Fair Game Inc (2010) Read Online Free PDF

the work that should have been done back at the office during the day piled up to be done another.
    Another half an hour. Grayson Charles could wait. She'd put in the hours as per the court order, and according to her own schedule.
    A car pulled up in front of the squat building. Rolling down the window, Amber rested the camera against the glass and put her eye to the viewfinder. But the little sports car discharged only a middle aged woman and a yappy poodle. Amber tossed the camera back on the seat beside her. Another glance at her watch showed thirty-five minutes passed. Now she was not only behind in her own work, but in the work she'd been ordered to do for Grayson as well.
    With a deep sigh, she put the car in gear and drove away.

Fair Game Inc (2010)

    ****
    The glass doors to Grayson's office building flew open as Amber charged through. Thinking of the work piling up on her own desk, she cursed Grayson Charles fluently and thoroughly.
    It wasn't just the research, the execution of the prescribed revenge. Once a case was completed, there was still the filing, the billing and a myriad other tasks to occupy her time. Someone had to dust the computer. Someone had to wash the coffee cups, order the supplies and vacuum the carpet. As owner, operator and sole proprietor of Fair Game, that someone was Amber. Caution stopped her from hiring an assistant. Her last expansion nearly sent her to bankruptcy court, she reflected darkly. Renting a bigger office and hiring an assistant had tipped the scales on Shaw Investigations. That coupled with a slow year, had plunged the company permanently into the red. Never again, Amber promised herself. For the time being she'd indulge herself with upscale tissues and gourmet coffee. She wasn't about to gamble with her livelihood again.
    Grayson Charles certainly didn't wash his own coffee cups, she thought with a glance around the lobby. Marble floors led the way to the elevator. A brass-framed directory told her the offices of Barlow & Charles were on the third floor. Must be nice, she thought bitterly and stopped.
    It wasn't jealousy she felt. No, not Amber Shaw. She was proud of the years of hard work that created her success. Better to start with nothing and build up slowly. That way no one could take away what was rightfully yours. The mantra had served her well so far. Fair Game was all hers, down to the last paper clip and bottle of white-out. And if Grayson Charles thought differently, he was in for a surprise.
    She stabbed at the elevator button. Chrome doors slid open obligingly. She suppressed the urge to smear her fingerprints on the door as she entered. Anything to tarnish the untouchable interior.
    On her way up she pictured the pristine interior of Barlow & Charles. It would be oh-so-tastefully decorated, she suspected. Muted colors, probably beige and that celery green that seemed to have taken over decoratorsAE better judgment that year. Furniture would all be polished to a dull gleam, and it would, of course, all be wood. Real wood. A young, blonde secretary would just be getting up from her desk. She'd put on an extra pot of coffee for Grayson before she left.
    And because of that one, albeit regrettable, mistake Amber could sit right down in her vacated spot and spend the evening working for Barlow & Charles instead of Fair Game.
    As if Mr. Grayson (never a hair out of place, expensive suit, drives a Mercedes) Charles actually needed her help. He didn't give the impression he'd ever needed anything from anybody.
    Striding down the hallway with its plush carpet, she pictured his early life. Born into a well-bred, well-off family, that was a given. From there he'd excelled in school, of course he had. By the time he was in his late teens, his dad, who was probably a judge, was already giving him career advice over brandy at the old boy's club.
    Amber gripped the brass door handle as if she wanted to throttle it. She'd bet this month's revenue Grayson Charles never had to