Unspoken: A Romantic Suspense (The Unspoken Series Book 1)

by Ellie Danes

  “I’m not so sure…” I mused.

  “Not so sure about what?”

  “That she only thinks of you as her sister’s boyfriend. We had quite a conversation at the office yesterday. I think Ashley is a little more than protective.”

  Cain’s eyes got wide. “Oh no. Not Ashley, I mean she’s just a kid.”

  “She’s anything but a kid, Cain. Be careful with her. It sounds like she’s had enough heartache for a while. I’ve watched the way she looks at you. The way she touched you, yesterday. There’s more to it.” I suddenly felt empathy for the young woman; I knew what it was like to miss someone you loved. “I guess I should tell you my secret too, since you’ve been so honest with me. You’ve probably noticed that my father and I don’t get along so well.”

  Cain laughed in agreement.

  “Well there’s a reason for that. Dad has always been sort of, well…”

  “A hardass?” Cain guessed.

  I laughed with him. “Yes, that’s a good way of putting it. But it got worse when I was in college. I was at Townsend. I was in law school there, and was dating a guy… Actually, we were pretty close to engaged. Christopher. We both applied for internships at Dunning, Durst and Chandler and both got jobs.”

  Cain laughed again, but tried not to make light of the situation. “Your father made you apply to work for him?”

  I took a deep breath. “To say the least… While we were there, Christopher stole client information; we had some pretty high-profile clients, back then, too. One was an heiress that had gotten into some trouble while here in the States. There were others that were big name CEOs of companies, prominent people. DDC represented them and their families on cases. He basically leaked the dirty laundry of quite a few those individuals to some of the tabloids and got paid for doing it.”

  “Wow, okay… that’s rough, but how could your father blame you for what Christopher did?”

  “There’s more to it. That was just the initial undoing of everything that Christopher was involved in. He used that information to blackmail and extort money from those people. He was money hungry. I hadn’t seen that side of him.”

  “I’m sorry, Jennifer. I know it must have been tough, the person you loved hiding things from you…being someone else entirely.”

  “Dad didn’t like Christopher. He blames him for me not finishing law school. For turning to psychology and profiling. I’m Dad’s disappointment.”

  “Well, if it means anything, I don’t think he thinks that. I know I certainly don’t.” Cain leaned over and kissed me.

  When I left my apartment that morning, I left with a smile of satisfaction.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I arrived at the office early; my houseguest had woken me up before dawn and I was eager to jump into things once he had left. I had grabbed the files from my apartment floor and decided to sort through them at the office, but then I got distracted.

  A quick search on the net pulled up exactly what I was looking for. I sat and stared at the screen. A mangled car was plastered on the front page of the archived news site. Rachel’s. I scanned the story, pulling out Cain’s name, and read the details. It was horrific. No wonder Cain had such a difficult time with this. It’s bad losing someone, worse if it’s everywhere you look. I couldn’t imagine the pain he had gone through.

  Dad arrived at the office about thirty minutes after I did, the first time I had ever beaten him there. I closed the news site and headed over to his office to give him the details of last night, the break in.

  “Why on Earth would you think Dylan Rogers is behind this, Jennifer?” Dad’s condescending tone couldn’t be missed.

  “It’s just a feeling, Dad. Same one I’ve had since the first day I met him.” I rolled my eyes and signed under my breath. Why don’t you ever believe me?

  “Well, just keep that feeling to yourself. You have no proof that Dylan had anything to do with this…or anything else going on at Vawter. Innocent until proven guilty.”

  Without saying another word I spun around and went back to my office. A barrage of emails greeted me in my inbox, all from Reese. The subject line of the first email read, “OPEN ME FIRST—Files on DR!”

  I clicked the email and opened the first attachment. My fingers were shaking, curious and nervous about what Reese may have turned up. A photo popped up of scraggly haired kid who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Long brown hair and glasses hid the pale complexion of an otherwise possibly cute kid. He looks familiar. Dylan!

