“I locked my purse in my office.” She turned and stopped him with a raised hand. “You can’t come back here.”

“Well I don’t want you to go back there by yourself.”

“It’s my office.” She propped a hand on her hip.

Conor crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s dark and empty.”

Impasse.

Louisa humphed. “Fine. I’ll get April to come with me. Go back to your job before someone sees you back here.”

An angry whisper from around the corner stopped them. “I’m warning you.”

Conor held a finger to his lips and pushed Louisa behind him. He peered around the corner. Halfway down the corridor, a door was ajar. He motioned for Louisa to look.

She stuck her head into the hall and pulled it back. “Copy room,” she whispered.

Conor motioned her to stay put. He crept to the open door and listened.

“I’m done with you.”

The slurred male voice sounded familiar. Conor pulled out his cell phone and turned it over. He used the silver back of the case as a mirror, angling it to see inside the doorway. Two figures faced each other in front of an industrial copier. Both presented profiles to Conor. Xavier English and Isa Dumont.

Xavier was swaying on his feet.

Isa stood a few feet away from him, her arms akimbo, her attitude petulant. “Is that a threat?”

“Yes,” Xavier spat. “We’re through.”

“How much do you want to keep your job?”

Xavier’s face darkened to impending-stroke red. “You’re a bitch.”

“Yes, but I’m the bitch in charge.” Isa sneered.

“You took advantage of me.”

“I took advantage of you?” She pointed at his chest. Fury radiated from her eyes, her anger hot enough to scorch the reams of paper stacked on shelves behind them. “How can you even say that with a straight face? From my perspective, this is karma. You got yourself into this mess. Try to exercise a little self-control in the future. In the meantime, you’ll do exactly as I say.”

Xavier’s eyes bugged with rage. Isa brushed past him toward the door.

Conor hustled back to Louisa. He held up an in a minute finger and pulled her into the shadowed alcove that led to the restrooms. Isa blew past. A few minutes later, Xavier followed, his steps rushed and uneven. After he passed, at Louisa’s insistence, Conor waited in the alcove while she hurried back to her office for her purse. She returned a minute later, her purse and a file tucked under one arm.

“Come back to my house when you’re finished here,” she said.

“How are you getting home?”

“Damian and his partner are waiting for me in the lobby.”

“OK.”