Neal took the stairs two at a time and rang the doorbell, his hand on his weapon. He’d already called for backup, now that he’d finally zeroed in on his target.
A beautiful woman in her early forties opened the door to welcome Neal. Her unnatural flaming red hair spoke volumes.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Neal Hawkins.” He flashed his badge, gauging her reaction. “I’m here to see Donald Haley.”
Her hand flew to her neck and stroked a double-strand pearl and diamond necklace. “I’m sorry, but my husband isn’t home right now.”
“May I come in? I have a few questions.”
“Is my husband in some kind of trouble?”
“Not at all, Mrs. Haley. I’m just looking into the attack on Jade Buchanan, and she said your husband might be of help to me.” He eyed the necklace she continued caressing.
She motioned him in. “Have a seat, Detective, and please call me Tanya. I’ll bring us some tea.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“It will boil over if I don’t see to it.”
“Sure. I’ll be waiting.”
Neal didn’t sit. He walked around the living room, staring at two Teresa Saia paintings. Are they originals? They looked like the real deal. His mother had prints in her house of the well-known local Seattle artist.
A white leather couch and chairs should have seemed strange in this house, but somehow they looked modern, classy, and very expensive. The floor-to-ceiling drapes appeared to be silk, and the mahogany furniture had to have cost a small fortune. He was surrounded by lots of money, far more than Donald made on his salary. He’d bet a full paycheck this house was listed under the holding company.
Tanya brought in two cups of tea and biscotti on a platter. “Please help yourself.”
“Thank you.” Neal chose a piece of chocolate biscotti. “You have a beautiful home.”
“I do my best to bargain shop to make it look high end, you know.”
“Uh-huh. So what line of work are you in?”
“Oh, I don’t work. I take care of the household.”
Single income, Donald’s salary only—it doesn’t add up. “That’s a beautiful necklace you’re wearing. I don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.”
Tanya’s hand flew back to her neck. “Donald gave it to me for my birthday.”
“Happy birthday.” Does she know it’s stolen? “It’s funny. I was just investigating a break-in this week, and one of the missing pieces of jewelry was a double-strand pearl and diamond necklace.”
“What?” Tanya stood. “Are you accusing me of stealing?”
“I’m more inclined to think your husband unknowingly purchased a stolen necklace.”
“Oh. I suppose he may have.”
“Would you mind if I took that necklace in to have it checked out? If it is stolen property, I’m afraid you’ll lose it.”
She took off the necklace and handed it to him. “I don’t want it if that’s the case.”
“It will be returned to you if I’m mistaken.” Neal put the necklace in his pocket. If Jade made a positive ID, he’d have a warrant on this place in five minutes flat.
“Do you by chance know where your husband is?”
“I think… he’s shopping. I’m afraid I don’t know where.”
“Would you mind giving him my card? If I don’t catch up with him this weekend, I’ll see him at work on Monday.”
“I hope you catch whoever did this horrible thing to Jade.”
“So do I. Oh, one more thing. Do you happen to know who owns the Cadillac SUV out front?”
Her eyes dilated, and her hands stilled. “No, sorry. Is something wrong?”
“It’s parked illegally. I called a tow truck to come get it. I just figured if it was yours, you’d want to move it to avoid the impound fee.”
She smiled with a faint trace of worry lines on her forehead. He could almost see the cogs in her brain turning as she tried to figure a way out of this. “I’ll let myself out,” he said.
Neal identified himself to the squad car that pulled up to the SUV. “Keep an eye on Mrs. Tanya Haley. Her husband is the primary suspect on my case. If she leaves the house, follow her, and call it in. I want to know where she’s going, and if she drives that Cadillac. If she takes you to her husband, Donald Haley, arrest him for B&E to start.” Neal had enough evidence for breaking and entering sitting in his pocket; now he’d just have to prove assault and grand theft, possibly even murder.
Neal called Riley as he walked back to his car.
“What’s up, Hawk?” Riley yawned.
“You still in bed?”
“Late night.”
“With Sandy?”
“Michelle.”
“Sorry I asked.” Neal shook his head. “I need you to pull up Tanya Haley’s driver’s license and take it down to the bistro across from Macrina Bakery to see if a waiter by the name of Dan Coyle recognizes her. Her hair is red now.”
“You think you found the woman who stole the laptop?”
“I think I found out who’s been stealing a lot more than that. I have a necklace I need Jade Buchanan to take a look at. I’m going to track her down. Call me if you get a positive ID on the Haley woman.”
“Copy that.”
Neal hopped into his car and dialed Jade’s cell phone. He needed her to identify the necklace immediately. When she didn’t pick up, he dialed her parents, and Jade’s father answered.
“Mr. Buchanan, this is Detective Neal Hawkins. May I speak with Jade?”
“I’m afraid she went to work this morning, Detective.”
“Does she have her cell phone?”
“No, she left it in the kitchen on the charger.”
“When did she leave this morning?”
“We’re not entirely sure. She was gone before I was up at seven. She left a note saying she couldn’t sleep and had some reports she needed to run.”
