Chapter Fifty-Four
Ryker
Abigail sits at the front desk as I walk into my father’s office. Her long chestnut hair is curled and she wears a silky white blouse. Her eyes light up at the sight of me walking toward her desk. She’s in her early thirties and always had eyes for me. I figured she would try to make a move after her divorce, but she never did. Maybe out of respect for my father. She has been working for my father ever since he got into politics.
“Hey Abby,” I say softly. I point to my father’s office door. “Is he in?” I ask.
“He’s out at a business lunch, but he should be back soon. Do you want me to call him and let him know you’re here?”
“No, I’ll wait,” I smile. He probably already knows I’m here. I couldn’t leave the car at the motel and let him know that I found the tracker on my car. If he still is tracking me then he will see that I came to the office today. That means my time is limited before he realizes and comes back.
“O-okay, just let me know if there is anything you
need,” Abby smiles timidly. I feel like an ass for using her like this, but we have bigger problems at hand. If I can figure out who the CEO is behind Digicon then it might lead us to the other two guys who hurt Brynne .
“Is it all right if I walk around? I hate sitting around and waiting. I’d rather get some cardio in while I wait,” I smile.
“O-of course Ryker,” she lets my name roll off her tongue like she is savoring the taste.
“You’re the best Abby,” I wink. I’ve only ever gone to my father’s office a handful of times and he never let me
wander. I walk down the hallway to my right and there are only three doors. Two are bathrooms and the third is the server room. The wall behind Abby is lined with offices but they all are empty. My father has other people on his payroll, but I’ve rarely talked with them. Maybe it would have helped if I had been more involved in my father’s business like he wanted.
The other end of the hallway has two doors, one is the storage room, and the other is labeled files . I don’t know if my father would keep proof of Digicon if he knew what it was linked to. I gamble and go into the filing room anyway. Filing cabinets line each wall. “Of fucking course,” I sigh. I won't have enough time to go through these before my father returns from his business lunch. He has to have electronic records of who invests with him. The only problem is that there is no name linked to this business.
I start with one filing cabinet and sift through the files. Nothing is labeled Digicon and I move on to the next one. That one is empty too. I leave the room and head for my father’s office. He would keep the file close. I pass Abby and she smiles flirtatiously at me. I close the door behind me and sit at his desk. Carefully I open every drawer of the desk and move things around. I can't have him knowing that I’m snooping around. He already must suspect something if he is tracking me .
I press on the drawers to see if any have false bottoms and nothing budges. The bottom drawer on the right side doesn’t open when I pull on it. I search the desk for a key and don’t find any. I see my father's briefcase in the chair near the window. I unlock it and find a few papers and a lone key at the bottom. I grab it and hurry to his desk to see if it fits.
“Of course not,” I grumble. This is going to be all for
nothing if I don’t find anything. Before leaving his office, I put the key back and close his briefcase. I make a show of looking at the clock when I walk past Abby.
“He should be back any minute. I could call him if you need him to be here,” she offers.
“It's fine. I was just hoping to learn more about his job. He has been trying to teach me for years. I figured since I’m not getting any younger that this might be the kind of career I'd want,” I lie.
“Your father would love that,” she beams. I bet she would love that too. Seeing me every day in this sterile office building.
“It all just doesn’t make sense to me though. How does my father get paid for the campaigns,” I act stupid.
“He gets investors like most politicians,” she explains.
“I know that, but like who? Like billionaires or
something?” I look into her eyes and she melts. Bingo. She types something on her computer, and I walk around to lean next to her. Her cheeks turn a faint red and she tries to hide her fidgeting in her chair.
She clears her throat. “These are who back your father. You mostly would want businesses since they will always have revolving equity. Compared to a person who could lose their fortune when they pass or for other reasons,” she explains. It goes in one ear and out the other.
“Couldn’t businesses have the same outcome though? How would you know which businesses to associate yourself with?” I ask.
“That’s a great question. Your father personally vets the CEO’s before accepting their money. I thought it was weird at first since money is money to most people, but your father likes to be involved in that aspect,” she adds. I look at her screen and she scrolls past Digicon. I point to her computer and it clicks on the file.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize your computer was a touch screen,” I pause. “Digicon? Is that some sort of
photography business?” I ask. We both read the file and the information about the contracting business. It lists previous jobs and I see Westmoore and Hachett’s names. I try to memorize all of the information, but it doesn’t state the CEO.
“Digicon is a contracting business. Your father is using them to renovate the motel he purchased a few years back,” Abby explains.
“So, he vetted the owner?” I pretend to be clueless.
“Yes,” she answers. She is about to close out of the file but I place my hand on top of hers. She completely freezes and I get another glimpse on the screen. There is a PO box located in Silverlake. That’s upstate somewhere, I think. Why would a business that far away have interest in anything here?
“Thank you so much for keeping me occupied while I wait for my dad. I really do have to go now,” I say.
“Do you want me to tell your father that you stopped by?” She asks .
“No that’s okay. I’ll see him when he gets home. Bye Abby,” I wink. She blushes again and looks like she is going to say something, but I walk out of the door before she can.