Careful What You Wish For Read online

  “Ben, you were working on that weren’t you?” Noah asked.

  Ben frowned at Noah. “No. Well, yes. George is working on it now I think, isn’t he?”

  Ben leaned the dolly back upright on the floor and walked towards the staging area for the runway, calling out George’s name. Harper followed a few steps behind him, smiling and acting like she was interested, but really wanting nothing more than to run away to her office and look at the images on the GoPro.

  “What’s up? I’m almost done here. Just tightening things up a bit.” George was underneath the runway and had slid partially out, looking up at them. His tone sounded irritated at being interrupted.

  “It looks amazing, George! I can’t wait until the actual show. It’s going to be such a huge success! Thanks for doing such a great job, guys, I’ll let Veronica know everything’s coming along fine!” Harper turned around, trying not to walk too fast away from them. She stuck her hand in the tote bag and fumbled around for the camera to reassure herself it was still in there and her hand felt a hard can. Tuna. Crap! She forgot she’d brought more tuna in for the stray cat.

  She bypassed the stairs and kept walking towards the loading dock, stopping when she got outside. Opening the top of the tuna can she called out to the cat, placing the can on the ground as she looked around.

  The cat didn’t come. She called out a little louder and waved the can around, as if the cat would suddenly catch the smell of tuna in the air from wherever it was. But it still didn’t come.

  She hoped it was okay and nothing bad had happened to it. Maybe she should have taken it home with her when she’d last seen it. Even though she wasn’t supposed to have pets in her apartment, she hated knowing the cat was most likely homeless and vulnerable to predators.

  She placed the full can of tuna back on the ground and scanned the area one last time for the cat before leaving and going up to her office. If she could, she would have waited longer for the cat to appear, but she needed to look at that GoPro footage as soon as possible.

  Big T jiggled the vending machine, trying to shake the bag of pretzels stuck inside loose, so it would fall off the hook and drop down so he could grab it.

  “Come on you stupid thing!” he yelled at it, tipping it forward and watching the bag drop down from where it had been stuck.

  He leaned over and stretched his arm up inside to grab the package, tearing it open before he stood again. As he shoveled a handful of pretzels into his mouth he thought about Harper. Why had she been downstairs again? Sure, he’d heard her say it was to check on some stuff for Veronica. But he wasn’t buying that because Veronica had already been down there checking up on them earlier. Besides, she was carrying some big tote bag around with her and since when did anyone carry tote bags with them inside work?

  His instincts told him she was hiding something in that bag, but it wasn’t like he could look inside. He would have followed her when he saw her if there hadn’t been people around, but there were, and he didn’t want any witnesses.

  He walked slowly over to one of the plastic chairs set in the open space near the vending machine and sat, the chair creaking under his weight. Reaching into the bag he popped another pretzel into his mouth, crunching on it as he thought about what he should do next. His patience was growing thin and Harper was getting on his nerves. His eye caught the security camera lodged up in the corner of the room, the red light flashing. Cameras.

  Weeks ago, he’d hidden a few nanny cams around the entire building, including all the offices, so he could see what was going on. Maybe checking the one in Harpers office would be useful and would tell him exactly what she was up to.

  5

  Harper closed the door to her office quietly and rushed over to her desk, eager to see what the camera had recorded. She sat in the plush black leather chair, took the camera out of the bag, and placed it on her glass desk. Reaching into her drawer she pulled out a long HDMI cable and hooked the camera up to her monitor.

  Hopefully this will work. Technology wasn’t her strong suit, but she’d read through the directions a dozen times at home and was confident she could get this to work.

  She turned on the camera and the video sprang to life on her monitor. Relief flooded over her as she watched it. The first few minutes were blank, then Gertie entered the room, wheeling herself around, inspecting the lights then leaving.

  Then there was nothing. A lot of nothing. After a while she started to fast forward the video. She pressed the button lightly, only speeding it up a little, so she wouldn’t miss anything. Time dragged on, she’d bought a large capacity video card to fit the most hours of recording possible and was now realizing that meant having to painstakingly go through it.

  Suddenly, Logan appeared in the frame. He stood for a while, looking around. Was he looking for something or casing it? He walked over towards the camera, and just as Harper thought he was going to grab it, he bent over and picked up some of the long wires from the lights.

  Harper craned her neck, as if that would somehow let her see what he was doing. Is he tampering with the lights? His body was blocking her view! After a few minutes he left, seemingly empty-handed. It was hard to tell since his back was to the camera as he left the room.

  What had he been doing in there? Had he done something to the wires? Her mind raced, thinking about her earlier interaction with him. It had been brief, but she’d kind of hoped he was a nice guy, someone she might want to get to know better. Now, she just wanted to know what he’d done in that room.

  She removed the HDMI cable, grabbed the GoPro, and stood, eager to show Gertie the footage. She hesitated before opening the door. What exactly was she going to show Gertie? Logan walking into the room and standing there? Uncle Tanner’s voice echoed in her head, telling her to make sure she had proof. What she had wasn’t proof of anything, aside from Logan going into the room. For all she knew, Gertie had sent him in there. It would be really embarrassing if she burst into Gertie’s office and accused him of something and was wrong. Maybe she should go check the wires first to see if anything was wrong with them. She already had proof he’d touched them, if something was wrong then she could approach Gertie.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a chirp signaling an incoming text. Glancing at the phone on top her desk she saw it was from Veronica.