  I looked more closely at the photo and saw it was an ID card from college. Dylan Rogers, his sneaky smile leering back at me. I opened the next picture: Dylan and the robotics team at some competitive event; next, Dylan on the track team. This guy gets around. Ok, Reese, why are you sending this to me?

  The next file was his college transcript, followed by a report from the campus police office. Reese had been kind enough to highlight one particularly interesting passage: “Female student complains that D. Rogers followed her around campus and left inappropriate notes for her. No witnesses.”

  I clicked on the next file, realizing this was getting good. It was another letter from campus police. “Student says that Rogers watched her through a window on multiple occasions. Asked to be moved to another dorm inside Sanderson Hall.

  Then next file had “Dylan Rogers” in the subject line. “Spoke to D. Rogers regarding student accusations of stalking and harassment. Rogers claims the student, A. Wilson, is calling him and emailing him.”

  What was it Dad said about needing proof? I laughed to myself at the timing; it was as if Reese had been in the room, listening to the conversation between Dad and I.

  Reese walked in and caught me staring at the pictures and reports he had sent over. The amount of information was overwhelming. “What about these complaints you sent me? Are these three different women, or the same woman? It’s not really clear from the letters. Is there any way we can talk to the campus police officer, or at least read the full files on these complaints? I’d like to know if what we are talking about is harmless kids’ stuff, or signs that this man has real problems.” I tapped my chin with finger.

  “Yeah, I already have an appointment with the chief of campus police over there, Bill Watson. He’s actually an old friend, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem as long as we can promise him to keep what we find off the news. Been enough on-campus problems lately, without dredging up stuff from five or six years ago. I’ll let you know what I find.”

  “You don’t need me to go with you?” I’d hoped to see the files for myself.

  “I don’t think Chief Watson would like that, nothing personal. He’s kind of protective over Brown, been there for years. He says he remembers this kid, so he should be able to tell us more.”

  I tried not to sulk. “What was the final analysis on the other companies under Vawter?”

  Reese tilted back in his chair, his hands interlaced behind his head, oblivious to the sweat stains on his shirt. He was an old curmudgeon, but I liked his honesty and his loyalty to my dad—and to me. “I can’t say so officially yet, but to me, it’s looking more and more like the real problem is with The Arena.” Leaning forward, he whispered, “The Arena is a problem because bigwigs—or rather the wives of bigwigs—are involved. There’s definitely some hanky panky going on there.”

  “When are you going to make that official?” I was curious for more than one reason.

  “I think I’ll keep Parker and Rogers dangling on the line a little before I let them off the hook. Let’s look at this practically.” Reese shifted in his chair.

  “Ok, what are you thinking?” I knew it was a loaded question.

  The furrowed brow gave Reece’s face a look of determination. “Well, we have a company that’s running some elite dating site and charging a nice bundle of money for it. Their members are the rich and elite, and have something to lose if it’s found out they are on the site in the first place.”

/>   “…and? We know all this.” I didn’t see where Reese was taking this quite yet.

  “Then they are charging these people’s credit cards, probably knowing that they aren’t going to complain about the charge, because they’re too embarrassed to be on the damn site. They lose some data and now, all of a sudden, there’s some rogue hacker on the site claiming to be

  Trey. Oh, and there are people that are on this site just to hook up and have sex. It just doesn’t add up, especially the stalking and harassment stuff. I think Parker and Rogers know exactly what they’re doing, and now they’re trying to cover it up.”

  I thought about interrupting Reese, but thought better of it. I didn’t want to be seen as defending Cain. That would lead to more questions; but I knew that he hadn’t done it. This was totally Dylan. “Have these women actually been using The Arena as a hookup for sex?”

  “Yes. Apparently there are some forums—private forums—where it was openly discussed. I’m working on tracking down some real names for us to interview. This is going to look bad for Vawter, no matter how you look at it. You know, I wonder how much Parker knows? It’s obvious that Dylan was no angel, but what about Parker? What have you found out?”

