Corporate Fire: Corporate Romance Book 1 (17 page)

The doctor visit was much like the one in the clinic, with nurses asking her personal questions and the X-ray people twisting her leg around until she wanted to punch someone. They doped her up before they set her leg even more than they had on the mountain. Despite all the medicine Grace thought she'd break Royce's hand in her grip. With her cast on and prescription filled, she was slightly loopy as Royce drove her up to her apartment complex. She pulled out her phone to let Jill know everything had gone all right only to find about a dozen texts on her phone from former coworkers. They all said the same thing: “Don't mention the emails.”

“What the hell?” she said.

“What's wrong?” asked Royce.

“I have all these texts telling me not to mention the emails to the cops.”

“What emails?”

“I have no idea. I saw there were a bunch of emails in my inbox from former coworkers, but I only took the time to read yours yesterday.”

Royce parked and turned off the car. He twisted to look at her and said, “That sounds like they're trying to cover something up.” He leaned back against the headrest, closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. He put his hands back on the steering wheel but didn't look at her as he talked. “I can't stay. I have to get back---”

“I know, don't worry about it. I can handle it.”

He turned to her and said, “But what if the police come while you're all doped up?”

The world was a wonderful place at the moment, and she couldn't imagine anything going wrong. “I have nothing to tell them.
I
didn't set the building on fire.”

He put his hand on her neck, and she wished he would kiss her, but instead he said, “Just don't say anything about us. I don't know who has the keycard, and if I get mixed up in it because I didn't take it from Jeff, I don't want to cause trouble for you.”

“Sure. There's no reason I should mention you. Who'd believe I was getting it on with the guy who fired me anyway?”

“I didn't fire you---” She grinned at him until he finally leaned in and kissed her. “You're gonna drive me crazy.”

“That's the plan.”

He gave her one more kiss and said, “And let me know what those emails say when you're feeling up to it. Have you texted Jill?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “You're so bossy. I was just about to when I saw all those texts about the email.”

Royce finally got out of the car and walked around to help her out. Up in the apartment, he set her up with a movie while she chatted about how sexy he was and how much she loved him.

“I can't believe I'm missing out on you on meds again,” he said before he kissed her and ran back to the bedroom to get his things.

“It's probably your last chance because I'm never breaking my leg again.” Maybe the drugs would keep the gaping hole away when he left. She hoped they took their time wearing off at least.

He ran back out with his carry-on rolling behind him. His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Oh fuck. It's the CEO.”

Grace listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Hello?”

“But sir, you need some of the seasoned workers to bring your company back up to its full potential.”

“I know it's not my company. I just want you to be successful.”

His tone of voice changed to defeat. “I understand. I'll be in soon.” He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

“He didn't go with your plan?” she asked.

“He's going with Ted's plan of firing all the highly paid employees so he can keep as many people on as possible. He's hoping to keep the numbers down so it won't sound so bad in the news.”

Grace sobered enough to say, “You tried your best.”

“You know, I thought I was pretty good at my job until I saw how much losing your job depressed you. I had convinced myself that people just moved on to the next job, a better job. Now I have to go tell several long time employees, longer than you, that they're done.”

“You could always stay here.”

Right after the words came out of her mouth, the buzzer sounded. Her eyes widened. She'd forgotten about the police.

Royce started to answer it, but she said, “I'll get it. It's probably the police. You need to leave.”

“But you shouldn't answer questions in your state.”

“I'm not a suspect. Besides, if you stay you'll miss your plane and lose your job for sure.” She couldn't believe she said the last part. The buzzer sounded again. She'd reached the door and opened it for him. “Go. Shoo.”

He gave her a doubtful look but kissed her as he walked out the door. When he'd turned the bend in the stairs, she pushed the intercom.

“Yes?”

“Grace Arden?” said a female voice.

“Yes.”

“I'm Detective Carlisle. I'd just like to ask you a few questions about the fire at Mile High Innovations.”

Her stomach tightened, and she couldn't think straight. She wished Royce had stayed, though she didn't want him arrested. She refrained from calling out to him and said into the intercom, “Sure, come on up.”

It sounded like Royce reached the door as she buzzed it open. At least he didn't have to deal with the police right at the moment. She watched a woman in an all-business skirt suit climb the stairs followed by a man in a blazer with his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. Grace called out, “I'm sorry. I just had my leg set, and the drugs they gave me are making me a little crazy. Maybe we could do the interview another time.”

The woman smiled and held out her badge as she reached the top and said, “I'm sorry about your leg, but this will take just a minute, and then we can cross you off our list.”

Grace rolled her lips together. Maybe Royce should've stayed. Even in her doped up state she was beginning to realize that she was in a perfect condition to be interviewed by the police, at least in their eyes.

The woman put away her badge, held out her hand and said, “I'm Detective Carlisle, and this is Sergeant Lujan.” Grace let go of her crutch enough to shake their hands.

“Would you mind if we came in?” asked Detective Carlisle.

“I don't like people in my apartment,” said Grace automatically, feeling the effect of the drugs lessen. That probably sounded really bad to police.

Both police officers wrinkled their foreheads, and Carlisle said, “Why not?”

“It's, it's just a thing. I'm OCD, and I don't like people touching my stuff. It makes me feel violated.”

“Sweetie, we're here to protect you from any sort of violation.” Carlisle pushed the door open more, and they walked into the apartment. She patted Grace's futon and said, “Why don't you sit on the sofa, and Sergeant Lujan will pull over some chairs for us from your table. We'll be out of here real quick.”

If it wasn't for the drugs, Grace knew she would've been hyperventilating. Even so she felt her face flush. She hated people in her apartment.

