“Yes,” Lydia said. “I had one made without JD knowing.” She frowned. “Well, I think it still works. If it doesn’t, we’ll break into the room.”
“I don’t know,” Jo said. “That’s dicey.”
“You could pick the lock,” Lydia said.
Jo knew she could, but there was more risk of someone seeing them. “Let’s try the key first.”
“Once we get into the office, you can look around,” Lydia said. “JD keeps at least one desk drawer locked, and I’m sure he has a key with him, but he might’ve hidden one somewhere. While you search the office, I’ll look around the rest of the house.”
“I doubt he hid a key,” Jo said. “If it’s important to keep things locked in a drawer, he won’t make it easy for someone to get into it.”
“We have to try.”
Jo nodded. “What about the staff?”
“Samual and Alice are off for the evening. They don’t work late unless JD or I need something. The maid wrapped up earlier as well. But I’ll check the house anyway to make sure no one is around.”
“Is there surveillance equipment in his office?”
“He doesn’t have any there. I’ve seen Kline sweep the room to make sure nobody else is listening in, and JD’s said that he can talk freely in his office.”
“We still need to be careful,” Jo said. “We get in and out as fast as we can.”
“Right.”
She thought for a second. “When I park the car, I’ll spend a few minutes in the garage, cleaning up the SUV, killing time. While I do that, you make sure the house is empty.”
“Okay,” Lydia said. She pulled a tiny cash wallet from her purse and dropped enough money on the table to pay for her drink, plus a healthy tip. “Let’s go.”
Jo went with her to the SUV. When she pulled out of the parking place, she glanced at Lydia in the rearview mirror. The woman looked determined, but apprehensive, too. Jo felt uneasy herself. As she drove toward the mansion, her mind raced. Everything they’d proposed sounded so simple, but things rarely turned out that way. There were always problems, obstacles she couldn’t anticipate. And if she did find incriminating evidence against JD, she would need to contact Kelsey as soon as she could.
She soon turned onto the long drive of the Babineaux property and pulled up in front. Both she and Lydia acted normal, as if their evening had been routine. Jo got out and opened the door for her, and Lydia thanked her as she’d done before.
“Once you park the car, meet me inside so we can discuss tomorrow,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jo replied.
Lydia strode up the front porch, and Jo got back in the SUV and drove it around to the garage. She parked and spent a few minutes stalling, cleaning the already clean car, and then went inside. Lydia was waiting in the foyer.
“We’re alone,” she murmured.
She didn’t say anything else, just turned and went down the hall toward JD’s office. Jo quietly followed, and Lydia tried the office door. As they’d both suspected, it was locked. Lydia held up a key. Jo held her breath in anticipation as her boss put it into the lock. A small click sounded, and the door opened. Lydia let out a huge sigh for both of them. She pushed open the door, and they entered the office.
Lydia shut the door and turned to Jo.
“Let’s check the desk.”
“Hang on,” Jo whispered. She hadn’t seen Kline all day, and he popped to mind. “Let me check for surveillance.”
She quickly searched behind paintings and sculptures, the usual places where someone might hide surveillance devices, but she didn’t find anything. She scoped out the rest of the room, then nodded. Lydia breathed another sigh of relief.
“There still could be something,” Jo said softly. “We need to hurry.”
Lydia nodded, and they went to the desk and tried the drawers.
“This one’s locked, of course,” Lydia muttered. “I was hoping we’d get lucky.”
“We can’t count on luck.”
Lydia glanced around. “Start looking around the room. Maybe JD left a key here. While you do that, I’m going to check our bedroom upstairs.”
“Okay,” Jo said without enthusiasm.
Lydia quietly left the room, and Jo began searching for the key. JD had leather-bound books on mahogany shelves, and she rooted around them, noting that most had never been opened. She inspected a few sculptures as well, careful to put things back so that the man wouldn’t know anything had been disturbed. Even as she was doing that, she wondered if she was wasting her time. He wouldn’t have left a desk key around. She grimaced. If they had to break into the desk, he would discover what they’d done. And how long would she have before Kline came after her?
When she finished, she checked sculptures on a credenza, then tackled the furniture, checking around and underneath to see if JD had stashed a key there. She ran her hands around the couch and chair cushions, wrinkling her nose at a subtle cigar odor. Next, she crawled under the desk, and she was running her hands along the wood when she heard a noise at the door. She froze, worried that he or Kline might’ve come in. Then Lydia spoke, to her relief.
“I can’t find a key anywhere.”
Jo backed out of the desk opening and stood up. “I can’t, either. Let’s face it, he didn’t hide a spare key.”
“And we need to hurry,” Lydia said as she approached the desk. She pointed to a drawer. “You’ve got to get into it.”
Jo nodded. It had been a while since she’d tried to pick a lock, and she didn’t know how long it might take her. Could she jimmy the lock in a way where JD wouldn’t notice? Jo sat down, but then she hesitated.
“Come on,” Lydia said.
“There’s no going back now.” She didn’t mention the danger they were both in.
