“Yay,” Sam said. “I always knew you’d come around.” She smiled as she posed for the mirrors. “I do look wonderful in this. I might just get it to wear out dancing.”
“But it’s a wedding dress.” Her mother sounded outraged. “You can’t wear a wedding dress to a nightclub. The press will have a field day.”
Samantha shrugged. “No, they won’t. They’ll think I’m being fashion-forward or something.”
“I’m starving,” Harvard called through to them. “How much longer are we going to be? Should I order pizza?”
The three women looked around at all the white dresses and, as one, they shouted, “No.”
There was a groan before Harvard spoke again. “Rachel, I need a word.”
“Not too long,” her mother said. “The designer will be here any moment to go over what you want.”
“Oh, goody,” Rachel said as she stepped through the curtain, where she found Harvard standing and looking serious. “What’s wrong?”
“Elle thinks she’s found something.” He ran a hand over his smoothly shaven head, and even though her stomach roiled at the thought of what Elle might have found, she still found herself wondering again what he’d look like if he grew his hair out.
“Did she say what?”
He shook his head. “She wants to talk in person.”
Rachel’s shoulders slumped. “If I run out on this, I won’t need to worry about what the blackmailer might do next; Mother and Sam will kill me. You go see what she wants and call if you need me.”
His wide hand clasped her neck. “I don’t like leaving you alone. I’ll call Ryan.”
“Oh, please, no. Sam would either seduce him in the dressing room, or he’d get food on the dresses, or I’d beat him to death with my shoe. Or maybe my gun.”
His lips quirked as his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Beat him with the gun? You know it shoots bullets, right?”
“It was brought to my attention yesterday that I might have some issues actually hitting a target.”
“Rachel,” he purred her name, his eyes heating, “we really need to deal with this violent streak of yours.”
“But not today. Now go. I’ll be fine. Once we’re finished here, I’ll take a cab back to my place or over to Benson Security if I’m needed. In the meantime, I have Mother and Samantha to protect me.” She almost managed to stop from rolling her eyes at the thought of how useful either of them would be in a crisis.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed the life out of her, leaving her dizzy and swaying in place while he sauntered out of the boutique.
“Rachel,” her mother called, “you’d better not have left.”
With a sigh, she returned to the fitting room.
Chapter Thirty-One
“We found a shadow of information in the metadata files of the thumb drive itself,” Elle told Harvard once he was in the IT room at Benson Security. “Whoever deleted the metadata attached to the video forgot to write over the space in the trash area to wipe it out entirely.”
“Or,” Harry said, looking like he hadn’t slept in days, “they didn’t know enough to clear out the trash storage area too.”
With a nod of thanks, Harvard took the coffee Joe offered him. “What’ve we got?”
“This.” Elle hit some keys and the screen on the wall filled with information.
Harvard stilled as he read through the data, then let out a slow breath of a curse. “We sure?”
“As sure as we can be,” Elle said tightly.
Harvard turned to Joe. “We need to pick him up and have a chat with him. Do we have a location?”
“Yeah,” his childhood friend said, looking every inch the dangerous former army ranger that he was. “Callum and Ryan already lifted him. He’s on his way. And he isn’t happy about it.”
“Like we give a crap,” Elle snapped.
Harvard put a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t enough to convict him. We need to be patient. To do this right. Otherwise, he’ll get away with it.” He turned to Joe. “You and Noah head over to his apartment and see what you can find.”
“You’re talking breaking and entering; not sure Noah will be up for that. It ain’t like we have a warrant giving us permission to toss the house.”
“It needs to be done. If Noah won’t do it, wait for Ryan. He won’t have any moral issues that’ll stop him from taking care of business.”
Joe nodded. “You calling in Rachel?”
Harvard glanced back at the screen and the one tiny line that had a name in it. “Not until we’re sure. The blackmailer’s played us all along; let’s make sure this information hasn’t been planted before we bring in Rachel.” Because if a member of her family was behind her attack, it would destroy her.
“Elle, Harry, is there any way to check if this information was planted?” Harvard asked as Joe left the room.
They shared a look where they almost seemed to communicate telepathically.
“There’s a couple of things we could try,” Harry said at last.
Elle’s attention went straight to her keyboard. “But if this is a stretch for us, I don’t think your blackmail suspect could do it.”
“Let’s check anyway,” Harvard said as he pulled out his phone to text Rachel.
When the text from Harvard came through, Rachel hoped it would get her out of the bridal boutique. Unfortunately, all it said was Nothing concrete yet. How are you doing?
She tapped back: The designer was a bitch, and I should know one when I see one. Sam’s bought three dresses. Mother gave up on us and went home. We’re winding up with the designer from hell and then going back to my place. Sam has a folder full of wedding ideas that she HAS to show me.
Sounds like a girls’ night. The fool said, having far too much fun at her expense. Go straight there and set the alarm once you’re both in. Don’t let anyone inside except a member of our team.
A chill went through her, making her shiver. You think the blackmailer is someone I know well enough to let into my apartment?
Just be extra cautious. I’ll be in touch as soon as I know more.
She was grateful he didn’t sign off with heart emojis.
“Everything okay?” Sam said as they hailed a taxi.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“That’s our Rachel, able to take on the world without blinking an eye.” A cab pulled up, and Sam climbed into the back. “Hurry up. I want to show you my ideas before that hunky fiancé of yours gets home. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the wedding plans before they happen.”
“No, it isn’t.” Rachel got in beside her. “It’s bad luck if he sees the dress. Not the wedding plans.”
Sam patted her arm. “I agree that’s the case with most people. But for you, it’s probably best to play it safe.”
Rachel just stared at her as the taxi headed through the streets of London to Hyde Park.
Harvard stepped into Benson Security’s interrogation room and faced the man seated at the table. His suit was rumpled, and his hair stood on end from him running his hands through it. Harvard knew because he’d watched him do it through the one-way mirror while Callum briefed him on what had happened during the trip to pick up their suspect.