Deadly Magic (26 page)

Belle quickly walked to his side, drawing Michael away from the doorway and out of the room.

Kyle rose to his feet, swaying slightly.

“Are you okay?” Grace asked worried.

“Fine,” he said, carefully touching the back of his head. “He just caught me by surprise.”

Valerie started coughing uncontrollably. Grace walked over to where she was sitting. Valerie looked up at her through watering eyes.

“I’ll go get you a bottle of water,” Grace said.

Kyle reached out and touched her arm. “I’ll go. I want to check and see what Michael’s doing out there anyway.”

Grace smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Kyle,” she said, toward his retreating back. “It’s a good thing, Kyle showed up when he did and chased the guy away.”

Ethan walked through Valerie’s office, through the double doors to Straker’s office and across the room towards Straker’s private entrance. “Yeah, he’s quite the hero,” he said sarcastically.

Curious, Grace followed him into the room.

Bending down, he examined the lock and then the frame. “You said your attacker locked this door before shutting off the lights?”

She nodded.

Ethan stood up. “Does Kyle have a key to this office?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Valerie said hoarsely from behind them. She stumbled to a chair in front of Straker’s desk. “There are only two keys. Straker has one and I have the other.”

Turning to Grace, he asked, “You’re absolutely sure he locked the door?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then how did Kyle get in? The door to the outer hallway is still barricaded from the inside. The only way in is through this door here and it isn’t damaged, so he didn’t break in.”

Grace stood up and walked to the door. Ethan was right. There was no damage to the door.

Kyle walked in. Breathing hard, he kneeled down next to Valerie and handed her a bottle of water. “I’m sorry, it took me so long. Someone put a lock on the break room refrigerator.”

“A lock?” Grace asked.

Smirking, Valerie nodded her head. “Allen asked for and received Straker’s permission to install a lock. Our house detective is convinced the bottled water and the one cup of coffee cream needs protection.”

Valerie opened the bottle and winced when the water hit her throat.

Grace winced with her. “Don’t worry. The ambulance will be here soon.”

“I don’t need an ambulance. I just want to go home and go to bed.”

“I think I should stay with you tonight,” Grace said.

“Oh, don’t be silly.”

“No, she’s right Valerie,” Ethan said. “If you are being targeted, you would be safer if you had company.”

Kyle snorted. “I don’t know about that. Grace and Belle were with her tonight and that didn’t stop the guy from attacking her.”

Ethan looked down at the other man. “I know that,” he snapped. “That’s why I was about to suggest that I would stay with both of you. In fact, you both should stay with me at my apartment.”

“I can’t really leave Belle by herself at our apartment. She’s a target, too.” Grace looked at Valerie. “Would you like to stay with us? There’s safety in numbers.”

Valerie smiled. “Sure.”

“I can stay with you, too,” Kyle offered.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Ethan replied testily.

Kyle stood up. “I wasn’t asking you.”

“Kyle,” Grace touched his sleeve, “How did you get in?”

“What?”

“How did you get into the office tonight?”

Shrugging, Kyle pointed to the door. “I walked through the side door.”

“But it was locked.”

“No, it wasn’t. It was wide open.”

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

Grace came out of a deep slumber. The phone next to her bed was ringing. She buried her head into her pillow, as she reached for the phone. Bringing it to her ear, she muttered a sleepy hello.

Her mysterious caller was back. She was about to ha
ng up the phone when she heard a deep gravelly voice say, “How are you feeling, Gracie? I hope I didn’t scare you last night. I wouldn’t want to do that, not at least until you and that idiot boyfriend of yours has a chance to search your office building for something that doesn’t exist. That should be good for a laugh. See you soon,” before laughing and hanging up.

Suddenly wide-awake, Grace sat up in bed, her heart thudding against her chest. She reached for the knife lying on her nightstand. Breathing heavily, she laid back down, clutching the knife to her chest. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She was safe. She was home in her own bed. With her friends camped out a few feet away. He couldn’t hurt her. At least not now. She felt herself relax and start to drift off.

Creak.

Her eyes flew open. She looked toward her door, which was just closing.

