Gianna pressed the Facetime button and pointed the phone at the lock.
“Come on, Girly, I need light.”
“I don’t want to turn on the overhead lights. It’s bad enough that I have the desk lights on,” Gianna complained.
“Do you want me to do this, or not?”
Gianna huffed and marched over to the door and slammed the switch to turn on the overhead lights. Then she went back to the desk and squatted down.
“Now can you see?”
“Yes, that’s much better. Shit, how old is this desk anyway?”
“How should I know? Old.”
“Okay, I’m googling. Are there other file cabinets that you could be looking at in the meantime?” Jada asked.
Giana turned on her heels and peered around the chair. “Yeah. But do you need me to still hold the phone?”
“Nah. Just put the phone down while I do the search. I’ll holler when I’ve got something, you go look around.”
Gianna turned around to the credenza and found the drawers locked, but the cupboards were unlocked. She sat down cross-legged in front of them, then started pulling out manila file folders. She’d been right—he was old-school, the man was totally into paper files.
The first dozen were all about household accounts, which were useless. Then she found one titled Ophelia, and she found papers dating back thirty-two years.
“You cheap lint-licker!”
“What did you say?” Jada yelled through the phone.
She crawled over to the desk and grabbed the phone, then went back to the credenza. “I just found all of the files on Ophelia and a bunch of cashed checks. Not only is Lazar a lech, he’s robbing Ophelia!”
“Calm down,” Jada demanded. “What are you talking about?”
“I just found out what he’s paying her. It’s not even minimum wage, and he has her on salary, and I know that she works more than forty hours a week.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“I’m not.”
Gianna threw down the file and grabbed the one that said Neil on it. With him, she found a letter written three years ago that looked like some bogus employment contract, that showed him getting a fifty-cent raise. It went on to state the original terms of employment which stated no paid vacation, five paid holidays, and no health insurance. Gianna felt her eyes begin to burn with tears.
She explained to Jada everything she read. “That’s not legal, is it? He has to provide health insurance, right?”
“No honey, small employers don’t,” Jada whispered.
“Why didn’t they quit?”
“I don’t know what kind of jobs are available there in that little town.”
“But Lazar has a lot of money, you hacked his bank accounts! He’s a cheap, stinking, gnarled, skeezy, lint-licker!”
“Yes, he is,” Jada said soothingly. “But this isn’t what we’re after. You need to keep on track, okay? We need information that will help us find your mom. If we can find something on him that will help us blackmail him so he will tell us what he might know about your mom, or any information on Etta Rose, then we’re golden.”
Gianna wiped away her tears on the sleeve of her hoodie.
“You’re right. Did you find anything to help break into the desk drawers?”
“Yeah, I’m going to need you to crawl under the desk and find out the maker's mark. It should be listed on a brass plate.”
Gianna stuffed the files that she had gone through back into the credenza and started to crawl back to the desk. At least the office was carpeted.
When she got under the desk, she couldn’t see anything. It was too dark. “Hey, Jada, I’m going to have to call you back. I need to turn on my phone’s flashlight to see anything under here, and I don’t know how to operate two functions at once.”
“You could use my phone,” a low voice rumbled.
Gianna screamed, jerked up, and slammed her head on the bottom of the desk.
“Owwww,” she cried. She fell onto the floor in pain.
“What the fuck is happening?” Jada screeched.
Gianna curled up into the fetal position and squealed when a warm hand gently touched her back.
“Calm down, honey, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s me, Sebastian. I need to see how badly you hurt yourself.”
Gianna whimpered and reached around to the back of her head. It felt hot and she could swear she already feel a lump forming.
“Can I help you out from underneath there?”
“Sebastian, what’s wrong with Gianna?” Jada demanded to know.
His touch was tender as he drew her out from under the desk. Gianna looked up into his concerned eyes. “Can you sit up?”
She nodded, then regretted it. “I’m fine,” she said as she pushed herself up into a seated position then slumped back against the desk.
“Would somebody tell me what the fuck is going on?” Jada yelled.
Gianna closed her eyes, knowing she was in a ton of trouble.
“Your partner in crime smacked her head on the bottom of the desk. I’m trying to see how bad it is.”
“Do you have any medical training, SEAL boy?”
Gianna gulped. She didn’t feel well and Jada wasn’t helping.
“Yes,” Sebastian said. “I’m going to hang up now. Gianna can call you back when she’s feeling better.”
“Whoa there. My girl is hurting. I need to know you’re not going to give her a bunch of shit for being in the office.”
“Scout’s Honor. I’m not going to give her shit.”
“Were you a Boy Scout?” Jada demanded to know.
“Fuck no. Now goodbye.”
Gianna opened her right eye to see how mad Sebastian was.
“Can you open both eyes?” he asked softly.
“Depends. On a scale of one to ten, how angry are you going to be if I’m able to open both eyes?” she asked.
“Ten for hurting yourself, one for snooping.”
Gianna opened her left eye. Sebastian didn’t look angry. His large hands lifted and reached around her head to tenderly probe her scalp. He winced when she did. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you to the office couch, then I’ll get some ice from the kitchen.”
Gianna had to lean against him in order to make her way over to the leather couch. When she started to lie down, she crinkled her nose when the smell of brandy and cigarette smoke hit her nostrils.
“What is it?”
“Armand must have spilled his drink on the sofa.”
Sebastian leaned down and took a deep breath. “Jesus.”
He picked her up and she squeaked. “What are you doing?”
“We’ll go out to the drawing-room. That couch is more comfortable anyway, along with the added bonus of not stinking.”
Gianna was shocked. She had never been carried in her whole life. At least not that she remembered. She’d been almost five when her grandparents came and rescued her, too old to be carried, and God knows that neither her dad nor mom had ever picked her up.
“Honey, relax. You’re stiff as a board. Put your arms around my neck.”
She looked up into Sebastian’s eyes and they were warm. As if a switch had been flipped, her entire body melted into his hold.