Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) (33 page)

“No. So, we think we’re placing the order with you, but it’s the bogus company that actually places the order with you. That means we cut checks to this bogus company for an extra thirty percent, then they cut a check to you for the correct amount. We get our parts, you get your money, and they keep the difference. They’re acting like a distributor we don’t know about, and no one suspects anything is going on.”

“It’s a sophisticated scheme. Where I see they went wrong is increasing the price by too much. It made you look into it. They got greedy.”

“I really appreciate your help, and your discretion.” Jade looked to Frank and Greg. “I’ll be bringing the police into this, but I don’t want to alert anyone at Synergy. Please communicate only with me and Detective Hawkins. I’ll leave my personal cell number. Don’t send me information via email or call me at my office number. Please send a copy of the invoices to Detective Hawkins at this fax number.”

Jade wrote down her cell number on the business card Detective Hawkins had given her. She’d ask Neal to bring her copies of the invoices; that way she could be sure there was a copy somewhere other than Synergy and she could investigate the problem along with the police.

Frank took the card Jade handed him. “I’ll see what I can find.”

Jade leaned back and sipped her water to wet her dry throat. Someone had been stealing from her grandmother. Someone she trusted. There were a limited number of people who could have entered the bogus company into the financial system. It would likely be someone in Purchasing or Accounts Payable, as it was a part of their normal job responsibilities. The list of people it could be was fairly small, but maybe that person wasn’t calling the shots. Maybe Patricia or one of her co-workers entered the new company without knowing it wasn’t legitimate. As soon as she got home, she’d call Detective Hawkins. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her. She couldn’t trust
anyone
at Synergy, including Bryce, until she found out who the culprit was.

“Are you all right, Jade?” Greg asked after Frank left.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to sit here for a few minutes. It’s hard to realize someone my grandmother trusted has been stealing from her and now from me. Everything suddenly makes sense.”

“How so?”

“Our sales have been steadily increasing, but our profits have been declining. None of the improvements we make seem to help. I think every dollar in profit has been stolen out from under us. I’m going to guess this has been going on for years.”

“My word,” Greg said. “I can honestly say I don’t know that anyone here would have caught it either. If there’s anything we can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“There is one thing. You have a lawyer by the name of Joshua Greenberg.”

“Yes.”

“Well, he’s been harassing me trying to get me to sell the company.”

Greg leaned back. “We asked him to reach out to you when Gloria passed away to see if you were interested in us acquiring the company. It wasn’t meant to harm you, only to give you options. I didn’t know he was continuing to pursue it.”

“He is. Can you ask him to stop?”

“Absolutely. If he weren’t on business travel on the West Coast, I’d call him in here now. I’m sure he misunderstood my intentions.”

“Or he’s involved in all of this. He seemed to know more than he should.”

“How so?”

“Were you aware that my company is having financial difficulty?”

“Not at all.”

“Well he knows all about it.”

Greg leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “I take this seriously, Jade. I can assure you that we’ll look into the invoices and Joshua’s behavior on our end and get back to you.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. No one steals from my grandmother, or me, and gets away with it.”

HE COULDN’T STAND IT.
This was risky, but he had to find out if Jade knew anything. Why else would she have flown to Johansson Tek?

He walked to the backyard of her condo, grateful there were no dogs out this time of night. With a rock, he smashed the sliding glass door and prepared to run if anyone heard him.

No alarm sounded, and no nosy neighbors opened their windows or doors. Good. Slowly, he reached in, careful not to cut himself on the broken glass. Leather gloves helped protect his hands, but the shards could still slice through it, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to bleed all over the place. He grasped the latch to unlock it, pushed open the door, and stopped breathing as more glass crashed to the floor.

Again, he waited. His heart pounded.

Did anyone hear?

No one stirred.

The sound of his shoes grinding glass into the wood floor sounded like a trumpet call to the cavalry. He stopped, his eyes darting around.

Someone must have heard that.

A strange screech echoed through the hallway.

He jumped and turned instinctively toward the sound.

He could see no one.

A movement caught his eye, and he tensed, then relaxed. It was only the cat. He breathed in deep to catch his breath as the animal scurried away.

Where am I?

The dining room.

A brief glance with the flashlight told him there was nothing he was interested in here. He stepped into the kitchen. A stack of papers on the counter caught his attention. Bills, an invitation to a wedding, a utility invoice, nothing work related. He opened the cabinets and drawers, finding one drawer Jade used to store paid bills.

With swift steps, he strode down the hallway, past the small bathroom, and into the second bedroom she’d set up as an office. He flipped through the papers scattered over the desk, nothing on Johansson Tek, or the others.

Why did you go to New York, Jade?

The desk drawers were locked.

What are you hiding?

He looked for a key, but couldn’t find one. Frustrated, he hurried back to the kitchen and grabbed the largest knife he could find. Using brute force, he chipped away at the wood around the lock and opened the center drawer, which freed the others. Quickly, he rifled through her file folders, all neatly labeled.

