Wow. After throwing those guys under the bus, she could really go hang out with them and pretend to be friends?
She was more of a bitch than I thought.
I smiled sweetly. “Of course. I’m sure they’ll like you. Let me call them real quick, and I’ll get back to you.”
She held her head up smugly, certain she was the one coming out ahead.
She had no freaking idea.
I accompanied Lucy to her office and glanced at my phone. “Oh crap, I’m late for a meeting with Randall. But I’ll call the guys right after and we’ll go up to the Hills, okay? Don’t go home without me!”
I had to keep her in the office.
She looked like a kid in a candy store. “Okay. And Coral—thank you.”
Yeah, she’d really be thanking me soon.
“Oh, hi, Coral. You’re back. What’s up?” Randall asked.
I took a deep breath. “I have some very important things to share with you, Randall.”
So I started at the beginning and played the recorded conversation I’d captured. To say Randall was blown away was an understatement.
“Well, fuck me,” he said, looking around his office in shock. “This is horrible on so many levels. I always wondered what was so strange about Lucy, but to think she’d hurt so many people just because she was a jealous nut bag. Christ, I never saw it coming.”
I had to keep Randall on track. Time was of the essence, and I didn’t want Lucy wondering why I was taking so long with him.
He put his head in his hands.
“Randall,” I said to grab his attention, “you need to act like nothing is up. I’ll go get her right now. You keep her occupied for a few minutes.”
He nodded. “I got it. Let’s go.
I ran back to Lucy’s office, where I found her scrolling through her phone with her usual bitch smile.
“Lucy!” I said urgently. “Randall needs you right now. Some sort of emergency.”
Her eyes bugged. “Oh my god. I wonder what’s up?” She dropped her phone on her desk and ran out her office door.
Bingo.
I grabbed her phone before it locked and while walking back to my office, scrolled to see if she had an app for her spy cameras.
She did.
God, I wanted to kill her.
Next, I looked in her photo library, where she stored the videos of the guys and me. I forwarded them all to myself and dropped her phone into my purse. Let her search high and low for the damn thing.
Then I grabbed my bag and headed out.
But before I did, I ran into Lucy returning to her desk. I walked alongside her until we reached her office.
“What did Randall need?” I asked innocently.
She shrugged. “Nothing really. Hey, are we heading up to see the band right now?” she asked, turning off her computer and grabbing her purse.
She looked around her desk like something was missing.
Yeah, bitch, something sure was missing from your desk.
“I am. Randall’s coming up in a few. Catch a ride with him?”
She nodded and continued to push things around on her desk as I headed to the parking garage.
“Hey, Coral,” she called after me, “have you seen my phone?”
I turned to face her, walking backwards. “I think you had it when you went into Randall’s office. Gotta run!”
I got in my car and headed into the Hills. I had a few things to share with the guys and this time it was all good news.
Chapter 43
STONE
I’d never seen a prettier sight.
Coral came blasting into the house with about the biggest goddamn smile I’d ever seen her wearing.
Which was funny because Hugh, Ennis, and I were sulking in the living room wondering what the hell was up with her, especially after we’d gotten her text that there were spy cameras in Ennis’s backyard.
Fucking people. They’ll stop at nothing to ruin your life.
“Guys,” she blurted out, jumping up and down like a little kid, “you won’t freaking believe what’s going on. Get ready, because the next hour or two of our lives are going to be a wild ride.”
Hugh looked hopeful, Ennis was skeptical, and I was just having a great fucking time.
Bring it on, baby.
Coral called one of those security technicians who could locate hidden cameras, and he was on his way up to the house. Her boss would follow later with someone named Lucy, who apparently was going to be in for some big surprises.
It’d be a regular party.
Coral gathered up the photos that had sent her reeling just a few hours before and stuffed them back in their envelope. She set the IT technician to work in the yard as soon as he arrived, and sat down with us while we waited for our plan to fall into place.
The guys and I were upset about the photos of course, but even more upset for Coral’s sake. An invasion of privacy like that would be hard on her, and we felt terrible.
We also felt like shit that a relationship with her was not in the cards. But at least she’d still be around to work with us.
And I planned to continue to admire her curvy ass and bouncy little tits. No harm in that, right?
She sat on the edge of the sofa and waved her hands around. “So, I have more news for you guys—”
“Oh, hey, all done,” the IT guy said, coming in from the backyard and setting some very small electronics on the coffee table in front of us.
Those little pieces of shit were responsible for so many of our problems?
He hitched his pants and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Amateurs.”
“What?” Hugh asked. “Can you elaborate?”
He picked up one of the devices and turned it over with his fingers.
“Damn things. Such wonders of technology, capable of so much destruction.”
He could say that again.
“Whoever installed them wasn’t too smart. I found them in seconds. I got ’em all, though. You’re safe now. But you might want to get some security for the house. Here’s my card,” he said with a smile.
Coral showed him to the door, paid him, and he left.
“Wow. Look at these little things,” Ennis said, pushing them around the table. “Anyway, Coral, you were saying you had something else to discuss?”
She took a seat and slapped her palms on her thighs. “Yes. I do. I’ve been thinking—”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Oh gosh,” she said, grabbing the cameras and sweeping them into the vase on the table. “That would be Randall and Lucy. Don’t let anything on.”
She sprinted to the door and opened it with an expansive hello.
“Hey, guys,” Randall said, extending his hand. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
We all stood and greeted Randall as cordially as possible. After all, it was he who’d introduced Coral to our lives.
“Guys, this is my coworker, Lucy. She’s a big fan,” Coral said gleefully.
Guess she was about to find out what sort of fan Coral was of hers.
Lucy looked like she would blow away in a stiff wind, she was so skinny. She clapped her hands together and beamed. “Oh my god. I’m so excited. I can’t believe I’m meeting you guys right here at one of your homes.”