Flirting with a Girl

That was a lot harder than I expected it to be. I can’t imagine that Silas is running such a loose operation that he’d let this place stay open. Are you hiding something, Silas?

12:30 a.m.

On the way into town, I stopped at the factory outlet shops in North Bend and got myself some more clothes. I think I’ve been wearing these for days. I need to be able to look professional, and to have some comfy’s to change into sometimes.

I got some warm clothes, too. It’s been freaky in Seattle lately and I didn’t have a good jacket to keep me warm, which would be essential to my entry into The Condo. It was easy to drive in and park in the underground parking for the building. I pulled in next to a row of other cars that were covered and carefully pulled the tarp over the Mustang. For now I was taking only the essentials. I figured I’d be able to come back on the inside to get them later if I was successful out there.

I took the service elevator to the next to the top floor and got out to go to the rooftop stairs. Dag told me about how he got in to The Condo when I was being held prisoner there. I understood several rules this time that I didn’t understand then. Primary rule was don’t get caught.

I was prepared for the blast of cold wind that hit me when I emerged from the stairwell onto the rooftop. I immediately dropped to the ground on all fours. What I don’t need is to get blown off the top of this place.

I crawled over to the edge of the roof where I could see the escape stair that would lead to the penthouse garden. I had one foot on the ladder when I heard the splash below me. A man and a woman were getting out of the hot tub, stark naked. She dried him off first and gave him a robe, then slipped into a robe herself and the two slipped into the pool house opposite the patio doors where light spilled out from what was obviously a party going on inside.

Look, it was only two weeks ago that Silas arrested Brenda for running a house of prostitution and the place was still open? I wasn’t expecting that. I hung there on the ladder for a minute and decided that I was going to have to get down out of the wind at least. Maybe I would find an opportunity to get inside as the party wound down later. It was close to nine o’clock now and surely most of these people had to go to work on Monday.

I glanced in the office window as I came down the ladder and it was completely dark. I had to assume that no one was in there watching. I found a sheltered spot in the gazebo and sat staring in through the patio doors. What I saw was awesome. If I had a camera I could make a mint off the faces I could see inside. Two public officials who ran hard-fought campaigns in November, the president and CEO of a major regional bank, and what looked like the entire board of directors of a technology company I owned stock in. (The annual report came out in September and I remember looking at all their faces with some amount of envy.)

OMG! I was seeing the holiday party for the Execs! They must have some kind of special arrangements with the bank and elected officials. No wonder the condo was open to them. I only saw a couple faces missing from the photos in the annual report. Of course, they could be in a different part of The Condo, but it looked like they were getting ready for a toast, so I figured most people were probably there.

Including the girls.

It was a shock to me to see Angel’s head towering above the others. A man was practically glued to her chest next to her. A few feet away, I recognized Delta. I was cataloging the attendees in my mind when I heard a noise just to my left. I started and she gave a little scream. I held up both my hands to show them empty and harmless.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Sorry I startled you.”

“I just didn’t realize anyone was out here,” she said. “Why aren’t you inside with the others?” I recognized her voice a second before I saw her face and confirmed that I was looking at Cinnamon.

“I’m not really into all that corporate bantering,” I said calmly, even though my heart was racing about a million miles an hour.

“I know what you mean,” she answered. “I had to escape a certain octopus in there. I swear he had hands everywhere.”

“You don’t have to put up with that kind of crap,” I said firmly, reinforcing something that Cinnamon had told me when we were interviewing last month. It was always up to the girl to indicate she was interested in something more than being friendly company.

“It’s hard with a gathering like this,” she said. “They all expect something. It’s not like it was when Mr. S. was here.”

“Who’s running things now?” I asked. “I heard Mr. B. and Mr. S. both passed on.”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think Davy Jones is.”

“The security guy?”

“Yeah. You know him?”

“We’ve run into each other a couple of times,” I answered. This was valuable information. If Davy thought he was running things, I could manipulate him pretty well.

“Have you been up here before? You sort of look familiar, but I can’t place you.”

“Oh, I’ve been up a few times, but I’ve mostly been behind the glass,” I said nodding toward the office windows. They’d gotten that repaired at least. The last time I saw it there was a dead man lying in a pile of glass.

“Gee. I didn’t realize you were one of the committee. I didn’t get your name.”

“James,” I said. “You can call me Mr. J.”

“Can’t I just call you James?” she said sliding a little closer to me. Leave it to Cinnamon. If she smells power, she’s all over it. I needed a little more information without giving her too much.

