A Shadow of Scarlet (Book #3)

Paul waved them inside. The anteroom where Callie had first met Andrea on her investigative visit was empty. Both doors to the sides of the low table that had held wristbands were closed. Choosing one, Paul opened it. He went through. Callie stayed with Karen and Maria. On guard. No one spoke.

Paul came back almost immediately shaking his head. Going through the other door he disappeared as the door closed behind him. Once again he returned shortly afterward. Once again, he shook his head negative.

"There's no one here." He told them.

"She should be here. She knows we are coming. She was told to be here when we got here." Wolfe was angry.

Karen touched Wolfe's shoulder with her hand. "We can wait. For awhile."

Callie whirled as the door behind her buzzed open. Leaping past Karen and Maria, she positioned herself between them and the intruder. Paul moved to a position of support but stayed out of her way.

The door opened. A woman in jeans and a tank top came inside. Callie grabbed her and swung her against the wall.

"Callie! No!" Karen shouted at her as Callie and the other woman slammed into the black painted wall of the anteroom. Callie's forearm was across her neck as she leaned in close and pressed. Andrea's startled eyes met hers.

"Callie! I said no." Karen stepped behind Callie. She put her hand on Callie's forearm. "Let her go. Be good. Let her go. That's it. All the way. Good girl."

Karen continued to coax Callie until Callie dropped her arm. She still stood between Karen and Andrea blocking Andrea's view of Karen. Andrea looked at Callie, almost whimpering in her fright. When Wolfe stepped forward enough to be seen in the gloom of the anteroom she nearly went to her knees.

"Please Mistress. I didn't do anything. Please." Andrea clasped her hands in front of her chest as she pleaded for mercy. For what, none of them knew. Yet.

"Where are the light switches?" Wolfe asked her. Wolfe's anger at the fact that Andrea was late so they were left to stand in the near dark was palpable.

Andrea pointed to the wall behind the low table with a finger she released from her handclasp. "Please. I didn't do anything." She repeated her earlier plea.

Paul flicked on the lights.

When the lights came on Andrea saw all four of them. She dropped to her knees with a moan.

"I didn't know she was yours. I didn't know. I didn't do anything. Please Mistress. When I heard, I went to try to stop it. I didn't do anything!"

"You did nothing? Apparently that is so. Because there are things happening here that I don't know about. It is your responsibility to tell me. Yet you did not." Karen stood over Andrea scolding her with an acid tone. "Why not?"

"I did. I sent the monthly reports. I did! You never asked. You never came. I asked you to come. I told you in the reports! Please. I did what I was supposed to do."

"Reports? What reports? I am here because I have no reports."

"Please Mistress. I sent them. I can show you. I have copies on the computer. Please."

"Get up. Prove that you have not deceived me." Karen was not going to show how confused she was over Andrea's behavior.

"Yes Mistress. This way." Andrea was suddenly ecstatic as she rose to her feet scurrying through one of the doors. "This way. Hurry."

"They're gone!" Andrea gasped as she opened folder after folder on her computer in her office. "There's nothing here! What happened? I sent them. I know I did. Honest."

"Where did you send them?" Karen was sure that something was wrong. But, until she had facts all she had were no reports and a claim that the reports that had been sent were now missing. That was not proof that the reports were made. Or sent.

"I sent them to the new email address like you told me."

"New email address? What new email address?"

"The new one. Here, it's in my address book." Andrea clicked her mouse opening her address book. Highlighting one, she opened it to display the information for that address. "That one. You sent me an email telling me that from now on, all reports were to go to that address. So I started sending them there. I sent the reports Mistress. I did. I don't know why they aren't still stored in the folders. Please don't dismiss me. Please."

The door to the office opened behind Callie. She whirled to face the possible threat. A girl peeked around the door.

"Mom? Oh!" She looked straight at Callie and blushed. "Hi," the girl managed to mumble before she looked at her shoes while blushing even redder.

Twelve

Callie was tongue tied. The girl was pretty but not especially so. Her hair was light brown to match her eyes. She wore faded jeans and a green T shirt that had Rock On! printed on the front. She had white tennis shoes. She was about T Rose's age. Or maybe a year older.

