Cross muttered something unintelligible.
“What was that?” I asked.
“A witness has turned up.”
“A witness to what?”
“A black sedan was apparently tailing Sinclair shortly before impact. Looks like maybe it wasn’t an accident or suicide.”
“Meaning what?”
“Homicide.”
I walked briskly up Fifth Avenue toward the Advantage Consulting offices, weaving my way in and out of the sidewalk traffic—moms with strollers, well-dressed ladies on their way to overpriced four-course lunches, the late-morning dog walkers.
Looks like maybe not suicide or an accident,I texted Mark. This was at leastanupdate, for sure.
What do you mean?came Mark’s quick reply.
Bronxville PD says maybe Sinclair’s car was driven off the road. Doesn’t rule out a possible link to the bribery/blackmail. I’m checking that out now.
It also didn’t rule out Darden somehow being involved. After all, they were the ones who seemed so eager to use Doug’s death to their advantage. What if they’d been the ones to cause it? It was way too soon to suggest such a thing to Mark. I’d need some evidence first.
Okay, thanks. Good work. I’ll let Darden know.
I was a block away from Advantage when my phone rang. Vivienne Voxhall. I couldn’t ignore her any longer.
“Hi, Viv—”
“Where the fuck have you been?” she shouted. “Didn’t Mark tell you to call me back?”
I’d had enough. “Scream at me one more time andI’llfireyou.Got it?”
She took a loud, huffy breath.
“The situation is being handled,” I went on. “I’ve left word for theTimesreporter, but we need to tread lightly there. I want some ammunition of our own first. And I’ve got a couple decent leads on why Anton left his previous job. It appears that numerous women complained he was verbally abusive.” Unable to sleep, I’d finally had time to review the investigation file that had come in. “That’s not a justification for your having threatened homicide, but it’s the start of something that could balance the scales. I need to do some more digging.That’swhy I haven’t called you back—because I am working on it. What’s important right now is that you stay calm. If you do something rash, it will give Anton even more power than he already has.”
“I have power, too.” She sounded like a petulant child.
“In this particular situation, you do not, Vivienne. Not with the scrutiny surrounding the IPO—you can’t threaten to kill underlings, no matter how awful they are. You call HR and fire them, like a normal person.”
“You’re the one who’s supposed to be making this go away.”
“I’m the one helping youmanageit,” I said, correcting her. “To the best of my ability.”
“Fix this, Kat,” she said, her voice low. “Please.”
I breezed past the doorman at the Advantage Consulting building this time with a brisk stride and a confident wave.
I was determined to find out what had happened to Doug; once I had, I could then decide what to do with that information. Maybe that would be sharing it with Darden. Maybe it would be burying it forever. My instinct was still to protect Doug. So what if he’d lied about paying off Advantage? I understood, given his fractured relationship with his daughter, how he could have ended up there. But first I needed to know the truth, all of it.
“Oh!” the Advantage receptionist exclaimed when I burst in. “I’m sorry, you need an appointment.”
“I need to see Brian,” I said, making a beeline for his office before she could head me off.
“Oh, no you don’t!” she called after me. “You can’t do that!”
But I was already opening his door. Brian Carmichael was at his desk, on a phone call. He looked up, registering me. There was no warmhearted Montana boy in those cold eyes—the charm was still there in his voice, though, as he wrapped up his call. “Good to talk to you, too, Roger! And be sure to send my best to Lisa.”
