“You mean worked,” Marcus said, appearing confused.
“No. I mean, we’re still currently there. I’m still a partner. These are still my minions.” She waved a hand in their direction, making Harvard grin. “Jonathan and our father hired Benson Security to uncover who’s been stealing research from TayFor for the past few years.”
Charles shot to his feet. “This is out of order. Something of this magnitude should have gone through the board first.”
“Not if it’s a board member who’s stealing from you,” Harvard said.
“Do sit down and shut up, Charles,” Francesca told him. “We have more than enough to deal with without adding your tantrums to the mix.”
“Well, I never.” He sat down with a thud.
“I’m assuming you’ve uncovered the thief,” Jonathan said.
“Elle?” Harvard indicated that she had the room. “Please do the honors.”
Elle practically danced on the spot, making the blue bunches in her hair bounce along with her. “Okay, so we knew secrets were being siphoned off, so we set out to—”
Rachel held up a hand. “We don’t need the Columbo version. We just need a name, and then the police can take over.” She looked at Harvard. “You did call them?”
“No, I thought we’d just take the culprit down to the basement and put a bullet in their head.” Of course, he’d called the police.
“I’m not staying here for this.” Charles got to his feet again. “How do you expect us to believe a word you say when you can’t even take yourselves seriously? I’ll call in the police myself. If there’s a thief, they can deal with it.”
“Oh, there’s a thief,” Elle said. “And if I can’t describe our process, then I’ll just go for the big reveal. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your thief”—she stretched out an arm, sweeping it left to right before stopping on one person—“Preston Talbot.”
There was silence until Rachel’s grandmother spoke up. “Well, that was a bit anticlimactic, don’t you think?”
Harvard definitely had a soft spot for that woman.
Preston looked around the room. “You don’t honestly believe them, do you?”
His mother, Anne, leaned forward, placing her hand on the table as though reaching for him. “Preston? Why would they think you stole from us?”
Pure fury flashed in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly. “This is clearly a mistake. I haven’t stolen anything. I’m sure my lawyer will deal with whatever information they have within minutes.”
“We have your phone,” Harvard said. “It has two apps on it. One connects to a signal jammer on the camera facing West Building. The app shows it was last accessed on the morning that the system went down, when everyone was told not to access the servers.
“And the other app connects wirelessly with the card reader that was hidden under Francesca’s work desk and is linked to her computer. On top of that, now that we know who’s behind this, we also know where to look for the money. Because money always leaves a trail.”
Harry nodded from where he stood beside the door. “I’m running searches right now on your financials and any accounts set up in your name or your children’s names.”
“And I’m looking into your purchasing history,” Ryan said. “If there’s a record of you buying a Wi-Fi card reader and a signal jammer, I’ll find it.”
“And even though I did my bit by hacking your phone,” Elle said, “I’m going through your contacts to see if I can find the people who bought your information. I’m sure I’ll find them eventually. It’s like finding a loose piece of wool in a sweater. Once you have it, all you need to do is tug to make the whole thing unravel.”
“This is what we do,” Rachel told her cousin. “And we’re rather good at it.”
“None of your so-called evidence would stand up in court.” Preston loosened his tie and shifted in his seat. “A phone is a private device, and you certainly didn’t have my permission to hack mine.”
Anne gasped. “You aren’t denying what they found on it? Just questioning their right to go looking for it?”
“And you’re wrong anyway,” Rachel said. “Everyone signed a disclosure agreement years ago that allows the company to search personal devices at their discretion. As long as they were in the building at the time and were used for work. We all know you make work calls on your phone; we’ve watched you. Which means TayFor was well within their rights to crack open your phone and peer inside.”
“TayFor,” Charles snapped. “Not Benson Security. Not him.” He pointed at Harvard. “He has no right being here. None.” He sneered at Rachel. “No one can stop you from making a foolish decision about whom you marry, but we can definitely stop management from putting him in a position of trust. I mean, what do we know about this man? How do we know he can be trusted? For all we know, he might be planting clues to dismantle the board and install himself. He’s probably after Rachel’s money and the company. Bloody gold digger.”
“Charles!” Francesca shot to her feet. “I will not tolerate you speaking to Rachel like that.”
“Of course you wouldn’t.” Charles gave her a look of disgust. “You made the same mistake with your choice of husbands. My father and his brothers started this company. It should have remained with them. It should still be called Talbot Pharmaceuticals, not TayFor. Roger Ford didn’t start this business, he just wormed his way into it, exactly the same way this boy is doing.”
Boy? Hell no. Harvard lost all sense of amusement. “You call me a boy one more time, and I’ll escort you from the building. Through that window. This isn’t some plantation, and you sure as hell aren’t my white overlord. I’m sick of your racist shit, so do me a favor and keep talking, because I would seriously love to make you stop.”
Charles’ normally ruddy face paled as he shrank in on himself. His bluster disappeared as he obviously read correctly that Harvard wasn’t joking.
“Everybody, calm down,” Jonathan ordered. “The police will be here soon, and they’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“This what? This preposterous lie against Preston?” Theo snapped. “You’ve made a mistake. Go over it all again because my son wouldn’t do something like this. Tell them, Preston. Tell them they’re wrong.” He appealed to Rachel, “Why on earth would my son steal from the company? This makes no sense.”
Preston barked out a mirthless laugh that had all eyes focusing on him. “Do shut up, Father. You’re making everything worse just by being here. Can’t you tell when you aren’t wanted? None of us…” He waved a hand to indicate his mother, stepmother, and brother. “None of us wants you. You’re an embarrassment to us all and have been for years.”
Theo’s jaw dropped before he gathered himself. “You don’t know what you’re saying. It’s shock from being so heinously accused. Don’t worry, son, I’ll look out for you.”
“You’ll look out for me?” Preston laughed hard.