by Shelly Bell
“Keane has never mentioned anything about autonomous technology,” she told him. Even if he had, she never would have put it together with something like weapons. “As far as the innovation department is concerned, we’re purely working on restaurant automation.” She moved off the desk. “But you were right. As you suggested, the software isn’t working.” She paused, something nagging at her. “The programmer I mentioned who’d committed suicide…he was the person working on fixing it.”
Ryder’s jaw grew rigid. “How did he kill himself?”
“Gunshot to the head. He didn’t leave a note and his wife was pregnant.” She took a breath. “Ryder, there’s something else. Evan’s assistant, Barbara…She and her husband were found dead in their home. Accidental carbon monoxide leak. I’m worried their deaths are related in some way. Especially since…”
“Since?”
“Evan tried to talk to me at the wedding. It was right before the ceremony, so I told him we’d meet Monday morning. That was the last time I spoke with him. And yesterday, I saw Keane speaking with one of the police officers as if…I don’t know…” She shook her head. “I just got the feeling that Keane was keeping something from me about Evan’s and Barbara’s deaths.”
She regretted not taking a minute to hear Evan out. If she had, would he still be alive today? A lump of sorrow caught in her throat.
She wasn’t sure if he noticed her melancholy, but Ryder wrapped his arms around her waist. “You have no idea what he wanted to talk to you about?”
“No.” She thought back to that night. “But he seemed nervous. He was sweating. When I got to work on Monday, there was an email from him in my inbox. But it didn’t really say anything and the file he sent was corrupt.”
He rubbed circles on her lower back. “Probably a computer virus. You should have the IT department check your computer.”
“Right. I was going to do that but with everything that’s happened and then the holiday, I never got the chance.” Besides, she’d deleted it from her computer and the antivirus program had come up clean. When she returned to work next week, she’d call IT to take a look at her and Evan’s computers.
“I want to help you find out if Keane was behind the theft of your designs.”
“Oh hell n—”
Before he could finish, she put a finger to his lips. “Hear me out first, okay?”
At his nod, she continued and wrapped her arms around him, setting her hands on his lower back. “Keane trusts me. If he believes you and I are dating, and I convince him that you’re starting to come around to the idea of letting him back into your life, he’ll have no reason to doubt it. And then I can get him to lower his guard, confide in me as to whether he stole your designs and had anything to do with this break-in.”
Ryder didn’t hesitate with his answer. “No. I accept your decision to keep your job at McKay, but that doesn’t mean I like it. The more you interact with him, the more you’re putting yourself in his crosshairs.” The muscles in his back tensed under her hands. “You said it yourself—two people have died in your department. If Keane gets suspicious that you’re setting him up, who knows what he’ll do.”
Jane weighed the risk. Honestly, what would Keane do? Fire her? Despite what she now knew about him, she couldn’t imagine him physically harming her.
“I understand your concern, but at this point, I don’t think I’m in any danger. The second that changes, I promise you I’ll quit.” She reached up and sifted her fingers through his hair. His eyes closed and his jaw slackened as he curled into her touch.
“Jane,” he whispered, burying his face into her neck and holding her tightly to him. “Please, don’t do it. If anything happened to you…”
She held on just as tightly. “He won’t suspect a thing. Trust me, nothing will go wrong.”
SEVENTEEN
Ryder was slowly creeping his way into every part of Jane’s life—and her heart. In the month since Thanksgiving, not a day had gone by that they hadn’t seen each other, even if it was just for an hour after she got home from work.
Jane had started to look forward to it.
Started to count on it.
She’d been used to doing everything alone, along with Dreama’s help. Now, bit by bit, he’d been taking on some of Maddox’s strict nightly routine. Her heart ached whenever Ryder held Maddox in his strong arms. It was everything she’d dreamed of for her son and—if she was being honest—for herself.
After they put Maddox to bed, she and Ryder would spend time talking…and kissing. Lots and lots of kissing. But nothing more. Not because they didn’t want to. Lord, there were times he left her so aroused, the second she slid under the bedsheets and touched herself, she went off like a grenade.
But because they were taking the time to get to know one another before they made love again.
Now nine at night, Jane passed by Keane’s empty assistants’ desks and worried she’d miss Ryder’s visit. She’d been working twelve to fourteen hours a day the last week finishing up a multi-million-dollar acquisitions deal for McKay. While she found it exciting and rewarding work, she would rather be home.
It didn’t help that the innovation department was currently understaffed. Finding someone to fill Evan’s position was no easy feat, and since it was the holiday season, no one would be hired until after the New Year. Their IT department hadn’t been able to fix Evan’s computer or access his files, and although Evan was supposed to have saved his projects on the McKay network, IT reported he’d never done it. That meant extra hours of work for Jane since she was the one who had to renegotiate vendor and customer contracts.
The SD card that Barbara had promised never materialized.
And as far as she knew, no evidence of foul play in Evan’s and Barbara’s deaths had materialized either.
