“If you kill me tonight, please write on my tombstone I died very happy.”
Fourteen
Formal business attire now means naked and in my bed.
Money and connections could buy almost anything, and Sebastian called the CDC on his quest to find a room at a luxury hotel or spa near where we would hunt our victim. With the worry of two—maybe more—pregnant women at high risk of death if the pattern continued, the organization pulled out all of the stops and managed to acquire a room for us at a posh hotel a few blocks away from the skyscraper Stefan Loureni worked at most of the time. The hotel had a spa in it, and Sebastian went to town booking us in for a retreat for the evenings of the first three days of our stay.
From everything we knew about Loureni, it would be unlikely he’d make contact for a few days. I would play the part of a secretary traveling for work, and due to my appearance, I made myself scarce when my boss, in this case, Sebastian, was entertaining various important people. As part of our ruse, we painted Sebastian as somewhat sleazy, insisting his poor, overwhelmed secretary share his fancy suite with him, taking the second bedroom. Sebastian claimed it ‘enhanced efficiency’ but everyone understood it sent a message stating I could be taken into the hotel room of a CEO-type and used however was desired.
Any other day, any other man, and I would have answered with my fist. My virus wanted to find out how Sebastian meant to play the role, and she hoped he’d make use of the big tub for his secretary-using exploits. If he didn’t plan on exploiting his position in the tub, I’d be the aggressor. Fun times in the tub were on my schedule, and I’d play dirty to get what I wanted.
Thanks to Sebastian’s ravishing of my person, my virus spiked hard enough I earned a scolding from the CDC rep in charge of making sure I was prepared for my mission to take out a serial killer.
Spiking viruses made it harder for their concoctions to work, but it also meant I would burn off anything unwanted, like high-grade pixie dust, in record time, especially with their medications helping me. Not only did they safeguard me from pixie dust, they gave me three sets of prescription neutralizers disguised as blood pressure medication, an iron supplement, and an anti-anxiety prescription so I could have extra protections.
Then, for a final layer of defense against a probable rapist asshole, the CDC called in an incubus and a succubus to fiddle with me. When they were finished, for a period of three months, my reproductive system belonged to me and only me, which meant my reproductive system offered access to Sebastian and only Sebastian. Anyone who wasn’t Sebastian would get a really nasty surprise in the form of a curse. The curse would cause infertility and an inability to have intercourse until reversed by an incubus or succubus—and the creator of the curse, some devil imported from the depths of hell itself, promised he’d know immediately if someone tried to reverse it, who had done it, and that such a reversal would be punished harshly.
Thus prepared, I finished my preparations at a big box store to buy the sort of laptop a secretary might have, one issued by her work expecting performance. Sebastian helped with the purchase, which cost so much I asked six times if he was sure that was what was needed.
I had thought secretaries would have gotten crappy computers, but no. A secretary needed to perform. Sebastian also bought the appropriate software I needed, and he got the CDC to provide some populated spreadsheets and data, and they hooked me into a calendar system so it looked like I was actually managing a busy CEO in Chicago.
The second day of the venture, dressed in the type of blazer and skirt I expected would result in Sebastian wanting to bend me over something, I headed for the coffee shop where Loureni worked and began the tedious task of monitoring everyone going in and out of the shop. To help with that, I had a camera hidden in a necklace and a ring the CDC had provided, which took pictures at the press of a button on my phone or laptop. It took a little practice to get the ring, which was on my right ring finger, to capture the images I wanted. The auto-focusing features worked like a charm, and to my delight, the CDC’s system automatically processed facial identification whenever it could.
The minutes flew by while I diligently worked on the various systems, and I even squeezed in some time to check the bounty hunter database for jobs I could do in the evenings if Loureni didn’t play into my trap.
Coffee shop life suited me, and I made a habit of getting something to nibble on and drink every thirty minutes or so, waiting for when the shop wasn’t as busy so I could head to the bathroom as needed. Packing everything up every thirty minutes and setting it back up annoyed me, but I mastered the art, offering the illusion I worked hard for my boss.
In the afternoon, not long after lunch, Stefan Loureni came in, and in a lot of ways, he reminded me of Sebastian, wearing a perfectly fitted suit, handsome enough he shouldn’t have had any trouble finding a woman to be his wife, and armed with a ready smile, which he shared with anyone who got within five feet of him. The way he chatted with the others in the shop led me to believe he came often, and he took his time to build his appearance of an easy-going, friendly man.
I texted Sebastian I had a sighting of him and asked him to play the boss for a while, requesting that he give me a call asking about his schedule for the rest of the day, as he was a CEO who needed his precious secretary holding his hand.
My phone rang, which caught my target’s attention. I made a show of checking the screen before I answered, “How can I help you, sir?”
“Is he watching you?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Tell me what’s on my agenda for the rest of the afternoon, and I also need to know when my precious secretary will be back in my room where I can make good use of her.”
Pervert. I checked my computer. “You have a call in twenty minutes with a Mr. Heilekal of the CDC regarding certifications for products. At three, you have a meeting at the Willis Tower. At four, you have another meeting with a different company in the same building.” I tapped at my laptop. “I have sent you an email reminding you of the specifics of where you need to be in the tower for each appointment. After the meeting, you will return to the hotel and prepare for dinner.”
“You’re coming to the dinner meeting.”
Duh. If he thought I’d play the ruse without him feeding me dinner, he’d get a very rude awakening. “Understood, sir. The dinner will be formal business, and I will make certain I am dressed appropriately and wear my makeup.”
“You don’t have to wear anything at all,” he growled. “Formal business attire now means naked and in my bed.”
I liked his definition of formal business attire, but as I had to play the good secretary, I said, “Understood, sir. The dinner is scheduled at six, and I have already made arrangements for our transport. Do you need anything else?”
“If he touches you, kill him.”
“Yes, sir.” I hung up and set my phone down, resuming my work without hesitation, although I adjusted my screen on the laptop so I could take a picture of Loureni.
As soon as my call finished, he resumed working the crowd, although he kept glancing at me while he waited in line with the crowd of people wanting an afternoon hit of coffee, before returning to the daily grind. He ordered a coffee with some cream and sugar, saluted those he’d been talking to with it, and left.