Malice In The Shadows by Kat Smith

Author:Kat Smith [Smith, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Payton was surprised when she walked outside and saw Bethany Colman get out of the limo and open the back door.

“Good afternoon, Director. Mitch took Ms. Garrison back to the office and didn’t want to leave you stranded.”

“Thanks, Bethany.”

When Payton slid into the limo, Bethany closed the door and tucked herself into the driver’s seat. “Where can I drive you, Director?”

“You’re probably going to hate me, but I need to go to Brooklyn. 1196 President Street.”

“Not a problem.” Bethany punched the address into the GPS. “There’s a bottle of your favorite scotch in the bar, Director. Sit back and relax, and I’ll have you there in about forty-five minutes.”

Payton eyed the scotch then glanced at her watch. “Fuck it.” She poured herself a splash and sipped on it as she checked her email.

Forty-five minutes later, Bethany opened the back door. “Director?”

“Yes.” Payton opened her eyes and sat up. “Sorry, I fell asleep.”

“It’s common, ma’am.” Bethany chuckled. “This vehicle has an excellent suspension—makes you sleep like a baby.”

“And I need some. Thank you, Bethany. I’ll try not to be too long.”

“Take your time, Director. I’m on until midnight, then Jeremy will relieve me if you need to stay longer.”

“If I’m still here at midnight, drag me out by the heels and haul my ass back to the apartment.”

“Ms. Garrison frowns upon dragging clients by the heels.” Bethany tried to bite back a smile. “Although, I’ve had a few that I’d like to drag by the heels behind the limo.”

“Duly noted. I’ll try my best not to become one of those people.” Payton looked at the four-story, late-century, red brick building as she crossed the sidewalk. Although the paint was peeling from the former occupant’s signage, she could see that it had once been the location of a data processing business. It probably has a T1 line.

No one looked up from their work when she walked in. Trish had yellow Post-It notes stuck to the top of the monitors and was compiling a master list to cross-reference with invoices back at the office. Alex was entering the coded lines in Lyle’s notebooks into a spreadsheet, and Jody was tracing the signals and identifying the clients being monitored.

Payton walked over to the monitors and saw the names and account numbers written on blue Post-It notes neatly stuck next to Trish’s yellow ones on the top edge of two dozen monitors.

Trish turned and saw Payton. “Christ Almighty, you almost gave me a heart attack. You’re like a ghost. You just appear out of the shadows.”

“If those Monster drinks you suck down haven’t given you a heart attack by now, nothing will. How’s it going?”

Trish stuck a Post-It to the next monitor in line. “Slow. Very, very slow, but we’re inching forward. I’ve checked over thirty monitors so far, and each belonged to GSC but were decommissioned when the company bought new monitors for the in-house customer service center. I called Keelyn, and she said these—the old ones—had been earmarked to be donated to several afterschool programs.

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