She told herself that Evan’s strange behavior at the wedding and his weird email had caused her to overreact. But if that was true, why hadn’t she mentioned it to anyone at McKay? Even when IT had checked her computer for viruses, she hadn’t told them who had sent the suspicious email. Luckily, they hadn’t found anything on her machine.
“I have the Donnelly paperwork for you, sir,” Jane said as she entered Keane’s office.
But for a small desk lamp and the lights from the parking lot filtering through the window, the room was shrouded in darkness. Snow fell lightly outside and everything was eerily quiet.
“Wonderful. When is the closing scheduled for?” he asked softly.
He looked up from his computer, his face weary. His skin had taken on an almost grayish tone in the past month and he’d been coughing more and more. He worked long hours, longer than even her, and she wondered if it was beginning to take its toll on him.
“Tomorrow at three. But I’ve organized it so that you don’t have to attend.” She handed him the thick stack of paper. “Just sign and return the documents to me by noon and I’ll make sure to take care of it.”
He gestured for her to sit in the chair in front of his desk. “Jane, you’ve gone above and beyond for me on this deal. I just wanted you to know it hasn’t escaped my attention.”
That wasn’t the only thing she’d “gone above and beyond” for him. Over the past month, she’d been feeding information to Keane about Ryder. None of it real and all of it to convince Keane that Jane could be trusted.
She took a seat, wishing she could take off her heels. Her feet were killing her. “Thank you, Keane. I hope you know that you can count on me.”
“I do. You wouldn’t be VP of innovation if I didn’t.”
Even though she’d defended her promotion to Ryder, she’d always had doubts as to whether she’d earned it. “I guess a bit of me worried I had gotten the job because of Ciara.”
His brows dipped. “Your connection to Ciara may have gotten you the internship, but it’s your hard drive and intellect that got you the promotion.”
Was it? Or had Keane promoted her for another reason? Until Ryder, she
’d believed everything that came from Keane’s mouth. Now she knew that she’d been naïve.
She rolled her lower lip between her teeth. “What made you decide to contact me at school and offer the internship?”
He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He waited a beat before answering, “Your mother asked me to.”
His words floored her. That was the last thing she ever expected to hear. “I don’t understand. She asked you to give me an internship?”
“She mentioned she had a daughter who was graduating top of her class from my alma mater and that I’d be a fool to pass you up.” He appeared genuinely confused. “I thought you knew that.”
Was this another one of Keane’s manipulations? “I don’t get it. She’s never shown a speck of interest in my life or reached out to see me or Maddox. She’s ignored me practically my entire life. I didn’t think she cared.”
Keane got up from his desk and walked around it, stopping by her chair. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes a parent doesn’t know how to show their child that they care or they do it in the wrong way. We make mistakes we can’t take back. I can’t pretend to understand why Ciara keeps herself at a distance from you and Maddox, but I do know she’s very proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished.”
Nodding, she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Why did Ciara do it? Why not tell her? And why act so cold toward her when they were together? None of it made any sense.
Keane coughed into his hands, loud coughs that racked his entire body.
“Are you okay?” she asked. She knew he suffered from a chronic cough, but this was much worse.
He waved her off and grabbed a bottled water off his desk. As he returned to his chair, he drank down half the liquid before the coughing slowed. “Sorry about that.” He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a cough drop, then popped it in his mouth. “So how are things going with Ryder? Are you making any progress?” His voice was hoarse and whispered, as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen.
“A little. We had dinner yesterday.” She considered Keane, noting his pallor and weary eyes. He was weak right now. Tired. His defenses might be lowered. “He’s still hurt that we’re competing against Novateur. And he mentioned something about stolen designs.”
He pursed his lips, but other than that, he gave nothing away. “Stolen designs?”
She mirrored his expression. “Mmm-hmm. Apparently someone copied some of his design files and he was concerned you might be involved. Of course, I told him you weren’t and that as head of innovation, I would know if something I was working on had been appropriated through illegal means.”
“Did he believe it?”
How should she answer?
“I’m not sure,” she said hesitantly. “But I think it would help maybe if I could tell him why you started a competing business.”
He folded his hands on the desk. “As I told Finn, I began the restaurant automation company at McKay for Ryder. I thought that it and you would entice him to give up Novateur and come to work here.”
“Me?” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice. What did she have to do with it?
He smiled at her. “You’re just the kind of woman I’ve always wanted for my son. You’re smart, beautiful, and loyal. From the moment I met you, I knew you would be perfect for Ryder. That’s why you have to get him to forgive me. After I’m gone, the two of you, along with Finn, can run all of McKay Industries together.”
Was that all one elaborate lie to throw her scent off the trail? Or was he telling the truth?
She just didn’t know.
But he obviously wanted her to believe it was true.
She responded as if she was flattered. “Keane. I’m…I don’t know what to say.”
He opened his mouth to talk but he broke out into another coughing fit. His shoulders shook and his face turned red as he unwrapped another cough drop with shaking hands.
