Twelve hours missing – 9:00 a.m., Westmont building
Danny was sitting in a conference room reviewing notes from his morning interviews when Leslie Jones entered the room. "I heard you wanted to talk to me next," she said nervously.
"Right, Ms….Jones?" he asked with a reassuring smile.
"That's me. We're really worried about Trace. I'll help in any way I can."
"Great. I just have a few questions. How long have you known, Tracey?"
"Oh…um…since college. We went to Columbia together. She actually started interning here while she was still going to college."
"Were you an intern, too?"
"No. I entered Mason's management training program right after I graduated. Tracey didn't actually graduate. After she started as an intern, she dropped out of Columbia."
"Hmmm…that's strange, isn't it? I mean…why wouldn't she finish?"
"Tracey didn't take college too seriously. We…uh…we call it the MRS degree. She was looking for a husband. We all kind of felt sorry for her. So Katie arranged for her to interview here for an internship…"
Danny looked at Leslie with a sharp gaze, but then softened a little to not look so surprised. "Katie….?"
"Yeah. Katie Mason Mathews…Mr. Mason's daughter. She was Tracey's English tutor at Columbia. We all kind of became friends. Katie just thought that Tracey needed some direction. She thought the internship would help her. We never thought Tracey would drop out."
"So…uh…are you, Tracey and Katie still friends? Do you all keep in touch?" Danny hadn't thought of Katie in a long time. Hearing about her again was strange, to say the least.
"Not really. It's kind of sad. We grew…a part…I guess," Leslie answered hesitantly.
"How so?"
Leslie fidgeted nervously. "I don't really know. Katie…kind of retreated after she graduated. She's a typical rich princess. I think Tracey was always a little jealous of her. I mean…Katie married her prince charming when she was 20 years old."
Danny couldn't help but feel confused. He couldn't imagine Katie acting like a typical rich princess. She was never like that when he knew her, but he tried to refocus. "Jealous? You mean jealous that Katie was married?"
Leslie nodded.
Danny was still confused and felt like Leslie was hiding something. "Sois Tracey dating anyone now? Did she find her prince charming?" he asked with a smile.
"Oh…no…I mean…not that I know of…"
Danny watched her skeptically as she fidgeted in her seat. He knew she was lying about Tracey's relationship, but Danny continued to ask Leslie Jones his list of questions. He ended his interview by saying, "If you don't mind, I'll need to come to our office for a more extensive interview."
"But why?" she asked nervously.
"I just think you could really help. You do want to help us find Tracey, right?"
"Of course. I'll do anything…"
"Great. Give me an hour to finish my interviews, and I'll drive you down there."
After conducting the interviews at the Westmont building, Danny made his way back to the office with Leslie. He settled her into a conference room and then went to Jack's office. Part of him hoped that Jack was still in D.C., but of course, he was back. Danny lightly tapped on the door and Jack waved him in while talking to Samantha. Danny nodded to both of them and then asked, "Anything at her apartment?"
"Not anything that makes sense," Samantha answered. "But we did find a receipt for a pregnancy test…but no test. We are still processing the rest of the evidence. How about you? Anything pop from the co-workers?"
"Possibly…I brought Leslie Jones back with me. I know she is hiding something…maybe she knows about the pregnancy test?" Danny relayed and then turned to Jack. "Uh…could I talk to Jack for a minute? I mean if you guys are done," Danny added apologetically.
"Sure. No problem," Samantha responded as she gave Danny a quizzical look and then walked out.
"So how was D.C.?" Danny asked wanting to prolong the agony.
"Uh…it was quite boring, actually. Lots of bureaucratic b.s….just to tell us we don't have enough money in the budget."
Danny smirked a little. "Right…."
"What's up, Danny? Did you find something at the Westmont building."
"Um…I conducted several interviews with her co-worker's. Most of them said the same thing. They didn't know her that well. But then I spoke to Leslie Jones, a Communications Manager. She and Tracey go way back. They went to Columbia together."
"Well that's good. We should be able to get some good background from her, and hopefully find out what she is hiding."
"Yeah…we should. Jack, it turns out that they went to college with Katie Mason, Robert Mason's daughter."
"That's an interesting connection. We should bring her in…"
"Yeah…I agree. Listen Jack…," he started to tell Jack about his connection to Katie.
Jack gave Danny a skeptical expression. "What?"
Danny hesitated. He couldn't do it. "Um…nothing. It's nothing. I'll finish the interview with Leslie Jones…and then maybe Sam can set something up with Katie Mason?."
"Sure. That sounds fine," Jack answered uneasily. "Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah…fine. It's nothing. I'll keep you posted on Leslie Jones."
" Take Sam in with you. She may feel more comfortable talking to a woman."
"Right." Danny nodded and then left. He knew he missed his opportunity to be honest with Jack, but he just hoped that Katie wasn't involved…so he wouldn't' have to disclose anything.
Moments later, he and Samantha were interviewing Leslie Jones. Danny started pressing hard. "You know Ms. Jones, while I was talking to Tracey's co-workers, they said she pretty much kept to herself. Besides you, who was she close with?"
"No one really…"
"Was she seeing anyone?" Samantha asked.
"Um…we didn't really talk about that stuff…"
"You're girlfriends and you don't talk about guys?" Samantha countered.
"I don't know. I mean I guess there wasn't much to talk about…"
Danny wasn't buying Leslie's denial. "You've know her since college, and you can't tell us anything about her social life? Come on, Leslie. Do we look stupid? What are you hiding? Do you want to be responsible if something bad happens to your friend?"
"Look…I have a lot to lose…ok? I'm doing really well at Mason. I'm one of the youngest executives there. And I don't know anything for sure…"
"What do you know?" Samantha asked pointedly
Leslie hesitated.
"Tracey's life depends on what you tell us…" Danny added.
"Look I doubt Tracey is in danger. If you ask me, she just took off. The fire was probably getting a little hot for her."
"What fire? What are you talking about?" Danny asked annoyed.
"Look…it's just a rumor…but apparently….Tracey had an affair with Katie's husband."
"Eric?" Danny asked a little too quickly. Samantha gave him a surprised, sidelong glance.
"Yeah…Eric Mathews. The rumor is that Katie caught them together."
"I interviewed ten of her co-workers this morning. Why didn't anyone mention it?" Danny asked.
"Everyone is terrified of Eric. He's a real hardass. He's had people fired for not following the dress code. No one is going to rat out Eric."
"Mathews is working at Mason Industries?" Danny asked remembering that Robert Mason couldn't stand Eric and not understanding how he could have a job at Mason.
"Yeah…he started there shortly after he and Katie married. In hindsight, I'm pretty sure he's the reason Tracey dropped out of Columbia. She thought she could land Eric if she spent as much time as Mason as possible."
"How long ago did this rumor start?" Samantha asked.
"The rumor? People have thought there was something going on between Eric and Tracey for years. But from what I've heard…Katie didn't catch them together until a few months ago."
"Okay…well, that was a few months ago. Why was the fire getting hot now?" Samantha asked.
"The newest rumor…and I really don't think this is true, but the newest rumor is that Tracey has something going with Mr. Mason."
Danny ran a hand over his face as he and Sam shared a glance. Their shared glance communicated that maybe Tracey wasn't such a little fish in the big Mason pond.
