Page 98 of Hard Hitter
“Something wrong?” Georgia asked.
“There’s no schedule for me listed—no yoga class and no massage appointments. But there’s a meeting in the C-suite.”
“They’re just looking after you. No need to panic.”
When they walked into the offices, Rebecca looked up from her desk. “It’s about time you girls made it into work. Which one of you brought me a cookie?”
Georgia’s eyes went wide. “Youspiedon us? You tracked our Katt Phones?”
Becca pointed at Ari. “Hers is on the top security setting right now, so the GPS is open in a window on my desktop. I saw two blue dots having pastries while I was alone here, toiling at my desk.”
With a frown, Georgia pulled a paper sack out of her purse. “Here. This is for you. Oatmeal raisin.”
Becca’s pierced eyebrow hiked higher. “That’s your favorite.”
“No kidding. But take it because I love you. And no more questions.” Georgia turned on her heel and went into the office suites.
“So,” Ari asked, feeling a little uneasy. “What’s this meeting where I’m needed?” The club wouldn’tfireher this morning, would they? God knows she’d been the world’s most bothersome employee these past few weeks. But even if they’d had enough of her, it was bad form to fire her on the same morning that police were performing a murder investigation in her home.
“It’s with the private investigator,” Becca whispered. “Jay’s coming in to share the findings of the investigation.”
“Uh...” Ari felt her stomach roll. She’d been successful all morning at trying not to think of Vince’s death. Until now. “Isn’t it a little late to hear his findings? I’m not worried about Vince anymore.”
Becca shrugged. “I don’t know, honey, because Hugh wanted you to hear this. And he wouldn’t waste your time, today of all days.”
Twenty minutes later Ari sat fidgeting in the conference room when a woman in khaki cargo pants, Chuck Taylor sneakers, and a blue sweatshirt walked in. “Hi. I’m Jay,” the woman said, offering a hand for Ari to shake.
It took Ari an extra beat to reciprocate, because she was surprised to find that the PI was a woman.
“I know,” the investigator said with a cheerful grin. “You were expecting a man.”
“It’s just... your name?” she stammered. But that wasn’t quite the truth. Ari felt a wash of shame. Here she was, doing a job that was usually held by a man in the NHL, and her idiot brain had assumed that a PI would be a man.
Jay pulled out a chair and sat down. “Don’t worry about it. I get that all the time. And it helps me, too.”
“It does?”
“Sure. Your ex, for example”—Jay raised her eyes—“and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Ari said quickly. It was going to be so odd hearing that from the people in her life. All she’d wanted was for Vince togetlost. But she’d never wanted him todie.
“...He’d been very paranoid this past week, looking over his shoulders a lot. What do you think he did every time I walked through his line of vision?”
“Um...” Ari did not want to speak ill of the dead. But Jay would have been invisible to him. She looked like a soccer mom.
Jay smiled. “That’s right, he ignored me. Makes my job easier, let me tell you.” She pulled a folder out of a messenger bag and set it on the table. “Okay, what I’ve gathered comes too little too late. And I’m sorry about that. We don’thave to talk at all, except Hugh Major thought it might give you some closure.”
Ari was afraid of what she was about to learn. But she did want the truth. “Tell me what you found.”
Jay opened the folder. “I got some of my information from tailing him, and some of it from policemen who will share certain things with me. But I don’t have access to everything. So there’s some guesswork involved.”
“Okay.”
“The police probably won’t lay it out for you, either, because parts of their investigation will be ongoing. So my guesses might be the best you get for a while.” She pulled a photo from the file. “This is where Vince was staying before he died.”
“Yikes.” It was a picture of a shady looking roadside motel.
“Things had gone sour with the Pryzyks. From what I gathered with a little help from my friends on the homicide squad, they think the Pryzyks might have been responsible for the murder of Andre Karsecki.”
