Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (27 page)

Louisa was in her office when I walked past
,
so I made a point of stepping in and saying hello. "Sylvia said there were a couple more cancellations. Anything I can do to help?"

"Not my department," said Louisa. "But I would guess not."

"She seems stressed."

"Everyone is. Work isn't exactly harmonious right now."

I made a calculated guess. "I thought maybe it was the divorce."

"Divorce?" Louisa looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, no, Sylvia wasn't married."

I must have looked surprised
,
because Louisa carried on. "No, she was engaged to Chef Fabien. They were going to get married next summer
,
but suddenly, a month ago, it was all over."

"It must be hard for them to work together."

"That's why I'm here
,” Louisa said brightly
. S
he clicked a couple of keys on her keyboard and looked up, resting her arms on the desk
.
“
To keep things smooth. Speaking of which, how's the job? Has Edward apologized yet?"

"No, but it's nothing. Really."

"If he shouts at you again, you come tell me. I don't want any of my employees scared of the boss." Louisa smiled warmly and I thanked her
before retreating
to my office, shutting the door behind me.

My list of suspects had increased considerably. I wondered if Sylvia could be mad enough at Chef Fabien to damage his kitchen, where most of the physical damage had
occurred
, thus enabling her to step in and save the day. I wondered if Chef Fabien could have sabotaged the bookings to
retaliate
.
Maybe one suspected the other and that was why the engagement was off. I also added Greg Conlan
to the list.
Being
worried about supporting his wife and a new baby,
might
be incentive enough to cause problems for the hotel, and Edward, in revenge?

I tried to think about it logically. Chef Fabien was a tall
,
imposing man and he wore a distinctive chef uniform. The kitchens he could
easily
damage, but when I tried to imagine him
moving
about the hotel unseen, I just couldn't
see
it.

Sylvia could probably go everywhere without being
suspected
.
S
he always seemed to have a legitimate reason to be wherever she was
,
and it made sense for her to move between the restaurants, convention center and kitchens
.
Greg Conlan
,
I wasn't
so
sure about
,
so he went to the top of my list
of people
to investigate next.

A commotion next door made me look up sharply and I ducked my head out of the office, hearing Louisa and Sylvia speaking in agitated voices.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, hesitating in the doorway. Normally
,
I wouldn't stick my nose in. Temping generally required me to stay out of any office politics and arguments
,
but I was being paid to be nosy.

Louisa threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, but Sylvia turned to me
with
a weary look. “
I just had to send one of the event guys home for picking a fight with the organizer
,
and one of my other guys didn't show up this morning. Now
,
I get a message that the models I booked aren't coming in."

"Models?"

"We hired some models from a local agency. They were supposed to wander around wearing Pony gear
, looking
cute and hand
ing
out drinks." We all rolled our eyes simultaneously. "Anyway, that's out and Brian is spitting feathers."

"I might be able to find you someone," I said.

She stood a little straighter and blinked.
"Really?"

"Sure. Not models, but I know plenty of cute women."

"Could you make some calls? It's a hundred dollars for the
afternoon. It isn't much
,
but it i
s cash and I'm desperate."

"I'll make some calls."

"Thank you so much, Lexi."

I
ducked back into my office and
called Lily
. I
told her to ask Ruby if she wanted to make some quick cash
too
. A few minutes later, Lily called back and said they were in.
When I returned to the corridor
with
the good news,
Sylvia was so pleased
,
she actually hugged me
,
but I tried not to let it cloud my head
. After all,
she was still high on my suspects list.

"I'm going to be out for lunch
,
but I'll be back in time to introduce you to my friends," I told her. "Shall I call you when they get here?"

"I adore her," Sylvia said, turning to Louisa.
“Wherever did you find her?”

"She's certainly a wonder," agreed Louisa
, ushering
both of
us out of her office,
and
slamming the door behind us.

Dead on noon
.
I had a sandwich from the staff kitchen in my purse
,
along with a fat slice of chocolate brownie
,
and was
driving
to Serena's house. Getting there and back
while
having
enough
time to talk
during
my lunch hour was going to be tight, but I didn't want to sit on the information I had. I promised my sister that I would find out everything I could about Ted and his double life
. T
he fat file now weighed heav
il
y in my purse.

Ruby
was
good to her word and emailed me the sound recording of her fake impromptu meeting with Ted. I listened to it after Maddox left for work and
found
it thoroughly unpleasant. Talking to Ted was always a challenge, but listening to him slime onto Ruby made my stomach churn. I'd put the recording onto a memory stick, along with digital copies of the photographs I'd taken
,
and the grainy video of the coffee shop meeting.
I
also i
ncluded a profile of Donna Keegan
.

