“You’re going to tell Daddy on me?” He feigned a pout and returned to his phone, scrolling until he found something and showed me a video. It was of me at the Christmas party.
“So what?” I asked as I watched a drunk me stumble into the very chair I was sitting in. As the video continued, I started to get flashbacks of the scene that would play on the screen in a few seconds. Somehow, I’d forgotten all about my drunken plan.
Sure enough, there I was, my hair tossed drunkenly to the side as I suggested to Grant that he make a video of me defiling Maggie’s new painting. He followed me around as I gathered scissors, a stapler, and many Sharpies from several desks. It ended with me ramming into the door hard because, fortunately, it was locked. The recording ended with Grant laughing so hard he tripped and fell backwards on his ass, being rather drunk himself.
“How would that look to our new boss? Especially now that Maggie has disappeared. How would the cops see it?” He raised an eyebrow, and I swat his phone away.
It wouldn’t look great, but also, I certainly didn’t want my new boss to see me acting like a drunken fool.
“I can’t believe you’re blackmailing me.” Why was I even entertaining this empty threat?
“Notblackmail. An insurance policy. Excuse me for wanting to make sure you don’t get me fired.” He slid back to his desk.
“Have you been holding on to that, waiting until the perfect moment that you could hold it over me?”
Grant once again rolled over to my side. “I like to watch it sometimes when I’m alone at night. I get into bed and make sure I have a box of tissues?—”
I smacked him on the chest. “Fuck off.”
“Oof. You’re feisty. Kate, if you ever need to release some of that tension, you know where to find me.” He rolled back one last time.
I decided to stop feeding the troll. There was no way he’d ever show that video. He wasn’t like that. Grant just knew exactlywhich buttons to push to get me riled up, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
But he seemed to be the only one taking a genuine interest in finding Maggie.How long might someone be missing without the police getting involved?
She didn’t live with or talk about any family—as far as what little information she’d shared at work. Unless she spoke to a friend or neighbor daily, it could be a few days. Was she dating someone casually? She had never brought a date to any of the company events, though she’d been in photos on social media with several big names. Yes, Istalkedfollowed her Instagram.
It wasn’t that I had much affection for Maggie. Like I’d said, we’d worked together for years and never even approached a non-working relationship. But I simply needed to believe someone would notice if I vanished too.
“Grant?” I muttered as I stared at my bright computer screen.
“You want to go knock on her door?” he asked, also without moving.
“Now?”
His chair scraped against the floor, keys jingling. That was a yes. I stood, slipping my purse over my shoulder as I looked him squarely in the eye.
Then I gave him a last warning. “Let me make this perfectly clear. You have nothing over me. The only reason I would never go to HR about your snooping in their files is because that information interests me just as much as it does you. And if I ever want torelease any tension…well, it won’t be you who will be taking care of that.”
It was obvious from the smug half-smile on his lips that the intended effect of bringing him down a peg did not land.
“I’ll drive,” he said and led the way to the elevator. I settled next to him as we waited for the door to open, and when it did, a mess of chestnut curls greeted us.
“Kate! Good, I wanted to talk to you.” Kaitlin Lafferty (and her sing-song voice) stepped out of the elevator. Grant put his hand in the doorway to hold the elevator.
I was going to feign a smile, but wondered why I’d bother with Kaitlin. “What about?”
She slowly slid a curl from her face and placed it behind her ear. “Colin Slade wanted to know if your team would be ready by tomorrow to present on the incoming accounts.”
That’s right. Kaitlin was his assistant now that the old VP was gone. What had happened to the old VP?Maybe HE had something to do with Maggie’s disappearance.
“I’m surprised this didn’t warrant an email or calendar invitation,” I said, stepping into the elevator. She frowned. “You can tell Colin we’ll be ready.”
For some reason, his name seemed to slide right out from my tongue to my lips with a smoothness that made me pause.
She put a hand on her hip. “I’ll see you there. Bye, Grant.” She walked toward the break room, her hips swaying widely from side to side as if she were auditioning for a perfume ad.
The doors closed as I wondered why the nameColin Sladehad made such an impression on me. I blinked a few times, dismissing the slight surge of excited anticipation.
