Municipal Blondes
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.
“You can call me anything you like,” I said, sliding an arm around her waist. I felt a lot more comfortable getting close to Cinnamon than Angel. Angel towered over me and for a tall girl that’s intimidating. Maybe I was a dom at heart. Cinnamon is slim, short, and pretty, but I swear when I put my arm around her, she lost every bone in her body. She just melted against me. I needed to press my advantage with Cinnamon and if she discovered who I was, I’d just plead that I was trying to fulfill my bet and lost.
“I’ve been out of the country for a while, doing work for Mr. S,” I said. “Has the Committee been meeting regularly?”
“I don’t think so,” Cinnamon said. “The girls certainly haven’t been called for them. It’s strictly been holiday parties. No open member nights.”
“Good. That’s the way it should be for a while,” I yawned. “Sorry. I just got in tonight from Amsterdam. It’s already six in the morning there. I intended to stay here tonight.”
“We can go in if you really want to,” Cinnamon said, laying a hand on my chest. Believe me, I’ve tested my chest pads often enough to see if they feel natural, but I’m not in the practice of letting other people touch them.
“I don’t want to go through the party,” I said, glancing at the patio doors where another toast seemed to be underway.
“We can use the locker entrance—through the pool house.”
“That’s good but I saw someone go in there a while ago. I don’t want to interrupt anything.”
“Don’t worry. They went straight to the red room. He’s headed for a massage at the hands of Cascade that will keep them both occupied for quite a while.”
We headed into the house through the pool house. It was a dark passage and Cinnamon kept herself glued to my side.
“Which room do you want?” she asked.
“I think I’ll go to the office first,” I said. “I want to check some records. I’ll wait until the party is over before I retire.”
“If you like,” Cinnamon said, turning toward me, “I’ll stay with you and keep you company.”
OMG! I kissed a girl! I didn’t mean to, but Cinnamon was right up against my face when she suggested staying with me and next thing I knew, she was kissing me. It wasn’t a light little kiss goodnight, either. That girl is a serious kisser.
And it wasn’t that bad, either. Not really.
I gently pushed her away and felt her hand trailing down my front. I snatched it before she could not discover what she expected to find.
“Cinnamon, baby,” I said in a very husky voice with a little tremolo in it. I’ve heard guys use that sucking air tone after five minutes of foreplay and was surprised how easily it came under the circumstances. “Like I said, I just got in and I’m jetlagged. Let me take a raincheck, would you? I’d like to get to know you a lot better.”
“Anytime, James,” she whispered back. “Here’s the office door. I hope you have your code.”
There was a sixteen-key security pad next to the door. I hesitated for a moment and decided to use the one code I was most certain hadn’t been changed. E18d2b3e. The door slid open. I started to step inside but turned back and caught Cinnamon’s hand. I kissed her again.
It was all for effect… really!
“Cinnamon,” I said when we broke our embrace. “I’d rather no one knew I was here until I tell them. You understand, don’t you?” I caressed her cheek with the back of my fingers and she melted into the touch.
“You sure are a good kisser, Mr. J,” she said. “Anything you say.”
I slipped through the door and closed her out.
I stood inside for a few minutes without moving—just listening. I’d plunged forward into this room once before and been surprised with a blow to the back of the head. This time I was on full alert. But no one waited in the room. Not even a scent of lilacs. When my eyes had fully adjusted to the dim light, I went to the window and lowered the blinds. I was not interested in watching the party. I wanted more direct access and I knew how to get it.
I slid behind the desk and opened the security panel. It took only the flip of a switch to activate the security camera monitors in the office.
They no more than lit up than I killed them again. No one was in the room but someone had added a camera since the last time I was here. I moved back to the door and carefully removed the camera from the wall. It was wireless and installed by an amateur. Davy apparently felt he should know what was going on in the head office. I put the camera in the bottom desk drawer and covered it with a throw pillow. Finally, I closed it in its nice dark drawer where it would draw no attention. If he hadn’t seen the initial flicker of the security screens in the office, he wouldn’t have any idea it was off until morning.
I activated the screens again and watched the party. I examined all the rooms, including seeing Davy at his post by the elevator. The red room was, indeed, in use and I tried to ignore it. That seemed to be the only private party going on.
It was close to midnight when everyone packed up their bonus checks and went home. Davy handed out all the cellphones he’d collected earlier in the evening per Condo protocol. The last to go was Angel. She looked at him with a look that would wither fruit on a tree and he clicked out the lights and joined her in the elevator. According to the security cameras, I was alone. I watched their silent screens for nearly half an hour before I finally allowed myself to relax and prepare for a few hours’ sleep.
I started shaking when I realized I’d called Cinnamon by name without her having introduced herself.
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