Page 84 of Lead Me On
The detective hadn’t appreciated the lawyer’s suggestions of how to conduct the investigation, but Mr. Chase had dropped the same thoughts into the ear of his contact at the sheriff’s office. Hopefully someone would pick up on a hotter trail than Jessie MacKenzie. But regardless of whether or not they found the real killer, theD.A. in charge of Jessie’s case had made overtures of a deal. They were no longer awaiting additional charges. The case was moving forward.
“Thank God,” Jane murmured just as Outlook notified her that Mr. Jennings’s phone call with a reclaimed-wood dealer was coming up in five minutes. She hit the intercom button. “Mr. Jennings?”
Silence.
She tried again. “Mr. Jennings?”
Experience had taught her that she might startle her boss from his work with that second inquiry, but once he ignored that, it was hopeless. Jane got up and walked to his office. His door was partially open, and she could see him hunched over his drafting table, glaring at a quiver of straight lines that meant nothing to her.
“Mr. Jennings.” She tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hmm?” he grumbled, not looking up from the sharp edge he’d started to draw.
“You have a call coming up in three minutes with Hatlock Wood. Shall I go ahead and place the call?”
He finally looked at her, eyes cloudy with distance. “What?”
“Hatlock Wood, Mr. Jennings. Are you ready for the call?”
“Oh.” He cast a mournful glance at the sketches before rolling his shoulders. “Sure.”
“Still no idea about the ‘south boy’ note?”
“The what?”
“I thought so. I’ll have Hatlock on the line momentarily, sir. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
He said yes, and she was so thankful to be busy again that she grinned while rushing around to get coffee and place the call. She had her own meetings this afternoon. One with their accountant and another with a school representative interested in placing an architectural intern with Mr. Jennings. Adding a young kid to the office would upset Jane’s perfect balancing act, but Mr. Jennings seemed enthusiastic. She needed to be sure they got a quality candidate and a school willing to work carefully with the office. Then there was Lori’s bon voyage party to nudge along…
A landscape architect came through the front door to drop off a series of sketches he’d done for one of Mr. Jennings’s clients, and Jane noted that his eyes looked right through her. Despite the way she’d been living for the past two weeks, her disguise hadn’t been compromised. This man didn’t see her as anything other than an office fixture. The scarlet letter on her head was still invisible. He hadn’t heard any rumors, didn’t notice any difference in her body. She was still invisible Jane. And that was the biggest relief of all.
She’d had a wake-up call, at least. Her family was still her family, no matter how sharply she’d tried to separate herself. She wasn’t foolish or naive. She didn’t plan to throw a party to introduce all her colleagues to her leather-clad kin, but she realized she needed to find a better balance. A less fragmented way of living her life while still working toward the white picket fence.
No problem.
A glitch appeared in her bubble of calmness when a client called in a panic. The woman had finally gotten a look at the stone the builder had installed around the outdoor fireplace, and she was convinced that it wasn’t the stone Mr. Jennings had described. Jane made a note and set it in front of Mr. Jennings, who was deeply absorbed in a conversation about old beech wood.
When she walked back into the reception area, Greg Nunn had appeared like an inexplicable ghost. He stood in front of her desk, hands in his pockets, smiling with all the confidence in the world. Alarm rang through her. Surely he hadn’t come to deliver good news.
“I’ve got good news, Jane,” he said.
Well. She glanced toward Mr. Jennings’s office to make sure he was still on the phone. “What’s going on, Greg?”
“You asked me to take another look at the case.”
“Yes.”
“I decided to do it. For your sake.”
“Oh, well… Thanks.”
He walked farther into the office, stopping to lean against the wall only two feet from her. “I’m sure you’ll be very pleased to hear I’ve recommended that we turn our focus elsewhere.”
“Oh. Really?” Jane made herself smile despite the fact that she’d already heard this, and she didn’t believe for a second that the suggestion had come from Greg Nunn. “That’s great.”
“So how are you going to thank me?”
She watched the shameless smirk twist his lips and could hardly believe she’d ever liked this guy. Chase had been right. Greg was a jackass.
