“It was?—”
“Yes,” Ellie spoke firmly, over whatever Benny had been about to say, at the same time as she rose to her feet.
“Did you call the police?” he rasped.
“We—”
“Nothing was taken,” Ellie cut in again, this time over Sally, who had now come to stand in the adjoining doorway watching the exchange.
“That you’re aware of,” Benny rebuked.
“That I know of,” she conceded irritably. “I— Where are you going?” she demanded when Knox strode across the reception area. He gently moved Sally aside, opened the door more fully into the adjoining room, then stepping inside.
Knox stood in the middle of what he assumed must be Ellie’s office, slowly pivoting until he had looked at each of the four walls. Each one had a different word sprayed-painted on the pale pink walls. Bitch was the least offensive.
Ellie now stood in the doorway watching him, her face pale. “Maintenance has agreed to come up and paint the walls this afternoon.”
Knox was so angry at what he was looking at, he literally dared not risk speaking just yet.
He wanted to strangle someone. Rend them limb from limb for daring to call Ellie these highly offensive names.
“I’ve seen the security recordings for last night,” Ellie announced in a rush at his continued—furious—silence. “All it shows is two men dressed in black, both wearing balaclavas, entering the building, then taking the elevator up to this floor to enter the HERA offices. The security cameras in here showed they proceeded to do all this.”
“The police,” he managed to bite out from between gritted teeth.
Her shoulders straightened. “Have far more important things to deal with than a couple of teenagers breaking into an office and having a little fun before leaving again.”
Knox frowned at hearing this description about what he was looking at. The incredulous expression on Benny’s and Sally’s faces said they didn’t agree with Ellie’s assessment either. The way the two now avoided meeting Knox’s gaze also told him that their loyalty to Ellie prevented them from saying so.
The HERA offices were on the third floor of the building. Meaning that those “teenagers” had ignored the previous two floors housing the cafés and exclusive clothing shops in order to break into these specific rooms.
Ellie’s explanation in no way covered the absolute destruction and disgusting insults that Knox was looking at spray-painted on the walls.
Which was why, on his way out, he was going to speak to the security guards—unfortunately, not Wynter Security employees—he’d seen downstairs when he entered the building. He also wanted to go to the main security office, probably situated in the basement, and speak to the guards who kept an eye on the security feeds twenty-four-seven for all parts of the building, including the roof, and ask to see those recordings for himself.
He was trained to notice things that Ellie, looking at the security recording in a state of distress, probably wouldn’t have noticed about the two men.
If Ellie wasn’t willing to call in the police to follow up on this deliberate destruction of her offices, then Knox intended to look into the situation himself.
Whether she wanted him to or not.
Because the next time someone decided to vandalize her offices, she might still be working here and end up becoming a part of that destruction.
Ellie could see by Knox’s skeptical expression that he wasn’t buying her explanation.
Probably because Ellie hadn’t made it with any degree of conviction.
Because she knew who had trashed the HERA offices.
At least, she thought she did.
Not personally, of course, because Andrew wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty—literally!—by coming here himself and smashing Benny’s lovingly tended plants all over the reception area before scattering all the files across the floor. Or spray-painting the walls in her office.
No, Andrew would have paid someone else to do it.
Not only had all the drawers in Ellie’s desk and filing cabinets been emptied, but her desk and other furniture had also been upended on top of them. Then there were those horrible, disgusting words that had made the bile rise in the back of Ellie’s throat the first time she’d read them.
In fact, Ellie had taken one look inside her office and quickly closed the door again, grateful when Sally had offered to tidy up in there. Her PA, having quickly assessed the situation, had also been the one to call maintenance and arrange to have Ellie’s office walls painted cream this afternoon.