Chapter 11 – Eyes in the Walls
Hunter settled in fast.
Too fast.
By the end of the second week he was bringing me coffee exactly how I liked it—black, one sugar, no cream.
He remembered without being told twice.
He also remembered to leave the top two buttons of his shirt undone when he leaned over my desk to set the cup down.
I let him.
I even smiled once or twice.
At night the hallway camera caught him leaving my room around four a.m.
Shirt untucked.
Hair mussed.
A satisfied slant to his mouth.
His phone always showed new missed calls.
Always from the same number.
Alex.
I never asked.
I just watched the footage over breakfast.
Sophia noticed the change in routine.
“You seem… lighter,” she said one morning.
I poured orange juice.
“Sleep helps.”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t push.
Good girl.
That same afternoon, Alex asked for office access again.
“Junior role only,” he said. “I want to earn trust.”
I agreed.
Technical support desk.
Bottom floor.
Cameras everywhere.
Hunter got promoted the next day.
Personal assistant.
He moved into the small office adjacent to mine.
Close enough to hear every call.
Far enough that nothing sensitive crossed his desk.
Not yet.
I fed him harmless bait.
Old vendor contracts ready for archive.
Meeting schedules with names redacted.
Travel itineraries for canceled trips.
He took it all with grateful smiles.
Copied everything to a thumb drive when he thought no one watched.
I watched.
I always watched.