Wherever She Goes(37)

If the office manager plays any role in Zima’s less-than-legal business, it’s not here. I don’t even know that Zima has less-than-legal business. I’m—

Footsteps sound on the stairs. I dart into the supply closet. I pull the door shut behind me and duck behind a stack of boxes.

The footsteps echo through the empty upper floor. Then the office door opens and the footsteps enter.

“What do you mean we don’t have the security cameras up and running?” a man’s voice asks.

There’s a pause, as if he’s on the phone. Then, “Dummy cameras? Well, guess who’s telling Denis that. Hint? It’s not me.”

A creak, as if the guy sat on the edge of the desk. “Right now, he’s busy looking for the chick from the news. He thinks she’s here tonight.”

I freeze in a moment of sheer panic before I almost laugh aloud. Chick from the news? At a grand opening? Obviously, he means that Zima is hoping he’s spotted media coverage.

The man continues. “Yeah, well, if those cameras aren’t working, I’d suggest you get all eyes on the floor. You saw her in the news?”

A moment of silence. Then a frustrated growl. “Pay attention, asshole. Didn’t you get the memo?”

Pause.

“No, it wasn’t an actual memo. No wonder you’re a security guard. You aren’t even bright enough to be a beat cop, and that’s saying something. Yeah, yeah, stop sputtering. The chick’s about my age. Dark hair. Bright blue dress. That’s the clincher—the dress.”

I look down at my dress.

It’s bright blue.

He means me? Zima saw me on the news? Saw me downstairs?

The man continues, “Between you and me, I think Denis is seeing things. He’s all worked up about the kid.”

The kid. My heart slams into my ribs.

Stop panicking and get your phone out. Start recording this conversation.

I’m fumbling in my purse as the guy says, “Yeah, I don’t know why she’d be here. She’s some chick from the suburbs, says she met Kimmy in the park. And now she’s clubbing in the city? Doesn’t make sense. But you know Denis. We’ve got to make it look good. Find every dark-haired chick in a blue dress, and tell her she’s . . . won free drinks or something. Specially selected to come speak to the boss.”

I finally find my phone.

“Yeah, I know it’s a pain in the ass. But it’s your goddamned job.”

Where’s the app to record? I’ve never used it before.

Damn it!

The guy’s talking again. “Hey, asshole, watch your mouth. I might think Denis is wrong about the chick, but I don’t blame him. Not one bit. Put yourself in his place.”

There. Found the app. I open it and click Record as the man continues.

“Imagine your girl takes off. Disappears from the face of the earth. Then, five years later, you see this chick on the news, talking about your girl having a little boy. A little boy who’s five years old. Suddenly you know why your girl left. Not only did she leave, but she took something of yours, something you never realized you had. A son.”

My head shoots up.

Did he say Zima didn’t know about Brandon?

No. I’ve misheard. Please let me have misheard.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” the guy says. “Denis might be hallucinating this chick being at the club tonight, but he’s not hallucinating the fact he’s got a little boy. A kid who’s disappeared.”

A pause.

“No, dumbass. The boy didn’t randomly get kidnapped the same day Kimmy dies. Someone has him. Someone’s taking care of him. Someone who is not his daddy. That’s a problem. One Denis is going to fix.”





Chapter Twenty





The guy has been gone for at least three minutes, and I’m still in that closet, paralyzed, barely able to gasp breath.

What have I done?

Oh God, what have I done?

Zima never knew he had a son . . . until he saw me on the television, telling the world I’d seen his dead ex with a five-year-old child.

Kim must have run from Zima before he knew she was pregnant. She hid Brandon so Zima would never find out he had a child. When she realized she was in danger she must have made arrangements for Brandon. That’s what this guy obviously thinks, and from the way he’s talking, he knew Kim.

She found a safe place for Brandon, put him in that park and told him to wait for someone to come get him. His rescuer comes. Brandon hears his name, and he runs over. He sees a stranger. He’s confused. He panics. The man quickly bundles him into the SUV and spirits him off to safety.

Kim has protected her son again. Her final act was protecting him. She got him to safety before Zima found out he exists.

And then I came along and ruined everything.



As I make my way down the hall, I focus on how I will fix this. Get my audio recording to the police. Let them stop Zima. I’ve made a terrible mistake, but I can still fix it. I will fix it.

That resolve lets me concentrate on my escape. There’s no one upstairs again, so I get to the first level easily. I leapfrog from hiding place to hiding place. I remember an exit door partway down the back hall. I’ll use that.

I get to the door and find it emblazoned with a huge sign warning that opening it will set off an alarm.