Page 81 of Hell Hath No Fury

“Good for you.”

“I know you have his number.”

“I don’t work here any longer. Therefore, I have no reason to provide Winslow’s contact information to anyone.”

Matthias’s phone vibrated against his hip. He ignored it and decided he was tired of this verbal dance with Neidermeyer.

“Is Winslow going to take over North Star Developing?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

Matthias uncrossed his arms and took a step toward her in a move that he intended to come across as intimidating. “I’m askingyou.”

Invading her space worked. She retreated to maintain the distance between them. “I don’t know. Honestly.” She dropped the defiant act. “I haven’t seen the legal papers. I did believe Sonny had stipulated that I would assume control of the company in the event of his death, but when I spoke to his attorney earlier, I was told that was no longer the case. Sonny had recently made changes to the document.”

Matthias studied Neidermeyer and believed her. “You had no idea that Jones changed the agreement?”

“None.”

“Okay. You don’t know for certain that Winslow is the new head of North Star, but you’ve been Jones’s assistant for quite a while. If you had to guess, based on what you’ve seen on a daily basis, do you think Jones would pick Winslow?”

Her gaze shifted in thought. “Maybe,” she finally said.

“If not Winslow, then who?”

She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“His wife?”

Neidermeyer’s startled gaze came up to his. “Ashley?” She hiccupped a laugh. “I highly doubt it. Ashley’s too high-strung—too flighty—to run a business. In all the time I’ve known them, the only interest she’s shown in Sonny’s work was demanding how soon he’d get home to be with her and their daughter. She hated when he put in late hours.”

Matthias fixed Neidermeyer with a hard stare. “Once again, based on what you’ve seen around here in recent months, who do you think might’ve wanted Jones dead?”

She arched an eyebrow. “Like I told the state cops, Eric Baker.”

Matthias shook his head. “Try again.”

“Why? They’ve arrested him, haven’t they?”

“The judge dropped the charges. It’s pretty clear he was framed.”

Her mouth dropped open. Then closed.

Speaking slowly and deliberately, Matthias repeated his question. “Who might’ve wanted Jones dead?”

It took several long moments for her to form a reply. “Sonny could be obnoxious, especially when he was drunk. Everyone knew that.”

Which was likely why she controlled the credit card.

“The only person I can think of…” She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. “Patrick Winslow.”

Matthias needed to find out if Winslow was indeed the new head of North Star. If so, he’d just rocketed to the top of Matthias’s suspect list. “Would you reconsider giving me his contact information?”

She contemplated the request. With a shrug, she crossed to a cabinet, opened the second drawer, and fingered through files before extracting a sheet of paper. She returned to Matthias and handed it over. “Ordinarily, I’d never turn over employee records, but under the circumstances, screw them.”

The document was the foreman’s resumé, including his home address, phone numbers, and employment history. “Thanks.” Matthias folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. “I have one more question for you.”

She waited.