There was a level of disbelief in Taggart’s tone that made her gut twist. “I’m not sure, but it has something to do with the audio team, and I think it’s curious that he’s been to Beijing five times in the last year. I know he works with manufacturers there. Most of the processors used in tech come out of Asia. But he lied about where he was going at least twice. He told me he was going to be in South Korea meeting with investors. I know he was in Beijing. I know it because of some texts he sent me.”
“He texts you personally?” Deke asked with a frown.
“Like I told you, we’ve gotten to be friendly in the last couple of months. In this case, he was sending me pictures of a dinner he was having. Like I said, he was supposed to be in Korea, but I know the restaurant he was in. I recognized it. He was in Beijing at a place where the manufacturers always take clients. I’ve been several times. He was drinking their signature drink.”
“All right, but there are a lot of reasons he might not want an employee to know where he is,” Taggart allowed, his disbelief obviously not moving an inch. “Look, Madeline, there’s no one on the planet who would like to send Byrne to jail more than me, but I can’t justify the potential lawsuit Byrne can bring down on all our heads with this little evidence that he’s doing something wrong. Deke, I can give you some time off to help her, but I’m not going to send a four-person team out in the field.”
Crazily enough, that was kind of what she’d planned, but now she panicked at the thought of being out there alone. Her initial idea had been to hire Deke as a bodyguard, and she would handle the investigation on her own. But she’d spent the whole morning reconsidering. After all, she hired subject experts all the time. How was this different? She had more money than she could reasonably spend. It seemed like a good call to ensure her safety and to do things right. “I can pay. I’ll pay upfront.”
Taggart stood, closing the notebook he’d had open in front of him. “It’s not about the money. It’s about exposure. I have to safeguard my company, and the reward in this case isn’t worth the risk. If you have anything else, I’ll reconsider, but at this point, we would simply be providing you cover so you can go through your boss’s information on a top-secret project based on the thinnest of evidence.”
“He meets with this woman.” She sought her brain for anything else she could give him that wasn’t simply her hunch. “I don’t know her name. He doesn’t introduce her. I think she might be with the government. He meets with her regularly, and I think she’ll show up next week if my schedule is correct. She might have something to do with what’s going on. I’m almost certain she was who he met in Beijing.”
“I would assume a man like Byrne has many government contacts.” Charlotte stood beside her husband, a sympathetic look on her face. “We can always revisit the situation if something new happens. And if you’re worried about your personal safety, we can assign a bodyguard rotation so you’re never without protection.”
Frustration welled inside her. She knew something was wrong but she didn’t have solid proof, and she wouldn’t get any if she didn’t have help. Deke had convinced her this morning. He’d laid out all the ways his company could help her, and now it seemed like a mistake to go any other way.
“Why do you think she’s with the government?” Deke asked as everyone started to get ready to leave. Everyone except Boomer, who was still working on Yasmin’s treats.
“It doesn’t matter.” She sighed and sat back. All of her subterfuge had been for nothing. She would have to go back home and figure out another plan.
“It was nice to meet you.” MaeBe clutched her laptop to her chest. “Deke can give you my phone number if you need any help.”
“And Ian’s serious about the bodyguard.” Kyle followed MaeBe. “Give us a call if you need anything.”
She needed help but she wasn’t going to get it.
“Hey, I’ll talk to him.” Deke pushed back his chair. His jaw was tight, a sure sign he was upset. This morning obviously hadn’t gone the way he’d thought it would, either. “Do you have a picture of this woman? If she’s with the CIA, Ian might know her. Even if she isn’t, I know some people who can figure out who she is. We’ve got a couple of days before you’re due back. I can still make this happen. There’s a company here in the building that specializes in finding missing persons. Their facial identification software works magic. If we prove there’s a foreign agent at work, Ian will approve the op.”
She shook her head. “You think I haven’t tried facial recognition? She wears these glasses. It’s some kind of tech I’ve never seen before. The glasses themselves look normal until any kind of camera hits them. They use some kind of light that distorts her face.”
“Whoa.” Boomer’s eyes had gone wide, and he looked to Deke. “Remember Hutch’s case?”
Deke was on his feet, shoving the chair back. “You’ve got yourself a team. I promise. We’ll be going back to California with you. Give me five minutes.”
He strode out the door.
“What did I say?” Those words appeared to have worked some magic.
“The big boss doesn’t like unsolved mysteries. Relax. You’ll get what you need.” Boomer held out the box Yasmin had given him. “Want a sfouf? They’re delicious.”
She took one and sat back, hoping Deke was right.
* * * *
Deke raced out of the conference room, brushing past Kyle.
“Don’t schedule anything for next week. We’re still going to California.” There was no way Ian turned him down once he’d shared that last bit of news.
“The old man sounded sure,” Kyle replied. “And I’ve got some plans for next week, so I’m not all that upset.”
Even better. If he could avoid Kyle and MaeBe drama, he would be so much happier for it. “Cool. I’ll take Jamal.”
Jamal likely was on assignment since the man never stopped working, but Kyle could take it over. And Jamal wouldn’t freak out anytime MaeBe stepped away from her computer. He would call it a win.
“I’d still like to go,” MaeBe called out.
He heard Kyle say something, but he didn’t have time for it. Ian had walked out with his lemon cookies and his expensive Scotch and his wife’s boobs. If the big boss shut the door to his office, it could be hours before it opened again. No one in the world had more office sex than those two, and they were serious about it.
He got to Ian’s office just as the door was starting to close. He slammed a hand on it. “The woman Maddie saw is the same one who was working with Jessica Layne.”
Hutch’s wife, Noelle, had worked for the tech guru Jessica Layne, head of Genedyne. The mystery woman had been paid big bucks to tank Noelle’s potentially world-changing technological advances in favor of keeping up profits for her multinational corporate clients who could have been eclipsed by the advance.
It had been very reminiscent of the way an old foe had operated—one Ian had thought he’d taken down years before.
Big Tag’s face went blank as if he was trying to come up with any kind of reason to keep closing that door. He finally gritted his teeth and growled.