Aftershocks (8 page)

“Zoe, I have your messages!” Sherry jumped up and trotted after Zoe toward her office.

“Can you give me a second?” She tried not to snap at the admin, but her hovering as Zoe hung up her jacket and stowed her shoulder bag set her teeth on edge. “Okay, fine, go ahead.”

“Okay.” The young woman planted her feet and shot one hip, holding up the little slips of paper like they were Oscar envelopes. “Agent Henricksen called twice. The first time was at ten, and he said he’d call back. Which he did. Half an hour ago. This time, he said it was urgent that he talk to you.” With a flourish she held out the slips.

“Thank you.” Zoe took them and picked up her coffee mug.

“Wait! There’s more.”

“I was sure there would be.”

Sherry ignored or didn’t notice her sarcasm. “Mrs. Stone called this morning. She’d like to meet you for tea, and please don’t ignore her message this time because that’s rude and she knows you have better manners than that.”

Zoe stifled a sigh and took that slip, too. Kell hadn’t called her once, but his mom had called no less than six times. If this had been a normal breakup, Zoe would have gladly had tea with her so they could do the postmortem and wish each other well, perhaps even pledge to remain friends. She hated to consider what they all thought of her right now.

“Anything else?”

“One more. A woman who called herself Fred called. How weird is that?”

Zoe’s blood ran cold, and she couldn’t get the breath to reply. This was the first time anyone had made direct contact with someone other than her.

“Anyway, she said to remind you of the earring, and the”—she squinted at the paper—“um, oh, the keys to the idol guys. Does she mean Billy Idol? He’s so last century.”

Despite her deep-seated terror, Zoe managed to fake a laugh at Sherry’s joke. The younger woman beamed.

“Anyway. She said—and this part she made me repeat—‘Our perfect delicacy shan’t attend the reunion should you bring our party favors on time.’ ” She held out the paper to Zoe, who indicated the pile of slips on the desk. Sherry balanced it on top. “She giggled when she said ‘shan’t.’ Didn’t leave a number, but said you’d know what she meant, and she’d be in touch. Do you?”

Zoe glanced up. “What?”

“Know what she meant?”

“Oh. No clue.” She put her coffee mug back down, no longer able to pretend there was any normalcy to be maintained. “Thanks, Sherry.”

“No problem. Anything you need?”

“Please call a staff meeting for half an hour.” It was late in the day, and not when she’d planned to do this, but after Freddie’s call she couldn’t wait any longer. “Make sure the off-shift staff will be here, at least by conference call. I’ll pay overtime, but this is mandatory. If anyone has any problems, tell them to come see me.”

Sherry stopped beaming. “All right.” She studied Zoe’s face, but apparently decided not to ask. “I’ll do that right now. Do you need any equipment or anything?”

“No. Thanks.”

Zoe collapsed into her chair when the admin left, propping her forehead on her hand and staring at Freddie’s message in Sherry’s loopy, cheerful handwriting. She detested that woman, hated her with every fiber in her being. Hated what she and Pat were driving Zoe to do to good people. It didn’t matter that she was protecting them from far worse things. What she was doing might not be enough, if Pat and Freddie assumed she cared about the company’s employees whether they were hers or not. Just like breaking the engagement with Kell didn’t necessarily protect him from them. It wasn’t like she could go tell them, “Hey, that guy I was engaged to? Don’t like him anymore. Or his sister. Don’t care what you do. So let’s just keep this between us, hey?” They were canny people. That was why this was just the first step, but would
any
step prevent the worst?

The sun had set by the time she entered the conference room. The brick and plaster walls bounced laughter and jeering back at her before the staff noticed she was there and subsided. She did a mental count. Everyone was there, though a couple of programmers in the back corner didn’t look too happy. Well, what she had to say would cheer them up. Or not.

“I appreciate that you all stayed late. This won’t take long.” She waited for the final bits of whispering and shifting to settle. “There’s no easy way to say this, and I don’t have an explanation to lead up to it.” She braced her fingertips on the shiny surface of the giant table she’d refinished herself, when she’d first leased the space here. It hurt almost as much to leave it behind as it did to leave the people.

“I have some personal issues I must attend to. As of tomorrow morning at nine a.m., I am no longer the owner of this company.”

Gasps went around the room, with a couple of audible cries all accompanied by stricken looks. Her two managers shifted closer together, both frowning. She should have told them first, but hadn’t been able to face explaining more than once.

“Nothing is going to change. All of your jobs are safe. Janice and Zandra will be in charge of the day-to-day business, and the new owner will be arranging some meetings next week. I’m sure he’ll be as joyful to work with as I’ve been.” She tried to smile, but no one responded, and the stony stares brought tears prickling to her eyelids. “I—” She choked, and squeezed out, “I’ll miss you all.” Then she had to get out of there. She heard Sherry’s hurrying stilettos behind her, but closed her office door before the woman could catch up. A few minutes later she had gathered the few things she had left in the office and walked out, silently begging everyone not to approach her or she’d break down. Probably all in shock, they left her alone. Voices clamored in the main room before the outside door had closed.

Once in the elevator, Zoe slumped, not caring if anyone in security might be watching the monitor. She dashed away a couple of tears that escaped, but refused to allow more than that.

The company wasn’t actually sold yet. She couldn’t make it happen that fast. But her role as president would cease tomorrow morning, and the sale would go through officially in a few weeks. She hadn’t met the owner, didn’t even know his name as he’d used a business front for the sale. Her lawyer—not someone from Kell’s firm—had power of attorney to make everything happen when it was time. The money would go into escrow, and in a fit of hope, she’d gotten the buyer to agree to a six-month buy-back clause. If she didn’t have everything solved by then, she never would.

