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“What did I miss?” Sam asked, surveying the group with her gaze as she hung her purse over the arm of one of the chairs and tossed a take-out bag on the table in front of Logan. If anyone noticed that Sam now delivered his lunch to him more days than not, they didn’t comment on it.
Jennie spoke up first. “Andrew was just telling us how he was going to kill Logan with a staple gun and plastic wrap. I’m not convinced it will work,” she said with a grin.
“Oh!” Sam sat up straight and grinned at Logan. “I figured out how I’d kill you.”
Logan groaned but returned her smile. “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to regret letting this game continue?”
“Let’s hear it, Sam. How are you going to take the big guy down?” Sara asked.
“I’m not,” she said, as though she’d just announced something brilliant. “I’d make him do it.”
There was a collective stilling of everyone at the table, and Logan felt a creep of unease crawl up his spine. Even in his screwed-up state, no way he’d take his own life? Right?
Chad spoke first. “You wanna spell that out, Sam?”
“First, I’d figure out who mattered the most to him—family, friends, whoever he cared about. Then, I’d set those people up, slipping into their lives and planting evidence. I’d make it look like they were dealing drugs, or involved in an affair, or something criminal, anything that would destroy them if it were discovered. A lot of that can be done by computer, and if you’re good, you can do it without leaving a trail. When everything is in place, I’d contact Logan and let him know he had forty-eight hours to commit suicide or I’d release the info on his friends and family. Even if the people were never convicted of the crimes I set them up for, their lives would be destroyed, or at least interrupted in a pretty significant way. He’d do anything to keep them from that fate, including taking his own life. It’s perfect.”
Jennie cleared her throat. “Why give him forty-eight hours?”
“What am I, a monster? He needs time to come to grips with it. A chance to say goodbye.” She smiled and looked around the room. “Did I win?”
Dead silence met her until Logan cleared his throat. “Yeah, Sam. You won.”
Jennie was the first to break the tension as she burst out laughing. “Holy crap, you scare the crap out of me, girl.”
When everyone stopped laughing and Sam shrugged, seemingly satisfied in her standing as queen of the murder conspirators, Jennie spoke up again. “Hey, Sam, did you tell Chad about your locker yesterday? At the gym?”
“Nope. I figured it was just someone trying to grab wallets, like you said.”
“I think you should tell him, just in case,” Jennie said, biting her lip as though uncertain.
The group collectively sat forward in their seats, looking at Sam. Logan was more than a little aware of the way his breath seemed to be anchored to his lungs right now. He didn’t move as he watched Sam squirm in her seat.
“Spill it,” Chad said and he seemed to be dividing a look between the two women as if he didn’t care who told the story, so long as he heard it.
Logan felt the same way. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted the storynow.
“When we came back from spin class yesterday, someone had been in Sam’s locker. Nothing was missing, but her things weren’t where they’d been,” Jennie said.
No one seemed to question that Sam would know whether or not things were moved, and Logan didn’t question it either. He already knew her well enough to know that she had a spot-on memory. If she said things were moved, they were moved. Logan caught Chad’s eyes and the men came to a silent agreement.
Logan tipped his voice into a more casual register. “Probably nothing. You just left things a different way than you thought you did,” he said at the same time as he brought his hand up to cover Sam’s mouth, cutting off her objection before she could voice it.
He gently moved her head in a nod for her, before slowly releasing her mouth.
“You’re right,” she said, catching on as he lifted her purse from her chair and began searching it. “I was pretty tired after the spin class. I probably imagined it. I told Jennie she was overreacting.” Sam smirked at Jennie, who rolled her eyes and laughed.
Logan began to run his fingers over the straps of the bag, and then searched its inside lining. He moved his hands slowly, keeping his search as silent as possible. Luckily, the bag was already unzipped—otherwise, the sound of the zipper being opened would have given his search away immediately. Just inside the zipper, close to the seam, there was a small tear in the lining.
As Logan’s fingers worked, Chad started up casual banter in the background, in case anyone was listening, but all eyes remained on Logan.
It didn’t take long for him to work a small device free of the fabric. He held it up for Chad before lifting Sam’s jacket from her chair and going through a similar search, yielding the same results. Someone planted two listening devices in Sam’s belongings.
“All right, guys, lunch is over. Back to work,” Chad said casually, motioning for the group to leave the room. He took the devices from Logan and took some photos of them before slipping them back in place in Sam’s purse and jacket. He scribbled a quick note to Sam and showed it to her.
Take your things to your office and leave them there. Meet in my office.
Sam nodded and she and Logan walked to her office together to drop off her belongings before meeting Chad in his office moments later, sans bugs.
