AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Because,” I sing. “I would love nothing more than to use some of this pent up aggression to torture the idiot who stole from us. Getting mad right now isn’t going to help the situation.”
“I’ll go to the guard’s booth,” he insists, shoving his door open.
“No.” I grab his hand to stop him. “I’ll go. You check around the cars. I want to have a few words with Joey.”
I leave without giving him the chance to argue with me, striding toward the guard booth with a new and determined purpose… The booth where young Joey the dropout is still in the throes of his mid-evening nap.
What a fucking slacker.
I rap my knuckles on the window, and he startles, falling from his chair. As I invite myself into the small space, he scrambles to his feet.
“Sleeping on the job again?” I playfully ask.
“I went out with my friends last night,” he answers, chagrin as he rubs the back of his neck. “Stayed way too long, and—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupt, my voice suddenly dry, slightly hostile.
He jerks his head back at the shift in my tone.
“While you were napping, someone broke into my car and stole a lot of money from me.” I slowly enunciate each word, making sure he understands me.
“I didn’t—”
“I don’t care,” I repeat. “Your excuses aren’t my problem. You’re going to get out of my way so I can look through the surveillance of the last thirty minutes. And then you’re going to stay the fuck awake for the rest of the night. Don’t bother coming in next week. Consider this your termination.”
“You can’t fire me. You don’t have that authority,” he calmly informs me.
I just grin at him. “I can’t, but Lorenzo can. He’s the major shareholder for the company that owns this building. But I wouldn’t go talk to him right now... You see, that was his car that my money was in. The one you were supposed to be watching. People have died for less, Joey. I can have much worse done to you than simply losing your job.”
Joey is smarter than I give him credit for... Because he doesn’t say another word to me. He moves out of my way, keeping his back against the wall as he observes me at the computer.
I rewind the security feed, and twenty-six minutes back, I see the moment Lory crosses paths with the unknown assailant. He’s on the phone with me, and the stranger looks almost at ease as they pass. He stops, glancing around before walking straight to our cars to peek in the windows.
When he tries to open Lory’s backseat door before any other, it’s clear he came for the drugs... Which means he had to know today was a delivery day. No one knew except me, Lory, and Mr. Cope—
My thoughts stall out as he glances up, almost looking directly at the camera lens.
Fucking Copeland.
I’ve seen Ezra enough in the last two weeks to know it isn’t him. There’s no way his hair could have grown from his short buzz cut to hanging over his ears in a matter of days. It’s just not possible.
So the answer to my question from last Tuesday is glaringly obvious.
Yes, twins still look pretty fucking similar, but their separate personalities make them vastly different.
At least in this case.
Our thief is none other than Quin Copeland. Son of our buyer. Lead singer of Emerald Undead. A literal dead man walking.
“Gem,” Lory shouts, still standing by his car. “I found something.”
“Me too,” I mutter to myself. “Me too.”
I vacate Joey’s computer chair and pause at the booth’s door, smiling in warning. “Do not fall asleep again. Or I will do more than just have you fired.”
“What was it?” he asks, his eyes bugging as his breath rattles in his chest.
“Half a million dollars,” I state. “If I don’t get it back, you’ll owe me that, plus quite a few favors. Be ready to pay up with interest.”
