Hide and Snoop (The Odelia Grey Mysteries) (6 page)

“You don’t know who Lily Holt is?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Lily is Erica Mayfield’s three-year-old niece. Erica dumped her on me Tuesday.”

I cringed as I said the word
dumped
in front of Lily. I didn’t want to give her the feeling she was a nuisance, even though she was. It just wasn’t her fault. Zee sensed my concern and picked Lily up and took her into the den. Lily was so tired, she didn’t kick up a fuss over the separation.

“I’ve been taking care of Lily every day since,” I explained to Carl. “On the firm’s time.” I said the last part slowly and with emphasis. “This morning Erica told me I’m to keep Lily over the weekend. She didn’t ask me, Carl. She demanded and even threatened my job over it. She unloaded Lily and her things and took off.”

Silence as long and lonely as a stretch of desert road came from the other end of the call.

“You gonna fire me today, Carl?” I asked, filling the void with a snotty attitude. Normally I wouldn’t dream of speaking to Carl Yates in this manner, but today was special. Today might be my last day at Woobie. Burning bridges had just become my new career path. “Because if you are, be prepared to take Lily home with you for the weekend, runny nose and all.”

After more silence and a deep sigh, Carl said, “I need you back here today, Odelia. Can you find someone to take care of Erica’s niece for the afternoon?”

When I hesitated, he added, “You’re not going to be fired.”

“Today or ever?” I asked, demanding clarification.

Another tired sigh. “Just come in, Odelia, and I’ll explain everything.”

I took a few steps towards the den to take a peek. Zee was seated in an upholstered rocking chair, moving back and forth slowly, softly humming. Lily was bundled in her arms sound asleep, the baby doll clutched in the crook of one arm, the thumb of her other hand stuck in her mouth.

“Carl said he needs me to come back,” I whispered.

“Go,” Zee told me in a hushed voice. “Lily and I will be fine. I’ll tell her you’ll be back later.”

I mouthed my thanks and stepped back into the kitchen. “Carl, I’ll be back in about ten to fifteen minutes.”

six

“I thought you said
I wasn’t going to be fired.”

I was seated in Carl’s messy office in front of his equally messy desk. Behind the desk, Carl, a man in his early sixties, sat looking haggard but focused. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up, and his tie was loose. His hair, a thinning mixture of white and yellow like sweet summer corn, was as limp as he looked.

“You’re not being fired, Odelia.” He ran a hand through his hair. “No one is being fired. People are being laid off, meaning we no longer have jobs for them. It doesn’t mean they’ve done something wrong. Everyone is getting sparkling references, and we’re also providing job counseling and nice severances.”

“Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. It still means folks are unemployed.”

“I’m not going to argue semantics with you, Odelia.”

Maybe not, but I was ready to argue with him. If I was going down, I was going down hissing and snarling like a cornered bobcat.

“And you’re not being laid off or fired—at least not today.” Before I could say anything, Carl tacked on, “But don’t tempt me.”

We took a few minutes to cool down. Carl was the first to break the thick silence. “As I said a minute ago, we haven’t made a decision yet about the corporate paralegal position. However, we feel we do need to downsize in that area.”

“Why don’t you put me and Mark in a cage and let us duke it out to the finish? Last paralegal standing gets to keep their job. He might be younger and stronger, but, trust me, I’d hold my own. It can be the featured entertainment at the next partners’ meeting.”

Carl stared at me a moment, then broke into chunky laughter. “Something tells me the betting would be heavy in your favor, Odelia. I know I’d take those odds.”

I pursed my lips and fixed Carl with narrowed eyes. “Then why aren’t you betting on me now? I’ve been with this firm for decades. Mark hasn’t even been with Hamlin-Hawke very long.”

Carl leaned forward, not backing down from my challenge. “Who’s says I’m not betting on you?” Again silence fell between us. He was the first to blink.

“Odelia, let me be blunt with you. Pretty much everyone was in agreement as to which employees and positions needed to be eliminated except when it came to you and Mark Baker. When it came to you two, it was divided between the firms, with no compromise on either side. On careful evaluation, without regard to alliances, you were the paralegal who fell short. Your billable hours are down, for one thing, and the Hamlin-Hawke folks are digging in their heels about you being a liability to the firm regarding your habit of getting involved in murder cases.”

