Читать книгу Calculated Risk - Heather Woodhaven - Страница 11

TWO

Victoria ran back into the living room. “I need to get to a window!” She passed the couch and slid two wooden blinds apart to see through the window closest to her car.

“What’s going on?”

“My brother put a car alarm application on my phone. He said it’s more effective than an alarm on your car because it alerts you, not the crook.” Victoria squinted out the window. A man wearing a baseball cap had one knee on the passenger seat, rifling through her glove box.

“I think my brother was right.” The man looked up. Victoria jerked away from the window and gasped. “What if he saw me?” She put a hand on her chest. “I parked in the guest parking lot just in case I was being followed. I had hoped he wouldn’t know which town house I was visiting.”

“I’m calling the police.” Jeff grabbed his phone off the end table and took her place at the window.

Victoria nodded mutely. Her throat burned with the threat of tears. Her house was a pile of used matchsticks, and she was acting like a crazy woman begging Jeff for help. She caught sight of a small navy leather book on the end table by the couch. A Bible. The confirmation that she’d come to the right man steadied her pulse.

Jeff gave ethics lessons on taking pens from work to use for personal reasons. He also knew only the bare minimum about accounting, but that wasn’t his job. He was there to manage employees, and the job suited him. He was considered the most eligible bachelor at work, so much so that April—one of her friends at work—had staked her claim. The last time she’d stopped by Victoria’s cubicle to say hi, April had said she was dating Jeff.

Victoria cringed. Would April be upset that she’d gone to Jeff for help? She hadn’t even told any of her friends about her suspicions, fearing that she was wrong. If only April had access to the accounting divisions, then Victoria could’ve gone to her for help instead.

Jeff’s strong voice filtered through her thoughts. “There’s a suspicious man just inside the entrance of Greenbelt Townhomes. He’s opening and rifling through my friend’s car.” He rattled off his address and thanked them.

Baloo’s head slid underneath her hand. He always seemed to sense her emotions and track her down when she most needed comfort. Victoria patted his head in appreciation. Baloo’s giant tail smacked the wooden lamp off the end table just as Jeff hung up.

Victoria picked up the lamp, thankful it was still in one piece, and gave Jeff a sheepish grin. “If you could help me grab that evidence, I’ll give my story to the FBI, and be out of your hair.”

Jeff stared at the dog. “That simple, huh?” He held up the phone. “They’re on their way. If you’re right—if Wagner’s involved—we need to get to the office now. He’s usually there by 6:00 a.m. Since your car is being ransacked at the moment, let’s take mine.”

Victoria warred between embarrassment and anger at his reaction. Hadn’t she been trying to hurry him to the office? She followed Jeff downstairs, past a small room that held no furniture. Snowshoes, skis, fishing equipment and camping gear lined the walls. Baloo seemed to sense her anxiety as he trotted behind her.

Jeff frowned. “I’m sorry. There are only two seats.”

Her mouth dropped open at the sight of his car. He drove a two-seater silver Honda S2000 convertible—a beautiful sports car but without any room for a massive dog. “I’m afraid Nana will have to stay here.”

“Baloo,” she corrected. Her dog sniffed, as if indignant. “And it’s a he,” she added.

“Sorry. He looks like the dog from Peter Pan.”

She nodded. “He’s the same breed as Nana.”

He grinned. “You must like Disney movies.” He leaned down and patted Baloo’s head. “As long as you trust him here, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Victoria looked back hesitantly. Her dog’s concerned face mimicked her own. Baloo’s ears pressed backward, and he lifted his nose up in the air. She stared back into the dog’s eyes, racking her brain for another solution. She really didn’t have a choice, though.

