Of the three girls, the tiny brunette was the least reliable. She tended to show up late for work and leave early, always promising to make up the time but never following through. Her behavior wasn’t something that Dani, or the other girls, would tolerate for long, but since they were all still settling into this new situation, Dani would wait a few more weeks before confronting her.
Previously, Tippi’s actions hadn’t been a real problem, but today, Dani had been late getting out of bed herself.
She’d been awake until well after 2:00 a.m., staring into the darkness and obsessing over her situation. An ex that was driving her crazy, Regina’s murder possibly ruining her Chef-to-Go business, and a twisted detective trying to convict her of killing the young woman.
As Kelsey had pointed out, and Dani had tried to ignore, the cop’s motives were almost certainly related to her participation in Homestead Insurance’s biggest cover-up. As much as she wanted to pretend Mikeloff’s vendetta against her could be connected to any number of personnel matters at her old job, logically, she knew it was probably the nastiest one.
Which meant Dani would have to pay a visit to her previous employer and try to figure out which of the people involved were connected to the vindictive cop. Although she heard that the entire HR department had gone through a huge shake-up when a chainsaw consultant had been brought in and reduced the employee head count by half, Dani could only hope that there was someone left who would be willing to give her access to the pertinent files.
As she cleaned up the kitchen, she mentally ran through the list of her colleagues. Although she hadn’t burned any bridges when she quit, she also hadn’t kept in touch.
Shuddering, Dani realized that Perry Sumac was the only person in her old company who might be willing to help her. He had invited her out several times, and it was clear that he had a crush on her. But even if she hadn’t had a rule against socializing with colleagues, Perry creeped her out. Asking him for a favor would be tough, getting it without agreeing to a date with him even tougher.
Dani’s mind veered away from the unappealing thought of her old coworker to the very appealing memory of Spencer Drake. Last night, it had been so nice sitting on the porch with him. Once Kipp had dropped off the money and left, she and Spencer had continued to enjoy the pleasant evening.
She had been shocked when Spencer agreed to help her investigate Regina’s murder. And as much as she could tell he wanted to take back his words, he hadn’t whined or tried to blame her.
In fact, he had been funny and charming, telling her amusing stories about recent incidents campus security had to handle. He’d seemed genuinely interested in her Chef-to-Go business and hadn’t shown any indication that he thought she was wasting her education or that should be working in HR. Maybe that was because they were both starting over and reinventing themselves.
Smiling at the thought of the two of them getting a fresh start, Dani inspected the kitchen. Everything was back in place, the dishwasher was humming quietly, and all the surfaces sparkled. Now she could turn her attention to figuring out Mikeloff’s link to Homestead, which would require a shower and some makeup.
Ninety minutes later, with her hair curled and wearing a pretty summer dress, Dani walked into the Homestead Insurance building. The modern glass-and-brick high-rise had been her home away from home for seven years, and she was surprised to realize that she hadn’t missed it or the work or, to be honest, any of the people.
The receptionist was on the phone and waved Dani through. She took the elevator to the fifth floor and walked down the long hall until she came to the frosted-glass door with the inscription Human Resources.
The metal knob felt icy in her palm, but she pasted a pleasant expression on her face and entered the department. Taking a deep breath, she nearly choked at the artificial smell of room freshener. Lilies had never been her favorite scent and the imitation was worse than the original.
A few seconds later, Dani cringed when she heard, “Danielle, what a surprise to see you here. Are coming back to work for us?”
“Sorry, no.” Dani faced Evie Hanger, the woman who had taken over after the boss’s heart attack. “Since I was in the area, I just thought I’d drop by and say hello.”
“How sweet.” Evie’s expression didn’t match her words. “Well, there have been some personnel modifications and there may not be a lot of people you know anymore. Still, a quick hello to any of your friends who are remaining is fine, but this is a place of business.”
“Of course.” Dani held on to her smile. “Is Perry still working here?”
“Yes.” Evie turned and marched away. “He’s now in the last cube on the right.”
Perry Sumac resembled a mushroom, a brown blob on a stem of two skinny legs. When Dani entered his cubicle, he was frowning at his keyboard, hunched over a desktop overflowing with empty food wrappers and overturned paper cups. However, when he looked up and recognized Dani, his annoyed expression morphed into a huge smile.
He jumped to his feet and lumbered toward her. “Dani!” Perry’s voice reminded her of oozing sap. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Thanks, Perry.” Dani’s skin crawled as she endured his hug. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.” He held on to her a few beats too long, but when she squirmed, he let go and guided her to the chair next to his desk.
“I hear that there’ve been a lot of staff changes since I left.” Dani searched her mind for small talk, putting off the inevitable when she’d have to ask for help.
“Yeah.” Perry ran a hand through his greasy hair. “They had a blame-storming session and fired everyone they considered responsible for the disappointing profits.”
“But
