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Brick didn’t give a damn if Lana saw him talking to Kaitlynn, and in return, Lana never told him any of the cruel things she did to Kaitlynn, which meant he’d never been able to intercept and foil any wrongdoing, as I’d managed to do a handful of times.
In return, Kaitlynn smiled openly at Brick and relaxed whenever he was around. She only went tense and timid when she saw me.
Refusing to feel guilty about that, but experiencing an echo of regret anyway, I lifted the cookie in thanks and turned away, needing to put some space between myself and the yellow Power Ranger. Thinking this was as good a time as any to start my true mission for the evening, I started toward the doors that led from the ballroom, only to be waylaid by one of my employees who was dressed as a provocative Minnie Mouse.
“Mr. Carmichael,” she said in such a respectful way that I knew she had nothing salacious in mind. I wasn’t like Brick; I didn’t diddle with anyone from work, but it was still kind of depressing that someone still considered me boring and staid enough to discuss business with at a Halloween party.
I lifted a hand, cutting her off. “Can it wait until Monday?”
“But I just wanted to make sure you received my design. I sent it—”
“I did. And we’ll discuss it Monday,
” I reiterated. “Have a good evening now.” I moved past her, rubbing at the spot at the center of my forehead.
I’d stayed long enough to be seen. It was time to complete objective number two for the evening.
As I started from the room, I unconsciously glanced around for the yellow Power Ranger. She was gone, but Brick was off flirting with Sabelle from the Belts department, which confirmed my suspicions even more that he’d brought our stepsister as his date, otherwise he’d be panting after the Power Ranger herself right now, not Sabelle.
In the hallway, I turned left.
After Arthur died, Lana had transformed the largest conference room on the first floor into her new office. Since she hated stairs and elevators, she’d abandoned the CEO office on the third floor for some prime ground-level real estate. So I only had to wander down that first hall and turn right into a darkened corridor before I came to the entrance that led into her private sanctum.
Glancing behind me to make sure no one else was about, I reached for the door handle and found it unlocked.
Perfect.
Except as soon as I pushed my way inside, I paused in the doorway when I found the light on in the outer office where Lana’s secretary, Shyla, kept her desk.
Shit. Lana wasn’t here, was she?
No. Lana would asphyxiate herself before showing her face anywhere on the property while Nash was throwing his infamous Halloween bash. That was why I’d chosen tonight to search her office. If Lana happened to find anything missing—like say her deceased husband’s true will—she’d have a hell of a time tracking down the thief. With the party in progress, the front doors were open and no one would be using their keycard to gain entrance after hours. She wouldn’t be able to check the log to see who’d gone in or out of the building.
But why was the light on in here?
Maybe Shyla was around? Or Bruno had left it on during a trash-emptying round? If I ran into either of them, I’d just say I left something on Lana’s desk; they’d believe me. Then I’d abort the mission. Until then, I was going to go as far as I could with my search.
Feeling as if time was of the essence, even though I was sure the party would go on for hours, I hurried to the door that led into Lana’s office. Once inside, I flipped on the light, figuring if the outer office light was on, then it wouldn’t hurt to turn this light on as well. Besides, if I was caught now, I’d look more suspicious nosing around in the dark.
I tried her filing cabinets first, opening all four drawers and skimming over the file tabs. Then I turned to her desk. Fastidious when it came to paperwork, Lana had nothing left out and exposed on top. I moved behind it and tugged on the first drawer.
Locked.
Not a problem. I’d learned to pick cheap locks like this before I was twelve. Lana always thought she was so clever whenever she took something away from Brick and me, then locked it away in a desk. We used to have competitions over who could jimmy a lock faster.
I was still the reigning champion.
With a little help from two paper clips, I was sliding the drawer open within fifteen seconds. The sight of paper—official-looking documents—caused my heart to leap with excitement. Would it be this easy? The first locked drawer I came across, and boom—there was the proof I needed?
Nope.
Inside lay a heap of boring, legitimate JFI business. Though I did pause long enough to make sure it was actually authentic and not embezzlement, money laundering, racketeering, or any other white-collar crime, I shut the drawer a minute later, re-locked it, and started on the next. At the third drawer, I began to lose a little hope, which ratcheted up the desperation a notch. After learning Fin Tin was alive, everything seemed to jolt into hyper speed. I wanted the truth now.
“Dammit. Where the hell is it?”
By the fourth and bottom drawer, I was no longer searching neatly through the stacks. I could taste vengeance right there on the tip of my tongue. She had to keep it here at the office. She was just vain and arrogant enough to hide the truth from everyone right under their noses. I swear, Arthur’s real will was just whispering my name, trying to tell me where it was.
When a gasp came from the doorway, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
