April 1, 2016
"I'm fucking sick of this," Julio snapped. "You do this every weekend."
I gritted my teeth as I drove through Trenton and bit back a retort. I had been about to leave for the airport to head back to Columbus for the weekend, but a woman who hired me to help get away from her abusive husband had called and said she needed to move up her escape from next week to today while he was at work. She had less than six hours to get packed up and out of town. I was there to protect her if her husband were to come back while she and her best friend packed her belongings, then I would drive her to Atlanta.
"Should I just let her get killed by the man who beats her regularly? Tell her 'sorry, my husband wants me home. Good luck'?"
"Oh, fuck off," Julio shot back. "You know damn well what I mean. You've been hiring people. Why can't one of them do it?"
"Because they are all doing other jobs. I'm short two men right now because one had emergency surgery and the other is out of town. I'm going to help her get packed up and out of there as soon as possible. I'll still be home. It'll just be sometime tomorrow morning."
Julio mumbled something about me wanting to be a hero and I gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"You know we wouldn't have this problem if you would just move to Trenton already," I reminded him.
"I said I'd come in July. Jesus."
"I'm getting a call. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, hitting the disconnect button. I didn't like lying to him, but I couldn't have the same argument every weekend.
I pushed my marital problems aside to focus on the job at hand. The client's name was Amanda White, and her husband was a firefighter in Hamilton Township. She had intended to leave while he was on a twenty-four hour shift next week, but after a violent fight the day before, she had leapt at the opportunity to leave earlier when he had agreed to cover a partial shift for another firefighter. He had left at six and would get off at noon. I was meeting her best friend Karlie at the bonds office at seven so I could ride in her car to the house. The husband was friends with most of the neighbors and if they saw a strange car in the driveway, they might alert him. They were used to her best friend's car.
"Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice," Karlie said as we drove down the couple's road. "She's so scared."
"I'm glad I can help," I said. I was slouched in the seat so I wasn't obviously visible to anyone as we drove into the neighborhood. The house was on a corner lot and the driveway entered from the cross street. Karlie parked in the driveway and looked out of her rearview and side mirrors.
"I think it's clear to go in," she said. She had given me one of her husband's hooded sweatshirts and a baseball cap to wear so if anyone asked her about the man with her later, she could claim it was her husband who had come with her on his way to work.
"Thank you," Amanda White said when she opened the door to us. She ushered us in and quickly shut and locked the door. "He'll be home a little after twelve. I started packing as soon as I saw him drive away."
"Is there any chance he'll come home during the shift?" I asked.
"There's always a chance, but he would have to come in the firetruck with all the other guys. He doesn't do it often."
"If he happens to come by, you two need to pretend nothing is wrong and I'll stay out of sight. I doubt he'd do anything stupid with his coworkers outside and your best friend here, but I'd rather not test that theory and be up against a bunch of firefighters who might decide to fight for their buddy."
I'd been sent a picture of her husband and knew what vehicle he drove. I would be on the lookout downstairs while Karlie and Amanda packed upstairs. Getting involved in domestic violence cases was always risky. I'd warned Karlie that her involvement could get back to the husband. She said she knew what she was getting in to and her husband had supported it. They had a security system and both owned handguns. They were prepared should he come for them. But the goal was for no one to realize Amanda was gone until her husband came home to an empty house.
The women had been upstairs packing for over two hours when a firetruck pulled up in front of the house. I saw Amanda's husband climb down from the truck.
"He's here," I yelled upstairs.
Amanda and Karlie hurried down the stairs in a panic. "Take a deep breath and try to relax," I assured them. "I'm right here if you need me. I won't let anything happen to you."
They opened a closet in the living room filled with crafting supplies and I hid in the kitchen pantry. I could hear everything but couldn't see what was happening from my vantage point.
"Hi, honey," Amanda said in a sweet voice. "Karlie needs some craft ideas for when her nieces and nephews come to visit this summer."
"Hey Toby," Karlie said casually.
"Hey," Toby said in a bored voice. "I forgot my wallet when I left this morning, and we're going to Burger King."
"I'll get it for you," Amanda said and hurried up the stairs before Toby could argue. Karlie and Toby made small talk for about thirty seconds before Amanda came back downstairs.
"Here you go," she said.
"See you later," Toby said, and I listened as the front door closed behind him. I waited until I heard the distinct sound of the fire truck pulling away before I stepped out of the pantry. Karlie and Amanda were so relieved they were almost in tears.
