Fair Game Inc (2010) (20 page)

oPlease, please, please,o she chanted softly, working the lock pick slowly back and forth. She felt the tumblers give before she heard the click, sounding terribly loud in the silent office. The door to BarlowAEs office swung open. Pocketing the evidence, she stepped inside.

The tiny flashlight cast only the faintest of beams, enough to make it across the office without barking her shins on the desk or one of the chairs that seemed to rear up out of nowhere in the darkness. In BarlowAEs filing cabinet there had to be a piece of evidence damning enough to convince Grayson.

Crossing to the filing cabinet, she found it predictably locked as well. Perhaps the key was in BarlowAEs desk. But the desk was also locked. Amber studied this new dilemma.

Break into the desk or break into the filing cabinet. If the desk did hold the key to the filing cabinet, it would make her search easier. But if it didnAEt, sheAEd still have to pick the lock on the filing cabinet. That would make a total of three locks. She didnAEt think her nerves could stand it. Wrapping her hand around the thin piece of metal, she slid it into the filing cabinet lock.

The spring lock was more of a challenge, more pressure required and a smaller space in which to work. Tension mounted. What if Grayson returned and found her crouched there in the darkness raiding BarlowAEs filing cabinet. Would he believe her intentions were honorable? She doubted it. The lock resisted stubbornly. Amber debated giving up and trying the desk after all. Time crept by. Grayson might be back at any minute. She fed the pick further into the lock, worked it back and forth, putting some pressure behind the movement.

With a loud pong, the filing cabinet sprang open. Amber remembered to breathe.

Holding the penlight above the drawer, she searched for those files with the red and black labels, squinting to distinguish between colors that in the dark all looked like the same shade of gray.

The first drawer contained only ledgers from the past few years. Amber slid it softly closed and opened the next. More detailed accounts, tax returns for seven years running filled the next. No evidence of BarlowAEs plans leapt out at her. She was sure sheAEd found that letter in the first drawer, but the files seemed to have been rearranged.

Suddenly it all made sense. The key missing from GraysonAEs top drawer, where he insisted heAEd left it. BarlowAEs last minute visit to Grayson office. Whatever he was hiding, he didnAEt want Amber or his partner stumbling across them accidentally.

But Amber hadnAEt imagined the paper sheAEd found nestled in the files in BarlowAEs top drawer. An offer by a rival firm to buy out Barlow & Charles. Why hadnAEt she taken a Xerox of it then, before Grayson knew what she was up to, before sheAEd ever met John Barlow?

Because sheAEd never expected Grayson to become so important to her. Not in a million years had she planned to fall victim to the devastating charm of the man whoAEd sued her over the only mistake sheAEd ever made. The mistake she was in the process of compounding. Amber flipped furiously through the files, pulling out the ones that looked likely to be scrutinized under the fading glow of her penlight.

It has to be here, it just has to.

Crouching in the darkness, Amber bent to open the last filing drawer. Old correspondence, some of it dating back a decade, crammed in so tightly, she had to wedge the files back in after examining them. She quickened her pace, skimming over pages and pages of text, trying to stem the rising panic at the thought that she might have risked GraysonAEs trust for nothing.

Only a handful of files to search. Her heart sank. And then, she noticed the dates on these last few files were more recent than the rest. Such agonizingly slow work, she mused, trying to get her fumbling fingers to move faster. Each file had to be placed back precisely where sheAEd found it, all its pages in order, or Barlow would know what sheAEd been up to. Just to be safe, sheAEd wipe her fingerprints off the front of the filing cabinet and the door handle. Just in case. Several times she thought she heard the sound of the front door opening, but each heart-stopping incident turned out to be nothing more than her overactive imagination at work.

Two files left. And nothing. With trembling fingers, Amber opened the last. Her breath escaped in a rush.

But her search came up empty. The file was full of nothing but call reports to clients. With a leaden feeling of dread inside, Amber stuffed the file back in its place and reached to close the drawer.

