50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Thirty-Four

    "So...the food isn't ready yet."

    A short, Asian woman with golden brown skin creased with wrinkles, nodded while wiping her hands on her apron. "Twenty more minutes."

    Brian groaned and glanced at his watch. Leaving Destiny on her own in the office for twenty minutes? Okay. But leaving her own for damn near forty-five minutes, close to an hour? He didn't feel comfortable doing that. Holding up an index finger, he told the Thai restaurant cashier, "Hold on just a minute." He whipped out his cell phone and called Destiny's cell.

    No answer.

    Her phone is probably in her purse, locked away in her drawer or some shit.

    He called the general Graham Enterprises phone number and punched in her extension. The phone rang and rang and rang. Hurry up and pick up, so you can tell me if you want me to wait or if you want me to order something else. He hung up and called again. Raising his eyes to the short cashier, he asked, "There are other dishes that are ready now, though, right?"

    "If you want to change your order, there are other meals available, yes."

    He listened to the ringing while impatiently tapping his foot. "Dammit, why aren't you picking up?" She could be in the bathroom, or she could have caved and gotten her food from the cafeteria, he thought. If he waited for forever, he might as well just wait for the pad Thai to finish cooking. "I'm going to give her another five minutes, and then I'll try her again."

    "Can you step aside, then?" a surly, heavyset man with silver hair barked at him. "The rest of us would like to pick up our order."

    "Sure, yeah," Brian muttered, stepping out of line. He turned and walked the length of the pickup counter, peering outside of the large picture window. Cars drove back and forth, people eager to reach their destinations. From this window, he had a great view of the Graham Enterprises building. He lifted his eyes, expecting to see one lone window that was lit up. But all of the windows were dark, including the windows lining the thirty-fourth floor. That's...odd. The lights were on when I left. His brows furrowed and he tapped his cell phone against his thigh.

    "Did you call her?" the cashier called to him.

    He glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to now." He called Destiny's office phone again while peering up at the dark office windows. His heart started to hammer in his chest as he listened to the phone ring. And ring. And ring. Something isn't right. I can feel it. She knew I was picking up food for her. She wouldn't have left, not without calling me. He pulled his phone a few inches away from his ear and slowly turned his head towards the doors to the restaurant.

    The clinking sounds of silverware touching glass plates, the chatter of the patrons in the restaurant, and even the sound of the cashier shouting to him muted as he moved towards the doors and pushed his way out of them. He ran to his car, the lapels of his gray suit jacket flapping in the wind. His mind broke down the necessary actions as he reached the car: open the driver side door, jump into the car, start the car, pull the car away from the curb. He sat at the lone red light separating him from the Graham Enterprises parking garage while craning his neck and staring up at the thirty-fourth floor windows. Still dark-looking and ominous.

    Whenever you needed a light to be green is when that light decided to be red. And whenever you were in a hurry, that red light seemed to stay red for forever. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while panic started to set in. Then, glancing left and right, and behind him, he squared his jaw and pressed his foot on the gas pedal. His car lurched through the intersection, past the traffic light that was still shining candy apple red. He turned the car into the parking garage and parked in a handicap spot. It was after work hours, after all. Anyone who didn't like it could suck it.

    After turning off the engine, he burst out of the car, leaving the driver side door open. He tore across the garage and to the entrance doors of the company. He fumbled around in his pants pocket for his badge and held it up to the badge card reader. The light flashed green and the locks on the door clicked. He yanked the door open and ran inside. He didn't stop running until he reached the elevators.

    Only...

    One of the elevators was in use already. The indicator lights above the elevator doors flashed with each floor the elevator car passed.

    Breathing heavily, Brian frowned and ran a hand through his hair. Employees here worked all sorts of hours. It was possible that the person in that elevator was an authorized employee leaving for the day. Standing here waiting for those doors to open could be a complete waste of time. But all of his alerts were going off as he rewound back to when he left the building. He hadn't seen anyone as he left the building. Once he'd gotten out into the parking garage, his car was alone. There were several levels to that parking garage, though, so it was possible that other cars were parked on the levels above the level he'd parked on.

    He walked over to the elevator that was in use and stood in front of the doors, flexing his hands and stretching the kinks that had worked their way into his neck. Images of Destiny flashed behind his eyes. If something bad happened to her...I don't know what I would do. Fuck. Why the fuck did I leave? I thought I was taking care of her. Feeding her. Looking out for her, but if I were looking out for her, I wouldn't have fucking left.

    The elevator doors stood open to reveal a disheveled-looking Jeremiah Tiggs. Harmless enough. But then Brian lowered his eyes and saw Destiny's body crumpled on the floor of the elevator. His brows drew together and he felt his heart grow tight at the sight of her unconscious. The hair she'd straightened that morning almost covered the scar above her right eyebrow. Almost. Anger surged within him as he lifted blazing blue eyes to Jeremiah. "You?" was the only word he managed to get out.

    Jeremiah's maniacal grin stretched wider as he met Brian's gaze. "Me."