Page 78 of The Assignment: Room 3

I enjoy the ride back to the city, but my mind is percolating every detail of my day with Celest. I want to get information on every one of her neighbors to make sure she’s safe. I don’t want to overstep, but I invade people’s privacy for a living. I’m just overly cautious. It’s not like there were shots fired or drug dealers on the street. I tell myself that I’ll hold off for now. The more time I spend with her, the better I will be able to assess the situation.

When I hit the Washington Bridge, I contemplate stopping in at the club, but I’m not really in the mood, knowing that Celest won’t be there.

By the time I make it to my place and park my bike in the underground garage, I find myself pulling out my phone with a smile on my face, typing out a message to Celest.

Me: Thanks for hanging out with me today, pet. I had a great time.

Celest Monroe: Really?

Me: We need to work on your confidence outside of Venom. You’re so self-assured when you’re on the voyeur floor. Why doesn’t it translate into the rest of your life?

The doors to the elevator ping open, and I step inside, punching in the code for my penthouse. As the doors begin to close, I see someone stepping out from the shadows and looking straight at me.

My phone beeps with a new message from Celest, diverting my attention.

Celest Monroe: Because no one outside of Venom sees me that way. Too much has happened. I’ve made too many bad choices. I’m nothing special when I step out of the club.

Me: I disagree. I’d say you’re all the more special now that I’ve seen what you hide from other people.

I wait for her to answer as the elevator opens, and I fish out my keys and get inside. I go straight to my laptop and pull up the security cameras for the garage. My firm oversees this building. I don’t trust anyone else with my safety.

When I watch the footage from a few minutes ago, I can see someone step out from the shadows, but they are careful to shield their face. From their approximate height and build, I’m certain it’s a man. After the doors closed with me in the elevator, whoever he is walked over to my bike but didn’t touch it. Then, another car drove in, and he was out of view.

One thing is for sure—they don’t want to be seen. I’m going to bump security up in the garage. There are some nice cars in this building, so I’m not surprised at seeing someone scoping out thegarage, but I pride myself on keeping all residents safe, not just myself.

I put in a quick call to my second-in-command, Luther.

“Hey, boss.”

“Hey, Luther. Can you arrange for some extra security for my building?”

“Sure. What’s going on?”

“Saw someone casing the garage. There are a few blind spots down there, so let’s go ahead and add some more cameras to get rid of them. Also, add some motion lights. This person was able to get in and stay in the shadows and camera blind spots.”

“I’m on it. Did you get any details?”

“Rough height. Definitely male. I’ll send you the footage right now. Nothing I can use for facial recognition.”

“I’ll have everything up and running before you get up in the morning, boss.”

“Thanks, Luther.”

“No problem. Do you want a briefing tomorrow on what is installed?”

“Yeah. I’ll swing by your building around nine.”

“Sounds good. Rest easy. I’m dispatching our best as we speak.”

“Perfect.”

“Goodnight, Flex.”

“Night.”

When I end the call, I have a message from Celest.

Celest Monroe: Remember our agreement.

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