Manhattan Miracle (13 page)

I clicked back on the intercom.
"Hi hon, it's Amber. I'll talk with you later."

"
Please do. We have to discuss this."

I pushed line one again.
"Amber? Are you still there?"

"
Ah-huh."

"
I had Brad on hold. I was telling him about the strange request I had from the big boss.

"
Really? Like what?"

"
Well, Mr. Grimes, that's the president, Milton Grimes, wants to see me at two o'clock this afternoon to discuss something. He wants to see just me and not Brad. Baby, I have a bad feeling about this."

"
Hmm. Milton Grimes, why does that name sound familiar?

"
I don't know?"

"Of course
you don't. Oh well. Maybe it'll come to me. Sounds like he has something in mind for you. "

"He does. He talked briefly about making me his personal assistant and spokesperson for Bayside.
"

"
Sounds interesting."

"
A little, but I couldn't do it for two reasons. One, because I have to stick around at least until Brad gets his bearings. "

"
That's right, he's the one who's a total stranger there—not you. What's the second reason?"

"The man totally
creeps me out."

"Hmm.
That is a problem."

"
Yep. What did you call me about?"

"I was going to tell you about my
big night with Lew, but that'll wait. Can you meet me for lunch?"

"Sure where?"

"Meet me for brunch at The Grill by the Lincoln Center as soon as you can, okay?"

"Al
l right. I'm on my way."

"Good, and bring Brad. I want my dear friend's opinion, too."

"Will do. We'll see you in a bit."

I waltzed into Brad's office and his gaze tracked me the whole way as I walked up to him and grabbed his hand. "C'mon we're meeting Amber for brunch and a pre-Grimes discussion."

He stood. "Good idea."

Chapter
Sixteen 

After a ten minute cab ride we
arrived at The Grill at ten-fifty. I slipped in the semi-circular booth next to and cheek kissed Amber. Brad slid in next to me and awkwardly leaned across me to kiss Amber.

"
You look dazzling," chirped Brad.

"
I agree. You have a rosy glow and look positively wonderful, hon."

Amber
's already generous smile widened. "I know. I feel wonderful. Guys, for the last two days I've had the time of my life and last night… Last night was the
pièce de résistance."

"We know. We heard."

Amber laughed and took my hand. "And I heard you guys. But we're here to talk about your meeting, not my love life."

"Nonsense
. You've never had a love life before. It's early, we can spare five or ten minutes for you to tell us what's going on."

Amber's grin was as wide as
Fifth Avenue. "You guys are the greatest. Have I told you how much I love you?"

I nudged her. "No and you don't need to. We know you love us as much as we love you. Now
, tell us what you've been up to.

Brad waggled his eyebrows
and snickered. "Yes, especially last night, and be descriptive."

I elbowed him. "When did you become such a dirty bird?"

Amber giggled like a schoolgirl.
"It's all right we both used to be in the sex business."

I raised an eyebrow. "Used to be…?"

"Yes, I'll get to that. As for last night, sex with Lew is magical. It's so much better having sex with someone you like and are attracted to."

Thinking of Brad
and me, I blurted, "That goes without saying."

"I know, but after having sex for pay
, for so long, you forget—if I ever knew."

Leave it to Brad.
"I can imagine. Tell us more about last night, you know, how part 'A' fit in receptacle 'B' and how great it felt."

Amber giggled.
"Brad, I can't describe the way it felt. We kissed, and we pleasured each other with our mouths then we screwed like wild animals. Primal urges drove me, I never felt anything like it, but the whole time we had crazy, wild sex, I felt as if I was making love. There was nothing dirty about the dirty, filthy, things we did—it was natural. Am I making sense?"

Amber
paused while the waitress brought water and took our order.  I hadn't even looked at the menu, so handing the menu back, I said, "I'll have a turkey club with fruit instead of fries and iced tea."

Amb
er hitched her head in apparent approval. "I'll have the same."

Smiling with his perfect white teeth
Brad handed her the menu. "I'll have Eggs Benedict and coffee."

