Double Down Read Online Free Page A

harm to his anatomy, he kept his hands off me, but that didn’t stop the verbal innuendos about what I was missing whenever he got close enough. A recommendation from Darryl almost certainly came with a price. However, Delgado would be lucky if Darryl remembered where he picked her up, let alone anything about her. It was unlikely he’d known her long, being more the one-night-stand kind of guy.
    Alan and I asked if Delgado had any other suspects or information that we could pass on to Tony. His eyes narrowed and he said, “It’s a little hard to figure out who killed her when I don’t even know who’s dead.” We took that as our cue to leave.
    We briefed Tony first. I told him about Monica and Darryl, and my theory about why corporate hadn’t done a background check. Tony pursed his lips, drummed his fingers on the desk, but kept his thoughts to himself. While he and Alan discussed how to keep a lid on publicity, I thought about calling and giving Darryl a heads up the police would be talking to him, for about a second. The moment passed. The man not only ran around on his wife, but he would walk over his own grandmother to get ahead. Part of me really hoped that Delgado would arrest him for the murder, so I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Except I couldn’t think of any reason why Darryl would care enough to dirty his hands, after all this time that Monica probably wasn’t even a blip on his radar.
    At nine, Tony briefed the other directors, telling them only that Monica had been killed, and so far, the police had no suspects. Alan left me to go back to security. I called Charlene to meet me for lunch. I wanted to hear more about Monica. Although I can comp a meal in any of the restaurants on property, I asked her to meet me at a nearby off-property one. I wanted privacy.
    I was sitting in a booth at the back when Charlene arrived. She’s petite, even with the five-inch heels she always wears, and can’t weigh more than 100 pounds. Next to her, I always feel like an Amazon. Today she wore dark gray slacks topped with a lighter gray silk blouse, and strappy red high heel sandals. Her dark red hair was short and spiked on top as usual. A good thing her husband, Evan, made lots of money as a divorce lawyer, because she could never afford the expensive clothes she always wore on the salary I paid her. Charlene was smart, funny, and extremely organized. I felt lucky to have her as both a secretary and a friend.
    Our waiter, suspiciously absent until now, followed her over to the table.
    She gave me a hug and then plopped down across from me, leaning back, her dark eyes studying me. I waited for the lecture about letting myself get too tired or stressed out, but apparently, I passed the eyeball test, because she just nodded and opened her menu. On the other hand, maybe she felt pressured by the waiter who never took his eyes off her and hovered over her right shoulder. “I’ll have the Cobb salad and a diet soda,” she told the waiter flashing him a brilliant smile.
    Famished, I ordered a pastrami and Swiss on rye, with a side of potato salad and, of course, a diet cola. Since this would probably be my only decent meal today, I refused to waste it on a salad. Once the waiter delivered the food and Charlene rewarded him with another smile, I got down to the inquisition. “Why does . . . did, everyone hate Monica?”
    “ Because she was a bitch,” she said while spooning the dressing over her salad.
    When she looked at me, I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything, having just taken a big bite of my sandwich.
    She went on. “Monica acted really nice in the beginning, but it was all an act. Before long, she started treating everyone like her personal servant. She'd asked them to pull a file for her and would they mind bringing her coffee as well. She’d ask anyone going out for lunch to bring her something back. Then conveniently, she’d be in the bathroom or out of the office when they returned,