by Leigh James
Hannah looked wary. “What sort of stuff?”
I shrugged. “It’s better if you don’t know the specifics. What you do need to know is that you’re going to have increased security at all times. Eddie is assigning you an agent. He’s going to be with you twenty-four seven.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. “That’s nonnegotiable. And I need to know everything that you’re doing; otherwise, I’m going to be worried sick.” I felt as if I were channeling Gabe from earlier that morning. “If you’re dating someone new, I need to have him checked out first. If you’re going out with friends, I need names. Everyone has to be screened. You have to keep security with you at all times.”
“What about you? Are you in danger?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
She rolled her eyes. “Lauren. What’s really going on?”
I didn’t want my poor sister to be upset, but I didn’t want to hide anything from her. Sighing, I said, “There’s a security threat against the company, and possibly against me and Gabe…personally.”
“Oh my God.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I promise you—I’ve increased my security significantly, both here and outside of work. I’m taking no chances, and neither is Gabe. And neither are you, for that matter.”
She bit her lip. “Are you scared?”
“I’m concerned, but we have resources, and we’re using them.” I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Everything’s going to be fine. I swear.”
Hannah looked pale. “Okay.”
I could tell she was putting on a brave face for me, which only added fuel to my fire.
I finally made it to my office. I had a brief conference call with my legal team, including Bethany O’Donnell, and I let them know I’d decided not to have Clive arrested at this point. We argued, but I explained myself, and then I also explained that I was paying them to offer their advice, not to shove it down my throat. After hanging up I answered emails listlessly, dread coating my stomach. A message from Leo popped up on my laptop. It was Clive Warren’s schedule for the day. I scanned it, searching for something I could use. Clive had been holed up in his office for weeks, but apparently he had outside business that day.
Perfect. For once, so did I.
Adrenaline thrummed through me as I made my decision, a decision I would keep to myself. Gabe would forbid me from my current plan of action.
That’s why I wasn’t going to tell him until it was over and done with.
I looked at the clock—only three hours to go. With renewed urgency, I jumped back into my work. I opened up the reports for the patch’s most recent trials and worked on the algorithms. No matter what else happened, Paragon’s patch would launch first. Failure was not an option.
My phone buzzed an hour later. It was Gabe.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” he said. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” I willed my voice not to betray me. “I’m just working on my reports. I spoke with my security manager. They’re increasing our coverage. And Leo and Dave seem like they’ve hit it off.”
“I know. I just spoke to Dave.”
“Oh?” I swallowed hard. “What’d he have to report?”
“Nothing much.” His tone was casual, and I detected no suspicion. “He said they were trying to find more emails.”
“Did you speak to your colleague in China?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.
“I did. He wasn’t that helpful. The only thing he really knew about Li Na is that she has a reputation for being a ruthless negotiator.”
I snorted. I could have guessed as much.
“Are you staying in your office for the rest of the day?”
“Yes.” I crossed my fingers under my desk, hating myself for being less than truthful with him. “I’ll come straight to your house after work.”
Gabe didn’t speak for a second. “Why are you being so agreeable?”
“I’m not. I’m just being polite.”
“Huh.” He didn’t sound like he believed me.
“I’ll see you later.” I hoped my tone soothed him. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Gabe said, but for the second time that day, he didn’t sound as if he really meant it.
I took a deep breath before I made my final decision to go. I buzzed Eddie. “I need something from you.”
“Yes ma’am?”
“I need…surveillance equipment. That I can wear on my body.”
Eddie didn’t respond immediately, probably wondering if I had finally gone completely off my rocker. “You mean, for audio?”
“Yes…a wire. So I can record what someone says to me—or have it sent directly to you.”
He sighed. “You want to tell me what you’re using it for?”
Nervous excitement bubbled inside me. “Does that mean we have something that would work?”
“Yes. I’ll bring it up to you and show you how to use it, Ms. Taylor.” It sounded as though this was definitely against his better judgment, but he didn’t say no.
This was why being the boss was awesome.
Eddie came up and dutifully showed me the wire. He put it on me and showed me how to turn it on. “Are you using this soon?” He sounded as if he were dreading the answer.
I coughed. “In a little bit.”
“You have to take Timmy, and let another team follow you.”
“I’m planning on it.”
He gave me a long look. “I’ll be listening. If there’s trouble, I’m calling the police. Are we clear?”
“Don’t worry. Timmy’s got me covered.” I smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. He just looked worried.
Undeterred, I continued making my plans. I would take Clive by surprise and speak to him somewhere private. At this point, with all the surveillance and hacking that just we were doing, I didn’t trust his phones, his computer, or his office. I had no idea what his arrangement with Jiàn was. They could be hacking him too, or Li Na Zhao could be parked in the office next to him, for all I knew.
What did I hope to gain from meeting with Clive? The answer eluded me. I wanted to ask him what was really going on—to ask him what Jiàn Innovations had planned. And if he said something damning, I could record it, which gave me more leverage to prosecute him.
