Champagne Cravings (17 page)

I packaged the letter and the photos in a white,
nine-inch-by-thirteen-inch envelope and took it next door. I slipped it between
the crack above the two deadbolts and heard it hit the hardwood floor on the
other side.

Satisfied, I went back to my apartment and ordered a
ridiculously huge bouquet of flowers online for Biel’s birthday—and her
friendship—all in white.

I didn’t hear back from Mike and tried not to sweat it. He
was two hours behind me and likely up to his ears in FBI work. A small part of
me stressed a little, naturally. But I went to bed early to keep it from
chipping away at me.

A Birthday Bash That Will Live In Infamy.

(AKA, Be Careful What You Wish For.)

Of course, the first thing I did the next morning was check
my email. Relief washed over me when I saw a message had arrived from Mike. But
I didn’t immediately open it, as the
too little too late
adage skipped
through my mind. He didn’t yet know about my love letter. What if
his
note turned out to be of the “Dear Jane” variety?

“Oh why couldn’t you have handled all of this better?” I
muttered to myself.

I was about to click on the message when the phone rang. It
was Biel.

“Hey,” I said as I pressed the cell to my ear. “Happy
birthday.”

“Oh. My. God!” She sounded thrilled to the core of her
being. “Those flowers you sent are insane.”

“They arrived already?” It was only half past eight.

“Just came. And holy cow, Lacey. They’re breathtaking!”

I smiled. I guess when you sent a delivery to a supermodel,
it was handled as top priority. “I’m glad you like them. Send me a photo.”

“As soon as I hang up.” She was her usual chipper self, her
emotional turmoil be damned. “Tell me you’ll be at the Montlimiere tonight,”
she said in an insistent tone, as if I’d pass it up.

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“And the super-hunk?”

I gnawed my lip, then said, “He’s in Dallas on a case with
the FBI. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“Can’t he fly in for the night? I’d love to meet him.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “Oh right. I’d so like to introduce
the two of you and then feel like a third wheel as you fawn all over each
other.”

She was Biel McKinley, for Christ’s sake.
Not
at all
a woman I could compete with. Though, at this point, maybe I didn’t have any
say in the matter. I had no idea what was going through Mike’s mind right now
and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know. Hence, the reason I was reticent
to open his email message.

“Oh please,” she said with a half-snort. “I’m sure he has
eyes only for you.”

“Anyway,” I continued, not wanting to dwell on what might or
might not be going on between Mike and me. “I will be at your party, but I have
to go into the office first to check in with Mav.”

A pause on her end, then she asked, “Did you talk to him
about Olivia?”

“Yes. I also spoke with her. She freaked out big-time.”

Biel groaned. “I can’t believe she’d do anything so
underhanded, Lacey. It’s just not in her character.”

I hated that I couldn’t take Biel’s word on this. “I’m sorry
this is so difficult for everyone. But I swear that woman has one hellaciously
guilty conscious. It radiates from her. I could see how much she would love to
even the score with Mav.”

“Ugh. What is wrong with the world?”

One of my brows jerked up. “Piper still hasn’t come around?”

“No. I mean, I understand there’s a time zone difference,
but she could have called me last night to wish me happy birthday.”

“I’m sorry, Biel.” I didn’t know what else to say to her,
except, “Maybe it’s time to face the inevitable—and move on.”

With a dramatic sigh, she said, “I know you’re right. I just
can’t seem to bring myself to sever the ties. I keep hoping she’ll call and say
she’s coming tonight.”

“Sometimes the ties get severed regardless of whether or not
you want them to.” I didn’t like leaving her on a bad note—it was her birthday,
after all. So I added, “Hey, it’s still early. You have no idea how this day is
going to shape up.”

“So true,” she said. “And this party and re-launch will be
fantastic tonight, I have no doubt.”

“Atta girl. I’ll see you there.”

“Thanks, Lacey.” Her tone was filled with delight again,
despite her personal woes. “You’re a terrific friend.”

She choked me up, that fearless supermodel. “So are you.
Enjoy your day, and I’ll see you tonight.”

I disconnected the call and immediately received another
one. Mav wanted me in his office ASAP. I closed my laptop and jumped off the
sofa. I ducked into the shower, then dressed and headed out.

I was dying of curiosity all the way to the Elan building.
Entering Mav’s office, I was surprised to find Cal there.

