Page 28 of Deadly Designs

“I found his calendar,” Aja Blue announced.

Christian stood and viewed the document over hershoulder.

“Look at this.” She pointed to the screen. “He hadthree events planned for this week, two with Crystal Galaxy.”

“Why would he take off if he had commitments?”

Aja Blue’s head dropped to her chest. “He wouldn’t.He’s too responsible.” A breath shuddered out, and she lifted hergaze to his. “Something happened to him, didn’t it?”

Yeah, it probably had, but he didn’t have the heartto tell her. Those beautiful ocean-blue eyes stared at him withworry and a bit of hope. He couldn’t be the one to dull thesparkle. “We don’t know that yet. Don’t borrow trouble, honey.”

Inwardly, Christian cringed. That was twice he’dcalled her that, and each time, it had slipped past his internalcensors before he could stop it. As with last time, she didn’t seemto notice. He offered her a smile, hoping to reassure her.

She nodded, but he wasn’t sure she believed him. “Ifound nothing else.”

“I didn’t, either.”

Aja Blue turned his computer off. “What now?”

“We keep digging for clues. I’d like to see thethreatening letter you received and the box.”

“Oh, yeah.” She stood and walked to her desk, pullingout a drawer to reach inside. She handed the letter to him.

Christian donned a glove before opening it. Thecomputer-generated message had been printed on generic white paperand could have come from anyone. Dead end.

“What about the box with the altered doll?”

“Oh, rats, I forgot. The cops took possession ofit.”

“Not a problem.” He didn’t expect to garner any cluesfrom it anyway.

Sara Lea walked by them, and Aja Blue called out,“Sara Lea, is there anything I need to take care of?”

“Oh, yes, there is. Marla has proofs of your newplanter line, which needs your stamp of approval to go intoproduction.”

Aja Blue turned to him. “This won’t take long.”

While she was conducting business, he checked thesecurity of the building. There were two egress points. The lockswere above average but could have been more airtight. The alarmsystem was standard. No cameras inside the office. Good, but notgreat.

He stepped out the front and noted a camera mountedon the building across the street. It could’ve caught theperpetrator. He made a mental note to have Tyler secure the feeds.The local police might not have the personnel to dig deeply into anact of vandalism, but COBRA Securities did. It could mean thedifference between catching a bad guy or letting them get away withmurder.

The street was busy, with cars zipping by right andleft. At night, few businesses would be open. Down the block was arestaurant with a bar; otherwise, most places closed in theevening. There was probably little activity in the area in the weehours of the morning, which was most likely when the vandal hadstruck.

If Aja Blue let him, he’d wire the place withstate-of-the-art security. No one would get away with so much as adropped gum wrapper. He knew she wanted to keep her employees safe,so it made sense to upgrade her protections.

A dentist’s office and a yoga studio were on eitherside of her business. Several other stores took up space on theblock, including one selling trendy clothes, a coffee shop, and abank. Old-fashioned streetlights added charm, and overflowingplanters with blooming flowers provided color. There were benchesfor people to rest, dog stations to scoop the poop, and trash cansto collect litter. Scooters and bikes were available for rent bythe hour. Each shop’s storefront was decorated with plants, welcomemats, and wind chimes. The vile words spray-painted in red marredthe otherwise serene setting. Aja Blue’s space had been desecrated.He sent a message to the office to see if they could find a companyto clean up the mess.

After one last look around, he headed back inside.Sara Lea smiled at him, and he nodded. Aja Blue was inside theconference room with Marla, going over designs. He headed towardDarwin.

“I hear you know your way around a computer.”

Darwin nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose witha knuckle. Uncombed black hair framed a round face, and he moved ahank away from his eyes. “Not to brag, but I’m not bad.”

“If I outfitted this place with a security system,would you be able to monitor it?”

Darwin looked surprised that Christian had asked itof him. “I’ve never done it before, but I absolutely could handleit.”

“Great. I’ll need to talk to Aja Blue, but I hope tohave it installed in the next couple of days.”

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