Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge Page 8

  “You mean financially?” I asked.

  “That too, but more the salon in general. I just don’t have the same passion for running it I once had. The money is just icing on the cake of how I feel, even though I know that’s just temporary. I expected to take a hit after Bethany’s murder. I knew it would initially scare some people off. And it’s been slowly coming back. Which I knew it would.”

  “Well, when it comes to getting your hair done you can overlook a lot of things. It’s worth risking your life for a good color.”

  “Good point.” Katy smiled. “I thought I was just in a funk after Chris and I broke up and that once I had some time to sort things out, I would feel better. But I feel back to my old self on that front and I still don’t enjoy going to the salon. I think I might sell,” she said and I couldn’t have been more shocked than if she said she was going to amputate her arm.

  My eyes widened. “You’re kidding? But you love that place. It’s your life.”

  “Loved, Presley. I think its past tense. Things change. I’ve been approached by someone asking if I was willing to sell and I’m seriously considering it. The salon doesn’t make me happy when I go there. It’s making me feel trapped and I don’t like that feeling. I want to love it, because when you love something it doesn’t seem like work and to not even like something I used to love… It’s just depressing and not worth it.”

  Wow. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. For as long as I had known Katy, and that was almost my whole life, she had wanted to own a beauty salon. It was the game she always wanted to play when we were little girls, which was fine with me because I loved having her do my hair and makeup. This had been her dream for as long as I could remember. One I was jealous of because I wasn’t that focused. She had opened the salon a couple years out of cosmetology school with some money her grandmother had left her and had been extremely successful almost from the beginning because she was that good. Her salon was well known in the surrounding towns. She was very popular. I had always been so impressed that she knew what she wanted and went for it and had been a very successful business owner, while I floundered in the career department. To think she wanted a change was hard to fathom. Her and her salon was one identity.

  “What would you do?” I asked her.

  She looked at me nervously. “Maybe move out of town with Dirt,” she said softly, seeming to brace for my reaction.

  Once again, I was shocked. This revelation again took me by surprise. Even more so than her wanting to sell the salon. I didn’t realize they were that serious.

  “Katy, there seems to be a lot about you and Dirt you haven’t be telling me. Are you really that serious that you would move in with him and move away?”

  She nodded. “I know it seems soon and probably seems crazy but he needs to get out of Alkon and start fresh. Too many people still aren’t one hundred percent sure of his innocence and frankly, I need to get out of town, too. I finally understand a little of what you must have felt that made you leave. It’s almost claustrophobic sometimes. I can’t go anywhere without looks and comments about the salon, or Chris, or Dirt. Everyone knows everyone, and while that’s not always a bad thing, and in the past I enjoyed the tight knit community, right now I don’t. I need some space from everything that has happened and I don’t think I can get space by staying in Alkon.”

  I nodded because I did know exactly how she felt, though all places you lived had their pros and cons. The drawbacks about Chicago weren’t nearly as bad as the drawbacks of living in Alkon, in my opinion, but the recent events would have our small hometown talking forever.

  “If I sold the salon I wouldn’t have anything tying me there. My parents are in Florida. We already have to travel to see each other, so why not leave?”

  “Where would you go?” I couldn’t help but think I didn’t want her to move even farther away from me. I saw her little enough as it was and right now she was only a few hours from me.

  “I don’t know for sure. We’ve tossed out some places. Arizona, New Mexico, places that are warm but aren’t Florida. Don’t want to be that close to my parents; a plane ride is a good distance,” she joked.

  “Wow. I guess I am surprised and don’t know what to say. It just seems odd for me to think about you selling the salon. That just seems such a part of you.”

  “We all change. I mean look at you and where you were career wise a couple years ago. You were on the VP track and now your life is completely different.”

  “That’s my point. I haven’t exactly continued to go uphill. I would hate to see you follow the same path. I should have a real career by now, a real calling, and yet I don’t. But you have, or at least I thought you had.”

  “At least you’re following your heart and what you want to do, versus what you think you’re supposed to do because that’s what society wants, and you’re happy. Happier than before.”

  “I guess. I just thought by now I would know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Happiness doesn’t always pay the bills.”

  Katy laughed. “That’s because they drum that concept into our heads in school, but that doesn’t make it right for everyone, and doing one thing your whole life isn’t either. People change. Now the trend is to go through several careers in a lifetime. And while I’ve been very happy with my career choice thus far, I think it’s time for a change.”

  “You’re probably right. I just need to get my shit together before our twenty year class reunion!” I said, and we both laughed.

  “Have you given any more thought to James’s offer? Maybe Willie is right and it is genuine.”

  Maybe I could finally find my true calling so to speak. That one thing I was passionate about.

