“Listen, I don’t know what I did to piss you off but I figured you needed a little sun and fun for a few nights. So, please, do that. Have a good time. Order room service. Don’t sit inside with your e-reader and don’t clean the hotel room. There are maids for that. I know you. You’re probably experiencing cabin fever a little harder this season, so get out into the sun.”

She smiles wide and bright. “I’ve been such a bitch. I’m sorry. I watch you go away and have fun vacations. You always look so rested and well, last week you came home and you were in such a bad mood all week.” She pauses for a moment, before continuing, “You forgot my birthday on Tuesday and you never forget. You’re the one that reminds everyone around here. I thought I did something and well, I guess you were just having a shitty week because of that ex-boyfriend of yours. I wish I had known before I took it all out on you.”

My head drops down into my hands. I forgot her birthday. Fuck me. I never forget any of my co-workers birthdays. I feel like such a selfish bitch.

“I am so sorry, Annie. Please. Forgive me. I’ll never let that happen again. Go and have a wonderful trip. In fact, I’ll tell Leo to extend your stay through the weekend, so you can really enjoy your birthday in style. Belated style,” I cringe.

She flashes a fantastic smile and I know I’ve made up in a good way. At least I hope I’ve made it up, because right now, I don’t have the time to really think about birthdays or Miami.

Ten minutes later, I can already feel the absence of Leo and Annie and somehow it feels really good. No one is going to be knocking on my door every half an hour to see if I need anything or tell me that someone else needs something from me. It’s heaven. I pull out the pearls from my desk and retrieve my makeup bag from purse. Grabbing a smaller little pouch I hold Tylenol in, I start picking up the pearls that are strewn all over the drawer. It takes a good while to make sure I’ve gotten every single one. The time lets me think.

If Camden wasn’t the one that took the jewelry, there are only two other people who have access to my apartment in case of an emergency. Colin and Annie. Normally, I wouldn’t let Annie anywhere near my personal space, but there was this one time when I was going away on vacation and realized, just as I made it to the airport, that I forgot my carry-on bag which held all my necessary documents. That was a brilliant moment in the life of Lucia Westwood. Seeing as Annie was right near my apartment, I had the security guy let her in. I made sure she was on the list and had a key card to my place, but until that moment, she didn’t have the alarm passcode.

Colin knows all of the passcodes and has access to everything. I trust him because I pay him for his trust. If he does anything to fuck up that trust, he will go to jail and I will sue his car service business for every single dollar they have.

So, who else managed to get their way in? I pick up my phone and call Danny, the security guard at my apartment building.

“Danny, it’s Luca in 11A. I have a question. Is there any way I can watch the security tapes from Friday morning through this morning when I get home from work tonight?” I ask.

“Ms. West, funny you should ask. I’m watching them right now. I see you had a robbery this weekend and it’s building policy for me to look out for any suspicious activity on the tapes. As you know, I watch them all day from my seat here in the security room, but as you also know, I have to eat and sleep, so I want to make sure nothing happened during those times. Our building is secure, Ms. West. We’ve never had a robbery or break in before now. I pride myself on the sensors and alarm systems we currently have. They are all up to date, so I don’t know how this could have happened, unless you walked the person in the apartment yourself,” he goes on and on.

“Shit,” I say. “I know. Well, maybe after you are done watching, I could still take a look?”

“No problem, but remember, there are three full days of tape. You can skip through time periods, but anytime there is activity, you have to stop and watch. I’ve been doing this for three hours and I’m only at Friday afternoon. I’ll be here through tomorrow, I imagine.”

“Thanks so much for doing that, Danny,” I say.

“Don’t really have a choice. Police are going to ask for it soon anyway, I’m sure,” he sounds put off and pissed and I don’t blame him one bit.

“Alright well, I will stop in when I get home and see where you’re at. In the meantime, if you come across anything weird, please call my cell phone,” I say.

“Sure thing,” he answers. Before I can thank him again, he hangs up. That guy is total blue collar. I wonder if he secretly hates my guts, because I live in that elegant apartment building. One of those people who hates other people just because they have money. Those people are the fucking best. I wasn’t always rich or well off. I still remember being poor, living with my parents, so I can relate. Nevertheless, Danny doesn’t know that and I’m not about to give him my life story. Sometimes, it’s better to let people think what they want to about me. I can’t keep up with other people’s opinions anymore. Now that my secret is out to my partners, I feel somewhat relieved.

Until I think about Camden. Camden, the beautiful man that got on his hands and knees to please the hell out of me. The man who stole my jewelry. If he was the one that took everything then why the fuck are there pearls in my office drawer? When would he have had time to get to my office this morning before being arrested, and if he had been there, someone would have seen him. I think about Annie and how she is on her way to the airport. Maybe she saw something.

FOURTEEN

I pick up the phone and quickly call her, hoping she hasn’t shut off her phone yet. On the third ring, she picks up, practically screaming “hello” over the airport noise.

“Annie, did you see Camden at the office this morning?” I ask without any niceties.

Silence.

“Annie?”

Still nothing.

Just as I am about to take her silence as a confirmation that Camden was, in fact, at my office, she replies, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but Heath came by this morning. He said he left something in your office,” she says in a hurry.

“What?” I shout.

“He said he left his watch in your office. At first I didn’t believe him, but he was adamant, Luca. I am so sorry. I watched him go into your office. He checked your top drawer and I made sure he didn’t take anything. He was out in only a few minutes.”

“Well?” I ask.

“Well, what?”

“Did he find his watch?” I demand.

Silence.

“Annie, I don’t have time for this. You have to tell me everything.”

“No, okay. I know I fucked up by letting him in your office. Whatever happened last week between you two was obviously bad, but he’s kind of a dick face and wouldn’t leave until I let him in.”

So, I was wrong about Camden. Unless, he is working with Heath to fuck me over. And if that’s true, I don’t understand why. Why would Heath barge into my office, abuse me, both physically and verbally, before accusing me of the very same thing the two of them could possibly be doing to me? What do I have that they don’t? What have I done to make all of this happen?

I realize I still have my phone to my ear and Annie is still on the line. “Have a good trip, Annie. Don’t worry about anything. Just get some sun and relax, okay?” I try to sound nice, even though if she were here, I’d strangle every last breath out of her for letting that sick mother fucker in my office.