Part 45 (1/2)
”Then what is it?”
Gillette glanced at Stiles, who nodded subtly. The parking lot was still clear. ”I need to know where she is.”
She shook her head. ”I have no idea,” she said quickly.
Too quickly. Jackpot. ”Mrs. Hays, I run an investment firm in New York. We own and run companies. Up until about a week ago, Kathy worked for one of those companies. It's called HP Brands. Does that sound familiar?”
She stared back at him blankly.
”Mrs. Hays. Please help me.”
”Yes,” she whispered. ”That's the company.”
”Your daughter resigned very suddenly last week.” He hesitated. ”There was a problem.”
”A problem?”
”Turns out she was having an affair with one of my partners. He's a bad guy, and I fired him for it, but I'm worried that he's looking for her. There's no telling what he'll do when he finds her. From what we can tell, he's obsessed with her.”
The woman looked up at Gillette for a long time, a gentle breeze blowing a few strands of her long gray hair across her face. ”Kathy told me not to say anything,” she murmured.
”You have to tell me, Mrs. Hays. I'm a friend. I really am.”
Vince McGuire walked quickly down Eighth Avenue toward McGuire & Company headquarters, located in a high-rise on Fifty-seventh Street. It was nearly 10:30. He almost always got to the office late, but usually stayed until eight or nine at night. Tom was the one who got in early and left early because he lived all the way out on the island.
Vince was about to reach into his overcoat for his cell phone when he felt a pair of strong hands grab his shoulders from behind. Then a hood came down over his head, obscuring the world. Before he could react, his hands were bound tightly behind his back, and he was being hustled across the sidewalk and into a car.
The last thing Vince heard before the door slammed shut was the sound of his cell phone clattering to the sidewalk as it fell from his pocket. Then he felt the car leap ahead.
Gillette's cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. ”h.e.l.lo.” They were already a hundred miles southwest of Pittsburgh on I-79. A thousand miles to go.
”Christian, this is Jose.”
”Yes?”
”We have the package.”
”Good. I'll be in touch.” Gillette hung up abruptly, not wanting to stay on the cell phone long. ”They got Vince McGuire,” he said to Stiles, who was driving.
Stiles rolled his eyes. ”You're taking a big chance, Christian. Kidnapping is a serious crime.”
”You don't think Vince McGuire is involved?”
”It doesn't matter what I think. It's what I can prove. And right now I can't prove anything. Besides, even if he is involved, you still kidnapped him.”
Gillette glanced out the pa.s.senger window at the rolling countryside. ”Call me Chris,” he said quietly.
”Huh?”
”Call me Chris,” Gillette repeated, louder this time.
”But I thought-”
”My friends call me Chris.”
Stiles was silent for a minute. ”What made that woman-”
”You and I could be friends, Quentin,” Gillette interrupted. ”And I really need someone with your talents,” he added quickly, self-conscious about what he'd said. ”I need personal security all the time.”
”Just keep QS on the payroll.”
Gillette shook his head. ”No, I want you you on the payroll.” on the payroll.”
”I have a business to run, Christian. Uh, Chris. People who depend on me.”
”What do you take out of the business a year?”
Stiles s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably behind the wheel. ”None of your business.”
”Come on.”
”No.”
”What's the big secret?” Gillette was accustomed to being direct-and having people answer his questions. Nothing important could be accomplished without straight talk. ”Do you take a million out a year?”
”No.”
”Half a million?”
”Look,” Stiles said, exasperated, ”I've mostly been putting money into into the business. It's growing, so it needs cash.” the business. It's growing, so it needs cash.”
”Now we're getting somewhere,” Gillette said, satisfied. ”How about this? We hire someone to take over for you at the company. Everest invests a little bit so you don't have to put any more cash in, and you come to be my head of security. You still own, let's say, 80 percent of the stock. So you control it. But somebody else deals with all the headaches.”
”That's great, but-”
”And I'll pay you a million a year to be head of Everest security.”
”Jesus,” Stiles whispered.
”Now, aren't you glad you kept listening?”
Stiles glanced at the interstate stretching out in front of them. ”So, what made that woman tell you where her daughter was?”
Gillette smiled over at Stiles. ”My eyes,” he said, pointing at his face. ”Women just can't resist them.”
Stiles laughed loudly. ”You're delusional, you know that?”
Gillette's smile grew wider. It was the first time he'd ever heard Stiles really laugh.
The phone rang once more, then finally the voice mail message kicked in. Again. No one had seen Vince at the office all day. He hadn't come in and he hadn't called.