Worried, Grace threw back the covers, tiptoed to the door, and opened it a crack.

Ethan was sound asleep on the floor next to her bedroom, snoring softly. Kyle was camped out in one of the armchairs, wide-awake. He turned off his phone and tossed it on top of his
tuxedo jacket lying on the floor.

She opened the door and peeked around the corner. Valerie was slouched over the dining room table. Her head lying on her folded arms. Grace felt a pang of guilt. She had offered taking the sofa last night, but Valerie refused, saying she was too nervous to sleep and the sofa would be perfectly comfortable.

Opening the door the rest of the way, she quietly entered the living room.

Ethan jerked awake. He looked at everyone for a second before closing his eyes and lying back down.

Kyle rubbed a hand over his face, before looking at his watch. “Who called you at this ungodly hour?”

“It’s seven-thirty,” Grace explained patiently.

Kyle laid his head back. “Exactly.”

Stifling a yawn, Grace said, “It’s time to get up.”

Valerie lifted her head and turned red-rimmed eyes toward Grace. “You’re not going to work today are you?”

Grace nodded her head. “I’m not staying here.” The last thing she wanted was to stay in her apartment by herself. At least she would be surrounded by people at the office.
Not that it’s any safer there. Besides, she wanted to talk to Straker.

Something in her voice must have caught Kyle’s attention. His eyes flew open and focused in on her. “Who called?”

“A concerned citizen. He wanted to know how I was feeling.”

“What did he sound like?” Valerie asked at the same time Kyle asked, “Did you recognize his voice?”

“No. I think they were using some type of voice changer. The voice didn’t sound real.”

Belle stumbled out of her bedroom, yawning. She glanced at the grandfather clock against the wall and groaned. “I promised Papa, I would meet him for breakfast today.” She took one look at the group in the living room and then at the only bathroom in the apartment, before rushing back towards the bathroom door.

“Straker texted me a few minutes ago,” Valerie mumbled from the dining room, her head once again lying on her folded arms. “He wants to see you as soon as you get to work.”

Grace smiled. “Good. I want to see him too.”

♣
♦ ♥ ♠

Without waiting for an answer to her knock, Grace barged into Straker’s office.

Straker
pointedly looked over at the grandfather clock sitting in the corner of the room. Its hands showed the time as eight-thirty. “Apparently, it’s a holiday and no one told me. Perhaps you would like to sleep in a little longer.”

“
I don’t even start work until nine o’clock.”

“
I’m not surprised.”

“
No, I mean, I’m not supposed to be . . . You know, never mind. I want to talk to you. I’ve had about enou—”

Straker toss
ed a gold dragon pendant on the desk between them. “The police just released this.”

“
Lily’s pendant.”

He look
ed at her in surprise. “Yes. How did you know that?”

“
She showed it to me before she died.” She picked it up and ran a thumb over its emerald eye. “They found it on her body?”

He shook his head.
“Daniel’s.”

“
Really?” she asked, interested despite herself. She quickly shook herself. This isn’t what she was here for. She set the pendant back down on the desk. “Someone tried to kill us last night.”

“
Yes, I know. Good!”

“
How is that good?”

“
It means you’re making Lily’s killer nervous. You must be onto something. I knew I made the right decision hiring you.”

Normally
, Grace would be happy with his last statement, but she was still a bit thrown by the first. “I’m not exactly happy about making Lily’s killer so nervous he feels that he has to kill me.”

“
Nonsense. You should be proud of yourself. You already have gotten further than those overpriced fancy detectives I hired. No one tried to kill them,” he complained. “From now on I want a report every hour. Make it as detailed as possible.”

“
Can I sleep or would you like me to stay up just so I can write up a report?”

“
Bifurcated sleeping. That’s what you need. That’s how our ancestors slept. That’s how I sleep. If it’s good enough for us, it’s good enough for you. Now get back out there. Hopefully, he’ll try again soon and we’ll be able to catch him.”

“
Before or after he kills me?”

“
Well, I would prefer before. I have ten years invested in you.”

“
Speaking of investment, I want a raise.”

“
You just got one, when you got that fancy new title.”

