Page 69 of Implode

I burst out laughing. “Chat later. Thanks, man.”

I end the call and check my tracking device to find Claire’s dot hovering at a cell phone shop in the Pearl District. I try texting her to see what’s going on. She’s been acting weird all day, and my instincts tell me that something is not right.

I check my email and find one from Tyler, asking me if there’s any work for him to do. I have abruptly taken him off Claire duty until I can figure out who tried to sneak into HH during an electrical fluke. I keep giving him bogus fake work to keep him busy, but I doubt it is fulfilling for him—and probably is confusing. I am running out of excuses as to why I have shifted his focus. The last thing I need is for him—if he is the mole—to veer from his original plans. If he plays it too safe, I won’t be able to catch him and take him down.

I clean up my office space, log out of all of my devices, and make my way to the lobby to check in with the night shift guards. It is getting dark out, and I hate that Claire is wandering the city with what might be a broken cell phone. I need her device to work if I am going to keep notice of her whereabouts.

I am about to step outside when my phone buzzes with a text from Dan.

Dan: One of your ex-employees is seeking revenge.

Nic: How do you know?

My heart races as I try to figure out who Dan is talking about. Since taking on the title of Head of Security, I have let go over half of the workers who were originally hired. The structure of the entire department changed when I came on board. I can imagine that I pissed off a lot of people with my no-nonsense type of leadership.

I wait for Dan to text back, and when I don’t get anything in response, I text him again.

Nic: How do you know? And who is it?

Dan: Are you free to meet? I am only a couple of blocks away from HH.

Nic: I’ll come to you. Where are you?

Dan gives me the street address, and I quickly exit HH and take a left onto the sidewalk. I set a brisk pace, and within minutes, I find Dan sitting on a bench outside of an apartment complex.

“Hey,” he says, almost shyly. “I figured you would want to know this information.”

“Of course, share it.” I sit down next to him on the opposite end and brace myself for whatever he has to give. I watch anxiously as Dan retrieves an envelope from his inner breast pocket and hands it over. “You are being very secretive.”

“Open it and see for yourself,” he presses.

I pull open the flap of the envelope and see the bank records for my former employee Kevin. I see the exact moment where his savings doubled. I look at the next document and see a picture of Kevin accepting an undisclosed amount of money from someone who has their back turned. I analyze the photo, and when I see the wrist tattoo on the mystery man, I know that Tyler also has one strikingly similar. Dammit.

Fuckers!

“Looks like Kevin is accepting bribes,” I grind out. “But what for?”

“Probably to try to taunt you or blackmail you in some way by gaining information that you would prefer to keep concealed? I’m not quite sure.”

“How did you figure this all out?” I ask.

“As soon as I realized someone was trying to break into HH, I took it upon myself to dig a little into the previous employee records and find out who got fired and what they were doing now. I saw Kevin never got another job. And—”

“With limited funds, he could easily get involved in accepting money for doing favors.”

“Exactly,” Dan agrees.

“But who is pulling the strings? And why?” I point to the photo of the man with his back turned. “Him or Kevin?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Thanks once again for bringing this all to my attention. Meet with me tomorrow morning in my office so I can discuss moving you up in rank. You are proving to be a valuable employee. But with the new rank will come added responsibilities.”

Dan reaches his hand out for me to shake. “Thank you, sir. I’m up for the challenge.”

I walk back to my car and call up Asher again. “Your boy Tyler looks to be getting involved in something nefarious.”

“Do you have proof?” Asher asks, sounding exhausted from my constant probing.

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