Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [41]
"That's the natural order of things. I still don't see what that story has to do with my grandmother's dragon."
"Maybe nothing, but it might be worth looking into. Did you happen to notice a connecting joint on the dragon, a piece that looked like it might fit into another piece?"
Riley shook his head. "I didn't look at it that closely. I'll bet your father did, though. What about that other guy who was working in the lab that day?"
"Raymond Li?" Her eyes widened. "My God. I just remembered. I never spoke to Mr. Li. He called in sick yesterday. I know that, because I was looking for my father, and I went down there thinking they'd be together, but Mr. Li's assistant told me that he was out."
Riley felt his heart begin to pump faster. He checked his watch. It was almost nine o'clock. "Do you have his home number?"
"I'm sure it's in the personnel file, but I don't have that."
"You can get it, can't you?"
"Tomorrow when the store opens."
"What about tonight?"
"I don't have access to those files on my computer."
"Don't worry about that. You get me into the store. I'll get you into those files."
Chapter Eight
"This feels wrong," Paige said as she let Riley into her dark office just before nine thirty. The store closed by six o'clock on weekdays, five o'clock on the weekends. The Hathaways had never felt compelled to offer longer hours. Her grandfather always said if the people wanted to buy their goods, they could damn well find a way to come during the day.
She flipped on the lights, but it still didn't ease the tension in her body. She'd been at the store after hours before, but never for the purpose of looking into files that weren't any of her business.
"You own the store, Paige," Riley reminded her. "You have the right to access any information having to do with it."
"My mother would not agree with you." Paige walked around her desk to turn on her computer. "She's the boss."
"More so than your father? Isn't it his family's business?"
"Yes, but my mother doesn't think of it that way. She's probably more of a Hathaway than my father is. Once she married my dad, she got rid of her own family. I've never even met my maternal grandmother or my mother's sisters."
"Really?" he asked with a note of surprise in his voice. "So your mother has some skeletons in her closet. That's interesting."
"My mother grew up poor and angry about it. Now, she's rich and angry about other things, like the fact that my grandfather won't name her CEO. She's not a blood Hathaway, and therefore she can't have the title. My father can't have it, either, because he doesn't spend enough time at the store. But that's not an issue, because he doesn't want the title."
"Which leaves you."
"Exactly. If I prove myself worthy, someday all of this will be mine, but it certainly won't be anytime soon."
"Sounds like your grandfather still runs the show," Riley commented.
"He's a very strong-willed person, strong in body, in mind, and in opinions." She punched a button on her computer, then stepped aside so Riley could sit down. She perched on the edge of the desk, watching as he quickly riffled through the programs.
"Passwords?" he asked.
She gave him the ones she had and watched his fingers fly across the keyboard as if this were very familiar territory. She couldn't help wondering about his background. "Where did you learn to do this?" she asked, noting how quickly he got into the personnel files.
"Self-taught," he said, his attention still focused on the screen.
"You majored in computers in college?"
"I didn't go to college."
"Really? Why not?" Everyone she'd ever known had gone to college. Even Jerry had managed to make it through a state school.
"No money. What's the name of the guy we're looking for?"
"Raymond Li. They have scholarships, financial aid to help you get through school."
"Yeah, what would you know about that?"
"Enough to know that you were smart enough to go if you wanted to go."
"I went into the service instead. Here it is, Raymond Li." He jotted