“Yeah. Whitney,” Becky said.
“She got the special that night,” Don said. “She never gets the special. You know her?”
“Not really. Her parents bought some of my paintings.” Matthew knew she looked familiar when Mrs. Winters introduced them. How had he not put it together?
“You want dinner?” Don asked.
“Maybe later. Thank you for the information,” Matthew said. “I’m going to see if she’s still at the office.”
“I can almost guarantee she is,” Becky said. “She’s always coming down here late for dinner. She must really love that job.”
“Occupational hazard, I guess. I know how that is,” Matthew said. “Thanks. I want to see if I can get this bracelet back to herbefore I lose it. Thanks again for the information. I appreciate it.” How crazy was that? Skip would never believe this turn of events.
He walked down the block wondering what the odds were that the rescued woman’s mother would be the big buyer at the gallery the same night of the storm. And on top of that, Mrs. Winters scheduling a meeting after hours at the office and waltzing him right into her office, and neither of them realizing the connection?
Million to one. Had to be.
Matthew turned and walked backward at the second block, taking a moment to see how the mural was coming together from this angle. His project was about equal distance from The Wrap and the law offices. It looked good. He was happy with the personal touches that Cammy had added too. It turned out she had a real natural talent for perspective, using subtle color changes and texture to make it seem as if you could walk right into the picture.
Nice work, Cammy.Discovering new talent was almost as satisfying as the painting.
Matthew stopped in front of Barron, Winters & Wall. There were no hours posted on the door, so he tried the heavy, ornate brass handle, and to his surprise, it was still unlocked.
He stepped inside. With it being so late, it felt like he was trespassing. The door closed behind him with a loud whoosh. Most of the offices were dim, but off the lobby to the right, a light was still on. He was pretty sure that was where he’d met Whitney Winters the other night.
“Hello?” he called out and waited.
When no one responded, Matthew walked toward the office with the lights on.
He patted his pocket, making sure the bracelet was still there.Do I lead with the bracelet, or that we had met before the introduction?
A flurry of nerves hit him as he got closer. Multiple voices came from the office.
If she was in a meeting, it might not be the best time to do this.
He hesitated outside the door. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it wasn’t like they were whispering.
“People are miming to Kally’s audio. What the heck?”
“These are copycat videos,” someone else said.
“There has to be a way to stop them. Can we call it slander?”
“No. They haven’t said a thing that isn’t true?—”
Matthew couldn’t be sure if there were two or three people speaking.
“We can’t deny that at least four of those couples were our clients.”
“And the phone was blowing up all day long. I could barely handle the calls. I still have a stack of messages to return.”
“One caller asked what it would take to switch attorneys mid-divorce. Can you imagine if our competitors caught wind of this? They’ll think we’re stealing their clients.”
Matthew finally made out there were three distinctive voices, but none of the conversation made any sense.
The longer he stood there, the more awkward it would get. He had two choices. To bolt, which would be horrible if they walked out while he took flight or knock and announce himself.
He took a step forward and lightly knocked on the open door.