After the waitress left, I said,
"Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I have similar compulsions with Brad and while I wouldn't describe our love making in animalistic terms, I've never felt so complete…so fulfilled. When you love someone, or in your case, when you are captivated by someone, nothing either of you want from each other is off limits."

Amber
excitedly bounced on the cushions. "Yes, that's it exactly! Then she frowned and stared. "You love Brad?"

I
glanced Brad's way and took his hand. "Yes, I think I do. I haven't told him before now, but he's become as important to me as breathing."

Brad flashed his trademark smile. "As long as we're confessing, I confess, I adore Ginger." Brad capped his confession with a short sweet kiss
to my lips.

"
Me too. I know it's only been two days, but I love Lew. Do you think it's possible?"

"
I don't know, but if there's anything like love at first sight, it's like it was with you and Lew. Sweetheart, your eyes devoured him from the first moment you saw him."

She laughed.
"That's so true. I was enthralled by him, but I wasn't sure I loved him until, I woke up this morning."

"
Is there anything else about last night?"

She laughed.
"Oh, you don't want me to go into that."

I
laughed and grasped Brad's hand. "Brad said we sounded like dueling orgasms. Last night."

Amber grinned.
"That's funny. Yeah, I guess in a way, we did."

Brad
leaned forward. "So, what's in store for you guys?"

She hitched her shoulders.
"About what you'd expect. He won't dwell on my past as long as my past is not the same as my future."

I glanced around as a
pair of women walked by. "He wants you to quit. I'm not surprised."

Amber nodded.
"Yes. I said I would think about it. In the meantime I suspended my dates for the rest of the month."

Brad
frowned. "You did? What will you do?"

She turned to
both of us, tilted her head and scrunched her nose. "I'm not helpless. I'll find a job, preferably in marketing. Lew's going to see if there's anything available at Bayside that I could do."

"Depending on my meeting with Grimes, that may not be much of an option."

Amber shrugged. "
If not, I'll get work somewhere. I know the cut in income will be drastic, but like you, I have a nice-sized bank account. If Lew continues to make me happy, it'll be worth it. If not, I can always start having dates again. She took a big bite of her sandwich and while chewing, she asked, "Now, tell me about this meeting with the big boss?"

"
Well, on my first day, after leaving you and Lew at The Libation Station, Brad and I got in the same elevator as Milton Grimes."

Amber sighed.
"There's that name again. I wish I could remember. Go on."

"
Brad introduced us and although he didn't do anything overt other than mentally undress me, there was something about him that signaled—
this is not a nice man!

"
Anyway, he called this morning and wants me to come to his office to discuss something. There really isn't much more than I told you on the phone. I'm supposed meet with him at two o'clock—just me."

Amber shook her head.
"I don't know. This sounds scary. Keep a recorder in your purse and turn it on just before you go in to see him." 

Amber paused and drummed her fingernails on the table.
"Milton Grimes? Why can't I remember? Milton Grimes, Milton Gri…" Amber's eyes grew so wide her forehead wrinkled and her jaw dropped almost to her neck. "Oh, my God! Baby, you can't go!"

I leaned forward.
"Why? You remember?"

"
Yes, this is a bad man. Promise me you won't go."

I fidgeted nervously in my seat.
"Why? He's the president of the company, I can't just not go. Tell me what you remember."

She took a deep breath.
"All right. Do you remember Bella?"

W
hen it became obvious her question confused me, she added, "That's right, you're not really Ginger. Sorry, it's Brad who knows Bella.

"
You and I were sophomores when the economy tanked. Bella, our friend and classmate had a loft in Soho. Knowing the trouble we were having, she helped out by letting us move in with her, allowing us to pay her what we could afford, when and if we could afford it. She was a life-saver.

"
Not long after moving in with her, Ginger and I went to work for Elegant Escorts, so thanks to Bella, we got by pretty well. Then, near graduation, on one of the rare nights we were home together, Bella got a special delivery letter notifying her she'd been accepted into Harvard Law School. She was ecstatic and of course we were happy for her.

