Page 12 of Bleed for You (Bloody Desires #6)

C raig dropped his phone on his desk. No answer from Jinx again.

He knew he had a funeral today, but he usually returned Craig’s calls when he could, and so far, there had been nothing.

Craig sat back in his chair, staring at the designs in front of him, and tried to ignore Flint as he glared at him when he walked past Craig’s office.

The guy needed to get laid, and he was married.

Maybe his wife had realized what a horrible person he was.

He was a noxious little man who hated the fact that everyone beneath him was far better than he was at the job he did, or tried to do.

After spending a minute contemplating what Simpson wanted, Craig exhaled softly, then glanced at his computer when he noticed the cursor move on the monitor.

Furrowing his brow, he clicked a few buttons and kicked whoever it was out, then waited.

If it was who he suspected, then Flint would be in his office, and here he was.

The door shot open, and Flint walked inside without knocking and stormed over to his desk. Slamming his hands on it, he leaned over the desk and got into Craig’s face. “What the hell do you think you’re playing at?”

“What do you mean?” Craig remained calm. Why Flint was accessing the plan, Craig didn’t know, but it did concern him.

“You know full well what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. Please tell me what it is that I did?” Craig gave Flint a small smile and waited. He wasn’t going to say another word. Flint would have to tell him what Craig already knew and confirm he’d been snooping into Craig’s work.

“I can access your work anytime I want, and you can’t stop me.”

“All you have to do is ask, and I can provide an update.”

“I don’t need your permission. I can go in and alter mistakes when I see them and this plan is shoddy at best. It will need multiple revisions before it’s ready. I have no idea how you were given this when your work is mediocre at best.”

“I was asked by the people employing us. You know that.”

“Fools,” Flint spat out.

Craig kept the blank look firmly on his face. What he really wanted to do was give Flint a piece of his mind. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Flint spun around and stormed out of Craig’s room, slamming the door shut behind him. Craig exhaled heavily, then picked up the phone and called Lacey. When she answered, Craig sighed. “How much information do you need?”

“What’s he done now?”

“Remotely accessing my work and when I kicked him out, he stormed in here and told me he could make any alterations he decided were needed.”

“Really? Let me speak to IT and see if we have any information about that. They may come to your office later to access your computer. Are you still keeping a diary?”

“I am.” Craig had balked at the idea, but once he’d began, he was surprised at how much he’d been tolerating from Flint. “What will be the end result be?”

“You’re not the only one he’s doing this to, so you’re not alone. Once I have sufficient evidence, I’ll take it to upper management.”

“And? I don’t want to do this then have nothing happen to Flint.

The situation will only become worse, and he’ll see himself as the victim in all of this.

That we’re all jealous because he was promoted and not one of us.

” Craig rubbed his forehead. “I can’t have him accessing my work and making any alterations he sees fit.

He must know I check my work so I would pick up on any changes he made and correct them. ”

“I don’t know, Craig, but we’ll get to the bottom of it. Let me call IT. I’ll ask them to go when Flint is on lunch, so he won’t know they’ve been to speaking to you or accessing your computer.”

“Thanks Lacey.” Craig exhaled and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know how long I can keep doing this for. He is relentless and now remote accessing my work? Is he trying to get me fired?”

“Craig.” Lacey said his name in a firm voice. “Let me worry about this.”

“Fine.” Craig was about to hang up when he remembered something. “Has he made any more complaints?”

“He has my number on speed dial and no, it isn’t just you.”

“What is his problem?” Craig murmured.

“We’ll fix this. Be patient.”

“Easier said than done.” Craig smiled when he heard Lacey chuckle. “I’ll leave you to it. If he does anything else, call me and write it down.”

“I will.” Craig hung up and tried to get his head back on his work, but he couldn’t help but think about Flint…

and Jinx, who still hadn’t returned his call.

Maybe Jinx had a few funerals today. Shaking his head, Craig tried to focus on his work and when he heard a knock on the door, he was surprised to see a woman from IT standing there.

“Hi. I’m Vicky from IT.”

“I’ll let you get to work.” He moved away from his desk to let her do her work and stood by the window, watching the sidewalk below.

People rushing around, or ambling along, either alone or in groups.

Some had drinks or talked on their phones, all moving around each other or bumping into one another and carrying on.

The street had cars and cabs and other vehicles, all bumper to bumper, and Craig was more than happy to be in the office and not trying to walk through the crowds.

Later it wouldn’t be as bad, but first he had to see what IT said.

Turning back to his desk, he watched Vicky from IT scroll through something that looked like code to Craig until she asked, “When did you first notice your work being remotely viewed?”

“Today.”

She hummed and scrolled up and down, then sat back. “It’s been going on for some time. I need to make a copy,” she murmured, already on her own laptop doing something. Craig watched the information on his monitor appear on hers, and then she shut everything down.

