CHAPTER THREE
By Friday, Ava had a headache that simply refused to quit. She had drank a lot of water earlier hopping that it could have been the effect of the coffee she has been drinking non stop for some time now.
It was not the three cups of coffee, although her nervous system was staging a protest because she has already taken a lot.
It was not Wallace either, he had been suspiciously calm all week, almost like someone higher up had told him to sit on his usual fire breathing.
So the question was what exactly was giving her such non stop headache, it was Logan Blake.Three days locked in that glass Strategy Room with him had done it. It was not data analysis, it was reconnaissance.
The man treated spreadsheets like classified intelligence and silence like a weapon, the room was cold. Ava was starting to suspect that whatever this observation program was, it had teeth and he was feeding it quietly.
" Do you ever smile?" she asked finally, peering at him over the rim of her coffee cup which she had been taking all day with Logan.
Logan did not look up from his tablet. "I am smiling now." He responded to her.
She looked closely at him to find out that there was no smile on his face and he was just focused on his tablet. "No, you're not." She countered.
"Internally." He said to her without loosing focus on what he was doing.
She scoffed. "You're impossible." The more he spoke to her, the more her rage kept up burning up because it was obvious that he had no option than to frustrate her which he was doing at the moment.
He finally lifted his eyes, calm as stone, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "And yet, you're still here."
Annoyingly, he was right and at this point, she could not do anything about it. She knew that anyhow she reacted was going to determine her stay in Wallace and Grey and she was not ready to risk it because she needed the job obviously.
A moment later, he slid a folder across the polished table; real paper, not digital which already screamed red flag.
"What is this?" Ava asked, reluctant to even touch it.
"A list of twelve employees. I want to know who they really are." Logan said.
She frowned her face because as she has said earlier, she hated being observed especially when she is aware of it. "You're profiling?" She asked.
"I'm observing patterns, behavior and loyalty." He responded with his tone smooth and clipped.
That word made her freeze. "Loyalty?" She had to confirm.
Logan nodded with a very serious face on which made her know that it was not just to talk but he was really observing. "Wallace & Grey has a leak." He added.
Ava's stomach dropped as she glanced down at the names. Some she knew, some she didn't, an HR rep and a project manager she had once had drinks with.
A nervous looking intern from tech and even her friend Lena which made her pulse spiked.
"This is serious," she said quietly and thinking about what Lena's name was doing on the list. No one knew what Logan was capable of doing.
"So is what's coming and there's movement in this firm. People preparing for a shift but they're hiding it." Logan replied without flinching.
She looked at him and responded with her voice sharp. "And you expect me to help you spy on my coworkers?"
"Not spy, Confirm." Logan said evenly. He was beginning to make things suspicious and his choice of words were really topnotch.
"If Wallace finds out?" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make it seem illegal.
"He won't and this didn't come from Wallace." He responded as he gave her a reason to believe that is was not proper and that made her look up fast.
"Wait, you're not reporting to him?" She asked surprised as she felt she has gotten leverage over him.
Logan's gaze didn't waver at all. It was just focused but not serious.
"No", he responded with one word that changed everything.
She met Lena an hour later in the stairwell, the only blind spot in the entire building. "You okay?" Lena asked, handing her a granola bar like it was first aid.
"Yeah," Ava lied, chewing mechanically with her mind was still racing. If Logan wasn't reporting to Wallace, then who was pulling his strings. Higher up, an outside party or someone in the boardroom?
His confidence made her realize that she needs to be very careful around him and his answers also confirmed that he was not afraid of anyone.
Lena squinted, "What's going on with Mr. Observer, You look like you just saw a ghost."
Ava hesitated then muttered, "You ever feel like someone's pulling strings and you're just the warm body holding the scissors?"
Lena blinked. "That's poetic and also terrifying."
"Exactly." Ava responded immediately.
By 6:00 p.m., the office was thinning out. People clattered toward elevators, weekend bags slung over shoulders, laughing like they weren't about to spend two days still checking emails.
Ava stayed behind and so did Logan. She found him again in the Strategy Room, the city skyline washing blue shadows over his face. He didn't look surprised when she walked in."Thought you'd be gone by now," he said.
"So did I, I looked at the list ," she answered, dropping her bag on the table.
"And?" He asked so unbothered.
"I know three of them, one is harmless, one is slippery and on... I can't tell." She responded smartly. It was obvious that they were unto the smart game.
Logan nodded once and said, "It's always the one you're not sure about."
Her throat tightened as she had to divert smoothly, "What happens if you're right about this leak?" She asked him
His expression didn't change as he responded "Then someone's going down."
Ava should have walked out, should have called HR or should have minded her own business but she did not because the truth was, Logan was not a gossip, he was not a bluff and he was not even pretending to play friendly. He was deliberate, calculated and pulling her into something that already felt bigger than both of them.
She leaned on the table with her eyes locked on his. "If I help you, you stop with the riddles and no half truths anymore. I want to know what you're really doing here." She gave him conditions.
He studied her for a long moment then, "Deal." He agreed.
She left the building after 7:00. It was quite late and the night air was sharp against her cheeks.
Her phone buzzed before she reached the corner, it was an unknown number.
"One word, Just one; Careful." A male voice said to her as she took the call
Ava froze and looked around to see an empty street, flickering streetlight and shadows stretching across the pavement.
Her gut twisted. She tucked the phone into her pocket and walked faster with her heels striking hard against concrete.
Whatever Logan Blake was watching inside Wallace & Grey, something else was watching her too.