by D. R. Grady
She leaned back in her chair and offered insightful observations and asked a few excellent questions. He added a few of those questions and insights to his notes to incorporate them into his plan.
“You’re an impressive woman.” And he couldn’t believe she loved him.
Harlow waved that away. “Eh, it has more to do with having been entrenched in the business world in some capacity since childhood. I know my way around.”
“I’m happy to be on kissing terms with such an expert.” Spoken tongue-in-cheek, he laughed when she swatted him. The exact reaction he’d wanted.
“You’re not funny.” But she negated that when her lips twitched.
“What are you up to?”
She hesitated. That made all of his cognitive abilities slam to the forefront. He gave her time.
“Savannah’s concern for Eric today at lunch got me thinking.”
Interesting. He again waited to see what she’d come up with.
“Her dad also disappeared. Their dad disappeared. I wondered if he had been on the Horgate payroll.” Her eyes narrowed on her screen.
“What did you discover?” The way she said this made him wonder if a new mystery was about to unfold.
“That’s just it. I haven’t been able to discover him on the payroll, yet I have found references to his work. I’ve also found his name listed on employee rosters.”
“What does that mean?” He ran the ramifications.
“It means someone scrubbed him from the company payroll, despite him being employed by Horgate thirty years ago.”
“Why would someone want to do that?” A rhetorical question, really.
They pondered that interesting question together. Harlow offered one. “The first thought that comes to mind is that he knew something someone wanted buried.”
“Or just plain and simple greed.” Lots of people had killed for money in the past and would likely do so in the future. However, her thought resonated more than his.
“Yes. Or it could be a combination of both. Someone wanted his research to remain buried. Perhaps for financial gains? Or future financial gains.”
“You haven’t uncovered information about what that research was that these engineers were working on?”
“I’ve discovered some pieces of the research but as for the actual, I’m not certain I’d be able to understand it anyway.”
“I probably could.” He’d be shocked if he couldn’t discern at least the basis of what they intended with their secret research project.
Her eyes widened. “Of course you could.” She ruffled through some papers to lay her hand on a notepad. Harlow jotted something on it. “I will definitely keep that in mind. Your insight will likely be invaluable.”
“Always happy to help.”
Harlow glanced up at him. Her green eyes glowed with humor and love. And he fell a little harder for this woman.
“Right.” Irony and amusement echoed in her reply.
“I am. I will be discerning in who I take on as clients.” He raised his hand to his chin in a pretend pondering gesture. “I believe Horgate Industries will pass my stringent client policies.”
“You believe this?” She played along with him. “Didn’t you already take us on as clients?”
“Keep in mind that was a favor. Monnette Engineering Consultants are still feeling our way.” He aimed for solemn.
“Right. That’s where a business plan helps.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“It’s just a guess, but if the project is exciting enough I imagine you’d be willing to take it on.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “I believe our secret project fits that bill.”
The playfulness drained out of him. “Do you know anything about that research project?”
“I don’t personally. But I’ve been thinking about this.”
Intrigued, he studied her face. “What are you thinking, Harlow?”
“Working through this payroll stuff stirred up a memory. Before he died, my dad gave a nondescript notebook to Chad. He told him to read it someday but to wait until he grew up. Then he popped it onto the shelf with all of Chad’s idea notebooks.”
Everything stilled inside Keith. The world stopped for a breathtaking moment. “He gave Chad a notebook? A young Chad?”
“Yes. I’d forgotten that moment until I started digging into this. Now I wonder if Dad knew something dangerous was afoot. That notebook looked like the ones on Chad’s shelves at the time. It would have blended in perfectly.”
“Brilliant.” He spoke quietly. “Wait, that notebook likely burned in the fire.”
“No. They’re at his condo. Chad protects those notebooks with Fort Knox security measures. They contain his ideas and thoughts for future projects.”
“Details, Harlow.”
“Those notebooks contain his livelihood. All past and future projects reside in the pages of those notebooks. He’s one of those people who have to scratch ideas out on paper before he inputs them into a computer.” Her eyes gleamed. “He has an entire security system that revolves around those notebooks.”
“You think your father’s research project notes are somewhere with Chad’s notebooks?”
“Let’s go ask him.”
§
Harlow’s heart pounded in time with her footsteps as they took the stairs to the lower level. As she hoped, Chad sat with Verity and Cian in front of one of the computers. The latter two turned polite faces to them in greeting, but Chad ignored the disturbance as he pounded away on the computer.
The keyboard keys produced a rhythmic staccato as he input data. His intense face made her reconsider bothering him but she tossed that notion. This was too important.
She took the chair beside him. “Chad.”