Just as she was pulling her hand away, she felt something down at the bottom of the drawer, shoved in behind all the other files. No hanging folder sat on the rack for it. No, that file had been stuffed down behind the others because someone didnAEt want it to be found.

Carefully, she maneuvered it from beneath the others. Biting her lower lip, she opened the file.

oBingo!o she whispered triumphantly. oNice to know IAEm not imagining things.o In her hands lay a letter from the firm of Belaoussoff, Bekar, Karulis & Lacey confirming the proposed sale of Barlow & Charles.

The sale Grayson still didnAEt have an inkling about despite her many attempts to warn him. Anger surged inside her. You wonAEt get away with this, Barlow. I intend to see to it personally.

No time to waste. She had to get that letter on the Xerox, make a copy of it, file it deep in her purse with the invoice from James Heck and the case she was rapidly building against John Barlow. Grayson would be back shortly. Tonight, after a little romance, when the time seemed right, sheAEd have a serious talk with Grayson. No ill-conceived, impulsive speeches this time. SheAEd lay out her case carefully, succinctly. Like a lawyer. HeAEd have to believe her once he saw the evidence.

Slowly, quietly, Amber shut the filing drawer and rose to leave. The insubstantial glow of the penlight had dwindled down to practically nothing, and she turned it off to conserve its last energy. SheAEd need it to put the file back.

She should have warmed up the photocopy machine before she went into BarlowAEs office, she scolded herself. All that had happened between Grayson and herself dulled her reflexes. She should stop thinking like a lover and more like a private investigator. At least until she was out of Barlow & Charles and the entire incident was over.

Just a couple more minutes, thatAEs all I need, she prayed as she walked silently across the carpet toward the door. Her hand circled the brass knob.

But just as she was about to turn it, the door sprang open.

Dazzling light from hall beyond assaulted her senses. Amber flung an arm across her face to ease the glare on her eyes made sensitive by the darkness. She blinked, taking in the dark form of an overweight stocky man in an ill-tailored suit. Her eyes teared. But there was no mistaking the quiet menace in John BarlowAEs voice.

oCan I help you, Miss Shaw?o

Amber scoured her brain for a glib reply. There was no disguising the predicament sheAEd been caught in. Standing well into BarlowAEs territory, the damning file in her hand, her quick reflexes escaped her. There was nothing she could think of to say that would deflect the attention from the papers in her hand. No way to rush by him to the photocopy machine, which would take at least five minutes to warm up, make her copy, grab her coat out of GraysonAEs closet where sheAEd left it, and dash through the door carrying a copy of BarlowAEs private property. No way out at all.

oI--o

oYou what, Miss Shaw?o Barlow growled.

She could see him now, her eyes finally adjusted to the light. And the expression on his face wasnAEt friendly at all.

oI--o Damn it, why wouldnAEt her brain work? Why hadnAEt she thought of an alibi before she went barreling in there?

oYouAEre going to hand over my property and sit quietly while I call the police,o Barlow instructed.

oI donAEt think so,o Amber countered boldly.

oNo?o Barlow raised an eyebrow. On Grayson the expression looked charming. On his partner it appeared all the more lecherous. oThen IAEm afraid, Miss Shaw, youAEre even more foolish than I thought.o

AmberAEs mind belatedly sprang into high gear. Schemes formed, then were instantly rejected. Playing meek wasnAEt going to work on John Barlow. Trapped between him and the door, her only defense appeared to be a formidable offense.

oThought you could get away with it, didnAEt you?o she bluffed. Stall him long enough to think up something better.

oI donAEt know what youAEre talking about.o If she didnAEt know better, sheAEd think Barlow sounded bored. Did he really consider her that much of a push-over? SheAEd show him. oYouAEre the one, Miss Shaw, who broke into my office and thieved my property. I ought to ask you the same question.o

oAnd what about the property youAEre about to steal?o Amber charged ahead. No turning back now. Not with the evidence in her hands. Barlow could do what he wanted, she had no witnesses to back up her story. oDid you neglect to tell your partner you were about to sell to the firm out from under his feet? The very company heAEs been working night and day to build up, while you were out there tearing it down.o

oHow very dramatic.o

oIt will be when Grayson finds out what youAEve been up to.o

oIt isnAEt a crime to sell off oneAEs assets, Miss Shaw.o

oIt is when theyAEre not entirely yours.o

oI beg to differ. I started this firm.o

oHeAEll never agree.o AmberAEs hand tightened on the file. She couldnAEt let that paper fall into BarlowAEs clutches. Grayson would never believe her without the hard evidence to back up her claim.