"Fox! You were supposed to wait in the car!" Andrea scolded the newcomer before remembering that they weren't alone. Dropping her head she muttered a barely audible; "I'm sorry Mistress. She is my daughter. She isn't a member although she knows. I didn't tell her. She figured it out on her own."

"Fox?" Wolfe was surprised at the similarity of the name.

The girl blushed again but raised her chin in defiance. "It's short for Foxglove."

"Really?" Karen answered before she looked at Callie. Callie just stood there looking poleaxed.

"How interesting." Karen continued to look at Callie. Her words seemed to be in response to Fox's explanation. Except she didn't look at Fox at all. Then she smiled her most beautiful smile.

With no explanation for the smile, Karen turned back to the business at hand dismissing everything else.

"I still see no reports. What I see is an email address which is not mine. Which also has no reports. So far, you have shown us no proof that you have done as you were supposed to do."

"I sent them. They were here. I stored them in the folders. I did!" Andrea was clearly frustrated. "I don't know what happened!"

"Um, did you look at the backups?" Fox interrupted while keeping her head down and looking at the floor.

"Backups?"

"I back up the computer once a month. It's stored in the Cloud." Fox came further into the room. She sidled around Callie who pivoted to continue to stare at her. Fox locked eyes with Callie, lifting the corners of her lips in a tiny beginning smile before blushing and looking down once more.

Wolfe noticed the blush for the first time. Karen noted the blush. Again. She also saw that this time Fox continued to steal glances at Callie out of the corner of her eye even though she was facing down. The tiny smile stayed on her lips. Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Fox! Knock it off! Leave her alone before you make her mad."

"I'm sorry." Andrea apologized to Karen after scolding her daughter again. "She's not usually so aggressive in trying to flirt with other girls. I don't know why she's doing it now, she knows better."

"It's fine." Karen had lost her earlier attitude. She continued to watch Callie who seemed fixated on the girl, unable to take her eyes off her.

"Fox, can you retrieve the backups for us? Callie, come here please." Karen pointed at the floor in front of her. "Callie? Come here." Karen's repeated request was almost a command.

Callie inched her way across the floor while continuing to stare at Fox until she was standing where Karen indicated. Karen stood behind her. She wrapped her arms around Callie while peering over Callie's shoulder as Fox sat in Andrea's chair tapping keys.

"Ok. That's the latest backup archive." She flashed a quick finger to point at the screen. "What am I looking for?"

"Emails I sent." Her mother leaned over looking at the screen.

"Ok. Messenger file folders. Ok. Here's the sent folder. Anything specific?"

"Just scroll. If they're there I'll see them. Wait. Stop!" Andrea booted her daughter out of the chair to take her place. She clicked her mouse a few times. Looked at Karen in satisfaction.

"Here. Your proof." She pointed at the screen. "Last month's report."

Karen hugged Callie's shoulders whispering in her ear.

"She is like you. I don't mind if you want to be friends. Or more than friends."

Callie just stood there, staring at Fox who was stealing glances at Callie again. She blushed each time Callie caught her at it.

Releasing Callie, Karen bent to look closely at the screen. Wolfe joined her in reviewing the information after another glance at the two girls. Wolfe smiled to herself at what she saw.

"Hi." Fox whispered again to Callie. "I like you. Do you think you could like me?"

Callie just looked at her. Disappointed at the lack of any response, Fox began to squeeze past Callie in the crowded room toward the door.

Callie reached out to slide just the tips of her fingers along Fox's arm as Fox passed her. Fox froze. Callie stroked her fingers up and down Fox's arm once again. Fox shivered. She locked her eyes on Callie's. Callie slipped her fingers into Fox's hand, tugging gently. Fox followed as Callie stepped backward. Another gentle tug, another step, Fox continued to follow. Callie placed her other hand on Fox's hip, pivoting them both to trap Fox in the corner of the small office with Callie's body. They were face to face only inches apart. Callie pressed her pelvis into Fox to hold her in place.

Reaching up, she stroked Fox's cheek slowly. Fox closed her eyes. Her hands drifted over to rest on Callie's hipbones. Callie kissed Fox on the lips very softly.

"I like you too." Callie whispered as she slid her cheek along Fox's before kissing her on the side of the neck.