"You did great. Let's hurry up. I don't like that he saw Karlie was here. He's going to suspect you helped her."
"He would have suspected that anyway," Karlie said with a wave of her hand. "I'd love for him to try something. I always keep my S on me."
Amanda and Karlie hurried back upstairs and were finished packing half an hour later. She had three suitcases and two duffle bags. After ensuring she had left her cell phone, credit cards, and anything else that could potentially be tracked, I took two of the suitcases and we hurried out the back door. I loaded the suitcases in the trunk and the women threw the rest of the bags in the back . Thankfully, the neighbors who could see the driveway were all at work, but there was still the risk of someone driving down the road. I told Amanda to lay down in the backseat and I slouched in the front seat as Karlie backed out of the driveway. I had parked in the alley behind the bonds office, so we were able to transfer Amanda's belongings from Karlie's car to my SUV without being noticed. The two women hugged and promised to keep in touch. I provided them each with prepaid cell phones with the numbers programmed. They would only use those phones to call each other. I didn't think her husband was James Bond or anything, but firefighters were often close with police, and I didn't want to risk him asking a cop buddy to find his wife so they could talk. Abusive men were some of the most motivated people I'd ever met, especially when it came to being in control of their victims. And I knew from my last life that this particular man wouldn't let his wife go if he had the chance to stop her.
Amanda would be staying with an old friend from middle school in Atlanta while she was getting divorced and back on her feet. Her attorney was filing the divorce papers that morning so that by the time Toby was served, she would be long gone. She sat quietly staring out the window and sniffling occasionally for the first four hours of the trip. It wasn't until we were back on the road after stopping at a gas station outside of Richmond, Virginia that she finally said something.
"How much more do I owe you?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I only gave you $500. That isn't nearly enough for all of this. It probably didn't even cover your time at the house today."
"Karlie gave me money too. It's enough."
"How much did she give you?"
"Three hundred."
"There's no way that's enough," Amanda said. "I can pay you more. I may need a little more time, but I—"
"I don't want your money," I interrupted. "I own the business, which means I decide which jobs to take and what to charge for them. My business does very well. When Karlie told me what was going on, I knew I would only charge you whatever you could afford to pay."
Amanda bit her bottom lip and tears welled up in her blue eyes. "I hate this," she whispered. "I feel so stupid. How did I let it get this bad? My Aunt Edna tried to warn me. She told me she had a bad feeling about him. But I didn't want to listen. I was in love. He didn't even hit me until we'd been married about six months. I believed him when he said it wouldn't happen again, but of course it did. I was too embarrassed to say anything at first. When I threatened to leave him a couple of years ago, he told me he'd kill me if I ever tried. Then I was too afraid. Karlie only found out last year, and I've never told my family. He only hit me in the face once and gave me a black eye. I had to tell people I fell down the stairs. After that he made sure he hit me where clothing could cover, or he wouldn't let me see anyone until I was healed. I can't believe I let this go on for almost four years. I never thought I'd be so weak." She started weeping in earnest at that point and I reached into the middle console for tissues.
"None of this is your fault, Amanda," I assured her. "There was never once when he hit you or threatened you or put you down that you did anything to deserve it. I don't have to know you to know that's true. He's spent almost four years beating you up. Don't take over for him. You survived him and walked away. If that isn't strong, then I don't know what is."
She stared at the tissue that she twisted in her hands, trying to pull herself together. I glanced over at her and was struck by a wave of painful memories. I hadn't paid much attention to how much she resembled her cousin but watching her in profile I saw the familiar nose and blue eyes that I'd spent years admiring. Amanda's hair was a lighter shade of brown and straight. She was six years younger, three inches shorter and a few pounds heavier. But it was enough to drag up feelings I hadn't explored in years.
I hadn't known Amanda in my last life because she had been dead by the time I met Stephanie. She had tried to leave Toby in June 2016, and he had killed her before killing himself. Stephanie had babysat for Amanda and her younger brother as a teenager, but they had grown apart once Stephanie went off to college. We ran into Karlie once while looking for a skip, and that was when I'd learned Amanda's story. Stephanie admitted she felt guilty for not reaching out to Amanda. People had suspected the abuse, but no one spoke up about it until it was far too late. When I had started sending out mailers to businesses in Trenton to advertise my services, I'd sent one to Karlie's address under the guise of a wrong address. Her brochure was also the only one that mentioned escaping domestic violence as part of the personal protection services. I hadn't been sure it would be enough, but Karlie had called me within a week of the brochure being sent out to ask for my help.
