Chapter Eleven
Contact

Axel Turner surveyed himself in the men's room mirror, turning his head from side to side. Yes, there was an errant lock of hair trying to stick up in back. Shit. I should know better than to wear those damn caps, but I look so good in them. He sighed, and wet his comb in the sink, then carefully smoothed his hair in back and checked the results. It took too more tries. He didn't want to use too much water: that made his hair curl, and he was out of styling gel.

He wiped off the comb and tucked it back in his pocket, checked his teeth to be sure there were not food particles in embarrassing places, and practiced a quick smile. Oh, hell, boy. You don't really need to practice any more. You're damn near irresistible.

Whistling, he left the men's room and swung by the desk in the front lobby. Borden was at his usual post, a Fish and Game magazine open on the desk behind the raised counter, as usual. Borden was taking retirement in two years, and had the first five years after that planned solid with visits to different fishing and hunting spots in America. Axel had seen Mrs. Borden a couple of times, and was pretty sure she was planning on staying home and packing his wide ass off in the RV alone.

"Hey, Borden."

"Hey, Hotshot." Borden didn't look up from the magazine. Borden didn't look up for much of anything. Axel had a feeling that an all-girl topless marching band could come through the lobby playing John Philip Sousa, and Borden would just turn a page. "You gonna do escort duty again today?"

It was a rote question. Axel ALWAYS did escort duty for any of the women who worked late and felt nervous about walking out to their cars. He did it for the nice looking ones even when they DIDN'T work late. You could do some serious flirting between the building and their car, and sometimes that led to other, more pleasant things. More than once he'd been invited into a back seat.

"Yeah, Borden. Got to keep the damsels from getting distressed."

Borden was looking at an advertisement for a graphite rod that would cost just about what he took home in pay for one week's work, with overtime. "Yeah, and if they didn't get their daily dose of Turner turn-on they'd be pretty distressed, huh?" There was no irony in his voice. He'd learned long ago that Axel would ignore it. The boy truly believed he was God's gift to women, and it was his divine duty to shine his light into as many dim little lives as he could.

Axel tightened the knot in his tie minutely. "You said it, I didn't. Think I'll go upstairs and take a look around."

Borden grunted as Axel headed for the elevators. It would have been simpler for Axel to stay at the lobby desk and pick up his charges as they passed through, but he probably wanted to be sure that some choice bit didn't locate a male co-worker to walk with before she got downstairs. One of these days he was going to try some shit with the wrong person. Either an irate spouse or boyfriend would feed him his nuts, or he'd get a face full of mace. Borden kind of hoped he'd be around to see that. He ran across an ad for a new type of custom made, hand-tied fly, guaranteed to lure any bass within a square mile of your boat, and lost what little interest he'd had in Axel Turner.

In the elevator Axel's hand hovered over the buttons indecisively. Where would be the best pickings this evening? Accounting was no good: those bean counters made sure they got out on the dot, unless there was some sort of big push going on. Ditto personnel: since they kept an eye on all the overtime, their supervisor was big on punctuality. Cafeteria? There might be a few scrubbers left, cleaning up, but they always smelled like cleansers and whatever had been the special of the day.

What about records? Yeah, records. He pushed the button and stood back to wait as the doors slid closed. On the way up, he complacently considered the possibilities. There were a lot of single women in records. Not that he objected to the occasional married woman, but you had to be careful with them.

He'd had better success with the women of records than he had with most of the other departments. Must be having to deal with those dry, boring facts all day. It must leave them ready for a little action. Well... He smiled to himself as the doors slid open. I can give 'em more action than a Stallone movie marathon.

The office was still half-full. Good, good. More to choose from. The old warthog who ran the show gave him the hairy eyeball when he came into the room, but he gave her his 'damn, but you look good for a woman your age' smile, and she softened a little around the edges. He went to her first: better to get the authority's blessing before starting to troll.

"Good evening, Mrs. Hollachuck." And ain't that an appropriate name? I'm not sure if you look like a woodchuck, but that face would do justice to some kind of rodent.

"Good evening, Axel. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company? No security threat, I hope?"

Straight faced, he said, "Well, ma'am, I've heard that some of the staff may be smuggling out important company documents."

Her eyebrows rose. "Really?"

No, you moron. "Yes, ma'am. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to perform a strip search on all the female staff."

It finally got through to her, and she giggled, a rather grotesque sound coming from her. "You're a bad man, Axel Turner."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm real good at being bad." Crap, I deserve a medal for flirting with this dinosaur. What I won't do to get access to possible nooky.* "I'm here in case any of the ladies feel a little nervous about walking out to their cars alone."

