Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico

Author:Maria DiRico [DiRico, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Mia watched as Forbes disappeared into the Koller lobby. Now that’s interesting. What is she doing here?

There was only one way to find out. Mia dashed across the street, ignoring the honk of a cabbie who was blowing a red light but had the nerve to be annoyed at her. No one had asked her to return the temporary Koller ID, so she flashed it at the reception desk guard. “I left something upstairs. What a ditz, huh?”

“Okay,” he said, nonplussed.

“I’ll sign in again.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I insist. I wouldn’t want you or any of the guards to get in trouble.” Mia wasn’t about to miss the chance to see where Forbes was headed. She scribbled her name under the real estate agent’s flowery signature. As Mia guessed, she was headed to the fifty-third floor, home to the Koller brothers’ offices. And now, so was Mia. She hurried to the turnstile and swiped her way into the elevator bank.

Moments later, she was back in the fifty-third floor’s marbled reception area. “Hi, I’m doing Cimmanin’s birthday party, we had a meeting an hour ago, and I left my favorite sunglasses in the conference room.”

“Oh. No problem, I’ll have someone get them for you.”

The receptionist went to push a button on her console. Mia waved her hands. “No! I need to go myself. I lost other stuff, too. My purse fell and God knows what rolled out of it.” She leaned forward and whispered, “possibly a feminine product.”

The receptionist hesitated. “Well . . . I guess it’s okay. Go on back.”

“Thank you. You’re the best.”

Mia flashed a smile that she hoped relayed a relaxed self-confidence she didn’t feel. She refrained from adding a wink, figuring that would be overkill, then scurried down the hallway toward the conference room. It was occupied by Forbes, who appeared to be arguing with the Koller brothers. I have to hear what they’re saying, Mia thought. She checked out the office closest to the end of the room where the three were standing. If she could get into it, she could try listening to the conversation through the common wall. Luckily, the office occupant was familiar to her.

Mia opened the door halfway and stuck her head inside. “Cimmanin, there you are.” She stepped inside. “I’ve been looking for you. I have a great idea for your party.”

Cimmanin put down the copy of Vogue she’d been thumbing through. “Awesome. I can’t wait to hear it.”

And I can’t wait to have it. Mia saw the wall between the conference room and the office sported a dry erase board. She grabbed a marker. “Picture this,” she vamped. She drew a giant X on the board and leaned into it. All she could hear from the conference room were murmurs.

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s . . . your seating plan.” Mia added a flurry of small x’s on the lines of the big X. “The little x’s are the tables. This arrangement creates not one, but four different dance floors.” She tapped each area with her marker.

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