Catch Him(19)

Sinead shook her head.

“Was that too over the top?” he asked when she didn’t reply. “I know, I know. I’m disgusting with how rich I am. It’s awful to think you can get people to do anything you want simply by paying them loads and loads of money… but the sad truth is you mostly can.”

Sinead didn’t doubt that, but she was certain she wasn’t the sort of person who would feel comfortable in that environment. She tried picturing herself in a restaurant by herself with all these people hanging around to serve her. Nope. Not her style at all.

“Denny’s is good enough for me.”

“Can I join you?”

“At two in the morning? I would imagine you’re usually asleep by then.”

“Usually.”

Sinead remembered thinking that three days of distance would be a good thing to keep this fling under control. However, three days suddenly seemed like a lifetime. She did want to see him.

“How about this? If you want, we can make plans for a late lunch tomorrow. After my shift I usually sleep until one and then eat around four, when I’m actually hungry. I could see you then before heading to work.”

“Beautiful. It’s a date. I’ll start planning it now.”

Uh oh. Sinead was starting to understand David didn’t do a simple lunch. “Nothing over the top,” she told him. “I have to work tomorrow night too.”

“Yes, darling.”

Great. She actually liked the fact that he called her darling. So not good, but what the heck. For now she had decided she deserved this. She deserved him. For however long he was hers.

“I have to go to work now. You know, the whole protect and serve thing.”

“I feel safer knowing you’re out there, however I realize now this job you have… it actually puts you in physical jeopardy.”

Sinead barked out a laugh. “You’ve seen Mill Valley, right? The most physical jeopardy I’m typically in is from a paper cut when I’m writing up a jaywalking ticket. And there aren’t too many of those at night. It’s a pretty quiet town.”

“Excellent. Well, be safe anyway, and I shall see you tomorrow.”

“Yep. Night David.”

There was a pause for a second. “Goodnight my Sinead.”

Sinead disconnected the call and headed to the station. A stupid smile on her face, she had no doubt. After checking in with the her sergeant, she took her patrol car out into the sleepy quiet streets of Mill Valley, ready to defend and protect its citizens from evil doers.



* * *

1:00 a.m., AT&T Park



It was a road game, so the team was away. All administration staff had long since left for the night. There was no twenty-four hour security. Simply locked gates that were easily unlocked with the right equipment. And he had the right equipment.

The park’s blueprints on record with the county, a copy easily obtained online, indicated where the administrative offices were. What he was looking for would be there on that level of the park.

The escalators were still, but there were no obstacles to the third floor where the storage facility rooms next to the admin offices held the heavy handheld cameras the staff used to capture people in the stands. Some people being goofy, some hot girls dancing, some people kissing.

No interest in the cameras, his only focus was on the computer that stored security images around the park, film of the game, and the outtakes from those handheld cameras.

Bypassing the OS to maneuver around the computer’s password was not an issue. People would be woefully upset to learn how little those passwords they depend on can protect information from people who know what they are doing. He studied the filing system for a minute, then accessed the right date and folder.

He inserted USB, downloaded the necessary footage. Then trashed it. Then erased it. Someone would have to go looking for it to know it was missing. Someone would have to know how thoroughly it was destroyed to understand a professional was responsible.

Office locked, he descended the still escalator and relocked the gates behind him. A quick look at his watch and he saw the time was 1:23 a.m.

Plenty of time to get back.



* * *

Sinead checked her watch. It was 2:23 a.m. and time for a break. The night had followed its typical patterns. She cruised the streets throughout the town. Checked in with the station a few times. No calls. No complaints.

Nothing to keep her attention occupied. Which meant she spent way too much time thinking about David and their night together. Thinking about what he would plan for them for tomorrow. Maybe a private jet to whisk them up to Seattle for some first class salmon.

Something she would of course have to say no to. Still, a smile played around her lips as she tried to imagine herself as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Except for the part about being the hooker. Nothing about being a hooker was pretty.