AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s great,Francesca. We’ll be waiting. We’re lucky to have you working with us.”
“Well, some peopleare easy to work with,” the detective said. She headed off, deeper into thebuilding, leaving Amber and Simon there to wait. Amber sat down on a bench. Thewood of the benches was smooth, worn a little by the years and the bustle ofthe place.
Amber could seethat Simon was tense, his jaw clenched as they waited for the warrant to beissued. She knew that he was as eager as she was to catch the killer as soon aspossible. They had a lead now, and neither of them wanted to let it go cold.
Amber could feelthe impatience building inside her. She had to remind herself that it wasbetter to take this slowly and do things right than to rush off withouteverything they needed in an attempt to get to the answers quicker. Even so,although it was probably only a brief time before Detective Angelique returnedwith the warrant, it felt far longer.
“Any trouble?”Simon asked as the detective returned.
“Not once I toldthe judge about Stanley Anderson,” Francesca replied. “The judge wants to getto the bottom of all of this as badly as we do. Maybe this will finally let thepeople of Westford find out what really went on with the Westford-Myer MotorCompany.”
“Just rememberthat isn’t the priority,” Amber said.
Francesca lookedback at her. “Trust me, nothing is going to distract me from catching thiskiller. I’m just thinking about what happens afterwards.”
With the warrantin hand, they headed to the Westford-Myer Motor Company headquarters, drivingout to its location at the end of a long road at the edge of town. It seemed toAmber that almost every other business in the town was a garage, workshop, ormotor dealership. It reminded her of just how integral the WM Motor Company wasto the town, and how many lives it touched.
They drove past anumber of old workshops and outbuildings to get to it. The building was sleekand modern, with glass walls and sharp edges. Amber couldn’t help but feel asense of unease as they walked in, suspecting that there was more going on herethan there appeared to be on the surface.
As they approachedthe reception desk, a young woman looked up from her computer and greeted themwith a smile. She was professionally dressed, her blonde hair tied back, hersmile neat and well-practiced.
“Can I help you?”she asked, looking them over as if trying to assess what they might be doingthere.
Simon set thewarrant down on the reception desk. “FBI. We have a warrant here to search forany documents relating to Westford-Myer’s legal case and product recall.”
The receptionistlooked suddenly flustered. Amber guessed that all of this was a long way aboveher pay grade. It certainly wasn’t the kind of thing she had to deal with everyday.
“I… I’ll need tocall the CEO.”
“Do that,”Francesca said.
The receptionistmoved away to make a call, whispering frantically. She looked right then as ifshe would rather have been anywhere else. She turned back to Amber, Simon, andFrancesca.
“If you’d like togo upstairs, they’ll meet you in conference room two, on the second floor.”
“Thank you,” Simonsaid.
As they rode theelevator up to the second floor, Amber couldn’t shake off the feeling ofunease. The building was too sterile, too perfect. It felt like a place wheresecrets were kept, where the truth was carefully hidden away. Or maybe she justfelt that because of the things the lawyer had told her and the others.
When they steppedoff the elevator, they were met by a tall man in a tailored suit. He had asharp nose and thin lips, and his eyes flickered over the three of them with acool detachment.
“I’m Richard Myer,CEO of Westford-Myer Motor Company. How can I help you?”
“We want to knowabout the product recall,” Amber said.
That produced aflicker of worry on the CEO’s face, one that vanished a second later, carefullyhidden.
“You’d better comethrough to the conference room. My lawyers are waiting.”
He led the way toa large conference room. It was oak paneled, with large windows overlooking thecity. There was a long table in the center of the room, surrounded bycomfortable leather chairs. There were a few people seated at the table, andthey all looked up as Amber, Simon, and Francesca entered the room. Amber tookone look at their almost identical gray suits and professionally seriousexpressions and knew that these had to be Richard Myer’s lawyers.
Richard Myer satat the head of the table, surrounded by his lawyers. Simon held up the warrant.“We’re here to search for any documents relating to the product recall andlegal case that Thomas Jackson was involved in.”
Amber saw severalof the lawyers lean in toward Myer, whispering hurried advice. Amber wasn’tsure what advice they could give right then. It wasn’t as if they could ignorethe warrant. Myer remained calm, though Amber could see a tenseness in hisshoulders.
“We’ll cooperatefully with your investigation,” Myer said. “I take it this is in relation toThomas’s death?”
“And that of EmilyChen,” Simon said. Amber watched the CEO’s face as he said it. She picked up aflicker of recognition there. “I take it she did work for you?”
