Parker placed his finger against his lips. He suddenly wondered if the shadowy figure he’d seen a moment earlier was perhaps someone other than cleaning staff. Suz fell in silently behind him as he retraced his steps, cautiously peeking around the corner of the main hall.
A slim woman with impossibly high heels placed a ladder against the far wall, reaching to flip her stilettos off before climbing the metal structure. She opened the nearest roof panel, shining her flashlight inside and peering in.
Heat pressed down on his shoulder. Suz leaned against his back and put her lips next to his ear. “Dana Hastings. Evil woman, but also the nosiest creature on the face of the planet. She might have seen Lynn.”
“You want to talk to her?”
She made a gagging noise. “Only because I love Lynn so much. When we find her, you make sure you tell her about the sacrifices I’ve made on her behalf.” They straightened, Suz tugging everything into place. She wrinkled her nose as she checked Parker over. “You’re going to be trouble. Well, can’t be helped. Play along with me.”
She grabbed him by the hand and hauled him down the hallway.
Dana nearly fell off the ladder at the sound of their footsteps. She recovered, wiping the sneer off her face after she glanced away from Suz and instead eyed Parker from tip to toe.
“You’re here late,” she accused Suz even as she held a hand to Parker. “Hi. Can I help you with anything?” She breathed out the words as if she were inviting him into her parlor.
He would’ve shaken her hand, but he was trapped by Suz’s iron-tight clasp on his fingers. “We were wondering—”
“Have you seen Lynn?” Suz interrupted. “I mean since closing? We were supposed to meet for dinner, but I found something else I need to do.” She tilted her head toward Parker suggestively. “I can’t get ahold of her.”
Dana’s gaze shot over Parker again. “I haven’t seen anyone for the last hour.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not blind. There’s no one on this floor, and I was upstairs before that when the last of the advertising people left.”
Advertising. “Mr. Shotelle one of them?” Parker asked.
Dana’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know Phil?”
Suz eased her shoulder against Parker’s chest as if guarding him while she warned Dana off. “Trust me, word of slime gets around.”
The woman lost some of her defensive edge. “Tell me about it. He left at his usual time—five o’clock on the button.”
Parker’s phone rang.
It was Jack. “You’re not going to like this.”
“What?” Parker snapped, stepping away from the women.
“Digital footage. Six p.m., Lynn exits the elevators, gets in her car. Two minutes later she pops the hood, three minutes later Shotelle shows up—not from the elevators either. It looks like he was waiting in the background in the shadows. She got in his van, Parker. The camera at the exit shows them heading south.”
His fears ramped up. “Go check her car. We’ll be down as fast as we can.”
He grabbed Suz by the hand intending to drag her down the hall if he had to. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” She nodded at Dana. “Tell him what you offered.”
The other woman looked extremely guilty for all of two seconds. “Do you want to check out Phil’s office? I have keys. And I have access to the database where all appointments are listed for upper management. I can tell you exactly what Phil has planned for this weekend.” She laughed bitterly. “Or at least the official things he has planned.”
Parker stared in shock at Suz.
“What? I just mentioned in passing that Lynn seemed to be missing, and Phil might be in shit.”
“Which is fine with me,” Dana rumbled, leading them down the hall to the fire exit. “Egotistical, double-crossing, lying son of a bitch needs to have his balls peeled with a rusty spoon.”
Parker made another mental note to never ever piss off the fairer sex again.
Dana let them into Phil’s office, heading straight for the computer and turning it on. “And if you’re concerned, this is not illegal. My job description clearly states I have full access to these portions of the system.”
He made his way around the office, checking the garbage can and all the usual spots for information. “Just like I’m not looking for anything except a way to help Lynn.”
All three of them worked silently. Dana made a disgruntled noise. “There’s nothing on the job calendar.”
A low laugh escaped Suz as she waved a leather-bound book in the air. “Someone is a little more old-fashioned than we thought.”
“Day-Timer. What’s in there?” Parker demanded.
“Invitation to a weekend getaway with a Mr. B. Plus a phone number and land address.”
Parker ripped the page from the book. “Let’s get out of here.”
Dana held up her hand. “One moment, please.” She did a couple more entries to the computer, then closed it down. Her smile was more than a touch evil as she ushered them out the door. “You never saw me do that. Because you were never here, right?”