Page 90 of Indecent Obsession
She rolls her eyes but backs into her apartment and gestures for us to come in. It’s a small one-bedroom apartment but well furnished, probably six hundred square feet. Her leather suitcase, open on the floor, is RIMOWA. There are a couple pairs of heels near the door that I recognize as Manolo Blahniks.
Who is this woman? An associate probably doesn’t get paid enough to afford this apartment, expensive luggage, and shoes on her salary alone.
Maybe she has wealthy parents. She leads us into the living room and curls up on the end of the couch, pulling a blanket over herself. She’s still studying both of us.
Dante sits in one chair and I take the other. I can’t afford to get sick. Those guys wouldn’t let Sara nurse me back to health.
“Tom was working on a new client when you left for vacation.” Dante crosses his ankle over his knee.
“Three new clients. Am I in trouble? Because Tom told me to keep the names out of the time billing system for now, but I billed my time correctly to the appropriate clients.” Beth smooths her hands over the blanket, avoiding our eyes.
Does she not know about Tom’s absence?
“How was your cruise? Was it a long one?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow on me, like she still doesn’t trust me. “Ten days. It was okay, except I got sick on the last day.”
She pulls a tissue out of the box and wipes her nose. That would be before Tom went missing. Which means whatever sent him running happened after she left.
Dante clears his throat and pulls out his phone. “Can you provide me with the clients’ names? Tom is also under the weather, and we need to follow up on some issues that have come up.”
She sneezes.
“Bless you,” I say.
She smiles my way before looking at Dante. “Why don’t you ask Tom?”
She has a point. I lean back in my chair and smile at Dante’s obvious displeasure at having to explain himself.
“I would expect, since you work with him closely, you’d know how Tom is. He’s off somewhere with his phone off until he feels better.” Dante’s voice is soothing and I can see her hackles relax with every word. “Unfortunately, you two are the only ones who know about these new clients of his.”
“He wanted to make sure they were good fits before officially putting them in the system.” Beth gives me a tight smile. “They’re fairly large clients. Galvin Banking Group, Casino Caper, and Edge Enterprises.”
I’ve heard of Casino Caper. I’m confident it’s a gambling app. Edge Enterprises sounds familiar, but I can’t place it right now.
“Do you have access to their files?” Dante asks.
“Don’t you?” Beth coughs. Her doorbell rings. “Excuse me.”
I wait until she buzzes up what I assume is her soup. Which is smart because if she talked to the delivery guy, he might ask her to come down to avoid the four flights of stairs. I know I would have preferred to skip them.
When the door opens, I lean toward Dante. “Don’t you think we should go? You’ve got some information, and the girl hasn’t been kidnapped or left the country.”
Dante sighs. His attention is fixed on Beth, but he gives me a subtle nod.
When Beth walks over with her soup, Dante stands. I rise with him.
“We’ll let you get back to your soup. When do you think you’ll be well enough to be in the office?” Dante is stiff.
She sits down and sets the soup on the end table. “I should be good tomorrow or the next day. My fever finally broke last night.”
He nods. “Feel better.”
We head to the door.
“Dante?”
He pauses with his hand on the door and we both turn to face her.
