Page 88 of While She Sleeps

ORION

“You chained her to your bed?” Killian growls.

I smirk at his anger. Seems the big bad second in charge is capable of caring for someone. “She’s a flight risk.” I shrug.

“That’s fucked, man. Like, really fucked up.”

I don’t disagree with him because he’s right. Ember makes me lose my fucking mind, and this is just the most recent example of that.

“Let’s get this over with so I can get home and unchain her.”

He shakes his head but shoves his car door open without telling me how fucked up I am again.

I slip my mask into place before following his lead. As much as I want to take a step back from my usual work for a few days to be with Ember, to get her settled, and make sure she’s safe and happy, it hasn’t worked out that way.

I prowl into the warehouse the drugs have been disappearing from. It’s the first day we’ve been able to get all our workers who have access to this place here at the same time, and we will be getting to the bottom of who thinks they can steal from me.

We have our suspicions about who it could be, but I won’t jump the gun until we’re absolutely certain. Keeping our people loyal has always been a priority, and going into this meeting half-cocked will only push people to doubt us and our abilities, and they’ll be more likely to turn on us.

I still can’t get that note Lucas wrote out of my head. I have no doubt that he knows Orion Henderson and the Hunter are one and the same, but while Killian works on tracking him down, we have to continue with business as usual.

He leads the way into the warehouse, where we find our workers waiting for us. This was posed as a mandatory staff meeting, because yes, even criminal enterprises need one of those from time to time. We intentionally arrived late, giving me a chance to watch them through the cameras to see if anyone started getting antsy.

They’re all sitting on foldout chairs in the corner of the warehouse. The no phones rule means there’s nothing to distract them while they wait for us and has left a few people looking even more suspicious.

I nod to Killian, telling him without words to remain behind the group, giving him the vantage point he’ll need if they’re stupid enough to run.

“Someone’s been stealing from me,” I say, my voice even and confident as I look around at the people in front of me. “Boxes of oxy have disappeared, and we need to get to the bottom of it today before anyone here can leave.”

“How do you know it’s one of us?” Joey asks. The guy has been with us for a year since he ran away from his abusive parents at just seventeen. He’s not someone we believe is involved, but again, we can’t rule anyone out until we’re one hundred percent sure of who the culprit is.

“Because the people in this room are the only people who have access to this warehouse. We have cameras surroundingthe place and have studied the footage to ensure it hasn’t been doctored. Therefore, it has to be someone who regularly comes here.”

“We believe it has likely been stolen in small batches, enough that anyone here could walk out the door without raising any suspicions from us or your fellow employees,” Killian says from the back, and I don’t miss the sob from one of the women in the back row, terror written all over her features. We’ve already ruled out Julia as being involved. She hasn’t been here anytime we’ve been able to tell the drugs have gone missing, and there have been no changes to her financial position, nor anyone in her immediate family.

“Now, we would like to get this sorted without anyone getting hurt, but for that to be possible, we need to ascertain if anyone here knows anything about any of their fellow employees stealing from us,” I say, crossing my arms across my chest.

“So you want us to snitch?” Graham snaps from right in front of me. The old man has been working for us for years, and he’s on our suspect list. Seems he’s taken a liking to poker despite being shit at it, giving him the motivation to steal from us.

“Yes.” I nod. “Anyone who provides us with any information that leads to the apprehension of the responsible party will receive a ten-thousand-dollar bonus for their help, as well as a paid two-week vacation.”

Everyone in this room is a criminal, even if they don’t want to admit it. Sure, there are people here who work for us out of desperation more than anything else, but that doesn’t make what they do for us any less illegal, and that means money talks.

Silence greets me, and I take a moment to cast my eyes over every single person in the room, assessing their body language and their ability to hold my gaze.

“We will be interviewing each of you separately to give you a chance to give information without your fellow employees everknowing. We understand there is a sense of camaraderie here that we’ve always encouraged, but right now we need your help to remove this threat to our business, remembering that if this ship sinks, everyone here is out of work,” Killian explains.

“Like a few kilos of oxy is going to make a difference,” Graham grumbles. I’d put money on this motherfucker being involved.

“You’re right,” I agree. “But if we allow our own employees to steal from us, it’s only a matter of time before our enemies think they can as well, and that’s where things get bloody.”

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Killian claps and starts toward his office in the back corner. “Graham, you’re up first.”

Killian and I settle on one side of his desk while Graham takes the chair across from us. The small room is barely big enough to hold the desk and a filing cabinet, let alone three men, which makes it the perfect place to hold these interviews.

No place to hide. No way to hide their tells. And an easy kill when the time comes because there’s no place for them to run.

We stare at one another for long minutes, no one saying a word as we work to unnerve Graham. Beads of sweat gather along his hairline and trickle down the side of his face. In fairness, it is hot in here, but I doubt that’s why he’s sweating.

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