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I looked over at Jenn, who was texting furiously into her phone. “How are we doing on that lunch date?” I asked, to mollify her.
“You mean, besides being egregiously late?” she said snippily. “I’m in touch with Canlis, and the Senator’s staff. They’ll wait. Just to get our stories straight, you’ve been stuck on the highway five hundred feet from the exit behind an accident. A real, documented accident. If we don’t hit any actual accidents or traffic jams, we should make the new time, by a hair.” She shot me a warning glare. “With no more stops.”
“I’ll save the next one for after lunch,” I assured her, and then tried calling Hugh Clemens, for the fourth time. Like all the other times, it went to voicemail.
“Hey, Clemens,” I said into the phone. “Ethan Masters again. We need to talk about what happened in the Fletchley Building. I’m guessing that someone very hardcore is breathing down your neck, but you need to find your balls and do the right thing. If you call me back, I’ll be easier on you when we meet. And we will meet. Later.”
Then I dialed the home number I’d hunted down for Julia, Hugh’s office manager, since so far, no one was answering at the business number.
“Hello?” Julia responded, her voice high and quavering.
“Julia, right?” I said. “This is Ethan Masters.”
“Ah…oh.” A panicked pause. “How can I help you?”
“Can you tell me where to find Hugh?”
“No, I can’t. I’m at home today. And I think he’s out of the office, too.”
“Yes, and probably halfway to Tokyo by now,” I said.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Her voice was squeaky and thin.
“Listen, Julia. Bad things happened yesterday, after the receptionist and I got into that elevator. Hugh knew something was going to happen. I think you knew it, too.”
“No! No, that is not true! I absolutely did not know anything about it! I was told to facilitate the meeting, and monitor the temp, and that is all!”
“What temp agency did you use?” I asked.
“Keystroke Temps. Please believe me. I had no idea—”
“Is Hugh in some kind of trouble?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said primly. “Mr. Clemens and I have only a professional relationship.”
“Fine. But if I get a sense that you were involved, I’ll make sure you go to prison right along with him. I have dozens of lawyers working for me. A whole floor of them. Like an army of sharks.”
“I told him I was uncomfortable with having that girl come in, and pretending there was a functioning company in that vacant space! But Hugh said to do it, or find another job! I didn’t know anything bad would happen to you! I swear to God!”
I let out a silent sigh. Bullying a stressed-out woman was depressing, whether she deserved it or not. “We’ll see,” I told her. “You have my number. If you think of any way to identify who got Hugh to organize yesterday’s hit, you would demonstrate goodwill by sharing it with me, which would be very wise on your part. Understand?”
“God, I wish I did know.” Her voice burbled with tears. “I would tell you in a heartbeat. I should have quit that job months ago.”
“Yeah, probably. Live and learn. Have a nice day, Julia.”
I hung up on her, searched the number for Keystroke Temps, and called them.
A perky young female voice answered. “Keystroke Temps, good morning! How can we help you today?’’
“Good morning. May I speak to whoever of your staff sent a woman by the name of Katrin Banner out on a job to Clemens and Associates yesterday, please?”
My question was met with dead silence, and then, a choked whisper. “Cynthia! It’s another one of those guys, calling about that girl from yesterday! Will you take it?”
There was an unintelligible high-pitched ranting voice in the background, and the call transferred to another phone with a click. “Who is this?” asked an older female voice, sharp and aggrieved.
“My name is Ethan Masters,” I said. “I was looking for information on—”
“I have absolutely nothing to say about that person! We never want to see her again, if she makes this kind of an impression on our clients! We were told to send somebody good-looking. Now the whole damn world is looking for her! Demanding her address, her social! It reflects very badly on us!”
