Fate Actually (Moonstone Cove #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,67
on every table.”
“Spread out.” Of course they wouldn’t be stuffed in a drawer. That would crumple them. She scanned the office for anywhere that large pieces of paper could be hidden.
“Anything?”
Katherine was pulling files out. She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Keep looking. Keep your eyes out for anything that looks like it doesn’t belong either.”
Katherine turned her head. “Like Whit Fairfield’s will?”
Toni blinked. “Uh, yeah. Why would Ruben have a copy of that?”
“I have no idea.” She took it out and pulled out her phone. “I’m going to scan it quickly.”
“Still no luck on these plans. Maybe they’re in Fairfield’s office and not—” Her elbow bumped the calendar blotter on Ruben’s desk, shoving the plastic-edged blotter to the side and revealing a curled edge of paper.
Toni stared. “Of course.”
She stood, lifted the blotter up, and spotted what looked like blueprints underneath Ruben’s desk. The difference was, there weren’t two set of plans drawn on most architectural plans.
“Katherine, I found them. I think.”
The professor shoved the last will and testament up her blouse before she walked over to Toni. “We don’t have time for me to scan all these. I’ll be here for an hour.”
“I think he was trying to alter these.” Toni pointed to faint lines that contradicted some of the diagrams on the blueprints. “Do you see?”
“I do.” Katherine glanced at the door. “We can’t take these. He could go weeks without knowing the will is gone. These? He’ll notice.”
“What do we do?”
“Pictures,” she said. “It’s the best we can do. Just be fast.”
Toni snapped a series of photos, trying not to leave anything out of the frame. Then she carefully positioned the calendar blotter over the blueprints and straightened it on Ruben’s desk. “We better go.”
“I feel so daring!” Katherine said. “Baxter will completely overreact to this.”
“I think Henry might do the same.” Toni started for the door and paused before she opened it to listen to the warehouse.
She didn’t hear any voices close by, so she cracked the door open, glanced outside, then opened it wide enough for her and Katherine to slip out.
“Is this technically considered industrial sabotage?” Katherine whispered.
“I’m not sure.” There was a set of narrow stairs at the east end of the building. Toni started down them. “Why?”
“Because there’s a clause in my contract with the university about industrial sabotage, and I wouldn’t want to break it.”
“Since you don’t have a personal stake in any of Ruben’s competitors, I think you’re in the clear.”
“That’s good.”
They reached the bottom of the stairs. The panicked yelling from down the hall was far quieter, but people were still shouting about cleaning up and repairing hoses.
“I think we made it.” She shoved her way out the double doors at the end of the warehouse, only to run smack into the barrel chest of Danny Barba.
Toni looked up with wide eyes. “Danny!”
“Toni?” He was frowning. “What are you doing here?”
“We… Uh.”
Katherine said, “Ruben was giving us a tour of the fermentation tanks when something broke on the second story and grape juice came pouring down. It was a very big mess.”
“Yeah. We were looking for a bathroom because I got some on my jeans.” Toni looked down. “We couldn’t find one.” She pointed at the tasting room building. “Maybe over in the main building?”
“I think so.” Danny still looked confused.
“What are you doing over here?” Toni asked. “Something about those grapes Henry wanted to buy?”
Danny opened his mouth, then closed it. “Um. Yeah, the grapes. The, uh, the pinot grapes he wanted to buy from Ruben.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “Sure hope that wasn’t what ended up on the floor of the tank room.”
“You and Henry both.” Toni laughed. “Okay, tell Ruben we said bye. We’re gonna find a bathroom and get out of here. We shouldn’t take up more of his time.”
“Okay. See you.” Danny walked in the warehouse and Toni and Katherine kept walking straight toward the car. “Are you texting Megan?”
“Yes.” Katherine nearly tripped as she tried to read her phone. “She says she’s at the car too.”
“Good.” Toni was desperate to get out of there. She felt like at any moment, someone was going to run out and tackle Katherine to grab the will from under her shirt. And then Toni would have to explain to Baxter why Katherine had been tackled and why she had a murder victim’s will up her shirt.
She saw Megan in the distance, leaning against her Mustang and checking her phone as if she didn’t have a