Regardless of her feelings toward him, she was concerned. She stood from her chair and went over to him. “Are you all right?”
He nodded as his coughing slowed. “Just a lingering cold. Don’t worry about me. It’s late.” He looked up at her and smiled again, albeit this time weakly. “Go home to your son and get some rest.”
She almost felt sorry for him. He was obviously sick, and as far as she knew, he had no one to take care of him. At the same time, she had to remember, he reaped what he sowed.
“Oh, one last thing,” he said hoarsely. “I meant to tell you that someone from HR will be by tomorrow morning to remove the items left in Evan’s and Barbara’s offices. I told them to report to you first.”
“Okay.” She nodded and gave an awkward wave as an invisible band wrapped around her chest and squeezed. “Well, good night.”
Back in her office a few minutes later, she put on her coat with the intention of leaving. She rubbed her chest, still feeling that tightness that had formed upon hearing that Barbara’s and Evan’s offices would be emptied.
It was late. She was exhausted. She still had a dozen things to accomplish at home. And she didn’t want to miss seeing Ryder.
But she couldn’t get herself to go home.
Not until she checked Barbara’s and Evan’s offices one last time.
She had to be overlooking something. Barbara had promised she was working on copying the files for Jane and she wasn’t the type of employee who would’ve shirked her responsibilities. Jane thought back to the last day she’d seen her. Barbara had told her she was staying late to finish copying the files. So if Barbara had copied the files onto some sort of SD drive, where would she have left it?
Passing the elevators, she headed toward Evan’s office. It wasn’t the first time she’d been alone here at night, but for some reason, she felt…uncomfortable.
Like she was being watched.
Goose bumps broke out on her arms, and she shivered underneath her winter coat.
Starting in Barbara’s cubicle, she searched every drawer and every nook and cranny of her desk for an SD drive, but came up empty. It was bizarre. All of the office supplies were still there. But there wasn’t a single SD drive. Even in Jane’s own desk, she must have a dozen of them lying around. They were pretty standard around McKay.
So where were Barbara’s?
She sat in Barbara’s old chair and swiveled around in a circle. A shadow climbed the wall by Evan’s office. She stopped and stared. Her pulse kicked up. Was someone there with her?
“Hello?” she called out.
No one responded.
She shook her head. Her imagination was running away with her. It was time to go home.
As she stood, the photo on Barbara’s desk caught her eye. Jane recalled Barbara tapping the picture frame of her and her husband during the discussion of how she and Evan would hide messages for one another. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now she wondered.
Had she been giving Jane a hint as to where to find the SD card?
Was it inside the frame?
Her hands trembled as she excitedly pulled the frame apart…
And found nothing but the photo.
Damn.
But she wasn’t done yet. She crossed the hallway from the cubicle to Evan’s office and flicked on the light. Just like the month before, everything was boxed up except for the framed photo sitting on the desk. Why hadn’t Barbara packed it with the rest of his stuff?
Jane picked up the frame and removed the back from it.
The SD card fell out onto the desk.
Anticipation thrummed through her. Since Evan’s computer was dead, she went back to Barbara’s cubicle. She powered up the computer and when the welcome screen appeared, she inserted the card.
There was a loud whirring noise and then the computer screen went black. The computer’s power shut down, but the light on the monitor confirmed the screen was still working. She tried to turn on the computer again, but nothing happened.
&
nbsp; It was as dead as Evan and Barbara.
Whatever was on this SD card had not only crashed the computer, but it had also destroyed it. But why? Did it have some kind of virus on it? Or was it something more?
She had to give it to Ryder. Maybe he would know how to fix it.
Dropping it into a pocket in her purse, she headed to the elevator.
A few minutes later, she was in her car and on her way home. She cranked up the heat and set her windshield wipers to medium speed to brush away the accumulating snow.
As a native Floridian, she’d yet to become comfortable with winter driving. Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as she got on the four-lane main road. The roads were slick, but traffic was light, so she stayed in the right lane and drove under the speed limit.
When she checked her rearview mirror, a single headlight behind her snagged her attention. She couldn’t tell if it was a motorcycle or a car, but whatever it was, it was coming up on her much too quickly.
Out of instinct, she sped up. Her mouth went dry and her heart felt as if it had jumped into her throat. The headlight got brighter and brighter as it approached.
She braced herself for impact.
It never came.
At the last second, the car—which she could now see it was—swerved into the middle lane. She took a breath as it passed.
And screamed when it cut back in front of her.
She slammed her foot on the brakes.
Her vehicle fishtailed as she desperately tried to regain control. She took her foot off the brake. Another vehicle appeared in the left lane. Her breath stalled. She was going to hit it.
She fought the urge to close her eyes and instead attempted to stabilize her car. A second later, she slid off the road into a ditch and her head bounced off the leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Lifting her head, she saw that a car had pulled onto the side of the road about twenty-five feet ahead of her. It shut off its lights and began backing up.
Her heart was beating so fast, it was hard to catch her breath.