Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,68

had been there, so he knew the way. They drove up the driveway, parked, and hopped out. She noted Johan had an envelope.

“What’s that?”

“We printed off copies of the photos.”

“Will they think we’re the blackmailers?”

“Not likely,” he said, “and not for long, even if they do think that way at first.”

“Right,” she agreed, then shrugged.

When they got to the front door, they heard music inside. Johan stepped forward and knocked sharply on the door. The music was muted, and eventually a man came and answered the door.

He looked at them with a frown. “What’s this all about?” he asked sharply.

Johan quickly identified himself, Galen, and Joy. “May we come in and speak with you for a few moments?”

Confused, the guy shook his head. “No, you can tell me whatever the hell you want right here.”

“It’s personal,” Joy said, “but if you want us to do that here, sure.”

The door opened a little wider to reveal a second man, and she recognized him from the photos as well.

She sighed. “Again, this is very personal,” she said. “We can do it out here, but I think you both would feel better if we were inside.”

The second man looked at the first, then opened the door wider, telling them to come in. They were led to a small formal-looking living room just inside the front door. The first man looked at them and said, “Take a seat and tell us what this is all about.”

The other guy sat down and said, “I’m Mike.”

She looked over at Johan and Galen, who were looking at her, so she reached for the envelope. “We didn’t take these, but they did come into our possession,” she said. “We would like you to know about them, in case you don’t, and, if you are being blackmailed, we would very much like to know who’s blackmailing you.”

Both men lost all color in their faces, immediately turning pale. They stared at the envelope as if it would reach out and bite them. One of the men looked up, his gaze moving back and forth between the three of them. “Are you cops?” His voice was harsh and cutting.

Galen and Johan shook their heads. “No, we’re not. We do a lot of private work though,” Johan said, by way of short explanation. “This has come about in response to a man’s murder and problems at a company.”

“Westgroup,” the man snapped.

She nodded. “I work there myself.”

He turned his laser gaze on her and frowned. “I don’t know you.”

“I don’t know most of the 240 people who work there,” she said. “I doubt you do either.”

He had the grace to look ashamed, and he nodded.

“In my case,” she added cheerfully, “I have only been there about six weeks, so I wouldn’t expect you to know me.”

“What department do you work in?”

“I’m not sure I have one,” she said. “I’m the inventory clerk for Westgroup and have been doing inventory, and I’m down in the basement with Phyllis and Doris, if that helps,” she said. There was a moment of stillness as the men looked at each other and then back at her. She shrugged. “That obviously seemed to trigger some reaction,” she said. “I just don’t understand what.” They looked down at the envelope again, so she asked, “Do you want to look?”

“No,” Mike said. “We really don’t want to look.”

She sighed, dropped the envelope on the coffee table, and said, “Well, obviously you’re being blackmailed then, and we would really like to know who is doing the blackmailing.”

“If you’ve got those photos,” Mike said harshly, “then you already know.”

“Potentially,” Johan added, “but they were hidden, so we’re not so sure. And names or initials in a book don’t work if we have to guess on some of it. We really don’t want to guess,” Johan said distinctly. “I don’t know if the cops have been here yet, but they will be soon enough.”

Both men settled back, and then one reached over and grabbed the other by the hand. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

“We’re not judging you,” Joy said quietly. “Personally I think blackmail is disgusting, and there is no viable reason for anybody to do this to another human being. But now a man’s been murdered, and I’ve been threatened. At this point, I’m really tired of it all.”

When she said she’d been threatened, they looked at each other again and then back at her, both frowning.

She nodded. “Yes, my place was trashed, and just this morning I was followed and threatened at