He knew that tone and her voice and reluctantly stopped typing. “Harlow, I’m in the middle of something.” Vague irritation infused his minor rebuke.
“I see that. This is important.” She waited until she had his attention. With Chad this took a little while. “Do you remember that notebook Dad gave you? The one that looked identical to your ideas notebooks?”
“Yes.” He sounded impatient. Chad remembered most everything. He didn’t have an eidetic memory but he came closer to that phenomenon than most people.
“Do you still have that notebook?”
“It came from Dad, of course I still have it.” More irritation.
“Have you ever looked inside it?”
“Yes. It’s got a bunch of technical information that I’d have to really study to make sense of.”
“Keith is an engineer. Do you think he’d be able to make sense of what’s in that notebook?” Harlow remained patient. Chad needed a little more understanding than others. He was the most focused person she knew.
Chad glanced at Keith. “He has an engineering background?”
“Yes. We’re wondering if Dad’s secret research project might be contained in that notebook.”
“The entire notebook is full. From the first page to the very last page and there are several loose pages inside too.” Chad swallowed. “It could be dangerous.”
“It could be. But Dad gave it to a kid who protected his own identical notebooks with the fierceness of a mother protecting her young.”
“It’s scary but genius.” Verity gazed at Chad in wonder.
“Chad had all sorts of traps and the like in place for his notebooks. They were better protected than the family safe.”
“And the research notebook blended in with Chad’s.” Keith shook his head. “It’s brilliant. Hide that information in plain sight.”
“Where is that notebook?” Cian cut the chatter to ask the bottom line question.
“It’s at my condo. In a special room.” Chad looked on the verge of swaying.
They all looked at one another. “We need to figure out how to get Chad back to his condo in a way that looks legitimate.”
“I do need more underwear and there are a couple of notebooks
that will help me finish my project here.” He gestured toward the computer screen in front of him.
“Perfect. We can take you back to your condo and you can get some of those things. If you’re taking multiple of those identical notebooks it won’t look suspicious.” Harlow worked out a plan to get him safely there and home.
“I also want some of my snacks.” Chad stated. He had a fondness for several things that weren’t here.
“Harlow and I can take you back to your place to pack the things you need.” Keith sounded satisfied with this plan.
“We’ll be there too.” Cian indicated himself and Verity. “You just won’t see us.”
“There will be lots of people, none of whom we’ll see.” Harlow reassured Chad.
“So it will be safe for us to go to my condo?”
“Yes.” She and Keith both answered and their confidence must have settled the matter in Chad’s mind.
“Can we go now?”
She exchanged glances with Keith, then Verity. “I think so.”
“Give me five minutes.” Keith left the room. She figured he went to confer with the twins and perhaps Trace Montgomery, Savannah’s fiancé and the head of her security.
She guessed by the time he concluded his conversations they’d have an army watching over them reminiscent of yesterday’s trip to town. Those men had been appreciated and since Chad would be along for this trip she didn’t balk at the extra firepower.
Her little brother wasn’t armed and didn’t know how fire a weapon. His skills came from his stellar mind and his abilities on a computer. And right now he might have the very piece of this confusing puzzle they needed to give them an edge.
If this research project that had claimed so many lives did exist and Keith could decipher the notes, they held the winning hand. This project better bring about a copious amount of return or she planned to hold a ceremonial burn party.
The mansion had several fireplaces. She fully intended to burn the blasted notebook if it didn’t contain at least one groundbreaking idea. Savannah and DuBois could help her set fire to the reason for them losing parents.
In the time Keith left, Verity and Cian faded away. Probably to make their own plans to follow them to Keith’s condo and keep watch. She wouldn’t have been as confident in taking Chad to his place without them and all the men Keith corralled. The trick now would be to sidetrack Chad long enough to give all those people enough time to get into place.
No point in having added security if she and company arrived before them.
“Okay, so you need some things from your place.”
Chad nodded.
“We better make a list.”
As she suspected, her brother groaned. “Harlow, I have the list in my head.”
“I’m sure you do but I don’t have access to that list, do I?” They’d gone through this for as long as Chad had been able to talk and reason.
“No.” And he didn’t look happy. Still, he allowed her to drag him to the kitchen where she knew a pad of paper and pens resided. The desk in the far corner contained what they needed and she settled Chad at the counter bar and handed him the paper and pen. Chances were good no one else would be able to read it but she might manage to get the gist at least.
Anyway, it didn’t matter if they could read it or not. The point of the exercise was to allow everyone watching over them to settle into place. Once the signal came, Keith would collect her and Chad.
Then they’d head to Chad’s condo.
Equals parts anticipation and dread spiraled.
Chapter 25
Chad had nearly finished his list by the time Keith found them.
