Pick Your Poison Read Free Page B

files.”
    “He never told me the password. Took me the better part of an afternoon to figure it out. He’s challenging me even after he’s gone. So typical, huh, Willis?”
    His gaze glued to the screen, he said, “Indeed. But I still don’t understand how his computer will help you locate Ben’s family.”
    I explained about Ben’s lack of identification and said, “I’m hoping Daddy scanned in the job application showing a previous address.”
    “Knowing Charlie, I doubt if an application exists.”
    “Daddy may have been disorganized—I mean, look at those shelves.” I gestured at the far wall. “But you know how well he documented his business and his personal life.”
    “This is different. Charlie hired that man on impulse, and if he’d heeded my warnings about checking references before taking on these drifters, today’s horrible events might not have occurred.”
    “Ben? A drifter? He seemed like a pretty stable, commonsense guy to me.”
    Using the search feature on the start menu, I typed in Ben’s name. No files appeared in the window. When I replaced the entry with “employment applications,” plenty of document names appeared, but the most recent was dated more than a year ago. I then expanded the files on the C drive, but saw nothing that even looked like a file related to Ben, just household budgeting, tax files, and copies of programs Daddy created early in his career as a software developer.
    “Maybe you misjudged Mr. Garrison,” Willis said. “ Likable doesn’t translate to upstanding citizen.”
    I turned to Willis. “Why are you so down on him? He’s been murdered, for God’s sake.”
    “Maybe my attitude isn’t related to Ben. Maybe I’m still angry with Charlie for dying on me. One of our last disagreements involved Ben—how Charlie gave him the job without consulting me. He usually always asked my advice.”
    I sat back, understanding now. I was still pissed off at Daddy myself for making such an abrupt exit. “So Daddy consulted you about more than CompuCan business, then?”
    I currently pretend to run CompuCan, the company Daddy left behind, seeing as how I’m the daughter with the computer science degree. But about five years ago Daddy phased out the software side, and now CompuCan vies for its share of the “you want it, we’ll build it” desktop-laptop business. Since it’s well managed by others with far more expertise in sales and marketing than I possess, I pretty much keep my distance.
    Willis said, “To answer your question, Charlie was my best friend first, my client second, and we talked about everything. But he hired Ben without my input, and now that choice seems to have landed you smack in the center of a scandal.”
    “Have you forgotten we have a victim at the center of this so-called scandal, Willis?”
    He hesitated, his cheeks infusing with color. “I-I guess I was sounding pretty callous. But my main concern is for you, Abby. If Ben was murdered, a killer sneaked onto your property while you were nearby.”
    “I-I never thought of that.” And this realization jolted me. But not because I was worried about myself. No, the fact that Ben might have angered someone so much that they wanted him dead was what really bothered me. And the killer probably walked right past my sleeping body to do him harm. I’d heard nothing, and I should have.
    “I’m going back to the club,” Willis said. “I dropped everything when I heard the news. Left my clothes in my locker. You need anything, you call me, understand?”
    “Sure,” I replied, distracted. Why hadn’t I heard anything this afternoon? Could I have saved Ben’s life if I hadn’t fallen asleep? Or if I’d locked the gate? Or turned on the alarm? And how could I live with myself if I could have prevented Ben’s death?

    Kate returned to the house about fifteen minutes later. She too couldn’t offer Sergeant Kline any information about Ben’s family. Together we searched the study for