“No problem.” The pickpocket shrugged. “I wasn’t paying much attention myself.”
“You sure you’re okay? I could pay for your food or something if I ruined your morning. My therapist says I need to be spreading goodwill in the world, and I’d just be so hurt if I’d started a man’s day off on the wrong foot.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Seriously. No big deal. If that’s the worst thing that happens to me today, I’ll be pretty happy.”
Shay managed to slide the bar patron’s wallet out of the pickpocket’s jacket and stepped back. She tossed it behind the victim’s stool.
The pickpocket looked behind him and frowned.
“What’s that?” Shay stepped over to the stool and picked up the wallet. She handed it to the bar patron. “I think you dropped this, sir.”
The man at the bar took the wallet, his eyes wide. “Huh. Thanks. It’s good to know there are still people in this city looking out for each other.”
“No problem.” Shay spun back to the pickpocket and focused a cold stare on him. “I mean, losing your wallet at breakfast might ruin a person’s whole day, and I know what my therapist would say about that.” She let the feigned ditziness fade from her voice and the natural hard edge return.
The criminal swallowed and bolted toward the door. Shay was half-tempted to go after him and take him down, but she didn’t need police showing up and poking around her background. He barreled into a man on the way out.
“Hey, watch it, bro.” The man shoved the criminal.
The criminal didn’t even slow. He ran around the man and threw open the doors to complete his escape.
Shay sauntered back to her table, snickering. “What were you saying about the notifications, Peyton?”
The researcher blinked several times and shook his head. “What the hell just happened? I saw it, but I don’t understand it. I thought you were getting coffee.” He pointed to her cup. “But you didn’t refill it.”
“I didn’t want a pickpocket thinking he could mess with one of my restaurants. It makes for a bad atmosphere. I made it clear he needed to leave.”
“Oh. I thought we were just going out for breakfast, not breakfast and a show.”
Shay shrugged. “I try to keep it interesting.”
“I’ll say.” The man chuckled. “Anyway, it’s just about better networking the computer systems to improve the notifications. I’m filtering a lot of them, but I want to set up a database so I can put categories on them and you can review them more easily. That way you don’t have to waste as much time sorting through the information. Or is that a stupid idea?”
“No, it’s not. It’s a good idea.” Shay shrugged. “You’ve been working with me long enough now that you know what I need. Check with me before you implement, but if you have a good idea toss it to me and I’ll let you know.”
Peyton might need to be kept in line every now and again, but it was stupid to pretend he wasn’t integral to her tomb raider operation. Anything he could do to cut down on the amount of bullshit she had to sort through would only improve her efficiency.
The man had become a useful part of her team, not just a tool or an investment. Even Lily was starting to grow on her as a part of their team.
Shay nodded. It was time. “Remember when I mentioned showing you a new warehouse?”
Peyton nodded. “Yeah. I just figured you’d get around to it when you were ready.”
“Wrong angle. It’s more about when you were ready.”
“I think I am.”
Shay chuckled. “Of course you’d say that.”
“Well, how do I prove I’m ready?”
“You already have. Let’s eat breakfast and go check it out.”
“Does any of this include me?” asked Lily.
“You’re the fave child. I thought that went without saying,” said Peyton.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Talk about anticlimactic,” Peyton grumbled. He shook his head and gestured at the racks and shelves of equipment. “Did you hit your head in Turkey? I come to Warehouse Three all the time. I figured out where this place was without you even telling me, remember? I’ve even shown this to Lily while you were out of town. Don’t reach for your gun. You okayed it, remember?”
Shay smirked. Sometimes it felt nice to take an arrogant person down a peg or two.
“Sure, but do you know about the Annex?”
Peyton blinked. “What Annex?”
Shay laughed. “I’m kind of surprised you haven’t figured it out already. There’s an entire other building connected to this one.”
Shay noticed Lily smile. She had already found it. Damn, maybe that girl would surpass her faster than she thought. And smart enough to keep it to herself. No way she gained entry.
“What? That? I’ve looked through the surveillance footage. It’s just empty space. That’s your big secret? I figured you just kept the space because it’s already connected to the building and you can’t risk renting it out.”
“Follow me.” Shay walked toward a spot of wall near the corner. “Come and be amazed by what I can still pull over on you.”
“What a wonderful wall you’ve discovered. It’s so…wall-like and gray.”
Shay winked. “Sometimes, the best place to hide something is in plain sight, you know.”
“Which is why you forced me to live hidden in a warehouse for so long.”
“Sometimes it’s the best place. It’s not always the best place.”
She placed her palm in the middle of the wall and hissed at the faint burning sensation of the hidden DNA reader. A small panel opened to reveal a retinal scanner and a keypad. She leaned forward as it scanned her eye and she entered the code.
Loud grinding filled the room as the wall slid open to reveal a hallway.
Peyton blinked several times. “What the hell? What about the door in the lobby?”
“If you had opened it, you would have found it’s been filled with cement. I really expected you to try, you know.”
Peyton sighed. “I just figured that with the surveillance footage there wasn’t a