"Axel, it's only five-thirty. There are no windows in this office, but isn't it still light outside?"

Sincere puppy-dog look. "Yes, ma'am." Damn, I'm getting tired of saying that. "But this neighborhood isn't what it could be. I heard a woman got her purse snatched while she was on her lunch break, about a block up the road. So you see, there's never really any time you're absolutely safe in a city like this." The purse snatching wasn't an entire lie: it had happened, but more than a half a mile away, and it was suspected that the 'victim' had been trying to make a drug purchase, and the dealer had just decided to take payment without offering up product.

She was nodding. "You're right, of course. I'll be here for another hour or so, but I'm sure some of the younger girls will be leaving soon. I think Mina was just going to the ladies' room for a little water for her rose."

"Rose?"

"Yes, I'm surprised you didn't hear about it." Me, too. If anything happened that was interesting enough for you to think it warrants comment, I want to know. I hate being out of the loop. Well, I guess you're going to make me ask, aren't you, you old warthog? "What happened?"

"It's quite the mystery. Several of the girls received anonymous flowers, a single rose each. That would be odd enough by itself, but the vases that the flowers were in are all quite valuable crystal. Do you know what Waterford crystal is, Axel?"

No, I'm a fucking peasant moron. "Yes, ma'am. Quite a famous brand. That IS interesting. Several, you say?"

"Yes, five in all: Mina, Adrianna and Torrie in accounting, Leeanne in personnel, and a Susie somethingorother in the mail room."

"Liang." Trust this snobby bitch not to remember her name. All good enough looking chicks, if kinda quiet. And I guess I'm going to have to drag the whole story out of you, aren't I, bitch? "Completely anonymous? No cards at all?"

A frown. "Well, there WERE cards, but nothing significant. Just one word on each one: things like maybe and perhaps."

"If it was just one of them, I'd say they had a stalker."

Hollachuck looked startled. The idea had obviously never occurred to her. "It could just be a secret admirer."

I shrugged. "In this day and age, they pretty much amount to the same thing."

Mina came back into the office, carefully carrying a pretty crystal vase that contained a single rose. She was regarding it with a rather pleased expression. When her gaze fell upon Hollachuck and Turner, it cooled. Axel didn't miss that, and it made him more determined to get close to her than ever. "Hello, Miss O'Connel. Nice flower."

"Thank you. Excuse me, I need to put it away." She went to her cubbyhole, and Axel followed.

As she set it on the desk he said, "Miz Hollachuck says that it was anonymous."

"Yes."

Mm, pretty short, aren't we, darlin'? You're not gonna put me off that easy. "I find that a little disturbing."

And why would it bother you? she thought acidly. Aloud she said, "It's a little unusual, I'll admit. It would be worse if I were the only one, but what with the other girls getting one, I'm pretty sure I'm not being singled out." She got her coat.

"You sure about that? I mean, there are a LOT of women working in this building, and only five of you got roses. Sounds a little like you were being targeted to me." Put a little fear into her. It's probably nothing, but if it makes her feel vulnerable there'll be that much more chance to get 'protective'.

"I hardly think so." She put on her coat and got her purse. Walking toward the door, she said, "But thank you for your concern."

Oo, did I just hear 'fuck you' under those words? As she started to slip past him, Axel put his had casually on the door frame, blocking her exit. "You're not taking this seriously, Mina."

Her eyes sparked at the use of her first name. "Look, I'm a church mouse, I don't have any power in the company or the real world. What could anyone possibly want from me?"

He let his eyes travel lingeringly down her body. When they returned to her face, she had flushed, but it was hard to tell if it was in embarrassment, or anger. "You've got the same thing any man wants from a woman, Mina. I think I'd better escort you out to your car... just to be sure you're safe."

She stared at his arm till he lowered it, then walked past him saying, "That isn't necessary."

He followed her through the office, ignoring the curious look Hollachuck gave them. "I think it is. I don't want you walking around outside alone."

"I won't be."

They had stepped into the hall. Stephen Baxter was just leaving the elevator. "Ah, Mina, there you are. All through for the day?"

"Yes, sir." She walked over to stand beside him. "Mr. Baxter, Mr. Turner is worried about me going out alone."

"Really?" Stephen turned a bright blue gaze on Axel. Turner took in the perfect cut, style, and fit of Baxter's understated wardrobe, and suddenly felt flashy in his tailored uniform. "There's no need to worry, Security."

Son of a bitch! Like he didn't just hear my name!

