“Jane.” She immediately turned toward the office door, her senses on high alert until she realized the voice came from inside her container of cleaning supplies.
Pressing the button on the small black device, she answered back.
“Joe?”
“Jane - hold the button down the entire time you talk,” she could hear through the radio.
Oops. Well, what the hell? Like she went to Walkie-Talkie University or something…
She squeezed the button. “What do you want?”
“I want you up here. What are you doing?”
“Cleaning.”
“You’re not supposed to clean. Get your ass up here.”
“What if Ron sees me? I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Jane? It’s not a real job, Babe. He can’t fire you. I’m in 1213. Hurry up, there’re some pictures on this desk I want you to look at.”
“Let me finish cleaning this office and I’ll be right up,” she whispered.
“No.”
“I’m on a roll. It’s starting to look good. I don’t want to just leave it,” she whispered fiercely.
“Jane?” she heard before her thumb immediately clicked the side button to turn the device off. She was doing a good job. She didn’t want to leave it half done no matter what he said.
Twenty minutes later and all surfaces were dust free and probably looking better than they did before Joe’s little catastrophe. She grabbed her cleaning supplies and wandered out in the hall toward the elevators. Some offices were occupied, most were dark. Probably quitting time, she assumed as people were wandering from open offices out into the hall.
She walked past 1013, the suite she made the delivery to. The door was open, the lights were on and her feet stopped as soon as she cleared the entrance then backed up two steps before she leaned backward and peered in.
Without giving it too much thought, she walked in, right up to the receptionist’s desk and found…a brunette, not a blonde. The girl that signed for the delivery was a blonde and her name was…What was her name…? Jenny. That was it…Jenny.
“Hey!” Ah…Hi,” she stated, causing the other woman to look up from her computer.
“Hi. They already cleaned our office,” the woman stated in a friendly tone.
“Oh, great. Actually, I was looking for Jenny. She doesn’t work here anymore?” Jane asked.
The woman’s eyes widened then darted around quickly before settling on Jane’s once again.
“Were you…friends? I mean, you don’t know?” she whispered.
“Umm, well we were friendly, I guess. What don’t I know?” Jane whispered back.
The woman took another look around and leaned in. “She disappeared like a month ago. They found her body last week. It was on the news,” she stated quietly.
“What?” came out in a gasp as her hand loosened and caused the container of cleaning supplies to land on the carpet with a thud.
“I’m sorry. You obviously didn’t know. Yeah, they think it’s her ex-boyfriend. Isn’t that crazy? She was filling in for me during my maternity leave. I trained her, she was such a sweetie. It’s just so…sad,” she stated in a low voice. Jane’s stomach plummeted to the floor, every nerve ending was crackling and a chill ran down her spine as she stood rooted to the spot in front of the desk.
“Are you Ok?” the woman was asking.
“Ahh,” was the only thing she could get out of her mouth. It was more like a croak than anything.
“I’m really sorry. You look shocked. It was all over the news. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”
“Candice? I need those reports…” a disembodied voice could be heard from the top of her desk. She immediately pressed a button and spoke, but her eyes were still locked on Jane.
“Coming.”
“I have to go. I’m really sorry…” She stood and gathered a few manila folders to her chest before backing away. Jane nodded but stood still as a statue watching the other woman back away and turn toward a small hallway behind her desk.
Breathe. Maybe it was her ex-boyfriend. Maybe it had nothing to do with the delivery.
It took every ounce of willpower to get her body to bend and pick up her supplies. Jane’s feet carried her to the door and she walked woodenly toward the stairwell, thoughts swirling in her brain.
*****
“It’s about damn time. What the hell? Did you clean the entire floor?” Joe started before he must have noticed the expression on her face.
“Did you see a ghost?” he added, immediately walking up to her and carefully perusing her face.
“She’s dead,” she stated, her eyes practically looking through him.
“Who’s dead?”
“The girl that signed for the delivery.”
“What girl? What delivery?” He was tilting her chin up to his face, forcing her eyes to connect with his.
“The…girl. The girl that was working in Suite 1013. That girl. I think I killed her.”
“What are you talking about? Here. Sit.” He led her to an office chair and gave her a gentle push down before kneeling next to her.
“I walked into the Suite, I thought maybe I could find out what happened to that delivery, you know? But the girl that signed for it wasn’t there so I asked the woman where she was and she told me she disappeared about a month ago and they just found her body last week. She’s dead, Joe. She’s dead because of me. I guess it’s on the news and they’re saying it’s her ex-boyfriend, but…don’t you find that odd?”
“I don’t find that odd at all, Jane. These are seriously bad dudes. But then again, maybe it was her boyfriend – you don’t know that. Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” he stated gently.
“Yeah…maybe. Maybe not,” she mumbled absently.
“We’ll check it out tonight when we get back, Ok?”
“Ok,” she responded, not convinced.
“Great. Now…Does this guy look familiar?” He stood up and walked toward the desk grabbing a picture and placing it in front of her face.