oHe wonAEt have a choice.o Barlow smiled like a wolverine. oAnd you neednAEt worry about your lover, heAEll be well paid for his share, since that seems to be your concern.o

Is that what he thought? That she was worried about GraysonAEs assets for the money involved? The swine. Money obviously mattered a great deal to Barlow or he would never have forged the deal she was desperately trying to stop him from completing. oMoney isnAEt the issue here.o

oIsnAEt it, Miss Shaw? IAEd say most people have a price. WhatAEs yours?o

The worm, was he really trying to buy her off? Why didnAEt he just call the police as he threatened? Afraid the publicity would damage his carefully cultivated deal, she decided.

oMy price is beyond your budget, Mr. Barlow. ItAEs called honesty, integrity.o

To her amazement Barlow burst into laughter. oAnd this from the woman who makes her living spying on other people! The woman who got sued for her incompetence.o

oWe arenAEt talking about me.o

oOh, but we could be.o

She had to get past him, get away with that document in her possession. Taking a gamble, Amber blurted, oGrayson already knows. I told him.o She watched as the facade of BarlowAEs self assurance crumbled, then added, oHeAEs out right now, undoing your hard work.o Chew on that one, she thought viciously.

And darted to the right.

Flattening herself to the wall, she dove for the freedom of the outer office. Shocked, Barlow spun belatedly in pursuit. For an instant, she thought she was free. Never mind the coat, sheAEd hail a cab. Hopefully Grayson would return before Barlow sent the police after her. The leather strap of her purse snapped tight. Suddenly she found herself flailing backward. Knocked off balance the file flew from her grip, scattering papers in a brief whirlwind of white. As one, they dove for the precious documents.

The office door flew open. Amber looked up to find Grayson towering in the doorway. He glanced from Barlow to the mess on the floor, then back to Amber. His expression darkened, like storm clouds gathering.

oWhat the hellAEs going on in here?o

Chapter
TWELVE

Amber dove for the pile of scattered papers, Barlow in quick pursuit. Barlow was bigger, but Amber was faster. She would have made it, except that the heel of her pump slid on the slick bond paper. With an undignified tumble, she went down, scattering the papers in the file further out of recognizable order.

The sudden fall served to put her closer to her goal and she shuffled the papers, searching desperately for the one golden piece that would prove her claim.

Barlow found it first.

Amber snatched it from his hands. He yanked it back. With a horrifying sound, the paper tore. She found half the letter in her hands. The other half, the one containing the last paragraph that closed the deal and the signatures of the partners of Belaoussoff, Bekar, Karulis & Lacey, Barlow claimed. Stuffing it deep into the inside pocket of his blazer, her turned to face Grayson.

oYour private investigator,o Barlow thrust his fists against his hips in righteous indignation, ohas been rifling my personal files.o

GraysonAEs eyes widened at the accusation. He watched in obvious embarrassment as she climbed awkwardly to her feet. oAmber?o

oWhatAEs going on here,o Amber said, leaping into the conversation before Barlow could get another word out, ois that your partner has arranged to sell the firm you worked so hard to build to Belaoussoff & Bekara.o

oKarulis and Lacey?o Grayson finished. She watched the flush of his anger drain slowly from his face as he digested this new piece of information. His expression paled from disbelief to dismay. Circles seemed to etch themselves deeper beneath his eyes against the pallor brought on from nights of hard work and too little sleep. He put down his briefcase. Crossing his arms over his chest, he turned to Barlow. His posture proclaimed the confrontation to come, but to Amber he looked like a young boy whoAEd been betrayed by his best friend. oJohn, is this true?o