Stephen was continuing. "I'll be giving Miss O'Connel rides too and from work for the next few days, till her car is repaired. She'll be quite safe with me. Now, Mina, Dominic is waiting downstairs."

Stephen put his hand on her back to guide her into the elevator, and Axel was gratified to see that she stiffened and subtly pulled away, just as she had when he tried the same thing. You're money isn't going to get you as far as you might think with THAT one, bub, he thought smugly as the doors slid closed.

In the elevator, Stephen said, "Wasn't that the young man who was with you in the parking lot yesterday?"

"He was in the parking lot, yes, but he wasn't WITH me," Mina replied.

"I see." He was silent for a moment. "Was he bothering you, Miss O'Connel? I can't have one of my employees harassing women."

Mina hesitated. As obnoxious as she found Axel, he really hadn't DONE anything, besides be an asshole, and even assholes needed jobs. She decided that it wasn't bad enough for her to want his job, and said, "Not really. He's a little full of himself, but I'm pretty sure he's harmless. I can take care of myself."

Again there was silence. As the doors slid open and they started into the lobby, Stephen remarked, "I get the impression that you've been taking care of yourself for a long time." When she didn't reply he said, "Please pardon my unseemly interest. I have no right to be so personal."

"No problem." I'll just ignore anything I don't want to answer.

The car was pulled up right at the entrance. Dominic hopped out and opened the door for her again while Baxter went around and got in the other side. Mina felt just the tiniest bit embarrassed by the gesture. "You don't have to do that."

Dominic shrugged. "Why shouldn't I? Besides, I like to."

On the way to Mina's apartment, she said, "So, did you get a chance to have a look at my car?" She tried to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

He nodded. "Yeah, just a quick look. It seems to be the fuel pump."

She groaned, and Baxter said, "Is that expensive?"

Mina gave him a disbelieving look. God bless, 'im. He has no concept. Must be nice. "It is when you're on a budget like mine."

"If you're not in a hurry, I can check around some junkyards and see if I can find a second hand one, save you some money," Dominic offered.

"Would you?" For the first time there was some genuine emotion in Mina's voice: gratitude.

"Sure. It may take a little while, though."

"That will be no problem," Stephen broke in. He looked at Mina. "I will be happy to provide you with transportation until Dominic can effect the repairs."

"I hate to be any trouble." There was a remarkable lack of sincerity in her tone again.

"It's no trouble, believe me. I enjoy having you. I don't get to spend too much time with other people away from work these days, and you're a very pleasant person."

"Oh. Thank you." She didn't say anything else, but she occasionally slid him a puzzled glance. Pleasant? Stephen H. Baxter thinks I'm pleasant? I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

They dropped her off at her apartment, Dominic again doing the honors on the door. On the way home, Stephen settled back and said, "Now, Dominic. Is it truly the fuel pump that is giving the young lady so much trouble?"

"Well, the fuel pump probably won't last much longer, but that's not the problem right now."

"And what IS the problem."

He grinned at Stephen, looking at him in the rearview mirror. "Clogged fuel filter."

"What?"

"Probably from letting the gas get too low. The sediment in the bottom of the tank got sucked up and clogged the filter. I already fixed it. It took a wrench, some solvent, an old toothbrush, and about fifteen minutes, total."

Stephen frowned. "I'm not ready for her to have her car back."

"That's what I figured, so I didn't charge the battery she wore down trying to start it. Whenever you're ready, I just give it a jump, or put in a fresh one, and she's good to go. At least till something else goes wrong with the piece of crap."

"Very good. I spoke with Mr. Lamont before I left. He was unable to install the video equipment today because her upstairs neighbors were home, and he needs to get into their apartment to place the cameras. He'll try again tomorrow."

"He'll manage it. If they don't want to leave, he can just waft a little methane in there, show up on their doorstep in uniform, and tell 'em the gas company has had a leak reported, and they need to get out for awhile."

Stephen considered this. "He's very resourceful."

"He's the best." They drove for awhile. "So, boss. You're liking this one, aren't you?"

"It's still too early to predict who I will finally choose, but yes, this one has many desirable qualities. I think she's..." He cocked his head, considering his choice of words. "feisty."

Dominic laughed. "Yeah, from the way she was snapping at Rent-a-Cop I'd say that was true."

Stephen frowned. "I don't like him. He's showing entirely too much interest. But I don't suppose I can do anything right now. She refused to complain about him, and I would need some legitimate reason to terminate him. An Employment Commission investigation could make things rather sticky. Especially if the woman who appeared to be the cause of the dismissal turned up missing herself.