Tricks(20)

It was only natural that two up-and-coming professionals in the New York City corporate world would be a perfect match. His connections became my connections and mine his. Everyone always said what a perfect pair we made when we were out at events and corporate dinners.

I thought he was happy.

I thought I was happy.

I barely noticed the cold when I stepped out onto the sidewalk and raised my arm to hail a cab. My swirling thoughts were far more chilling than the wind could ever be.

If I was so happy, then why on Earth did the idea of Max ending our relationship not reduce me to a pile of tears?





11




Tucker

The tall building was all glass and steel, standing over the sidewalk and busy street like some kind of castle among peasants.

It didn’t make me feel inferior; if anything, it pissed me off.

This was the building where my brother found his demise. This was the building that in some aspects ultimately claimed his life. Yeah, okay, so buildings couldn’t kill people… but the things that went on within walls of buildings certainly could.

The dress shirt and tie around my neck felt like a noose, and I rolled my shoulders back, trying to shrug off the feeling and the thoughts of my brother’s death. I wished I could walk in there and smash some heads and bust some jaws… but I couldn’t.

Yeah, it would be satisfying, but it wouldn’t help me get Max’s killer.

I tilted my head and glanced at the building once more, seeing it in a new light.

Max’s killer was inside.

I stepped up to the wide glass doors leading in from the sidewalk and as I did, it swung open, a doorman appearing in a pressed suit and a smile.

“Good morning, Mr. Patton!”

I wasn’t used to being called Mr. Patton. I was used to just Patton. But he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to Max.

“Morning,” I said, inclining my chin. “Have a good day.”

“You too!” the doorman called after me as I pressed the button for the elevator to take me to the twelfth floor. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one in the car on the way up, but no one spoke as we all rode up in silence, making several stops along the way.

When we reached my floor, the doors slid open silently and I stepped out in the reception room of the office onto a buffed, light-colored tile floor and cream-painted walls. The reception desk was large and took up a huge amount of floor space, and as I walked, a dark-headed receptionist in a bright-red suit looked up.

She did a double take.

“Mr. Patton!” she said, standing up, her dark hair falling over her shoulders.

“Morning,” I said, gripping my briefcase a little tighter. I hoped she didn’t expect small talk because I planned to make a beeline for my office and shut myself in. I did not want to deal with anyone that I didn’t have to. The less I talked, the easier being Max would be.

The receptionist watched me with this odd look on her face and I started to feel little tingles of warning. Was she not expecting me today? Because if she wasn’t, then that meant she was in on the plot to kill Max.

“Is something wrong?” I asked coolly, glancing around for some sort of name tag or desk plate. I didn’t see one.

“No—I…” she stuttered and I stopped walking toward the hall that I knew led to Max’s office and turned to look at her directly.

“That didn’t sound very confident.”

She fidgeted in her chair. “I just didn’t expect to see you…” Her voice faded away.

“Why?” I asked point blank.

“Because…” She began wetting her lips with her tongue. “They told me you weren’t coming back. They’re cleaning out your office.”

Motherfuckers.

I felt my eyes narrow and anger darken my vision. Those assholes had no clue who they were dealing with. “Are they?” I asked, my tone taking on a dead calm. “I hadn’t realized I’d been fired.”

The girl looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and alarm in her eyes.

“I’ll go find out what’s going on right now.”

She didn’t try to stop me as I strode down the hallway, passing offices and cubicles as I went. Several people called out greetings and I returned them, but as I drew closer to where I knew my office to be, I started getting mixed looks. Looks of surprise. Looks of confusion.

If I had any doubt that someone in this company killed my brother, I sure as hell didn’t anymore.

I wondered what these people had been told when he didn’t show up yesterday, and now someone was in his office, clearing out all his stuff.

The thought made my heart begin to pump furiously. They were probably searching his office, looking for that flash drive.