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“I’ll be right there. Are you coming?”
“If you’d like, sir.”
“I would.”
Having her opinion in the moment might be nice. Clary was observant. She often noticed things I didn’t.
I met her in the hall, and together, we hurried to the surveillance room on the third floor.
My nerves frayed at the seams. After a steadying glance from my assistant, I buttoned my jacket and entered.
Several security guards stood in response. Ethan’s bald head shone beneath the dim light.
He shook Clary’s hand first and then mine before pointing to the top left screen on his surveillance layout where at least a dozen screens were clustered, each displaying a different area of the building.
“We thought you should see this,” Ethan said. His voice was thrumming and deep. “Remember that theft that was reported?”
Suspicion made way for certainty. My nerves settled just enough. Having an idea of what this entailed helped to calm me.
My attention zeroed in on the screen. “You caught someone on camera?”
“The printer, ink cartridges, and tablets that went missing? The culprit struck again. This was captured on Christmas Eve.”
A brunette woman in a jumpsuit peered over hershoulder before shuffling past a desk and stuffing something into her purse. I couldn’t tell exactly where she was—it looked to be in someone’s office, judging by the small quarters and personal computer screen on the desk.
I leaned in for a better look. Disbelief wracked me.
I’d seen that purse during a too-long stint in an elevator. It was dark purple with roped handles and several buckles.
It looked just like?—
“Who is this?” I asked, crouching closer. “Can you zoom in?”
“We’re trying, sir,” Ethan said. “It looks like someone on the custodial staff. See the uniform she’s wearing?”
“Custodial?”
I’d suspected as much, which was why I’d sent the notification to Stina Malus a few days ago. That wasn’t what bothered me, though.
With that one word, the confusion, the intrigue of Ella Embers began to wither away in place of clarity. Clarity I didn’t want to accept.
It couldn’t be. Not her.
“What would you like to do?” Ethan asked.
I paced away on an exhale and rubbed the frustration from my forehead. I’d been worried about repercussions from The Pact because for the first time, they were a reality.
I was falling in love with Ella Embers. I was falling in love with a woman who was possibly the culprit behind the thefts that had taken place in my building?
This didn’t equate with the womanI knew. She ran a charity organization for children. She was my best friend’s wife’s cousin…
Whom Gabby hadn’t known for very long.
I couldn’t let emotion cloud my judgment. Not when decisions needed to be made. But I couldn’t believe this of her.
She wouldn’t stoop this low, would she?
“Did you find the missing supplies?” I asked.
