Twice Kissed - Lisa Jackson [124]
From the restaurant she drove to the outskirts of town and an unobtrusive cinder-block building housing Lawrence’s Executive Options, where Eve Lawrence, as president of the company, oversaw and managed ten or twelve accounting and secretarial underlings who, combined, did the paperwork for several small businesses in the Denver area along with handling Marquise’s accounts, fan mail, and correspondence.
No-nonsense and dogged, Eve shook her head at the sight of Maggie. “I know you hear it over and over, but you look so darned much like Marquise, it’s spooky. I mean because she’s missing and all. I knew you two were pretty close because I’d seen pictures of you, but I didn’t realize how much until just now. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Spitting image doesn’t begin to cover it. Oh, well.”
She clapped her hands together, and Maggie noticed that she wore a ring on nearly every finger. Her makeup was perfect, not one red hair out of place, and her fingernails were painted a deep red and didn’t have the slightest chip. In a dark brown suit and boots, Eve Lawrence presented herself as the quintessential businesswoman. “Let’s get down to it. What can I do to help find her?” She escorted Maggie into a boardroom and sat next to her at the table. A secretary brought coffee and several files that were filled with information.
“This is all the most recent stuff,” Eve said, as the girl slipped through the door and closed it behind her. Eve poured cream into her cup and watched as clouds swirled to the surface of her coffee. “If you want copies, I’d be glad to show them to you—well, except for her private papers—tax returns, financial statements, that sort of thing.”
Eve, after a painful second divorce, had followed Marquise to Denver from Los Angeles and built her own business when she realized that she could expand and take care of more than one client. Marquise had given her letters of recommendation and spoken to prospective clients on Eve’s behalf. In return, Eve Lawrence seemed to give Marquise her undying respect and trust. As Eve told it, theirs was a near-perfect relationship except that Eve’s business was off, and there were a couple of hitches in her dealings with Marquise.
“…personally, and this is just between you and me,” Eve confided as she sipped from her cup, “your sister was going broke. Couldn’t control her spending. I shouldn’t say anything, but it’s all going to come out as she’s going to be sued for the money she owes.” Eve shook her head. “I tried to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Mary Theresa always played by her own rules.”
“The IRS doesn’t take that lightly,” Eve said.
“No, they don’t.”
“And, worse yet, your sister had horrible taste in men.” She held up a hand as if she expected Maggie to argue with her. “I know, I know, I shouldn’t make any comments. I don’t have a stellar track record myself, and for the most part I stay out of her private life altogether, but she’s made some questionable choices. You’ve met her first husband? Thane Walker?” Maggie’s heart froze. Eve rolled expressive eyes. “Outwardly, he seems fine, you know, the laid-back cowboy type, and sexy as all getout but there’s something about him I don’t trust. He’s not as much of a roll-with-the-punches kind of guy as he appears, too secretive for my taste. For some reason and God only knows what that is, Marquise never could quite sever her relationship with him.” Eve sighed.
“Is that right?” Maggie said, a sense of dread seeping through her.
“It’s as if he wanted something from her—maybe he’d never stopped loving her, I don’t know.” Maggie’s throat tightened, and she ignored the painful I told you so that echoed through her heart. “And then there was Syd, the second one. More bad news. I don’t mean to sound like a man-hater—I’m not, really—but the ones around Mary Theresa