The VIP Room(127)

“Here?”

“Perfect.”

Emma jumped out of the car and began dragging poster board out of the backseat. Todd followed suit, pulling them out from the other side.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?”

“Someone has to.”

“It doesn’t have to be you.”

Todd came around to her side of the car and gathered the boards she’d gathered along with the ones he already had. He carried them toward the park, glancing around as he did, watching closely for any sign of trouble.

It was three o’clock in the morning. Emma didn’t think they would run into any trouble, unless they found a squirrel that wanted to steal the corn nuts she had in her bag.

“They’ll see them before the presentation begins and have them all torn down before he even gets here.”

“Maybe. But at least someone will have seen them.”

It was a large, public park with a band shell right at its heart. The band shell was to be the hub bub of activity for the tech expo tomorrow. The convention center next door liked to hold these larger events outside in order to accommodate more people, and Dante Caito’s announcement tomorrow was likely to be a huge event.

Fortunately, they didn’t have as much security watching over this area as they likely did inside.

Emma and Todd spent more than an hour stapling posters to trees, tables, and the inner walls of the band shell, posters covered with pictures of the people being evicted from Emma’s apartment building with several different slogans, ranging from the mild—stop DJC from making this child homeless—to the inflammatory—DJC is heartless—written around them.

When they were done, there wasn’t a place one could look that wasn’t covered in the colorful posters. Emma looked around and laughter bubbled up out of her chest.

“This is so juvenile.”

“So is he. What is it they say? Fight fire with fire.”

“Yeah.” She walked up to Todd and pressed her forehead against his chest. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anytime.” He kissed the top of her head lightly. “Let me take you home.”

Emma smiled up at him as he took her hand and led her back to his car.



* * *



Her phone was ringing before she was fully awake the next morning. She mumbled something incoherent as she pressed it to her ear.

“Did you really think my people wouldn’t find those posters you and your boyfriend put up last night?”

Emma sighed. “It’s too early in the morning for this, Mr. Caito.”

“You keep trying to get the better of me and you keep falling on your face. It’s beginning to get a little tedious.”

“Can I ask you something?”

He didn’t answer. But the line didn’t go dead, either.

“Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend? Is this something you’d get off doing to her?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“What would you do if someone did this kind of thing to someone you loved? Would you just sit back and let it happen?”

“I’d ruin them. But that’s who I am.”

“Then you and I aren’t all that different.”

She disconnected the call and closed her eyes, tossing an arm over her head to block out the sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. She wondered why he refused to tell her about his romantic status but was quite open about answering her other question. Was it because he didn’t want her to know he was alone? Or was that his way of protecting someone he loved?

It made her smile, though, his mention of Todd. It confirmed what she’d suspected for some time now.

He was having her followed. That was how he knew which jobs she was interviewing for, how he knew she was behind the television news story, how he knew the about the posters. But it was also how he was playing right into her hands.

She was going to outsmart him this time.





Chapter 10





Emma wandered through the crowd, vaguely aware of the chatter around her. Most people were trying to figure out what Dante Caito was going to announce today. Since it was a technology expo, most leaned toward something to do with the software division of his company, but others thought it was a real estate development project. There was some thought that he was going to announce a merger with another company—Juno Technology was the likeliest candidate, apparently. But no one seemed to have a solid lead.

Kurt Michaels, the head of Michaels Tech, came out and tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention.

“Welcome to the third day of the Annual South Plains Tech Expo!”

The crowd clapped and cheered, the noise almost deafening despite the venue. Emma made her way to the far left of the space, a perfect place from which to watch the show.

“As most of you here are aware, DJC, Inc. is a leading force in the technology arena. Dante Caito has taken the simply smartphone app and elevated it to new heights, creating applications that can do everything from display 3-D games to lock the doors in your house from a state away. And now Dante is planning a project so big, so complicated, that it will blow your minds.”

Michaels held up his hands to calm the crowd as they again exploded into cheers.

“Before I give too much away, why don’t I bring out the man himself? Ladies and gentlemen, Dante Caito.”