacob. As good-natured as Harlan was, in all the months she’d worked for him, he’d never met anyone on a Sunday unless there was a significant fee involved. Jacob might have a case with a contingency fee, but he couldn’t have much disposable income. He was only a line cook so he had to make less than Emily and Emily didn’t make much.
Sarah chided herself for accusing Harlan of measuring things in terms of money. After all, he certainly hadn’t made a penny for the work he’d done for the twins during the past few days. Moreover, he’d taken a hit in his pocket when he created a job for her when no one else was willing to hire her. Harlan might be small of stature, but he was a big man.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was Harlan probably met with Jacob during Jacob’s few off hours because he was doing a good deed. Considering all the terrible things that had happened to the Southwind gang since Bill’s murder, it was time something nice happened to a member of the staff.
Remembering how Jacob had been her biggest booster during the exhibition, even though Grace or he could have handled the presentation, it dawned on Sarah exactly what Jacob had said that was bothering her. He’d told her he needed to get back “in case Jane or Emily want some help prepping.” Surely, if Emily knew the rules prohibited a contestant from having any help at any stage of today’s competition, Jacob was familiar with them, too. Was he covering up something from his visit or did he plan to help someone so that it ultimately resulted in that person’s disqualification?
Could that be what he wanted? He’d seemed okay with Emily being named Southwind’s sous chef and had been Sarah’s rock during her demonstration. It was obvious Chef Marcus depended upon him. No, Jacob had a bright future if Southwind survived. What more could he gain by having Jane or Emily knocked out of the competition?
Maybe he wanted to mess with Jane. Sarah could certainly understand that inclination, considering how mean and selfish she was. Or was he after a non-Southwind competitor? Maybe the fried green tomato maker? Wait a minute. Jacob said he talked to Harlan about investment advice. What money could Jacob possibly have to invest? That had to have been a lie. But why?
Sarah toyed with the different possibilities as she randomly filed the notes Harlan had made in various cases, but nothing came to mind. She squinted at the sheet in her hand, trying to read Harlan’s miniature handwriting to determine which case the memo went with. He might not have the best handwriting, she decided, but no one would ever be able to accuse him of not keeping meticulous notes.
That was how she could find out why Jacob had been here. Look at Harlan’s notes. She dropped the sheet of paper back on her to-be-filed stack. There was no way Harlan wouldn’t have made a detailed note of his conversation with Jacob. Where was it?
Everything from his “out” basket had been on the top of her pile and she’d already handled and filed those sheets. If the notes were in his “out” basket, she should have seen them. The thought that curiosity killed the cat went through her mind, but she banished it quickly as her eyes rested on the closed door to his office. It was a no-brainer that unless Harlan took his notes about Jacob home with him, they were still some place in his office.