Free The Next Victim by Jonnie Jacobs Page B

brother. And I'm a terrible crier. None of this dainty, Victorian stuff for me. My eyes get red, my nose runs, my face turns all blotchy." She fanned her face with her hand as if to stop the flow of tears. "I don't want to get started again."
    "You knew Sloane Winslow, too?"
    "Right." Alicia reached for a tissue. "We're a small group here. Everyone knows everyone else. And now two deaths..." She ran a hand along the edge of her desk, avoiding Kali's gaze. "I know what they're saying about your brother, but I don't believe it. Not for a minute."
    "The police seem to think it's because Sloane was trying to get John fired."
    "I know. And that part's true. At least according to the rumor mill. We all knew there were bad feelings between them, but I don't see John shooting her."
    "What was Sloane like?"
    Alicia bit her lower lip. "Let's just say she had opinions and she wasn't afraid to share them."
    Kali offered a conspiratorial smile. "Difficult to get along with?"
    "A bit, for those who worked with her directly"--Alicia returned the smile--"which thankfully wasn't me. But I don't think people actively disliked her. It's more like they were afraid of her. Always on their best behavior where she was concerned."
    "Nobody with a specific grudge?" Kali asked. "Someone she reprimanded, or denied a raise to?"
    "I can't think of anyone. She wasn't really involved in the day-to-day operations. She had an office here and all, and she was a director of the company, but there was no one she supervised or anything."
    "Didn't she have a secretary?"
    "She's had a couple of them." Alicia pressed her lips together. "I shouldn't really be talking bad about her, but truth is, she burned through them pretty fast. It doesn't make a lot of sense that one of them had anything to do with her death, though."
    Maybe, Kali thought, though murder rarely made sense to anyone but the person committing the crime. She'd have to ask the detectives if they'd looked into the secretarial angle.
    "One of the things that seems to have caught the cops' eye," Kali said, "was an argument John and Sloane had over dinner the night she was killed. You wouldn't have any idea what that was about, would you?"
    Alicia shook her head. "I know Sloane was wired about something, though."
    "Wired?"
    "Tense. On edge. Short with everybody. It wouldn't surprise me if whatever they were talking about turned into an argument."
    Except that in the cops' scenario John was the one who was angry. Angry enough to drive over to Sloane's house hours later and kill her.
    "If John and Sloane didn't get along," Kali asked, "why were they having dinner?"
    "Beats me." Alicia pursed her lips. "The dinner was actually a last-minute thing. Mrs. Winslow tried all morning to reach your brother but he was in a meeting. He called her back later that afternoon, and I heard him tell her to meet him for dinner at Jack's Bistro."
    Another woman approached and greeted Alicia. "Sorry to interrupt. I'm going out for a latte. You want anything?"
    "A mocha, double shot of espresso."
    "With whipped cream?"
    Alicia laughed. "You have to ask?" She turned to Kali. "Would you like something?"
    "I'm fine, thanks."
    When the other woman had gone, Kali said, "I'd like to gather a few of my brother's personal things, if that's okay."
    "Sure." Alicia had obviously not been coached by the higher-ups. "The cops already took some stuff," she added.
    "Do you know what?"
    "Sorry, no. You want me to get you a box?"
    "I'm not sure I'll need one. I'll let you know if I do."
     
     
    Alone in John's office, Kali felt the palpable presence of a brother she'd hardly known. She sat in his chair, ran her hands over the glossy wood surface of his desktop, and tried to conjure up a mental picture of John the executive. All she could come up with were childhood images of a lanky, self-absorbed brother with a devilish grin, and a few memories of his last visit to the Bay Area two years ago. She'd been involved in a trial at the time but