She maneuvered around to the futon and sat down. Once everyone was seated, Carlisle said, “So, Ms. Arden, were you upset when Mile High laid you off?”

Grace stared, hearing the question but only thinking about the fact that strangers were sitting in her chairs. And those chairs didn't belong by the coffee table. They belonged at the kitchen table.

“Ms. Arden?”

“Could we discuss this at the kitchen table? That's where those chairs belong.”

The police officers stared at each other. “Excuse me?” said Lujan, speaking for the first time.

The medication was definitely wearing off. She had police in her house, and they were moving things out of place. She was about to seriously freak out. “Those chairs belong at the table. I can't talk to you with you sitting in the chairs in my living room. If you want to sit over here, you'll have to sit on the floor.”

Oh no. Had she really just told the police they'd have to sit on the floor?

“Well, let's just go to the kitchen table then,” said Carlisle, as if Grace hadn't said anything crazy.

Was it too late to call Royce back?

Grace pushed herself up on her crutches and went to the kitchen table, where she sat down, feeling slightly better about the situation.

The police put the chairs in the right spots and sat down too. “So were you upset when you lost your job at Mile High Innovations?”

“Well, yeah,” said Grace. “I'd gotten a raise there every year. It was a total shock.”

“And why do you think you were laid off?”

“Royce said the CFO decided to lay off the whole department regardless of skill.”

“Who's Royce?” asked Lujan, flipping through papers on a clipboard.

Grace held her hand up to her mouth, realizing she wasn't supposed to say anything about Royce.

Detective Carlisle said, “Who's Royce, Ms. Arden?”

She drew her hand away from her mouth. “Um, Royce is the man from Greener Pastures who told me I lost my job.”

“Here he is,” said Lujan. “He was also the 911 caller.”

“The man who did the layoffs was the 911 caller?” asked Carlisle.

“Yeah,” said Lujan. “I hadn't made that connection yet.” He started writing stuff down.

“Do you know Royce Hendrix? Why was he here last night? We were told he'd gone on to the next job. Is it in Denver?”

There was no reason Grace should know the answer to that. She could just shrug or make a non-committal comment. Her eyes blinked over and over as she stared at Carlisle. Just a shrug. and maybe they would go.

“Were you friends with Jeff Harris?” asked Carlisle, changing tack.

Grace couldn't help but sigh. At least she'd moved on from Royce. “Not really.”

“Were you close with any of the other Java programmers?”

“No.” Though it was the truth, it sounded bad to Grace's ears. She kept talking to try to make it sound better, but it only got worse. “It's hard to get to know me, being OCD and all. I'm not exactly warm and fuzzy.”

“Where were you last night around eight?”

Why were they asking her that? She hadn't done anything wrong. And why were they still in her apartment, sitting in her chairs? “I was here. I can't get around very well.”

“Was anyone with you?”

Focused more on hoping they'd leave then anything else, she blurted out, “Jill and Royce were with me.”

Lujan leaned forward and said, “Royce the 911 caller?”

“Oh shit.” She smacked her hand over her mouth. She shouldn't have said that out loud. They needed to get out of here. She had rules about people being in her apartment. Rules...

“Why was the man who fired you here?”

Just as she asked the question, the door opened, and Royce barged into the apartment. Grace would've jumped up if she could, but instead, she blurted out, “You shouldn't be here.”

“I couldn't do it,” he said. He ignored the police, but they stared at him as if trying to piece together a puzzle. “I couldn't go and tell all those people their company didn't want them anymore. You're right. It's not a job for me. I can do better.”

“You quit?” Grace pushed herself into a standing position. The world spun, though she didn't know if it was from the drugs or from Royce's news.

“Yeah, I quit.” He left his suitcase and laptop at the door and stepped toward her. But before he reached her, Detective Carlisle stepped between them.

“Are you Royce Hendrix?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“Did you fire Jeff Harris?”

His shoulders slumped. “Yes.”

She nodded to Detective Lujan, who approached him with handcuffs. She said, “You’re under arrest for the arson that occurred at Mile High Innovations last night.”

Grace couldn't believe what was happening. As Detective Carlisle began giving him his Miranda rights, Grace said, “No. He didn't do it. He was with me.”

“It's okay, Grace. The arrest won't stick. I never had the keycard.”

“But...”

He shook his head as if he didn't want her to say anything. Probably a good idea since she'd already blurted out too much. She couldn't believe she'd done this to him after he quit his job for her. She stood helplessly as they led him out the door in handcuffs.

Detective Carlisle turned around and said, “I wouldn't go too far from home, Ms. Arden. I suspect we'll be seeing you again soon.”

A shiver crept up her spine. When the door closed Grace crutched herself over to her phone. She hated to ask, but she was tired of getting lectured on not relying on her friends. She punched Jill's name and waited for her to answer. She said, “I need your help. Royce has just been arrested, and it’s all my fault.”

22| Emails

Jill arrived at Grace's apartment faster than Grace thought possible, especially when she saw she had two steaming mochas with her.

Jill got right to the point when she sat down at the table with Grace. “What was Royce still doing here? I thought he had a flight back to Tulsa.”

“He quit,” said Grace, still stunned by his act of love and her unwitting betrayal.

“Man, he must really be in love,” said Jill. “Is he moving here?”

“I have no idea. He came back while the police were here, announced he'd quit and got arrested.”

“Well, you're not going to like what I have to tell you.” Jill pushed a mocha towards Grace and waited for her to have a sip.

Grace didn't know if she could take any more bad news. She took a long sip, hoping the caffeine and chocolate would bolster her spirits.

Jill said, “I worked out of the other Mile High Innovations office today and went over to Tony's for lunch as usual. All your old coworkers were there talking.”