I hated
the idea
that I was going to hand this file to Serena
. T
he whole drive there, I wanted to turn around and hide
, pretending
that I knew nothing. Except, wouldn't that be worse? Serena knew her husband was a cheat
,
and had the right to all the information
,
so she could decide what to do next, whether
to
stay with him or get a divorce. Either way
, the decision wouldn't be easy for her.

Suddenly,
I saw Donna Keegan's
Cruiser
parked on the side of the road. Making a quick turn
into a side round,
I
did a one-eighty and
pulled out again, parking
across the street, my palms feeling suddenly clammy
, as I double
-
checked her plate
.
Definitely hers.

Donna could be at lunch, I told myself,
or
maybe she was meeting a girlfriend. Except, this was kind of a
distance
from her office and it would
have
be
en
more convenient to meet in one of the sandwich bars nearby. What if she w
ere
meeting Ted? What if they were taking their lunch break to enjoy a little one-on-one? My stomach
heaved
and I thought nasty thoughts. I looked around for Ted's Mercedes
,
but didn't spot it. Somehow
,
I didn't think Ted would risk taking a ride in her car. As I scanned the area
,
I saw Donna exit a bookshop, walk down the street and into
Emmet’s
Bar. I saw a board outside the building
,
advertising the lunch menu
,
and a quick scan inside told me the bar wasn't
exactly overflowing
with people.

I waited until Donna took a seat at the bar before I realized this was the perfect opportunity to speak to her.
Alone.
During last night’s honeytrap
,
I’d forgotten something crucial
,
but Ruby’s recording reminded me.
I reached into my purse and pulled out the wire Solomon had given me, sliding down in my seat so I could hook it up under my shirt. When I slid upright again, the wire
neatly
concealed and
switched
on, I saw she was still alone
,
but for the barman who nodded as she spoke and turned to get her drink.

Taking a deep breath,
and giving myself the now
-
or
-
never talk,
I grabbed my purse and walked over. There were a couple of bar stools free, but I took the one next to Donna, smiling at her as she looked up.

"Hey," I said. "Do you have the time?"

She looked at the small
,
gold watch on her wrist. "It's
ten after twelve
," she said.

I picked up a mat and fanned myself. "Thanks. I thought I was going to be late. I'm meeting my boyfriend. You know how they get when you're late. That whole 'women are always late' thing!" I rolled my eyes and Donna smiled.

"Tell me about it," she said. "My boyfriend is a stickler for time."

"Mine too. I get it, ya know
,” I said, leaning in like we were old friends
.
“
He doesn't have all that much time left."

Donna's eyes widened. "He's dying?" she said, her voice almost a whisper.

"Oh, gosh, no! It's just, well," I leaned in
further and dropped my voice
. "Don't judge me
,
okay
?
A
nd I'm only telling you because I'll never see you again, but he's, well..." I mouthed the last word, "
m
arried."

"Really?"
Donna gasped, her voice as low as mine.

"Yeah. Like, don't judge me, 'kay? I mean, we couldn't help ourselves. Love, right?"

"I won't judge," said Donna, her attention tota
lly on me now. She was pretty—I’d give her that—and
not as young as I first thought
. S
he was clearly in a chatty mood. "Actually, I'm kind of
in the same position right now,
"
she confided.

"You are?"

Donna nodded. "I'm in love with a married man too."

"It's hard, isn't it?" I shook my head and
signaled
to the bar man. "I'm Alex," I said, a
s I
ordered a white wine to match Donna's. "Can I get you one?"

"Oh, no. I just got this." Donna pointed to her full glass
,
then held out her hand. "Donna," she told me.

We shook hands and I made a show of cooing over her ring.

"It's a present from my boyfriend," she said
, clearly delighted
at my admiration
. "He's so good at getting gifts. I know it's because he feels guilty that he can't be with me all the time. Because of
her
."

I felt my fist
s
clench and I forced my fingers flat, smoothing an imaginary rumple from my skirt. I'm not a violent person, particularly, but I had a brief flash of grabbing her hair and smacking her face against the walnut bar. Instead, I said, "Mine too. He bought me this." I held up my bag, purchased entirely honestly
,
by yours truly. "We were supposed to go away for the weekend and he couldn't." I shrugged. "You know how it is."

"Her?" said Donna, and I nodded in agreement as if we were the wrong
ed
ones. "My Teddy took me on a fabulous weekend to New York this summer."

My Teddy?
Bleurgh! Also, that made my sister several months pregnant. Double gross.

"Fabulous! He ever take you anywhere else?" I sipped my wine.