Read Online BREAKING STEELE (A Sarah Steele Thriller) by Ellie Aaron; Ann Patterson - Free Book Online Page B

father has been terrorizing me and I’m going to hear what she has to say about that. I need to get in.” I gave him a soft look and the guard rubbed his chin and glanced back toward the white buildings in the distance.
    “Look, Miss, I just work here. I got kids, and they fire people around here for sneezing too loud. I really want to help you, but I can’t.”
    Groaning, I gripped the steering wheel and half thought about gunning it and breaking through the gate across the road.
    “Tell you what,” the guard leaned out the window and smiled, “I will get her secretary on the phone and you can see if you can wheedle your way in after all.”
    I grinned. Wheedling was one of my greatest skills. After he dialed, I took the phone from him. “Hello, this is Sarah Steele.”
    “Hello, Sarah Steele,” a crisp female voice answered. “You’ll have to make another appointment.”
    “No, I don’t,” I said. “Williams needs to see me today. I’m working a case involving her father and I need to hear her statement.” Silence on the other side of the line. “I can either come in now, or in three hours with a court order. You don’t want that kind of hassle, do you?”
    More silence, then the woman said, “Let me talk to the guard.”
    Perking up, I handed the phone back to the guard, tapping my nails on the steering wheel as I waited.
    He hung up. “You’re free to go, Miss Steele.”
    I smiled. “Thank you.” I was about to pull forward when I noticed his expression. It was as if he had something on the edge of his tongue.
    “What is it?” I asked.
    “You should be talking to Glen Williams, not Hannah.”
    I’d never heard that name before. But I better find out why it mattered. “Really?” I said, my expression open. “Who is he?”
    “I think he’s Hank’s brother or cousin or uncle or someone.” The guard stared intently at me for a moment, and then looked away.
    I knew he couldn’t be Hank’s brother. Hank was an only child. “Got anything to dish on him?” I asked in a quiet voice.
    “Nothing much, the man is a ghost. He only comes around like twice a year and most people around here don’t even know what he looks like. Hank Williams is the face of the company.Now that he’s in trouble there’s a lot of speculation about who is going to run things. People are scared of Glen. I mean, he is a weird guy!”
    “What do you mean ‘weird’?”
    “Well, I don’t really know. I just hear things, you know. They say he lives in hiding, like a hermit, or some sort of recluse or something. But they say he’s always watching us.”
    I held back a smile. The gossip chain was not going to help me. This story was turning out to be a tale the employees were told to stay in line.
    “Thanks,” I said. I was about to pull forward but I hesitated. The name Glen Williams stuck in my head, as if it mattered somehow. “Anyone you know I could talk to that could tell me about him?”
    The guard stood up and rubbed his jaw as he thought. “Hmm, you could try to talk to Heather Dade”
    “Heather Dade?” I straightened up at the familiar name. She was the one who had filed the abuse claim on Hank Williams. “Who is she?Is she related?”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. She stops by here every now and again. I feel bad for her. Lives over in the—” He suddenly looked around, as if realizing how much he’d told me. “G’luck,” he said quietly. He tipped his head to me. I got the hint and drove on.
    The Williams family was larger than I’d thought. How much did they have to do with Hank, and were any of them following in his footsteps? I’d have to find out.

Chapter 20
    WILLIAMS, INC. SPANNED OVER fifty acres of white buildings; they were so white that the nickname for the place was The White City. I had to go through one more guard booth and, after I parked, three more sets of security. I was directed to the top story office where Hannah Williams resided. It reminded me of the Evil Queen in her tower