Bats in the Belfry Read online

  “Why? He knows I call him that. We’re in love, so it’s okay,” said Cortney assuring Lane.

  “Oh, give it up already. You had sex once a year ago and he hasn’t looked in your direction since. You need to move on for Christ sakes the man has a girlfriend.” This coming bitterly from Rory.

  Cortney rolled her eyes like she could care less, and turned back to Lane. “Don’t mind her, she’s a love hater. Anyway, I’m dying to know about Mr. Taylor. What’s he like? He usually comes in and takes over whenever Castell has a long trip and this is the first time, he had an assistant last longer than a week. I’m very interested to hear your thoughts.”

  Lane had the attention of the table, which had never happened before. Maybe this was going to be easier than she expected. “He’s… intense and very…particular,” she said not knowing how to describe a man like him. He was definitely not like any of the other men she knew.

  “Figures. The guy walks around like he’s got a stick up his ass the size of a baseball bat. Nothing at all like his son,” said Rory.

  “Do you know his son?” Lane asked unwrapping her sandwich, before taking a big bite.

  “Castell? I wish. I can’t get near the guy without breaking out in a cold sweat.”

  “Why, doubt he’s that bad,” she said.

  “He’s not bad at all. Probably one of the nicest guys on the planet, but have you seen the guy? He’s like a walking orgasm that I’ve enjoyed too many times by looking at him,” said Tiffany placing the straw of her coke between her lips.

  “I should really get out of here if this is what you guys are going to be talking about,” mumbled Elliot, but he didn’t budge.

  “Oh, please you know you love hearing about Tiffany’s orgasms since you clearly can’t give her any, and might learn just how to do it,” said a smiling Courtney wiggling her brows at him.

  “I’m never going back there, so no worries El,” Tiffany said cheerfully.

  “That was one time and I had too much to drink and was exhausted. Why’d you have to go and tell them about it?” Elliot said clearly pissed with a scowl on his face.

  Tiffany shrugged. “Because they are my friends and we talk about everything.” Elliot snickered turning back to his phone clearly not in the talking mood anymore.

  “I know what you mean. I was stuck in the elevator with him once and I thought I was going to pass out from his scent alone,” Lane said trying to steer the conversation back on course.

  “I know right. I feel the exact same way. I have no idea how Chrissy does it,” said Rory.

  “Who’s Chrissy?”

  “His assistant,” all three said in unison.

  “She’s in Hong Kong with him as we speak,” said Cortney.

  “Lucky bitch. What I would give to be in the same hotel room with that sweet piece of ass,” said Tiffany biting her lip with a lustful gaze.

  “What about your man candy at home Tiff? Or did you forget about Greg?” said Elliot in a dry tone.

  “Way to ruin the fantasy you ass,” Tiffany said giving him the stink eye and tossing a potato chip at him.

  “So, Chrissy, when is she supposed to be back?” Lane really needed to hurry this along since her thirty minutes were almost up, and these girls got distracted really easy.

  “They’re supposed to be back in a few weeks, but Chris is coming back for two days next week to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Hey, idea, we are supposed to hang out when she gets back, why don’t you come along, she’d love to meet you,” Cortney offered.

  This was it, the opening she needed to get close and personal with the assistant of the man himself. Thank God, she huffed in her head while crumbling her sandwich bag. “I’d love too.”

  “Great, give me your number and I’ll give you a call.” After reciting her number to Cortney, she quickly explained her boss’s lunch habits, and how she had to go. They understood all too well, and invited her to have lunch again with them tomorrow. As she left the room, she couldn’t help the smile on her face and the sheer excitement she had, looking forward to hanging out with them again tomorrow.

  ***

  Driving past fourth and main that evening she stopped at a red light. Gazing through her open window, she spotted across the street at a dimly lit Bobby’s Auto Garage, a 1995 blue VW bug parked inches inside. It was her car, the one that was stolen, or so she thought. She knew it was hers because of the broken headlight and the dent in the hood she had made after kicking it in one morning when it wouldn’t start.