“You can call me anything you like,” I said sliding an arm around her waist. Cinnamon is slim and pretty, but I swear when I put my arm around her she lost every bone in her body. She just melted against me. I’d avoided this with Angel. I didn’t have the confidence to flirt with her when I went to her office. But I was going to have to press my advantage with Cinnamon and if she discovered who I was I’d just plead that I was trying to fulfill my bet and I lost.

“I’ve been out of the country for a while doing some work for Mr. S,” I said. “Has the committee been meeting regularly?”

“I don’t think so,” Cinnamon said. “The girls certainly haven’t been called for them. It’s strictly been holiday parties. No open member nights.”

“Good. That’s the way it should be for a while,” I yawned. “Sorry. I just got in tonight from Amsterdam. It’s already six in the morning there. I intended to stay here tonight.”

“Well, we can go in if you really want to,” Cinnamon said laying a hand on my chest. Believe me I’ve tested my chest pads often enough to see if they feel natural, but I’m not in the practice of letting other people touch them.

“I don’t want to go through the party,” I said glancing at the patio doors where another toast seemed to be under way.

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said. “We can use the locker entrance—through the pool house.”

“That’s good, but I saw someone go in there a while ago. I don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“Don’t worry. They went straight to the red room. He’s headed for a massage at the hands of Cascade that will keep them both occupied for a while.”

We headed into the house through the pool house, on the other side of the hot tub from the patio doors. It was a dark passage and Cinnamon kept herself glued to my side.

“Which room do you want?” she asked.

“I think I’ll go to the office first,” I said. “I want to check some records. I’ll wait till the party is over before I retire.”

“If you like,” Cinnamon said turning toward me, “I’ll stay with you and keep you company.”

OMG! I kissed a girl! I didn’t mean to, but Cinnamon was right up against my face when she suggested that she’d stay with me and the next thing I knew she was kissing me. It wasn’t a light little kiss goodnight, either. That girl is a serious kisser.

And it wasn’t that bad, either. Not really.

I gently pushed her away and felt her hand trailing down my front. I snatched it before she could not discover what she expected to find.

“Cinnamon, baby,” I said in a very husky voice with a little tremolo in it. I’ve heard guys use that sucking air tone after five minutes of foreplay before and was surprised how easily it came under the circumstances. “Like I said, I just got in and I’m jet-lagged tonight. Let me take a rain-check would you? I’d like to get to know you a lot better.”

“Any time, James,” she whispered back. “Here’s the office door. I hope you have your code.”

There was a sixteen key security pad next to the door. I hesitated for a moment, then decided to use the one code I was most certain hadn’t been changed. E-1-8-d-2-b-3-e. The door slid open. I started to step inside then turned back and caught Cinnamon’s hand and kissed her again.

It was all for effect… really!

“Cinnamon,” I said when we broke our embrace. “I’d rather no one knew I was here until I tell them. You understand don’t you?” I caressed her cheek with the back of my fingers and she melted into the touch.

“You sure are a good kisser, Mr. J,” she said. “Anything you say.”

I slipped through the door and closed her out.

I stood inside the door for a few minutes without moving—just listening. I’d plunged forward into this room once before and been surprised with a blow to the back of the head. This time I was on full alert. But this time there was no one in the room. When my eyes had fully adjusted to the dim light, I slipped across the room and lowered the blinds across the window. I was not interested in watching the party on the deck or through the patio windows. I wanted more direct access, and I knew how to get it.

I slid behind the desk and opened the security panel. It was only the flip of a switch to activate the security camera monitors in the office.

They no more than lit up than I killed them again. There was no person in the room, but someone had added a camera since the last time I was here. I crossed the room and carefully removed the camera from the wall. It was a wireless camera that was installed by an amateur. Davy apparently felt that he should know what was going on in the head office from now on. I opened the bottom drawer and put the camera in then covered it with a throw pillow from the sofa on the other side of the room. Finally I closed it in its nice dark drawer where it would draw no attention. If he hadn’t seen the initial flicker of the security screens in the office, he wouldn’t have any idea it was off until morning.

I activated the screens again and watched the party. I examined all the rooms, including seeing Davy at his post at the elevator. The red room was indeed in use and I tried to ignore it. That seemed to be the only private party that was going on, however, and it was close to midnight when everyone packed up their bonus checks and went home. Davy handed out all the cell phones he’d collected earlier in the evening. The last to go was Angel. She looked at him with a look that would wither fruit on a tree and he clicked out the lights and joined her in the elevator. According to the security cameras, I was alone. I watched their silent screens for nearly half an hour before I finally allowed myself to relax and prepare to sleep for a few hours.