“I can’t even,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “It’s like you live on a different planet.”
“Yes. One with clean clothes and decent manners. Now, for the love of Prada, use a napkin. You’re getting crumbs everywhere.”
Without taking his eyes from her, he lifted a large Danish pastry from his over-full plate and took a bite.
“And that there”—she pointed at him—“is exactly why you can’t keep a girlfriend.”
Harvard held up his hands. “Can we get on with this, or do I have to give you two a time-out?”
“She started it,” Ryan said with a grin.
Rachel just filled a mug with coffee, helped herself to one Danish pastry, and headed toward a seat far away from Harvard.
His eyes sparkling, he stood up and took the plate from her hand. “Let me help you.” He put it on the table beside his seat and pulled out a chair for her.
Elle and Ryan seemed to hold their breaths as they waited for her to eviscerate Harvard. But she had no intention of doing the expected. Instead, she said thank you and took the seat. She’d deal with him later.
As he settled beside her, Harvard looked over at Harry. “We’re ready when you are.”
When he didn’t respond, Elle leaned over and poked his arm. “We’re waiting,” she said.
“Oh, okay.” Harry looked around the table, and you could tell the exact second when the people present came into focus for him. He gave that goofy grin of his before sobering. “I think I know who stole the drug they used on Rachel.”
“So do I,” Elle said.
Harry’s head almost spun off his shoulders as he turned to her. “How?”
“Harvard told me you’d found corrupted data during a set time frame, so I pulled up staff for that period.”
“So, you don’t know the exact person, you just narrowed it down to a group of people?”
“Nope.” Her blue curls bounced around her face as she shook her hair. “I’ve dug around in some backgrounds and came up with a motive. I’m fairly sure I’ve got the right person.”
“Are you saying that I spent all night digging around in corrupted data, and it was pointless?” Harry frowned.
“How about”—Harvard leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table—“you both tell the rest of us who you think stole the drug.”
Harry nodded. “Okay, it was—”
“Terrance King,” Elle and Harry finished together.
Finding she’d lost her appetite, Rachel pushed the pastry away. “Are you sure? I didn’t even know him back then. I barely know him now.”
She sounded calm, and she felt weirdly calm too, as though disconnected from the conversation. But somewhere deep inside, questions kept bubbling up. Was he one of the men who’d attacked her? Had he taken the photos? Had he set all of this up?
“Why?” she said. “I don’t understand the why.”
Elle opened her laptop and tapped at the keyboard before turning it toward the rest of them. “This is why.” She pointed to an image of a young woman, a teenager, walking with a younger version of Terrance King. He had his arm around her waist as they gazed into each other’s eyes like lovers would. “That’s Angelina Smith; she was seventeen when this was taken. Terrance was in his forties and still working with the police. He was also married.”
“What’s that got to do with me? I was a few years older than her when I was attacked, and I honestly don’t recognize the girl.”
“It’s not who she is that’s important,” Elle said. “It’s what she represents.”
Harvard slid a hand over Rachel’s shoulder to her nape, but instead of brushing him away, she found the gesture strangely settling. “Blackmail,” he said to her. “Whoever’s blackmailing you, probably used this affair to blackmail Terrance.”
“Exactly.” Elle hit some keys, and the screen changed, bringing up several photos and a written report. “I used our connections to private investigators in London and found a firm who was more than happy to help once they knew this was personal. I had to promise to keep their name out of it though. Nobody trusts a PI who shares information.”
Harvard nodded, his hand still warm and solid on Rachel’s neck. “Understood. What did they tell you?”
“That round the same time Terrance decided to quit the force and apply for the security position at TayFor, someone contacted them and asked them to investigate the man.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip. “Nothing unusual, you might be thinking. It’s routine for TayFor to check out their staff, especially security staff. But this didn’t come through official channels. In fact, TayFor’s name was nowhere near the job contract. The whole thing was done in secret. They didn’t have a client name, just money up front, a contact number and a contract signed by a lawyer who was hired just for that purpose.”
“So, someone used a private investigator to dig up dirt on Terrance.” Rachel felt ill even saying his name. “And then used the fact he was having an affair with a schoolgirl to blackmail him into getting them the drug?”
“That about sums it up,” Elle said.
“Which brings us back to our belief that someone inside TayFor is behind all this,” Ryan said. “Otherwise, how would they know Terrance had applied for a position with them and that he’d be in a place where he could help the blackmailer?”
Harry nodded. “They must have approached him before he got the job at your family’s company. Because the theft of the drug and the attempted cover-up on the server happened just a week or so after he started there.”
Rachel looked up at Harvard. “Do you think the person who hired him is the same one who organized my attack?”
“Hard to tell.” He caressed her neck with his thumb. “Could just be somebody who took advantage of the opportunity to use the new guy.” He caught Ryan’s eye. “We bring him in and talk to him. Give Joe a call; see if he’s free to back you up. I want Terrance in the Benson Security holding room this morning.”
“And if he doesn’t agree to come along nicely?” Ryan’s face said he already knew the answer.
“Convince him.” Harvard’s voice was steel. Looking somber, he turned to her. “We need to tell the rest of Benson Security before we turn up with this guy. It’s time to bring everyone else up to speed. You okay with that?”
Rachel nodded. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t thought of herself. “You may tell whomever you choose.”
“I’m happy to tell people if you don’t want to.” His gaze softened.
Which just annoyed her. She didn’t need pity. Nor did she want it. “It’s not like I’m ashamed to tell them, I just don’t want to waste time repeating the story again and again.”
“But it’s okay to waste my time?” His eyes sparkled with amusement.
“It’s one of the perks that come with being in a relationship with me. Aren’t you glad you got what you so desperately wanted?” When she looked back at their team, they were staring at her openmouthed. She let out an irritated sigh. “Apparently we’re in a real relationship instead of a fake one. Don’t get all excited and start poking your noses in. It’s unlikely to last.”