I couldn’t believe my ears on the first part. “My billables are down because Erica refuses to give me work. I’m not getting much from other areas of the office either. And for the past
several
days, she’s saddled me with Lily. Do you know how little work I can accomplish with a three-year-old attached to my hip? Try it sometime.”

I got to my feet and paced, careful not to step on the files covering the floor. I turned and pointed an index finger at Carl. “Erica Mayfield and Mark Baker are setting me up. As for the liability issue, I wasn’t a liability when the firm needed my help a few years back, was I? In fact, I remember not only saving Steele’s life, but the reputation of this firm.”

My blood pressure was rising to a boil. For the second time today, I was close to telling an attorney to stick this job up their Ivy League ass.

After more silence, Carl asked, “Where’s the child now?”

“Zee Washington agreed to watch her today, but my friends should not be used as daycare any more than I should. If Erica’s sister has taken off, then Erica needs to step up and take care of her own niece.” I stopped my rant long enough to take stock of my words, remembering how scruffy Lily was getting as the days wore on. “Although my guess is Lily is far better off with me or Zee. It’s just not right, though.”

“I agree.”

Carl swiveled around in his chair and looked out the window. I wasn’t sure if it was an indication I was dismissed or if he merely needed time to digest the situation. After nearly a minute, I started for the door.

“Odelia.” My name came from the chair, but Carl still did not turn around.

I took a careful step back in the direction of Carl’s desk as he spun back around to face me.

“I know Erica has been stacking the deck against you. We all know it. She hasn’t been very discreet about it. She’s even been lobbying the Woobie partners against you on the liability issue and has succeeded in catching the attention of a few. I’m not sure why she’s doing that, do you?”

I swung my head back and forth as if on a hinge. “Not a clue.”

“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

“Yes, but she shuts me down and won’t give me the time of day. I’m practically barred from her office.”

I took a seat in the chair across from Carl again, about to unload an unsavory thought. “Carl, do you think Erica’s sleeping with Mark Baker? It wouldn’t be the first time a boss couldn’t keep their hands off the staff.”

I knew my remark conjured up thoughts of Steele, who loved getting up close and personal with coworkers, especially secretaries—until we hired him a lesbian assistant. He fell in love with Jill’s secretarial abilities and baking skills instead. But as long as I’ve known him, Steele has never used his influence to help or hinder his lovers.

“I have no idea,” Carl answered after giving it consideration. “It could just be a case of her preferring to work with a paralegal she knows. You know, her comfort level.” Even though the words came out of his mouth, I could see Carl was thinking there might be more to Erica’s motives than mere familiarity.

Crossing my arms, I leveled my eyes at Carl and let loose a barely veiled threat. “If she
is
sleeping with Mark, or has some other personal connection to him, and is going around bad-mouthing me to the partners to get me fired,
she’s
the one opening the firm up to liability, not me.”

Carl’s a smart boy. He knew instantly I meant Erica was exposing the firm to a possible discrimination suit on the issues of sex and gender, with possible age-discrimination allegations thrown in. Not that I’d thought about filing a suit until that very moment, but now that I’d thrown the comment out, it had become part of my arsenal.

Carl’s eyes bore into mine to see if I meant business. I didn’t crack under the pressure. I had nothing to lose.

“Go back to your desk, Odelia,” he finally said. “Do your work in the same efficient manner you always have. It’s rather slow right now across the firm as a whole, but I’ll rustle up some work to keep you afloat for the time being, and I’ll have other attorneys divert billable work to you as much as possible. Don’t forget, you have a lot of loyal supporters here.”

“What about Lily?”

“I know it’s an imposition, but if we can’t iron out that problem today, do you think Zee would keep her tomorrow while you’re here?”

I thought about Zee cuddling with Lily. Kids were like crack to her. “I believe she would.”

Carl reached for his phone. “In the meantime, I’m going to get in touch with Erica.”

“Good luck. No one seems to know where she is at the moment or when she’s returning. She might even be gone until Monday.”

“Hmm.” He held up a finger, indicating for me to stay put. After unhanding the phone, he swung around again to gaze out the window to think. Thirty seconds later, he turned back around.