“
It was only a half a percent raise.”

“
We’re in a recession. Besides, I don’t know if you were paying attention at our last conference meeting, but we’re going under.”

“
Dig deep. I want hazardous duty pay.”

Straker shook his head.

“If you want me to continue, you need to pay me more.”

“
Fine. I’ll put a little more in your next paycheck. Happy?”

“
No, actually, I’m not. And a little more? Try a lot more.”

“
It will be a substantial raise. Don’t worry. You just continue. You lasso that cotton-pickin rustler or whatever you would call him.”

“
My lasso’s at the cleaners. About tonight—”

“No good. I
have to meet with my lawyer tonight. Besides, I would think Valerie would need the rest. We’ll do it this Saturday.”

Grace balked.
“On Christmas Eve? I’m leaving for Hawaii—”

“Didn’t you just take a vacation?”

“Yes, I did and after last night I think I deserve another one.”

“Hmm. Do you already have your tickets?”

Grace reluctantly told the truth.

“Good. You can fly out Christmas morning then.” When she looked ready to object, he added, “Of course. I don’t actually need you here to conduct the search. I’m sure Allen would be happy to take your place.”

Grace snapped her mouth shut. “Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll be here, but I want you to pay for my plane ticket.”

“Do you know how much a plane ticket to Hawaii on Christmas costs?”

“No, but you can tell me after you make the reservations.”

“Lily was right. I’m far
too good to my employees,” he grumbled. “You’ll get your ticket. You just keep asking questions and file your reports. I want to know everything you know, when you know it.”

Grace nodded. Turning to the door, she abruptly stopped and turned back around.
“Did you tell anyone about our plans to search the building?”

“
Yes, in between board meetings and possible merger discussions, I got together with all my best girlfriends and discussed your night life. Are these the types of questions they taught you to ask in those criminal justice classes you took?

Grace looked up at the ceiling, wondering what part of the attic was above their heads.
“Again, it was one class and I got a c minus.”

“
I should have hired the kid who got the A,” Straker grumbled.

Thursday, December 22nd

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

“
That’s when the
guy threw the ventriloquist dummy at me. I swear, the thing got up and ran from the room. Then I turned to my buddy, Trevor, and told him that I didn’t care how the elephant got into the room, we had to get it out of there before my mom found it,” Kyle said.

Grace smil
ed from her office door. “I don’t believe these stories you tell.”

He cross
ed his hand over his heart. “Would I lie to you?”

“
Yes,” she said amused, “I believe you would.”

“
Well, that’s only the beginning. Once we—.”

He was interrupt
ed by the phone ringing. He lifted the receiver, and held it up to his ear. Grimacing, he opened up the drawer and laid it inside. “We ended up taking the elephant, monkey and—”

“
Kyle, I hate to interrupt, but what are you doing?”

“
It’s our silent caller again. Have you changed your home phone number yet?”

Grace rubb
ed her eyes, tiredly. “Yes. I had a couple of days of quiet, but he found my new number, somehow. He woke me up at five o’clock this morning. He’s added to his repertoire. He’s now giving me this creepy laugh.”

“
Did you call the police?”

She nodd
ed. “They told me to change the number again.”

A
shadow crossed his face. He nodded toward the outer hallway. “Your boyfriend is here.”

“
Ethan? What’s he doing here?” Grace set her coffee cup down on Kyle’s desk and walked out to the outer hall.

Kyle was
right. Ethan and two others were standing in front of Straker’s office door. Straker was shaking their hands. He looked pleased.

She felt Kyle stand behind her.
“I’ve never seen Straker smile like that before.”

“
I know,” she said suspiciously. “I wonder who died.”

Ethan
caught her eye. He broke with his group and walked over to her, grinning from ear to ear.

She felt
, more than saw, Kyle walk away.

He look
ed around before leaning down and kissing her.

“
Who are those people talking to Straker?”

He glanc
ed back to the group. Straker was slapping one on the back and laughing. “Colleagues. The man shaking your boss’ hand is a partner at my firm.”

“
What’s going on?”

Ethan
smiled. “I can’t say. I’m actually not involved in it. I just found out about it today and asked if I could tag along.”