Amanda was quiet for most of the trip, but occasionally asked me questions about my job and what Georgia was like. She fell asleep as we went through Charlotte, North Carolina and only woke up once the steady pace of the highway was replaced with frequent stops in Atlanta.
"We'll be there in about fifteen minutes," I told her. "You should call ahead to let them know."
The friend's house was in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes on the westside of the city. It was after one in the morning and the houses were dark. While Amanda went up to the door and hugged her friend, I slipped an envelope out of my own bag and wrote a quick note across the front.
The only payment I'll accept is you building a new life for yourself.
I slid the $800 I'd been paid for the job inside one of Amanda's bags. I helped the friend's husband carry Amanda's suitcases inside and took a few minutes to go over a safety plan in case Toby should somehow find her and show up.
The clock on my phone said 4:02 when I climbed into bed next to Julio. Despite my exhaustion, I laid awake for a few minutes watching him sleep. It was hard being away from him so much. I'd thought those days were behind us. I couldn't understand why he was so determined to stay in Columbus until July but didn't let myself focus on it or I'd get too irritated to sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, light was streaming through the curtains and I was disappointed to find Julio's side of the bed was empty. I smelled coffee and heard two male voices coming from the living room. I was glad to hear Julio's voice. He sounded happy and I heard him laugh. I couldn't stand the sound of the other voice.
I headed out to the kitchen and saw Julio was sitting on the sofa talking to our newest neighbor, Kyle. Once Jenny and Mike learned they were expecting a baby, they'd started house hunting and bought a place in a new subdivision a few miles away. Kyle had moved into their old apartment at the beginning of February. Kyle was about five years younger than us and worked as a personal trainer. He and Julio liked a lot of the same things and at first, I'd been glad to know Julio had someone to hang out with now that Jenny and Mike would be busy with a baby and I was away during the week. But that feeling hadn't lasted long. I met Kyle for the first time a week after Hassan's funeral. He told me he'd thought Julio was lying about me because why would anyone married less than a year want to be away from their spouse all week. He'd then gone on to talk about being pansexual and polyamorous and not understanding the confines of monogamy and marriage. I'd kept my annoyance to myself and when I brought it up to Julio later that evening, he'd just said it was Kyle's sense of humor and told me not to let it bother me. During my second meeting with Kyle, he had asked Julio if he was sure I was really working in Trenton and not keeping a secret family up there before once again going on about how monogamy was an archaic system and polyamory was a more mature approach to relationships. After that, I'd started considering ways to make him disappear. Or at least get evicted.
"Oh wow, I forget you exist sometimes," Kyle said when he saw me. "I'm glad you still remember your address." Julio snorted, and I fought the urge to throw Kyle through the wall.
I didn't respond to his comment and poured myself a cup of coffee. The clock on the stove said it was almost noon.
"Do you want to get a workout in before we go to Mike and Jenny's?" I asked Julio. Their baby had been born a week earlier and they were desperate for company that wasn't Jenny's mother and conversation that didn't revolve around the baby.
"We already went to the gym," Julio said, indicating Kyle with a tilt of his head. "I didn't want to wake you up."
"Yeah, must be nice to sleep in late," Kyle said.
Dickhead.
I ate a yogurt with some granola standing at the counter while Julio and Kyle talked about going to a Blink-182 concert in Atlanta in August. I checked my email on my phone and found a text from Amanda.
Thank you. I'd probably be dead if you hadn't helped me. I wish you would have kept the money, but I'm grateful for it.
I joined Julio and Kyle in the living room once I finished eating, though I wasn't invited into the conversation they were having. Things had been tense between us lately, and I didn't like seeing Julio laugh with Kyle. And I really didn't like how Kyle looked at Julio. It was clear what Kyle wanted, and he wasn't trying to be subtle. Julio didn't believe it and told me I was just being paranoid.
"I thought you were going to the gym?" Kyle asked, as though I was intruding on their time together.
"I'd rather spend time with my husband," I said pointedly.
"That would be a first," Kyle said with a laugh.
That was my breaking point. "You need to leave," I said. "Now."
Kyle gave me a confused looked and raised his palms in a what did I do gesture.