"
Right after we emotionally hugged and kissed our congratulations, Bella broke out three bottles of delicious wine to celebrate, and we got wasted.

"
Even though Bella never worked, she never lacked for spending money or the funds she needed for rent or books and to pay tuition. It was then, when she was happily and under the influence of tasty, squashed, French grapes that she revealed what we'd secretly wondered—who paid Bella's way?

"
It seems Bella's older sister, Lily was her benefactor. Lily paid for everything."

I cut in.
"Okay, I get it. Bella's older sister helped her get through college, but what does that have to do with Milton Grimes?"

Amber took a long sip of her iced tea and went on,
"Bella never explained what company Lily worked for. We only knew what we were told, that Lily was the personal assistant to Milton Grimes, president of a major New York financial institution."

My heart dropped into my stomach.
Without thinking, I murmured, "Bayside."

"
Yes, I never knew where until I just made the connection."

"
Where is she now? Is she still there? He has a secretary named Grace Wadsworth."

"
Lily disappeared. Let me finish."

A chill ran through me
. I began to perspire.

After the waitress refilled our iced tea
glasses, Amber took a lengthy sip and continued. "Even though we no longer lived together or were in school together, Bella kept in touch. A year ago last spring, Bella graduated from law school. After passing the New York Bar Exam, unknown to Lily, she applied for work in the legal dept of her sister's and of course, Milton Grimes' firm. When they called her for an interview, Bella was thrilled and called her sister to tell her about the good news. Only Lily wasn't pleased."

"
She wasn't?"

"
No. More like outraged. She said her boss was evil and if he got one look at Bella, he'd try to get her to do bad things. She made Bella promise to cancel the interview and told her she would get her a better job."

"
How strange."

"
I know."

"
Did she? Did she get her a better job?"

"
Nope. Lily never got a chance."

"
What happened?"

"
A couple weeks later, Lily vanished. Bella found out when a worried co-worker called and said she'd missed a couple days and asked Bella if anything was wrong. After the call Bella rushed to Lily's posh apartment where everything looked normal, except no Lily. She called the police and filed a report. The investigation was a dead end. No one saw or heard anything. There was no evidence of a crime or suspects, just a missing person."

M
y jaw dropped. "Oh, how awful."

"
Now, you see why you can't meet him."

I gulped.
"You think there's a connection?"

She nodded.
"Yes, and so does Bella."

"
Did Bella tell the police?"

"
Yes, but to no avail." She glanced at the folder I'd brought in. "Now, what's in this folder you brought?"

I slid the folder in front of Amber and opened the cover. "Oh, it's a list of every Bayside client in their data-base."

Brad pointed at the list. "I already went through the list and came up with fourteen names of previous customers of yours and mine. Go through the list and see if you agree and can come up with any more clients."

"Why do you want this?"

"I'm not sure. It could be curiosity, but something tells me this could be important."

S
he perused the list.

"Here's a
HI-LITER if you want it."

She looked up.
"Why pink?"

"So
we can tell the difference between the names you marked and the ones I marked."

While
she examined the list, our lunch arrived. Amber kept leafing through the pages, periodically taking bites of her club sandwich or fruit salad. Finally, she finished and pushed the folder to the side. "I added three names and took two off. The names were right, but they were common names and other things didn't jive."

I glanced at my
watch. "We gotta go." Brad grabbed for the check, but Amber snatched it back.

"
I invited you. Ginger, are you going to meet that man?"

I grabbed my handbag and tossed the strap over my shoulder.
"Unless I find out something more definite I am, but I would like to speak with Bella, if I may."

"
Of course, let me write her contact information down for you." Amber took a moment to transfer information from her smart phone to a miniature notebook. When she finished she ripped out the page and handed it to me. "Here's her office number, cell number, personal email address and her company email address. Let's get together when you're meeting is done. I want to hear what happened."