Vendetta in Death by J. D. Robb Read Free Book Online

They’ve lost their father, and however I felt, those kids need their daddy.”
    “All right. Would Jasmine Quirk and Leah Lester be the women who reported the harassment to you, and accepted the settlement?” Dallas asked.
    “They would, yes.”
    “I’m sorry, Sylvia, I—”
    “Don’t be a boob, Lance, this is a murder investigation. You tell thetruth, you say what you know. I demanded he pay each of them a hundred thousand, USD, provide each of them with solid references, and have no other contact with them. If he balked on any of it, I’d follow through. Both women agreed to those terms as well, or it would’ve been a different matter. They just wanted out.”
    “A hundred thousand seems a small payment for rape,” Eve commented.
    Sylvia’s lips flattened. “And I agree. They couldn’t prove it, either of them. They couldn’t even be absolutely sure of it, either of them. Jasmine, in particular, felt she’d participated, felt she’d done something wrong, and wanted to forget it. She relocated to Chicago, where she had some family. Leah was angry, understandably, but refused to give me any solid details. She’s still in New York as far as I know, working in international finance. It may be I should have gone to the partners, or even the police, but all I had was the word of two women who both wanted to move on.”
    She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I thought I did what was best for them at the time. I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
    “Do you know who’ll inherit his percentage of the company?”
    “I … His wife and daughters, I imagine. I honestly don’t know. Geena and the girls are away. God, what a mess.”
    “Do you know of any other women he harassed?”
    “Once I knew about Leah and Jasmine, I suspected there had been more, but no. No one else came to me or filed a complaint. And, believe me, since then I’ve kept my eyes and ears open. I feel certain Nigel knew I’d take action if he played among the office staff again.”
    “All right, Ms. Brant. We’re going to need to go through his office, and we’ll need to have any and all of his electronics taken in to EDD.”
    “God, the client files. So much confidential data.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m going to clear you through, save us all time, but I’mgoing to ask you to cover all our asses and get a warrant. I have to inform the partners.”
    “We’ll also need to speak with them.”
    “Of course. I can, if you like, arrange a ’link or holo-conference. Neither partner is in New York. However I felt about him, Lieutenant, Nigel was my employer, he had a family I’m very fond of, and I’ll see that everyone in his office gives you every cooperation. His family will need closure. They won’t have it until you find who took him from them.”
    “I’ll let you know about the conference. I appreciate your time and cooperation, Ms. Brant. I’m going to have Mr. Po take us to Mr. McEnroy’s office. EDD will arrange for the transport of the electronics. I’ll secure the warrant.”
    They left her to walk down the corridor to the impressive double doors of McEnroy’s office.
    It made two of Brant’s, with Po’s adjoining office a kind of afterthought. It boasted a full adjoining bath, an entertainment nook, with an AutoChef, a friggie, a bar. And a snazzier yet view of the city.
    “I don’t have the passcode to his private files, or the locked drawer,” Po began.
    “We’ll take care of it.”
    “I can get you into the company files, e-mails, and so on. I have those codes, if it helps.”
    “It does. Peabody, tag Reo for the warrant, then EDD.”
    “On that.”
    “If you need me to explain any of the data…”
    “Getting us in’s enough for now. We’re going to need your office electronics, too.”
    “Oh boy. I could open them if you want.”
    “Appreciate it. Once you open things up, why don’t you take a break? If we need you, we’ll let you know.”
    “He’s better busy,” Schupp