Insufferable Proximity 2 (42 page)

“You still haven’t given that to Mr. King?” Gloria asked.

“I…um…I prefer if you tell Ian King,” Adele said as she handed the file to Gloria.

“Why me?”

“Because she’s too chicken shit; she’s afraid Juliette will find out and tell Lila,” Reese teased.

“I am not afraid of Lila,” Adele cried before she turned back to Gloria. “You have a
special
relationship with Ian King. He would never tell on you.”

“We do not have a
special
relationship.”

“Then why did we see the two of you kissing at the engagement party?” Reese asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gloria turned her head, avoiding eye contact.

“Anyway,” Adele rolled her eyes, “it’s better if you give it to him.”

“Fine, I will.” Gloria snatched the folder and headed towards the cafeteria. Lunch was over, but she knew Ian was just getting to the cafeteria. He tended to avoid the lunch crowd and always took his lunch when everyone was finished.

“Hi, Ian.”

“Miss Gray.” He was stone-faced as she neared him.

“Stop being so formal; no one is in here but us,” she whispered as she stood very close to him.

“All right, Gloria,” he replied curtly as he took a small step back.

“Don’t worry; I’m not here to molest you again,” she grinned seductively as she handed him the envelope, “that is unless you ask me to.”

“What is this?” he asked as he took it from her.

“It’s a house that was recently purchased. It could be nothing, but it’s too suspicious for us to ignore.”

“I know this area. Why the hell would anyone want to buy property there?” Ian asked in disgust as he looked at the dilapidated house.

“That’s what we couldn’t understand. What makes this so strange is that Lila Strain bought this property.”

“You’re kidding me. What would Lila want with this place?”

“Who knows; she’s been acting very strangely. She also has a cheap, untraceable cell phone. She hasn’t shown up for work, and when she is here, she’s different.”

“How?”

“She acts as if someone is watching her, like she’s paranoid. A couple of the secretaries thought she was having an affair; some thought she was on drugs.” 

“How long has this been going on?”

“Since Ms. Deville disappeared. Something is going on. Maybe it’s not connected to anything, but then again, what if it is? Like I said, it’s too suspicious to be ignored. Also, her recent client has been calling non-stop, but this morning he threatened to fire her and get a new lawyer. Her secretary tried calling her house, but her husband said he had no idea where she was. He said he was just getting home from a business trip and would have her call when he contacted her.”

Ian was so consumed with Sevigne’s abduction, he hadn’t been paying attention to the other employees. He’d neglected to notice Lila’s absence, and wondered if his father had noticed.

“I’ll look into this personally,” Ian said as he turned to leave. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to Gloria. He bent his head and quickly kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Gloria.”

She smiled. “You’re most welcome, Ian.”

They walked away, oblivious to Juliette. She’d been hiding in the shadows listening to their conversation. If Lila were involved, that meant that Ronnie may have been involved too. She needed to get to the bottom of this.

***

Ian walked quickly to his father’s office.

“Where can I find Julian?” he barked louder than he intended.

“He’s driving around with your cousins searching for Sevigne.”

Ian shook his head. “He’s not answering his phone.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It may be nothing, but it’s a little too suspicious to be ignored,” he explained as he dropped the file on his father’s desk. “Something is going on with Lila Strain. Take a look at this.”

***

Juliette called Ronnie and asked him to meet her at the café by the office before work the next morning. It was a public place, and close enough to the firm for her to make a run for it—if need be. If Ronnie were involved, he might not appreciate her line of questions.

Although, in her heart, she didn’t believe he was involved. He seemed incapable of malice—he was just too polite. She had decided that if he were guilty, she would turn him in. However, if he were innocent, she would support him.

“Have you thought more about what I asked you?” Ronnie smiled as he slid his chair closer to her.

“I like you, Ronnie; I think you’re really nice. But, before I can even think about a relationship, I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Okay.”

“Weren’t you the one working the day the video of Mr. King and Ms. Deville was aired in the cafeteria?”

He began to fidget. “Yes.”

“How was Gavin able to get in? You were on rounds, but I thought you checked the footage after. You definitely don’t seem like the type of man to make mistakes.”

“I forgot.” He was becoming increasingly nervous.

“You forgot? You seem so organized and competent,” she said with disappointment.

“I want to tell you something I’ve never told anyone before, but I need you to promise never to tell,” Ronnie said nervously.

“I won’t.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise. I like you way too much to see you get into trouble.” She spoke with enough honesty to convince Ronnie to tell her.

“I didn’t forget to check the tapes, and I wasn’t patrolling the floors. I was in the bathroom having sex with Lila when Gavin did that. We started making out in the security room, and it went from there. I guess Lila got scared that someone would see it and erased it before I knew what she was doing.”

“Are you serious? She erased the evidence?”

“Yes. She said she just erased the footage for that room, but she accidentally erased all the footage from each camera on the floor.”

“Just our floor?” Juliette asked suspiciously.

“Yes.”

“Wow, what a targeted mistake.”

“You think?”

“I know. Lila doesn’t make mistakes.” She got up to leave.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“Back to the office; I need to check something.”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell.”

“And I told you, I like you way too much to get you into trouble. Your secret is safe with me. I’ll call you tonight, and we can talk more about our new relationship.” She bent to kiss him before she left the café.

