The Unkindness of Ravens by M. Hilliard (readera ebook reader .txt) 📗

few of them were attending some meeting in the conference room of a trendy hotel, and would adjourn to the equally trendy bar afterward to meet the rest of the gang. Those inclined would find a suitably pretentious restaurant for a late dinner. I wasn’t interested in the agenda, potential IPO or not, but I was interested in the attendees. I figured I would arrive with my husband, say my hellos, and plead a headache if I wanted out. Now I would be making an entrance alone. I took a long look in the mirror before heading downtown. Not the carefree college student I’d once been, but not so bad. Not that it mattered, I told myself. These were Danny’s business school friends. I spritzed on some of my company’s newest fragrance and left. The second text came as I reached the subway.

Dealing with that problem I told you about. Still at office. Leaving soon.

“Danny had something going on at work. There was some problem he’d found. It really bothered him, but he couldn’t make sense of it. We were going to meet some of his friends from his MBA program. I think he wanted to talk it over with them. But it got more urgent. He wanted to tell me about it that morning, but we didn’t have time. I didn’t have time.”

Jennie sat and listened. I felt my way along.

“So, I figured we’d all talk about it over drinks. But he kept texting that he was stuck at work because of this issue.”

“You knew all these people? The ones you were meeting?”

“Some of them.”

“But you don’t have any idea what the problem was?” she asked.

I shook my head. Knowing Danny, the problem could have been anything from a sudden drop in revenues to someone’s expense account not adding up. At first I thought it was the latter. Now I wasn’t so sure.

“It was complex enough and sensitive enough, that he wanted to talk about it in person. To a couple of his business school buddies, one in particular. And to me.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I know. I told him I didn’t know enough about his business; I didn’t see how I could help. He said that was why, because I would make crazy connections that he couldn’t see, because I didn’t know what I should be seeing. Do you know what I mean?”

“It’s why I’m on this case, instead of a more senior officer, and why Sam has let you run loose with no more than an occasional warning. Because we’re inside enough to know the players, but outside enough to see them clearly. No expectations. Go on. How does this relate to the time you were MIA?”

This was the tough part.

“Danny had a mentor, through his MBA program and after. A man named Ian Cameron. They worked together on a few things. Ian was brilliant, creative. Danny could do anything with numbers, but he was methodical, very attached to details. They made a good team. Ian would make the leap of faith, and Danny would anchor it in a balance sheet.”

Find Ian. Have him call me ASAP. Still here. Use cell.

The third text. I was three drinks into the night and angry. I’d already found Ian once.

“Hello, gorgeous. What a lovely surprise.”

“Ian. Hello, yourself. I was invited, you know.”

“You’ve been invited before. You’ve never appeared. Where’s Dan?”

“Hung up at work. Hopefully on his way. He wants to talk to you.”

“I know. He left a couple of messages during the presentation. I hope he gets here soon. I have a plane to catch.”

“Don’t you always? So sorry we won’t get to catch up over dinner. I hear you got divorced. Again. I’ll ping Dan. We’ll find you when he gets here.”

His eyes hadn’t left me once. The bastard.

“I guess you could say Ian Cameron was my first love,” I told Jennie. “Dan introduced us.”

Danny, who I’d known my whole life. I’d been his prom date, flattered at the attention from an older boy. We’d gone out once or twice, and then he’d moved on to college and college girls. Like Vince and Felicity. But I hadn’t been heartbroken. I dated a few boys with varying degrees of seriousness after starting at NYU. Danny and I remained friends, ending up at some of the same parties when he came back to the city for his MBA. He got into the habit of dropping by when he was at my end of town. We’d have coffee at one of the village cafes and discuss the latest news from our neighborhood. He was always good for some homework help if I was having any trouble with something business related. The fact that he was taking a semester abroad at the same time I was taking an advanced statistics course is what led to Ian.

“Dan asked Ian to check in with me. We had coffee and talked business statistics. Then we had coffee again and talked for hours. That led to dinner and drinks, and soon to a red-hot love affair. It ended badly.”

I was wild about Ian. He claimed to be wild about me. We had a great spring. I’d just been offered a job by the company I’d interned with when Ian delivered the blow. He was taking a job in Silicon Valley, a start-up with a lot of potential. He was sure I could find something to do out there, if I wanted to come. I had a vision of myself relegated to the role of “the girlfriend” and eventually “the wife” and said no thanks. He wasn’t as heartbroken as I’d hoped.

“So, Ian went for the brass ring, and I went for the sure thing.” The job where they already knew me and liked me. The city I loved. And eventually, the boy from the neighborhood. And for a long time, it worked. I hadn’t seen Ian since he left.

The last text came a few minutes later.

Just leaving. Meet you at home. Ian?!?

I’ll find him. Pick up dinner.

Ten minutes