“
Found out about what?”

“
You were asking for a miracle the other day, weren’t you?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Well, your prayers have just been answered.” He gently ran his hands up and down her arms. He bit his lip as he smiled. His smile must have been infectious, because Grace felt herself starting to smile with him. She thought he had never looked more handsome.

Ethan
leaned down and kissed her again. “I’ve got to go. Let’s meet for lunch. I’ve been playing detective—”

She grabbed his arms in excitement. “Did you find the picture?”

“I’ll bring it with me to lunch.” He looked over his shoulder. Straker and the other suits were heading for the elevators. “I better go.”

She nodd
ed, as she waved bye. Turning back to her office, she ran into Kyle.

“
Valerie just called. Conference room. Five minutes.”

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

Grace sat in her usual position. Kyle and Belle sat on either side of her. Those, who hadn’t jumped ship, were haunting their usual spots, except for Allen. Allen had jumped into Daniel’s position.

Apparently, in more ways than one, she thought
, as Louisa took Allen’s hand in hers and gripped it tightly.

The conference door open
ed and Straker stalked in with Valerie on his heels.

It was Valerie
, who captured Grace’s attention. She was beaming.

Everyone must have notic
ed because suddenly her coworkers were coming back to life. Even Harcourt opened his eyes and leaned forward in interest.

Straker sat down at the head of the table and glar
ed at the room. “Well, I have good news. Excellent news, actually.”

He paus
ed. Looking at each person in the room intently.

Everyone
looked at each other. A few began to smile in relief. No one said a thing.

Satisfi
ed that he had everyone’s attention he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My brother, Preston . . . died last night.”

Everyone lean
ed back in their chairs. The hopeful smiles that had begun to emerge began to fall away one by one. One of the girls from the toy store began to cry.

“
No. No.” He held up his hand. “It’s good news.”

They looked at him expectantly, wondering how Preston Straker’s death could possibly translate to good news.

“I hated him. Couldn’t stand him. I haven’t even spoken to him in over thirty years. He was a horrible man. A monster. He tried to run over me once. Good riddance, I say.”

Ellen stood up suddenly
, her entire body trembling. “I can’t take it, anymore. I have worked here for—”

Valerie stepp
ed forward and held up her hand. Her smile must have stopped Ellen, because she suddenly snapped her mouth shut and sat down. Valerie placed her hand on Straker’s shoulder. “Tell them the good news.”

“
I just did.”

She gripp
ed his shoulder tighter.

“
All right. All right. We’re solvent. Preston left me a substantial amount of money.”

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

Grace felt like dancing. Strange how someone else inheriting a large fortune should make her so happy, but she was.

She open
ed her door. Feeling more relieved than she had in days, she picked up her designs out of the trash and smoothed out the edges. Momentarily forgetting that a murderer was still out there and targeting her, she threw herself into her work. She didn’t realize Kyle had walked into her office, until she bumped into him when she took a step back from her design table.

Smiling, she hand
ed him a sheet of blank pages.

To her surprise, Kyle took the pages and quickly laid them on the table. Turning around he shut the door a touch to forcefully, causing the door to slam.

He crossed his arms and stood in front of her.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Did you know that Ethan was representing Straker’s brother?”

“
He wasn’t. One of the partners at the firm he works for represented him.”

“
That’s kind of convenient, isn’t it?”

“
He said he just found out about it this morning.”

“
Did it occur to you that he may be involved in Lily’s death? Did it occur to you that he may be lying to you?”

“
Don’t be insulting.” Grace sat on the stool next to the design table. “If he is, he’s not the only one.”

“
What does that mean?”

She swivel
ed around on the stool to face him. “How did you get into Straker’s office? The night Valerie was attacked.”

“
I told you. The door was unlocked.”

“
No, it wasn’t. Our friendly neighborhood Santa locked it himself. I watched him do it.”

He shook his head. He look
ed back at the door. “Your boyfriend got up there awfully quick that night.”

“
He was driving us home. He came upstairs to check on us. What were you doing up there?”

He didn’t answer.