  Once the light changed, she turned and found herself throwing the car in park before getting out. A bald man with too much side burns in a greasy blue coverall came trotting out toward her. “Can I help you with something, Sweetheart?”

  “Yes, where’d you get that car?” she asked charging toward the guy, only stopping inches away.

  He glanced at the bug. “Some lady bought it in a few weeks ago. Why?”

  “Well that’s my car. It was stolen from the front of my apartment.”

  He glanced over at the bug once again, before scowling back at her. “Look, lady I don’t know anything about that. Marty said some lady brought it in, said she wanted to sell it. He paid cash for it so now it’s mine.”

  “Where is Marty then I’d like to talk to him.”

  “He ain't here. He left a few days ago for his honeymoon.”

  “Do you have any idea what the girl looked like?”

  “No, I wasn’t here. Look I got work to do so if you don’t mind—”

  “Actually, I do mind since this is my car and I didn’t sell it,” she said annoyed by his unpleasant attitude.

  “Look unless you got fifteen hundred in your purse that you don’t need, the car is mine. Now I suggest you leave before you get yourself in trouble little girl.” With those last words he headed back inside without even a second glance.

  Stunned, she hopped in her car and reversed, hitting the gas a little too hard and almost knocking down the entrance sign. Who the hell would take someone’s car and sell it, for fifteen hundred none the less? That car was worth so much more than money, and she wanted to cry knowing it had been taken. It was the first car she’d bought with her own money after saving for almost two years, before finally being able to afford something halfway decent. Her dad took her to a local car dealership where she spotted it covered in the word ‘sale.' They bought it that same day.

  And now it was gone.

  ***

  Two days later, she rushed into the office knowing he would definitely be mad that she was late with his lunch yet again, but when she got off the elevator and found that he wasn’t at his desk, she exhaled. Checking the other rooms on their floor also finding them empty, she went into his office dropping the plastic bag on the only empty space on the edge of his desk before pulling out its contents.

  Once the food was arranged to his liking, she turned readying herself to leave, but was suddenly rooted to the floor where her eyes scanned the empty office once more. He wasn’t here she thought. His desk and computer were right there, and she was only inches away from touching distance, so a peek wouldn’t hurt. Who would see? Who would tell?

  “I shouldn’t. He could be on his way back. But then again this could be my only chance. I have to take it. I have to do it.”

  Rocking from heel to toe her eyes moved from the door to his desk then back again. “Ahhh, screw it.” Quickly stepping around his desk she looked at the files and piles of papers covering almost every square inch. Without touching anything she scanned the top pages, each of them of course being work related, some were catalogs others purchase orders. Realizing she was getting nowhere by standing there, she pulled a pile and started sifting through, careful not to bend, crease, or crumble anything. If the man was anything, he kept a neat pile of paper, and an organized file. When she saw it was all work junk, she pushed that one aside and went for another, attacking it the same way.

  Paranoia soon set in as she went from sifting, to lookin
g through the glass every other second. Because she couldn’t see the elevator from his desk she had to listen very closely for the ding, and any footsteps. Almost to the bottom of the second pile, a brown crumpled piece of paper that could have easily been mistaken for an envelope caught her attention from the waste bin near her feet.

  Dropping the current load back in place and bending, pulling it from the bin, she smoothed it out on her skirt before bringing it within eye level. It was a list of what looked like codes, twenty in all, each beginning with either Re, Bl, Bru, Bla, and each ending with six numbers in no distinctive order. Only someone who knew what it was would have known what to make of it, but for some reason she felt like it was a clue, bringing her one step closer to what she desperately wanted to know. With a smile on her face, she silently happy danced, but paused suddenly frozen at the sound of a flushing toilet.