"He was just joking," Julio said. "Relax."
"Goodbye, Kyle," I said, nodding my head towards the door.
Kyle put his empty coffee cup on the table, muttered to Julio that he'd text him later, and left.
"What's your problem?" Julio asked. "He was just joking."
"He wasn't just joking. He makes those comments every time he sees me. He's trying to drive a wedge between us so he can squeeze himself in there."
Julio threw his hands in the air and stood up. "Not this shit again," he said, pacing angrily across the living room. "I can't even have a friend without you thinking he wants to fuck me."
"I don't think that about Mike or Jenny."
"Well, yeah, because they're also your friends, and they're married. But apparently, I'm not allowed to have my own friends if they aren't friends with you."
He made a disgusted noise and stormed off to our bedroom. I waited a couple of minutes to see if he would return and joined him in the bedroom when he didn't. He was grabbing clothes out of the closet and heading to the bathroom.
"I'm not saying you can't be friends with Kyle," I said, following him into the bathroom when he tried to shut the door. "I'm just telling you how I see him. He makes those shitty jokes about me because he wants me out of the way. He's into you and he'd jump at the chance to be with you."
Julio stripped out of his clothes and started the shower. "He's not into me. Just because he's pansexual or whatever doesn't mean he wants to be with me."
"I see the way he looks at you. Just be careful."
Julio had been about to climb in the shower but whirled around to face me. "You think I'm going to cheat on you?" he asked angrily.
"No, I don't."
"Then why are you telling me to be careful?"
"Because if he ever got the feeling he had a chance, he would make a move and then your friendship would be awkward." Not to mention I'd beat the hell out of him if he tried anything.
He shook his head and climbed into the shower. "He won't do that. He isn't interested in me like that," he said from behind the curtain. "Besides, he knows I only want you."
I stripped and climbed into the shower behind him. "Good. Then hopefully there won't be a problem," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist as I pressed a kiss into his shoulder. I ran a hand down his abdomen and wrapped it around his cock, stroking gently.
"Not now," he said, pushing my hand away.
"Please, babe," I whispered in his ear. "I need you."
"I said no!" he snapped. "Damn."
I pulled back and reached for my shampoo bottle, nudging him slightly out of the way so I could get my hair wet.
"We haven't had sex in almost two months," I told him. "I know you've had a hard time since your grandfather died, but I miss you."
"It would help if you weren't gone all the time," he grumbled. "Maybe you'd actually be around when I wanted it."
"You used to want me anytime you could have me," I reminded him as I lathered shampoo into my hair. "We couldn't keep our hands off each other."
"Yeah, back when we were stationed in different places, or you were deployed for months at a time."
"We were still like that after I got out of the Army. We were like that until sometime last fall. We've only had sex five times since Thanksgiving."
Julio's eyes widened. "Are you fucking for real? You've counted how many times we've had sex since Thanksgiving?!"
"Yes, because before that we would have managed five times in less than two weeks. I've been telling you for a while now that I think you're depressed."
"Did you ever stop to think that's when you started spending more time in Trenton?" he asked, ignoring the second part of my statement.
"I didn't start staying in Trenton until after Christmas."
"But you were up there at least a couple of times a month since September. Did you ever stop to think that maybe I hate this?"
"I hate it too," I said. "That's why I keep asking you to come up to Trenton. I'm afraid it'll get to the point before long that I won't be able to get away every weekend to come down here."
"We agreed I'd wait until summer. I told you I want to finish out the school year with the kids I have, then train the person who will take over when school starts up again in August. I know you think your job is the most important one around, but I think mine's pretty damn important too,"he said, climbing out of the shower.
I stood under the spray for a couple of minutes debating my next move. I could try to talk to him more. I could give up the conversation and try to enjoy the weekend with him. Or I could drown myself in the shower and Kyle could have Julio without me in the way. I decided against the drowning, but also didn't have it in me to keep rehashing the issue. I finished my shower and grabbed my beard trimmer from the cabinet. I didn't like having a beard but kept it because Julio loved it. Even though I kept it short, it was a pain in the ass to maintain. Shaving every day was easier. I'd considered shaving it off before but hadn't wanted to disappoint him. I was annoyed enough now not to care and adjusted the settings on the razor.
