Fair Game Inc (2010) (6 page)

The front door swung open. A thin blond man jaunted down the steps. oLooks like a surfer,o Amber muttered. Using the telephoto lens, she snapped off a couple of shots just to be safe. According to her clientAEs profile, he was an information services technician.

oBet the services youAEre currently selling have little to do with computers.o Amber laughed at her own dark humor. oWeAEll just see about that, Apartment 4. Information is my specialty, too.o

She ducked as he passed her car, heading for his own. Waiting until there were a couple of cars safely between them, Amber eased the Honda into traffic. A glance at her watch sent her heart sinking. Almost an hour late. Grayson Charles would just have to wait. SheAEd make it up to him later. If she had to.

oThereAEd better be a woman at the end of this goose chase,o she told the red mustang two cars ahead. oIf youAEre going grocery shopping, IAEm going to be really mad.o

And so would Grayson Charles.

No wonder heAEd been so upset at the loss of his time. If the firm was in fact riding a fine edge between solvency and bankruptcy, Grayson wouldnAEt have had the resources to hire extra help. Dark eyes haunted her, last night and all day. He hadnAEt looked annoyed to see her. He looked ... relieved.

Amber thrust him from her mind. Since their ill-fated meeting several weeks ago, Grayson Charles had been occupying far too much of her thoughts.

Apartment 4 was pulling into the parking lot of an industrial complex. Amber followed a discreet distance behind. He parked in front of a rambling building. A green sign above was the only thing distinguishing it from the other squat buildings in the industrial complex. Gardner Information Services. Amber eased her car closer, keeping one hand on the camera.

oGoing to work early tonight, arenAEt we, Apartment 4?o Amber said as he disappeared inside.

Taking the camera, she closed her car door quietly, and crept toward the rear of the building. Most of the workers had left for the day, emptying a multitude of dark offices. Down toward the end of the building, lights were still on in a couple of offices. Bending low out of sight of the windows, Amber ran along the side of the building.

The first illuminated room turned out to be the lunchroom. A couple of industrial tables, a battered fridge and a microwave made up its furnishings. Amber slid around the corner. Peering up over the windowsill, she peeked through the vertical blinds.

oBingo.o

Sure enough, Mr. Information Highway Surfer was at his terminal. But he wasnAEt alone. Pressed intimately between him and his workstation was an attractive brunette in a business suit.

oSheAEs his coworker.o A perfect scheme. One stayed late, one came in early. Their coworkers probably pitied them clocking all that overtime.

oWell, partyAEs over, Apartment 4.o Amber inched up to the window. A tiny space between the vertical blinds offered her all the clearance she needed. Pressing the lens against the window, she captured their passionate kiss with the rest of the roll of film.

The kiss ended. Amber dropped out of sight. As if she sensed something, the brunette looked through the half-closed blinds. Plastering herself against the side of the building, Amber rounded the corner and froze.

oI knew it was you!o Out of the shadows a man walked toward her. Right across the view of the open windows, jeopardizing her surveillance with every step.

Tendrils of greasy hair stood out from his head at odd angles, illuminated by the slanting light of the late afternoon sun. Squinting against the glare, he looked like Mr. McGoo behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. His threadbare suit looked like heAEd slept in it. And he probably had. Dapper would never be a word used to describe James Heck, Amber reflected.

Dragging in a breath, she forced her heart to resume beating. oWhat are you doing here, James?o she hissed, her body still pasted against the wall. Dearly she hoped James followed her example to get out of plain sight.