  “I have, actually. I admit the idea is kind of exciting, but it’s probably too good to be true so I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

  “I think it sounds like a great opportunity and I think it would be something you’d really enjoy. You owe it to yourself to check it out. At least explore the possibilities. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Willie did give me the contact of a friend of his who does contracting from time to time with the police as a forensic accountant, whose real job is business accounting and the valuation of companies. He said this guy could look at the books and make sure they weren’t tied to James’s other issues. And of course, see how far in the red Silk actually is. It could be too far gone to save and James just hopes I’m too dumb to know any better and this is his opportunity to unload it.”

  “Then do it. Right now!” Katy said.

  I looked at the clock. “It’s seven, way past business hours.”

  “So call anyways and leave a message. That way he’ll call back and you won’t put it off and make more excuses. This could really be your opportunity, Presley.”

  “You’re relentless, you know that?”

  “Yeah, well you need to take the plunge and someone needs to help you do it.”

  “You’re a good friend, Katy,” I said, reaching for the phone because she was right. I had nothing to lose by getting more information. And maybe, just maybe, this could work out.

  I made the call and left a message as I expected and Katy and I continued to chat, passing the time just catching up in general on mutual friends we had growing up, when my phone rang.

  “It’s Willie,” I said to Katy. I’d almost been hoping it was the accountant calling back before I changed my mind and chickened out.

  “Hi Willie.”

  “Tell him hi for me too,” Katy said.

  I heard Willie laugh. “Tell her hi back,” which I did, and then turned my attention back to the phone.

  “What’s up? Do you have some information for me?”

  “Why as a matter of fact I do.”

  “He has information,” I said to Katy.

  “Why don’t you put me on speaker phone so you both can hear.”

  “Good idea,” I said and did just that. “Ok, you’re talking to both of us.” />
  “I was able to do some digging and found out Becky was poisoned.”

  “Poisoned? How?” I asked.

  “Insulin.”

  “Could it have been accidental? Maybe she was diabetic and took too much?” I said.

  “No. According to the autopsy she was not diabetic. She somehow ingested enough insulin to throw her body into shock and kill her.”

  “So you’re saying that someone gave her this?”

  “Unless she committed suicide, yes. And there was no insulin found at her apartment so it’s unlikely this was a suicide.”

  “How could someone have administered insulin? Did she drink it or something?”

  “No. That’s the other reason this couldn’t have been a suicide. She was injected. So there would have been a syringe and a vial of insulin in her apartment at least.”

  I thought about that for a minute. It had to be someone she knew if they were about to get that close to her but still, someone would have given her a shot against her will.

  “So you’re saying someone gave her a shot of insulin and that’s what killed her?”

  “Yep, that’s what I am saying.”

  “Seems like it would be hard to hold someone down long enough to give them a shot.”

  “That’s the other interesting thing. There were traces of a sedative in her body as well. The theory is someone drugged her and then when she fell asleep, gave her the insulin. They are testing the glass found in the sink for residue but it’s not back from the lab yet.”

  “Do they have any suspects?” I asked.

  “They are looking at the boyfriend again, but he seems to have a solid alibi.”

  “You have to have a prescription for insulin, don’t you?”

  “Yes. And she didn’t. Like I said, she wasn’t diabetic.”

  “Thanks for calling and letting me know.”

  “No problem. Just remember you can’t talk about how you got this, or I’ll have to throw you in jail,” he said jokingly, but I knew he was serious about not telling anyone. I understood he had went out on a limb for us.

  “Promise. It will stay between us. And Jared.”

  “And Jared what,” he said, walking into the room. He had been on a date and I hadn’t even heard him come in.

  “I’ll fill you in, in a minute. Bye Willie. And thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome. Talk to you later?” he said, in the form of question.

  “Of course!”

  “Alright then. Bye.”

  “Bye.” I hung up and turned to Jared, filling him in on what Willie had just told us. “So it’s reasonable to think that whoever killed Becky is a diabetic or at least has access to insulin.”

  “That’s no help,” Jared said.

  “Are you kidding? It’s a huge lead. At least we know what we are looking for. Jared you need to find out if anyone at your work has diabetes. Then we can at least cross them off the list.”

  Chapter 13

  Sitting alone in the kitchen with my morning coffee, somehow I was the first person up, I had been going back over the conversation with John in my head. I was thinking about how and why an outsider would have accessed their files. It seemed a long shot, but John and Jared seemed pretty sure no one inside the company would want to do anything detrimental and had agreed they were a close knit group. I couldn’t imagine it either, which meant it had to be someone from the outside. If someone from the outside was getting Sleeping Bear Design information, maybe this was how? I didn’t know much about Internet security, except from my own days in corporate America where in the HR department we had security measures in place to protect confidential salary information and such, I just knew it was there. I didn’t know the first thing about how it worked.

  Jim! I said to myself. Why didn’t I think of him before? Jim Dugan was the network security manager at my old job and he also ran a consulting business, testing security of other businesses by trying to gain access to their systems to see where they might need to beef up. It was a good gig, testing the companies on both ends. I bet he could help me or at least point me in the right direction.