  My office, ASAP!

  Harper cringed, and her stomach churned. Had someone seen her with the camera and told Veronica? How would she explain it to her if they had? Should she say Logan was acting suspicious or would that make her look like the suspicious one?

  She knew Veronica didn’t exactly trust her as it was. If she’d been caught hiding the camera and she didn’t have a solid answer as to why she was running around with a GoPro in her tote bag, instead of doing her actual job, then Veronica would not be happy at all.

  Logan scrolled down the computer screen as he scanned Harper’s background check. Nothing out of the ordinary there. In fact, she was as clean as a whistle. Never even had a parking ticket. His scrolling was interrupted by the ding of his phone. The screen showed a mysterious message from Gertie.

  Sabotage trouble! Veronica’s office ASAP!

  He closed the screen, being careful to logout so no one could see what he’d been doing and hurried to Veronica’s office. He knocked on the door and opened it immediately, not waiting for them to tell him to enter. Gertie and Veronica were seated at Veronica’s desk with paperwork strewn all over it.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked. Judging by the look of panic on Veronica’s face and the scowl on Gertie’s, everything was not okay.

  “No, dear, it isn’t. Someone has screwed with the attendee list for the show. The final invitations all have the wrong addresses somehow.” Gertie’s voice was laced with anger.

  “I have absolutely no idea how this could happen,” Veronica said. “I double-check everything, always! Lucky thing I triple-checked this time or the invitations would have been sent out to the wrong addresses, t
his is a disaster. They all had to be entered by hand in the first place and now the original file has the wrong addresses for all the attendees. We’ll never get them out in time!” She looked at Logan in despair.

  “Wait. The show is in a few days. Shouldn’t you have mailed the invitations out already?” Logan asked. He didn’t get invited to many parties these days, but when he did, there was usually plenty of notice. And since this was a very important show he assumed the invites would have gone out weeks ago, given the attendees were made up of important business people and minor local celebrities.

  “We sent out save-the-date notices weeks ago. The actual invite is to be delivered two days before the show, we messenger them to everyone. The design for the invitation took weeks to finalize, it’s practically a piece of art.” Veronica explained, looking as though she was going to burst into tears.

  “Can you trace who edited the file to see who made the changes?” Gertie asked Logan, giving him a look.

  He knew the look meant to keep the fact he was undercover between the two of them, and not to let Veronica know. Since he’d been hired on as the IT guy, it made sense for Gertie to ask him about the file.

  “Should we wait for Harper first? I already texted her and she should be here any minute. She’s the only other person that would have accessed the file besides me. She’s the one who entered everything into the database. Maybe she messed it up somehow,” Veronica said.

  Logan nodded his head yes, his suspicions about Harper being the perp growing. Never mind she was cute and had an innocent air about her and nothing in her background check. He’d gotten the distinct impression she was hiding something in the lobby earlier and he had seen her sneaking around near the light room.

  Harper appeared in the doorway and looked away as soon as she met Logan’s eyes. She shifted from foot to foot, looking from Gertie to Veronica.

  “Is … is everything okay?” she stuttered. Fear? Guilt? She looked terrified, not at all the look of a criminal that goes around ruining fashion shows. He wanted to be wrong, he didn’t want it to be her. But he had a job to do and that had priority.

  “Harper, someone messed up the address list for the attendees for the show. It’s all wrong. They mixed up all the addresses. Did you check this stuff after you entered it?” Veronica’s tone had an accusing note.

  Harper’s expression registered surprise. Her mouth opened and shut, but no words came.

  Logan wondered if her reaction was an act or real. She was hard to read, and he was getting strange vibes from Veronica and Gertie. Veronica seemed to be directing anger at Harper, and Gertie seemed more like she was teaching her, or mothering her. Then again, Gertie did have a mothering spirit. Knowing her, she would take Harper under her wing and try to fix her, even if she was the one sabotaging the show.

  Then again, maybe it wasn’t Harper. Maybe Veronica was the perp. Her background check had included some things showing she wasn’t as squeaky clean as she appeared to be. When he’d mentioned it to Gertie, the older woman had insisted Veronica had changed her ways, but he knew all too well; a leopard doesn’t change its spots that easily.

  “I didn’t change anything on the list, and I double-checked it one last time earlier today, and it was perfect. But I will get it fixed. Don’t worry, Veronica. I will make sure it’s all done perfectly. I don’t know how this could have happened.” Harper gushed as she looked around the room, still avoiding Logan.

  Logan watched her body language, looking for clues people generally give off when lying. He didn’t see any, but he knew plenty of people were great liars. Maybe Harper was one of them.

  Harper’s cheeks flamed, and she cursed the trait that happened whenever she was upset or flustered. She hadn’t screwed up the addresses on the attendee list. She’d double-checked them after each entry, it had taken hours. Someone else had messed that file up. But the way Veronica was shooting daggers at her, she didn’t think her new boss believed her.