  “Um…let’s see.” I licked my lips nervously. “Well, his girlfriend, Rachel Murant, died three years ago in a car accident. The assistant that he brought with him yesterday, Ashley, that’s her sister. The late Murant sister was very involved in running Vawter; from what I gather, she knew the business inside and out. Cain says he was in love with her, but there’s something strange…”

  “What’s that?” he asked me in his gruff voice.

  “Dylan says it was Rachel that came between them, but Cain says that isn’t true. Rachel and Dylan were just friends, nothing else. Why would Dylan lie?” I asked.

  “Maybe he’s not, maybe Cain is lying.” Reese stared at me. “…And when did you get all of this information from Parker? Oh no, are you and Cain Parker… you know what, I don’t want to know.”

  I didn’t say a word. I just gave him a weak smile.

  He got up to leave for the day, his briefcase in his hand. “Okay, kid, but do an old man a favor? Use your brains. If something doesn’t sound right, check it out. And you keep me posted on what you find out.” He patted me on the shoulder and waved at me as he left. “Do yourself a favor, don’t tell your dad just yet.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Do you know what tonight is?” Cain’s voiced lilted up at the end of his question.

  I could sense his excitement and I played coy. I knew it had been two weeks since we first met. The time had flown by, for reasons good and bad. “Um, let me guess, the start of football season?” I giggled a little, waiting for his response.

  “Have you ever heard me talk about football? Come on, Jennifer, give me some credit.”

  “I know what it is, I’m just playing with you. Good thing you were busy playing with your phone when you ran into me on the elevator, or we may have never met.”

  “You’re funny. We would have met regardless. It wasn’t the elevator, it was our evening at Tarrant’s. Shall we meet again tonight? At seven? I’ll have my assistant take care of it.”

  “I’d love to, but Cain? Let’s keep Ashley out of this. You make the call. I get the feeling she’s onto us, and we really don’t need that right now.”

  “Sure thing. I have to run, I have another call coming in. ‘Til tonight.”

  “‘Til tonight.” I hung up the phone and looked at my reflection in the tall glass window of my office overlooking the river. The smile on my face was permanent. I was happy.

  Cain and I had had our fair share of dinner dates and hot and steamy moments over the last week. I couldn’t get enough of him. I closed my eyes for second, and thought about him standing on the balcony of his house, in those tight jeans and shirtless. His perfect ass and chiseled abs. My smile got bigger and I could feel the tingle in my cheeks moving lower. I shifted in my seat.

  “Jennifer, can you join me in my office for a few minutes?” Dad’s voice startled me and destroyed an otherwise perfect daydream.

  “Sure. I’ll be right there.” I turned toward the door but he was already gone. Now what does he want? For the last week, Reese and I had been pulling in all kinds of leads. We had kept the information about Dylan close to our chests, for the time being. We didn’t want to tip our hands until we had determined exactly what was going on.

  I grabbed my pad and pen and joined Dad in his office.

  “Jennifer, come in.” I could see that Dad wasn’t alone.

  Sitting in a chair across from his desk was an older woman, with short white hair. Her expensive, tailored suit gave away that she was well off and very polished.

  “Good mornin’, Miss Dunnin’, I’m Alice Bennett.” Her southern drawl dropped the ‘g’s from my last name. Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I reached out and firmly shook her hand.

  “Jennifer, as I’m sure you’re aware…” My father paused and gave me a defining look. “Ms. Bennett is CEO of Pegasus Software Corporation. She’s here to set a few things straight.”

  “Yes, It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “Thank you, Miss Dunnin’. As I was explainin’ to your father, Cain was in a class I assisted with at Brown. Actually, both Cain and Rachel Murant. I immediately took a likin’ to them. He was sharp. Business savvy. It’s how our companies came to have a sort of partnership.” A seriousness took over her face. “After the semester was over we stayed in touch. It’s also how I met Dylan Rogers. He an’ Cain had a few businesses together.”

  “And how did Rachel fit into this?” I leaned forward, eager for her response.