  I scrolled through the contacts on my phone. I was pretty sure I had his number somewhere. Ah! There it was. I pressed send and waited for him to answer, hoping it wasn’t too early.

  “Jim? It’s Presley Thurman. It’s been a long time,” I said when he answered.

  We got the catching up out of the way and then I told him what I needed help with. He said it sounded like a fun afternoon activity and he would see what he could do in terms of accessing the server at Sleeping Bear. At least if he could access them, and according to him accessing them wasn’t the issue, it was how difficult it was. He could give me an idea of the skill level needed which might help point me in the right direction. At least that’s how I understood what he said.

  Jared padded into the kitchen where I was sitting with my phone and my laptop, and grabbed some coffee and sat down. “What are you hard at work at already this morning?”

  “Sleeping Bear and thinking maybe someone did access your files from the outside.”

  “You really think someone stole our ideas that way? That sounds like a lot of effort.”

  “Honestly, no. It does seem extreme, but it’s worth checking out. Everyone seems convinced it can’t be anyone inside the company. So we need to look at all options. Since it happened, someone out there is responsible. A guy I used to work with, Jim, is willing to do me a favor to see what he can find out. He is an IT guy at my old company so it can’t hurt. While Jim is working on that, I need to finish my blog and then I would like to talk to Becky’s neighbor again.”

  “Why?”

  “See if she ever saw Glenda at Becky’s apartment or if she knows anyone who Becky was friends with who is diabetic.”

  I looked at the clock over the stove. I had about two hours before the bi-weekly posting deadline for my food blog. I was cutting it close but no more than usual. I had everything together; all that was left was to finish writing the actual post and submit it. I needed to start on this now because sometimes I was quick and it easily came together and sometimes it took me forever. I kept telling myself to stop waiting until the last minute, and two hours to go was pretty much like last minute.

  This one was on party snacks. What to do on a low budget that looked high end. I was normally a cheese ball and crackers kind of gal, so I had a lot of fun researching this one. Talking to friends of mine who had better culinary skills than I did and of course finding ideas on Pinterest, which could suck me in for hours. I loved looking at stuff on there. Last weekend Jared and I had enjoyed making a few of the snack items to photograph and luckily after several attempt we got some good shots. More thanks to Jared than me. I wasn’t much better at photography than I was at cooking.

  I was staring at my screen contemplating the order of the pictures when Katy walked in, grabbed her morning cup of brew and sat on a barstool next to Jared, who had been patiently waiting for me to finish closing my laptop. I pushed it to the side, so as not to spill coffee on it, and looked at them both.

  “What’s on your agenda today?” I asked.

  “I want to stay here in my pajamas and be depressed, while waiting for your friend Jim to call back,” Jared said, taking a swig of coffee.

  I rolled my eyes and looked at Katy. “Let’s ignore depressing Donna over there. What would you like to do?”

  “I wouldn’t mind playing tourist if you’re up to it,” she said. “Sears Tower, Navy Pier, that sort of thing. Take pictures, be annoying. That sort of thing.”

  “That’s much better than sitting here being depressed,” I said pointedly to Jared. “Let’s get ready. We can do that on our way to Becky’s.”

  “You want to go there again?” Katy asked.

  “Yeah,” I said and filled her in on my plan.

  “You guys go have fun. I wouldn’t be very good company anyway,” he said in response to our attempts in trying to persuade him to come wi
th us. “I just want to sit here. Just call me the minute you find something out.”

  An hour later, we were out the door, bundled up in winter coats and boots, and grabbed a cab to take us to Navy Pier. This condo now would be well above my price range and I was lucky to have it and the parking space that came with it. People who lived in the city often joked you could have a car or afford parking, but you couldn’t have both.

  The cab driver dropped us at the entrance of the pier and even though it was cold, a temperature of around thirty really wasn’t all that bad for Chicago and there wasn’t much wind coming off Lake Michigan. It was beautiful with all the lights and Christmas decorations still up, a real winter wonderland. I had done all the tourist things when I had first moved here, but now I didn’t think about it. I was glad to be here taking it all in.

  “Let’s go on the Ferris wheel,” Katy said excitedly.

  I smiled, as the Ferris wheel was one of my favorite things here, too. When you reached the top, you could see for miles. Since it was early in the day there wasn’t a line and we quickly bought tickets and got on.

  As we slowly went up, Katy gazed in awe. “Wow. You can see the entire city from up here. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could see Alkon.”

  “Yeah, the view is amazing.” I felt my phone buzz and pulled it out of my purse and saw it was Jim.

  “Can I call you back in five?” I said answering, not wanting to miss the beautiful view and figured a few minutes wouldn’t hurt anything. Putting the phone back in my purse after he said that was fine, I looked out to the beautiful expanse of city. “That was Jim. He has some information for us.” I had filled her in earlier this morning on my conversation with him.