Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,46

by people.”

“Most of the time doesn’t mean all the time.” And, with that, he led the way down the hallway to another section of the building that Johan had yet to be in.

When he opened the first door, he said, “This is where we used to store a bunch of stuff for the one company. But it’s all empty, as you can see.”

Johan stepped inside, took a look, and, indeed, the room was empty.

They went down that side for another couple of doorways. All empty. Johan wondered why the foreman was showing him where everything was empty, instead of where the stuff was stashed. But that changed soon.

But then they entered another section, and he said, “In this huge room here, that wall opens up and joins to the warehouse, so it’s easy to access when we have to move stuff in and out of here.” And, indeed, there were a lot of boxes and crates.

“What is all this stuff?”

“None of my business,” the foreman snapped. He spat onto the floor. “And, if you’re smart, you’ll remember that. Because it’s none of your business either.”

Chapter 10

By the time the two women stepped out of the nearby grocery store, they were carrying bags of groceries, laughing, and enjoying themselves. Joy couldn’t recall having so much fun in quite a long while.

“If you moved to the outskirts of town,” Kai said impulsively, “you could be even closer to us.”

“Possibly,” she said. “I don’t have anything in Houston to keep me here in this apartment, but the thought of another move—ugh.”

“We could help though.”

Joy looked at her friend and smiled. “Are you volunteering Tyson without even asking him?”

“Absolutely,” she said with a big grin. “Anything that makes me happy, he’s all up for. And to have you closer would definitely make me happy.”

Joy was touched. “It is nice to see you,” she said. “I hadn’t realized how lonely I was starting to feel.”

“And that’s just as much about your work situation as anything,” Kai said. “There’s nothing like finding out something nasty is brewing under your nose and how you’re caught in the middle of it, all making you feel isolated. Hopefully now that we’re here and involved, you don’t feel quite the same.”

“No,” she said, “I definitely don’t. And to have Johan and Galen in the office all the time, well, that’s a help too.”

“Have you made any friends at work?”

She shook her head. “Not really. The two women I work with in the same room are both odd ducks, and nothing really connects us. Nothing even connects those two, and they’ve both worked there longer than I have. But, for sure, there’s no click between me and either of them, not even a natural friendship. We’re coworkers, and that’s it.”

Kai nodded. “Sometimes it’s better that way, but, if you could meet other people in other departments, it would not impact your day-to-day life so much.”

“I thought about working at it a little harder,” she said, “but first I was focused on making a success of the job so I could pay the rent. And since this all started, I’ve been so worried about what I’d stepped into. Now, just so much is going on that I’m not sure I want to know anybody else. Apparently I’m in danger, and that could mean anybody around me is in danger too,” she said, looking pointedly at Kai.

“Well, it’s not like Tyson and I would step out of the way of danger,” Kai said comfortably. “This is who we are.”

“But it’s him who does this kind of work.”

“Yes,” Kai said, “but I’ve helped train these men too. Some of the new equipment that we have created is now out with Levi’s group, who puts it to the heavy test, and then we make modifications before it goes commercial.”

“And does that work out for you?”

“It works out really well. Nothing like having twenty tough men and women to try out and to break in your prototypes so you can improve them. If they can survive Levi’s group, I suspect they’ll survive World War III.”

“Something I hope we never have to go through,” Joy whispered. Back at her apartment, as they walked up the stairs, she said, “You don’t realize how much the groceries weigh until you make it home.”

“We bought a little more than we expected, I think,” Kai said. “And we meant it about going out for dinner or even ordering in.”

“Doesn’t matter if you did or not,” Joy said. “We bought steaks for