“Okay, if she calls in, please have her call me back right away.”
“Is everything all right?”
“I think I’ve found her stolen necklace. I need her to make a positive ID so I can get a search warrant.”
“That’s great news.”
“I sure hope so.” Neal hung up and headed for Seattle. He’d be at Synergy Technologies in a half hour.
BRYCE HEADED TO WORK to see what he could dig up on Johansson Tek. He was fifteen minutes away when his cell phone rang. Bryce hoped it was Jade and pressed the phone button on his steering wheel.
“Jade?”
“Sorry, Bryce, it’s Zachary.”
“Zachary?”
“Yeah, from IT.”
“What do you want?” Zachary was the last person on earth he wanted to speak to right now. He had more important things on his mind.
“Sorry to bother you, but Jade called and said it was urgent. My aunt passed away unexpectedly. I needed to be there with my mom, you know.”
Bryce took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to be rude, Zachary. I’m having a bad day. Why did Jade call you?”
“She’s not with you?”
“No, she’s staying with her parents after the break-in.”
“I just called her parents and they said she was at work, but I couldn’t get hold of her there either.”
Bryce’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. What the hell was Jade doing at work alone? He should have known.
“Anyway, it sounded like she really needed an answer right away.”
“To what?”
“She wanted to know who knew about the order for the replacement laptop.”
“Yeah?”
“The only person I talked to about it was Donald. I needed his approval to buy it.”
“Did he approve it?”
“Well, yeah.”
“What’s the hesitation for, Zachary? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Donald seemed upset about it at first. But when I explained that Jade wanted the professor to help her out,
he changed his mind and approved it.”
“Are you sure Donald was the only one who knew beside you and me?”
“You knew too?”
“Yeah, Jade told me.”
“Donald was the only one I told.”
“Okay, I’ll pass the message along to her.”
“One more thing. I forgot to tell her that the only two people, besides her, who had software installed to modify the SQL database were Donald and Stan. Tell Jade I’m sorry I didn’t have time to tell anyone where I was going.”
“It’s no problem. I’m sure she’ll understand under the circumstances.”
Bryce hung up and punched the accelerator.
DONALD GLANCED AT HIS PHONE when it rang. It was Tanya. He took a deep breath before he answered. “I’ll be home in an hour. If you don’t stop bugging me, I’ll never make it in time for our trip.”
“That detective was just here,” Tanya said frantically.
“What?” Adrenaline swamped his system.
“He wants to talk to you about Jade’s attack. Claims she said you might be of help to him.”
“Why did he go to the house? He must think I attacked Jade.”
“I don’t know, but he saw the necklace.”
Donald clamped his eyes shut and rubbed his bearded chin. “Why did you have it on? Didn’t I tell you not to wear it?”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting the police to show up on our doorstep.”
“What did you do with it?”
“I gave it to him. He figured you bought it, not knowing it was stolen. What else was I going to do?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I was making things right again. Jade didn’t give me time to make things right.”
“Don’t start freaking out. You need to come home right now.”
“Come home?”
“Yes, we need to figure this out. I have to go move the SUV before they tow it away. ”
“What?” Donald wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Just come home right now. I’ll explain later.”
“Okay, I’m on my way.” Donald hung up and rubbed his hands over his face. How had this happened?
If only he hadn’t tried to impress Tanya the night he’d met her at the blackjack table. She’d been dealing, he’d been winning, and her smile had gripped hold of his heart so tight he couldn’t breathe. It was his good luck she’d run out of gas on her way home and he’d been able to give her a ride. It was even better luck that he’d kept winning at her table and she’d let him treat to her a fancy dinner.
His business suit and cash had led her to believe he had money. Truth was, he was in debt from his gambling and had to borrow from the company until he could win enough to pay it all back. He’d wanted to believe Tanya would love him without his money; she was the first woman who’d ever shown any interest in him. And he regretted the day he’d finally told her the truth.
Tanya hadn’t wanted him to pay the company back.
She wanted more.
JADE STARED IN DISBELIEF. There in big capital letters was his user ID, DHALEY. Donald had created the new company.
Was he aware he was setting up a bogus company? If not, who would have asked him to do it?
If Stan were still here, she would buy his involvement and Donald’s innocence. If Sentra Systems, LLC, was a new customer, Bryce could have asked Donald to enter it, and Donald could still be innocent. But Sentra Systems, LLC, was a new supplier. Which meant that in addition to Donald, Timothy could have been involved. All three of them were still suspects, but Jade felt a tiny surge of victory. She was finally moving Bryce lower on the list. She just needed to keep digging.
But first, Jade was famished. She hadn’t eaten breakfast, and it was nearly noon. She didn’t want to go out for lunch now, when she was so close to figuring it out. She’d stop at the vending machine to get a snack.
Then she’d finally prove that Bryce was innocent—or not.
