A.J. had no answer to that.
Fifteen
“Springtime in New Jersey” sounded like the start of a joke, but the truth was that this part of the Garden State really did look like a garden at this time of year. The countryside was lushly green and bright with wildflowers.
Despite the tragedy of the weekend, as A.J. drove to Sacred Balance on Monday morning, she felt her spirits rise fractionally.
She was the first one in when she reached the studio. As she turned on the lights and set about preparing her morning tea, she considered Lily’s closed office door. A.J. had a key to every office, every desk, every file cabinet in the building. It had never occurred to her to use them-she had no desire to spy on her employees-but for the first time she wondered if trust was not a mistake where Lily was concerned.
It was a depressing thought.
She went in her own office and signed onto her laptop. There was an e-mail waiting for her from the SCA.
A.J. read it quickly. It was polite and noninformative. Dakarai Massri had left the employ of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to pursue other opportunities in September of the previous year.
There were not many lines to read between on that, but she did her best as she absently listened to the comfortable bustle of the staff filing in.
She heard Lily go straight into her office and close the door. A.J. looked at the photograph of her aunt and sighed.
Suze came in.
“Thank God you’re back. One more day of the Yoga Overlord’s reign and I think there would be a revolution.”
“What’s been happening?”
“You mean aside from the fact that she tries to run this place like a prison camp?”
“It can’t be that bad, Suze. Everyone was happy with the way Lily managed when Aunt Di was alive.”
“That’s because Lily didn’t act like she does now when Di was alive. She wouldn’t have dared. Di was totally hands on.”
Meaning A.J. wasn’t hands on enough? Sometimes it was hard to tell whether these observations were criticisms or simply observations.
“What exactly is Lily doing that’s so bad?”
“It’s not one gigantic thing. You know how it is with her. It’s constant. It’s exhausting.”
“Have there been any more mysterious visitors to the studio?”
Suze shook her head. “Not during my shifts. Not that anyone has mentioned.”
Suze went off to prepare for her class, and A.J. went next door to Lily’s office.
She tapped on the door.
“Enter,” Lily commanded.
A.J. opened the door. Lily looked up from her laptop. “Yes?”
A.J. had to squelch her instant annoyed response. Lily probably didn’t even do it on purpose; it was just her manner, but in one curt word she managed to imply that A.J. was interrupting, irritating, and an idiot.
A.J. said with false brightness. “Hi! How was your weekend?”
“Good. Apparently much better than yours, according to the news. Murder does seem to follow you everywhere you go.”
A.J. kept smiling although her face was starting to hurt. Better hers than Lily’s though. “I thought maybe we could finish Thursday’s discussion.”
Lily made a point of looking at the clock. She rose. “Unfortunately, I’ve got class in ten. Perhaps later.” She added, “That reminds me. Do I need to get someone to cover your classes today?”
“No, I’m back full time.”
Lily smiled politely. “Great. Well, if you’ll excuse me?”
She went out and A.J. went back to her office to practice deep breathing exercises.
The morning routine began.
Not long after A.J. finished her tea and e-mail, Emma Rice tapped on the door of A.J.’s office.
A.J. looked up smiling. “What’s up?’
Emma came in and shut the door. At her serious expression, A.J. said, “Please tell me you’re not thinking of quitting.”
“Now there’s a coincidence. That’s exactly what I was going to ask you.”
A.J. examined the older woman’s lined face. “What do you mean?”
Emma said forthrightly, “The rumor is you’re planning on selling Sacred Balance and moving back to New York. Is there any truth to it?”
“No. Absolutely not. Who started that rumor?”
Emma shook her head.
“Well, it’s not true,” A.J. said again, firmly.
After a moment, Emma said, “Your word is good enough for me, honey. But you might want to reassure some of these other folks before they start looking for jobs.”
A.J. was startled. “Is it that bad?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
A.J. taught her morning class without incident; she was careful not to push herself too far. She was surprised at how happy she was to be teaching, how much she had missed it over the past week. Give up the studio and move back to New York? No way.
After her Yoga for Kids course, she went down to Lily’s office to try again to meet with her, but Lily was locking her door, clearly on her way out.
“Sorry. Early lunch meeting,” she said in answer to A.J.’s visible surprise.
“All right. Can we talk after lunch then?”
“I’m always available.” Lily said it with absolute sincerity, so apparently she believed it. And it was true that Lily had never ducked confrontation before. But something was most definitely up. A.J. trusted her instincts on that.
A.J. went back to her office, glanced over the monthly reports, and decided she, too, could do with an early lunch. She asked Suze if she wanted to grab a quick bite between sessions, and they drove into town, bought sandwiches and drinks at a café, and took their lunch to the park to eat by the duck pond.
Preoccupied with her thoughts of Lily, it took A.J. a while to notice that Suze was not her usual bubbly self. Not at all, in fact.
“Everything okay?” A.J. asked.
“Sure!” But the bright tone didn’t match Suze’s expression.
A.J. examined the younger woman’s glum profile. “Emma told me there are rumors flying around the studio.”
Suze snorted. “You can say that again. And it’s all Lily’s doing.”
“Do you have any proof of that?”
“Who else would it be?”
A.J. couldn’t help but think there was some truth to that, but she wanted to try to keep an open mind. “What exactly is she saying?”
“She’s not saying anything. Not to me, anyway. She just looks mysterious and smug whenever anyone asks her anything outright.” Suze’s wide blue eyes slanted A.J.’s way. “The rumor is you’re considering selling your share of Sacred Balance to Lily.”
“Oh, really,” A.J. said very quietly.
Suze looked uncomfortable. “Please don’t tell anyone you got that from me.”
“Don’t worry. And for the record, it’s not true.”
Suze looked relieved. “I knew it wasn’t.”
They ate for a time in silence, then Suze asked, “Is it over between you and Jake?”
A.J.’s avocado and tomato sandwich turned to moth-balls and lodged in her throat. She managed to choke it down and say, “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”
Suze’s face looked as red as if she’d stepped into boiling water. “Uh…”
“Tell me.”
“It’s probably nothing,” Suze said quickly. “It’s just we had a new potential client come in last week. Chess Something-or-other.” Suze firmed her voice with effort. “She mentioned that she and Jake were seeing each other.”
At last A.J. managed to say colorlessly, “I see.”
Once again A.J. reminded herself that she and Jake had never been exclusive, they’d never even discussed it, which seemed a bit odd in retrospect. But just because Jake was going out with someone else didn’t mean…
At that point logic fled and it was all she could do not to be sick in the rhododendrons.
“A couple of people have mentioned seeing Jake-”