I stayed in the bedroom and worked on my computer after I got dressed. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Julio and he probably felt the same way. He refused to see he wasn't doing well. He would put on a brave face in front of Kyle or people at work but had stopped trying so hard to hide it from me since Hassan died. He had three moods at home: angry, crying, or indifferent. He always made excuses for it, refusing to believe me when I told him he needed to get help.
Julio came into the bedroom a little after four to put laundry away. I hadn't glanced up from the system design I was studying, so it took me a minute to realize he was staring at me.
"You shaved," he said.
"I'm tired of the maintenance," I said, turning my attention back to the computer.
"No, you did it because you're pissed off at me for not wanting to have sex."
Not this again.
"It's not about sex. It's about you being unhappy. I hate seeing you like this," I said, swiveling around to face him.
"I'll be fine," he said automatically, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. "It's only been a month since Jeddi died. Give me a break."
"You were like this before he died. It's just worse now."
He bit his bottom lip and fought whatever it was he wanted to say. "We can have sex if that's what you want," he said quietly. "But I've been having trouble getting hard. I don't know if I can—," he stopped, looking anywhere but at me. "I can be on bottom, but I don't know if I'll be able to come."
Memories of our last few sexual encounters now made more sense. Julio had seemed to need longer to get an erection and twice had insisted that I be on top when he wasn't getting hard quick enough for his liking. I hadn't thought much of it at the time, chalking it up to the impending changes in my schedule and disappointment at the time we would spend apart each week.
"Babe. Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugged and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "It's embarrassing. It just makes me think about the comment Chris Ramirez made at Eduardo's house a couple of years ago about me being the woman in our relationship. I can't be with you like I want, and being on the bottom all the time just makes me feel like Chris was right."
Julio looked so young in that moment and it suddenly felt like we were in high school again. I remembered a conversation in his bedroom at Jaime's where he sat on the floor complaining about Chris and Jasmine. I'd brought a bottle of tequila I'd stolen from a store, and we were drinking it while he talked. He had complained for a solid half an hour before I distracted him by taking my clothes off.
"Never feel embarrassed to tell me something," I said. "Especially something like this. I know you don't want to hear it, but I imagine if you look up symptoms of depression, sexual dysfunction is probably on the list."
Julio groaned softly and rested his elbows on his knees, cradling his head in his hands. "I just need to stop smoking and get back to the gym more. That's why I like hanging with Kyle. I'm motivated to go to the gym because someone's waiting for me. I told him I have a hard time bulking up, so he's been building me a workout plan and made recommendations for my diet. I bet I'll start feeling better when I'm not just eating frozen pizzas and sandwiches for every meal."
"I hope that happens," I replied. I meant it, even if I had doubts.
Julio did his best to be in a better mood the rest of the weekend and I did my best to tolerate Kyle's presence on Sunday when he came over to watch hockey. It helped that he wasn't as obnoxious as he usually was. When I got called to go to a break-in at a residential account, I kissed Julio before leaving and told him I loved him. I genuinely meant the affection and the words, but I also just wanted to fuck with Kyle. A win-win.
I'd been at the break-in site for almost an hour when the Trenton office called. It was Rowan Langford, a former DEA agent who had been one of my first hires in the office. Due to the changes I'd made in this life, I wasn't encountering most of the people I'd hired in my previous life, though there were a few people I'd make an effort to get like Hal, Ella and Louis. Rowan had been a great find, and I was glad to have him on board. Tank had been making noise about wanting to stay as branch manager in Columbus. If I gave him that, Rowan would be my pick to run Trenton.
"You aren't gonna like this," he prefaced. "Mike got an alert a little while ago that someone was trying to erase footage from the internal cameras and asked who was on shift. I told him Liam was on monitors and came into the office to see what he was trying to erase. Turns out he screwed the woman from the staffing place on your desk on Friday and was trying to get rid of the evidence."
Liam was twenty-five years old and had worked as a mall security guard for two years before coming to me two months ago. I rarely hired people that young but had decided to give him a chance when I learned he was raising his younger brother after their father got arrested. I'd put him on a few jobs where a younger guy would be beneficial, but mostly he stayed at the office watching internal cameras and answering phones or greeting clients when the front desk was unoccupied. The woman in question, Cheryl, had been in her early forties with three kids who told me she was in the middle of a divorce and while she would be glad to take the job if it was offered to her, she was hoping her soon-to-be-ex-husband would be required to pay spousal support so she could continue being a stay-at-home mother.
"Tell Liam he's suspended and to be in my office at eight on Tuesday. Burn the desk."
