Deadly Interest (16 page)

* * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, the hub began to
populate as the support staff wandered in, one at a time. Jordan
caught me on my way back from refilling my water at the dispenser.
Still wearing her red wool coat, sprinkled with white snow on the
shoulders, she blocked my path, one hand perched on her cocked
hip.

“
And what are you doing
here?”

“
Don’t you
start.”

“
Don’t you be telling me
what to start and what not to start. I know why you’re in
today.”

“
Oh you do?”

“
Uh-huh,” she said,
pulling her coat off. I couldn’t mistake the concern in her brown
eyes as she checked me out from head to toe. “How you
feeling?”

“
Not bad,” I said. And it
was the truth. Moving felt good. It was only after sitting for a
long time that my abs stiffened up again and caused me pain when I
got up again.

I followed her to the closet.

She shook her head when I told her about
Diana, still in intensive care. Jordan’s super short hair barely
registered the movement, and I wished I could carry off that
carefree look with the snazzy she did. “You were lucky, girl. Damn
lucky.”

I made a face. That was a mistake. I winced
again.

“
I know what you’re
thinking,” she said. “You get that thought out of your head. You
just ought to be grateful that the only thing you’re missing is a
trip to Frisco. You could be missing a whole lot more.”

“
You’re right,” I said,
humoring her.

Her voice shot up an octave and she wiggled
her head at me. “I know I’m right. I’m always right.” She grinned,
and as we walked back to my office she added, “So when Bass tells
you about the phone call from David Dewars, and he asks you to
investigate this lady’s murder, you’re going to tell him no.”

She sat down at her desk, leaving me to lean
against the side of her cubicle. “Hang on a minute,” I said. “What
phone call?”

Jordan’s face communicated her delight at
having a delicious secret to impart. “Yesterday while you were out,
your flower-buddy Mr. Dewars called Bass.”

“
About what?”

Raising her hand, she twisted her index
finger in a side-to-side motion indicating for me to hold all
questions till she was done.

“
Frances took the call, of
course,” she began, her eyes lighting up in the telling. “But Bass
was in talking with Hank, so she asks if she could take a message.
I told her about those flowers you got the other day, so when she
heard the name Dewars she wondered what was up with
that.”

I could see it. Frances was a stately woman,
almost two decades older than me, with spiky maroon hair. She
carried herself with a sense of self-possession that I hoped some
day to acquire. She was tough, she was nosy. And if she wanted to
know what was up, she’d find out.

“
And?”

“
And,” she continued,
“Dewars wants to meet with Bass to discuss the station’s
involvement in the murder investigation. He said that he’d be
willing to be real cooperative with us if we portray his bank in a,
quote, ‘favorable light’ unquote.”

Shutting my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my
nose. In a ridiculous way, this made sense. David’s information
about Mrs. Vicks’ investments would become part of the
investigation, and when it hit the news, Banner Bank would, no
doubt, be mentioned. As owner of the bank, David had to be worried
about the negative publicity associated with murder. I nodded. “The
big bank that cares about you,” I said, quoting their slogan.

“
Yep.”

I pushed myself away from the wall of her
cubicle, and headed into my office. “Let me know if you hear
anything else, okay?”

“
You got it.”

* * * * *

I opened up a new document on my computer
and labeled it “Vicks Investigation.” In it I started to record
everything from the moment Mrs. Vicks came to my garage asking for
help. I hadn’t gotten very far when I noticed William walking by,
on the way to his office. A glance at the clock on my computer told
me it was just after nine. A bit late for him.

I decided to give him a few minutes to get
settled before I went over there to talk. I’d pushed myself to get
into work today just to have a chance to connect before he took off
for the trip to San Francisco, but now I had second thoughts. The
bruised state of my face made me reconsider the wisdom of my
decision. He’d seen me at my worst before, but still. I pulled out
my compact mirror and lowered my head down to desktop height to
examine my face more closely.