Fox let go of Callie's hips to wrap her arms around Callie's body to pull her closer. She opened her eyes while smiling so wide all her teeth showed. Callie kissed Fox's neck again before biting her gently just below the ear. Uncaring that there were three others in the room, one of them her own mother, Fox tipped her head back to let Callie bite her a second time.

"Girls!" Wolfe's voice interrupted Callie just as she was starting to slide her hands under Fox's T Shirt. "You're steaming up the room. Right now we need to concentrate."

"Fox?" Andrea spun in her chair. "Callista! Please don't. She's my daughter. Please. Don't hurt her. She is not like us. Please." Andrea had a beseeching look in her eyes as she pleaded for Callie to not use her daughter as she had once asked Andrea how long Andrea could scream.

"Callista?" Karen looked at Andrea, then Callie. "Her name's not Callista. What made you think it was?"

"She told me it was. She told me that she wanted to hear me scream. Please, don't do that to my daughter. Please."

"No, I didn't." Callie kissed Fox one last time before turning around. "When I was here before, I told you my name was Callie. You made up the Callista yourself."

Callie shrugged. "It's pretty common for people to call me that so I don't bother to correct them."

Karen smiled. "Her real name is Calla Lily. Callie for short. She won't hurt your daughter. By my word and seal, your daughter is safe with her."

Callie gave Karen a sharp nod. "I promised."

Karen looked back at her. "I remember."

From a few feet away, Wolfe looked on in silence. Callie left Fox's side and placed her hand over Wolfe's heart.

"Always." She breathed softly to Wolfe as she rested her forehead against her hand on Wolfe's breast. "I do not forget you. Ever."

"Forever," Wolfe whispered back before clapping her hands together once. "Now, let's get back to work!"

Some time was spent on retrieving and sending the monthly reports directly to Karen's personal email. With an apology, Wolfe separated Callie and Fox because they needed Fox to help them find the archives. Andrea and Fox kept having to swap seats in the chair as Andrea searched for the sent emails that Fox retrieved from the cloud backups. They were almost finished when Andrea gave a wordless exclamation.

"There was a text once." She told Karen and Wolfe excitedly.

"A text?"

"Yes. It was the first month after the email address change. They wanted to know if I was sending the report to the new email address. I texted back that I had just sent the report."

"Do you still have that number you sent the text to?" Wolfe asked Andrea.

"I don't know. It might still be in my call log or contacts list on my phone. But, I don't know if I saved the conversation or not. Let me check." Andrea dug her phone out of her hip pocket. She began to tap the screen.

"No, I didn't save it. And...no, no. Nope, no, no." Andrea kept flicking the list of her phone contacts down as she looked at each number.

"Wait, here's one I don't recognize. It was automatically saved to my contacts list when I replied to a text. The date it was created is about the time the email address was changed. It's unidentified, which is something I wouldn't do for a number I put into my contacts list."

"Is it the one you sent the text to?"

"I don't know. I don't remember. It could be, but I don't remember."

"Well, add that number to the last email. I'll check to see if I can find out who it belongs to."

Finally they finished. Andrea shut the computer down. Karen nodded to her.

"Good work."

"Thank you Mistress." Andrea bowed her head in both embarrassment and pleasure at the praise.

Karen looked at Fox. A soft smile formed as she walked over to place her hand against Fox's cheek.

"You are a good girl. Very smart. Your mother has every right to be proud of you. Your help saved her from being unjustly and unfairly punished. You showed me she is loyal to me. I am very pleased with you for that. Thank you."

"Mistress? She is not . . ." Andrea started to stand up.

"It's fine Andrea." Karen told her while still looking at Fox. "Don't worry. I'm not going to steal her from you. Right now, she is not interested in anything I personally have to offer her.

"In the meantime, you are commended for your loyalty. I wish I had not had any reason to doubt you. However, given all that occurred here, I am glad that I was mistaken about your loyalty to me. Your position as head of the lower house is secure. By my word and seal."

"As for you," Karen addressed Fox once more. "I hope that one day you and I can, perhaps, discover a way to meet again. Under more pleasant circumstances." Karen leaned in close to Fox and spoke confidentially. "I hope that it is very soon. I would like that very much."

Fox looked at Callie then back to Karen. She nodded.

"Clever girl."

