Dirty Little Secret

A little stranger than fiction in life
Everybody's got their own world to live through
We've all got out song to write
Just trying to get by.

 

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Yes, of course I do. It’s shortly after nine p.m. eastern daylight time. Why? Do you think I need a clock for the office?” Charlie didn’t spare a glance at Trixie who leaned casually against the door of his office.

“I thought only private investigators worked these kinds of hours, certainly not prestigious lawyers.”

Charlie shook his head. “Tomorrow’s the first night of visitation for Allison. I’ll be tied up the rest of the week helping Reid and his family. How’s your investigation going?”

“I’m not sure.”

Charlie gave her a suspicious look. “What do you mean, you’re not sure?”

Trixie shrugged and strolled over to the chair in front of Charlie’s desk. She settled herself and glanced at her fingernails, as if the topic was all together uninteresting to her. “I won’t know until you decide to tell me what went on that night in Reid’s office when Allison and Kitty caught the two of you in your skivvies.”

Charlie inhaled sharply. “Kitty told you about that, huh?”

“Yes. And I’m not buying it. You want to tell me what was really going on?”

Charlie sighed. “I might as well. Allison’s gone now, and that’s who Reid wanted to protect.”

He stood up. “Let’s move out of here. We can talk in the reception area or something. I’m already sick of my office walls today.”

Trixie stood and glanced around the office. “It might help if you’d get Ellie to hang some pictures, or something.”

“You got anything to drink around this place?” Charlie ignored her suggestion.

“Like what?” Trixie asked as turned toward the door and motioned for him to lead the way. “Some beer so the two of us can get drunk and strip down to our underwear?”

“Scoff if you want,” Charlie said as he traversed the path towards the door. “But that six-pack of beer saved the situation for us.”

Trixie followed and stopped by the tiny kitchenette to retrieve a soft drink for Charlie and a strawberry soda for herself. A few minutes later, she stifled a giggle as Charlie looked askance at the cold bottle of pop in her hand.

“Strawberry pop makes me think better,” she explained. “Don’t ask.”

Charlie twisted the top of his cola and sighed, “I wish this was a beer.” He took a seat in the comfortable leather chair in Trixie’s reception area as Trixie settled in the chair next to him.

“The night that Allison found us in Reid’s conference room was a farcical catastrophe of events. It was an accident that Reid and I were even there. Reid had an emergency call come up with his Shanghai office at the last minute. It had just opened and we were all still working through the issues of expanding into the Asia Pacific Region. Reid was nervous.”

“Reid’s never struck me as the nervous type,” Trixie remarked. She kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet underneath her, squirming as she made herself comfortable in the chair.

Charlie snorted. “Reid isn’t nervous about software development and technology. He’s as nervous as they come about business. He’s never been in his comfort zone there. Probably because it was a different goal for him.”

Holding up a hand to stop him, Trixie interrupted. “What do you mean by that, ‘a different goal’?”

“Reid loves technology … you know, software development, new ideas. He’s never dismissed an idea as being too outlandish or crazy. He maintains a philosophy that any idea, however crazy it sounds, deserves serious consideration before it’s dismissed. And then, even when it’s tossed out, it should be revisited every six months.” Charlie shrugged. “Reid’s thirst for technology was the primary reason for the success of B3. Aggressively expanding his business, that part was for Allison. He wanted to earn more money than her parents. It was a matter of pride with him. They had pegged him as a gold digger from the beginning.”

“How did the two of you become friends?”

Charlie laughed. “I went to Yale because my father went to Yale. Reid could’ve had a full academic scholarship but he didn’t want it. I met him at this summer freshman recruiting thing. We bonded over beer.”

Trixie’s eyebrows shot up. “Yale serves beer to potential freshmen?”

“Of course not. They serve boring academic philosophical discussions and stupid tales of parking tickets. Reid is the one who suggested we skip for beers. It was a bond that’s lasted.”

Trixie grinned. “But he chose elsewhere as I recall. You managed to stick it out, huh?”

“Yeah, but we were roomies for one night and managed to stay friends since. But, back to Reid and the reasons. Where was I?” He frowned for a moment and then picked the story back up. “Reid had reasons for everything, even calling me to sit in on the call. He’d tried to get Madji to attend the call, but he couldn’t locate him, which, looking back, should’ve tipped Reid off.”

Trixie frowned, for some reason she didn’t think this story was going to end well.

“Anyway, Reid gets me on the phone. He’s on his way over to my place and asks me to participate on the call and be a second set of ears to this crisis. We had plans to watch the game at my apartment, so I wasn’t too happy, but in the end, I loaded up my cooler with a couple of six packs thinking we’d watch it after the call.