  Veronica was about to explain again how meticulous she was about double-checking everything when Gertie spoke up.

  “There must be a logical explanation for this. Veronica, is this list printed from the database?” Gertie held up a stack of papers.

  “Yes, I had Harper enter the information from the list you gave me.” Veronica stared at Harper as she answered Gertie.

  “Well then, that means someone must have messed with the database after Harper entered them, right, Logan?”

  “That would be the only way, yes,” Logan replied, also looking at Harper.

  Harper stood quietly, wishing she could run out of the room. The walls were closing in, and it was uncomfortable with everyone looking at her, especially Logan. She was sure her face was the same color as a cherry by now, thus making her look as guilty as they thought she was.

  “Well then, maybe you can find out who changed everything. It’s important to know if someone is messing around, but let’s not get carried away with accusations. I think of everyone here as my family and I don’t want any hard feelings. Maybe this was just a simple error that happened when the information was typed in. After all, there are over two hundred people on the list, and everyone makes mistakes,” Gertie said.

  “That’s probably what happened, human error.” Veronica’s accusing eyes darted to Harper, then softened as they slid back to Gertie. “And, Gertie, it’s so sweet of you to say we are all like family, that’s why this has me so upset. I want everything to be perfect for you, we all do.”

  “It will be fine, I trust Logan to work it all out, dear. I don’t want anyone prematurely blaming someone else. You guys are the only kids I have! I didn’t raise any of my own, so this crew is what I’ve got, and I want to make sure we all work together. Now, let’s move on. Logan will figure this out. It’s good you caught it, no damage was done.”

  Harper stood in silence, irritated Logan hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she arrived. Either he was intrigued with her candy-apple-colored face or he thought she was the one who sabotaged the list.

  For a split second she thought about telling Gertie Logan had been in the basement room and had possibly messed with the lights. He was looking at her with his judgey eyes and he was the one who might be guilty!

  But she knew Gertie trusted Logan, and given the speech Gertie just gave, it wouldn’t be a good idea to accuse him without solid proof. It could backfire on her and make it look like she was trying to throw up a smokescreen to take the heat off her. She opted to keep her mouth shut about what she’d seen Logan do. For now.

  6

  Logan straightened out the picture on his office wall, stepping back to see if it was level. The sunlight shining in through the large windows glinted off the glass that held the picture in the black frame. He wasn’t one for decorating, but this picture was one he’d always loved as a kid and his mother had given it to him many years after he’d moved out, right after he’d completed the police academy. It was a Norman Rockwell photo called “Runaway.” Just a police officer sitting next to a kid at a soda shop from the 50’s or so. It was generic enough not to blow his cover.

  Satisfied it was straight enough, he looked around the small office for his coffee mug, he’d a bad habit of putting it down and forgetting where he left it. He spied it sitting on the top of his desk, a puff of steam still coming from the top, the strong aroma filling the air.

  He sat in the plush leather chair and made a face as he tried to get comfortable in it. He’d originally grabbed one of the old metal and fabric chairs from the storage area for his office, but Gertie had insisted he use one of the new chairs she’d bought for all the offices.

  They’d also argued over his desk. She had all these contemporary funky ones for the offices. Glass and metal, very sleek. But Logan had spent years with the standard police issued gun metal steel desks and there had been a few in storage, and Gertie had finally let him use one of them. The chair and desk didn’t blend well together at all, but he didn’t care. He was here to work,
not to win a prize for office decorating.

  He picked up his coffee mug and used his sleeve to wipe at the wet ring that had formed under it. He turned his computer on and took a big gulp of coffee while waiting for the PC to fire up. His mind drifted to Harper and how she’d seemed nervous when they’d met earlier. That was always a tell-tale sign of a guilty person when they were nervous. But his gut was telling him she wasn’t guilty. He hoped he was right.

  He entered his password then maneuvered onto the main server, so he could access all the files that every employee had uploaded. He clicked on the history for the file Harper had worked on and looked it over. She’d entered all the information as she’d said, and had gone back again the next day, but no changes had been made to the file. Must have been double-checking it maybe? Wait. What do we have here? Someone had accessed the file that same day. The login came from a computer located in the basement, where they keep the inventory. If Harper was the perp, why would she bother going down there to make the changes? Or was she smart enough to know it would throw up a red herring?

  He leaned back in the chair and grabbed the warm coffee mug, pondering over Harper’s innocence. He always trusted his instincts, and they were telling him she wasn’t the one who had messed the addresses up.

  He grabbed the manila file that held the details on the background check he’d run on her and looked it over. Hmmm. This is kind of an odd coincidence. Harper is related to that guy Tanner who seems sweet on Gertie. The same guy who had tried to pull some shenanigans on Gertie’s wedding reception event last month. That was the reason Logan had been hired in the first place. Some strange things had been going on at O’Rourke’s Signature Events, and according to Gertie it wasn’t all by Tanner’s hand. Tanner had confessed to a few things but there had been more that had gone unexplained.