“We’ve shelved the decision about the paralegals for a few weeks,” he told me. “That should buy me time to get to the bottom of this. How about you putting some time into locating Erica? But do it quietly. When you do find her, make sure she gets in touch with me immediately.” His eyes were almost glowing. I knew that look. It was how he looked when he had enough evidence to nail an opponent in court.

“More unbillable work, Carl?”

“For now, it might be necessary.” Carl picked up a pen and started twirling it between his fingers as he set out his battle plan. “Remember that internal billable code we used when Steele went missing? Use that for your time. If anyone asks, you’re on a special assignment for me.”

Like with Erica, Carl didn’t give me a chance to decline the assignment. “Sure, Carl,” I answered as if everything was hunky-dory.

“And while you’re at it, find out more about Erica and Mark’s relationship. Again, with discretion.”

With that order, my task went from locating a boss for a conference call to digging into her personal life like one of those slimy divorce detectives. I had already planned on finding out more about Erica and Mark. After all, if she was slinging mud at me with the partners, I had to be prepared to do battle. From time to time, the firm had called upon me to research the background of questionable corporations and individuals connected to them. It usually involved digging around on the computer through public records and connecting the dots. But this was different. A name partner had given me the green light to burrow into the personal life of another partner. If this went sour, it would taint us both with a stink that would be hard to shake.

Carl put his hand back on the phone, then stopped and looked into my face. “We were all very pleased when you didn’t follow Mike Steele to Templin and Tobin. I think it’s time to remind the partners about that.”

With one foot out his door, I let loose with my final volley. “Don’t you think it’s equally important to remind me why I didn’t?”

Carl stared at me, grunted something indecipherable, and turned back around to gaze out his window. He was still twirling the pen.

I walked down the hall to the other side of the building, towards my office, thinking how Zee had seen this coming. She’d told me not to get involved, not even if they asked. But what was I to do? I had to find Erica, hand Lily off to her, and hopefully show the powers-that-be that of their two paralegals, I was the keeper.

Truth is, unemployment was beginning to look pretty damn snazzy.

I was barely back in my office when Alyce rushed in. “I got your message that you were coming back.”

As soon as I agreed to return to the office, I had called Alyce to keep her in the loop and tell her not to bother with my computer. With Alyce was a tall, thin man I’d never seen before. Due to confidentiality issues, unknown individuals are not allowed to drift through our hallways. My questioning eyes settled on him.

“Oh,” jumped in Alyce, noting my attention to the stranger, “this is Gary, my husband. He was in the area and stopped by to say hello and see the office.”

I extended my right hand towards Gary Allen. “I’m Odelia Grey. Nice to meet you.” He smiled, showing uneven teeth, and took my hand. His shake was firm and dry, his blue eyes serious and intelligent. His face was broad through the forehead and narrow at the jaw, like an inverted pyramid.

“My pleasure, Odelia,” Gary Allen said with warmth. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Alyce hooked an arm through her husband’s. “Gary and I were talking, Odelia. We’d be glad to take Lily back to our house until Monday. Gary works from home mostly, so tomorrow wouldn’t be a problem, and we have kids of our own.”

Gary patted his wife’s arm. “One more child wouldn’t make a bit of difference, I can assure you. The Lord provides for all who enter our home.”

It was then Alyce noticed I was toddler-free. “Where’s Lily?” she asked.

Mark Baker materialized out of nowhere, the three of them crowding my door. Standing slightly behind the Allens, Mark watched in silence like a deadly crocodile waiting in the shallows of a swamp.

“That’s very generous of you,” I said to Alyce and Gary, “but a friend is watching her.”

They seemed genuinely disappointed.

“Carl called me back in for a meeting,” I explained, “and I didn’t think it wise to have her underfoot.”

A hand shot to Alyce’s mouth. “You’re not … you know.”

“Relax, I still have my job.” I took a seat behind my desk and stashed my purse in the bottom drawer. “Carl assigned me a special project he needs done right away.” I looked pointedly from Alyce to Mark, letting my gaze linger on the latter. “I’m sure you’re
both
relieved to hear I wasn’t canned … yet.”