I would not text my legal team to ask if statements recorded during an illegal and undisclosed wiretap would be admissible in a court of law. Sometimes ignorance really was bliss.
Instead, I texted Timmy. Time to go. If Eddie already assigned us backup, tell them to follow us. Don’t tell them where. I realized afterward that I hadn’t even told Timmy where we were going.
I tried to look casual as I headed toward the parking lot. Of course, I never left during the middle of the day, so I felt as if everyone were staring. You’re just being paranoid. But I was under surveillance, and not just my own.
I hustled out to my car and slid in. Timmy hopped into the front.
“Where to, Ms. Taylor?” the driver asked.
I pulled out my tablet, examining the screen. “North First Street. An office building in the thousands.”
Timmy turned and looked at me. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“Uh. Um…” I let my voice trail off. “A couple of things. I’m going to speak with someone who has an appointment at this office, and he’s not expecting me.”
“Is it you-know-who?” Timmy asked, his face impassive.
I nodded. “Yes. It’s Clive Warren.” I swallowed hard. “The thing is, he’s being…followed. By Gabe’s men.”
Timmy didn’t blink.
“If you want to quit now, before you get implicated in something, err, that may be a federal crime—or before Gabe completely flips out on me—feel free.”
Timmy still didn’t blink. “Go on.”
“Gabe doesn’t know I’m doing this.”
“I gathered as much.”
It occurred to me that Timm
y had been paying closer attention than I’d given him credit for. “We need to be quick, and I need to try to stay undetected by Gabe’s surveillance.”
Gabe had surveillance on Clive, Clive had surveillance on me, and I had additional surveillance looking for Clive’s surveillance. Good thing I was a fucking genius. This was getting complicated.
“Ms. Taylor,” Timmy said. “I don’t want you to do something that’s going to get you hurt. Mr. Betts told me specifically to keep you out of harm’s way.”
“Well, you should do what he says—keep me safe, which, in this instance, means that if you see Clive Warren about to jump me, jump him first.”
Timmy turned his beefy neck back around, looked toward the road, and said nothing further. We turned onto North First. Office buildings flew by in the bright sunlight, and I held my breath, waiting for the one I was looking for. I looked at the clock. My timing was perfect. Clive was about to show up for his meeting with his accountant—probably to discuss all the money he was getting from Jiàn Innovations, right before he disappeared to another country, never to be heard from again.
But he needed to hear from me first.
“This is it. Pull over.” I swallowed nervously. “Timmy, are you ready? We have to move fast.”
He nodded, although I thought I heard him sigh. I ignored it. My driver pulled over, and as soon as he stopped, I barreled out of the car with Timmy on my heels. We hustled into the lobby of the large accounting firm, earning a few looks from people in the busy lobby. I didn’t care about that. What I did care about was getting in there before Clive saw me, and before Gabe’s men who were following him caught a glimpse of me.
If I was afraid of Clive, I was petrified of what Gabe would do if he knew I was there.
I sat on one of the benches, away from the windows, as Timmy waited nearby. If he disapproved, he showed no signs.
I crossed my legs and bounced my knee nervously, watching the large clock in the lobby. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Clive came through the door. He looked exhausted, his pale skin contrasting with the dark circles lining his eyes underneath his prim tortoiseshell glasses. He had a new beard that looked patchy and scruffy, out of line with his normally slick appearance. He spoke to the receptionist at the desk, and I stood up, ready to follow him. Timmy was watching him too.
He stood in the crowd, looking down at his smartphone, ignoring the world around him. As he headed toward the bank of elevators on the far wall, we followed him. When a set of doors opened, he shuffled in, still engrossed in his phone. Clive didn’t even look up. He was scrolling through messages, oblivious to the people tightly packed around him in the elevator. I stood two feet away from him, and he hadn’t even noticed me.
I ached to teach him a lesson. I was the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse waiting in the elevator right next to him, and he was so obsessed with his phone that he wasn’t even concerned about it.
I got my chance sooner than I’d hoped. The elevator stopped at the third floor, and a lone woman stepped out. I nudged Timmy. He grabbed Clive by the shoulder and unceremoniously pulled him out of the elevator. “Huh?” Clive yelped.
I followed them, turning and smiling at the other passengers in the elevator before the doors closed. I jerked my thumb in the direction of Timmy and Clive. “We’re serving a writ of attachment. He’s a deadbeat dad. Hasn’t paid child support in over six months. Mom and the three kids are about to get evicted.” I had no idea where any of that came from, but I just went with it.
“What a pig,” one of the women said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
“I hope you throw him in jail,” said another.
Then, the door closed. If only it were that easy. I would do just that.
The lone woman who’d gotten out ahead of us had disappeared. Over the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears, I saw the hallway was empty and quiet. Timmy had hold of a struggling Clive, with his hand over Clive’s mouth. I saw a single-unit family bathroom to our right, and I motioned for Timmy to follow me. They came in, and I quickly locked the door behind us.
