Fallen Angels: Beguiled / Wanton / Uncovered

“I do have some info for you.”

Dane straightened, his thoughts once again in perspective. “Let’s have it.”

“Where your brother’s car went off the road, there’s an extra set of skid marks. Two cars were going fast that day, and two cars braked. Unfortunately, your brother’s was the one that went off the berm.” Alec handed him a file folder. “I checked with the police on duty that day. They say that’s a dangerous curve and people are always squealing their tires there, that the extra marks don’t mean anything and could have been from long ago. I don’t think so.”

Dane took the folder, his temper heating as he pondered his brother trying to escape another car. He would find out what had happened.

“There’s another thing.”

Dane looked up.

“Your brother had been in a local bar, not the classiest of joints, which is what drew my attention, and he’d been drinking it up right before the accident. The bartender said he’d met someone there, but that nothing seemed unusual about it. He didn’t have a description, only that it was a male.”

“Dammit!” Dane exploded from his seat and paced around his desk. Playing the role of his brother was wearing on his nerves. Using Derek’s office, his name, made him edgy. He’d left this life behind long ago and though he hadn’t moved far away, he’d still managed to keep an emotional distance from it all; now he was back under the worst possible circumstances. “Why are the cops blowing this off?”

“You know as well as I do, everyone claims your brother was acting goofy for a month. They just summed this up to stress.”

“Bullshit. My brother could run two companies and not be stressed. He was primed for it, raised to do it. And he thrived on it.” Unlike Dane, who hated every minute of the corporate business agenda. He wondered why his mother didn’t know any of this, why she hadn’t pursued the truth.

“I’m not arguing with you.”

Pressing a fist against his forehead, Dane muttered, “So what does Angel have to do with all this? I don’t believe she was directly connected to Derek’s death, but it is possible she helped pave the way for the killer, maybe unknowingly. She could be our only lead to what really happened since she was the last person to be close with him. But why would Derek have treated her so poorly?”

Alec shrugged, not forthcoming with a verbal response.

A knock on the door had both men swinging their heads around. “Come in.”

Raymond Stern sauntered in, his three-piece suit immaculate, his hair styled. Dane winced at the sight of him. The man, though pleasant enough, represented everything Dane disliked about the corporate world and his family. “Thank you for stopping by, Raymond.”

Raymond looked at Alec, a suspicious frown in place. “No problem. You said you wanted to talk?”

Dane nodded and reseated himself behind his desk. Alec stood. “I’ll be going now, unless you need something else?”

Dane shoved the file folder into a drawer before answering. “No. I’ll be in touch with you later.”

As Alec left, his eyes briefly skimming over everything and everyone in the room, Raymond asked, “A crony of yours?”

“One of my top men.”

A look of disbelief, or maybe scorn, passed over Raymond’s features. “Is he working on something right now?” Before Dane could answer, Raymond continued. “I think this P.I. business is fascinating, regardless of how your sister feels about it.”

“Oh?” Dane cocked one eyebrow, wishing he could plant a fist in Raymond’s face. “And how does Celia feel?”

He chuckled. “That you’ll outgrow it. She seems to think now that you’re enmeshed back in the office, you’ll want to stay.”

There was an unasked question in his tone. Dane started to reassure the man that once he married Celia, the business would be his, with Dane’s blessing. In truth Dane wanted no part of it. He was already bored with the endless paperwork and the tedium of board meetings. But he decided against it. Let Raymond stew. Let him wonder if the company was part of the marriage bargain.

“Celia has never liked it that I stepped out of the family’s affairs.”

“I think it’s incredible that you’ve always been located so close, yet I never met you.”

“My own offices aren’t that far away, true, but I’ve traveled a lot, especially in recent years. Some cases require constant surveillance, and that means you follow all leads, regardless of where they take you.” He didn’t add that he deliberately hadn’t kept in touch with his family, hadn’t clued them in to where he would be or for how long.

And now his brother was dead and he hadn’t even made it to the funeral.

Quickly closing that particular subject in his mind, Dane went on to another. “I asked you here because I know you transferred over from the Aeric Corporation.”

Raymond straightened with pride. “That’s right. Derek was there often once his intent was known, and he and I met. I agreed it was a natural acquisition, combining your family’s interests in health products manufacturing with Aeric’s research capabilities. When Derek finalized everything, he asked me to join him here.”

“You were at the funeral?”

Shaking his head, his eyes downcast in a regretful way, Raymond said, “No, unfortunately I missed it, also.” He looked back up, his expression resigned. “I hadn’t realized what happened until I reported here a week later. Derek had given me time to tie up my own loose ends and I spent two final weeks at Aeric, then took a break to sell my house and move closer. When I reported to work here is when I was told. That’s also the day I really got to know your sister.” A small smile now curved his mouth.

“I see.”

“When I asked to see Derek, I was referred to Celia. Things were still in an uproar, your mother most upset and Celia constantly on the verge of tears. They couldn’t locate you and they needed everything to be kept quiet, contained. Derek’s death hit them all very hard…” Raymond stuttered to a halt. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t making accusations. I realize it was very difficult for you as well.”

“Yes.” Dane knew that Raymond had shown up when the company needed him most, his past experience and lack of emotional involvement, along with Derek’s written blessing, making him the ideal man to take temporary control. Every effort was made to keep the stockholders from panicking. If nothing else, he owed Raymond his gratitude for that.

But Dane deliberately kept his own dialogue brief in the hopes Raymond would say more. Trying to get information from his sister or mother had proved most provoking. Anytime he mentioned Derek’s name, they would turn solemn, overwhelmed with the loss. The entire episode of the takeover of Aeric seemed very hush-hush.

“Anyway, I guess you could say your sister and I hit it right off. I care deeply for her.”

And deeply for the Company, but Dane kept those thoughts to himself. His sister was old enough, and certainly wise enough, to choose her own husband.

“Did Derek associate on a regular basis with anyone else at Aeric?”

Raymond shrugged. “Most everyone on the board, the managers, the—”

“No, I mean in a social way.”

“Well, there was the woman, secretary to the R&D department.”

Research and Development. Dane already knew what Angel’s position had been. Somehow, Derek had gotten information from her that had enabled him to take over the company.

And then he’d dropped Angel cold.

“Were they close?”

Raymond shrugged, looking thoughtful. “Everyone thought so. She’d never dated much, and then suddenly she had a steady date. At that time, no one realized Derek was after the company. But I suppose it should have been more obvious that he was using her. She was a mousy sort of person, not real talkative, withdrawn, but apparently good at her job. Good enough that the head of R&D often sent her top-secret information through a P.O. box to work on at home.”

“A post office box? That’s unusual.” Derek remembered the address Angel had given him, not a home address, but the anonymity of a post office.

Raymond shrugged. “Her supervisor was from the old school and didn’t trust the company computers, swearing too many secrets had been stolen. But he trusted the wrong person. Angel got the last of the information, a huge breakthrough worth top dollar that would have offset the takeover attempt, and she gave it to Derek. Of course, we found all this out after Derek dropped her.” He laughed. “She got fired real quick. Most everyone else was able to keep their jobs.”

“I see.”

“Why do you ask?” Raymond straightened. “She’s not here asking for a job, is she?”