hurt them.
Even though it was after eleven and she’d risk a headache from drinking wine this late, she pulled a bottle of Pinot Grigio out of the fridge, a fresh one she’d added the day before. She poured a glass and took it with her into the bedroom. On the way she grabbed her laptop from the coffee table.
First she emailed Baby to say she was safe. It was too late to call but she wanted Baby to see the message first thing in the morning. For the next half hour, she Googled insider trading cases. There had been a number of high profile ones in the past few years, mostly involving male defendants, and the vast majority had ended in conviction. And Kelman was right. The penalties in every case were huge fines and daunting prison terms, the kind that took forty- and fifty-something men away from their growing families for years. It wasn’t hard to imagine someone doing their utmost to guarantee that didn’t happen to him.
The cases were complicated, too, often involving weeks of testimony. That seemed to back up Kelman’s claim that he had to be shrewd about what he came forward with and when.
Also of interest: Whistleblowers could receive a financial award from the SEC, and it could amount to millions of dollars. She realized that was a possible motive for X to kill Healy—so he’d be able to keep all the money for himself.
Kit took a sip of wine without tasting it and leaned back against the headboard of her bed. She still didn’t know whether to believe Kelman’s story—maybe parts of it were true and others not—but there was one thing she knew for sure. Kelman might have his game plan but she wasn’t going to be held hostage to it. If she felt in any danger, she would act. For the first time she realized that something in her had changed over the past few weeks. She’d become determined not to spend her life waiting in the wings.
The next morning she was at her desk early again, trying to focus on work and catch up. Most of her attention was devoted to the Barry Kaplan concept. Doodling with a pencil, she suddenly had a vision of a purple velvet sofa offset by earthy Irish matting on the floor. It would look stunning, but Barry would probably find it too designer-y, not masculine enough. Perhaps, she thought ruefully, she should suggest a tiki bar in the middle of his living room.
Frustrated, she stuffed his folder back in a drawer. Maybe her head would be clearer in the afternoon.
Dara arrived at nine, looking more laid back than she had earlier in the week, though, as Kit knew, nothing had changed for the better. She wondered if the right thing would be to insist that Baby and Dara work from home for the foreseeable future.
“I see Avery picked up the boards,” Dara said, glancing toward the spot on the wooden table where they’d been stacked.
“Yes, she blew in here just as the rain started.”
“When’s she planning to get back to you about them? We have to start placing orders if things are going to be ready by summer.”
“Hopefully today, though with Avery you can never be sure.”
The office phone rang and Dara glanced at her screen. “Speak of the devil, that’s her calling. Want me to get it?”
“No, I will. Let’s hope it’s a good sign that she’s responding so quickly.” She grabbed the receiver and answered.
“This is Chloe Marzilli, Avery Howe’s assistant,” a voice said after Kit answered. Avery liked to have her assistant place her calls, Hollywood-mogul style, but it suddenly dawned on Kit that the assistant wasn’t about to put Avery on. She was pretty sure she knew the real reason for the call.
“Good morning,” she replied. “Are you calling about my coat?”
“Excuse me?”
“The coat I loaned Avery.”
“No, not a coat,” the girl said breathlessly.
“Oh, sorry. Does she want to speak to me?”
“She’s not here—that’s why I’m calling. We don’t know where she is and I was praying you might have a clue.”
Kit’s body tensed, as if she’d heard the sound of a window splintering during the dead of night.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“She’s totally missing. I can’t reach her on her phone. The driver from last night said he dropped her off at your place just before seven and never saw her again.”
chapter 15
Kit’s mind scrambled, trying to dislodge what Avery had conveyed last night about her plans. She’d mentioned