Without waiting for her answer, Jeff walked back to the basement with Victoria and Baloo following and picked up a bowl from the camping dinnerware. He walked through another door to his right and emerged with a clean bowl of water. She stood, frozen in place, as she watched him care for Baloo. The kindness may have been directed at the dog, but the gesture took her off guard. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

He glanced her way and nodded. She’d only seen him dress casually once before—at the department Christmas party he’d hosted at his place. And now, wearing dark jeans, a checkered navy-and-brown flannel button-down shirt and brown hiking shoes, he looked more like Baloo’s owner than she did. She caught sight of his mountain bike leaning up against the wall. He must be a true outdoorsman. No wonder all the ladies at work flirted openly with him.

But not Victoria.

She’d never fall for a man like that, no matter how nice a guy he might be. She’d been burned before. And now she knew how to weigh men like numbers. She could identify a risk or a safe investment within minutes of conversing. She didn’t need conversation to peg Jeff. A ruggedly handsome and charming man was high risk, pure and simple. Beg for his help, though? Well, that was an entirely different matter.

After she buckled her seat belt a few moments later, Jeff turned off the lights to the garage, kept the car’s headlights off and slowly backed out of the town house driveway and onto the street.

“Shouldn’t the police be here by now?” Victoria whispered.

Jeff shrugged. “I certainly would’ve thought so.” He pressed the brakes. “I’m tempted to drive over there.”

“Please, don’t.” Her hand jutted out and touched his shoulder. “I don’t want him to see us together. I can’t stand the thought of him targeting you because of me. He torched my house. For all we know, he might be armed and start targeting you. Let’s hurry. This is our chance while he’s busy.”

Jeff considered her for the briefest of moments and then glanced down at her hand, still on his shoulder. She jerked her hand back and stared out the window. If only she could crawl underneath the seat and hide. Less than an hour alone together and she was already sending him the wrong message. She had meant what she’d said, but there was no need to put her hand on his shoulder...his very strong shoulder.

Jeff swung the car in the opposite direction, and a minute later, flipped on his headlights. “So, how do we gather evidence if someone’s already changed the reports?”

Victoria rifled through her purse and pulled out her security badge. “I saved a separate copy on the office server underneath a miscellaneous receipts file. I’m hoping no one’s found it yet.”

They rode in silence the short distance to the office. Jeff parked the car at the far end of the company lot. “Do you want to wait here and send me in for it?”

Victoria examined herself. Her neighbor’s clothes were not only big on her, but also outdated in style, and not very flattering. She wore a pink cardigan with pearl buttons, brown dress pants and black loafers. “I’d be lying if I said no, but I also think it’d be more efficient if we just get it done together. Do you have a flash drive we can use in your office?”

“No, but I can email it somewhere.”

Victoria shook her head. “You can’t email a file like that. It’ll get filtered. Anything over twenty-five megabytes gets blocked.” She flicked her hand in the air. “Believe me, I already tried.”

“Then I’ll burn it onto a disk. I’m hoping to get you somewhere safe and still have time to go back home and change before the official workday starts.” He leaned over and pulled his office badge out of the glove compartment.

She pressed herself back into the leather seat at his sudden close proximity. He even smelled good. She inhaled deeply and caught a whiff of pine trees and cedar.

Victoria bit her lip. If she couldn’t find the evidence, then this would effectively prove to Jeff that she was a crazy flake. She’d been there, done that. She couldn’t afford to lose her reputation and, most likely, her job. How would she ever get hired again? This was her last chance.

Victoria slung her purse over her shoulder and walked to the office entrance, her head held high. They stepped inside the glass lobby and strode to the automatic sliding glass door.

A security guard at the oval station gave Jeff a nod. Jeff touched her shoulder. “Go on up. I know this guard. He might have seen the Range Rover yesterday. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Victoria wanted to object but followed his gaze. She recognized the guard but doubted he remembered her. She gave a thumbs-up and held up her badge to the keypad that opened the elevators. It made a high-pitched sound, followed by an off-pitch buzz. Her face heated, and she could feel the guard’s eye on her. “That’s weird,” she said nonchalantly. She held up her badge again, only to produce the same horrible sound.

“Maybe we’re not allowed until our shift?” Victoria asked, realizing how silly her question sounded.

Jeff shook his head. “No. I’ve been here before on a Saturday to catch up on work after I had the flu. I’ve never had a problem before.”

