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Chapter 10

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Finally, after the longest work day in history, it was five o'clock. Angela sat back for a minute so that most people would leave before her. She didn't need everyone watching her and Dwight leaving the office together. Several people were already suspicious about her various secrets.

She glanced across the office at Dwight, who looked back for a half-second before looking away, likely not wanting to raise any suspicions in anyone.

"Angela," Michael called out from across the room as he stood in his office's doorway. "Could I speak to you for a minute before you go?"

Angela felt her shoulders slump. She was very ready to leave. Hopefully this wouldn't take long. With a sigh, she stood from her desk and made her way toward Michael's office. "Yes?" she asked as she stood in the doorway.

"I'm going to need you to work late on Friday," Michael told her.

"Why?" She frowned.

"I need you to re-check all of the accounting records for this year," Michael explained.

"Which ones?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him.

"Just... All the records. The financial stuff that you do." Michael shrugged. "You've got to look over them and check them for accuracy. I got a memo from corporate saying they need to be re-checked."

"All of them?" Angela stared back with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah." Michael nodded.

"For the whole year?" She couldn't believe this. It was December. That was literally twelve months worth of records, and he was just now telling her this, at the end of the year, and expecting her to do it all alone?

"That's an entire year's worth of work, Michael. You want me to do all of that all by myself on one Friday?" Angela put her hands on her hips. "Do you even know for sure what they want looked over? That's ridiculous. Let me see the memo."

"I deleted it... I'll get back to you. Whatever it was, they said it shouldn't take more than a couple hours," Michael told her.

"Then I'll do it tomorrow during work," Angela suggested.

"No, you've got to stay late. Corporate said so. You've got too much other work," Michael refused.

Angela sighed. "Just me? Are Oscar and Kevin staying late?"

"It's a one person job. I'll leave you the keys to lock up," Michael offered.

"Wait..." Angela's shoulders slumped. "You're going to make me stay late all by myself? You're not even going to stay? Just me? Literally all by myself?"

Michael frowned and stared back.

"You're going to make me work all alone, at night, when you know there's a murderer strangling people?" Angela scowled at him. This was almost too cruel for her to even believe. Michael had some pretty stupid ideas, but this was just ridiculous. "You even said it yourself - that I'd be a perfect target for this guy. Do you want me to die, Michael?" She was honestly starting to feel panicked. Maybe she should just refuse, and if he fired her, at least she would still have her life...

"He's not killing people at their jobs, Angela. You'll be fine." Michael insisted.

Angela frowned. She couldn't exactly tell him why she was so worried. Maybe she'd just finish whatever work he wanted her to do during work hours anyway, as long as he told her what it was in time for that to be possible. Or maybe she could just ask Dwight to stay late too. "Fine." She finally just agreed so she could leave. "Anything else?"

"No." Michael shook his head.

She turned and headed toward the door.

"See you tomorrow, Angela. Be careful out there," Michael called after her.

"Out where?" Angela frowned.

"You know... The world... Like you said, there's a strangler running around killing people," Michael noted. He actually looked legitimately concerned as he stared after her with furrowed brows.

Angela rolled her eyes and left his office. Like he even gave a damn. Making a tiny woman work late all alone, several hours after even the security guard would have gone home... It was almost like he was trying to set her up to be killed. Maybe he was upset with her for slapping him. He'd deserved it though, really.

"Ready to go?" Dwight asked her as soon as she was out in the lobby.

"Yeah." Angela glanced back at Michael, who was watching her intently through his window. She shook her head and looked away.

"What was that about?" Dwight wondered as he started toward the door.

Angela followed. "He wants me to work late on Friday." She frowned as they made their way out into the hallway. "And he wants me to stay all by myself. He's leaving me the keys... I don't want to stay by myself."

"Well, I guess you kind of have to though," Dwight commented.

"But the strangler could be waiting for me to be alone..." Angela frowned up at him as they stepped into the elevator and started heading downstairs. "I don't want to risk it. It's a terrible idea. The work probably doesn't even need to be done."

"I'm sure he wouldn't come after you at work," Dwight assured her.

"But he might. There was someone in a van in the parking lot yesterday, just kind of sitting there. I couldn't see them. They seemed like they could be watching me and they didn't leave until Kelly showed up and started walking with me," Angela told him. "It could have been the strangler. I think he's already stalked me here. Why wouldn't he do it again? Will you stay late on Friday so I don't have to stay alone."

"I can't, Angela." Dwight shook his head.

"But I could be killed!" Angela reminded him. "If you're right and the killer stalks his victims and went back to kill the only other one who got away, he's going to be just waiting for a chance... This would be a perfect opportunity for him to kill me! You have to stay!"

"Aw... I would, but I'm gonna be busy that night," Dwight declined with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll be okay."

"Busy with what? What's more important than my life?" Angela frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm helping Michael re-tile his kitchen floor." Dwight shrugged.

Angela narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him. He looked like he was hiding something. There was no way he'd treat her so carelessly after making so much effort to keep her safe ever since last night. He was up to something... and Michael seemed to be in on it. "You're trying to use me as bait, aren't you? You told Michael, and you're setting me up to be attacked so you can catch the killer!" She accused him.

"Keep your voice down!" Dwight shushed her. "Yes... We're setting you up, but more importantly, we're setting him up. This is a foolproof plan."

"You told Michael?" Angela frowned.

"Accidentally," Dwight admitted as he looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, Monkey. I really didn't mean to... But he promised not to tell anyone. If we can get the strangler to come after you here, we can catch him and put this whole thing behind us."

"Or I could end up being killed," Angela noted. "What if you don't catch him in time? If he comes here, it'll be to kill me. It doesn't take long, Dwight."

"I'll pay attention. He won't kill you. They have his DNA on file, so I don't even have to wait until he's attacking you for proof. I just have to catch him. The DNA from a couple of the murders will do the rest of the work for us," Dwight explained. "He only needs to make it into the parking lot. He'll never get anywhere near you."

Angela stared silently up at him for a moment. This was a horrible idea... But it sounded like if she didn't agree to knowingly be live bait to catch this guy, she was going to unknowingly do it. Dwight seemed to be pretty persistent about this. He wanted to use her to lure the killer out into the open, and was probably going to do so one way or another. She figured she'd rather be aware of what was going on.

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed. "I'll play along... But you have to be really, really careful, and make sure he doesn't kill me."

"I will." Dwight nodded.

"I don't want him to even come within twenty yards of me. You have to make sure to stop him before he does anything," Angela continued. "I don't want to relive what happened last night. It's not enough that you catch him in the act."

"I understand. I'll be watching closely. The minute I see him, he's going down," Dwight assured her. "He won't even get close to you."

"Promise me, Dwight," she ordered. "I want you to make me a promise that this is going to work out. This is really, really scary. It's a horrible, reckless, dangerous idea. If I die because of this, I want you to feel bad forever, because it'll be all your fault."

"You're not going to die. I promise." Dwight smiled down at her and put his hand gently on her shoulder. "You're my everything, Monkey. I wouldn't ever let anyone hurt you. We're gonna catch this guy and he's going to go to prison for the rest of his life. You'll be fine. I absolutely promise you that."

"I hope you're right." Angela sighed. She couldn't really feel optimistic about this plan when its potential failure meant her death.

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