Her hopes went unanswered as Heck leaned against the building, supporting himself nonchalantly with one arm. oI came to see who got the job over me.o

Amber felt her stomach tighten as her body readied itself for the coming confrontation.

oDidnAEt know you were bidding on it,o she said noncommittally.

oYou should have.o Heck had a frown that made him look like a petulant child. A very large, slimy kind of petulant child. oI am the only competition in town.o

Amber felt the edges of her patience fraying. Long hours spent in a hot car, plus an evening at Barlow & Charles to look forward to put her in a bad mood to start. oMy client didnAEt mention that she was considering other offers,o she snapped.

oShe didnAEt mention you to me, either.o Heck kicked at a tuft of grass, and Amber could tell he was taking the loss of work really hard. oLed me to believe I had the job,o he continued, still taking out his frustrations on the hapless turf. oPut in quite a few hours on the preliminaries.o

oDonAEt you just hate it when that happens?o Looking for a way out of the conversation, any way, she hadnAEt realized how snide that sounded.

oSure do.o

If Heck was making a point, she wished heAEd get to it.

oIAEm in for quite a few out of pocket expenses,o Heck said at last.

Amber groaned inwardly. Like she wasnAEt.

oMaybe youAEd like to reimburse me for all that preliminary work, that way we could kind of work together on it.o

So that was it. Heck wanted a cut. Even if she had the money, slimy James Heck, proprietor of Heck, Sleuth and Company would not be her choice of a collaborator. Truth was she didnAEt have a dime to spare. Not that sheAEd tell the competition that.

oThanks for the offer, James, but IAEve already done my own preliminary.o

oFigured you would.o

Amber launched herself away from the wall, forcing Heck to follow her if he wanted to keep talking. The longer she fended off proposals from James Heck, the more chance she had of being discovered. oListen, I was just on my way somewhere....o Amber looked around for his car, but the parking lot was virtually empty. oDo you need a lift?o

oAh, no.o The question took Heck by surprise, as if heAEd been lost in thought. Or taking her refusal very badly. oBut I was wondering something else....o

Please go away, Amber prayed silently. DonAEt ask me anything else. The irony of James Heck thinking she was so successful he could cash in on her action almost made her laugh. For all his sleazy antics, at the moment Fair Game, Inc. wasnAEt doing any better than Heck, Sleuth and Co. If she hadnAEt had Heck in the flesh to deal with, she might have laughed out loud. With a heavy sigh, Amber turned to face him. oWhat is it, James?o

oI was wonderinga.o He let the sentence trail off, giving Amber a sinking suspicion of the real reason heAEd tailed her to her own surveillance.

oYes, James?o

oSince IAEm the one out of pocket here....o He paused again. Her stomach tightened with tension. oWell, IAEd forgive you if youAEd go out with me on Saturday,o he finished in a rush.

Only James Heck would accuse a woman of theft and then ask her out, Amber thought darkly. HeAEd made an equally awkward proposition at the association Christmas party. Rumor had it heAEd propositioned every woman there. And only James Heck of the firm his colleagues laughingly called Heck, Sleaze and Co., would suggest she owed him a romantic favor for his loss of a contract.

oSorry James, IAEve already made plans.o

oSome other time then?o

Unfortunately a guy like James Heck would never take some other time as the brush off it was. Some other time would become every other time they met.

oI donAEt think so, James.o

He took her refusal in characteristic bad grace. oYou seeing someone?o

oThatAEs none of your concern.o The words sounded harsh, even through the filter of her annoyance. In truth, there hadnAEt been anyone for a long time. That fact she certainly wasnAEt going to share with James Heck.

oGuess not.o Without so much as a backward glance, Heck turned and walked away in the other direction. Must have parked his car on the street somewhere.

oIAEll let you know if I hear of anything,o she called after him. Heck nodded, but kept walking.

For several agonizing minutes she watched him leave, until he disappeared around a bend in the road. Her heart drummed a staccato beat. Amber glanced back at the building behind her. No one came to investigate. The blinds to all the windows were firmly shut. She heaved a sigh of relief.

That was close. If Heck showed up a couple of minutes before, sheAEd be explaining her presence there to the police. But for once fate had played into her hands.

And Amber Shaw had landed herself another lucrative contract.

