Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(59)

There was far more traffic on the ride to White Plains than the previous time Gina had made the journey. Grateful that she had left extra time, she cruised past the office of Hannon and Ramsey. It was a small, glass-and-white-stone building occupied by several law and accounting practices, wealth management companies, and the PR firm. She was relieved to see that the structure did not have its own belowground parking. That would have made it trickier to spot Williamson when she exited.

After finding a meter for her rental car, she stood on the sidewalk about thirty feet beyond the front door of the building. She did not want to risk having Meg see her and use a different exit. The unseasonably warm weather made the waiting more tolerable.

At twenty after five, Meg walked out of the front door and turned in Gina’s direction. She came to an abrupt halt and glared at the journalist.

“I have nothing more to say to you. You have no right to stalk me—”

“Meg, you’ll want to hear what I have to say. I only need about ten to fifteen minutes.”

“I don’t have fifteen minutes. I have to be on time to relieve the sitter—” she said as she hurriedly walked away.

“I respect that, Meg,” Gina said, striding quickly to keep up with her. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll talk while we ride together in your car. Drop me off on the street before you enter your neighborhood. I’ll take an Uber back to my car.”

“I said I have nothing more to say to you, and I have no interest in anything you have to tell me. Just go away and leave me—”

“Cathy Ryan was murdered in Aruba. Does that interest you?”

Meg stopped in her tracks, her face betraying a level of shock and fear. “Oh my God.”

“Come on,” Gina said. “Let’s go to your car.”

They walked without talking the two blocks to the parking garage. Gina noticed that Meg’s eyes were continuously darting around, occasionally turning to look behind her.

Meg clicked her key and a late model BMW coup flashed its lights. It wasn’t until after Meg had paid the attendant and they were driving on the street that Gina broke the silence.

“You seemed very nervous while we were walking. Are you worried about being followed?”

“I don’t know,” Meg said, her fists clenched on the steering wheel. “Sometimes they know things about my personal life that they shouldn’t know.”

“Who’s ‘they,’ Meg? Who’s your contact at REL?”

Meg ignored the question. “Tell me what happened to Cathy.”

Gina, mindful that the fifteen-minute clock was running, quickly shared what she had learned in Aruba. She concluded by saying, “Somebody went to a lot of trouble to follow Cathy down to Aruba, to find out about the tour she signed up for, and to tamper with her ski while she was having lunch.”

Meg’s expression went from shock to fear.

Gina continued gently. “Meg, in her email Cathy wrote that she had a ‘terrible experience’ at REL News. I know you did, too. Can you tell me what happened?”

Meg shook her head as she took one hand off the wheel and used it to wipe her eyes. Gina waited, hoping Meg would break the silence. She didn’t.

Gina tried a different tack. “Whoever hurt you and Cathy, would I recognize his name?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly before clamming up again.

Recognize his name, Gina thought. He’s got to be one of the on-air people or a top-level executive.

“Meg, I know you accepted a settlement to keep quiet about something. You had every right to provide security for you and your daughter.”

“She’s all I have,” Meg said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to get involved in this.”

“You are involved, Meg. They used you to try to mislead me with the information about Cathy being a troublemaker at the company.”

“Can’t you just go to the police, tell them what you know about Cathy, and let them take over?”

“I wish it were that simple. The Aruba police have closed the case. I don’t have enough proof to convince the FBI to open an investigation.”

“I want to help you, but I can’t,” Meg said flatly. “The only way I can stay safe is to do what they say and stay out of it. I shouldn’t be talking to you.”

Gina could see that they were nearing Meg’s neighborhood. It was time to play hardball. “Meg, you’re not safe and neither is your daughter. While in the process of going public, REL News is sitting on a time bomb. Careers and hundreds of millions of dollars may be at risk. Maybe they eliminated Cathy Ryan because she refused to settle. Or maybe Cathy and anybody else who knows their dirty secrets is too much of a risk to them.”

Meg turned onto a street that in another block would lead to her home. She pulled to the curb and left the engine running. When she spoke, her voice was firm and determined. “I’ll help you under one condition: you promise to never contact me again.”

“But how—?”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes,” Gina said, while already working on how to get Meg to retract the agreement.

“There’s a person at REL News who knows a lot more than I do about the victims. I can persuade that person to contact you.”