  “Rachel kept it all together an’ played referee between Dylan and Cain. I saw Cain as the brains, Rachel as the one who kept it runnin’, an’ Dylan as the techie guy, although I know he wanted more.”

  “So Cain approached you about helping his company?”

  “Yes, he an’ Rachel. Dylan didn’t support it, from what I could tell, but Cain and Rachel overruled him. Unfortunately, after our initial meetin’, I’ve had very little contact with Cain. I spoke primarily with Rachel Murant, the chief operatin’ officer of Vawter, such a pleasant girl.”

  I nodded. “Yes, that’s what I hear.”

  “She an’ Cain were marvelous together. Such a tragedy what happened with her.” Ms. Bennett paused for a moment, almost as if mourning. “After Rachel, we only dealt with Dylan. In fact, we were told that we could only speak with Dylan.”

  “Who had told you that?” I couldn’t imagine Cain not wanting to discuss business with someone he knew and liked.

  “Dylan, of course. He was a bit of a controller when it came to anythin’ technical. By then, Vawter had already purchased the rights to our software an’ had been usin’ it for quite some time.”

  “Why not just go directly to Cain?”

  Ms. Bennett bit her bottom lip as she answered. “It was a delicate time for Cain. He had just lost his girlfriend and COO, an’ they were having severe software issues. As his friend and mentor, I wanted to be there, but I also wanted to extend him that courtesy of grievin’. I had hoped that Dylan would have stepped in more, as needed. It was actually the opposite. Dylan became less helpful, he pushed our company away.”

  “So, Vawter didn’t reach out and ask for help when they discovered the bug in your software?”

  “Oh, sweetie, our software works perfectly. Vawter took it upon themselves to alter our software and essentially broke it. They caused security issues for themselves, an’ us.” Ms. Bennett shook her head. “It all started out so well, and went to hell quickly. We’ve been trying to separate ourselves from this mess. It’s why we contacted Vawter in the first place. To let them know of the holes they created.”

  “Wait...” Dad and I looked at each other with shock. “Security issues? You contacted Vawter?” I asked curiously.

  Alice smirked but it quickly became a
sharp frown. “I did. I notified Dylan and when he didn’t respond, an’ we couldn’t get in touch with Cain, we notified their board. An’ that’s how we got to where we are now.”

  Suddenly everything made more sense. I had wondered why Vawter would have reached out to Dunning, Durst and Chandler without having any sort of pending lawsuit. Cain was trying to shake things up and stay ahead of the trouble.

  “So Vawter is essentially blaming Pegasus for everything. Trying to cover their own...” I looked at Dad as if we had just uncovered gold.

  “Jennifer, be careful. Vawter retained us and we cannot be sharing that sort of information with Ms. Bennett.”

  “It’s ok, Jack, I actually shouldn’t be here myself, but I wanted to make sure your group knew what was really goin’ on. I’m worried about Cain an’ what he may have gotten himself into.”

  “Exactly what has he gotten himself into, Ms. Bennett?” I inched closer to her.

  “I’m not a technical person, but I’ll explain it this way. Our software is intended to encrypt data. Anythin’ comin’ or goin’ is run through our software an’ turned into encrypted data. You can’t read it unless you use our software. Think of it as a gatekeeper. Well, Vawter made some changes that allow the gatekeeper to be bypassed. I can’t say how we found about it, but we did.”

  “Couldn’t it just be some outside entity doing this?” I was far from a technical person, barely able to check my email, but I knew there had to be a plausible explanation.

  “I’m sorry, hun, no. We know for a fact, this is happenin’ from inside Vawter. I can’t say much more than that.”

  “You can’t or you won’t?” I felt myself wanting to jump at Ms. Bennett. I wanted to help protect Cain. I knew Dylan was behind this; everything seemed to be pointing to him.

  “Jennifer, watch yourself.” Dad stood and extended his hand to Ms. Bennett to help her out of her seat. “Alice, thank you for your help and insight.”