***

Juliette waited until no one was around before she let herself into Lila’s office. She knew where Adele kept the spare office key. She walked over to the desk and pulled out her lipstick-sized flashlight. The middle drawer was locked, so Juliette used her metal nail file to open it quickly. She had just begun to search through the drawer when the door opened. 

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Adele snapped as she turned on the light. “You’re not supposed to be in Lila’s office, Juliette.”

“Did you know that Lila was having sex with Ronnie?”

“The security guard?”

“Yes.”

“Big whoop, the fuck. Lila’s had sex with every available man in this building,” Adele sneered.

“Did you know that each time they had sex the saboteur struck?” Juliette continued as she looked through Lila’s desk drawers.

“What is this all about, Juliette? You’re starting to give me the creeps, you sneaky freak.” Adele frowned as she watched Juliette head over to Lila’s closet.

“The security guard on duty was occupied when Gavin spread the pictures around. He was also indisposed when Julian and Sevigne’s sex tape debuted in the cafeteria.”

“Really?” Adele lowered her brows in contemplation.

“Yes, and then the security footage for this floor disappeared.” She continued to shuffle through the closet.

“She keeps a box hidden at the back,” Adele told Juliette.

“I think she’s up to something.”

“Me too. She’s been gone for days, and she was acting strangely before that.”

“Bingo!” Juliette smiled as she held the cheap phone up. “This has to be it.”

“I thought that phone was suspicious. Everyone else just thinks that’s the phone she’s using during her current affair.”

“Come on, you know Lila. Since when does she carry cheap phones?” Juliette said as she turned on the phone.

Adele nodded with a smirk. “That’s what I said.”

“Besides, Lila doesn’t hide her indiscretions…she never has,” she said as she searched through the phone. “This phone is empty except for one number.”

“I wonder who it is.”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Juliette called the number.

“Hello?” the voice over the phone was loud enough to be heard by Adele.

Juliette’s eyes grew as wide as saucers and her jaw dropped.

“Wrong number.”  Juliette disguised her voice before hanging up.

“What’s wrong?” Adele asked, seeing her expression.

“Either I’m going completely fucking nuts, or Gavin Grant just answered the phone.”

***

“Gloria, you have to come with us,” Adele said as she grabbed her arm.

“What’s wrong? And what are you doing with Juliette?” Gloria looked at Juliette.

“Juliette just found that cheap phone in Lila’s office; you’re never going to believe who answered.”

“Who?”

“Gavin Grant,” Juliette answered for her.

“Yeah right,” Gloria shook her head.

“I’m serious. When have you known me to joke?” Juliette asked.

“We need to go talk to the big boss or Ian King,” Adele said.

“Come on, I know where Ian is.” Gloria led them to the break room.

***

Julian rushed to the office with a gang of his cousins in tow. Ian was waiting out front for him and stepped up to the car when he arrived.

“She’s certain it was Gavin’s voice?” Julian asked with hope.

“She said that she was positive. Here’s the old building Lila just purchased, I don’t know if it has anything to do with this, but I’d start there.” He passed him the envelope.

“Thank you, Ian.”

“You don’t have to thank me—just find Sevigne,” he stated as he stepped back.

“I will,” Julian said before he got back in the car.

Hideout

Julius knew the area where the building was located, so they made it in record time. They didn’t want to take the time to stake the place out, so they came up with a quick plan.

Royce put on a ginger wig and matching moustache. Julius had a friend who worked for the electric company, who was more than happy to help. He lent them his van, work suits and anything else they would need to appear legitimate.

Julius tucked his shaggy dark waves into the nylon cap before putting a blond wig on. All three of them quickly put on the suits as they sped to their destination. It was a lot of work for such a slim chance, but Julian would go to any lengths to find Heaven.

The plan was that Julian would stay in the van and peep through the window while they went to the door. If by some remote chance Gavin was actually there, he would open the loud, sliding van door to alert his cousins. The moment his cousins heard the door open, they would grab Gavin and hold him for Julian.

“Who the hell buys property here?” Royce asked as he parked the van in front of the place. He and Julius got out and looked at the dilapidated structure. The top of the old building was gone, but the floor level was completely intact. The broken and missing window openings were boarded up.

“It looks like a death trap,” Julius said before they got out of the van.

“The main floor looks like it’s okay.”

“That wood looks new,” Julius whispered as they headed towards the front door. It was a long path from the curb to the door. The greenery had grown wild and covered the walkway.

“This path was recently traveled.” Royce pointed to the shoe prints in the grass.

“Work boots,” Julius said as he studied the prints.

“Look.” Royce pointed to the small bag of fresh garbage off to the side.

“Someone has definitely been here recently,” Julius said before he pounded on the door.

“Electric company,” Royce yelled as he attempted to open the door. “It’s locked.”

“Is anyone here? It’s the electric company; we need to get in and check the grid. It’s an emergency!” Julius yelled.

“I don’t think anyone is here. We’ll just have to break down the door,” Royce said loud enough for anyone inside to hear.

Gavin had been taking out the trash when he saw the van coming up the road. Without thinking, he dropped the bag and sprinted back into the house. He didn’t want to open the door for them, but he heard them say that they would break it down. If he opened the door and showed them where the grid was, it would go smoothly, and they would leave. If he didn’t, they might stumble upon the horrors in the basement as they searched for the grid.