Chapter 31

Despite how I felt about seeing her alive and moving, she obviously didn't feel the same about me.

When the elevator doors opened and revealed Amy hovering over her in a wheel chair, she looked at me and scowled as if I'd said something offensive.

"Jessica! I'm so happy to see you alive and looking so well!" I said, smiling and walking up to her despite the bad looks she was giving me.

My headmistress always told us to kill people with kindness, and that's exactly what I intended to do.

"I told her she needed to stay home and get her strength back," Amy said. "But she insisted on coming in."

"To do work?" I said, horrified. I had lied about her looking well. She looked terrible. Exhausted, gaunt, and feeble on top of her anger and ... was it fear?

There was something else behind her expression that I couldn't read, and her scent was mixed with the after-effects of the hospital and medications.

"I needed to come in," she insisted.

"No job is worth your health," Amy objected.

"I just need to check something. I thought I left my wallet in my desk, but maybe it's back at the hospital, or back home."

"I can help you find it," Amy insisted.

"No!" The strength of her insistence surprised us both. "I know where it is now. Now that it's not here. I just wanted to be sure. Thank you, Amy."

I could see Amy didn't believe her. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps she was looking for the same thing I had been last night.

"Jessica," I ventured. "Did you see what happened to those donuts?"

"Why should've I?" she flared up again.

"Jessica, sweetie," Amy put out placating hands. "Calm down. Elena's right. We think those are what hurt you and it would be good to know for sure."

In the background Charles quietly put his head around the door frame, looking curiously out.

Jessica looked ready to shout or to cry. "I wish we could find them. Because then maybe we'd find fingerprints and then everyone would see that you're a gold-digging, manipulative bitch, Elena."

I felt like she'd slapped me in the face and felt my mouth drop open. All I'd ever tried to be was kind to Jessica and she was accusing me of being manipulative? She was the one out to get me from the beginning.

"Wow, Jessica, calm down," Amy said more sternly.

"Elena has been trying to get rid of me since the moment she saw me. She wants my position. She wants..."

"I am clearly upsetting you," I said, raising my hands. "I'll leave. But I just want to say that I don't like what you're implying about me trying to hurt you. I had nothing to do with those donuts."

"I'm going to tell everyone you tried to poison me, Elena," she said to my back as I walked toward Charles' office.

"Hold on," Charles was suddenly a tall, forceful presence in the room and all three of us went quiet.

He looked at Jessica both with severity and compassion. "What you're saying is libelous, Jessica."

She turned her face away and pouted like a child.

"And it's easily proven one way or the other and you could be in a whole lot of trouble if you're wrong."

Jessica suddenly looked terrified, but kept her eyes on the ground.

"Hey," Charles said, crouching next to her chair, his eyes boring into her face until she turned. The intensity of his gaze seemed to subdue her even further, and I saw tears began to well. "I know you're not happy about this change in the office."

I grabbed a tissue box and held it out. Charles saw it out of the corner of his eye and took it, holding it to Jessica. She pulled one and dabbed at the inner corners of her eyes.

"But I want you to know, I value you and I value what you do for me. No one can replace you."

She sniffled audibly now.

"You need to get better, and to do that you need to relax. No one will take your job and no one will ever be able to have your combination of skills and strengths. Do you believe me?"

She bit her lip. After a moment she nodded her head.

"Okay. Then I want you to go home, but in about twenty minutes, if you can hang out that long?"

She nodded again, looking down at her hands in her lap.

Despite what she'd said to me, my heart went out to her. She looked so distressed.

Charles picked up the phone on her desk and dialed out.

"Brian. Hey, I know you're on the front lobby desk right now, but do you have someone you can send up to show us the footage from yesterday morning here in the penthouse? Oh, great. If you can then even better. Thanks."

He hung up and looked at us standing around with wide eyes. "Brian is going to be here in a few minutes. We're going to see exactly what happened here yesterday morning."

He disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a sparkling water for Jessica. "Coffee Amy? Elena?"

"I'll help," I said as Amy nodded with thanks.

"I'll do that. You're the boss," I said, once we got into the kitchen and out of earshot.

"Despite what it may seem, the best bosses are servants to their company and employees," he muttered, trying to find the extra coffee pods. I let him flounder another twenty seconds and then opened the appropriate cupboard for him.

"I knew that was the right one," he said, smirking. "But thanks anyway."

"I'm so curious about all this," I said. "Why didn't I think of it earlier?"

"I did," Charles said, putting the coffee pods into the machine. "I actually viewed them last night and turned a copy over to the police this morning."

My eyes went wide. "Do you know who did it?"

He shook his head. "You'll see. But it wasn't you, obviously."

"Amy takes three sugars," I said.

"Right."

"And by the way, Elena, I know you think I don't know how Jessica's been treating you. But I have excellent hearing."

He turned and looked at me. "You've done the best you can and you haven't needed me to step in before now. But I thought I should before she seriously damages your reputation."

"Thank you," I said and stood rooted to the spot as he went out the door, emotion flooding through me.

All this time I'd thought he hadn't cared. But he had. He had seen, and he noticed I was doing the right thing.

And now he was finally standing up for me.

I took a deep breath. It didn't mean anything, I told myself, and I should just be grateful.

I squared my shoulders and walked out just as Brian the security guard was walking in.

"Hey, Elena," he gave me a friendly smile. "I'm sure glad you're okay, Ms. Sorrenson."

Jessica managed a weak smile back.

He looked at Charles. "Where do you want me?"

Charles pulled a chair out at Jessica's desk and Brian sat. He typed in a few passwords and soon the screen showed footage. We crowded around as he fast-forwarded.

Finally, around the time-marker 6:30 a.m., a hooded figure came in the main office through the stairwell door.

"You can see there, they're carrying a keycard. And see the way they're turning their head?" Brian pointed to the figure on the screen. "They know where the cameras are. See how they're intentionally holding their head that angle?"

He was right. The figure obviously knew what they were doing.

Brian pressed a few buttons and dragged the curser to later in the evening. we watched our own figures fly back and forth through the screen.

None of us, I noticed, moved like this hooded figure had.

After we'd all cleared out, around 7:45 p.m., the figure returned, picked up the box, and went back down the stairwell.

Brian sighed, freezing the image of the figure picking up the box.

"I don't like that they had a keycard. Of course, we're issuing new ones to everyone today. But still, it sure makes it look like an inside job."

Brian looked around at all of us. "I'm not accusing anyone here, but do any of you recognize anything? Have you seen something like this around at all? Either another employee or a visitor?"

"It looks male," Amy ventured. "But honestly, I'm just guessing and that's all I can get from this."

"Jessica?" Charles prompted.

She started, as if her mind had been elsewhere. "No," she said quickly. "Nothing."

His eyes went to me. They were intense and worried. "Elena, I have a bad feeling you've seen this figure somewhere before. I know I have."

The dread that had been growing the moment I saw the figure move suddenly dropped into my stomach. I felt slightly sick.

I nodded. I was pretty sure I'd seen this figure.

"Yes," I said quietly. "I think that's the person that's been following me."