Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
The walk is silent all the way out the security-coded door and down the hall toward Margo’s office. It’s so unexpected when she opens her door to Detectives Dunn and Maddox that I stutter-step.
Detective Dunn smiles first, and a heat I can feel all the way down to my spine fires up in my cheeks too. I don’t know why this is so embarrassing—it’s not like he didn’t already know I worked here—but something about facing it head-on, live and in person, has me feeling all amped up.
“Hello, Ms. May,” he greets me, and I try my hardest to smile.
“You can just call me Hannah.”
“Right. It’s good to see you, Hannah.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, looking around Margo’s windowless office as she sits down behind her desk, not so discreetly fluffs her already pushed-up breasts, and snags a Virginia Slim from the half-empty pack on her desk.
She manages to get it lit and take a deep drag before either of the detectives has a chance to answer my question.
“As we mentioned before, some of the details of the case seem to be connected to Call Me Anytime,” Detective Dunn updates me. “After speaking with Ms. Mavis, it’s clear now that Heather, the woman who was killed, was working here at the time of her death, on the same line you’re working now.”
“Killed?” I ask, my voice so soft I almost don’t hear it. I didn’t know someone was killed.
Detective Dunn nods, locking his gaze with mine, while Detective Maddox busies himself flipping through a file from Margo’s cabinet.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t share that detail before, but yes,” Detective Dunn confirms. “Heather’s death was a homicide.”
“Oh my God.”
“Your boss, Margo here, confirmed that Heather was forwarding her work calls to her personal phone so she could work remotely,” Detective Maddox chimes in. “Which is what tipped us off to your CMA line’s number in the first place. We saw the number several times on Heather’s phone.”
I lick my lips and blow out a breath, steadying myself with a hand on my stomach as I try to wade through a million and one racing thoughts.
“Do you need to sit down?” Detective Dunn asks, and I shake my head, knowing if I move even an inch, my knees are going to give out.
“I . . . I’m just trying to figure out how I fit into all of this. I . . . of course, this is terrible news, and I’m so sorry to hear about Heather. But . . . I just started working here. What does this have to do with me?”
Somehow, Margo has already finished her first cig and lights up another before hopping out of her chair to flip through the filing cabinet Detective Maddox is standing beside. Every once in a while, she hands a new file to him. By and large, she’s staying out of the conversation, and I have to wonder if it’s because she doesn’t want to say something she regrets. I mean, one of her employees was murdered while working remotely for CMA.
No wonder she was a freaking no-show! She’s dead.
What on earth have I gotten myself into?
The detectives share a glance, and then Detective Dunn smiles softly at me as he explains, “The Ruby line is . . . of particular interest. We need to monitor the calls on it for a while, see if we can get a feel for the tone of some of the regular callers and compare those numbers with the ones Heather was taking. Unfortunately, Ms. Mavis informed us that none of the previous calls were recorded, so we’re going to have to work with the line now.”
“You . . . you need to monitor the line?” I ask, tilting my head to the side in confusion. “So . . . I . . . wouldn’t work on the line anymore?”
His smile softens even further. “Actually, we need the operation of the line to continue as normally as possible, so we’d still have you operating it. We’d just be using technology on our end to listen and record while we investigate.”
“Wait . . .” My head jerks back in surprise. “You’d be . . . listening . . . to me. Take sex calls?”
He nods. “Correct.”
Is this some kind of sick joke?
“Um . . . when would that start?” Please say never.
“As soon as we can get our equipment up and running, so realistically . . .” He looks to Shane in question.
“Monday,” Shane replies good-naturedly.
Ha. And I thought this week was bad.
“Oh, great,” I answer, and I can’t hide the sarcasm.
“Hannah, I know this is a lot. I really do.” Detective Dunn has the audacity to look at me with sympathy in his eyes. “So, if you think of any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You still have my card, right?”