Page 28 of Death Wish

Great. Looked like she tripped somebody’s alarm bell yesterday. Why? She’d been careful not to say too much. Was this overkill in caution or had she messed up yesterday?

Jesse removed the disk and slid it into his pocket with the other one while he talked about different menu options that sounded good. “Talk to Joy. Choose the place she likes the most, and we’ll go there. Let me know if I need to make reservations, and I’ll make the arrangements.”

He stood. “I need to go. You’ll be okay here?” he murmured.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No cameras yet.”

She relaxed. Excellent. “Watch your back.”

“Always. Call or text if you need me.” After another quick kiss, he left.

How would he dispose of the bugs? Flush them, she decided. That was the easiest and quickest way to get rid of them. That’s how she’d do it.

Simone checked her computer meticulously to see if anyone had tampered with her computer or the program she’d uploaded. Both seemed untouched. Wouldn’t last, though. When the person who bugged her station realized the bugs were gone or had stopped working, they’d take other measures to spy on her.

Checking her company email, Simone found a document giving her instructions and assignments for the day. Her eyebrows rose at the long list of things to finish before her work shift ended.

Huh. A challenge or a deliberate move to cause her failure. Either way, the division head was in for a disappointment.

Simone dove into the first task. She lost track of time as she sped through the assignments. Some were easy, some difficult. None of the assignments were the stumbling block her division head had assumed they would be.

By the time Joy arrived an hour later, Simone had completed all the easier tasks and was halfway through the difficult ones.

“Good morning, Simone.” Joy peered over the cubicle wall. “You look like you’ve been here a while.”

“More than an hour.” She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep so Jesse and I thought it best to get started here.”

Joy smiled. “Good way to be noticed, my friend.”

“Maybe. Jesse and I are going out for dinner tonight. We want you to join us. Our treat for being so kind to me yesterday.”

“I’d love to go if I wouldn’t be intruding on your date.”

“I told you yesterday. I want Jesse to work at getting me to agree to marriage. Nothing that comes easy is appreciated, and I want him to appreciate me. Please, say you’ll come with us.”

Joy laughed. “I’d love to. It sounds like fun. I just wish Jesse had an unmarried brother. He’s a great guy.”

“He’s the best,” she said simply. It was the truth, and she was finally coming to believe what her friend Poppy had been telling her about the medic. Although Trevor had soured her on men, Jesse had slipped underneath her protective walls and was fast arrowing toward her heart.

“You’re so lucky, Simone.”

The day passed much as the day before. Lots of work. Her division head swung around to see her after lunch.

“Simone, you’ve been blazing through your assignments today. How do you like the work?”

She shrugged. “Nothing to write home about yet. Frankly, I was hoping for a little more challenge.”

Trina Kirk’s eyebrows rose. “The work’s not challenging enough?”

“Not yet. I had to work harder to finish tasks at Game Theory than I am at Dragon Alley. I finished all my assignments yesterday and pestered Joy for more so I wouldn’t be sitting here twiddling my thumbs. I’ve already finished everything assigned today as well. I need more.”

A slow smile curved Trina’s mouth. “I wondered if that would be the case. I told my boss you wouldn’t be satisfied with the jobs we were assigning you. Don’t worry, Simone. I’ll pass the word to my boss. Something more up your alley will turn up soon.”

“While I’m waiting for interesting assignments, how about sending something else so I can keep busy?”

Trina laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. Be looking for the next batch of assignments in your email in the next ten minutes.”

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