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“I wanted Lillian to think I believed her. I didn’t know why she wasn’t telling us the truth.” He shrugged. “I thought maybe she’d had dinner with a gentleman and was embarrassed to say.”
“Then this person, whoever he was, had all night to search her house and stack up what he wanted to take. Probably didn’t take long to toss things into a car.”
“Especially if he had a helper.”
I nodded with a frown. “On the outside, waiting.”
“Exactly.”
We reached his car and he opened my door. “I might make a detective out of you yet,” he said, tapping the end of my nose.
That simple touch sent tiny electrical volts through my body. And, as much as I disliked my body’s betrayal, it also sent a shiver down my spine.
He drove me back to my office, neither of us speaking much. I was thinking about who might have been in the house. I had no idea what Zack was thinking. After a quick glance over at his stoic face, I decided he would be killer at poker.
When he pulled into the circle drive in front of my building, I said, “Thanks. I’m glad I got to see Lillian. Don’t bother walking me up. I’m good.”
Before I could make my escape, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist. I turned back, my forehead furrowed. “Did I forget something?” I asked
“One day in the very near future, we will talk about that night. I will want to know why you left like you did.”
Six
My heart was still racing as I stepped off the elevator. Was his statement a warning? A threat? And what was there to say about the way I’d snuck off like a thief in the night? It had happened. It was in the past. What else was there? We’d been young and foolish.
Before I could expend too much mental exertion on that question, another came into view. What was going on in my office?
As I neared, I couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across my face. A sheet of paper had been taped over my nameplate, Andrea Carmichael, CEO. The paper now identified my office as, “Baxter’s Play Pen. Hours by Appointment Only.”
From my office, the sounds of female voices and giggles echoed into the hall. Since we were the only inhabitants of this level, the noise wouldn’t bother any of the businesses on the lower floors, but I did wonder what was going on.
When the office had been constructed, the primary office—mine—had had an outer office—Robin’s—designed for the CEO’s assistant. There was a door between our offices and a door that led from Robin’s office to the hall. The outer door to Robin’s office was open. Chairs dragged from other staff offices filled Robin’s area. A baby gate had been set up across the door.
I stepped up to the door and stopped by the gate. “Well, looks like I missed a party.”
Robin looked up with a grin. “Not my fault. I swear.” She raised her hand as though swearing-in for legal testimony. “Baxter sent out a companywide email inviting everyone to drop by to meet him.” She shrugged. “What could I do?”
I chuckled. “What indeed? Where is the little troublemaker?”
“Over here,” Miranda from accounting said.
I looked over and shook my head. Baxter was stretched across her lap, four legs in the air while Miranda rubbed his belly. “Lord. Lillian will have her hands full with him when you ladies get done.”
I moved the gate and stepped into the office. At my entrance, ten women stood, collected their lunch debris, and began rolling their chairs back to their offices. Miranda passed Baxter back into Robin’s outstretched hands.
“Don’t leave on my account,” I said to the group.
“They aren’t. We were getting ready to break up before you got here.”
“I’ll be back at two for Baxter,” Karen from legal said. She nuzzled Baxter’s nose. “See you then, honey.”
I looked at Robin with a questioning expression.
“Oh, they all volunteered to help walk Baxter while he’s here.” She pointed to a piece of notebook paper on her desk with names and times written in ink and then shrugged. “They made a schedule so everyone gets a turn taking him outside.”
“They don’t have to do that,” I protested. “I didn’t bring him here to make more work for everyone.” I felt guilty that I was imposing on my staff like that.
My assistant laughed. “I had to draw the line at sharing him in their offices—so, no. He isn’t a problem, are you, honey?” Baxter licked her nose. “He agrees. He’s no problem and insists on coming to work with you every day.”
