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When her dad slammed the screen door, Kate jerked around, setting the glider in motion. She slid her feet down and planted them firmly on the porch, sloshing her coffee on her robe.
“A little tense this morning, are we?” Roger asked.
She frowned and scooted over so he could join her.
He put his cup on the railing and made himself comfortable on the now stable bench. “How long have you been out here?”
“A while. I couldn’t sleep.”
“This has something to do with Detective Collingwood going to Harrison, Arkansas, at the last minute, cancelling your dinner plans, and spoiling your evening.”
“I need to talk to him about our case.”
“Our case?”
“Okay, his case. But I have important information for him.”
“Let me try to catch up,” Roger said, reaching for his coffee. “The plan was to turn over everything to Tom. You promised to sit back and wait for him to finish his job, at which time, you’d be given an exclusive to the outcome.”
“Yes, that’s true. But I had to modify the plan.”
“Ah. Do you want to put me out of my misery or shall I try to guess what you did during the plan modification activity?”
“For a parent who is usually supportive, you can be extremely sarcastic at times.”
“Don’t forget I shared those genes with you.”
“I went to Etta’s yesterday. You could say I started having my doubts about her forth-rightness.” Kate moved to the railing so she could check her dad’s reaction. His furrowed brow said as much as his lack of comment.
“Anyway, I was trying to clarify some things, I wasn’t investigating anything.”
“Clearing up your confusion, so to speak.”
“Exactly. My confusion about the partnership and Lex and what Etta knew. When we’d discussed Lex leaving the business before, she had said he wanted to open his own store. When I asked why he left Branson, she repeated what Bryan told her.”
“What is confusing about that?” Roger asked, his tone approaching defensive.
“Jack, Etta, and Lex had been friends for a long time. They had been in business together, one way or another, for years. All of this Etta told me during our interviews. She had to know more about Lex’s motives.”
“I guess I’m not seeing why this matters.”
“I wanted to see her reaction to the questions so I pressed a little bit. She was in the process of throwing me out when Bryan Porter showed up. It doesn’t matter why. But based on their conversation and what he said to me later, I’m convinced Etta knew Jack fired Lex, apparently for something unforgivable.”
Roger came off the glider and walked to the screen door.
Kate said, “Don’t you want to know the rest?”
He opened the door, then let it slam shut as he took a couple steps toward his daughter. “Katie, I can see you’re trying to put all the pieces together. That’s in your nature. But I’m not sure you have all the facts. What you see as suspicious behavior can be explained. Etta’s in her eighties. She has one friend she trusts and protects,” Roger said, holding up his index finger to emphasize his point, and then added, “Jack Brighton.”
As her father turned and retreated through the screen door, Kate weighed his words but her doubts about Etta’s honesty remained.
***
CASSIE HANDED KATE her messages, none of which were from Tom. The reporter walked past the counter and was surprised to see Ellen at the reception desk filling out some paperwork.
“I didn’t know interns could have interns,” Kate said, smiling at Cassie.
The young girl laughed nervously.
Ellen said, “I’m filling out a job application, Miss Starling.”
“You lost your job? I’m sorry,” Kate said, making a mental note. No inside contact at Fortune Enterprises.
“I didn’t lose my job, at least I don’t think I did. But I may be quitting. Sometimes it can be a little stressful.”
Kate stared at the young woman for a moment wondering how a job where you did virtually nothing all day could be stressful. “Good luck with your job search, Ellen,” she said heading toward her cubicle.
Cassie said, “Kate, do you have a minute? You may be interested in the strange activity at Ellen’s office today.”
“It’s no big deal,” Ellen said. “Not a lot different than other days.”
“I’m not following you,” Kate said, her impatience building.
“Well, the arguing and yelling are not new. But this is the first time I’ve been told to connect the phone to the answering service and leave immediately. Even Mr. Brighton’s assistant went home early.”
“No one’s in the suite?” Kate said.
“Just Jack and Randy Brighton and that lawyer who visits all the time,” Ellen said.
“Keith Hawthorne,” Kate whispered, her mind racing.
Ellen nodded and handed Cassie the application. “I told you it was no big deal. Probably needed to discuss something without interruptions.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Kate said, forming a plan in her mind.
***
KATE TIPTOED UP THE stairs. The hallway light seemed dimmer, like it was in “night mode.” She eyed the plaque on the entrance and took a deep breath. Not expecting the door to be unlocked, she was grateful, if a bit stunned, when it opened. A single spotlight above Ellen’s desk illumined the empty reception area. She tapped lightly on the door to Allen’s suite and opened it slowly. No lights at all in the area normally occupied by his secretary. A nightlight glowed close to the floor in the short hall leading to his office. She knocked and waited, then peeked inside.
Empty and dark.
Kate returned to the reception area, crossed through the conference room, and paused in the anteroom normally occupied by the company’s executive assistant. The hallways leading to Jack’s office straight ahead and Randy’s office to the right were also illumined close to the floor. Voices were coming from the younger Brighton’s office. She moved closer to the door but stayed in the shadows of the short hallway.
“Everything ... everything ... will come out,” Randy said, his tone now louder and more dramatic, but she couldn’t distinguish the response. She moved again, straining to hear the conversation. Without warning the lights in the executive assistant’s area came on, reaching a foot or so into the hallway. She held her breath and slipped into the darkness.