Page 36 of Deadly Designs

“Hey, boss.”

“Any more trouble there?”

“No. Have you talked to Jay?”

“Not yet. Listen, I don’t want you guys to be thereuntil the vandal is arrested. Close up shop, and the three of youcan work from home until further notice.”

“Are you sure? We can handle a little spray paint.Darwin’s talking about ordering a taser from some special opswebsite.”

Great. Just what they needed. She’d seen firsthandthe effects of one of those torture devices. Darwin was lucky if hecould walk and chew gum at the same time. Putting a device capableof startling an elephant in his hands wasn’t a good idea.

“Tell him to save his money. We’ll stay in contactvia email and text. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to return tothe office.”

“Okay. I’ll tell them now. Aja Blue?”

“Yes?”

“You’ll let me know when you talk to Jay?”

The fear in Sara Lea’s voice was palpable. Aja Blueshould know since she felt it too. “I will.”

She disconnected and tried Jay’s number, disappointedbut not surprised when it kicked instantly to voicemail.

“Ready to go?”

She spun toward the voice. “Yes.” She hurried afterDetective Herbert, whose long strides quickly ate up the distance.Soon, they were on the way to the station.

“That was good detective work,” Herbert praised.

Aja Blue swung her gaze from the passing scenery tothe cop. “Me?”

“Yes. Finding Darius and the video. It was quickthinking. Hell, half a dozen cops were standing around shooting thebreeze. You saw them. You were proactive and got the evidenceneeded to prove Mr. Zamora’s innocence.”

Aja Blue warmed at the praise. Her only thought atthe time was to clear Christian’s name. Anything else wassecondary. “Am I going to have to answer questions for hours?”

“Probably.”

They both laughed.

“The video will fill in many blanks.” With a sidewaysglance, the detective added, “You’re lucky to have Mr. Zamorawatching out for you.”

That she was. It still floored her that he haddropped everything when she’d told him she was in trouble. “Do youthink they put him in a cell?” The thought of him mixed in withthugs and lawbreakers made her shiver in fear. He could care forhimself, but some criminals didn’t play fair.

Detective Herbert chuckled. “Uh, no. If the video yousecured hadn’t cleared his name, a call from the United Statesattorney general would’ve done it.”

“No kidding?” Wow, that was some serious firepower.He’d mentioned something about the president being a personalfriend of the company. His coworker’s son had saved hergranddaughter from a child predator and secured her undyingloyalty.

“Have you thought of anyone else who might targetyou?”

She hadn’t told the detective about Polly and herboyfriend, Dirk, so she did, giving as many details aspossible.

“You think this Haines character might have somethingto do with it?”

“I could see him going after me, my office, and mycondo, but there would be no reason to include my assistant in thevandalism. He wouldn’t even know about him.”

“Have you talked to your assistant yet?”

“No. He’s unreachable. I want to file a missingperson report on him now.”

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