“I get that you have a life. I’m glad that you have a life. It’s fantastic to learn a friend of mine is part of that life. Stellan is a good man, and I see good things for the two of you. Now that you’re seeing each other, I realize I should have thought to set you up with the guy. You’re perfect for him. And honestly, I knew the good stuff had to end eventually. A woman like you wouldn’t be able to give us twenty-four-seven forever. But you need to let us know if we need another investigator, Sixx. Even if part-time or on contract. I’ll make it clear your position is not in jeopardy. You’re allowed to have a life. We’ve enjoyed having you available to us, like, we’ve been able to utilize you for longer than we should have, frankly. But the work still has to get done, and we’re up against a wall with this one, and we’ve got nothing to go on.”
Sixx sat opposite her boss in his office, and even though he was telling her she was falling down on the job, what she heard repeated in her head was I actually should have thought to set you up with the guy, you’re perfect for him.
“How did you know about me and Stellan?” she asked, and Joel Trebek’s eyebrows went up.
“Sorry, was it a secret?” he asked back.
“No, I just haven’t shared about us in the office.”
In fact, Sixx didn’t share anything at the office, and not just because she rarely came to the office. So she definitely had not shared that.
He nodded. “Yes, but you were at Steak 44 with him last week. A mutual acquaintance saw you, spoke briefly with Stellan, he introduced you. His wife told my wife who told me.”
Of course.
Sixx got them back on track. “The trial with this guy starts Wednesday?”
Joel nodded again. “And we have nothing, but there can’t be nothing to find. You did the computer work, it’s not there. That tells me if there’s something to be had, it’s going to take fieldwork.”
“I’m on it,” she told him. “If there’s something to get, you’ll have it by Monday.”
At that, Joel shook his head. “Sixx, we’ve contracted with outside investigators before. We can pull one in on this. You knew this wasn’t a nine-to-five job when you took it, but you’ve gone above and beyond since you started with us. If you need some time—”
“I don’t need time.” She drew in a breath and did something she’d never done in her life with any “employer” (not that she had many legitimate ones before Joel): She invoked her personal life into her professional one. “I’ll speak with Stellan. He’ll understand.”
She said it, but she wasn’t sure that was true.
Stellan would give her anything, and she wouldn’t renege on the dinner the next evening with his Susan. But she was going to have to put in the work—nights and weekends—and she had a feeling with the full-court press he was doing to get her to believe, he wasn’t going to like it.
Especially weekends.
Joel gave her a close look. “You’re sure?”
“Stellan gets it, and he gets me. He’ll get this,” she replied.
Joel smiled. “Great. But if you need an assist, give me a heads-up. We’ll get it for you.”
That was not going to happen. She partnered up only rarely, and when she did there were only three people she’d do that with—Carlo, Sylvie or Tucker. Joel might be cool with contracting with Sylvie or Tucker. Carlo would scare the holy hell out of him.
“Best get on this,” she muttered, rising from her chair.
“Tell Stellan I said hello and we should get together for a drink or a meal. I’ll talk to Tammy. We’ll set something up.”
Dinner or drinks with her boss, his wife, and Sixx’s man.
How very normal.
Yikes.
Sixx nodded, lifted a hand in a wave and walked out of the office, not wondering how she’d let work slide considering she always went balls to the wall, day or night, for whatever job she was on. She didn’t have the “or night” part of that being with Stellan.
What she wondered was how she let an assignment slide so badly her boss had to chat with her about it. He was being cool, and that had to do with the fact that she was good at what she did and he knew it. However, it also could have to do with the fact she was with Stellan and they were buds.
But she’d been so focused on Stellan, nights with him, dinner with him, going to bed with him, having their weekend together, she’d blown off work. That wasn’t like her, and she needed this job.
At least until she took off.
But if she decided to go totally legit, she’d need the reference.
This is good, she told herself as she walked through the offices, making eye contact, dipping her chin or lifting it to secretaries and paralegals (or whoever they were) that she passed. Staff whose names she didn’t know and didn’t make any effort to know or remember if she learned them, unless she was working a job for the attorney they worked for.
And she thought this was good because she could fight Stellan’s all-out offensive with this, an excuse he couldn’t really counter for her to have time away from him … them.
And if he did counter it, she had ammunition to fight another way because for real, normal people in the real, normal world, it was absolutely not cool for some guy to ask his woman to put her job in jeopardy to spend time with him.
In fact, she decided as she tagged the button for the elevator, Stellan’s office was on the next block, so she’d go there now, killing two birds with one stone since she’d have to be on the job that night and thus away from him, they should have this out sooner rather than later.
But also, Susan worked for him. She’d be there. And Sixx could meet her before tomorrow night, take the edge off, show the woman what she’d be dealing with, and then tomorrow night, she’d just have to deal with the husband … and the kid.
Perfect (ish, she still had to deal with the husband … and the kid).
She rode the elevator down, left the building, and was sure to take her sunglasses out of her metallic silver envelope clutch and slide them on even though she only had to walk half a block and cross a street to get to the terrazzo-covered forecourt of the skyscraper that Stellan not only owned but also conducted his business. That business taking up two floors. The Phoenix sun was blinding on its own, but bouncing off buildings and pavements, it was killer.
When she arrived in Stellan’s building and again took off her sunglasses and tucked them away, she noted there was a security guy you had to pass unless you had a card to get through the secure, automated half-gates that led to the elevator bay.
Sixx tucked her clutch under her arm, walked right up to him, told him her name and who she wanted to see.
He’d done a top-to-toe as she walked up and did two top-to-tits over the high partition of his desk as he asked, “You got an appointment?”
“He’ll see me,” she replied.
The guard gave her a look that said he didn’t doubt it and picked up the phone.
Not two minutes later, he was reaching for a drawer, nodding, muttering, “Uh-huh, uh-huh. Right.” He hung up, slid the card he got from his drawer across the high shelf at the top of his desk toward her and said, “Use that. It’s a temporary pass. They say they’ll set you up with a permanent one up at Mr. Lange’s office.”
She wanted to snatch up the card and hold it to her chest like the boy she’d had a crush on in high school out of the blue gave her a rose after class.
Sixx did not do this.
She just took the card, lifted it up, murmured, “Thanks,” and walked to the security stanchions, slipping in the card and moving through the gates when they opened.
She thanked God for long-wearing lipstick when she hit Stellan’s floor and saw the wide, sweeping reception desk made of a gleaming wave of undulating wood that was adorned with two enormous bouquets of fresh flowers in the wide, sweeping, elegant reception area. A desk that was not being manned only by a receptionist. Instead, it was populated by a receptionist, four loitering women, and an equally loitering guy.