“Can you do it from where your office is?”

“I could, but I wanted to come here and stretch my legs.” Vicky stood and packed her things away. “I’ve been bent over wires this morning and needed to get out for a few minutes.”

“Did you find enough?”

“Oh yeah. Lacey will be in touch.” She left his office and Craig stared after her before sitting and calling Lacey. He watched Flint walked past his office… again, and blew out his breath. Was his job to walk past his office window multiple times a day?

“Craig. I take it IT has been?”

“Vicky has just left.”

“Oh, did Vicky come to see you? She’s very good.”

Craig messed with his mouse as he pulled the Simpson plan back up. “Has she said anything?”

“She’s probably only just gotten back to her office, Craig. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, but I won’t be able to tell you much. This is an investigation, so I have to keep what I find to myself for now. At some point, you will be brought in and spoken to.”

“I wish this was over with. This job would be so much better.”

“I know but keep going. Things will get better.” Lacey’s voice dimmed and Craig realized she was talking to someone else. “I have to go. Don’t forget to update your diary.”

“Will do.” He sighed and put the phone down, then looked at the clock and decided to go to lunch. As he left his office, he ran into Raj, who got into the elevator with him. When they both exhaled at the same time, they chuckled. “Long day?” Raj asked.

“Just dealing with people, you know.”

“Oh yeah. Certain people who know nothing about this job…” Raj glanced at Craig as he trailed off. “Forget it.”

“But think they know better than us who are actually qualified.”

Raj blew out his breath. “Thank fuck, I’m not the only one. We are talking about… er… well…”

“Name begins with an F?”

“Yes. Does he speak to you like shit?”

“Did you hear him in my office earlier?” Craig arched an eyebrow at Raj. “That was me he was shouting at because I caught him accessing my work.”

“He’s done that to me, too. I know IT, so I was able to trace it to him.”

“You need to let Lacey know what he’s been doing.”

“Is she involved?” Raj murmured. “I don’t want to get the heat for this.”

“She knows, and you’re not alone.” The elevator doors opened, and they walked toward the canteen. Craig stepped closer, keeping his voice low when he talked. “She’ll take you seriously. Trust me.”

“I’ll call her this afternoon. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

I have never had my work questioned as much as I have since he was promoted.

Every little thing. He tried to dictate to me that a support beam was in the wrong location, and I was working from the original details!

I had to show him, and he just walked off. ”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Tell Lacey and keep a journal or diary to document it. The more evidence, the better.”

“Are you keeping one?” Craig nodded. “I’ll get one tonight.” Raj grabbed Craig's arm and Craig slowed to a stop. “Thanks. Really. I was considering whether I should quit or not.”

“Don’t let him drive you out. Let’s get him out instead.”

Grinning, Raj leaned close. “Now that I have no problem doing.” He waved as he walked over to the soda machine, and Craig felt better. Not that Raj was suffering, but that he wasn’t alone. That was kinda sad, but it did help.

Craig purchased his meal and drink and found an empty table. Once he’d sat down, he pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had missed a call from Jinx, but there was nothing. Sighing, he ate his meal as he checked social media, then called Jinx. Again, there was no answer.

Finishing, he cleaned up, then went back to his desk, avoiding Flint in the process, which made him feel good.

When he noticed Flint walk by, he ignored him and carried on with his job.

He had several designs to go over and a partner who wasn’t returning his call.

Why, Craig didn’t know. It was rare for Jinx to ignore his calls and never for this long.

Craig paused. No, Jinx had done this a handful of times in the past and it had always been work related.

That was more than likely the case now. Craig was worrying over nothing.

When he next looked at the time, he was surprised to see it was nearing six in the evening.

Most of the staff would have left by now, so he saved all his work and shut down his computer.

Standing, he groaned and moved from side to side, then picked up his suit jacket and put it on.

Grabbing his bag, Craig left his office and paused.

When he heard no other sound, he walked to the elevator and pressed the button.

As soon as the doors opened, he got in and hit the button for the first floor.

As he turned around, he saw Flint coming toward him, then the doors closing cut him off from sight.

Smiling, Craig could only imagine how pissed Flint would have been that Craig had left the office without Flint saying something derogatory to him.

“Shame.” When the doors opened, Craig was more than happy to leave the building, and as he walked outside, he pulled his phone out and once again checked to see if Jinx had returned any of his calls.

When he saw nothing, Craig bit the corner of his bottom lip, then called Jinx again.

He didn’t want to come across as a needy boyfriend or that he didn’t trust Jinx, but he was concerned.

What if he’d been in an accident? What if something had happened at work?

When it clicked through to voicemail, Craig spoke, “Hey, it’s me. Just checking you’re okay. Give me a call later.” He hung up and shoved his phone back inside his jacket pocket. He wasn’t going to call again. It was up to Jinx now.