“That’s not him,” she muttered.
*****
She was a cleaning machine.
Office after office, she concentrated on the task at hand while Joe wandered up every once in a while to shove a picture in her face to no avail. None of the faces looked familiar to her. She was doing all the cleaning while he snooped around and that was just fine with her. It had to be the middle of the night and they were now on the eighteenth floor, Ron hadn’t made another appearance, although he probably wasn’t going to be too thrilled with her when he realized that she wasn’t on the tenth floor. Hopefully someone else was down there…
“How about this guy?”
She blew out a frustrated breath as she stopped once again and regarded him with a scowl.
“What? Am I disturbing you? Geez, Jane – it’s not like a real job. You’re losing focus.”
“I can’t help it. I think I’m good at this. Look at this office. It’s like sparkling. I’m kicking ass and all you keep doing is shoving pictures at me. I could use a little help here.” She turned her attention to the picture and shook her head.
“Not him. Now, go away.” She finished wiping down the surface of the desk before placing each and every thing on the desk precisely where it was located before.
“I’m going down the hall. Turn your two-way on. I’ve been calling you…or are you just ignoring me?”
“No. I’ll turn it on,” she huffed out, reaching for the device in her container. When she straightened, he was gone, but someone else was walking in.
Ron.
Oh dear lord…
“Jane? I need to talk to you.”
Oh crap…here goes…
His expression went from stern to soft in a split second but her body was on alert.
“You’re very good, Jane. You know, Anderson is looking for people. You’d be a great fit.”
Say what?
“Umm…what?”
; “I’m just saying, they pay pretty well. I don’t know what Clean Team pays, but Anderson starts their people out at fourteen bucks an hour plus full benefits. I could give you a recommendation.”
Fourteen bucks an hour? She never made fourteen bucks an hour…
“I started with them, and now I’m the Maintenance Manager for this whole building. You think about that, Ok? I’ll leave you alone. I just wanted you to know you’re doing an excellent job. Where’s your partner?”
“My what? Oh! J..Pete. Yeah, he’s um…somewhere. Did you want to talk to him? I could call him on my radio…” Oh please don’t let Ron catch him snooping around…
“No. No, I just wanted you to know that everyone else went home. I’ll let you two finish this floor and the Guard will let you out of the building, that’s all.”
“Ok.”
“All right then, great job. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He handed her a business card. “You let me know about Anderson, Ok?” he asked as she took the card from him.
“Jane?” Joe’s voice could be heard coming from the radio.
She grabbed it and turned it off quickly with her thumb.
“Ok, I’ll ahh…let you know,” she stated as she watched him walk out into the hall.
“Yeah?” she stated into the radio as she pressed the button. “Oh,” her thumb turned the sliding switch to the on position before she tried again. “Yeah?” she repeated.
“Come to 1830.”
*****
“That’s him. Oh, you piece of shit…” she breathed out as she looked at the picture in front of her.
“What?” she could hear Joe’s voice beside her.
The picture was of the man, seated behind a very lovely woman…with three small children situated in front of them. Two kids – a boy and a girl, probably around 5 or 6 and a small toddler in between them.
“What did you say that for?”
“When I met him he was at a bar with a sixteen year-old girl he met online,” she stated as her eyes took in the faces of the three children. They were adorable and their father was scum.
“Did you read him?”
“Nope. I read her. Now, I really wish I would’ve read him…but I didn’t know at the time. I didn’t know any of this.”
He watched her eyes gaze at the picture, a look of sadness crossing her features. It was so sincere; it made his heart almost want to soften for her. Almost. She wasn’t a weed. She was…
Stop. What? What are you saying? Don’t even go there, asshole. This is business. No feelings. No emotions…
He busied himself with checking all of the desk drawers.
Locked. Every single one of them. “Can you keep a look out?” he asked as he pulled some metal pins from his pocket. She continued to stare at the picture. “Jane, yo.” He was snapping his fingers causing her to look up.
“What?”
“Keep a look out, go to the door. Say something if you see someone coming, Ok?” He was already working on a lock.
She stood up, dropping the frame on the desk before wandering to the door and leaning against the jam.
“Ron says we’re the last ones here,” she commented, watching the empty hallway.
“Mmm hmm.”
“He says he can make a recommendation for me to get a job with the cleaning crew they contract with,” she added.
“Fabulous,” he stated, clearly distracted.
“Are you even listening to me?” She glanced over her shoulder but he was concentrating on pulling folders and papers out of a drawer and thumbing through them.
“Mmm hmm.”
“I think I might call him. I like this work. I don’t have to deal with people, you know? Plus, I’m good at it. Or at least, Ron seems to think so…”
“Mmm hmm.” He definitely wasn’t listening.
“Or maybe I could contact ‘TWAT’ Magazine, see if they’d let me model my junk for them? What do you think? Should I do that?”
“Mmm…what? Shut up, Jane.”