The security guard left his station and walked up to them. “What seems to be the problem?”

Victoria hoped Jeff could see the panic in her eyes. He responded by smiling at the guard. “Hey, Charlie. Victoria’s badge isn’t working. Can she use her driver’s license instead?”

Charlie frowned. “As much as I’d like to do that, I can’t. There’s quite the process if your badge doesn’t work. Did you bend it, snap it?”

“No, nothing like that,” she replied. Her heart raced. Had Wagner already fired her? He had told her she’d regret not meeting him after work.

Charlie looked between the two of them. “I’ll see what I can do, but I might need to call a higher-up.” He waved them over to his station and opened his hand. Victoria handed over the badge, and he slid it underneath a stationary scanner.

The high-pitched buzz echoed around the glass walls. “Well, that’s strange.” He peered over his glasses at her. “Says here that your account doesn’t exist.”

“What?” Jeff leaned over the counter. “That’s got to be a mistake. She was working here just yesterday. I’m her supervisor in the...”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten who you are, Jeff,” the guard interrupted, fingering Victoria’s badge. “And I haven’t forgotten Victoria here either. She’s the one that’s always leaving homemade fudge for me and the guys in the break room.” He flashed a smile. “You didn’t think we were going let the chef of those goodies remain a secret, now did you? Got too many retired police detectives in our department for that.”

Victoria’s cheeks heated. Not so much from the guard’s good-natured ribbing but more from Jeff’s surprised stare. Apparently, she wasn’t that adept at doing a good deed in secret, no matter how hard she tried. Victoria shrugged. “It’s nothing, really. I like to cook. I just don’t want the temptation to eat it all.”

Charlie held up his closed fingers to his mouth. “She makes peanut butter fudge so smooth, it melts on your tongue. Even wraps it up in fancy homemade boxes that the wife loves to keep.” Charlie sighed. “But, I’m afraid without a call to my supervisor, I can’t help you.” He lifted up the phone to his ear. “It’ll be a few moments, folks.”

Victoria held her hand out toward Charlie’s arm. “Would you mind if we just waited until normal business hours? I can stay here while Jeff checks on a very important report for me.”

Charlie looked between the two of them and hung up the phone. “I can do one better. There’s no rule against Jeff signing you in as a guest.”

“Oh, that would be great. Then we can go home and change and deal with this whole mess when I get back. Right, Jeff?”

“Well,” Charlie mused, “this isn’t my normal shift, but I’m sure I can leave a note for the next guy.”

Victoria smiled sweetly. “It’s okay. I don’t mind going through it all again. No sense in making any more paperwork for you.”

Charlie’s eyebrow rose, but he said nothing. Instead, he handed a clipboard to Jeff. “Just sign her in there.”

Jeff complied. “Hey, Charlie, there’s been some guy in a red Range Rover bothering Victoria after work. If you could just keep an eye out for him in the future, that’d be great.”

“Is that so? We’ll keep a watch out for him, Miss Hayes.” Charlie raised a hand in acknowledgment.

When Jeff swiped his badge, the elevator doors opened swiftly, and they stepped inside. Victoria worried her hands. “Thank you for asking him to keep a look out. I’m wondering if we shouldn’t have come here.” She turned to him. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, really. I couldn’t see another option.”

“My curiosity is definitely piqued now. A few too many things are happening for this to all be a coincidence.”

She inhaled sharply. “My house went up in flames tonight. You saw a man rifling through my car. You still thought they were coincidences?”

Jeff held up both hands in surrender. “I’m not saying I didn’t believe you, I just hoped you were wrong.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like what the alternative means.”

While it still irked her that he hadn’t instantly accepted the truth based on her word, her shoulders relaxed. The elevator opened to a darkened fourth floor. Goose bumps on her arms insisted she was entering a danger zone. The motion-activated fluorescents welcomed them by flickering in a domino effect down one cubicle row. Without windows in the department, the rest of the open room remained eerily dark.