It didn’t seem that Chris held any warmth toward Dominique. “Why not?”
“Well, it’s not so much about the drive, but Ms. Sharp has made it pretty clear she doesn’t value my contribution to her firm.”
Amanda’s neck stiffened. There was a tinge of malice in his voice, but no wonder he wasn’t a fan of Dominique if she made him feel that way. “She said that?”
“She didn’t have tosayit. She told me that once she takes over the new firm, she will be assessing everyone’s positions within the company and deciding whether they will still have a job.”
“I’m sure she meant in general,” Trent said. “There would be employees on the other end as well.”
Chris shook his head. “No. I asked her when I should get my promotion to senior partner, and she looked me in the eye and said it wasn’t in the foreseeable future. I mean what a b—” He stopped talking and paled. “Don’t go thinking that I would… No, I never…”
Amanda wasn’t surprised that he’d rushed to his own defense, but it did little to sway her. “How did that make you feel? I mean you invested all those years in her company. You probably helped the bottom line.”
“Ididhelp it. My billings surpass the other junior lawyers. It’s my turn to climb the ranks.”
“Though it doesn’t seem that Ms. Sharp is convinced of that.” It was a hard reality check, but Amanda served it up, nonetheless.
Chris’s face shadowed. “You know what? It’s a good thing that I’m finally seeing her for the person she is.”
“And what’s that?” Trent’s finger hovered over histablet.
“She’s sharp, just like her name, but she’s also a shark. You turn your back on her for a second and she’ll bite your head off. I’ve lost all respect for her. And this acquisition is more like a hostile takeover than a friendly agreement.”
Amanda shifted and glanced at Trent. “What makes you say it was hostile?”
Chris shrugged. “I’m just basing that on her personality. There must always be something in it for her. She doesn’t have qualms about equality or fairness.”
“From the sounds of it, you’ve lost all respect for her since the announcement of the firm acquisition.”If not before…
“You could say that.”
“What would happen if Ms. Sharp were to die? Would the acquisition still go through?” She was striving to determine if retaliation for being denied advancement in his career would hold up as a motive. Though it was possible, regardless, that Chris could have had enough of Dominique’s undervaluing his contributions to the firm.
“That I don’t know, but ownership would pass on to the two senior partners, Bennie O’Neil, and Dalton McClain.”
“But if the deal didn’t go through, do you think the business would stay here?” she asked.
“I would suspect so. Both men live in town.”
So Dominique’s death could benefit Chris. Amanda remained quiet, and so did Trent. It took a few seconds for the impact to hit Chris.
“Oh, I see what you did there. You made me look like I’d want to kill her.”
“You did that for yourself.” She remained still as she watched him.
He met her gaze, his eyes cold. “Then ask for my alibis. I’ll have them. I didn’t kill anyone, and I didn’t shoot Ms. Sharp’s friend.”
Amanda stiffened. They hadn’t mentioned that much to Chris. “How do you know about him?”
He gave her a tight smile. “You don’t think everyone’s keeping quiet out there, do you? Word about you two and what’s going on in here is all that’s getting done today.”
All right then…“Did you know about Ms. Sharp’s last-minute business trip that took her to DC on Friday?” Amanda laid the bait to see what Chris might say.
“I think she ended up staying the weekend, and most of us around here knew that except maybe Bennie O’Neil. He was off last week.”
Yet O’Neil was the least suspect of everyone they spoke to. And since Chris knew Dominique wasn’t at home, why would he have sent a hit woman there? Though, it was possible he hadn’t stipulated time and location. Still, Amanda didn’t think he’d have the balls to hire a hit person to take out his boss or have strong enough motive. A lot of people hated their bosses but didn’t order their murder. “Well, thank you for your time.”
“Yep.” Chris got up and ambled out of the room.