“I get here and Reid is anxiously pacing in the lobby. This was before he bought the building and the guards wouldn’t let me in unless he was there. Reid had all the equipment for video conferencing in his office, mostly because back then, he spent most of his time in the big development bay, talking with the developers and doing scrum work, brainstorming, that kind of thing. We make our way upstairs, all the time Reid is telling me how we have to leave the beer out of sight until after the call. I’m giving him grief for being such a fuddy duddy. Well, lo and behold, about the time the elevator doors open on the floor with Reid’s office we hear this screaming match going on, sounds like a regular catfight. We barely get out of the elevator when Madji’s girlfriend comes running down the hall. She has her arms full of clothes. Reid recognizes her, but she’s belligerent and he can’t get her to stop. She gets on the elevator and leaves. We head on down to see what’s going on, and there is Madji, with Ted’s wife, Fannie.”

Trixie’s hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened as she uttered “Ohmigod!”

Charlie nodded in agreement, giving her a toast with his bottle of soda. “You’re not kidding. Sarah, Madji’s girlfriend, had been with him a few years, so she was furious. I’m sure she was expecting to marry Madji. To make matters worse, Fannie also worked here at B3, as Reid’s assistant.”

“But Madji’s married isn’t he? I thought he had three kids,” Trixie interrupted.

“He is married. The current wife came later. He married Zaida a few years ago. Her husband died in a subway accident when she was pregnant with her youngest. She had the kid right after she met Madji. He adopted them the same time he married her. He keeps that pretty quiet. I don’t think they ever told the kids he’s not their biological father.”

Trixie frowned. She couldn’t recall if that information was in their background check on Madji or if she simply couldn’t recall it, but it certainly wasn’t ringing any bells with her. “So is this when Allison showed up?”

“Not yet. Madji attempted to explain, but in the end, he left Fannie there with us and followed his girlfriend out of the building minus his shirt, socks, and shoes. The problem was Sarah had taken all the clothes she could grab. Fannie had nothing to wear and she was stark naked!” Charlie grinned and shot Trixie an unapologetic look. “Is it too much information for me to tell you she was something else? There was no problem with understanding why Ted married her.”

Trixie rolled her eyes in response. “Yes, that’s definitely not a need to know. Let me get this straight. The girlfriend, Sarah, has left with the clothes. Madji has followed her, and you and Reid are left in his office with Ted’s naked wife, Fannie, who also worked for B3 as Reid’s assistant.”

“You got it!” Charlie took another swig of soda. “Everything would’ve been fine, except for putting Reid in the middle of Madji and Ted’s personal lives, but then the office phone rings. It’s Madji and he’s down in the lobby. He tells Reid that Allison has just come in with a friend and is on her way up.”

“What did you do?”

“What any gentleman would do. We gave Fannie our clothes. Well Reid did anyway.” Charlie shrugged. “He stripped down to his skivvies and gave her his shirt, slacks, and jacket. I hustled her out of there and down the staircase, while Reid canceled the teleconference. He just managed to get the game up and both of us were sitting there drinking beer in our skivvies when Allison came in.”

“How or what was your story to Allison? Why didn’t you just tell her the truth?”

Charlie sighed. “You had to be there. Sometimes, with Allie, you were with the sweetest girl in the world, and the other times …” he shrugged, “She could be a bitch on wheels. That was one of the bitch times. She was all ice. It was clear somehow she had expected to find Reid in his office with another woman. She asked several times where Ted was. We never did figure out who called her, but I still think she was finally convinced nothing was going on except two guys drinking beer and getting wild over the game.”

“What happened after that?”

“Oh, she insisted that Reid get dressed and leave with her. So he put on my clothes and left.”

“Leaving you with what exactly to wear home?” Trixie wondered.

“My shoes and a jacket,” he said wryly. “But I got lucky. Fannie brought Reid’s clothes back to me. She was hoping to find Reid still there, to try and explain, but …” Charlie shrugged.

“Did her fire her?”

“Of course not!” Charlie answered. “He would’ve opened himself up to all kinds of potential lawsuits. Besides, if he fired her, he would’ve had to fire Madji. Believe me; he was tempted to fire Madji, though. But Madji told Ted what happened, and when Ted confronted Fannie she admitted it. Ted ended up offering to resign to avoid any conflicts in the office. But in the end, Fannie left. She couldn’t handle Reid walking in on her, said she’d never be able to work at B3 and look anyone in the eye. He was very fair with her, gave her a nice severance package, and helped her get a job in Paris. She stayed there a few years, wrote a best-seller using the experience in her book, and returned as a recognized writer.”

Charlie’s explanation made Trixie frown. Something was bugging her. “Hang on just a second. Who is Fannie?”

“Oh, I thought you’d met her. I pointed her out to you at the Heart Association Gala. Ted and everyone here always called her Fannie, because of her uh, assets in that particular area. But she only answers to Tiffany these days. Tiffany Eaton, author of Bachelor Number One. She’s been trying to land Richard Hoffman over at Fireking as husband number two.”