"Got it. What about the woman?"
"I'll email the agency and tell them not to send her back. We may not have anyone tomorrow with that short of notice, but I'm willing to risk it."
I left the break-in scene two hours later once the kicked-in back door had been repaired enough to lock, the alarm components had been reset, and we had located the family dog, a Schnauzer named Oppenheimer, who had run out the open door at some point. I promised to send a patrol car past every few hours just to check on things and headed home. Kyle was gone, and Julio was making hamburgers for dinner.
"You were gone a while," he said.
"The dog got out during the robbery, so I helped look for it and then waited until the door was repaired and we got the alarm set up on it again," I said. "Got a call from Trenton while I was out. One of the guys was caught trying to erase camera footage of him having sex with the woman from the temp agency on my desk."
Julio snorted and suppressed a laugh. "On your desk? Why yours?"
"Don't know. She's old enough to be his mother. I hate to fire him because he's raising his little brother, but I can't let this slide."
"What about Mrs. Robinson?"
"I emailed the head of the staffing agency and told him not to send her back."
"Was she at least hot? I mean, if you're throwing your job away for a piece of ass, it should be pretty damn good."
I shrugged. "She's average. Not ugly, but not worth losing your job over."
I put together a salad while Julio finished the burgers and took everything we needed to the table. I raised an eyebrow when I saw he had made himself two burgers and was eating them without a bun.
"Kyle gave me the plan he made for me," he said, reaching over to grab a packet from the end of the entertainment center. "Wants me to increase my protein."
I flipped through the papers and handed them back to Julio. "You also have to eat more than you do," I told him. "You've gotten back into your bad habit of missing meals, haven't you?"
Julio rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad."
I rolled out of bed Tuesday morning in a bad mood. I'd had a windy, rainy drive back from Columbus on Monday, which slowed me down and added nearly two hours to my drive. My head was throbbing, and my neck and shoulders were still tense from driving. I wasn't looking forward to firing Liam today. I'd been young once—twice, actually— and had done plenty of stupid shit the first time around, though I hadn't crossed the line of fucking a woman old enough to be my mother on my boss's desk. I'd watched Friday's footage leading up to the event and was satisfied to see that neither party seemed to be an obvious instigator, but that it had been a mutually desired encounter between two consenting adults. That would hopefully spare me any sexual harassment suits.
I unlocked my office at seven and found a note from Rowan on it.
Sanitized three times and blessed by a priest. Best I could do.
I decided to trust Rowan's cleaning skills and sat down at the desk to get started on Liam's termination paperwork that Cristina, the Human Resources specialist, had sent. I printed off copies of the necessary paperwork and approved his final paycheck amount.
Liam's expression was grim when he came into my office at eight. He was pale and had bags under his eyes. He was carrying a blue gym bag and sat it on the floor next to him. His knee bounced nervously once he'd taken the seat across from me.
"You know why you're here," I said. He nodded. "And you know what has to happen, don't you?" Another nod. "Why? This is a good job. Why risk it?"
Liam shook his head. "I don't know. It was stupid."
"Yes, it was. And had you just owned it and told me about it rather than trying to erase the footage, we might be having a different conversation."
Liam nodded. "I'm know. I'm sorry."
"Are those your uniforms?"
"Yeah, and my ID badge."
He opened the bag and I confirmed he had turned everything in. I documented the return of company property and gave him a copy of the confirmation along with a reminder of the NDA he signed when he started working that prevented him from disclosing proprietary information including any client details. He apologized again and left the office with his shoulders sagging. I felt bad but he'd made his bed. On my desk.
I'd gotten a text from the control room while I'd been talking to Liam that a woman from the staffing agency had arrived to work. I stopped by the breakroom to grab a bottle of water and swallowed two Advil before heading to the lobby to explain what needed to be done. I was hoping for a woman old enough or ugly enough not to tempt any of the men to follow in Liam's footsteps. I opened my mouth to greet the woman, but the words died on my lips when I saw her profile and knew in that moment that everything I knew about the future in Trenton had just been turned on its head. All because one of my employees had sex on my desk.
"Stephanie Plum," I said, recovering from the shock as I made my way further into the lobby. "I wasn't expecting to find you here."
She turned to look at me, clearly surprised to see me as well. But while my expression had softened, hers turned into a glare.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked in an unmistakably disgusted tone.
Uh-oh.