Page 13 of Corrupt Game

“Fuck!” I kicked the tire of my car, not caring about damage to it or my shoe, and held the phone back to my ear, turning the volume back on.

“That doesn’t change things on your end, does it.” My tone kept the words from being a question. Whoever this was would take over the duties of his superior.

“No, sir.” He hurried to reassure me. “No, sir. It doesn’t change anything down here. Everything’s going according to plan and there’ll be no changes to the shipment.”

“Good.” I let the word hang in the air. “Otherwise, the consequences of my displeasure can be quite harsh.” I paused for a moment to let my words sink in. “I’m going to need the information on when that other cargo is expected to arrive.”

“Yes, sir. According to Mr. Kane’s notes, he has it listed to arrive on the tenth.”

I refrained from cursing out loud again, despite a strong desire to do so.

“That is unacceptable. Those that arrive on the tenth won’t be paid, as the timeline for receiving them will have expired.” Fiery irritation coursed through me.

Why couldn’t anyone get things done in a proper manner? Was it so hard to get a job done? To keep your word?

What was wrong with the world?

“I would hate to remind you of the consequences of failure,” I warned.

“How would I know what…” He trailed off as if suddenly connecting the dots.

“Do you think you can do a better job than Mr. Kane did at making sure my shipment is here on time?”

“Yes, sir. Er, I’ll call you back tomorrow with the updated information on that shipment.”

“See that you do.” I hung up the phone. No reason to waste more time on that conversation.

The good mood I’d managed to acquire while talking to Collette had evaporated completely.

I exhaled and straightened my jacket and tie, taking a moment to consider the situation. Damn. I was soured by the whole conversation.

Losing staff annoyed me.

Rossi texted.

She signed the papers.

That helped the mood a bit.

I’m about to bring her into the parking garage now.

A spark of anticipation heated me up and calmed the throbbing in my head.

Collette’s curves had filled out the very modest outfit she’d been wearing. A tease of the things she had hidden underneath the surface.

With a surge of anticipation, I settled in the driver’s seat of my silver Lexus, content to sit and await Rossi’s arrival.

Chapter 6: Collette

Panic. I couldn’t panic.

Ian didn’t want me dead. I tried to reassure myself, but it was hard to hear over the buzzing in my head. Ian Holdt had no reason to want me dead. These events were all a bizarre series of lucky breaks, ending with me getting this job.

No, not luck. I had no idea what Ian actually wanted me for, but something was wrong with the ‘luck’ scenario. Nothing had happened like I’d expected. I thought I would’ve been shown to a desk and given tasks, and when nobody was looking, I’d snoop around.

The windows in the SUV were blacked out, like completely opaque. Not only could no one see me, but I couldn’t see where we were going. The glass partition was up, making me essentially blind. My mouth went dry, and I locked my knees so they wouldn’t shake as I closed my eyes. If I couldn’t see, then maybe my other senses would kick in. Hopefully, I'd be able to pick up something about the direction we were headed in case I needed to run for my life.

The tires made a familiar rumble as it went over a bridge. The only question was which bridge was it?

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