She drew in a deep breath and straightened as the elevator reached the lobby. That hope would disappear quickly if she didn’t move fast. One thing left to do today, and then phase one was over. Tomorrow morning she was flying south, to the Florida Keys, to a man she’d never intended to see again.

Who frightened her almost as much as Pat and Freddie did.

Chapter Four

Kell wished he’d realized how little he knew about the woman he loved.

For example, if he were to go in to the office of his newly acquired web design company and talk to the employees, how many of them, and which ones, would be likely to contact her and tell her he was her buyer? Would they close ranks against him, loyal to the woman who’d created the company? Or would they be eager to leap to his side against the person who’d betrayed them?

How could he not know what kind of leader Zoe had been?

Was, he corrected. What kind of leader Zoe still was. Even if she had no one to lead at the moment.

“I think you’re insane,” James said as they jogged along the park trail.

“You said that five times already. Three on this lap alone.”

“It bears repeating. I just don’t get it, Kell. Are you a masochist, or what?”

“Maybe.” He shifted to the right, behind James, as a stream of speedwalkers came down the other side of the path, their arms flailing. When they’d passed he moved up next to his friend again. “You’re the one who told me she was selling.”

“Which I regret to the same degree that you are insane.”

A few days after Zoe had left Kell, James had hurried to his office. His broker had learned of a highly profitable local business up for quick sale, which meant a great price, and he’d called to see if James had any clients who might be interested. James had, of course, recognized the name of the company and rushed to tell Kell, who hadn’t thought twice. He’d called his own broker, obtained an attorney who wasn’t in his firm, set up a shell company to make the offer, and within a week, he was on his way to owning his ex-fiancée’s company.

“She wanted a buy-back clause,” he told James. Again. “If she wants the company back, maybe she’ll want me back. After.”

“After what?”

“I have no fucking idea.” He blew out a few breaths, pushing harder as they went up a small, steep hill. They slowed to normal pace again at the top. “Something is happening, James. She was lying to me, and she seemed panicked. And I can’t believe she’d ever sell her company unless she needed to.”

“Maybe she does. I mean, financially.” James smiled at a woman with a baby stroller. She smiled back, ducking her head.

“Seducing young moms now, huh?” Kell panted.

“She’s a nanny. Lives in Sonya’s building. Not seducing. Or flirting,” he warned, casting a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Don’t look at me. I’m no tattler. But no, she had plenty of money. We didn’t have a joint account, but we were open about our personal finances. It’s something else.”

They pushed a little harder as they came around the bend and into the open area near the parking lot. Neither spoke until they’d reached their end point and walked around a little, catching their breath and stretching. Then they walked over to Kell’s car, where he had a cooler of water bottles in the trunk. He handed one to his friend and leaned against the car’s bumper.

“What are you going to do now, then?” James poured a third of the bottle over his head and down his neck and torso, making his shirt cling to his chest. Kell shook his head when two women crossing the parking lot turned to ogle him.

“You’re shameless.”

“It’s fun. Oops.” One of the women had tripped over a cement parking barrier. “Well, it’s fun until someone gets hurt.” He grinned, but sobered when Kell didn’t grin back. “Come on, buddy. Aren’t you better off?” He sat on the bumper next to him and drank some of his water.

“No.”

“Are you sure that’s not just ego talking? Because the way she left has got to sting, but maybe—”

“No. I’m not better off.” He couldn’t even describe how much better off he wasn’t. He hadn’t told James how hard it was to get to sleep, wondering where Zoe was and whether she was okay. His friend—as well as his paralegal, the filing staff, and his boss—had noticed how distracted he was. He’d even been pulled from the merger as the lead counsel. James had taken over, Kell relegated to grunt work. And he hadn’t even protested. All he could think about was Zoe.

He didn’t bother to describe the hole in his chest. James would confuse it with the hole in his life and tell him he just needed time to adjust. He hadn’t loved like this, lost like this. He wouldn’t understand. Hell, Kell wasn’t sure he even did.

His watch beeped. “I gotta go.” He tossed the empty water bottle into the trunk, closing it after James stood and did the same. “I have to have lunch with my mother.”

“Ouch. On your one day off?”

Kell shrugged. “What else do I have to do? You want a ride?” He only lived a couple of blocks away, but Kell always offered, anyway.

“Nah. Don’t want to deprive all the local lovelies of this sight.” He motioned to his damp shirt. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Sure.” James frowned, and Kell knew he hadn’t sounded convincing. “I’ll be there.”

“You know, you’re treading—”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Just so you know.”

Kell lowered himself into the driver’s seat with care, feeling like an old man. An old, achy man. Everything had grown heavier since Zoe left. Harder to move around.

He wasn’t really in danger of losing his job. He brought way too much cash to the firm. But they wouldn’t just give him slack, either. Soon his boss would be calling him in to his office, feeling him out, trying to determine if they needed to activate the EAP for counseling or medical care, treatment for depression or substance abuse. If things kept getting worse, which Kell couldn’t imagine happening, they’d make him go part time or take a leave of absence to get his head together. Floating around the apartment he’d shared with Zoe, the one still chock full of her presence, without a place to escape to, someplace that had always just been his, wouldn’t heal him.

Hell, he wasn’t sure what would.

After getting a quick shower at home, he dressed in khaki shorts and a polo and met his mother on the terrace at his parents’ club.

“Hello, dear.” She gave him an appropriately grave smile and offered her cheek for his kiss before he sat in the white iron chair beside her.

“Hi, Mom. No Dad today?” He picked up the menu and glanced over it.

“No, he’s taking a lesson with the pro. He has a game with Landers this week, and he’s determined to shave two strokes before then. I took the liberty of ordering you a drink,” she added just before a female server—never “waitress” in a place like this—set a glass of Scotch on the glass table.