“She didn’t kick me out. She ate the dinner I made her, and we shared some time afterward.” He smiled widely. “I gave her a large brandy, and she fell asleep.”
I sat back with a laugh. “That’s how you plan on seducing her? Feeding her and knocking her out with alcohol?”
“No,” he replied, disgusted. “I want to show her how I care for her. I fed her, let her relax, then when she was asleep, I tucked her into her bed and made sure she was comfortable.” He grinned. “She said my name in her sleep.”
He sighed. “She kicked me out in the morning when she found me on her sofa. But she made me coffee first.” He pulled a face. “She makes horrendous coffee.”
“She’s a doctor. She’s used to drinking tar.”
“I offered to remake the pot properly. That’s when she kicked me out.”
I shook my head in silent amusement. His caveman ways would not impress Sofia. She was strong, independent, and fierce. She had to be. He would have to learn the hard way.
“Anything to report?”
He leaned forward. “Yes.”
I set down the file I was holding. “What?”
“How would Elite Security feel about adding a new arm to the company?”
“A new arm?”
“Cybersecurity.”
I frowned. “That would draw too much attention.”
“Not if it was only for one client.”
“Who?”
He grinned, sitting back. “The Real Connection.”
“What have you done?”
“I paid a visit to their office. Spoke with the owner. Showed him how flimsy his firewalls are. How quickly I got in. Told him why I did it.”
“Jesus, Egan. I said discreet.”
He shrugged. “This asshole is good. I need an in.”
He was right. I had tried several ideas this morning, coming up empty-handed. Whoever this guy was, he covered his tracks well.
“And what good is them tightening their firewalls now going to do? How does that give us an in?”
“He told me a little tidbit. He does a daily backup.”
“We know that. So does Andy. We checked them. He erased everything.”
“No. He does a second daily backup. It’s stored off-site. It’s not in their system.”
I sat up. “Are you telling me we can have access?”
“Jeff, the owner, was horrified to hear someone was in danger because of his site. He said he had Raven’s letter and was about to investigate it and see if they had any other complaints.”
“He should have moved quicker.”
“He’s been away. He only got back today. The letter was waiting for him. She mailed it.” He smirked. “Smart girl was worried Andy would find the email and delete it.”
“So, we get access?”
He nodded. “We’re meeting him tomorrow. In exchange for his cooperation, I promised him that Elite would tighten his security. The company he paid did a shit job.”
“This is the break we needed.”
He sat back, looking smug. “Yep.”
“I owe you, Egan.”
He regarded me silently.
I glanced at my watch, seeing it was almost time to pick up Raven. The hours had flown by today. “I’ll sing your praises to Sofia when I see her.”
He nodded sagely. “Then we’re even.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Damien
Raven was waiting inside the door of the school and hurried out to the car as I pulled up. I studied her face. She looked calm and happy.
“How are you?” I asked, leaning over for a kiss.
“Good. No trouble at all again.”
“Great.”
In the car, she chatted, telling me about the antics of her kids, her list for shopping on Thursday, the fact that Deb had texted her, excited.
“Her businessman sent her flowers. She’s never received flowers before.”
The businessman had slipped my mind, and I hadn’t delved into him as I had planned to. “I see. So, you want me to leave it alone?”
“Yes. I don’t think you have to worry. She isn’t.” Raven chuckled. “She wants us to double-date one night.”
“Even better. I can check him out in person.”
I parked underground, and we took the elevator up to the main floor. I took her to Leo’s office located in the back of the building, and she gave him the cookies she made him. She entertained him with the story of the mice she hid under the cushions, exaggerating my reaction and making him laugh loudly. He was thrilled with the cookies and winked at her. “I got more. My wife wants an evening out without the kids,” he whispered, loud enough for me to hear.
Raven nodded and winked back. “We’ll talk,” she mouthed.
She stood, lifting her bag and rounding the desk to hug Leo. As she went by his handheld scanners, a constant ping went off. She stopped frowning. “What is that?”
I met Leo’s eyes, slightly shaking my head.
“A door alarm that needs fixing,” he said. “It’s been going off all day, driving me nuts.”
“Oh, annoying,” Raven replied and hugged him. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
I took her elbow, heading upstairs. In the elevator, I turned to her, pressing a finger against my lips, indicating she needed to stay quiet. She frowned as I slipped her bag off her shoulder, carrying it. I led her into my office, then into the back, shutting the door firmly behind me.
“Okay, you can talk.”
“What’s going on?”
“You walked past one of the extra scanners we use to search for bugs. It went off,” I explained.
Her eyes widened. “Bugs?”
“Listening devices. Tracking devices. If you had walked through the detectors at the front door, they would have gone off as well.”
“But…” She looked around wildly. “You know about them. You added them.”
“No. Ours would register with the scanner. Whatever this is wasn’t from me. They’re blocked in this room—there are extra precautions taken here so nothing gets through, even the most sophisticated devices. Leo will be up in a minute, and we’ll find where they are.”
“How?” she asked.
“Let’s find it first and figure that out.”
Leo came in, grim-faced. It only took us a minute to figure out there were two bugs. One listening and one tracking. Both were on a little fuzzy animal Raven had clipped to the outside of her satchel. I held it up, showing her the tiny devices.
“Did you leave your satchel behind at some point when you were out with Andy?”
She frowned and thought it over. “Yes. He spilled his coffee the first day I met him, and I went to get napkins. The bag was on the seat between us. Would that be enough time? I was only gone a moment.”
“Yes. He would have had them ready and reached over to press them into place. He only needed a few seconds.” I sat down, studying the small devices. “This explains how he knew where you were and could follow you.”
“He could hear me all this time?” Her voice was garbled, thick.