Page 11 of Jenna's Threatened Sanctuary

Pressure squeezed her chest and a part of her yearned to see Calvin come back inside and join them. To lower his walls and play the role she still pictured in her dreams.

But she didn’t deserve that dream. She’d cast him aside years ago, dismissing their relationship and his career all in one fell swoop. Calvin agreeing to help her didn’t mend any of their broken past, and she couldn’t blame him for that. She’d simply accept his help, get the hell out of this mess, then continue loving the only man in her life who mattered.

Oliver.

Calvin knockedon the door with the name of Stella’s business etched in the glass. Pinning down Stella’s business hadn’t taken much time. He’d called and lucked out to find an employeewilling to speak with him, but he’d wanted to do this interview in person. No telling what he might learn about Stella within these walls.

The stand-alone building sat off the main road, tucked into a cluster of trees. High bushes with bright red leaves lined the side of the building. If Stella had hoped to gain attention with her office, she’d picked the wrong space.

The door swung open to a petite woman in her twenties. Red-rimmed eyes and trembling lips showcased the grief on her oval face. Her black hair was secured in some sort of large clip on the top of her head. “Calvin?”

“Yes. You’re Amy?”

A small smile cracked through the woman’s grim expression. “Yeah. Sorry I locked the door, but I’ve been a nervous wreck since Stella was killed.” Tears filled her hazel eyes, highlighting the green that outshined the yellow in her irises. She yanked the door open wide.

“Understandable,” Calvin said and stepped over the threshold. “Thanks for agreeing to see me.”

Amy wrung her hands. “I’m not sure how I can help. I talked to the police, and they already searched the office.”

He stepped into the square room, and the overpowering scent of bleach and lemon disinfectant stung the inside of his nostrils. He strode to the metal racks that took up the room like bookcases in a library and scanned the items. The office was more like a giant storage unit. The open space housed cleaning carts and supplies. The desk in the front of the room was neat as a pin, not even a computer taking up space. He nodded in Amy’s direction.

“I just want some more information about Stella and her business. Just the basics—how many employees did Stella have, was there anyone she worked with who wished her harm? Anything at all you can think of could be helpful.”

“Well, I’ve worked with Stella the last two months and Suzy was brought on a few weeks ago. We took on two clients recently that are pretty time consuming. Stella took care of them both but needed someone else to help cover what she couldn’t do anymore. Mainly the single-family households Stella could never refuse.”

Calvin’s gut tightened. A lot seemed to happen in the last few months since Stella relocated back to Pine Valley. It had to be connected somehow. “Who were the two new clients?”

Amy licked her lips. “Umm, a local law office and one of the churches in town.”

“Which church?” Calvin asked.

“The Catholic Church.”

“Why did these two clients demand more attention than others?” Calvin asked.

A light blush stained Amy’s pale cheeks, as though she were afraid to speak badly about a client. “The lawyer expects his office to look a certain way and always insisted Stella take care of the cleaning personally. I helped a few times and couldn’t believe how particular he was. And the church is huge and has a ton of activities throughout the week. We only serve our clients once, maybe twice a week. Both businesses needed Stella five days a week.”

“Did Stella complain about being needed so much? Did it bother her?” Calvin asked.

Amy shook her head. “No. It was a great boost to the company. Stella had big plans. Working for two prominent places in the community helped promote the business. The little jobs that came as a result of word of mouth, Suzy took care of.”

Calvin strolled toward the meticulous desk. No notes gave away numbers, no photos showed friends. His fingers itched to peek into the drawers. “Can I have the contact information forthese places? I’d love to speak with them about their relationship with Stella.”

“Sure. Give me a second.” Amy met him by the desk stuffed between metal racks filled with an assortment of cleaning products. She pulled open the top drawer, and Calvin spied a keyring with three keys attached.

“Did Stella use the office a lot?” Calvin asked. He flicked his wrist to the area behind Amy, hoping to divert her attention long enough to snatch the keys. “Doesn’t look like a lot of free space.”

Amy glanced over her shoulder and he snatched the keys from the drawer, shoving them in his pocket before she turned back around and scribbled on a piece of paper. “We store everything we need for the jobs here. We both kept supplies in our cars, so we only needed to stop by when something ran low.”

He crossed the room, peeking into all the corners. “Did she keep her records on a computer? What about paper files or contact information regarding all the clients? I don’t see a filing cabinet or anything.”

“She did her paperwork at home. She had a laptop she always kept with her. I’m not sure about paper files, but I’d assume they were at her house as well.” Amy handed him the slip of paper then crossed her arms over her middle. “The police confiscated the computer we kept here, but I couldn’t say for sure what was on it. Stella handled all the paperwork.”

If Stella had a laptop with business information, the police would have already taken that as well. If there was anything useful on it, or the computer from the office, hopefully they’d uncover it.

Calvin slid a business card on the desk. “If you think of anything else that could be useful, please call. I know the police are working hard to find out what happened to Stella, but it never hurts to have an extra set of eyes looking into things.”

Amy gave him a watery smile before he headed out the front door and hurried toward his borrowed truck. He settled behind the wheel and pulled out the key ring he’d snatched from the desk. Three keys nestled in his palm, all neatly labeled.

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