A Twisted Love Story(25)
The morning ended with a perfunctory kiss at the door before they went their separate ways. This fresh new day hasn’t erased anything; it has only brought more questions:
Why would Ivy wear that dress? Why would she ever want to remind him about the Fine Line? And of that night.
Thinking about it upsets him. Visibly so, apparently, because when Tanner walks into his office, the first thing he says is “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. What’s up?”
Tanner takes the seat across from Wes. “Calvin called and wants to push the meeting back.”
“I know, Bianca messaged me about that.” It wasn’t a good sign, either. It was supposed to be a closing meeting.
“You sure you’re okay?” Tanner says.
“I’m fine. Just a little headache.”
Tanner raises his eyebrows. “Trouble with the missus?”
Yes. “No.”
“Sure, sure. Okay, I want to get the team together this evening to talk strategy. Since we’ve got some extra time, I want to make sure everything is on point. If they’re waffling, we have to pull them back in.”
Wes makes a note on his schedule. “Got it. I’ll be there.”
“Bianca’s going to set us up in a private room at White Rabbit, so there will be drinks.”
“Naturally.”
Tanner stands up, like he’s about to leave, but then he snaps his fingers. “Just to be clear, this isn’t a plus-one event,” he says. “Don’t bring Ivy.”
Wes sighs.
“Just trying to help you out. Ivy is . . .” Tanner stops. He leans over Wes’s desk, placing both hands on top of it. “Ivy isn’t good for you.”
He isn’t joking around. Tanner looks at Wes like a disappointed dad.
At least, that’s how it feels. Tanner makes Wes feel like a teenager all over again, sitting in front of his parents. Mom, a stern woman with a long list of draconian rules. The opposite of Ivy, who didn’t have any.
And Dad, always by his mother’s side, supporting her in silence. Together, they were an unyielding force. Wes could never make them understand why a party or a football game was so important, that his entire social life might collapse if he didn’t show up. Eventually, he stopped trying.
Easier to keep his mouth shut and sneak out of the house instead.
He does the same thing now. Doesn’t try to explain anything to Tanner, doesn’t try to make him understand his relationship. Wes stays quiet until Tanner leaves his office, knowing he is still going to see Ivy. Even if it means lying to his boss.
22
One of the best parts of being an assistant is that no one pays attention to you. As long as Bianca gets her work done, Tanner and the others have no interest in what she’s typing or reading, or how many times a day she looks at her phone. No one cares. That lack of interest gives her plenty of time to read the police reports.
Ivy is indeed trouble.
Now Bianca knows why the detective came to the office. The report was filed just last week: Ivy had said she was being stalked and named Wes as a potential suspect. A week ago, Bianca wouldn’t have thought that was possible, but today is different. She isn’t sure she knows Wes at all.
That never happens.
And it’s not going to happen now, either. She isn’t going to be the type who finds out her coworker is some crazy psycho/stalker/murderer and says, “He was the nicest guy. I never had a clue.”
She’s going to find that clue. If it exists.
Bianca flips through the reports, going through them a second time. The newest one is about Ivy’s stalker, someone who had been leaving her presents. The earliest one is from eight years ago, when Wes had accused Ivy of vandalizing his car. He changed his statement later—instead, blaming it on a series of crimes in the neighborhood—and the charges were dropped.
The third report was again from Ivy: She had reported her car stolen. An old Toyota 4Runner that had been parked in front of her apartment building. One morning, it was gone. Wes had also been interviewed, because they lived together.
At first, nothing in it stands out. Not until she sees the date the car was stolen.
* * *
—
Bianca swipes her key card, opening the side door of the Siphon building. The parking lot is empty. She has hit the sweet spot, after the staff has left but before the cleaning crew arrives.
Normally, she would’ve stayed until everyone was gone, but tonight she had to leave before she was alone. Two reps were still in the office, plus Tanner, and she’d had a family dinner to attend. If it had been anything else, she would have blown it off and remained in the office. But pissing off her mom was something she avoided.
Yes, the company will have a record of her card swipe. Doesn’t matter—no one ever checks. And if they do, she can say she forgot to do something, an important task that couldn’t wait. As long as nothing is missing or vandalized, no one is going to care if an assistant works late.
The sales department is actually kind of nice at night. Quiet and dark, but the windows allow enough light for her to see where she’s going. She sits down at her desk and takes out her Russian nesting dolls, opening them until reaching the master key.
Tonight, she has to look at more than just Wes’s schedule. He’s been working at Siphon for years and has a huge number of emails. God knows how many files. While she can access them through her own computer with his password, she doesn’t want that kind of record on the server. Better to be safe than sorry, especially because she has the key.