Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,9
want to do inventory back home.”
“I wonder if they do it the same way at Ice’s compound.”
“I wonder,” Galen said. “Because, man, this sucks. Paperwork is a pain in the ass.”
At that, Johan burst out laughing. “Well, we need to get a handle on it. Otherwise we’ll let Ice down. And we can’t do that.”
“Nope,” Galen replied. “It’s a hell of a deal between her and Bullard, isn’t it? I like traveling back and forth and switching out companies for a bit.”
“Don’t we all love that?” he said. “Don’t we all.”
They both fell to searching through the database.
“Johan, doesn’t everything look a little too clean and neat?” Galen asked after a few minutes.
“We haven’t had much time to check it over yet,” he said. “First thing I’m doing though is setting up bugs on these laptops to make sure nobody is tracking our progress through the databases.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Galen said.
“I’ve already worked my way through the internet and into the network, putting little trackers on her boss James. And Joy.”
“Interesting. Why Joy?”
“As the lowest on the totem pole, she’s the easiest to get blamed. She’s a new hire, sitting here, with access to everything. She’s pretty vulnerable.”
“Good point,” he said. “So are you sweet on her?”
“I’m not sweet on anybody,” Johan said.
“Too bad,” Galen said with a laugh. “Because, if you are sweet on her, then you should know that she’s interested.”
“And if I’m not sweet on her?”
“Well, then maybe I’ll get sweet on her,” Galen said.
Johan just stared at him.
Galen looked up, a big smile rippling across his face. “So you are interested?”
“No, I’m not,” Johan said in exasperation. “She put out a cry for help, and we’ve responded. That’s it.”
“So you haven’t noticed that she’s like five feet ten inches, maybe 125 pounds, with curves in all the best places? And that long blond hair? She dresses simply but with that classy attitude, and she’s got legs that never quit. What’s not to like?” Galen asked.
Caught off guard, Johan said, “Absolutely nothing.”
Galen laughed. “See? I figured you hadn’t missed out on seeing the important parts.”
“Doesn’t mean I’ll do anything about it though,” Johan said begrudgingly.
“If you aren’t, I am,” Galen said. “So let me know, huh?”
Chapter 3
It was almost impossible for Joy to stay focused on her work. Not just because the two men were here—due to her call to Kai—but also because everybody appeared to be looking at her. Or maybe it was her imagination. It didn’t matter because it still felt like eyes were on her all day long. She kept glancing around the room.
Finally one of the other women, Phyllis, called her out. “What is your problem today?” she asked. “You’re so antsy.”
Joy shrugged. “Just a weird feeling of being watched,” she said with a frown. “I’ve never noticed it before today.”
“It’s probably because the board members are here,” Doris said with a laugh. “That always gives me the creeps.”
“I wouldn’t know them myself,” Joy said.
“I think three of them are here today. It’s putting everybody on edge,” Phyllis said from the other side of Joy.
Joy nodded and tried to refocus. She would have to stop turning around and looking everywhere; otherwise she’d call more attention to herself, and that was the last thing she wanted.
As she went through her databases, doing inventory and bringing up lists for the purchaser to be working on, she got a phone call. She looked at her cell phone, an unusual place for her to receive calls when at work, only to see it was from Kai. Instead of answering it, Joy hit Ignore, hoping Kai would get the message.
“Was that your new boyfriend?” Phyllis asked with a laugh.
“No new boyfriend,” she murmured. “The last one was enough.”
“Well, that’s the idea,” Phyllis said. “Your last one is supposed to be enough.”
It took her a moment to get it, and she chuckled. “But that one wasn’t it. Exactly.” She shifted through the stack of paperwork on the side, looking for her next priority.
“If you ever get through all that work,” Doris said, “I have more that you can help me out with too.”
“Good enough,” Joy said. “I’ll let you know when I get to the bottom of this.”
“It’s so great being at the bottom of the totem pole,” Phyllis said. “We get all the crap work.”
Joy didn’t say anything, but it was true. Still it was a job, and she was grateful to have it. She hadn’t been in town for very long, so this was paying the rent,