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So did she. Andrea squeezed his shoulder, then dropped her hand. “Did you offer Mindy another position in the organization?”
Troy crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, but she refused to take it. She said if she couldn’t work for me, she’d quit.”
Andrea imagined that wasn’t a conversation Troy would want to repeat, either. “I take it she was angry.”
“Very.” Troy paused. “Do you think she’s the Insider?”
Andrea felt the excitement sweeping over him. “She could be. And I think I know how to get her to admit to it.”
Troy smelled the potpourri as soon as he entered Mindy Sneal’s apartment Sunday afternoon. Her living room was over-the-top feminine. Frills, lace, pastels, and furniture he was afraid to sit on.
He cautiously lowered himself onto one of her spindly, padded armchairs. He braced his elbows on the chair’s carved maple arms. “Thanks for letting me stop by.”
Mindy made herself comfortable on her flowered pink sofa. She crossed her legs, smoothing the hem of her dark yellow skirt at her knee. “When you said it was about a possible job opportunity, how could I say no? As you know, I’m currently unemployed.”
The look in her eyes was more amused than accusing. Or maybe Troy was reading into it. “Actually, I think you may already have this job.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “What job is that?”
“It’s with the Horn. You’re the Insider.”
She didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. She didn’t protest. Mindy just smiled. “You said Gerry was the Insider.”
Troy searched her eyes. She was a cool one. “Gerry doesn’t know about my divorce.”
Mindy cocked her head to the left. Her red hair swung behind her shoulders. “What makes you think I do?”
“Andy said you told her I was divorced.”
“So you are sleeping with her.” Mindy’s eyes glittered. Her features hardened. Was it anger, jealousy, or both?
Troy ignored the blood pounding in his ears. “Did Gerry put you up to this?”
Mindy’s smile was forced. “Why are you always accusing Gerry?”
Troy stood. He couldn’t take another second in the spindly chair. Even Andrea’s secondhand furnishings were more comfortable than Mindy’s doll fixtures. “You couldn’t land an opportunity like that on your own. You don’t have the connections. No one knows you. You would’ve needed help.”
Her mask melted. Anger heated her eyes and her tone. “I didn’t need anyone’s help. They were excited to publish my copy.”
Troy stared down at his ex-administrative assistant. “You approached the Horn on your own?”
Mindy’s eyes widened with surprise and dismay. Her gaze shifted left, then right. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders falling with resignation. “Yes.”
Andrea had been right. He’d attacked Mindy’s ego and she’d spilled her guts. “Why?”
Mindy glared up at him. “I wanted to be with you. But you fired me.”
His puzzlement increased. “You quit.”
Mindy stood, closing in on him. “I worked for the franchise. Andy Benson’s a reporter. She’s the enemy. But you were more interested in her than me.”
Troy couldn’t make sense of Mindy’s answers. “You betrayed the franchise because you thought I was attracted to Andy?”
Mindy threw up her hands and spun away from him. “You were always talking about protecting the Monarchs’ image. But then you gave your precious Andy an exclusive claiming Gerry was going to move the Monarchs out of Brooklyn. Which of us committed a bigger betrayal?”
“Did Gerry convince you to do the blog?”
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