  Wide-eyed, the paper slipped from her fingers when she turned toward the bathroom door on her right and cursed. She couldn’t believe he was here the whole time inches away from firing her. Bending quickly and grabbing it off the floor, she started thinking of what to do next. Remembering her phone inside her jacket pocket she quickly pulled it out with shaking hands, and took a picture of it before crumpling it and throwing it back in the bin.

  Her heart was banging against her ribcage at this point, and when she heard running water, that was her cue to get out. Quickly, she began tiptoeing toward the door afraid he would hear her heels clicking against the tiles if she ran at full speed. Luckily the door didn’t make a sound when it closed, as she hurried to her desk falling hard into the chair, breathing as if she had finished a 5K. He strolled into the office a few seconds later, and took a seat in his chair.

  Looking nervously down at her shaking hands, afraid he might have known what she'd been up to, she tried calming herself with some slow breathing exercises. He wasn't eating, as the bag remained closed, in the same spot she left it in.

  Turning on her computer screen she slumped forward awkwardly with her elbow knocking a jar of pencils off the desk onto the floor. Bending to retrieve them, she thought of how stupid she was thinking she could pull something like that off. She didn’t even follow the simple rules. Wait till he was out of the building K.C had said, in the car, halfway across town before snooping. One of the pencils went all the way under so she had to get down on her hands and knees in order to reach it. She was not cut out for this she thought. She was never, ever snooping again. “Miss Bennett.”

  “Huh.” BOOP! “Shit,” she cursed, after banging her head against the underside of her desk. She quickly stood to find Mr. Taylor staring sullenly in front of her desk. The pain in her head quickly subsided as fear made her eyes bulge and lips slowly part. “Ahhh…yes.”

  He looked from her hand rubbing her head to the one holding the pencils. “I have a meeting at the Countess in twenty minutes. I want you to accompany me.”

  She blinked at him surprised by his orders. He’d never asked her to accompany him to any outside meetings before, and something told her it wasn’t to take notes. “The Countess. You… want me to come?”

  His eyes showed enthusiasm as a ghost of a smile formed on his lips. She didn't like that look. That was a very very bad look and one she knew would end badly for one of them. Mainly her. “Yes, be ready in twenty minutes.” He strolled into his office while Lane slumped into her chair gazing blankly at the pencils in hand. This was a means to an end, she thought. How the hell would she get out of this one?

  Eleven

  Sliding into a black Bentley Arnage with Mr. Taylor sitting comfortable next to her was the second most un-comfortable place Lane had ever been in her entire life. She sat quietly looking straight ahead as the driver swerved through traffic, taking them to the Hotel downtown. Mr. Taylor did the same except he was looking at her the entire time.

  Garrett knew when someone was nervous around him and judging by the look, she had given him when he asked her to accompany him, was all the confirmation he needed. She remembered something, or she was very good at playing games, because right now she was ready to claw her way out of this back seat. Maybe it was the fact that she’d been in his office earlier for quite some time, doing something he didn't quite know, but needed to figure out.

  He’d heard her heels as they clicked across the floor, and the sound of the plastic bag when she handled his lunch as she always did. He was behind the bathroom door ready to step out when everything went a little too quiet. She didn’t leave, so what was she doing?

  Lane felt like he was scanning her, trying to get her to crack under his watchful stare, but she held it together, held her corner, and kept her eyes straight ahead. “So… this meeting. What’s it about exactly?” she asked, hoping that making work related conversation will distract her thoughts.

  “We are meeting with Mr. Morgan a good friend of mine. It would seem he’s looking for a few cars to add to his collection.”

  “I saw a few of the new catalogs yesterday with a few of the shipments that came in. Does he know which models he would like to have?”

  He straightened his position while fiddling with his sleeves. “Not quite sure. That’s why we’re meeting with him, to get all the details hammered out." He paused for a few beats, eyeing her from heel to head with intense eyes. Lane shifted, keeping her gaze trained at the window, but could still feel the heat from his stare on her skin. "You know Miss Bennett; you are very beautiful.” Once again, she was caught off guard by his statement, and started rubbing her arm. “Your hair is such a distinctive color.”