Timmy let go of Clive’s mouth, and he started to scream—so Timmy punched him in the face, then took out his gun and pushed it squarely against Clive’s ribs.
“Keep your mouth shut,” Timmy said.
I hadn’t told Timmy I was wearing a wire. He was probably going to hear it from Eddie when we got back for using his gun.
If we got back.
Clive rubbed his face where Timmy had hit him and adjusted his glasses. Then, he just stood there, waiting.
“I need you to wait outside,” I told Timmy. He raised his eyebrows and didn’t budge. “Just do it. But wait—pat him down first.”
He followed my orders, confiscating Clive’s cell phone. Otherwise, Clive was clean. Timmy headed to the door, leveling a glare at Clive.
“I’ll be right outside,” he told our captive. Then he turned to me, his face neutral.
I looked at him pleadingly. “I’ll just be one minute. I swear.”
He left, and I turned to Clive, who was looking less worried than he should.
“Did you rethink my offer?” he asked. “Because you could have just called, although I appreciate you reaching out in person.”
“Shut up, Clive,” I said, already exasperated with him. I wished Gabe was there so he could just punch Clive in the face once and for all.
“What do you want, Lauren?” he asked, and the humor evaporated from his voice.
“I want to know what you’ve been up to since I saw you last.”
Clive shrugged. Not only did he have the new scruff on his face, his glasses were smudged and his shirt was slightly rumpled. “I’ve been working. Just like you. How’s it going?”
“How’s it going for you?” I spat back at him.
He shrugged almost casually before pulling his glasses off and cleaning them with his shirt. “It’s…going.” He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and stared at me. “Gabe’s goons paid me a visit, and then I saw your press conference. That was a real kick-in-the-balls sort of day.”
“I didn’t intend it that way, but that’s a welcome bonus.”
“It probably didn’t work out the way you wanted in the end. I had to go with Plan B. I do wish you’d been more forthcoming about the status of the technology contained in your system,” he said. “It doesn’t work for shit. That was an unwelcome development.”
“You hacked me, Clive. Did you think I should have put a warning in there?”
He watched me carefully. “Do you admit it? That it’s not the updated technology?”
“Do you admit hacking me?”
Clive gave me an exhausted smile. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not telling you anything. Not ever.”
“You might want to rethink that.” He paused for a beat. “I mean it, Lauren.”
Something about his tone made my hackles rise. “What are you saying?” I asked. “Spit it out. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Your lack of cooperation has been noted. Not only did you say no to my generous offer to buy your company, you fed me false information.” He was talking as if his lines were rehearsed, as if he were on the witness stand after being coached by a lawyer of questionable ethics.
“I didn’t feed you false information,” I seethed. “You broke into my company and stole my technology. If you can’t figure out how to use it, that’s your problem!”
“No,” Clive said, shaking his head. “It’s your problem now.” He took a step closer to me, and I backed up. “It’s out of my hands. You were so self-righteous. You didn’t accept my offer while you still had time. Now, the people I’m obligated to are out of patience. They want the perfected technology, and they want it now.”
“Then tell them to perfect it themselves,” I snapped.
Clive nodded. He almost looked sad. “Oh, they will. It’s only a matter of time. And they don’t have barriers l
ike you do.”
Frustration built inside me. “Barriers like what? What are you talking about?”
“Barriers like FDA approvals, like legal teams, investors, and board members who need to be appeased and answered to, like…any semblance of a corporate conscience. Those things don’t exist for them.”
“What are you saying? And who the hell are they, anyway?”
“I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you that they won’t stop. Anybody who gets in their way gets run over. That includes you and me.”
“So…fine. It’s me versus them, then. And as for you? Best of luck.” I put my hand on the door, ready to go. All my brilliant plans of getting useful information from him had gone up in smoke. I just wanted to get away from him.
He sighed. “I always liked you. I know your brilliance is the real thing. That’s why I tried to help. To protect you.”
I whirled back toward him. “You didn’t try to help me. You tried to ruin me!”
“You’re wrong.” He shook his head. “And they aren’t going to be as generous as I’ve been. Not with any of us. You need to watch yourself, Lauren. You and your thug of a boyfriend.”
My heart was pounding. “What the fuck does that mean, Clive?”
“It means if they don’t get what they want, they’re coming for us. And because they need you, you’ll be the last to go.”
I couldn’t even process his words—I had to get out of there. He was crazy. All I could see were his patchy beard, still-dirty glasses and rumpled shirt. I pushed through the door, away from him, out into the sanity of the hallway. Part of me wanted to beg, plead, ask what he meant. What did the people he was working for want?
But I already knew the answer. They wanted my patch.
And the only way they were going to get it was over my dead body.
Chapter 16
“Oh fuck,” I said, as we pulled into Paragon’s parking lot.
There was a custom-built hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder parked near the front.
Timmy shot me a concerned look. “You want me to come with you?”
I sat in the back of the car, dread washing over me. “That’s okay. I got it.”