CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE | SIENNA
If I didn’t know I was screwed before this, well, now I knew for sure that I was a goner for sure.
I mean…out in the desert, on that bike with Ace and that coyote showing up at the right moment. It was the perfect evening.
It was almost too perfect. Like someone had planned the whole thing.
And the sex.
Was it me or was it just getting better every time we fucked?
It was like Ace was coming up with new ways to keep me hooked, weak-kneed and drooling for more. But I was being an idiot.
That wasn’t what he really wanted.
He didn’t really want to keep me hooked, right?
This was all supposed to be a contract. A situation of convenience. Once we both got what we wanted, we could shake hands and walk away like this was nothing more than a blurry thing of the past.
Then why was I here, sitting in my office the next morning, tightening my thighs together because I couldn’t stop thinking about him?
The part about the pregnancy test was something else which I should have given some serious thought to.
But selective memory had come into play. I was deliberately ignoring the fact that I’d seen two pink lines in the test window of that pee stick. Or did I? It had all happened so quickly, I couldn’t really be sure of what I’d seen. I could just have imagined it all. Maybe I hadn’t seen those two pink lines at all.
If I just didn’t think about it, then I could pretend like it never happened.
Like I never saw visual confirmation that I am actually, truly, pregnant. It was all as good as a dream.
What happens next can be dealt with tomorrow or the day after.
Not today.
Today I get to spend one more day just being myself, fantasizing about Ace and his massive cock and not worry about what I’m going to do about this baby growing inside me.
But who was I kidding? My hands were shaking.
I was staring at my computer screen with my mouth hanging open and on the empty screen I could see my deathly harrowed eyes. I didn’t know what I would do next.
Suddenly, I felt completely and utterly alone.
I could go back to work?
Yes. That’s what I would do. I would distract myself with work like I always did. The rest of the world could bloody well wait.
I tapped my nails on the keyboard…trying to soar my thoughts back to work. Think, think, think. Mr. Money. He was the one on my mind. How could I get more information on Mr. Money? Go undercover again? For good reason, I didn’t want to put on another wig today.
Or I could just…look on our system for information on him!
Why hadn’t I thought of this before?
The Gaming Commission obviously had files and records on the digital database on every casino that functioned in the state of Nevada. Usually it was nothing more than licensing information and other legal documents, but it would be the perfect place to start looking for more pertinent information. Any criminal history associated with him, or case notes from a previous investigation would have to be made available in this database.
Like if there was a connection between Mr. Money and our offices. There had to be some reason why Chief so strongly believed in the goodness of Mr. Money’s soul!
I wasn’t sure of what I would see, but I typed Mr. Money’s name into the search bar and a folder popped up immediately. I saw it sitting snugly there on the screen and I hovered the cursor over it, taking a few moments before I opened it.
I breathed in deeply and tried to steady myself.
This could be huge.
I had no idea what I might find inside that folder, but whatever it was could be indicative of a lot of things.
I tapped on the folder and immediately my screen was filled with dozens of documents, row after row of information.
Jackpot!!!
I chewed on my bottom lip in an attempt to keep myself from squealing with excitement.
I jumped off my chair with joy instead, clenching my fists. If all the information we had on Mr. Money was just legal documents and licensing information, there wouldn’t be so much of it. There had to be more information here.
I stood over my computer, my hands shaking again as I clicked on the first document. My eyes were widened and bright with excitement. I couldn’t wait to nail this bastard. But very soon, as my eyes darted over the scanned document on the screen, my smile began to droop.
No…
I was speaking aloud to myself.
I went over to another document and looked through that. Another scanned page, same situation.
What the actual fuck?
I clicked on another and it was the same result.
This folder on Mr. Money had nothing but document after document of investigative reports that had been tampered with.
There were black bars that concealed vital information, and the word “Redacted” appeared on the top of every page of every document.
I slowly sat back down on my chair, my heart thumping out of my chest. This made no sense and complete sense at the same time. Somebody had deliberately gone through this folder on Mr. Money and edited each and every document in it. Making sure that every piece of vital information was crossed out and concealed.
I had a pretty good feeling that if I went in search of the actual physical files in our office archives…these documents would be mysteriously missing.
What was I thinking?
Why did I assume that I would heroically find this information in our database, just sitting there for me to discover?
Of course someone had tampered with the information.
There were big forces at play here. Forces that I couldn’t compete with.
Whatever information and case files our offices had on Mr. Money were now gone. It was obviously an inside job, but I was itching to find out who it could be.
Desperate, I right-clicked on the main folder, scrolling down till I found the properties of the folder. That would at least tell me who the last person was to make changes to it.
My heart skipped a beat and then sank when I saw the name blinking back at me.
Last Edited by Kaplan, M
I didn’t need to go through every document in that folder to check. I knew the answer to it already, but I did it anyway.
Every file and document in that folder had been last edited by Kaplan M.
The only possible explanation of who altered and destroyed the evidence and information against Mr. Money…was the chief.
“O’Malley.”
A firm male voice startled me out of my thoughts and I lurched back in my seat. I had the reflexes to quickly minimize the window but by the time I turned to face Chief, I realized I had no idea how long he’d been standing there.
How much had he seen?
“Feeling better?” he asked, standing over me with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes drilled holes in my skull, but these days he always looked at me that way.
I had no real way of knowing if he’d seen me snooping around Mr Money’s folder or not.
“Y…yes, thanks, Chief. I’m much better now,” I replied.
He nodded, looking around my office slowly with his steely eyes. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I got the sense they were not warm fuzzy thoughts.
“Working on something new, O’Malley?” he asked.
Whether he’d seen what was on my screen or not, he knew I was suspicious of him.
I shrugged.
“Nothing new.”
He grunted a response and I thought he was going to dump a load of files on me, bury me in paperwork to keep me distracted. Instead, he swiveled on his feet and strode right out of my office without a parting word.
I had no clue what he’d seen or surmised or if he was going to take any action against me.
I realized my throat was dry. I gulped.
Running a hand through my hair, I tried to calm myself. Settle my speeding heart.
He wasn’t going to scare me that easy.
If he wanted me gone from here, if he wanted me to stop looking, he was going to have to do more than snoop around my office.
I had every intention of taking him down. I hadn’t given up on myself or my job yet.
I sat back down on my chair, thinking.
It looked like I’d have to don that wig pretty soon after all.
And maybe it would be my last time doing so.