on a mission as I exited the elevator. Alice must have seen me coming because she was out of her seat and disappeared around the corner as I opened the front door. “Alice!”
There was no way that she didn’t hear me, but that didn’t stop her. I heard a door close down the hall and knew she had just locked herself into the bathroom. I headed toward Jake’s office and burst inside to find Trevor and Maggie sitting across from him.
He spiked a brow. “You got a problem, Melt-man?”
“Yeah, I got a problem. I do not appreciate being blindsided. Did you know who we were going to see?”
“Why does it matter who it is? Aren’t you professional enough to do your fucking job?”
“Of course, I’m a professional, but I was less of one today because I was fucking blindsided. You should have said something. What if I did that shit to you, Jake?”
“Then I would have fired you.”
“Yes, well, I can’t do that, now can I?”
“What did you do?” Maggie asked as she continued to ping pong between the two of us.
“I sent him out on a local job,” Jake replied dryly.
“No, him and Alice.” I pointed over my shoulder. “And I know it is her that really set this shit up—sent me over to Randolph’s to help Ali Davidson with an issue.”
Maggie started grinning. “Oh, really?”
I growled at her. “This is not funny, Maggie.”
“Who is Ali Davidson?” Trevor asked, completely lost.
Maggie turned to him and put her hand on his wrist. “That’s the woman he danced with.”
Trevor smirked. “You mean the one that turned him down?”
“Shut up, Vaughn.”
Maggie got up and came to me. “What did she say?”
“Maggie, this was not a date; this was work.”
“Are you going to help her with something?”
“Yeah, I am.” I forced myself to calm down. “Of course, I am, but I don’t appreciate being surprised like that. You all could have warned me, and then I wouldn’t have looked like such an idiot.”
“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t look like an idiot.”
Mike spoke from behind me, near the door. “He acted like an ass.”
“Sometimes, I really fucking hate you guys,” I muttered as I put my hands on my hips and hung my head.
Maggie rubbed my arm. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
My laugh sounded strangled. “No, it was pretty bad.”
Mike jumped in. “Yeah, but he can make it up to her. We are going to need four visual cameras, eleven stainless-steel minis, and nine mini whites.”
“Jesus, how big is the kitchen?” Jake asked.
“It’s pretty big,” he answered.
“She believes one of the employees might be doing something to the food. She’s got tweleve direct employees in the kitchen, so we wanted every spot covered, plus some of the areas where other restaurant staff have access to the food.”
“When are you going to set it up?” Trevor asked.
“Friday night,” Mike replied.
“Damn, sorry, I would help, but Davina and I are heading out of town for the weekend.”
“Are you and Greg around this weekend?” I asked Maggie.
She shook her head. “No, we borrowed Mike’s cabin for the weekend.” She smiled at Mike. “We are leaving Friday right after work.”
“Okay, so that leaves Harv, Alex, and me to get it done.” Mike looked at Jake. “Unless you want to join us.”
“Nah, you guys can take care of it. I have plans.”
Mike glanced at me and shrugged. “It won’t take that long; the three of us can knock it out in a few hours.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I commented.
I turned to head out of the office, and Maggie grabbed hold of my arm. “How was she?”
“Who?” I knew who she was asking about, but I didn’t want her to know the mess my head was.
“Don’t give me that crap, Melt-man—by the way, that’s a weird nickname.” Maggie laughed.
I chuckled. “Jake gave it to me years ago. She was okay. Surprised to see me, and uncomfortable too. She did say she was sorry.”
“She did? For what?”
I scratched the side of my face. “Yeah, I’m not sure what the apology was for exactly because I spouted off about it not being a big deal and walked out.”
“Harvey! That’s wasn’t very nice.”
“No, not my finest moment. I’ll apologize to her on Friday when I see her again. At least this time, I’ll be prepared to see her.”
“Is that going to help?”
“Pft—easy peasy.”
Friday night—scratch that—very early Saturday morning, Alex and I sat down the street and waited for the last employee to leave. At twelve thirty-four, Alex’s phone pinged.