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth before settling into a grim line. The earlier revelation about Jenny was now in the forefront of her mind since she wasn’t actually doing anything other than staring down a hall. They would get back to the hotel and…the hotel. Her Dad…oh geez, what a day this was…
Crazy.
“Bingo.”
“What? What’s Bingo?” she asked.
“His address.”
“Oh. Good. Great. Now what?”
“Now, we leave.”
“Not until I finish these offices -”
“Are you kidding? Let’s go, it’s the middle of the night -”
“I don’t want to disappoint Ron. Ron thinks I’m the shit. Help me and we can get out of here sooner.” She was already headed back toward the office she came from previously.
“You’re not getting paid, Jane! It’s not a real job!” she could hear as she walked down the hall.
“I don’t care!” she yelled back, dismissing him.
Chapter 12
She opened one eye and then the other, trying hard to focus on the deep brown eyes that were staring back at her.
He was lying next to her, on his own pillow; her hand was covered by something warm. His hand. He had laid his hand over hers and he was staring at her.
“Mornin,” she mumbled, trying not to open her mouth. He was so close – if she had morning breath he would know…
“Good morning. Sleep well?”
“Mmm hmm. What time is it?” She turned and gazed at the digital readout on the alarm clock. 10:30 am.
“Wow.” Her eyes widened. Of course, they were up half the night searching the News Archives on his computer, so it shouldn’t have been that surprising. The search for information pertaining to the temp in Suite 1013 netted a few articles about her disappearance and another after her ex-boyfriend was questioned by Police. According to the article, he maintained his innocence, but evidence was found in his trunk. Hair and a small amount of smeared blood – was it a massive coincidence? It certainly seemed so. It was just so…convenient.
“What’s the plan today?” she asked as she stretched and tried desperately not to look at his naked male torso.
“I guess I’ll take a ride out to Rochester, check out Mr. Sherman’s place.”
“Who’s Mr. Sherman?”
“Our friend from last night?”
“Oh. Sure. Ok. Do I have to go?”
“Do you want to go?” he asked.
“I guess so. Maybe we can tranquilize his dog or something…”
“Funny,” he stated with a smirk before cocking a brow. “Hungry?”
“Sure. Can I have a doughnut?”
“No.”
“Come on! I helped you out. I did! You should buy me a doughnut.”
“How about a hot fudge cream puff?”
Her eyes darted to his. “For breakfast? Are you kidding? Why would you say that?” She shot him a skeptical look.
“I told you - you talk in your sleep. Except this time, you were moaning like crazy. Apparently you really like hot fudge cream puffs.”
She wasn’t moaning because of that. Oh god…how embarrassing. Hopefully she didn’t say…
“What else did I say?”
“Nothing. Just some very…interesting sounds,” he stated casually. The tent that formed in his pajama pants told a whole different story.
She grabbed the pillow and placed it over her head. Her cheeks were positively burning.
“Jane?”
“Mmm.”
“I want to talk to you. Could you please take the pillow off your face?” she could hear through the pillow.
“Uh uh.” She shook her head as much as possible.
“Fine. I want to talk to you about your Dad.”
She did not just hear that.
“No.”
“You know, if I could I just have 5 more minutes with my dad? I’d cut off my right arm, and I wouldn’t even miss it. You have y
our dad. He cares about you. I saw it, Jane. You should talk to your parents.”
She lay motionless.
“Jane?” The pillow suddenly disappeared with a whoosh and she was looking directly at him.
“That’s sweet…and disturbingly gross. I don’t want to talk about him. Or them. Or anything. Let’s go for a run,” she stated quickly.
“What?”
“A run. Clears the head, remember? Come on.” She was attempting to sit up only to be hampered by his thickly muscled arm holding her down.
“Think about it,” he said softly, his eyes were so…mesmerizingly deep and incredibly…sexy.
“Sure,” she stated, attempting to push up. She gave up after a couple of futile attempts.
“Did they use you?” he asked pointedly.
“What? No. Why would you even ask that?”
“Yesterday you gave me shit for using you. I was just wondering -”
“It wasn’t them,” she muttered. “Could you move your arm?”
His arm stayed.
“Who used you, Jane?”
“None of your business.”
“I’m not letting you up until you tell me. It obviously bothers you.”
“It’s embarrassing,” she blurted, wishing internally she just kept her mouth shut.
“Tell me.”
“No way.”
“Hey, you saw my porn collection -” he started before she interrupted.
“And your shitty poetry.” This caused him to smile.
“…and my shitty poetry. You owe me. Come on, Jane.”
She was staring into his eyes, a feeling of absolute comfort washing over her. She relaxed into the mattress and almost blew out a breath, but luckily caught it in time.
“Jeremy Nussick.”
“And what did Jeremy Nutsack do?”
A giggle erupted from her throat. “Nussick. It’s…Nussick, you ass,” she continued as another giggle burst from her.
“Ok. What did he do?”
Her face turned serious once again. “He used me.”
“Let’s try this again, Ok, what did he do?” His stare was so hot and intense it took what little breath she had away.
This Guy Kills Me Page 30
