Free Dead File by Kelly Lange

critical. Was she expected to come out of it? she’d asked. Sandie’s doctor said there was no way to know, but he didn’t sound optimistic. And if she did regain consciousness, Kendyl had asked, would she be … okay? “There might be brain damage,” was all the doctor would say.
    Kendyl was amazed that Sandie hadn’t died from that gunshot to the head. A fluke, she figured. Lucky Sandie. Or maybe not so lucky. After her conversation with Dr. Stevens, Kendyl wasn’t worried about what Sandie would remember if she came out of it—it was looking like her brains would be scrambled. Even if she did remember certain things, and she talked about them, people would assume she was delusional.
    The one beautiful woman Kendyl had never considered a rival was Gillian Rose. Carter had told her he hadn’t had sex with his wife in years, that they were married in name only. But he could never divorce Gillian, because that would mean divorcing the company. Neither would have the means to buy the other out of the business, and they would be forced to sell it and split what was left. Which wouldn’t be much, he’d said, because they were leveraged to the max. And everything they’d worked for, everything they’d built for almost a decade, would be wiped out. Well, couldn’t they still run the business together, even if they weren’t man and wife? Kendyl had asked him. “That’s exactly what we’re doing now,” he’d said.
    Carter was the business genius behind the company, while Gillian had been the creative prodigy. Gillian spearheaded the development of new product, while Carter jockeyed the contracts, patents, and funds. They were a brilliant business team, Kendyl conceded, but now that Gillian was dead, Carter would need a new creative force in the company. And in his life.
    Kendyl didn’t know much about the product side of Rose International, just the business side. Sandie Schaeffer knew everything there was to know about the company’s plans for product development, because she had worked side by side with Gillian Rose since the company’s inception. Kendyl had definitely considered Sandie Schaeffer a threat.
    And certainly Sandie was pretty, in a soft, quiet way. Not dazzling, never dramatically beautiful, but still pretty, with that serene, blond, Grace Kelly kind of look that men seemed to go for. And just a few weeks ago, Kendyl had been confronted by the distinct possibility that Carter was sleeping with Sandie.
    She knew because she knew the man, probably better than his own wife had known him. She took note of his several meetings with Sandie of late, either here in his own suite, or in Gillian’s. Before, he rarely ventured over to “the other side,” as they both jokingly called the adjacent suite of offices. Lately he’d become a habitual visitor, dropping in to see Sandie on what Kendyl considered one pretext or another. Or he’d call her and ask her to stop by his office, he had something to show her or to bring to her attention. Oh, sure. Kendyl knew the signs.
    In Kendyl’s mind, Gillian’s death cleared the way for Carter to choose a new wife. Oh, not right away, of course, but at some point down the road. And if Carter was indeed sleeping with Sandie, she might have been a prime candidate. For two reasons. First, for her extensive and guarded knowledge of Rose International product development; Sandie could conceivably replace Gillian in that area. And second, for a man like Carter Rose, the best sex was new sex.
    But Kendyl didn’t have to worry about Sandie Schaeffer anymore.
    There was a
tap-tap
on her office door. Then a waiter from the cafeteria came in carrying a tray. Kendyl wrote in a tip and signed the slip, thanked the waiter, and watched after him as he left the suite.
    She considered the tray. A tall silver pot of steaming coffee and a round ceramic pot of tea that was still brewing. Along with a tray of miniature muffins.
    If she were of a mind to do some damage, just think