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“Jace,” I said. “Have you seen the clothes that were in my office?”
“Hmmm.” He didn’t look up from his work. “Oh, yeah. I think the intern said something about borrowing the mannequins.”
That sent us off and down another floor. Genny burst into the intern space, me following at a more sedate pace, and called out for Rylee. Eleven owlish faces looked back at us, but none of them were hers.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Genevieve snapped. “Is everyone out sick?”
“Gen, look. The mannequins are over there by her station.” I crossed the room, taking the chance to see her creations in thread and cotton. I could tell by the colors that the outfits I was looking at were meant for Shonda. “She’s probably just late coming back from lunch.”
Rylee chose that moment to walk in with coffee and the remains of her muffin. Seemed Dale had other favorites he never told me about.
She beamed. “Hey, Mackenzie.”
“Hey, Rylee. We’re looking for—”
“Where are the clothes that were on these mannequins?” Genny sliced in.
“Oh. They looked like they were done and I needed the mannequins. Zoe said she’d move them to the Closet with the pieces she just finished.”
This information sent us back up the stairs. Zoe was in there waiting for us on the second trip. She leaned against the windowsill, chatting with Madison.
“Zoe, did you put the clothes that were in my office into the Closet?” I asked.
“Yes.” She flicked between me and Genny. “Was I not supposed to? I finished two outfits last night. Mr. Hollywell told me nothing gets approved for the Johnsons unless he gives the okay. I asked him to take a look, and he said to bring what you made for Anthony Johnson, so he could approve them at one time.”
My teeth gritted. I gave Hollywell too much credit too soon. This guy was going to micro-manage and push in on my authority whenever it suited him.
“Thank you, Zoe. Where in the Closet did you put them?”
“Row D-Three. The shipping rack,” she said. “I took care of labeling, prepping, and putting them in garment bags.”
“Thanks again,” I replied. “I—”
“Row D-Three?” Lyla stepped out from behind her desk, mouth turned down. “That’s funny. I was just down there with Brielle, hanging up some more clothes that are going out on Friday, and there was nothing else on the rack.”
Genny advanced on her. “What are you saying?”
She shrugged, eyes huge. “I’m saying I don’t know where the Johnsons’ clothes are, but they’re not in the Closet.” Lyla gasped. “Oh no. You don’t think someone stole them, do you?”
“We had a problem with that a couple months ago,” Skylar spoke up. “Dresses were stolen from the Closet. You don’t think—”
“The clothes weren’t stolen,” I said, though I narrowed on Lyla. “I’m sure they are down there. Lyla just mistook the rack she was looking at.”
“Hmm, nope. D-Three—just like Zoe said.”
I didn’t bother responding to her. Gen and I hurried to the Closet and raced through the maze-like fashion paradise to the shipping rack. The only garment bags hanging on the metal rod were Brielle’s creations.
“I’m going to kill her,” Genny hissed, whirling around.
“Wait, Gen. You can believe if Lyla did this, she’ll have all her friends backing up that she only went in the Closet with Brielle and didn’t lay a finger on them while they were down here. We don’t have to go off on her,” I said. “Just finding them stuffed in her desk or trunk is enough to get her fired. Lyla’s finally gone too far in trying to embarrass me.”
“Good. Then, you take her desk and I’ll take the car.”
Genny took off in one direction and I went the other, finding myself back in the junior designer’s room. My skin prickled walking past Lyla’s grin. “Zoe. Jace, come with me.”
“Excuse me. Where are you going?” Lyla trailed us out the door. “If this is about the Johnsons, then I should be included. We’re all on the same team.”
I ignored her. “The clothes are missing from the Closet.”
“What?” Zoe cried. “They can’t be. I put them down there an hour ago.”
“They’re not in there now. Let’s hope they were misplaced and we find them soon. If they were stolen...” My gaze drifted to Lyla. “I feel bad for that person, because they will be found and fired.”
“Damn fucking right they will,” Zoe growled. “I pulled two all-nighters to finish those outfits. Vance said my overskirt outfit was fit for the catalog. Once people saw it on Ava Johnson, orders would go through the roof.”
“Grab security and search,” I said. “They’re serious about this kind of thing, so they’ll let you look everywhere.”
Lyla just smiled at me. “Right away, boss.”
Zoe and Jace raced off with Lyla strolling casually behind. When they turned the corner, I spun around and marched straight up to her desk. Her crew fussed and shouted at me. Brielle even grabbed my arm. I shook her off, ready to smack her if she tried again.
