AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This wasGracie’s third day working at Attitude and, just like the previous two mornings, she had to go through the same security point before she could get into the building. As she went into the office she paused to exchange pleasantries with Betty and then waved at some of the other staff that she’d gotten to know over the last couple of days.
Most of them nodded back at her. One of them, Gussie, scowled instead. He was still in a snit about his most recent article getting leaked and trying to take out his frustration on the newest member of staff. Gracie waved a bit more forcefully at him until he looked away.
There wasn’t anyone in the office who seemed actually happy. There was a tension in the air, a gloominess. Everyone knew that, no matter how hard they worked, it could be their story that got spiked next time.
Gracie, who usually prided herself on simply following the evidence and not getting emotionally involved in any case, found that she really wanted to clear Chesney’s name. She didn’t want to believe that he was the one responsible for this unhappiness.
But she had a terrible suspicion that he was the one to blame. There wasn’t really another explanation for what she’d overheard him saying on the phone on her first day. If only she knew who he’d been talking to when he’d admitted that Huang was on to him!
Yesterday, her second day in the office, had not been a good day for the investigation. Chesney had warmed up to the idea of having a PA and had found work for her to do. She’d picked up his lunch from a cafe a few blocks away, she’d fetched his dry cleaning, she’d got him coffee from a cafe that was a few blocks away from the office.
It hadn't escaped Gracie's notice that all of the jobs he'd given her had been away from the office. As if he was starting to suspect her and wanted to keep her at a distance. Gracie sat down at her desk, frowning at her thoughts.
It was a few hours before Chesney finally called for her.
“Greta!”
Gracie hurried into Chesney’s office where he was already sitting behind his new laptop. She wished that Klarov hadn’t given her a fake first name when he’d set up this job. It made sense that she use a different last name, but it sucked to hear Chesney use a wrong name when talking to her. “Just G, remember?”
Chesney smiled guardedly. Gracie tried to smile back; she would love to know what it was that made Chesney suspicious of her. Of course he was right. He should be suspicious of her. But it was those good instincts that made him all the more attractive to her.
“Do you have some more dry cleaning you need picked up?”
“Not yet.”
There was a deep buzzing noise as his phone started to vibrate. It was in its usual place, on the desk next to his laptop. It was, Gracie thought disparagingly, an awkward spot. Far too out in the open, which meant that Chesney would notice immediately if it went missing.
“Oh, just a second, sorry, can you come back in a minute, once I’ve dealt with this?” Chesney said, distracted as he put in the passcode to his phone. Gracie watched his long fingers as they moved quickly across the screen, memorizing the pattern.
“Actually,” Gracie said, coming up with a new plan on the spur of the moment. “I was coming to ask if you wanted me to pick up some lunch. I’m going to head out in a minute.”
“No, no. I’ve got that lunch meeting with the suppliers.”
“Right!” Gracie said, a little too loudly, almost a yell. “The people from the paper company. They phoned to confirm it this morning.”
Chesney looked up from his phone, giving her that half-smile of his. It wasn’t a mocking smile, but it seemed to say ‘we both know that you’ve just done something funny and that’s ok.’
Gracie shuffled awkwardly. Too often she left Chesney’s office regretting that she’d ever taken this case.
“Ok, well, have a good meeting.”
Chesney’s face fell. “Thanks.”
Gracie didn't spend time analyzing Chesney's odd reaction because, as soon as she was back at her desk she sent off a text to a number that she hadn't used in months:
You got an iPhone XS? No visible damage but completely dead.
It only took a few minutes to hear back and, as soon as she read the message, she picked up her handbag and left the office.
The solution to the whole case was hidden on Chesney’s phone. All she had to do was go through his call history. It was just a not-so-simple matter of getting hold of his phone, and Gracie had an idea.
She drove across town, headed in the direction of the Agency office, although she didn’t intend on visiting Klarov today. A few blocks from headquarters she pulled over and parked in front of a rundown store.
It was the sort of place that most people would walk past without a second glance, confused that such a shabby looking place could stay in business. A neon sign that read ‘PHONES PHONES PHONES’ was unlit in the window. Gracie knew that the neon didn’t work anymore and that it hadn’t for years.
“G! How are you? It’s been a while!”
The owner of the store, a plump man in his forties with slicked-back hair and a T-shirt with a picture of a howling wolf on it, greeted her warmly. Sonny was behind the long glass counter, a cocky grin permanently set on his face.
