Page 86 of Bad Situation

I’ve got to be missing something. I’m not an IT guy, but I’ve always been able to work my way around a network. It’s like the longer I flip through files, the less I see. I’ve watched the security videos over and over. Whoever got into her office knew how to work the system.

I pull up the stream outside her office one more time and start the video. Cleaning crews came and went, but they didn’t go into her office. Time passes overnight and there’s no activity for hours. I fast-forward through the feed.

Wait.

I back it up and play it at a normal speed.

The frame—there’s a lapse. Like a blink. I can’t believe I even noticed it when it was on fast-forward.

It happens a little after four in the morning.

Someone turned off the cameras. I set it to slow motion and look down at the time counter on the bottom corner over the screen and, sure enough, time jumps almost four minutes.

I switch to the external cameras—those in the parking lot and doors. A camera on the side door to the building does the same thing.

I check the logins at the same time. No one can get into the building without a login code and sure enough, someone entered at four-oh-two.

Fuck.

I pull up the profile and it belongs to a Nicholas Sanders. He’s worked for the company for a year and is a junior level programmer in IT.

Of course, a computer guy. But why the hell does he have it out for Jen?

If this is really him. Besides his login being used, there’s no other physical proof. I can dust her office for prints tomorrow, but my guess is that if they knew enough to fuck with the camera feed, they knew to wear gloves and not leave breadcrumbs.

I look over where she’s lying on her side in an S and reach out for her, resting my hand on her ass.

We knew it was someone from within who was trying to frame her since they planted the documents in her electronic files, but this? This brings it to a whole other level and I’m worried Jen can’t hang in this playing field. Not by herself, that’s for sure. For now, I’m not so sure she’s safe at work. Her new detail needs to be with her all day. I’d do it myself but I’ve taken off enough time going back to Chicago to help Sarah.

I give her ass a squeeze. “Baby.”

She stretches and her eyes open. When she places a hand on mine, her eyes close again and she mumbles. “Is everything okay?”

Her hair looks like chocolate silk strewn over her white sofa and she pushes it out of her face. I give her another squeeze and a shake. “It’s late. Let’s go to bed. Looks like you’re still going to owe me.”

She turns her head and drags her eyes open. When her voice is husky and tired like this, it makes my dick swell because I know she sounds like that just for me. “My breakfast meeting cancelled.” Her lips lift on one side. “You’re just getting to know me, my badass special agent who likes to break the rules, but something you need to learn is that I’m always good on my word. There’s never been a promise I haven’t kept.”

This makes me smile and I decide to tell her what I found tomorrow, after she goes down on me—I don’t want to ruin the mood. “Can’t wait to see what it’s like for Jensen Montgomery to follow through.”

She slaps my hand but it comes with little energy and feeling behind it. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”

I shut my laptop, toss it aside, and grab her hand. When I pull her onto my lap, she falls into my chest. “Gotta say, baby. Besides the shoes in your closet, this isn’t what I thought life would be like for an executive on the Forty under Forty List. I think you’re simpler than me.”

She smiles against my neck. “I know. I’m really boring. Just wait until next month, though. I have a ton of commitments for the holidays. You think I’m tired now—just wait.”

I pull her back to look into her hazy eyes. “Shit better be normal by then.”

She leans in to kiss me. “That’s your department. Right now, I just want you and my bed.”

I pull her to me one more time, because I can’t think of a thing on earth I want more than that.

*****

Fuck.

She was right.

If this is what it’s like for Jensen Montgomery to follow through on a promise, I could get used to this. For a lifetime.

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