He didn’t find any new clues in Jade’s desk drawers. Financial reports lay all over the desk, but nothing stood out. He had covered his tracks well. There was no indication Jade knew anything about Johansson, and she’d never mentioned it.

So why go at the last minute? What did you stumble onto?

He left the office and moved into her bedroom. There were no papers in here. He rifled through her drawers and shoved jewelry into his pockets to make it look like a robbery. He glanced at the clock.
Shit!
He needed to get out of there. Jade would be arriving any minute.

He heard the jangle of a key being inserted in the front door.

Too late.

He grabbed the knife, switched off the flashlight, and positioned himself against the wall behind her bedroom door. He prayed Jade didn’t come directly into her room and silently cursed himself for not having a backup plan, a way to make her death look like an accident. He’d never killed anyone with his bare hands. He’d always had a way to distance himself from the actual moment of death.

His heart slammed in his chest like a sledgehammer. He tightened his grip on the knife, ready to strike.

JADE LOCKED THE DOOR
behind her and flipped on the hallway light. She flicked off her shoes and left her suitcase in the hallway to be put away in the morning. Dead on her feet, she dropped her purse on the dining room table, then pulled her cell phone out to put it on the charger. It was past midnight. She’d have to talk to Bryce in the morning. “I bet you’re hungry, Whiskers.” She looked around. Her little ball of fur hadn’t come running like usual. “Where are you?”

A sudden chill blew over her. She stopped when shards of glass caught her eye.

How did—

She froze.

Her eyes followed the blood smeared across the hardwood floor.

She whipped her head around, searching for the source. Was someone in her house? She followed the blood trail toward the kitchen.

A door creaked, and needles pricked the back of her neck. She jerked around.
Was that the bedroom door?

Her ragged breathing and frantic heartbeat were all she could hear.

Another creak sounded above her.

Is that normal?

The rustle of wind through the tree outside the broken glass door put her on edge.

A rattle in the kitchen made her jump. She put her hand to her thrashing heart. Just the ice machine in the freezer making more cubes.

With silent steps, and her back against the wall, she continued down the hallway. She’d never noticed all those strange sounds before. There were so many, each one elevating her fear.

The palms of her hands were sweating.

With caution, she peered around the corner into her kitchen. Whiskers was on the floor licking his paw. Jade rushed to him. Whiskers broke the deafening silence with a loud meow. “Shh,” she whispered.

Grabbing the phone, she pulled Whiskers into her arms and sat with her back to the cabinets. Her hand shook as she dialed.

“911. Please state your emergency.”

“I think I’m being robbed,” Jade whispered into the phone.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, did you say you were being robbed?”

“Yes.” She tried to say a little louder. Her head jerked at a sound down the hallway. “I think someone is here.”

Jade half-listened to the woman on the phone asking if she had the correct address while she strained to hear if someone was coming down the hallway. “Yes,” she whispered to the 911 operator.

“I’ve dispatched the police to your location. Please stay near the phone until they arrive.”

“How long?”

“Within ten minutes.”

Ten minutes?
Jade hung up.
I could be dead in ten minutes!
Frantically, she dialed a number she knew by heart.

“Hello.” His voice sounded groggy.

“Neal,” she whispered.

“Jade?”

“Someone’s in my house.”

“Did you call the police?”

“Yes.”

“Does the perp know you’re there?”

“I think so.”

“The police will be there soon. I just need to get some clothes on, and I’ll be on my way.”

“I’m scared.”

“Stay on the phone with me.”

“I hear someone coming.”

“Don’t talk, Jade. I don’t want him to hear you. Do you have a weapon? Press a button once for yes and twice for no.”

Jade pressed a button twice for no.
Unless Whiskers counts.
Hysteria threatened to bubble out of her.

A door creaked at the end of the hallway.

Her eyes widened. “I think he’s getting closer.” Jade’s voice shook so hard she wasn’t sure Neal would understand her.

“Dammit. Tell him you’re on the phone with the police and we’re a few minutes away. Say it loud, you want to scare him.”

“I—” Jade cleared her dry throat. “I have the police on the phone and they’re on their way. Take what you want and get out of here.”

Footsteps pounded down the hall and the front door opened.

Something dropped to the floor and rolled around.

Jade’s whole body jumped.

The front door closed.

She waited.

Nothing.

She listened.

Nothing.

“I think they left.” Jade breathed.

“Just stay where you are. Let the police make sure there’s no one else in there with you. I’m on my way.”

“WHERE IS SHE?”
Neal asked the officer who was standing in Jade’s doorway.

“She’s in the kitchen. The scene is secure and the CSI unit is on their way.”

Neal sped past him. The blood on the floor had his heart doing double time. Then he spotted Jade sitting at the kitchen table with a cat in her lap. “Jade, are you okay? Are you bleeding?” He sat in the chair next to her, looking for injuries, checking her eyes for signs of shock.

“I’m fine. It’s Whiskers. He stepped on the broken glass, and then I think the robber stepped in the blood.”