Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 4

Ch. 5: Max

"Whoa, slow down. You almost knocked me over."

It's Steve, the IT guy. He relaxes his grip and lets go of me once he realizes I'm steady on my feet.

"How did you get here so quickly?" I ask him.

He frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I heard you walking this way from the other side of the file room."

He looks puzzled. "That wasn't me. I just got off the elevator because I wanted to check on some antivirus software I've been running, then I headed this way because I thought I heard someone call out, but I couldn't make out what they said."

"That was me. I heard someone walking behind me and got a little creeped out when I called hello and they didn't answer."

"Hmm. I thought the office was empty. Let's go check it out."

I follow Steve back through the file room and the kitchen and break room, turning on lights as we go.

"You were working here in the dark?" he asks me.

"Well, my office light was on, but I guess I lost track of time. When I came out to leave my hallway was dark, and so was the rest of the office."

"That's odd. Typically everyone leaves the lights on since the cleaning crew will be coming. And then they shut everything off for the night when they're done."

We do a whole circle of the office, including the hallway to my own office. My door is shut, and everything looks exactly how I left it.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here," Steve says. "Are you sure you heard someone?"

"I think so." I shake my head. "Maybe someone was here and they left while we were colliding in the hallway."

"Maybe," he says. "But if that's the case, we should have heard the elevator chime."

He's right. But I need to downplay this a little bit so he doesn't think I'm a nut case, imagining things that aren't there. Or so easily frightened by an empty office in the evening.

"Do we have any exercise-obsessed lawyers in the firm who enjoy taking the stairs?"

He laughs. "Not that I know of. And particularly not considering just how high up we are from street level."

"Yeah," I agree. "I guess nobody's walking up and down all those flights of stairs to the 50th floor." I shrug. "Well, maybe I imagined it. Or maybe we just didn't hear the elevator." I'm putting on a good front but I think Steve can tell I'm a little shaken.

"If you want to come over to my office for a minute while I check the software I'll be done and I can walk you out to your car."

"Sure," I say. The last thing I want to do now is walk out to the mostly deserted parking garage alone. I know someone was in the office. Someone who didn't answer when I called out.

And I have no idea where that person is now.

* * *

By the time I get home, my grandparents have already retired for the evening, which is definitely a good thing. After everything that's happened today, I'm really not in the mood to pretend nothing's wrong. And I also don't want to spoil my grandfather's evening by telling him what Dylan attempted to do.

I'm hoping I can convince Jenny in the morning to come with me to meet with my grandfather, and explain how Dylan manipulated her. Once Andrew finds out that Dylan not only tried to sabotage his reputation but also took advantage of Jenny this way, surely he'll make the decision to fire him. It can't happen soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.