“No. And I really didn’t want to pry.”
“Did you tell anyone else what Jason had told you?”
“No one,” Kay said firmly.
Sidney tended to believe her. She shook her head. “What else had you
concerned?”
“Well, Jason kept a lot more to himself lately. He also made excuses
for missing staff meetings, things like that. This had been going on
for at least a month.”
Sidney stopped rubbing nervously at her foot.
“Jason never mentioned testing the waters with another company?”
“Never.” Sidney could almost feel the firm shake of Kay’s head through
the phone line.
“Did you ever ask Jason if anything was bothering him?”
“I did once, only he wasn’t real receptive. He was a good friend, but
he was also my boss. ! didn’t want to push it.”
“I understand, Kay.” Sidney slid off the credenza and replaced her
shoes. She noticed a shadow pass under her door and then it stopped.
She waited for a few more seconds, but the shadow did not budge.
She clicked the button on her receiver to portable use and disconnected
the cord. A thought had occurred to her.
“Kay, has anyone actually been into Jason’s office?”
“Well…” Kay’s hesitation allowed Sidney to come up with another
inquiry.
“But how could they, with all the extra security measures on his office
door?”
“That’s the problem, Sid. No one had the code or Jason’s security card.
The door’s three inches of solid wood set on a steel frame. Mr. Gamble
and Mr. Rowe haven’t been in the office this week and I think no one
else really knew what to do.”
“So no one’s been in Jason’s office since it… it happened?” Sidney
looked down at the smart card.
“Nobody. Mr. Rowe was in late today. He’s having the company that
installed the lock come tomorrow to open it.”
“Who else has been around?”
Sidney could hear Kay let out her breath. “They had someone over from
SecurTech.”
“SecurTech?” Sidney shifted the phone receiver to her other ear as she
continued to eye the shadow. She inched toward the door. She was not
concerned that it was an intruder. Plenty of people were still working
at the office. “That’s Triton’s security consultant, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I was wondering why they were called in. The word is it’s pretty
normal procedure when something happens like this.”
Sidney was now to the right of the door, her free hand inching toward
the doorknob.
“Sidney, I’ve got some things of Jason’s at my workstation. Photos, a
sweater of his he let me borrow one time, some books. He tried to get
me interested in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, although
I’m afraid I never did.”
“He did the same thing with Amy until I pointed out it would probably
help to have her learn her ABCs before she plunged headlong into
Voltaire.”
The two women laughed together, which felt very good under the awful
circumstances.
“You can come by whenever you want to pick them up.”
“I will, Kay, maybe we can have lunch… and talk some more.”
“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
“I really appreciate what you’ve told me, Kay. You’ve been a big help.”
“Well, I cared a lot for Jason. He was a good, decent man.”
Sidney felt the tears start to bubble to the surface, but when she
looked at the shadow under her door again, her nerves hardened. “Yes,
he was.” The last word she uttered contained a dead-cold finality.
“Sid, you need anything, and I mean anything, you just call, you hear
me?”
Sidney smiled. “Thank you, Kay. I may just take you up on that.”
As soon as she clicked off the phone and laid it down, Sidney yanked her
office door open.
Philip Goldman did not appear startled. He stood there calmly staring
at Sidney with his balding head, expressive face, protruding eyes,
slender, rounded shoulders and the beginnings of a belly. His clothing
appeared to be and was indeed very expensive. Standing in her shoes,
Sidney was taller than Philip by two inches.
“Sidney, I was passing by and noticed the light on. I had no idea you
were here.”
“Hello, Philip.” Sidney eyed him closely. Goldman was a slender notch