Chapter 78
1105 Words
They pulled up to a large building and the men escorted Nigel inside. He looked around, amazed at the size of Dallas’ operation. Nigel saw at least ten staff in the main area, plus he saw several private offices.
“Sit here, please,” said the blond one. “Mr. Foreman will be right out to talk to you.”
Nigel nodded again, and sank on to the sofa near the reception desk. He found that he was very nervous at the thought of speaking to Dallas alone, in a professional setting. He’d only met the man for the first time at Emma’s party on Friday night, and he’d found Dallas formidable in a sexy-yet-intimidating way.
A door opened and Dallas emerged with a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman. They shook hands and she smiled. Dallas watched her leave, then he scanned the entire office in mere seconds.
Nigel sat up straight, and watched those hard blue eyes turn to him. Even from across the room, he felt the other man’s entire body and mind focus right on him. He felt like he was in the crosshairs, somehow. Then Dallas was standing in front of him, extending his large hand, and Nigel got to his feet.
“Mr. Ramirez,” Dallas said. “My apologies for my men having to ambush you at work. I don’t normally like to do things that way, but time is of the essence in this case.”
Nigel blinked at the formality. On Friday night at the party, he’d been Nigel.
“It’s OK,” Nigel said cautiously.
“Let’s go sit in the conference room,” Dallas said. “Coffee?”
“Um, yes, please. With just milk.”
“OK, you go in and sit down. I’ll be right there. Give me two minutes.”
Nigel sat, feeling more and more worried. Why was time of the essence? What was ‘in this case’? Where was Liv? And why was Dallas’ firm handling anything that might have happened, and not Greg and Blue Star? Nigel got the very strong feeling that something had happened, and that it had been bad enough to be a total game-changer.
Dallas came in with a thick folder in his hands. He sat down, and another huge man followed him in with Nigel’s coffee.
“Thank you,” Nigel murmured.
“You’re welcome.”
The man closed the door behind him, and now Nigel found himself being stared at very intensely by a large, muscular, tattooed ex-sniper. His breath caught and he found that his hands were shaking.
“Mr. Ramirez,” Dallas said. “Why did you disable the cameras at Olivia Jameson’s house on the night of her party?”
Nigel put his coffee cup down on the table so quickly, it was a shock that it didn’t crack. “What? I didn’t do that!”
“Then how were the cameras disabled?”
“I – I have no idea.”
Dallas glanced down at his notes. “According to my IT team’s research, the cameras were active and fully-operational until just before four o’clock. You entered the house a few minutes before that. Within five minutes of your arrival, everything was offline.”
He looked up. “How do you explain that?”
“I – I can’t. I mean, I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t do it…”
“So who could have?”
“I don’t know.”
“The party began at eight o’clock, so what were you doing in Ms. Jameson’s house for four hours?”
Nigel ran his hands through his hair. “Getting things ready… moving the furniture, hanging the banner, lighting the fire, organizing the food and drink.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. Yes, I was alone.”
“The whole time?”
“Uh. Well, no.” Nigel blushed. “My boyfriend Abe came over around seven-thirty, out-of-the-blue. He brought some flowers for Emma.”
“How long did Mr. Castell stay?”
Nigel blinked. He knows Abe’s last name? “Uh, probably about ten minutes.”
“And what did you two do?”
Nigel blushed again. “Ummm. Well, we… he kissed me. And I responded.”
“And you saw him leave the house?”
“Yes.” Nigel paused. “Actually… no.”
Dallas c****d his head. “Which one is it?”
Nigel was thinking hard. “Well… I saw him walk down the stairs from the living room to the front door, and I heard the door open and close. But – but…”
“But you never actually saw him walk out the front door,” Dallas finished. “Is that correct?”
Nigel nodded.
“And did you go down the stairs at any time and lock the door behind him?”
“No,” Nigel said slowly. “It locks automatically when shut.”
The two men stared at each other. Nigel looked almost frightened.
“OK,” Dallas said. “So what did you do after watching Mr. Castell walk down the stairs?”
“Nothing, really. I finished getting a few things ready – I chose some music, and I fiddled a bit with the banner – and then Liv and Emma came in through the elevator from the garage.”
“Who was buzzing people in and out of the party?”
Nigel paused. “Well, I was.”
“You know Ms. Jameson’s security codes?”
“Yes.”
Dallas leaned back. “All of them?”
“Yes,” Nigel said. “The garage code, the main door, the side doors. I have full access to Liv’s home.”
“You know all her computer passwords?”
“Well, the professional ones. She has some personal accounts that I can’t access.”
“Who can?”
Nigel paused again. “I – I don’t know. I imagine just Liv.”
“Who did you give her new cell number to without her knowledge or permission?”
“Nobody!” Nigel was getting angry now. “I’d never do that, especially since this stalker came into the picture!” He glared at Dallas. “Now, I want to know what’s going on here, if you please. Where’s Liv?”
“At home,” Dallas said, watching Nigel closely.
“OK,” Nigel said. “And why am I here? Where’s Greg Wallace?”
“Blue Star no longer protects Olivia. We do now.”
Nigel heaved a gigantic sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”
Dallas narrowed his eyes. “Why do you say that?”
- Writer