“What’s going on?” I inquired as Christine closed the door
behind me to give us privacy.

“We’ve spoken with Anne Dunley, for starters,” Mav said. He
sat behind his desk and I took the chair next to Cal. “She was easy to reach.
Seems she’s been at home all this time. According to Marcy in HR, Anne has
three children in school, so we suspected she hadn’t gone out of town on her
two-week vacation.”

“What’d she say?” I asked.

“Broke down immediately,” Mav told me. “I asked her to come
in this morning to meet with my general counsel. We have a non-disclosure
agreement on file, which Anne signed when we started the new campaign.”

I winced. “You’re going to sue her?”

“I don’t know. She leaked confidential and proprietary
information.” He looked miserable over the whole thing. I could imagine having
an employee try to ruin your megamillion-dollar campaign wouldn’t sit right on
a variety of levels. The money and resources involved for one thing. The
failure of the line. The loyalty you’d thought you had from someone who worked
for you.

Continuing, he said, “She’s a single mother. And you were
right, Lacey. She accepted cash in exchange for campaign secrets.”

“Must’ve needed the money badly to take that big a risk.”

With a nod, Mav said, “That’s what worries me. Any sort of
recourse on Elan’s part will only make her suffer more…and her children.”

The guy had a big heart, I had to hand it to him. It made it
very difficult for me to believe he’d treated Olivia shabbily. But there were
three sides to every story and I didn’t know the unbiased version.

I said, “I don’t envy you the position you’re in. I wouldn’t
know what to do myself. You can’t have your employees running amuck and
divulging your trade secrets, yet…”

“Yes,” he agreed, following my train of thought. “I can’t
destroy them financially either and still sleep at night.”

“What about Olivia?” I asked, though I knew it pained him I
brought her up.

“She’s coming in as well, with her lawyer.”

I thought back to my conversation with her and said, “She
told me everyone watched her package the makeup and hand it to Biel. Cal and
one of his men were eyewitnesses.”

“And Piper Levine,” Cal added off-the-cuff.

My head snapped in his direction. “No one told me Piper was
in the lab at that time.”

He didn’t seem to get my shocked disbelief over not knowing
this tidbit. “Piper’s always with Biel,” he said. “She won’t allow anyone else
to do her makeup.”

“But Olivia told me
she
was the one to test the
waterproof products on Biel. Not Piper. No one mentioned Piper,” I reiterated
as my pulse kicked into high gear.

In a very slow, deliberate tone, Cal said, “Piper had no
contact with the products in the lab. But she did Biel’s makeup at the hotel.”

I scratched the nape of my neck as a prickly sensation made
the hairs stand on end. Recalling I’d seen surveillance cameras in the lab, I
asked, “Can I see the footage of the packaging?”

He shot me an incredulous look. I’d most definitely stepped
on his toes this time. But I didn’t care.

Nor did Mav. He said, “Cal, whatever Lacey needs to continue
her investigation, please… Assist her.”

Cal shoved his chair back and stood. “Of course.” He
cooperated to placate his boss. I, however, was the recipient of his icy tone
and glare.

To Mav, I said, “I don’t have a motive for Piper but I can
certainly look into this. I know you want Olivia off the hook.”

I considered whether Piper would go to the extremes of
hurting Biel and her career just because she was paranoid about their relationship.
It didn’t really jive. For one thing, the sabotage could have done irreparable
damage to Piper’s reputation as a makeup artist to the stars, as much as it
could have harmed Biel’s career. And Biel had been emphatic when she’d told me
Piper loved the limelight—and didn’t mind sharing her girlfriend with the
masses. So there was nothing for me to cling to except for the fact Piper was a
royal bitch. But that wasn’t exactly a reason to believe she’d switched the
cosmetics.

I followed Cal to his office. We made ourselves comfortable
at a large console with a multitude of screens, currently displaying active
footage from around the building. His fingers skated deftly over the keyboard
as he pulled up last week’s tape from the lab. He showed it on the main screen
and I watched the entire incident, from the moment the small group arrived in
the lab, which had been cleared out—save for Olivia—to the time they left.

An hour later, I watched it again. And again.

Cal’s assistant ordered lunch for us and we munched as we
ran through the footage one more time.

