The Mogul And The Muscle

“What are you looking for?”

“Trying to find the reason they did this.”

“The police said they were probably looking for something.”

He put his hand inside a file cabinet drawer and felt around. “That’s one possibility.”

“What’s the possibility you’re looking for?”

“I’ll tell you when I find it.”

I glanced at Brandy. She stood leaning against her desk, her arms crossed.

“You should go home.”

“I’m fine. I can stay.”

“Really. The only thing I need you to do is touch base with Everly to see how things are going in Seattle. You can do that from home.”

“But you have a meeting with Derek Price and the PR team, not to mention—”

“Brandy. Do I have to fire you?”

She tilted her head and gave me a wry look.

“You’re fired until morning,” I said. “Go home. Hug your son. Make out with your husband.”

“You know, one of these days you’re going to fire me for real and I won’t know the difference,” she said with a grin.

“Not going to happen.” I narrowed me eyes. “Unless you’re really the mastermind behind everything and you’re out to destroy me.”

“You see right through me, Whitbury.” She grabbed her purse. “I’ll touch base with you tonight or first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Brandy.”

She gathered the rest of her things and left.

I leaned against the doorway to my office, my arms crossed. Jude was still searching.

He pulled his hand out of one of my desk drawers and put his finger to his lips, then came out to his desk. He stretched out his hand, revealing a tiny device sitting in his palm. It was smaller than a dime with a one-inch wire sticking out.

He turned the device over and popped off the backing, then took out the disc-shaped three-volt battery.

“This is what I was looking for,” he said, picking up the device between his thumb and forefinger.

“Is that a bug?”

“Yep.” He eyed it carefully, turning it so he could see both sides.

“And you took the battery off so they can’t hear us now.”

“Exactly. Unless there are more, but I’ve checked everywhere. I didn’t find any camera lenses, either, but we’ll want to get a team in here to search the floor. I know a guy who can handle that kind of sweep and get it done fast.”

“Good, let’s schedule it.”

Jude narrowed his eyes, still inspecting the bug.

“What?” I asked.

“This is sophisticated. It fooled my radiofrequency detector.”

“Should I even ask why you carry a radiofrequency detector with you?”

He put the bug down. “Old habit.”

A voice behind me nearly made me jump. “Cameron, what’s going on in here?”

I closed my eyes for a second. Noelle Olson. My day just kept getting better and better.

“Someone broke into my office,” I said, turning to face her. “Police have been here. We don’t know who did it yet.”

“This is getting out of control,” she said. Her hair was in that bun she always wore, her pantsuit well-tailored and practical.

“I couldn’t agree more. Just when I thought my biggest issue was predatory journalism.”

She pinched her lips together in a thin line. “That reporter took my comments completely out of context.”

“I’m sure she did.” I was inches away from telling Noelle exactly what I thought of her. But Jude put a calming hand on my shoulder, and I bit back my rant. “We’re taking every precaution to ensure the office is safe. If you’d like to speak with the head of security or the police who are investigating, you’re more than welcome.”

Her eyes flicked up and down, her judgmental gaze scathing. “I’ll be working from home.”

I nodded once and she walked down the hall to her office.

“All I need now is for Bobby the douchebag to show up and my day will be complete,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m surprised he’s not blowing up my phone with texts already.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, it seems like every time I’m dealing with one of these incidents, Bobby either starts texting me or shows up. It’s like the universe keeps trying to add insult to injury when I’ve already had one hell of a day.”