Page 45 of Ruthless Ambition
Chapter 11: Onyx
As I ate my dinner at the breakfast counter, I watched Angel on my laptop as she paced the parking lot waiting for whatever garage she’d called. She was furious, and when she was angry, the color in her cheeks always made her more attractive.
On my tablet, I had the last four hours of the surveillance running, waiting to see the moment the feed was interfered with and if there was anyone I didn’t immediately recognize in the feed. I owned the building, but my agency only held two of the floors, which meant there were twenty-seven floors I didn’t occupy. That was a lot of floors, but thankfully, the parking was only two levels, and I was more aware of who had parking benefits.
Glancing at the laptop, I saw Angel relax when a tow truck turned up, and then saw her speaking to the guy when he checked the SUV. Knowing it wasn’t as simple as changing the tires, I watched as she realized it too. Her shoulders dropped in defeat, and then she was emptying her car and transferring her stuff into the truck.
It was going to be a long night for Angel. Which made me smile as I ate my noodles.
The feed on my tablet flickered. Quickly, I played it back and saw it again.There. That’s where the feed was tampered with. Hitting dial on my mobile, I watched as the same shot was played and made a mental note to fire both security guards in the morning.
“Onyx, what can I do for you?” Cooper asked me when he answered the phone.
“Someone cut the feed to the parking lot today. While it was out, they slashed Angel’s tires. Need you to check it out.”
“Slashed her tires?” Cooper asked doubtfully.
With a sigh, I ate more of my dinner. “No, it wasn’t me.”
“You?” He laughed. “You wouldn’t slash tires, that’s kid stuff. Did she think it was you?”
“She did,” I admitted as I took a drink of my beer.
“Pfft, thought she would know you better by now,” he said with another chuckle. “But to be clever enough to mess with the cameras and then only take out the tires? Makes no sense. You check the car?”
I watched as the car was hooked up to the tow truck. “No, she was being . . .her. I left her to sort it.”
“I see nothing’s changed,” he said to me. “When do you want me to look?”
“Now.”
“Obviously, because I’m not doing anything else.”
I thought about it. “You answered on the first ring. You’re bored, which means you’re at home.”
“You’re full of shit, and you don’t listen.” Cooper told me. “I was at the airport earlier and I’m now heading back from the airport.”
“Which airport?”
“BNA. Cops picked up your earlier problem, spoiled our fun.”
“Pity. Have any luck on that other thing?” I asked him. He could’ve been out of state for a number of reasons, but I was fairly confident I knew why he was out of state.
“Two leads.”
“And?” I pressed.
“And nothing much more to share,” he added. “I’m already heading to your office,” he said with a sigh.
“It’s not like I don’t pay you,” I reminded him.
“Whatever. You want me to replace the guards while I’m there?”
“It’s like you can read my mind.”
“Good God, what a truly horrifying thought.” He barked out a laugh and then hung up.
Dick.
