Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,28

over this weekend,” Johan replied. They had a full weekend planned, so tonight’s dinner would be a little bit of a break before they got downright serious.

“Do we have anything to give them?”

“Lots of suppositions and problems,” he said. “There is definitely an issue at the company. What I can’t figure out is how far back it goes.”

“I hear you.”

Galen pulled in behind her in the front of the apartment building, as she hopped out of her car. She walked around to them. “I’ll just get changed.”

“Good,” Johan said. “I’ll come up with you.”

She frowned at him. “You don’t have to.”

“Doesn’t matter if I have to or not,” he said gently. “I’m coming.”

She rolled her eyes at him and looked at Galen. “Are you staying here?”

“I am,” he said with a grin. “So don’t be long, you two.”

She gave him a startled look, then glanced hesitantly at Johan and bolted to the front door of her building. Johan just looked at his partner and sighed. “You got to make it more difficult for me?”

“It’s always better to have something you need to fight for,” Galen said.

“Bullshit,” Johan said in response.

Galen just laughed at him.

Johan quickly picked up the pace and followed behind her. She held the front door open for him, and he slipped into the hallway with her.

“What is Galen laughing at?” she asked hesitantly.

“Just a joke he made.”

“About me?”

“You’re a beautiful woman,” Johan said. “We’re both single guys. I’m sure your mind has no trouble connecting the dots.”

She didn’t look like she knew if she should be pleased or insulted over that. She just shrugged, and he appreciated her leaving it alone. She stepped into the elevator, and he followed.

“You’re on the third floor, correct?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Seconds later the elevator door closed, and it moved upward.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Two months roughly,” she said. “I stayed with some friends for a bit and then a hotel. Afterward I grabbed this apartment.”

He nodded. “How’s the security?”

“It’s only okay,” she said. “Nothing high-end about this place. I’m also on a month-to-month, so there’s really no incentive for the landlord or the owners to increase the security. Or improve anything else, for that matter.”

“Understood,” he said.

As they walked down the hallway, she pulled out her key, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. He followed. It was small, maybe eight hundred square feet. A one-bedroom apartment where the kitchen, dining room, and living room were together, with the bedroom off to the side and the bathroom opposite.

“Like I said, nothing fancy.” She tossed down her purse. “Excuse me.” She walked into the bathroom first and then through to her bedroom.

Immediately he crossed the living room and pulled back the drapes to look outside, finding a small Juliet balcony. So he opened the glass doors and stepped out onto it. He could access the neighbors’ balconies from hers, but it would take a bit of finagling to make it happen. He looked up to see a fourth-floor balcony directly above him. And another one down below. Pretty standard. An unassuming, nonthreatening, but easily accessed apartment. None of it made him feel any better. He stepped back inside, locked the glass doors, and closed the curtains again.

Joy came out, wearing leggings and a long lightweight tunic. He looked at her approvingly. “Kai said not to dress up,” she said with a frown.

“Good,” he said.

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“Haven’t a clue,” he said. “Does it matter?”

She shrugged. “No. Yet I don’t want to be overdressed or underdressed.”

“How about you just go as you are and forget the status quo?” he said.

“Well, that’s what I’m trying to do,” she said, laughing. She walked back over, picked up her purse, and said, “You ready?”

“I am,” he said, and he walked out, watching as she locked the door. “Let’s take the stairs.”

“Fine,” she said. “But why?”

“I want to see if there’s any security or cameras here,” he said. “There aren’t any on your floor, and I didn’t see anything in the elevator.”

“I didn’t even look,” she confessed.

He’d come to expect that sort of thing. “You don’t until a predator is around,” he said. “Then it’s too late to wish you’d changed things.”

“Well, changing things here won’t be easy,” she said. “If somebody comes in, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.”

“Hence our concern,” he said cheerfully, as they walked down the stairs.

And, indeed, no security cameras of any kind were in the stairwell either. As they walked outside, they headed back to Galen,