“Do you have a lady’s room on this floor?”
“Just down the hall, past Mr. H.’s office.”
Perfect.“Thanks.”
A few moments later she was standing in front of Sebastian’s door. On the off chance he actually wrote down his appointments, he might have them on a list or in a calendar on his desk. She looked to the left. To the right. Then touched the doorknob and gave it a twist. Unlocked. All she had to do was go inside...
She stared at her hand clutching the old-fashioned knob, then looked up and saw Sebastian’s scowling photo in the picture frame beside the door. That made her reconsider, only to change her mind again. She had to try to find him. The sooner they talked again, the sooner she could finish her assignment and go back to Atlanta. She wouldn’t stay long, just enough to scan his desk and then leave.
Before she talked herself out of it, Jade opened the door slowly, thankful that the doorknob wasn’t as squeaky as his old chair, and tamped down the guilt as she walked inside. “Two minutes,” she whispered. “That’s it.”
There was enough light coming through the dusty window that she didn’t have to flip on the switch, so she slipped off her noisy shoes and crept to his messy desk. Her toe hit the metal trash can, and she saw her sleek Harrington Media folder inside. He must have trashed it after she left.Jerk.Now she wasn’t feeling quite as guilty.
The piles of papers in front of her were daunting, and she carefully set her briefcase on top of two of them and started lookingfor something resembling a schedule. Nothing. She was about to grab her case and go when she saw a ledger book beside a pile.
She shouldn’t.
She couldn’t.
But a peek couldn’t hurt, right? And it was in front of her— she didn’t have to dig for it. While she had some ofThe Times’s financial info thanks to Miles, there might be something else here that could help her case.He’ll never know...
Carefully she picked up the book and started opening it, then heard a female voice coming from down the hall.
“Don’t worry, Tyler, he won’t care.”
Jade froze.
“I think he’ll notice if the computer’s gone,” he responded.
Panicked, Jade clutched the ledger, grabbed her briefcase, and ducked under the desk, shoving her legs to her chest just as the door opened and the light flipped on.
“He never uses that thing.” The woman and Tyler neared. “Besides, my PC is dying, and he’s got a perfectly good Mac here, even if it’s old.”
Jade closed her eyes as she heard movement in the room just inches away.
“Oof, the monitor is heavier than I thought.”
“I’ll carry it,” Tyler said. “You can get the keyboard.”
“Hey, while I’m thinking about it—Seb had a meeting with a woman this morning. Do you know anything about that?”
Jade tensed.
“What did she look like?”
“Red hair—”
“Oh, that’s Ms. Smith. I’ve never seen her before today.”
“Interesting,” the woman said. They were moving away from the desk. “I’ll get the door for you.”
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. This baby is getting a brand-new home, thanks to my brother being such a Luddite.”
Brother?
The light turned off and the door clicked shut. Jade waited a few seconds before scrambling out from under the desk. She rushed to the door, eager to get out of Sebastian’s office undetected, when she looked at her stockinged feet. Her shoes were right there by the door. Thank God neither Tyler nor Sebastian’s sister saw them.
