Strange Encounter

Chapter 7

Riley's alarm woke her up at 6:30am.

THE BODY OF AN UNIDENTIFIED ELDERLY WOMAN WAS FOUND FLOATING IN THE HUDSON RIVER THIS MORNING,the radio reported. She reached over and hit the snooze. She was still naked, wrapped in her bed sheet. Remembering last night, the feel of his hands, his lips all over her body made her let out a little giggle. She then bounced up and down on her bed. She let out a loud "YES", jumped out of bed and straight into the shower.

While on the subway, Sally called her.

"Riley, we need to talk," she thought she heard Sally say.

Riley covered her other ear, straining to hear her. "Sally, I'm on the train. I can't hear you. I'll see you in 5."

The office was eerily empty. Riley checked her watch. It was a little after nine so this place should have been bustling, not like a morgue. She walked in the conference room where most of the employees were gathered. Men were whispering, women were crying. Barbara Harris was crying on someone's shoulder.

"What the hell is going on?" Riley asked.

Sally ran to her, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to her office. "Marcia was found floating in the Hudson."

Riley's hand quickly went to her mouth as she fell into a chair. "Oh my God. What happened?"

"Marcia's son called after he identified the body. Riley, she was murdered."

Riley looked at Sally confused. "Murdered? Why? Marcia was the sweetest woman on the planet." Nothing made sense. "Does Mr. Wilson know?"

"I have no idea," was Sally's response. "I think he's here."

"I better go tell him. " Riley stood up and walked towards his office. He was emptying his safe and putting the contents in his briefcase.

"What are you doing?"

His head snapped up just staring at her. "You," he said. It was almost like he was accusing her of something. A knot formed in Riley's stomach. He looked so menacing. He had a wild look in his eye that she had never seen before. Mr. Wilson shook his head. "I'm leaving for a couple of days." He continued stuffing papers in his briefcase.

"Did you hear about Marcia?"

His brows shot up. "No. I mean yes. Of course. So sad. Shocking in fact." His words were hurried. He began pacing his office.

Riley had never seen him like this before. Very preoccupied. "Sir, this is probably not the best time to bring this up but I've been digging into the financials and I've found some discrepancies.

He stopped pacing. "Discrepancies. What kind of discrepancies?" his voice hardened ruthlessly.

"I'm not sure." She became increasingly uneasy under his scrutiny. "Haven't you read my emails?"

"Yes, I mean no. I've been busy." He slowly approached her. "Have you told anyone about this?"

She tried to back away but she backed into the wall. "Only you."

"What about those nosey auditors?"

"Of course not. My loyalty is to this company. I'm sure there's some sort of mix up."

"Well you handle the money so if there are any discrepancies as you put it, it's on you."

Riley's eyebrows shot up. "Me? Some of these problems date back to before I started here. If I could just dig in deeper, I'm sure I can get to the bottom of it. I found your personal bank statement and I did find some unusual deposits."

"Where did you find my personal things? Your job is to handle the company not my finances." Riley was speechless. He was now almost face to face with her. "You need to keep that pretty little nose out of my business or you might get hurt."

"I don't know what you mean."

He pulled away from her and started walking towards his desk. "Look at poor Marcia."

"Do you know something about her?"

He whipped around to face her. "Of course not. I'm just looking out for you. Be careful Miss Grier. Very careful."

Riley did not like the sickening feeling in her stomach.  She slowly backed out of his office and practically ran to hers, locking the door. Did he just threaten her or was it her imagination?

William was at the morgue looking at poor Marcia Lewis' body. A gunshot to the back of the head. Execution style. He raked his fingers through his hair. This has already been a very long day. He woke up and went straight to his office, forcing himself not to think of Riley. How she felt, tasted, looked. He felt his heart go heavy when he handed Peter the papers he found last night in her living room. Peter called him at the morgue letting him know that Riley was not involved. It was Mr. Wilson and he was in deep. Jackson was able to hack into Wilson Enterprises computer and retrieve numerous emails and financial paperwork showing how he made the transfers and used the company as a front to launder the money. Since Marcia contacted them first and now she's dead, it made Mr. Wilson the prime suspect. William had a sickening feeling Riley might be in danger.

Sally was in Riley's office. "Have you spoken to William recently?"

Riley blushed, making Sally eye her suspiciously. "Riley?"

Riley turned her head. "What?"

"What did you do?" It dawned on Sally. "Or should I say, who did you do?" Riley buried her face in her hands. "Riley you didn't."

Riley looked at her through her fingers. "I did."

"Damn it Riley. Why?"

Riley was confused. This wasn't the reaction she expected from her best friend. "Because I like him. Look at him. He's gorgeous."

"Last night I was thinking about my lunch with Benedict and he was talking about his friendship with William. He slipped and said something about an arrest and when I asked him if he was a cop, he said his brother in law was."

"So?"

"So, he told me he was an only child when we started our lunch."

"What does this have to do with William?"

"I don't know. It's just a weird feeling. Have you Googled him, looked at his Facebook?"

"Sally, he's British, I don't think they are so hooked on social media like we are." Riley was getting uncomfortable with this interrogation.

"It's just a weird coincidence that you meet him Friday and Monday he's our auditor. I just think this was arranged. "

Riley could feel her anger rising. "Sally, you trust no one."

"And you're too naïve. Look what Robbie did to you. The signs were there."

Riley gasped. "This is rich coming from, I met MIguel what's his last name on Friday night and slept with him, what during the cab ride to his place?"

"You expect that from me but not from you. You are too caring and you're going to get hurt."

Riley took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Sally. That was uncalled for."

"It's fine. It's the truth." Sally winked at her.

"Did you know Mr. Wilson is leaving town again?"

"Nope. Seems weird during the middle of an audit." Sally looked at her watch. "Speaking of audit, where are those Brits?"

Riley blushed again. "Don't know." She checked her phone. No text or missed calls from William. Her heart sank.

"Well, let's get to work. Someone has to run this company. "

Things were quiet at work. Riley kept checking her phone willing for him to call or text. She went home and still heard nothing. Riley also had this sickening feeling she was being followed. Every time she turned around, no one was there. She locked her door and made herself a sandwich. Sally called her. They spoke more about the day's events and how they haven't heard from the boys. Riley went to bed with a heavy heart.