“Same here.”
“I was waiting for you to mention him because he mentioned to you yesterday. Not to me, to Headmaster Radforde. He had a talk with him about your ability to step on toes as he referred to it.”
Dammit, he saw me go into the Headmaster’s office yesterday?
“I love stepping on toes, but I wish I was wearing my red black combat boots when I stepped on Lowell’s fat toes. How many times has he stepped on other people’s toes?”
“He is an expert in that area. He showed the school secretary how rude he could be after you left the Headmaster’s office because he wasn’t called to escort you out.”
“Lowell never disappoints. How do you know about this?”
“I did some research after leaving school yesterday,” says Katelyn. “There was a tour of important people at the school this week and I told my parents about them. My father has some investment dealings with one of them. We saw the notice on the news about the man’s body found in your pool this evening. My father says the man looks like he could the brother of his colleague. I had to see if he had the same face as Alan York, but they don’t look alike.”
“Who is Alan York? Hold on, I remember hearing some things on the news about Alan York. He is the leader of some high tech company and he hasn’t been seen for a while. I thought maybe he wanted to take a break from the fast track for a minute.”
“That may be true, nobody knows yet for sure, rich people can go into hiding whenever they want to get away from everything. Maybe it’s nothing, but his company’s stock plummetted yesterday and he didn’t show up to a big meeting with his shareholders, the Bartletts, yesterday afternoon to discuss the company’s future multi-millions. There are some rivals out there wanting the company to shrivel away, so they wanted to put the two together and have a look at him,” says Katelyn.
“No, not the Bartletts. I hate hearing that name,” I look up at the ceiling.
“Right, Lowell’s family controls it.”
“Great, something else for them to rule over, it’s not fair.”
“That’s how it is.”
I release a heavy sigh. “Do your parents think this dead guy is him?”
“They’re not sure about it,” Katelyn answers. “When you see pictures of this tech giant, you can tell he was the clean shaven type and the man in the pool is not. If you want to know my personal opinion on the subject, I think if Mr. Alan York wanted to grow a beard and let his hair hang lower, the guy in the pool could be his brother.”
“When is Mrs. York making an identification?”
“We don’t know yet because she is in New Zealand visiting her family. My mother knows her family too. If word gets out that it is him, then all eyes will be on the company, for sure, which is what the Bartletts craves.”
I let out a small laugh. “Are you sure about all of this, Katelyn?”
“Yes, Aleta, my father’s investor friends told him all about it and then he relayed it to my mother and I. You know we’re a tight knit family.”
I wish I could say the same about me and my parents, except I don’t know where they are. However, I have beginning to realize I have my grandparents to fill in for the absentees.
I’m not happy to hear the Bartlett family may have a connection to a man that ended up in my pool. I wouldn’t take that much of a grudge out on a person. I have not been here long. I’m invested in any companies or have strong ties to investors in our school. My grandmother chose this school because of the raving reviews she heard from her church members.
I cannot get over the idea of Lowell doing something this crude to bully me. I am concerned about my and my grandparents.
How far will he go?
“Do you mind if we share this with my therapist and sane assistant, Leslie?”
“She will keep a lid on your hair secrets?”
“She can give us an adult, common sense approach to this thing and I trust her. Leslie, can you come here for a moment?”
“What’s wrong? I was about to come back here for you,” said Leslie walking up to the dryer to turn it off.
“Wait a minute, sit down here, and listen to Katelyn.”
I put the call on speakerphone.
“Hey, Katelyn. Tell your mother she owes me a visit. I haven’t seen her ends in some time now,” says Leslie into the phone while I hold it between us.
“Will do Leslie, but first let me run this by your wise ears,” says Katelyn. “Have you heard about Alan York, the leader of the big tech company?”
“Yes, I saw them talking about him on the news the other day here in the salon.”
“Well, Alan York went out to dinner with four of his closest friends in Palm Beach about two nights ago. They wanted to go out for drinks right after, but he chose not to go with them. They don’t have any idea on where he went before he made it home here in Palm Beach for the night.”
“Did anybody spot him?” I ask.
“Yes, his maid saw him coming in and she greeted him before going to her bedroom. She recalled watching him go upstairs, dropping his keys on the table in the foyer and his shoes at the foot of the staircase. She didn’t see him the next morning and that was all she could say.”
“That can’t be all. I’m sure it’s not all. Tell me there is more to this story,” I plead.
“I’m telling you, that is all I know. When his maid went in to check on him in his bedroom, he was not there. She decided to make up his bed and pick up his clothes from the floor. She did remember seeing his cell phone on the floor too, instead of sitting