Still trying to decide whether I was
presentable or not, I heard a knock at my door. I sat up fast.
William stood there, waiting to be invited in. I tried to mask my
surprise.

“
Hey,” I said.

“
Hey yourself.” He moved
toward my desk, a big smile on his face. “Got a few
minutes?”

“
Sure.”

He sat across from me. “Good to see you up
and about. I was hoping you’d make it in today.”

“
You were?” The words
popped out, complete with their blatantly hopeful tone, before I
could catch myself.

He nodded, and what I could only describe as
a fond look came over his face. “I wanted to see you before I left.
Make sure you’re really okay.”

“
I got this.” I pointed to
the bruising over my right temple.

He made a so-so motion with his right hand.
“Not too bad. You’re feeling all right?”

“
Little bit sore. But
yeah, okay.” I nodded an end to that line of conversation. I found
I was quickly becoming tired of discussing my well-being with
everyone. “What about you? You all ready to take off
tomorrow?”

“
Just about. As a matter
of fact, I’m heading down to the studio now to go through some of
our tapes that we’re taking with us.” He shook his head. “I wish we
would’ve had more time to prepare. This is going to take all
day.”

“
Will you have time for
lunch?” I asked. “I thought we might get a chance to talk before
you leave.”

He shook his head, then glanced out the big
picture window that looked north over the Chicago River. Big white
flakes of snow drifted downward, angling right to left, to drop on
the pavement below. “I doubt it. As soon as we get this project
complete, I need to get home. I still haven’t packed.”

“
Oh,” I said,
disappointed.

Almost as though he hadn’t heard me, he
added, “As long as our flight isn’t cancelled.”

“
They’re predicting six
inches.”

Disappointment clouded his face. “Yeah. We
have to hope it holds off.”

He’d said, ‘we.’ Jumping on that I prompted:
“Caroline’s got to be happy about this.”

I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination or
if his face flushed momentarily. “Yeah, she lived out there for a
while. She promised to show me some sights.”

“
Great,” I said, with
forced enthusiasm.

“
Not that we’ll have a lot
of time,” he said quickly. “I think they’re going to keep us busy
all day at this seminar, and at the sister station
event.”

“
I wish I was
going.”

“
Eh,” he said, with
affected disinterest as he boosted himself from the chair. “I’m
sure it’ll be a bunch of boring speakers and dull
dinners.”

Maybe my brain was still affected from being
bashed in the head, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “So I
guess I won’t talk with you till Monday, huh?”

His dimples deepened to match the smile in
his eyes. “I’ll call you while I’m out there,” he said. “In a way,
it’ll be like you’re part of it, too.”

“
Sounds good,” I
said.

Before his movement had a chance to
register, he came around the side of my desk. “You going to miss
me?” he asked.

“
I will,” I
said.

“
Good.” Cupping my chin,
he leaned down and touched his lips to mine in a quiet little kiss.
Breaking away, he winked. “See you soon.”

I watched him head out my office door and
for the first time since I knew he was going away with Caroline I
felt my mood lighten.

* * * * *

Taking a break from my first pass at the
chronology of events, I leaned back in my chair, watching a
blustery Chicago from my second floor perch. A little snow had
begun to accumulate in the corners, giving my view a Christmassy
feel. Too late, I thought. I needed spring, and I needed it in a
hurry. The unending chill served to make my soreness increase, and
for the first time I understood what older folks meant when they
said that the cold had settled in their bones.

Frances showed up in my doorway. With a look
that spoke of amusement, she pursed her lips and wiggled her
eyebrows. Most fifty-something women wouldn’t be able to carry off
her trend-setter style, but Frances did.

“
Bass needs you in his
office right now.”

I shot her a skeptical look. “What’s so
funny?”

Bright red grin. “He’s not alone. Your
faithful admirer is in there with him.”

“
David Dewars?”

Bigger grin. “They’re waiting for you.”