CHAPTER 33
DONALD DUMPED THE CONTENTS of his laptop bag across his desk. He wouldn’t be bringing his laptop home with him today. He had too many incriminating files he had to get rid of. He should have taken them home to put in his safe. But Bryce had kept him so busy reviewing and finalizing contracts, he’d let this detail slip.
He grabbed the key ring from his pocket and fumbled getting the right one into the filing cabinet. Deep in the back of the drawer were the hidden files. The ones he couldn’t let anyone see. He had to shred them, but not here. Jade might hear the shredder and get suspicious.
Donald shoved the folders into the bag haphazardly. A file fell to the floor and papers flew everywhere. Donald scrambled to his knees. His size made it hard to move around, and his knees ached.
He didn’t have time to straighten them out before shoving them into the bag. He needed to get out of here, destroy the files, and find a safe hiding place until he could find a way out of the country. He didn’t have to worry about the money; he had it in an untraceable offshore account. The police couldn’t freeze it.
Until he could get Tanya and himself to Brazil, he just needed to stay hidden.
JADE GRABBED an almond candy bar from the vending machine. The combination of sugar and protein should tide her over until dinner. Besides, chocolate was a necessary part of the five food groups.
She spotted Donald at the elevator. “Finally heading out? Have fun sail—”
Her words died in her mouth when Donald whirled around. His eyes were wide, almost wild looking. Sweat ran down the sides of his face. He clasped the laptop bag as if his life depended on it. Files and papers bulged out of it.
“Donald, what’s wrong?”
Jade’s eyes settled on a folder labeled Sentra, the name of the new bogus company. She stepped back. At last she knew. “You… it was you?”
“Jade, you don’t understand,” Donald pleaded.
“How could you do this to my grandmother, to me?”
“I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t like that at first.”
“Tell that to the police.” Jade turned for her office. She had to call Neal.
Donald’s hand clamped down on her arm like a vise.
“Let go of me.” She yanked her arm free.
“Please, let me explain.”
“You can explain it to the authorities, Donald. I’m not interested in your excuses.”
Donald dropped the bag. “I’m sorry, Jade. I can’t let you call the police.”
When he unexpectedly grabbed for her, she dodged then bolted down the darkened hallway. Automatic light sensors lit her path of escape.
“Jade, let’s talk about this. The police don’t have to know. I can make this right again.”
She stopped twenty feet away. Thankfully, she was wearing jeans and sneakers. She could outrun him. “I just sent Detective Hawkins the information. There’s enough there to figure out it was you. I was already zeroing in on it. Let me call the police and tell them you want to turn yourself in.”
“You sent him files? He knows what I’ve done?”
Jade walked toward him. His face revealed his shame, and she had an overwhelming desire to comfort him. There had to be a good reason he’d done this; the Donald Haley she knew was a good man. But as she approached him, that shame morphed into something else.
Pure fury.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Jade.”
She realized her mistake too late. She’d believed in Donald’s innate goodness. I shouldn’t have told him about the police.
Sweat beaded along his brow, his hands balled into fists, and the look in his eyes alternated between terror and danger.
He was afraid, yet there was something else. Her brain was still trying to comprehend what her instincts were already screaming. Hair prickled along the back of her neck, and goose bumps formed all over her skin in warning. She took a step back.
Donald leapt forward, his full weight barreling down on her.
She failed miserably to get out of the
way.
His center of gravity pitched him forward. He caught her foot on his way down and sent them both crashing to the floor.
“Let me go!”
Jade kicked his face. She wasn’t sorry when something crunched under her heel. He howled in pain and released her ankle. She could no longer feel sympathy for this man, this man she’d cared deeply for, this man who’d stolen from her grandmother, this man who’d broken her heart.
Feeling freedom, she took off and almost crumpled to the ground. Pain lanced through her left leg. Her knee had been the first to hit the floor on her fall. She limped away, gritting her teeth to fight back the agony.
Jade turned the corner and flinched. The fluorescent lights automatically turned on. They might as well have been a neon sign that read, Hey, I’m over here. She hobbled past the engineering cubicles, more light illuminating the way and telling Donald exactly where she was. Then she backtracked, her heart stammering at the sound of Donald’s labored breathing just around the corner.
She ducked under a desk and cowered, her knee screaming in pain.
He stopped a few feet away.
Follow the lights. Please, please, follow the lights.
If he found her here, she had nowhere to go.
He walked around the corner.
Jade stood and bit back a scream. Her knee was swelling against her jeans, and every time she stepped down, the floor might as well have been covered in tacks. She had no choice but to limp back the way she’d come. It took an eternity to make it to the exit.
The railing provided support as she staggered down the stairwell, each step pure agony. Yanking the door onto the next floor once, twice, three times, proved fruitless.
The key was in her purse, in the office.
Jade stared down the endless stairwell. There was no way she could walk down forty-one flights to safety. Her damp hands slid against the cold railing.
I can’t outrun him. If he tosses me down there, I’ll die.
For a fraction of a moment, she second-guessed herself.
Donald wouldn’t kill me, would he?
The pain in her knee brought her back to reality. If he was capable of this, what else was he capable of?
Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) Page 28