“I’ll do Creed’s. It’ll be quicker,” Max chose before Stump could open his mouth.
“I want Creed’s job. I’m trying to find work. I don’t have time to babysit the kook.”
“I thought Max’s boss offered for you to come back?”
“He did. I told him to fuck off.”
“Good. Then you have plenty of time on your hands to keep an eye on Zoey.”
“That’s bullshit! Why does Max get the choice of jobs?”
“Other than he asked first? Creed doesn’t want you. He told you to lay off Zoey.”
Stump gaped at Ice. “Don’t tell me he follows Zoey?”
“No, he’s her neighbor. By the way, he said to tell you that the next time you let off a fuck you bomb in his neighborhood, he’s going to deduct your pay from the club’s profits.”
When Creed threatened to cut off his payday, he meant business. The fucker didn’t have a funny bone in his body.
“Fuck me. The longer I know that bitch, the more she becomes a pain in my ass,” Stump complained to the men who showed no sympathy.
Max snickered. “I can’t think of another brother who deserves to babysit that kook as much as you.”
“I can,” Stump grumbled.
He might be complaining to the men, but other than sitting on his ass and being bored to death, Zoey would be easier to deal with.
“Jackal is used to dealing with kooks.”
Jackal didn’t react because the enforcer didn’t have a leg to stand on. The entire club knew the attractive blonde was nuttier than a fruitcake.
“If Zoey sees me hanging around, she’ll know we’re trying to protect her,” Jackal explained.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Penni said Zoey won’t accept her or the Predators’ help in dealing with the situation. Penni and Grace don’t want Zoey upset with them. She’s enough to deal with, with who’s stalking her and getting hurt.” Jackal rolled his eyes at Penni’s reasoning.
“How am I supposed to protect her without Zoey complaining to them anyway?”
“You’re good at improvising when you want to. Pretend you’re into her. Use Hannibal if you have to, or hire her for yourself. You need all the help you can get. It’ll be a freebie. The club will pay.”
Ice turned his gaze to Max. “I’ll send you the contact information you need. Get it done. I want you back here in case Stump needs backup.”
Max stood when Ice nodded to the door, leaving a silent message.
Stump started to get up, too, but Ice stopped him.
“Jackal was showing me the security footage. You need to watch to see what you’re up against.”
Jackal picked up the laptop that was laying on the table then took a seat next to him. Opening it, he cued the footage.
“Penni told Jackal the date when the first flowers were delivered. That’s what this is.” Ice came to stand behind their chairs.
Stump watched as someone got off the elevator wearing a bulky hoodie. You couldn’t tell if it was male or female with their head lowered and their shoulders hunched over. Whoever it was, they were smart enough to hide their face and height from the security camera.
The person was holding the flowers as they walked down the hallway toward Zoey’s office. Once there, they bent down to place them against Zoey’s office door. He watched as the concealed figure then walked back toward the elevator, still keeping their face hidden.
“Damn, you have any footage after leaving the building?” Stump asked, pushing his chair forward so he could search for any details that would help identify the person.
Jackal brought his fingers to the keyboard, switching footage to see the person walking out the door, still avoiding the camera’s lens.
“This footage is from this morning.” Ice explained what he was about to see.
“Fuck.” Stump didn’t take his eyes off the computer, watching the elevator opening for a second time.
“And… it becomes even more fucked.”
The firefighter getting off made no attempt to cover the face mask, since the helmet made it impossible to identify.
Stump watched as the pretend firefighter carried the flowers toward Zoey’s office without hesitating, then put a key into the lock and easily opened the door. Disappearing inside, the firefighter came out twenty seconds later with the old flowers as well as the green plastic that had been wrapped around the new ones they had carried inside. Leaving Zoey’s door open, whoever it was then turned toward the stairwell and went through that exit.
“I have the footage from the stairwell,” Jackal said before Stump could ask.
Jackal had already keyed into where the faux-firefighter moved faster running down the steps.
Stump stiffened in his chair when he saw Zoey come into view. She didn’t even have time to look back before a gloved hand shoved her off the landing, then jerked the door open to another floor.
“That explains how she fell.” His hands clenched on the table at seeing how much visible pain Zoey was in as she got back to her feet. Glancing up, her confusion was obvious as to what had happened.