by Cole, Cassie
I snatched it from her like I was a dog grabbing a treat. “And what if someone saw you leave?” I said as I opened the folder. “I may have avoided the security cameras, but there was no way for you to come back here without passing in front of one.” I paused to squint at the papers. “What is this? High school transcripts?”
“Actually, yes,” she said. “Barbara Jenkins in Accounting has a daughter applying to colleges. These are the transcripts she had faxed to the front desk.”
I stared at her like she was speaking Greek.
“That’s my cover!” she hissed. “The high school faxed us the transcripts. I’m taking them to her. So we need to hurry up so I can drop those off. Turn to the next page.”
I did as I was told, flipping to the next set of stapled documents. It was a set of drill site equipment invoices, with a cover letter on top. I flipped through the equipment and said, “What am I supposed to be seeing?”
She shouldered in next to me so she could see. “On the face of it, there’s nothing unusual about this. Just a typical set of invoices for a new drill site. But I noticed a weird typo in the cover letter, and it jogged my memory. So I went back and checked: this is the exact same cover letter and set of invoices I sent to this drill site last week. They’ve changed the dates, but it’s all the same, verbatim. Except one part.”
She flipped back to the cover letter and pointed at one sentence.
“Berlin drilling technique?” I asked.
“Does that mean anything to you?”
“No. Should it?”
“Here’s the thing,” Lexa began. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ve noticed that being mentioned in a lot of cover letters. They’ll instruct the drill site to use the Berlin drilling technique. I Googled it, and there’s nothing about it online.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing! Weird, right? Well, I didn’t think much of it until this set of invoices. Like I said: they’re the exact same as one I sent to this site a week ago, except this time they used that phrase.”
The gears in my head were turning rapidly. “Do you think it’s code?”
“It has to be!” she said excitedly. “I started going through the other invoices that mention the phrase. Most people are careful to include new invoices to cover their tracks and make the documents seem as legitimate as possible. This time, Larry got lazy and just used the same ones as before. The only purpose this invoice serves is to tell them to use the Berlin drilling technique. I think it’s code to encourage them to speed up their work by any means necessary!”
“Hold on a sec,” I said. “You said you went back and checked the other invoices?”
“Yep.”
“How? I thought you shredded the original copies.”
“I do…” She crossed her arms under her full breasts. “But when I transcribe them on the computer, I save a copy. Not for any nefarious purposes! I was only doing it in case I needed to check for language consistency…”
I grinned like a little kid. I couldn’t help it. “I don’t know if I believe this code theory,” I said, “but Lexa: those original copies could blow this entire thing open!”
“Really? But if it’s not code…”
“They’ve given us copies of all that paperwork,” I said. “Every invoice and billing record. Thing is, Tex and I suspect they’ve been giving us dummy reports. Fakes, while sending a different set of invoices to the job sites! I didn’t think there would be any way for us to check, but if you have copies saved…”
“So this is helpful?” she asked.
She looked so beautiful right then. Hopeful and bright. Like she genuinely believed in what we were doing and wanted to be of assistance.
I couldn’t help but kiss her.
It was every bit as incredible as I’d imagined. Her red lips were full and warm, and her breath tasted like mint. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up to mine, giving in to the kiss like it was exactly what she’d wanted too.
Finally she broke away, stepping back and chest heaving as she caught her breath. Holy fuck, she was gorgeous. The pencil skirt and blouse showed off her curves in all the right ways, and her hair was tied up and framed her face perfectly. She looked up at me through her eyelashes and blinked.
I had to have her, and damned if I cared about getting caught.
34
Lexa
I hadn’t gone into that room with the intention of seducing Jason, but now that we were here and we’d kissed it was like my subconscious had schemed against me.
I loved the way Jason looked at me in that moment after our kiss. The pure, unrestrained lust in his almond eyes. The way he stood up straight, showing off his muscular frame underneath his dress shirt. The way his pants hugged his waist, barely concealing the hard manhood underneath.
I want him, I knew. There was nothing I could do to stop myself.
I pulled up my skirt and hopped onto the edge of the desk just as Jason came forward, grabbing my face roughly and kissing me again. I fumbled at his belt but there was no time, so I settled for unzipping his pants and reaching inside, threading his rock-hard shaft through the hole in his boxer-briefs until it came into view. Sweet Jesus he was big, even with only half of himself sticking out of his pants.
Quickly, I pulled my panties down and spread my legs for him.
We said nothing, because there was nothing to say. He kissed me again, and I wrapped my legs around him to pull him into me, his tip brushing against my lower lips. It reminded me of that night in the storage room of the bar, a quick rendezvous guided more by need than thought. I leaned back on my elbows as he entered me, widening me with aching thickness, filling me like I’d never been filled. Even after all the sex I’d been having with Tex I was ravenous for lovemaking, couldn’t get enough of it.
Jason wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and held me forward to kiss me while he pushed all the way inside. “Harder,” I whispered, because I wasn’t able to accept him slow and tenderly. I needed it hard and fast and quick, otherwise I would die with impatience. The burning in my loins demanded all of him right now.