I finally turned to Cal, disheartened. “Nothing.” I was
quiet a moment as I contemplated the dead end. Then I said, “My um, boyfriend—”
The word stuck in my throat and I had to clear it. “He’s a private investigator
and I could have had him run fingerprints for me, but I knew we’d find
Olivia’s, Piper’s and Biel’s prints on the plastic bag and bottles, so what
would be the point? Except, maybe there’s another party we’re not considering?”

“I don’t think so. No one had as much access to the product
as these three,” he reluctantly said. I learned why he suffered through these
hours of repetition with me when he admitted, “I don’t want Olivia to be the
culprit you’re looking for. She’s a great person and the heart and soul of that
lab. She helps to create what Mav and the others envision and I think she’s
brilliant.”

My shoulders slumped. “I like her too. And I don’t even
really know her.”

Cal gave this some thought as I ate my sandwich. Finally, he
said, “I’ve looked at the scene from different camera angles. There’s nothing
there but Olivia testing the makeup on Biel and then sealing it and handing it
over to her.”

“So maybe we’re back to dissecting how the switch could have
happened outside the Elan building.”

“I was with them the entire time. We swept the hotel room
before the makeup was applied. I’m telling you, not out of arrogance, but out
of loyalty to this company, I was deathly thorough.”

I patted him on the arm. “I don’t doubt that for a second.
In fact, I’m incredibly impressed by the lengths you’ve gone to. And I’m sure
you want to know what happened as much as everyone else does. I appreciate how
much time you’ve invested with me.”

“I want you to solve this, Lacey.”

I stood and paced his spacious office. We discussed
conspiracy theories that started out simple and then expanded to ridiculous
scenarios that made us both cringe. Or roll our eyes at how idiotic we sounded.
Time passed and all roads led back to the three main characters in this
situation.

Returning my attention to the screens, I said, “Maybe we
should look at the other angles.”

He brought them up without protest. We spent hours pouring
over the videos. My eyes were fried and I needed to check my email and also get
a move on it so I could rush home, change into a dress and get to Biel’s party.

But I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. I asked, “Can you
isolate Piper during this entire time?”

He worked his magic and gave us as much of Piper as he could
from all angles. But Biel stood too close to her, clouding some of the shots
with shadows or her body. The lighting in the lab did nothing to help our
plight. All the fluorescents weren’t on.

I was at a loss. Yet I asked, “Again?”

Cal didn’t hesitate, silently telling me he hoped I was
barking up the right tree with Piper. He replayed the footage and, this time, I
didn’t watch her. I watched everything around her, including Biel. At one
point, Biel was perched on a stool while Olivia tested the cosmetics.

My stomach plummeted as I noticed something peculiar. Biel’s
hand reached for Piper’s and Piper very casually turned her body away—a huge
slight only someone in the know would understand.

“Hey, can you back up a frame and press in on Piper?”

He did. While I was specifically cataloging Piper shunning
Biel’s intimate gesture, I caught the corner of a plastic bag sticking out of
Piper’s open Louis Vuitton tote, slung over her shoulder. Her turning away from
Biel brought the tote into better view. I pointed it out to Cal.

His eyes narrowed. He knew where I was headed with this.
“Different angle,” he muttered.

He worked the keyboard and we had another shot of Piper, but
the shadows cast across the frame didn’t help to reveal anything specific. Cal
continued to replay and push in and shift angles.

Sometime later, I leaned toward the screen as my breath
caught in my throat. “There,” I said, adrenaline shooting through me. My
fingernail touched the monitor and I said, “Look at the table.”

He did a series of rewinding and playing, rewinding and
playing. Then he hit pause and sat back in his chair.

I eyed him with lifted brows.

Cal said, “There were two rolls of security tape on the
table in the first frame.”

“But not in the second frame.”

We couldn’t get a clear shot of Piper slipping the tape into
her bag. It happened when she turned away from Biel and the front of her tote
and her right hand were concealed. There was no camera in line with her at that
moment and Biel and Olivia were preoccupied.

I didn’t have concrete evidence, but my gut told me Piper
had somehow made the switch before applying Biel’s makeup at the hotel.

“This is very disconcerting.” And deeply disturbing.
Suddenly, another thought occurred to me. “Jesus, what time is it?”

Cal consulted his watch and said, “Eight-fifteen.”