Ernest Westerly walked further into the office. “Has he tried something?”
“You mean like to kiss me? No. Flirting, pressing against me, placing his hands on my waist or shoulders and squeezing? Yes. But that I can handle. I just think that I can get more done here and at the site. As a matter of fact, I have a lunch appointment in thirty minutes and then I’m headed over to the job site. I am supposed to meet Renaldo and Luke there.”
“Okay, that’s wonderful. The restaurant is coming together quickly. Renaldo is hoping to open in two months.”
“Two months? How the heck can that happen when he keeps changing the designs?”
“Well, that’s where you come in. You need to be there with him to pull on the reigns and get him to stop making these outrageous changes.”
“Me? How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“By spending more time with him and whispering into his ear how perfect everything is going. Keep him focused on the art he enjoys so much. In fact, he called a little while ago asking if you could meet him at the art gallery downtown. He tried your cell phone but never got voice mail. Maybe call him and meet him there after your lunch date?”
“I was on the phone with Moira. I didn’t hear the beep. I’ll call him on the way out and meet him there. Does the manager have the paintings we were looking for?”
“Supposedly she does. Let me know how things go. Talk to you later.”
As she grabbed her bags and closed up her computer, she thought about Renaldo. He didn’t seem like such a bad guy, but he did seem to have a hard time taking “no” for an answer. But she had a job to do, so why fight it?
* * * *
“I wanted this to go off without a hitch. What th
e hell is up with these women showing up dead?” Luke asked Renaldo as they sat in Renaldo’s penthouse.
“I don’t know. They were sent by the company so we had a good idea of our investments.”
“Yeah, well someone is either onto our investments and fucking with us, or we suddenly have some serious bad luck. If those detectives search deep enough, they’ll find out those women were not your typical high-price call girls.”
“No, they won’t, Renaldo. As far as the cops are concerned, they can dig all they want. Those women chose their professions. The cops won’t find out about the international prostitution exchange. The plan has worked for a decade. It’s foolproof.”
“Nothing is foolproof, and nothing lasts forever. I think it may be wise to start slowly pulling our investments from this operation.”
“Are you kidding me? This is a multibillion-dollar operation. I don’t want to give up those kinds of funds.”
“Well, you may have to, Luke. Women who we have slept with to sample the product are being killed. It’s not me killing them. Is it you?”
“Hell no.”
“Well then, we need to start thinking of downsizing our investments. I have a bad feeling about this. I’ve screwed over a lot of people. Hell, I killed a few to get where I am. I’m not going to lose it all over some worthless whores.”
“Or some jerk who could set us up to the fall for the entire operation. That would be life in prison with no parole,” Luke added.
“They could just put a bullet in my head. I would never survive that.” Just then Renaldo’s cell phone rang. He answered it and smiled.
“Sure thing, Ellie. That will be perfect, thanks for calling me back. I’ll see you there.”
“Well?” Luke asked, and Renaldo smiled.
“That was Ellie. She’s going to meet me at the gallery in two hours.” Renaldo fixed his tie as he looked into the hallway mirror.
“You really like her, huh?” Luke asked.
“What’s not to like? She’s gorgeous, sexy, classy, and smart, and most importantly she fits.”
“Fits what?”
“In my plans to sweep her away to Venice and have my way with her perfect body.”