Thirteen

Callie was bored. Both Wolfe and Karen were absorbed in collating the information from the missing monthly reports sent by Andrea. On top of their normal daily routine, this made an enormous workload for them. Which meant that they didn't have a lot of extra time in the office. Or even in the Limo as they both took work home using portable tablets during the drive.

Maria worked late at home in the apartment so Callie didn't get much of a chance to talk to her even there. After five days it was getting a bit lonely even though they were together.

Callie sighed before going back to studying her lessons. Karen had shown her that education was the key to success. Until recently, most of Karen's day had been taken up with work. Contract reviews, management proposals, new projects. Things like that. But, in order to understand what she was looking at, Karen spent a part of each day studying. She took online classes.

Not for the degree. But for the working knowledge and information she needed to ensure that the people she was dealing with were telling her the truth. Because of the classes she knew what they were talking about in depth. The only way for Callie to get a similar understanding for herself was to study. So, Callie had started doing the same early in their relationship.

In a way it was fun because there was no pressure. She alternated her classes in art history with classes in business finance. A strange combination, but it suited her. She could study the things she liked as well as the things she needed to know to help Karen.

She didn't necessarily care if she passed the classes or got the degree. She knew she wasn't ever going to be the person in charge like Karen was. All she wanted was the information, not the diploma. Though having the certificates hanging on her wall would be cool. Which is why she studied daily whenever she could.

Callie sighed again, blanking her tablet. She just couldn't get into it today. She needed to do something. Talk to someone. Something!

Sighing a third time, she got up to do some stretches. Once she was limber she could do Tai Chi forms. Which would relax her and give her something physical to do.

"Callie?" Karen's question came as she was stretching her hamstrings.

"Yes?" Callie looked up hopefully. Maybe they wanted her to do something for them. Maybe they'd even get out of the office!

"I understand that you need to do that. However, you're distracting me from this. It's very complicated and important. Is it possible that you can do that somewhere else?"

"Karen, where you go, I go. That's the deal. You're here, I'm here with you."

Karen looked up at her. "I know. I also know your needs are important too. There's a great big hallway just on the other side of the door where you'd have more room for that. Where I wouldn't be distracted by you doing it."

"But . . ."

"If she needs you, she can certainly come outside to find you." Wolfe replied offhand as she also concentrated on her computer screen. "I second the motion."

"Done. The motion is carried. Callie, sorry but you've been evicted." Karen grinned at her.

"And, if I don't want to go?" Callie glared at Karen.

Karen dropped the grin. "Do you want to fight? Is that it? Are you mad at me for something I've done?"

"No! I just . . ." Callie waved her hands in the air as she spun in a circle.

"You're frustrated at the lack of activity. Go outside and play." Karen used the same argument she used on her son Scott when he was acting in a similar way. "You know it. You want to. So go. I'll be fine."

"But . . ."

"Go! Just talking to you has broken my train of thought. I'm going to have to re-read some of this to get it back."

Callie looked at Wolfe for support. She didn't even look up from her screen. Wolfe just flicked her fingers a few times to shoo Callie away.

"Fine! If I'm not wanted . . ." Callie left the threat unfinished as she began to stalk to the door. She didn't really want to threaten them anyway.

"Callie." Karen's voice stopped her. "I am not mad at you."

Callie drooped but didn't turn around. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that."

"It's just frustration. I understand. Go work it off. You'll feel better afterward."

Callie nodded and left the office. She gave Lainey a short half-hearted wave but didn't speak as she went out in the hallway.

Callie knew that the hallway wasn't really big enough. Yes, it was long but she also needed width to avoid blocking the hall. More room would give her freedom of movement. She needed space large enough for her use and to be out of the way. Yet not isolated or too far away from Karen.

Going down the hall, she came to the elevator lobby. There was a small sitting area on one end. It held a two-seat couch, a table, and a chair. Without the furniture in the middle of the small area it would be large enough. Barely, but enough. Pushing the furniture against the walls she began stretching again.

Callie readily got into her exercise routine. The sun coming through the windows of the sitting alcove she was using had warmed the space. Her slow fluid movements lightened her mood. She closed her eyes. Concentrating on her chi energy as she flowed smoothly from one form to another while doing her best to ignore the various people who came and went through the elevator lobby. Quite a few of whom stopped to watch her exercise for a few moments before continuing on with their own tasks. Tai chi is pretty to watch and Callie was good at it.