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Who could’ve known that she’d find her life here? That nothing she’d achieved or even dreamed of in her old life came close to what she now had? Celia was feeling pretty light on her feet by the time she pulled into the parking lot and turned the engine off.
She looked down at her phone as she made her way towards the building. Dr. Myers had given her a list of the chemicals he’d found in Ryan’s system, chemicals that he claimed were part of some ancient aphrodisiac that had been spiked for lack of a better word to turn it into the drug he’d found in the man’s system.
Since she wasn’t familiar with any of the scientific words, she’d made a list so as not to look like a complete fool when talking to these people. Her first surprise when she met the CEO was that it was a woman and not a man like she’d first expected. The second was the woman’s age, she couldn’t be much older than Celia herself, and the tall blonde beauty didn’t look like she belonged anywhere but on a catwalk.
The sting of jealousy was new, but Celia couldn’t help it. At some point in the last few hours, her Riley had spoken to this bombshell. Had they made small talk? How close are they? Have they ever…? Celia cut her thoughts off when she realized where they were going. The woman’s welcoming smile and outstretched hand only made her feel like more of a fool for her inner thoughts.
“You must be Detective Sparks; I’m Jasmine Shepherd; Riley said you’d be coming; I’m on a bit of a tight schedule, but I told him I would fit you in as a favor to him. So how can I help you, Detective?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, if you’re busy, I can talk to a subordinate that’s no problem.”
The other woman waved her hand dismissively, “nonsense; I’m already here. Why don’t you come on through to my office, and you can tell me what it is that you want to know.” Celia followed the woman trying not to resent her tight ass that looked like she worked out every day for hours on end or the way her hair flowed perfectly around her shoulders.
She was tempted to run her hands through her much more unruly darker curls that had been tossed all over the place by the wind. It was silly, but she couldn’t help wondering why Riley would want to be with her if he knew someone like this one? There were no visible wedding rings, but maybe the other woman was in a committed relationship.
What the hell are you thinking about? She scolded herself, reminding herself that Riley already had one crazy ex. This was a new emotion for her, and this was entirely the wrong place and time for it to rear its head, but Celia was proud of herself for holding it together and not giving anything away.
Once in the office, which looked more suited to a New York high-rise than the quaint little town, she took the offered seat across from Jasmine’s desk and tried not to stare at all the certificates and degrees that graced the walls. There were pictures of Jasmine with horses, some of them obvious competitions from earlier years, and more recent ones of the beautiful young woman at some gala with other bigwigs.
Celia was feeling way frumpy in her linen slacks with the cotton button-down, which was basically her work uniform. Compared to the designer suit the other woman wore, she felt like a thrift store reject. Thankfully her voice was sure and sound when she began her questioning.
“I’m working on a case that may involve your company. Do any of these things sound familiar to you? Noracetildenafil, acetildenafil…” Celia read off the list from her phone with the names that didn’t exactly roll off her tongue.
“Let me see that; where did you get that?” Jasmine held out her hand, and Celia passed her the phone after a second’s thought.
“This is classified information. This patent isn’t cleared as yet and isn’t expected to be on the market for a while yet. How did you get this?”
“As I said, it showed up in a case I’m working on.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. Are you telling me that one of my scientists took this offsite and used it to harm someone?” In the face of the other woman’s absolute anger, Celia saw her in a new light. Gone was the air of geniality to be replaced by what can only be described as a hardnosed no-nonsense businesswoman. No wonder she was in charge at her age.
“I’m not at liberty to answer that right now, but I do have a warrant for a list of all your employees.” Jasmine fired up her PC and started tapping away at the keys. “You don’t need one; I’ll get it for you. Do you know what that is, what all those scientific names you read off means?”