****

Her exhilaration died as soon as she stepped through the door of Barlow & Charles.

Angry voices drifted down the corridor, GraysonAEs and an older manAEs. Amber let herself in quietly. Taking a seat at the secretaryAEs desk, she reached for the last stack of files awaiting organization. SheAEd almost finished the job last night. That was the problem with untidy people, she reasoned, they just didnAEt realize how little time it took to keep things in order.

Snippets of the altercation in progress caught her attention.

oWhat did you expect me to do?o Grayson sounded even more angry than heAEd been in court.

Amber rose silently from her seat. Taking a handful of files on the pretense of returning them to the cabinet, she crept as far down the hallway as she could safely go.

oWhat I didnAEt expect you to do was to hire a private investigator to snoop through our confidential files!o

oSheAEs not investigating us,o Grayson thundered back, osheAEs simply putting away all those files that have been sitting around the office since Nicole left. Besides, she isnAEt that type of PI, she has another specialty altogether.o

oSo you said.o The other manAEs voice was low, menacing.

WouldnAEt want to run up against him in court. Amber inched further down the hall.

oAnd I donAEt like it one bit,o he continued.

oSheAEs done a great job,o Grayson said, defensively. oHer help is free and we were going to have to hire someone anyway. Is that whatAEs bothering you, John? That you werenAEt in on it?o

oMy only concern is for confidentiality,o the other said, now on the defensive instead. Yet there was a hint of malice to his voice that sent a shudder down AmberAEs spine. She hadnAEt even met John Barlow yet, but she knew for certain she didnAEt like him.

oI canAEt see what interest sheAEd have in the contents of our files.o

oNo, of course not.o Amber heard him stomp a few feet away, then the impact of his fist hitting the top of GraysonAEs desk. oBlind trust is one of your shortcomings, just like your father.o

Silence filled the office. She heard Grayson walk around his desk, pictured him standing before Barlow, anger darkening his face.

oLet me make one thing clear.o He launched the words at his partner, all the more dangerous for the quiet manner in which they were spoken. oI am not my father and neither are you. We are partners in this firm, and I will do what I decide is best for it.o

oThatAEs--o

He cut the other man off. oYou were the one who insisted in taking time off when it was least convenient. You were the one who left me with not only my own, but your caseload as well not even a week after Nicole left. What did you expect me to do? Work all night and all day? Well, thatAEs what IAEve been doing. And when help was offered free of charge, I took it. If you donAEt like it, thatAEs too bad. IAEm considering offering Ms Shaw some freelance work once her time here is up.o

oWe canAEt afford it.o BarlowAEs words practically exploded between them.

oWhy canAEt we?o

oIAEve been away. And youAEve done too much charity work!o

oIt was for your charity. If youAEve changed your mind about that, itAEs too late.o

oI donAEt want a PI in here.o

oWhy, John? What are you afraid sheAEll find?o

The question hung between them. Finally, Grayson answered it himself. oI donAEt really think you care about the PI. I think youAEre just angry because I did this on my own. Well get used to it, Barlow, because if I want to hire Amber Shaw, I will. Even if I have to pay her myself.o

oI wonAEt let you do that.o

oTry and stop me.o For a moment there was silence. oAre you here to work? Or did you just stop by to complain about the way things were going in your absence?o

The door to GraysonAEs office flew open. Amber leapt back behind the filing cabinet. A heavy-set dark-haired man with graying temples rushed by her. He leveled a vehement look in her direction, them stormed through the door and slammed it behind him.

When she glanced up, Grayson was standing before her.

oYouAEre late,o he snapped in greeting.

oLate!o Amber said incredulously. oI stayed late here last night--just because I couldnAEt stand to leave any loose ends laying around. Because I pitied you for the pathetic situation youAEd allowed your business to get into.o She waved her arm around the now tidy reception area. oThe mess it took you a month to make, I almost cleaned up in one night.o