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She rolls her eyes. “I’ll do my best to keep an eye on the suspects and narrow down the list, but don’t expect a miracle.”
I nod. “Very good. Now, if you don’t get back out there soon, Angel is going to eat you alive.”
The thief groans and begrudgingly leaves.
Despite all her back-talk and snark, I think she's just underhanded enough to meet Fuck Face Craig on his level and win. I’ll just need to keep her on a short leash in the meantime. The feisty ones always have quite the bark.
CHAPTER 5
Sloane
“Sloane, that mail better be organized and ready to go in ten minutes or so help me,” a grating, no-nonsense voice growls.
I grit my teeth to keep myself from whirling around and screaming at Angel. The office manager seems to have taken a particular interest in making my life as difficult as possible. She’s always on my ass about one thing or another, and nothing I ever do is good enough for her.
Now, am I a good assistant? No. Partly just to spite Tarek, but also because I’ve never done anything like this before. Or worked with a lot of people before, and I definitely never had to answer to anybody.
But she’s got a lot of damn nerve pointing it out all the time instead of just passive-aggressively rolling her eyes to the rest of the office. It's what civilized people do.
“Sloane.”
I sigh and turn around to face Angel. The pixie woman would almost look delicate, with her wings and bright, shimmering hair, if it weren’t for her face which always seems to be pinched in frustration.
“I should be done shortly,” I tell her, doing my best to keep my voice as neutral as possible as I place another piece of outgoing mail in the postage meter and press the button.
Angel narrows her eyes at me like she doesn’t quite believe me. “Good. Then when you’re done in the mailroom, I’ve left five documents on your desk that I need you to make copies of for everyone in the meeting tomorrow. Then you need to put each into folders and label all the documents with the color-coding system, which I hope you remember. Have it done before lunch.”
And then she strides off to torment another poor soul.
I really need to find a way out of this. No solid plan to escape and get away without having to be on the run for the rest of my life has come up yet. So for now, I play the part of the spy as demanded by my bossy orc blackmailer.
“Angel still bogging you down?”
I turn to see a woman about my age coming up to me with a bright smile and short auburn hair. Amber, I think her name is. Her cubicle is next to mine.
“Yeah,” I tell her. “I’m still trying to figure out the mail system here. Everyone’s box just has their title, not their name, and I haven’t learned who everyone is yet.”
She laughs. “I’ve been petitioning for a year now to get that changed. Here, I’ll help you out. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be on Angel’s watch list. She’s not going to give anyone the benefit of it being their first day.”
“Is she always that insufferable?”
She smiles. “I hear she’s entirely tolerable after she’s bathed in the blood of her enemies.”
A sharp unexpected laugh bubbles out of me, and I clap a hand over my mouth. Amber grins. “Come on, I’ll help you match names to titles.”
As we work, Amber chats me up and gives me advice. “Once you figure out what Angel expects, do it before she even asks. It won’t make her any nicer, but it will make your life easier.”
I laugh and try to remember the last time I held a conversation with anyone I wasn’t selling to or stealing from.
With Amber’s help, I finish sorting both the internal and external mail faster than I ever could have on my own.
She grins at me. “You should come have lunch with us in the break room once you’re free.”
At first, I want to refuse. I’d much rather eat in silence in my cubicle. But it would also be a good chance to try and meet the suspects on Tarek’s list. So I give her a smile. “Sure, I’ll be there.”
Thirty minutes later, I’ve finally finished all of Angel’s stupid tasks so I head over to the break room. I don’t see Amber anywhere. Now I’m stuck wondering where to sit. I feel like the new girl at school trying to decide which table I’ll be welcomed or shunned at.
I skulk around the room like I’m breaking into a house in the cover of the night. Hopefully, no one notices how weird I am.