  She had no idea what people’s obsession with her hair was about. First Sylas now him. “Umm… thank you… sir,” she responded looking down at her knitted fingers.

  “The thing about your hair Lane, is it’s hard to miss, hard to be inconspicuous even if you wanted to. It’s not a red you usually find these days. Actually, reminds me of a girl I used to know, but she ran away before I got to know her better,” he said with an unreadable expression, turning to touch a few strands that had fallen loose from her braid. Lane swallowed, and for a brief moment she thought he would take it a step farther, by moving his hand across her cheek, seeing as he was so close, but when he let go and simply turned away, Lane exhaled a silent thank you before turning toward her window. What was he talking about? And why did something about his words seem familiar?

  ***

  Olivia

  6 years ago…

  “Hey, need a ride?” he asked. He was older than the guys she knew, maybe in college even, but definitely not one she’d met before. He was sitting in a sleek black BMW with his head a few inches out the window, watching her while she stood on the vacant sidewalk thirty minutes from her home.

  It was three in the morning by then, and she never expected to leave the party so late considering she wasn’t having that much fun to begin with, but then she’d met this guy with these amazing lips who couldn’t detach them from hers, and it all went downhill from there. The sex was easy, getting him to leave her alone afterward was hard. Her father would freak if he found her gone, which was why she was practically running down the sidewalk before being stopped by this stranger’s voice. “I shouldn’t, besides… I don’t even know you," she said with a pointed stare.

  He grinned a wolfish grin, that made his eyes sparkle. He was very tempting, she thought. "I'm Cas, if it pleases you. And you are?”

  “Someone who really needs to get home, but vaguely remember the saying, don’t get in cars with strangers.” She crossed her arms.

  “Wasn’t it, never take candy from strangers,” he said coyly with a hint of amusement.

  “As long as it has the word stranger in it, I really think it’s a no go.”

  He smiled before tilting his head slightly. “But were not really strangers, since I told you my name just now.”

  “But how do I know that’s really your name, Cas. And what kind of name is Cas anyway?”

  “One that I have to live with. Didn’t you
say you were in some sort of hurry? Don’t you think you’ll get there a lot faster if I took you?”

  “You’re pretty keen on getting me into your car, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged glancing away for a second before glancing back. “Not really, but it looks like it’s about to rain and I wouldn’t want you to get wet. I promise… I won’t bite.”

  She glanced up at the sky just in time to feel a few raindrops on her face. Not having an umbrella stuck somewhere in her mini skirt, she took a few steps then stopped when she felt a few more droplets touching her skin. What harm could a thirty minute ride cause, she thought. “Okay, but no funny business.”

  His handsome face lit up with a smile as she walked around the hood, and opened the door. “I’m Olivia by the way.”

  ***

  Lane…

  “Miss Bennett, we are here.” Lane blinked before looking up at the driver who was holding the door open, waiting for her to get out.

  “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

  “It’s no problem miss,” he said closing the door once she was on the side walk. She looked around and found Mr. Taylor standing near the entrance looking impatiently at her. Once she was at his side, the doorman greeted them a good afternoon before opening the door.

  Inside, he walked briskly toward the Countess, a restaurant off the far right of the entrance of the hotel Chancellor. They were greeted by the hostess, before she directed them over to a table where a tall, dark and very handsome man sat.

  The man stood when they approached, and shook Mr. Taylors hand, then planted a soft kiss on Lane’s cheek before pulling the chair out next to him for her. “Price, nice to see you again. This is my assistant Miss Lane Bennett; she’ll be joining us this afternoon.”

  Price Morgen genuinely smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you Miss Bennett,” he said warmly. His deep brown eyes capturing hers.

  “You too Mr. Morgen—”