“Besides, give me one reason why Ethan would kill Lily. He didn’t know her. He wouldn’t have been at the Dragon’s Lair if I hadn’t invited him.”

“
But his firm represents—”

“
So, what? He has no motive.”

He dropp
ed his head to his chest and sighed.

“
Come on, Kyle. You’re so certain he did it. Give me a motive. Think.”

He shook his head. He ran his hand over his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Holliday. I’m just tired. You’re right. He doesn’t have a motive,” he admitted reluctantly.

“
Right.” Angrily, she swiveled back around and faced the table.

His hands appeared on either side of her own
on the table. She felt him brush against her back, as he whispered in her ear. “Of course, that means that I don’t have a motive, either. I don’t know these people. I wasn’t even at the Dragon’s Lair the night Lily died, so why are you suddenly so suspicious of me?”

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

“All right.” Valerie dug through her filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. “Here it is.”

She walk
ed to the desk and opened the folder. Grace was sitting in the chair in front of Valerie’s desk. She leaned back in the chair and nervously looked out at the hall. Standing up, she leaned over the desk to take a better look.

“
He started working downstairs in the toy shop on November second.”

“
Three days after Lily died. What was he doing before that?”

Valerie lift
ed up the page and turned the folder around. “This is interesting. He was working as a paralegal.”

“
Really? What firm?”

“
Felix Hutchinson at WeSueYouRetire.com.”

“
I’ve never heard of him.”

“
Neither have I. You should ask Ethan, maybe he knows him.”

“
Anything else?”

Valerie shook her head, as she hand
ed the folder back to Grace. “It’s just your typical basic employment information. What do you hope to find?”

“
I don’t know,” she said, flipping through the application information. “Look at this. All of it is all so generic. It could apply to anyone.”

Valerie laugh
ed. “I have a full drawer of generic background information on everyone who works here. Yours is just as generic as his.”

Grace flipp
ed the folder back around. “We ask for emergency contact information, don’t we?”

Valerie took the file from her and flipp
ed to the last page. “Here it is. Ah . . . look at this.” She pointed to the contact information. “Felix Hutchinson. Cousin.”

“
He was working for his cousin. I wonder why he left. What about a background check?”

“
What about it? There isn’t one and before you ask, Straker’s not going to authorize it. It costs money.”

“
So, he has plenty of it now.”

“
Yes, and he’s bound and determined to keep all of it. I just asked him for a new stapler. He told me to use scotch tape.”

Grace took the folder back and began flipping through it, only stopp
ing when she came to Kyle’s thirty-day performance evaluation.

Valerie look
ed over Grace’s shoulder. “Oh nice. ‘ Should be considered a walking disaster area,’ ‘dangerous, approach with caution.’”

“
This is my favorite—‘widely considered a Doomsday machine.’” Grace shook her head. “Kyle’s got four references down here.” She handed the file back to Valerie. “Please? You take two. I’ll take the other two.”

Taking the file, Valerie let out a small groan. She walk
ed over to the copier and made a copy of the reference sheet. “I’ll take the first two. You can take the last.”

Grace quickly agre
ed. “When you’re done. Call me,” she said, walking out the door and to her office.

Kyle wasn’t at his desk or in her office. Just as well
, she thought, closing and locking the door. No chance of him overhearing. She walked to her desk and sat down.

Ten minutes later
, she hung up her phone and laid her head on her desk. She was about to walk back to Valerie’s office when the phone rang.

“Well, what did his references say?”
Valerie asked.

Grace sigh
ed. “Never heard of him. Did you have any luck?”

“
The second one never heard of him either, but Felix Hutchinson remembered him, eventually.”

“
Eventually?”

“
Yeah. When I first asked him if Kyle Drake had ever worked for him, he said he didn’t know any Kyle Drake. I was just about to hang up when he suddenly remembered his, apparently, entirely forgettable cousin and paralegal who worked for him over a year and that just quit a couple of months ago. Once he remembered, he wouldn’t shut up about him. He’s an excellent worker. He was so sorry to let him go. He provided a glowing recommendation before asking how often the Straker Toy Company has been sued and who is currently handling our legal representation.”