Chapter 21
When they arrived at Spence’s car Monday morning, the parking garage in Zoe’s building was still full, with only a few cars missing. And when they reached Zoe’s office, the opposite was true. Only a handful of cars were parked in the garage.
“Looks like you have a few early workers,” Spence said as he pulled into a spot.
Zoe shrugged. “There are always a few that think they can impress their boss by working insane hours. I try to tell them it’s more important to have a balanced life. They usually look at me like I have two heads. I try to get those people to throttle back, and I hate it when they burn out. But those intense, driven people? They don’t like to be told to take more time off.” She shook her head. “They usually work harder, just to show me I was wrong.”
“Or maybe the cars belong to employees who went home together over the weekend.”
Zoe glanced over at him. “Yeah, that happens. Pretty sure it happens at all companies. We don’t forbid co-workers from dating, but we don’t encourage it, either.”
He swiveled in his seat. “You don’t discourage in-office dating?”
She shrugged, watching as he slotted the car into a spot close to the elevator. “The only thing we forbid is dating between different levels of power, because that can lead to abuse. Our only rule about dating is they have to notify their bosses.” She sighed. “People spend all day at their jobs, and a lot of people meet their partners at work. Trying to forbid dating entirely is a losing proposition.”
“Some companies do,” he said as he swiveled to face her.
“Pretty short-sighted, I think. Especially if you want to retain your employees.” One corner of her mouth turned up. “It also encourages sneaking around, which might be sexy, but isn’t good for business.”
Zoe’s smile fell away. She and Spence had snuck around, and it had been sexy as hell. But now look where they were. Aching for what they’d lost and unable to do a damn thing about it.
“Makes sense, I guess,” Spence said, apparently oblivious to her sudden stillness. Then he smiled. “Wasn’t a problem when I was a SEAL.”
Zoe’s forced smile faded when Spence opened her car door. “Everything looks clear. Good idea to come in early.”
Not even Janet was in the office when she and Spence stepped off the elevator. Spence raised an eyebrow, but Zoe shrugged. “I usually get here at nine. Leave between six and seven. So there’s no reason Janet needs to come in at seven a.m.” She frowned. “She’s always here when I arrive, though. I wonder what time she gets here?”
“Guess you’ll find out today,” Spence said, reaching over Janet’s desk to unlock Zoe’s office door.
An hour and a half later, someone knocked on the door. Zoe glanced at Spence, and when he nodded, she called, “Come on in.”
She saw Spence’s hand slip under his jacket, and knew he’d curled his hand around the grip of his gun. When he spotted Janet, his hand returned to the table.
Janet looked from Spence to Zoe. “What are you doing here so early?”
“ thought I’d switch things up this week,” Zoe said. “Since the conference is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I’ll miss a day of work. I have meetings lined up for most of the day on Friday, then full days on Saturday and Sunday. I figured if I came in early this week, I could get a lot done before the inevitable interruptions.”
Janet pursed her lips and nodded. “Good idea, boss. I’ll try to head off anyone who wants to see you. Tell them to check back next week.”
“Perfect. Thanks, Janet,” Zoe said.
“Anything you need right now?” Janet asked.
Zoe held up her mug. “We have coffee. Life is good.”
“Okay. I’ll try to keep the hordes away.”
“I appreciate that,” Zoe said.
They both worked steadily all morning, until Janet came in with the mail. On top of the pile was another brown-paper-wrapped package.
“Another delivery,” Janet said, setting the pile on Zoe’s desk.
After Janet left the room, Spence grabbed a pair of gloves and pulled them on. Studied the package just as he had all the others, then cut it open. A tiny pair of scissors fell out.
Zoe just stared at it. Swallowed. “What do you think this one means?” she asked, glancing up at Spence.
He shrugged. “Who knows what’s going on in Davies brain? But if I had to guess, I’d say it represented you cutting all ties with your previous life. Previous lovers. That soon you’ll belong to Davies.”