When I was through, Ryker was occupied with more non-uniformed detectives who’d arrived. Since no one else seemed to want or need me for anything, I headed back to Parker’s office. The boxes of files still left to catalogue stared accusingly at me.
“Not tonight, fellas,” I said to them. “I’ll just have to come in early tomorrow.” Joy. I glanced at my watch. It was almost one o’clock. So early would be…in only a few hours. I sighed.
Crouching down on the floor, I started picking up my stacks. No way could I leave Parker’s office like this and I was too tired to finish scanning the ones I’d already sorted.
“Don’t worry about those tonight,” Parker said. I turned to see him striding through the door. “It can wait.”
“I was just picking these up,” I said, reaching for another pile. “I’ll finish in the morning.”
“Leave it.”
The order was curt and I knew that tone. Without another word, I set aside the pile and got to my feet. I grabbed my purse and scarf from the couch.
“I’ll just see you in the morning then.” I turned to go.
“Wait. It’s late. I’ll drive you home.”
He was grabbing his suit jacket and shrugging it on, so he missed my jaw hitting the floor.
Parker had never driven me home. Ever. It didn’t matter how late we worked. I’d grab a cab if I was too tired to wait for the bus.
“Um, okay. Thanks,” I said once I’d recovered from my surprise.
By now, building security had called in more people and I saw the head of security talking with Ryker on our way out. I wondered if the person who’d shot Hinton had worked for KLP. The security for a company like this was heavy duty. It couldn’t have been easy for someone to break in.
Ryker glanced at Parker and me as we walked by toward the elevators. He didn’t smile and I decided I really didn’t like Parker and Ryker in the same room together. Unnerved, I looked away as the elevator dinged and Parker’s hand pressed lightly on my lower back to guide me inside.
I was slightly uncomfortable as we walked through the parking garage to Parker’s BMW. This was a new situation for me, which made me nervous, so I started babbling.
“What an awful thing, right?” I asked rhetorically. My heels clacking on the concrete sounded really loud in the nearly deserted garage. “I guess they’ll be watching the security footage and checking the card scans. Wouldn’t it be awful if it was an employee? Did he fire anyone lately? Maybe it was an angry customer, though I don’t know how they would’ve gotten in the building at that hour. I’ve had issues getting inside during off hours and I work here. I wonder if he was married—”
“He wasn’t.”
Parker’s interruption cut off my nervous chatter and I waited while he opened the passenger door for me.
Parker owned a high-end BMW that wasn’t quite a year old. It was shiny, metallic black with a black leather interior, fully loaded with all the fun options, and had cost well into six figures. And the reason I knew all this was because I’d been the one to pay the invoice from Parker’s bank account.
Most of his bills were set to auto-pay, but the rest I handled for him. A personal accountant would probably do the same thing, but it had been a duty that had begun gradually soon after I’d started and now was just something I did as part of my job.
So I was the only one who knew exactly how much his rent was, how much he spent on the suits that fit him so well, and when he was on the ins or outs with his current arm candy—depending on whether he was spending money at the florist…or the jeweler. The latter didn’t happen very often because, frankly, none of the women Parker dated seemed to last very long. He worked so much, I assumed it precluded any kind of serious relationship.
Not that I was complaining.
I slid into the front passenger seat and Parker shut the door. I took a deep whiff while he rounded the car. Leather and expensive cologne. The stuff fantasies were made of.
Parker slid behind the wheel after depositing his briefcase and jacket in the backseat. The engine came to life with a gentle purr and soon we were exiting the garage.
“You should turn left up there,” I said.
“I know,” Parker replied, glancing at me, then back to the