He thrust once, hard, just as I’d instructed but it still hurt a tiny bit. The kind of ache I loved. He paused to see how I reacted so I said, “Faster!” and he obeyed, giving it to me again and again, making me gasp with each ragged, violent stroke. Soon I was grunting in time with his love, so I bit my lip to keep from making any noise, and he kissed me to keep my sounds from escaping anyways.
I moaned, and gasped, and cried out into his warm mouth as he rose to his climax within minutes, his brown eyes widening with a pleasure so intense it almost looked like he was in pain as he shuddered and gripped my hair, pulling a handful tightly while he filled me with his seed.
*
We didn’t say anything after. He kissed me, then pulled out and hastily cleaned himself up, taking care not to get anything on the front of his dark dress pants. It made for a humorous scene: wiping himself off, then taking extreme care to slip his softening manhood back inside his pants while not touching the outside fabric.
“Was that a thank you?” I asked. “For giving you this information?”
His smile was softer than it usually was. Vulnerable after our intimacy. I tried to memorize it because I knew it was fleeting. That it would not last.
“If so, it wasn’t an intentional thank you,” he said, sighing with warmth. “It just sort of happened.”
“You’re saying men don’t fantasize about luring women into elaborate hook-up scenarios?”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “You’re the one with the elaborate scheme of getting me alone here. I felt like a secret agent infiltrating an enemy facility.”
“Good point.” It was my turn to sigh, this time with disappointment. “I need to get going. Barbara will be looking for this fax.”
He laughed.
“What?”
“Fax,” he mumbled. “This whole company is tech-averse.”
“Tell me abou
t it. Mr. Bryson doesn’t even have a computer on his desk.”
He got a funny look on his face, then waved it off. I wondered what he’d been thinking, but before I could ask, he said, “So you can copy those files to a thumb drive? The copies of the cover letters?”
“I… I think so,” I said.
“You think?”
“I have to be careful about it. What if they have a way to watch what I’m doing on the computer?”
“Didn’t we just establish how tech-averse this place is?” he said.
He was right, but I was feeling nervous. Showing Jason a specific document was one thing, but smuggling dozens of files home felt like crossing a different kind of line.
I gave him a kiss, which made him blush. He actually blushed! “I’ll leave first. You wait a minute or two before following.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said in an exaggerated country accent.
“You trying to sound like Tex?”
“No ma’am,” he said again, which made me giggle.
“Alright, here I go. Be safe.”
I retraced my steps until I reached the area with security cameras, then made my way to Barbara’s office. She had her head down when I knocked, and thanked me hastily before getting back to her work. She had barely noticed I was there dropping off her transcripts. That felt like a good sign; nobody noticed anything.
Even still, sitting back at the front desk felt different than before. It was like I was sitting next to a bomb that could explode at any moment. Saving copies of the cover letters felt like a natural thing to do, but now that Jason wanted them I realized how reckless it was. What if Bryson found out? With how suspicious he was, especially if there really was something to the Berlin drilling technique code…
I considered the idea of copying the files to a thumb drive. It felt like a violation of my position. Stealing company data. If I knew for certain there was shady things going on it would be easier, but right now what did I have? Speculation? Everything I’d told Jason now seemed awfully flimsy. I imagined myself explaining it to a police detective after I was arrested for corporate espionage. It didn’t hold much water, then.
I left promptly at 5:00 rather than waiting for Tex or Jason. Getting out of the Blackrock office felt like escaping to safety; with each step toward my condo I relaxed. When I opened the door I was bombarded with the smell of spices and cooked beef.
“Tex?” I said. Maybe they’d beaten me home after all and I’d missed them. But when I climbed the stairs I was greeted with the image of a huge German man in blue jean overalls, humming to himself while stirring a spoon in a pot.
“Kai?”
He whirled and had a big grin on his face. “Oh, hello Lexa!”
“Hey,” said another voice to my left. Cas rose from the couch, looking as dashing as I’d remembered: a blue button-down tucked into jeans, with his dirty-blond hair a little bit longer than before. His eyes sparkled along with his smile.
I practically ran to him, throwing my arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. “I didn’t know you’d be home!”
“We figured a surprise was in order,” he said.
“No, we did not!” Kai announced from the kitchen. “This was all Cas’s idea.” He turned to point the wooden spoon. “His idea to surprise you.”
“Alright, maybe so,” he admitted.
“I like it.” I leaned in and kissed him again, savoring the taste that I’d been missing for the past week. He held me just as tightly as I held him, strong arms pinning me against his chest.
Suddenly I felt guilty. I’d been with Tex all this week, and Jason just hours earlier today. No matter what arrangement they’d explained to me, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d been unfaithful.
He seemed to know what I was thinking. He loosened his hold on me and said, “Hope Tex has been keeping you busy.”
“Yeah…”
He tilted my chin up until I was facing him directly. God, his eyes were beautiful. Completely disarming. “If you’re feeling weird, don’t. I mean, it’s natural at first, but this is the kind of arrangement we’re used to.”
