Chapter 13: Flirting With a Girl

I WAS HALF FROZEN by the time I reached the factory outlet shops in North Bend. I didn’t have enough clothes and certainly nothing warm enough for crawling around in the snow under the car to put chains on and take them off. I went through the mall stores picking up clothes to last a week, including something comfy to lounge around in at night.

A way in

The weather’s been freaky in Seattle lately and I didn’t have a good coat, so picked up a warm topcoat. It would be essential to my entry into the Condo. I finally made it to the underground parking for the building, pulled into a row of other cars that were covered, and carefully pulled the tarp over the Mustang. For now, I was only taking the essentials. I figured I’d be able to get back to the car to get everything else later—if I was successful breaking and entering.

I took the service elevator to the next to top floor and got out to hit the rooftop stairs. Dag told me how he got into the Condo when I was being held prisoner there. I understood the rules better this time. Rule number one: Don’t get caught. It seems like every rule is number one.

I was prepared for the blast of cold wind that hit me when I emerged from the stairwell onto the rooftop. I immediately dropped to the ground on all fours. What I don’t need is to get blown off the roof to a spectacular end of the story.

I crawled over to the edge where I could see the escape stair that led to the penthouse garden. I had one foot on the ladder when I heard the splash below me. A man and woman were getting out of the hot tub—stark naked. She dried him and gave him a robe before slipping into one herself. The two headed toward the pool house opposite the patio doors. I looked that direction and light was spilling out the window from what looked like a party going on inside.

It was only two weeks ago that Jordan arrested Brenda for running a house of prostitution and the place was still open? I wasn’t expecting that! I hung there on the ladder for a minute and decided I needed to get down out of the wind, at least. Maybe there would be a chance to get inside as the party wound down later. It was close to nine o’clock now and surely most of these people had to go to work Monday morning.

The office window—replaced since Bradley fell through it—was completely dark. I hoped no one was silently watching from there. I found a sheltered spot in the gazebo, warmed by a propane heat lamp for the hot tub area, and stared through the patio doors. What I saw was awesome. If I had a camera, I could make a mint of the faces I could see inside. At the moment, I didn’t even have a cellphone. Two public officials who ran hard-fought campaigns in November, the president of a major regional bank, and what looked like the entire board of directors of a technology company I owned stock in. The annual report came out in September and I looked at all their faces with some amount of envy.

OMG! I was seeing the holiday party for the Execs! They must have some special arrangements with the bank and elected officials. No wonder the Condo was open to them. Only a couple of faces were missing from the photos in the annual report. Of course, they could be in a different part of the Condo. I didn’t know where the guy from the hot tub had disappeared to. It looked like they were getting ready for a toast, so I figured most people were probably there.

Including the girls.

One special girl

Angel’s head towered above the others. A guy’s face was practically glued to her chest. A few feet away, I recognized Delta. I was cataloging the attendees in my mind when I heard a noise just to my left. I started and she gave a little scream. I held up both my hands to show them empty and harmless.

“It’s okay,” I said, making sure I’d modulated my voice to its lowest tones. “Sorry I startled you.”

“I didn’t realize anyone was out here,” she said. “Why aren’t you inside with the others?” I recognized her voice a second before I saw her face and confirmed I was looking at Cinnamon.

“I’m not really into all that corporate bantering,” I said calmly, even though my heart was racing about a million miles an hour.

“I know what you mean,” she answered. “I had to escape a certain octopus in there. I swear he had hands everywhere.”

“You don’t have to put up with that kind of crap,” I said firmly, reinforcing something Cinnamon had told me when we were interviewing last month. It was always up to the girl to indicate she was interested in something more than being friendly company.

“It’s hard with a gathering like this,” she said. “They all expect something for nothing. It’s not like when Mr. S was here.” I knew the codes the girls used for certain bigwigs.

“Who’s running things now?” I asked. “Mr. B and Mr. S have both passed on.”

“I don’t know for sure but I think Davy Jones is.”

“The security guy?”

“Yeah. You know him?”

“We’ve run into each other a couple of times,” I answered. This was valuable information. If Davy thought he was running things, I could manipulate him pretty well.

“Have you been up here before? You sort of look familiar but I can’t place you.”

“Oh, I’ve been up a few times but I’ve mostly been behind the glass,” I said, nodding toward the office windows.

“Gee! I didn’t realize you were one of the Committee. I didn’t get your name.”

“James,” I said. “You may use Mr. J.”

“Can’t I just call you James?” she said, sliding a little closer to me. Leave it to Cinnamon. If she smells power, she’s all over it. I needed a little more information without giving her too much.