Chosen by a Killer by Laurie Nave (read e book txt) 📗

he wouldn’t accept it. He pulled some of the crap Bart has. Suzie wouldn’t report it. She thought she could reason with him. After he beat her up, she finally had him charged and got an order.”

“Thank goodness.”

“Yeah, he violated it a couple of times, so big brother had to have a talk with him.”

“A talk,” Celia said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, he didn’t talk for a while after that. Hard to talk with your lip busted and a couple of teeth gone.”

“Dang, I'm glad you have my back.”

“He got really angry when he couldn’t get to Suzie, so he went after another girl. Raped her.”

“Good God, what happened?”

“She pressed charges, and my sister testified as well thanks to his crappy attorney opening the door. He’s in prison. Won’t get out anytime soon with his temper.”

Celia sat in silence, thinking about Keith’s sister and imagining Bart with a few fewer teeth. “You’re a good man, Keith. You know that?” She placed her hand on his.

“Why thank you, ma’am,” Keith replied in an exaggerated drawl. He placed his other hand on hers, and they sat that way for a while. Finally, Keith stood. “Well, I better go. You’re good now, and I need to head home.”

Celia was a little disappointed. “Okay then. Hey, wanna grab dinner Saturday? I’ll buy.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Keith replied.

“Hey, what are friends for?”

He cocked his head a bit and then smiled. “Sure, sounds good, Just call me.”

Once Keith had left, Celia went to her laptop to type up the notes from her interview with Natasha. Even though Keith assured her it was fine now, she felt a bit naked booting it up. Bart had seen inside her life in a way that she never intended. She felt stupid and violated. And angrier than she had been in a long time. One way or another, Bart was going to need to go away. And sitting there as she checked her email, Celia didn’t much care what it took.

Chapter 21

Celia was working, but in the back of her mind, something was bothering her. She’d had several meetings with her new boss, and he had never mentioned her interviews with Natasha. According to John, he knew she was talking with the actress; however, William had never asked a single question. It was going to be a big story. Celia thought he would at least be a little curious. Maybe he was waiting for her to mention it. Did John imply she was keeping it a secret? Was William testing her to see if she would bring it up during their meetings? Whatever was going on, it made Celia uncomfortable. She decided that when they met later in the day, she was going to talk with him about the story. She’d just have to hope he didn’t want to leak it the way John had.

Meanwhile, Natasha’s revelation about her mother still had Celia stunned. No matter how controlling Mr. Bronlov had been, Celia couldn’t believe he would hide Natasha’s mother away and lie about it. Was his obsession over image really that insidious? The more she learned about Tasha’s father, the easier it was to see why Tasha was so calculating. With a Machiavellian father and no access to her mother, all Tasha saw was manipulation and self-interest. It wasn’t the theme of Celia’s article; however, she couldn’t help wondering how the actress’s killer mind had been created. If someone had known both Tasha and Celia growing up, they would have deemed them very much alike. But Celia didn’t plot murders. Maybe she pushed a little too hard to get ahead, but she never killed anyone.

Celia’s cell phone rang, and when she looked at the screen, she was relieved to see that it was Marlene. Shaking her head, she wondered how long she would have the moment of stiffening her spine just in case it was Bart.

“Marlene, good to hear from you. I haven’t had a chance to call you since the party. It was great, by the way, and I am so happy for your two.”

“Thanks, Celia,” Marlene responded. “We’re pretty excited. Dave keeps wanting to buy pink, and I keep telling him not to. But the truth is, I kind of want to go pink-crazy.”

“Celia laughed. “I say go for it. No shame in your baby girl being pretty in pink.”

“Thanks,” Marlene chuckled. “I actually wanted to talk to you if you have a few minutes.”

Marlene’s change in tone told Celia it was more serious than baby colors. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Have you...” Marlene hesitated. “Have you heard anything from John since he left?”

“Oh, he called me once. Tried to get into my head. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“I wonder if he’s in town or if he’s moved on.”

“I’m not sure. I’m sure he still has his cell phone if you need to talk to him.”

“Oh, I don’t want to talk to him.”

After sitting in silence, Celia asked, “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”

“Marlene, something is going on, I can tell. You said something at the party that made me wonder too. Did John do something?”

“Has your new boss said anything to you about why John left?”

“At the first staff meeting, he made some vague statements about new opportunities. But he wasn’t specific. And I get the idea he isn’t John’s biggest fan.”

Marlene laughed. “No, he’s really not. John kept him from buying things up a few years ago. I’m not sure how he succeeded this time.”

Celia shook her head. “I never understood John’s control issues. Being a part of Multicorp can only be good for everyone.”

“Yeah, but being part of a big company like that also brings more scrutiny.”

“What do you mean?”

Marlene cleared her throat. “Let’s just say that it was easier for John to get away with some things with no one was looking over his shoulder.”

“Okay Marlene,” Celia said. “Now you have to tell me what is going on.”

“I can’t say much. But I would like to talk. I just want