“Good God Almighty, Parker.” Diamond Don’s voice cut through the murmurs of people getting settled around the table. “What have you done to your coffee, son?”
Abby froze.
Diamond Don took another swallow and grimaced.
It was then that Abby noticed the full mugs sitting in front of everyone.
“Tastes fine to me,” Jay announced, and swallowed, though he blinked rapidly and avoided her eyes.
Abby’s palms iced as she looked toward Parker.
Staring into his mug, he twirled the liquid around the edges.
“It’s a new bean I’m trying.” Parker addressed the group. “Indonesian Green Volcano. I’m thinking of investing in the farm where it’s grown.”
“Green Volcano.” Diamond Don shook his head. “Tastes like volcanic ash, all right.” He set his cup aside. “I’d give this one a pass, son.”
Fervent murmurs accompanied Diamond Don’s pronouncement.
“Make a note not to order that brand anymore, would you, Abby?” Parker glanced at her before turning his attention to the agenda. “And have Barbara or Nancy make us some more coffee.”
Abby nodded and escaped.
Back in her office, she shut the door and leaned against it, her eyes closed while she unwound for a few moments. Inhaling, she noticed that she could smell Valerie’s perfume. The scent had permeated the office reminding Abby as nothing else that she was only a temporary Executive Assistant.
Abby didn’t want to be reminded that she was only temporary. Someday she wouldn’t be temporary. Crossing to her desk, she made a note about the coffee, asked Nancy to make more, then made another note to spray Valerie’s office with nice refreshing pine scent.
Slipping off her pumps, Abby buried her toes in the carpet pile. During the next hour and a half, her telephone was blessedly silent. Either Nancy or Barbara handled all the calls that came in. Abby sorted through all of one box and was making headway on the second when her intercom buzzed.
“Yes, Mr. Laird?”
“Abby, it looks like we’ll be eating lunch here.” Parker’s voice was as composed as ever, though this development just shot his schedule all to pieces.
“I’ll order sandwiches,” she said.
“That’ll be fine.”
Abby stood and stretched her arms over her head. It had been a long morning and she knew she was in for a lengthy afternoon.
Picking up the telephone, she reached for Valerie’s Rolodex. The huge round card file wasn’t in its customary spot. No wonder there had been so much room on the desk. Abby looked on the window ledge, then by the computer, behind the monitor, on the file cabinets, in the file cabinets and in the desk drawer before giving up.
“Do either of you have Valerie’s Rolodex?” Abby asked Barbara and Nancy from the doorway.
Both women looked up from their computers and shook their heads.
“It’s gone.” Abby looked around their office anyway.
Barbara clicked a button on the tape recorder and took off her headphones. “What do you mean, it’s gone?”
“I can’t find it. I’m supposed to order sandwiches.”
Barbara got up from her desk. “Nancy, you’ve got that deli number, don’t you?”
Nodding, Nancy flipped through her own file. “I’ll call in the order, but which assortment?”
The three women stared at each other. Valerie’s Rolodex contained personal information about everyone who did, or had done, business with Parker Laird.
“Who’s in the meeting?” Barbara asked.
“Well, Diamond Don.” Abby tried to remember the rest, but her growing panic wiped their names from her mind.
“So we’ll have at least one roast beef,” Nancy murmured. “I thought I saw a woman in a red suit go by.”
Fighting to control her runaway emotions, Abby nodded.
“That’ll be the corporate lawyer handling the El Bahar setup. And I saw Jay...” Barbara looked off into space. “It’s probably the same bunch who met last Monday.”
Nancy nodded. “I’ll order the same sandwich platter.”
“Make sure Diamond Don’s roast beef is rare,” Barbara reminded her.
“Gotcha.”
Breathing easier, Abby leaned against the file cabinet. “Thanks.” Only now would she admit to herself that she’d been afraid Nancy and Barbara wouldn’t support her. If they hadn’t been so helpful, Abby might have done something stupid like interrupt the meeting to ask Parker what kind of sandwiches to order.
Looking distracted, Barbara walked into Valerie’s office. Abby followed her and watched as Barbara looked in all the same places Abby had.
Nancy appeared in the doorway a few moments later. “Find it?”
“No, and I don’t think we’re going to,” Abby said, a queasiness settling in her stomach.
Barbara looked at her. “You think Valerie took it with her?” she asked bluntly.
Abby sank onto the desk chair. “Don’t you?”
“Why would she do that?” Nancy protested. “It doesn’t make any sense. She knows we’ll need her notes to—oh.”
She and Barbara exchanged a look and Abby knew they were remembering their conversation in the ladies’ room—the one about Abby failing. She was remembering it, too.
By taking the old Rolodex, with its years’ worth of notes and observations, Valerie had seen to it that Abby couldn’t possibly slip seamlessly into her place. All Parker’s hotel preferences, special instructions, favorite restaurants and the wait staff in those restaurants, even who took what in his or her coffee and names of spouses and children—all the little details that contributed to an extra edge in Parker’s business dealings were in that Rolodex.
“I don’t suppose any of the information was computerized?” Abby asked.
Both women shook their heads.
Think, Abby commanded herself, though she wanted to shriek—preferably at Valerie. “Then we’ll have to recreate Valerie’s notes.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Staring at her toes as they dug into the carpet, Abby swiveled her chair from side to side. “The thing of it is,” she began with elaborate casualness, “not having the information in Valerie’s files makes us all look bad—including Valerie.”
“How do you figure that?” There was a belligerent defensiveness in Nancy’s voice.
Barbara was silent and Abby guessed that she was figuring things out for herself.
“I’ve only been working in this department since March and you’ve been here how long?”
“Three years.” Nancy tilted her chin up. “So what?”
“I know you’ve worked here longer.” Abby looked at Barbara, who crossed her arms. “Naturally, Mr. Laird expects you both to know more about the routine than I do, because if you haven’t learned anything after working here all those years...” She allowed her voice to trail off as Barbara and Nancy exchanged looks.
“We’d look either stupid or lazy.” Nancy propped her hand on her hip and shook her head in disgust. “So how does that make Valerie look