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“We’re not sure yet,” Frydek answered vaguely.“He was found dismembered in the trunk of his car.It’s estimated by the coroner he’s been there for over a week.Since we know Mitchem didn’t put himself in that trunk, we need to gather some information about him to further determine what happened.”
“Why do you think his death is tied to Maddy’s case?”I asked.
“I never said I thought that,” Frydek countered, though he wasn’t denying it either.
“Why else would you be here, asking me these questions, if you didn’t?”Maddy sagely reasoned.
Frydek’s lips compressed into a flat line.“There were some suspicious things found at the man’s house that might point to a connection between the thugs who hurt Ms.Beupray and Mr.Mitchem.Can you tell us anything about the nature of Christine’s relationship with Mr.Mitchem?Any fights, or intimate relations, you might have witnessed between the two of them?”
Maddy seemed bowled over by the question.“Outside of Christmas parties and summer barbecues, I had next to no contact with Mr.Mitchem.I can’t tell you about Christine, but from what I observed, there was no ill will between the two that I saw.”
I didn’t need Frydek to tell me anything more.It was clear he was holding back far too much information already.Once he left, I’d place a call to Pipe and put him on the case.If anyone could uncover the protected information, my Brother could.And once he’d discovered Mitchem’s dirty little secrets, he’d be able to relay to the Club all the gritty details the Detective was holding back on.
Maddy, unaware of my connection, angled for more information to make sense of this tragedy.I didn’t blame her.From what I’d gleaned, Christine had been like a mother to her.The thought of a long-term employee being involved in the secretary’s cowardly attack, especially in such a tight-knit company that had operated like a family for so many years, was tremendously unsettling.
The horror on her face made my chest ache.“What did you find at Ken’s house that linked him to Christine’s attack?”
Squeezing her closer to me, I glanced at Frydek, who was unabashedly watching the two of us as closely as an anthropologist does a new culture he’d unexpectedly stumbled upon.
“I can’t say much,” Frydek began, “but there were some text messages discovered by our experts that seem to tie him, however tacitly, to the crime.”
I took that to mean Mitchem had been caught messaging whoever was behind the physical assault just prior to the attack.
“Why would Ken hurt Christine?They worked together peacefully for years?”Maddy asked, the disbelief obvious in her voice.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the answer to that yet, Ms.Framingham,” Frydek said, though I highly doubted he was telling us the full truth.
Needing to speak to Maddy privately so I could pump her for details about this situation without Frydek’s prying eyes, I decided to put an end to this conversation before the Detective got more than we did out of it.“Thank you for coming here tonight, Detective.If there’s nothing more for you to share, I think we’d better call it a night.”
I could tell that Frydek wanted to protest.However, there wasn’t much he could say.It was late.Maddy was obviously tired, and he’d supposedly shared all the details about the case he knew.He’d backed himself into a corner and he knew it.
Walking toward the door, I opened it and said, “Have a safe drive home.”
Frydek looked over at Maddy then.“Thank you for all your help tonight, Ms.Framingham.I’ll be in touch shortly,” he promised, before strolling out the door.
Closing it behind him, I waited for the man to get into his car before I looked over at Maddy.She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, miles away from the sensuous, hellcat of a woman I’d been with earlier.
That was another thing to consider.What we’d nearly done in her bedroom tonight.It was a mistake.Getting so close to the woman I was supposed to be protecting.But still, I didn’t regret it.I wanted Maddy more than any woman I’d ever known.And, if I wasn’t careful, it might distract me from my main purpose here.To keep the woman safe.I needed to always remember that.If something happened to Maddy because I was too busy thinking about getting my dick wet, I’d never forgive myself.
“You don’t trust him?”Maddy said then, interrupting my thoughts.
“Not one bit.”
Leaning against the banister to keep herself upright, she asked, “Why not?”
She needed to get to bed.The poor thing was worn out and could barely stay on her feet.“I don’t think he’s being honest about his motives.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, I think his net might be wider than just finding Christine’s attacker.”
Maddy frowned.“Who else is there to catch?”The answer suddenly dawned on her.“Do you believe the Detective might think my father had something to do with all this?That this attack is part of something much bigger?”
Maddy wasn’t a simpleton.That Ivy League education of hers had actually paid off.“I can’t be certain, but I’m not ruling out the possibility.What do you know about your father’s interaction with his former employee Ken Mitchem?”
Maddy bit her bottom lip.“Like I told the Detective, Ken was my dad’s oldest employee.They got along great, until they didn’t.I was under the impression that Ken left over a disagreement they’d had about one of their newer accounts.”“Do you think Ken could have been angry enough at your father to retaliate?”I hate to say it, but ego was a hard thing for people to swallow.Depending on what kind of man Ken Mitchem was, the blow to his pride over his losing the new account could have sent him into a rage.Sad to say, but I’d seen men do much worse over less.
Wringing her hands together, Maddy gave the question some real thought.“I mean, Ken always had a temper.But he was just as quick to forgive as he was to anger.He attended my mother’s funeral and I played alongside his children at all company functions.The thought of him hurting Christine and trying to kidnap me?I just don’t see him doing something like that.I really don’t, German.”