 

 

“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice,” Trixie said as Maggie King settled into her seat at the same diner they had met before. “I appreciate you making the time for me.”

“No problem,” Maggie answered, brushing a hand along her slim-fitting skirt. “You said you needed to ask me a couple of follow-up questions to close things out.” She waited for the waitress to serve her coffee.

“Yes,” Trixie said. “You may recall we had another client that was involved in hacking the customer portal at Fireking.”

Maggie nodded, stirring cream and artificial sweetener into her cup. “Yes, but the report our lawyer received indicated they were a victim as well. At least as much as the government could tell.”

“They are,” Trixie nodded. “In fact, you’re both victims in far more than just your systems being hacked.”

“What do you mean?” Maggie stirred her coffee.

Trixie took a deep breath. “Do you love your ex-husband?” she blurted.

Maggie King placed the spoon down with a thud. Her voice became icy. “I’m not sure what my personal relationship with Richard has to do with anything on this case. You assured me you did not deal in gossip –”

Trixie held up a hand. “Please. Just hear me out. I’m the last person to believe gossip but there was an interesting connection between you and my other client. A personal connection that I couldn’t ignore. Why did you and Richard break-up?”

Maggie King stared for a moment and then shrugged. “Nothing all that unusual. I caught him with another woman. She wasn’t wearing any clothes, even though Richard had his clothes on, but …” she trailed off. “Richard insisted it wasn’t what I thought, but he never offered any explanation of what was going on.”

“Who was the other woman?” she asked.

“Oh.” Maggie picked up the menu, appearing to study it intently. “It doesn’t matter. I’d really rather not discuss her.”

“It could make a difference.” Trixie spoke quietly. “The hacker, the person who’s responsible for the security intrusions at B3, there are just too many connections. It could make a difference if you tell me.”

“It was a long time ago. I don’t see how Ti--, how someone having an affair with Richard over five years ago has anything to do with what happened a few weeks ago.”

Trixie waited as the waitress approached. Once they had placed their orders she tried a different tactic.

“You and Mickey King are cousins. Were you close?”

“Mickey was a sweetheart, but he was much older than me. I’m actually closer in age to his son.”

“You’re close to Mike?”

Maggie shook her head. “Christmas cards, graduation announcements, that kind of thing. He came to see Olivia after she was born, but after Mickey’s funeral …” Maggie drifted off for a moment as if remembering her cousin’s death, her fingers straightening the flatware on the table. She gave a tiny shake of her head before speaking. “It’s been hard to hard to keep in touch. Mike had to change his phone number constantly, and I was never sure where he was living.” She shrugged and took a sip of her water. “Mike’s great. He’s had to deal with a lot, but he always manages to remember to send Olivia presents on her birthday.”

“What’s the timing between you finding Richard with the woman and Mickey’s death?” Trixie asked. She could look up the date of the divorce, but she had no way of knowing how close it was to Maggie actually catching her husband with another woman.

“My life all seemed to fall apart at the same time,” Maggie admitted. “Richard and Ti – that woman -- and Mickey passing, it all happened around the same time.” She gave Trixie a measured look before she leaned forward. “Do you have a reason for asking?”

Trixie nodded. “I don’t believe in coincidence.”

The two women waited while the waitress delivered their orders. Once the waitress left, they both ate quietly for a few moments before Maggie spoke. “You know what precipitated Mickey’s death, don’t you?”

Trixie put her fork down in surprise. “Yes. Since you’ve asked me then I assume you do as well?”

Maggie wrinkled her nose as if she smelled a particularly foul odor. “I never liked Mike’s fiancée. In fact, things were strained between us for a while because I told him she was nothing but a gold digger. He seemed to think otherwise.” Maggie shrugged. “It was one of those times when I wanted to be wrong, you know.”

Realizing that Maggie really seemed to care for her cousin and his son, Trixie decided on a different approach. “The incident with the hacking is part of something much bigger and more dangerous than someone trying to steal Fireking’s business. I wouldn’t ask unless it made a difference, but it does. The connections in the case are all over the place and they all seem to shoot from the King family and the Beckharts.” Trixie leaned forward. “Please, Maggie. Who was the woman that broke up you and Richard?”

Maggie sighed as she placed her own fork down. She picked up her napkin and dabbed at her mouth before taking a sip of water. “This is difficult. Because it is family that what makes it so awful,” she said quietly, her voice strained. “Can you imagine what it was like, to walk in on Tinks with my husband? Don’t you think if there was nothing going on between them, Richard would have given me some kind of explanation?”

Trixie’s brow knit in confusion. “Tinks?” she echoed. “Who in the world is Tinks?”

“Why, Tinsley Gaitley,” Maggie explained, surprised that Trixie was unaware of the name. “I thought you knew. Tim Gaitley’s daughter. Mike’s stepsister.”