On the short trek to Bass’ office I caught
sight of William, shrugging into his charcoal gray wool coat,
headed for the exit. He paused long enough to fix the coat’s collar
that had flipped inward on itself. I bit my lip, hoping he’d glance
back.

“
C’mon,” I said to myself.
“Turn around.” Like a silly teenager, I made one of those “if he
likes me” deals. “Turn around,” I whispered.

Just before pushing through the glass doors,
he stopped.

I waited.

His hands patted the outside of his coat up
near the chest and down around his hips, searching. In what felt
like slow-motion, he reached into his left breast pocket, and
pulled out a thick envelope that looked to be his plane tickets and
itinerary. Thus reassured, he shoved the glass doors open with his
shoulder, and walked away.

Bass poked his head out of his office—looked
at me—then at William’s departing figure. He shook his head and
grinned. “Back to business, kid.”

I shot him a lips-only smile.

David stood as I entered, his face breaking
into a long, slow smile of appreciation. “Alex,” he said, his voice
booming.

“
Mr. Dewars.”

His eyes widened behind the round lenses of
his glasses. “Oh please, call me David. But I’m surprised to see
you back to work so soon. How are you? Really?”

I waved my hand in dismissal and lowered
myself into one of the seats in front of Bass’ desk since it
appeared that David wasn’t going to sit until I did. “I’m
fine.”

He squinted as he watched my ginger
movements. “You received my note?”

Classy move, I thought. He didn’t mention
the flowers. “Yes, they were lovely,” I said, enjoying the confused
look on Bass’ face. “I mailed you a return message, thanking you,
this morning.”

As he sat to my left, he pulled his chair
close enough to mine that our knees nearly touched. “No need for
thanks,” he said. “As long as you suffered no long-term effects.”
Clearing his throat, he continued. “As a matter of fact your little
escapade is part of the reason I’m here today.”

I shot a quizzical look at Bass, but got
nothing. He sat in rapt attention, waiting for the other man to
continue.

Adopting a serious, businesslike demeanor,
David launched into a smooth monologue.

“
Evelyn Vicks, God rest
her soul,” he began, “was one of our own. She’d been an institution
at Banner Bank, having started working there back in the late
seventies. When I took over about five years ago, I pledged to
protect the employees. When I promised that, I’d intended it to
mean that their jobs were safe. Today, I mean it in an entirely
different way.”

Sturdy words, I thought.

“
But.” He stared upward,
at the ceiling, and his eyes squinted for half-a-second. “I need to
protect the bank now, too. Our reputation is on the line. I don’t
want our good name sullied because some prodigal son decided to
make an early withdrawal on his inheritance.”

Just because Mrs. Vicks worked for Banner
Bank didn’t mean that anyone was about to blame them. I thought he
was reaching, overestimating the bad publicity. Not only that, but
at this point, all we had on Barton was conjecture. I said as
much.

“
I know, Alex,” he said,
his gaze returning to encompass both me and Bass. “You’re right.
But I didn’t get to be owner and chairman of Banner by letting
things go. I follow my hunches. Some are stronger than others. This
time I know. I know deep in my bones that Barton did this. And I
mean to collect all the evidence I can to bring the bastard to
justice.” He glanced at me, worried. “Sorry for my
language.”

I waved away his apology. I’d used those
words myself.

“
I also want to be sure
that Banner Bank is, shall we say, protected in all feature stories
about the murder.” He gave me a meaningful look. “I know you’ll be
fair—I can sense that about you.”

He waited for my cursory thanks. I simply
nodded.

With a nod himself, he went on. “I’m willing
to put my bank’s resources in your capable hands. I have it on good
authority—” He glanced at Bass. “. . . that you will be
investigating the murder.”

No sense it beating about the bush. “I plan
to look into it,” I began. I held up a hand when he looked about to
interrupt. “I don’t pretend to be a criminal investigator. And
anything I find will have to be shared with the police.”