Not Quite Perfect
Page 78

“Our secretaries talk.”
“Yes . . . she got the monkey.” What a brilliant idea that had been.
The words she’d used in her message replayed in his head and his smile slowly fell.
Glen opened his message center again and listened for the forth time. Between the flowers, the monkey, and the soup, you’re making me quite spoiled. Thank you for all of it.
“What flowers?”
“Talking to yourself again.”
Glen waved his phone in the air. “Mary said thanks for the flowers, the monkey, and the soup.”
Jason shrugged. “And?”
“I didn’t send her flowers or soup.” The hair on the nape of his neck stood up.
“Maybe Dakota did. She’s been sick. People send flowers when people are sick.”
Logical. “Wouldn’t Dakota leave a card?”
“I would think.”
“Mary thought I’d sent them.”
“You’re the man in her life. It’s safe to assume if she got anything from an admirer or even a friend without a card, she’d probably believe it was from you. Call her.”
Glen glanced at his watch. “It’s two in the morning there.”
“Then call her in the morning.”
He did . . . and the phone went to voice mail. “I’m home. Your message came through last night. No, you’re not the only one. I miss you too much. I’m not happy to hear about your client, or his wife. I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about this weekend. I thought the monkey was a stroke of brilliance. As for the flowers and soup, I’d love to take credit, but I didn’t send flowers. I hope the soup was in a sealed can. Damn, saying that out loud makes me worry that it wasn’t. Call when you get this message. Don’t worry about waking me. I miss you, Mary.”
There were squad cars outside her office building when Mary arrived.
“What now?”
She walked into the building to find three men and one woman in uniform standing outside her office door.
The door to the financial firm across the hall was open. The secretary pointed at Mary as she walked up.
“What happened now?”
“Miss Kildare?”
“That’s me.” Mary glanced around the policemen and noticed a mess of glass on the floor of her office.
“It appears that someone threw a rock through your office window last night.”
She pushed past him to look at the damage. Luckily the treated glass kept the entire window from shattering, but whoever had done this had made sure they had a couple of handfuls of rocks. A half a dozen holes the size of her fist had taken out the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“We attempted to reach you before you arrived.”
Mary covered a cough with her forearm. “Anything other than rocks inside?” She glanced around the small space, wondered if the property owner was responsible for the glass. Her pocketbook couldn’t take much more.
“One of the rocks had the word bitch on it.”
The Golfs. Could be Nina, maybe Jacob . . . Mary would bet money the phone calls the night before and the rocks in the window were the work of the same people.
“Is Officer Taylor on today?”
“Dennis?”
“I didn’t catch his first name. He’s been working on my case.”
Mary dropped her purse on her desk as the glass beneath her feet embedded further in the carpet.
The officer used her office phone and handed it to her once Officer Taylor was on the line.
“You can’t catch a break,” he said.
“Broken glass, a rock with that special word on it.” Mary saw the audience outside her office door. “The wife of the man you had in this week gave me an unpleasant call yesterday. Said a few things that make me think this is her.”
“Mrs. Golf?”
“Yes. Then my phones rang all night until I finally turned them off.”
“She called all night?”
“I’m not sure it was her. The caller breathed into the phone. Reminded me of my prom date working up the nerve to ask me out.”
“Put Officer Murray on the phone,” Officer Taylor told her.
Mary handed the phone back over, looked again at her feet. “Can I clean this up?”
The cop nodded and stepped out of the office.
She found a utility closet down the hall and brought back a broom and dustpan. She was bent over one of the chairs when her first client showed up. “Looks like we should reschedule.”
Mary glanced up to find the female half of a new couple she’d been seeing. This would be the second time she had to put them off.
“I’m sorry. I’m having a bit of a domestic issue right now.”
Her client looked at the mess. “You can say that again.”
Officer Murray walked around her client, handed the phone over. “We have a few questions.”
Her client backed out of the office. “I’ll call.”
Mary knew she’d never see the woman again.
Reports were taken, names and times from the previous night’s phone calls were written down. The rocks inside the office were put in evidence bags, and Mary was left with a mess and unexpected ventilation in her space.
The police filed out of the office, leaving silence in their wake.
The secretary from next door poked her head inside. “You okay?”
Mary moaned. “I’m having a really shitty week.”
“Looks like it.”