“Honest?”
“Cross my heart. We were the ones to bring it up to you, after all. And I trust Tex more than anyone.”
Over my shoulder came the sound of someone clearing their throat.
“Alright, I trust Tex, Jason, and you more than anyone. Happy?”
Kai answered in the affirmative by returning to humming his tune.
“It’s been fun,” I admitted. “But I’m glad you’re back.”
He kissed me again, sucking gently on my lip for a little bit longer. “I’m glad to be back.”
Kai came over and gave me a big hug too, lifting me into the air while I squealed before putting me down. It occurred to me that he was the only one I hadn’t been with. I imagined what his body would feel like over mine, so much larger than the others but just as chiseled with muscle. I felt my cheeks redden as he returned to the food.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Sloppy Josef,” Kai said.
“You mean Sloppy Joe’s?”
“No,” Kai said pointedly. “I add diced bits of German sausage to the ground beef. So it is Sloppy Josef!”
“Sounds delicious,” I said. Then, to Cas: “How was your site visits? Did you…” I trailed off.
Cas smiled widely. “We have a lot to discuss with Tex and Jason. But I can say it went very well.”
I sighed with relief. If they found everything they needed, maybe I wouldn’t have to steal the documents fro my computer. It was like a burden being dropped from my shoulders.
We sat down with beers and talked about their travels across west North Dakota and Montana. Kai complained about the hotels they stayed at, while Cas said he slept like a baby in his own room. Kai then spent the next 15 minutes describing every single meal they had during the week, each one less tasty than the last. “It is good to be home, cook a real meal,” he said.
I wouldn’t call Sloppy Joe’s a real meal, but compared to what they’d been having it probably was.
It was early in the evening, but already I wanted to jump Cas’s bones. It was like finally going off a diet and buying a big chocolate cake, only to be told I had to stare at it for several hours before digging in. I wanted to grab a fork and knife and cut myself off a big slice of Cas. Heck, I didn’t even need utensils: I’d use my bare hands, no matter how messy we got. The thought made me giggle.
Tex and Jason came home, wiping away any thoughts of intimacy with Cas. “Oh fuck!” Jason yelled downstairs. “That smells like Sloppy Josef!”
They came running up the stairs and greeted their friends with warm hugs and slaps on the back. Kai served out the food and set the table while they laughed and joked about coming home early.
“We have lots to tell you,” Cas said as we sat down to eat.
Kai glanced at me. “Should we… Wait until after dinner to discuss?”
To discuss without me, was what he meant. The others all looked at me as if noticing me for the first time.
“She’s on our side,” Jason said with a determined nod. “We can trust her.”
“Seconded,” Tex said.
“Well then.” Cas paused to pick up his bun and take a big bite. “We found them. All of them.”
Tex’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”
“Mmm hmm. First two didn’t want to talk,” Cas explained, “either because they were paid off, or because they were scared.”
“Or both,” Kai said grimly.
“But the third woman, Darlene, spilled her guts after some nudging. Admitted they’d been skipping all the safety regulations to get drill sites up and running as quickly as possible. Especially the ones out west, near the border, on account of all the mineral rights battles there.”
“Right,” Jason said, although I had no idea to what they were referring.
“She told us everything. Admitted it’d been going on for the entire time she’d been
a contractor there, close to two years.”
“Is there proof of who told them to do it?” Tex asked.
“I’m getting there,” Cas said. “Darlene didn’t know anything about it, but we recorded her testimony. Once we found the original site manager—which took four days—we used her recording to get him to flip. It wasn’t hard since he was the one telling them to cut the corners; he was totally fucked, and didn’t want to take the fall for everyone else. Here’s where it gets fun: he said Blackrock uses code to put pressure on the contractors.”
“Let me guess,” Jason cut in. “Berlin drilling?”
Cas and Kai both shared a surprised look. “Berlin drilling technique, yep. How did you…”
Jason waved his Sloppy Josef at me. “We’ve got a woman on the inside.”
It was my turn to explain what I’d found in the cover letters, how I’d noticed the strange phrase mentioned over and over. “I would have brought it up sooner, but I didn’t get suspicious until this morning…”
“Are you kidding?” Kai said. “Do not apologize! This is fantastic!”
“Seems kind of useless since you guys already discovered it,” I mumbled.
“Lexa has been saving copies of the cover letters,” Jason quickly said. He sounded like a proud teacher announcing a student had aced a test. “She’s going to save them on a flash drive for us.”
Cas asked, “How long have you been doing this?”
“Umm. Just over a week?”
There were cheers of excitement around the table. “A week’s worth of cover letters should be perfect,” Cas said.
“Have any come from Milton Bryson himself?” Kai asked.
“None. They’re all from the other department heads and managers.”
“Have you seen any evidence of him being involved in any way?” Cas said.
“I haven’t,” I admitted. “Just his general suspicion about you guys. He seems pretty hands-off about most of what goes on. He doesn’t even have a computer on his desk.”