Their eyes met and her heart flipped when he sent her an intimate, loving look. One no other man had ever sent her way before. But this one, this magnificent specimen of manhood loved her.
Her throat tried to close at the welling of love for him. A wave of utter gratitude swept over her. Harlow couldn’t imagine being happier. Yet they had so much to look forward to.
Provided they found the notebook her father had left with Chad, it did contain the missing research project notes, and Keith could make sense of it. Those were a lot of variables but she remained hopeful. On the other hand, those factors didn’t matter in their personal lives. Their personal lives were looking way better than they had.
“Everything is arranged.” Keith’s deep voice rumbled through the room and she suppressed a little shiver. The man had won the genetics lottery. Everything about him appealed.
“We’ve got a list.” She pointed to the illegible scribbles on the paper in front of Chad.
Keith glanced at it and his eyebrows rose. “Right.” But he must have caught on to what she’d wished to accomplish.
They filed out to the garage and Keith unlocked his big SUV. She climbed into the front seat, where he held the door open for her. Chad scrambled into the middle row.
Then Keith pointed the vehicle toward Chad’s condo. A block from her previous home, Chad’s building provided more amenities that he never used but it was also more secure than hers. He’d been adamant about security and hadn’t settled for less. He wanted top notch measures, not because he feared for his person, but for those idea notebooks he guarded like a dragon guards treasure.
Keith parked in the visitor parking area while Harlow kept close watch on their surroundings. She didn’t spot any of their people. The hairs on her nape rose so she knew they were in place. This helped as the three of them exited the vehicle. The hairs on her arms rose and she darted a look to Keith.
His body stiffened as he took in the area with her. Then by mutual consent, they hustled Chad inside the foyer of his condo building. The security guard greeted them with only part of his attention. His focus remained on the outside door as though he too recognized the collection of people watching and waiting for trouble.
The front desk man welcomed them as they passed. Chad responded to him mechanically, in a practiced gesture. Good, he had learned to exchange pleasantries. Her and Keith’s interactions with him were more friendly.
Chad paved the way to the elevator with the single-mindedness of someone who focused on one task at a time. He barely waited for them to join him inside the car before he punched the button for his floor. Keith sent her a droll look and she had difficulty suppressing a snicker. So she and Chad shared a few traits…
As soon as the elevator jolted to a stop and the doors slid open, Chad was in motion. As he strode down the hall, he dug out his keys in the same practiced manner he did everything. Upon reaching his apartment door he had the key ready, inserted it, and turned precisely. The latch unlocked and Chad swept inside to the fancy keypad by the door. He punched in a series of numbers and the faint high pitched noise that steadily increased stopped.
She was always thankful when he disabled his security system. Keith entered the apartment after her and watched all of Chad’s measures with the interest of an engineer. Chad clapped the door shut again and punched in another series of numbers.
One time she had asked him if he ever forgot the code or whether he’d ever forgotten to disable or set the alarm. The blankest face she’d ever encountered had greeted her.
“No, of course not.” He’d eyed her strangely for the next five minutes. She allowed a tiny smile now as she followed him into the special room he’d bunkered to stockpile his idea notebooks.
This room was intended for guests, but Chad had essentially locked it down from all levels, reinforcing the walls, ceiling and floor. Then he doubled those efforts inside the closet where his notebooks resided. The space also served as his safe room.
In the event of a fire, she doubted whether this room would burn to the ground along with the rest of the building. In the worst case scenario, the containers that held his notebooks would survive.
Now she waited patiently at the door where she stayed Keith from following Chad into the room. He cocked an eyebrow at her.
“This is Chad’s safe room. We o
nly enter if it’s necessary. This is the one room in his home where he knows he’s safe. The only reason why he agreed to come to the twins’ mansion was because he’s very comfortable with his safe room there. This one is modeled after that one. But this one he’s modified and made even better.” She spoke softly. Chad kept hesitating at the entrance to the closet.
“We’re making him nervous.” She raised her voice. “Chad, we’re going to pack the clothing you need.”
Chad waved them away, looking much calmer. She showed Keith Chad’s bedroom. It had the same meticulous feel of the rest of the condo. The structure and order that soothed Chad showed plainly here.
She knew exactly which drawer contained the various items Chad needed because he followed the same system he had developed in childhood. Without structure and regimen, Chad’s world fell apart. She opened the closet and sure enough, located the extra bags and suitcases he kept in an orderly row.
Selecting one, she set it on the bed and opened each drawer to select the clothing items he’d mentioned he needed. She also removed several items from the closet. This should do him for now.
The bedside table revealed the electronic reading device she suspected would also help keep him entertained, so she stowed that and the charging cord in the bag. In the front pocket where he’d look for it first. Then she zipped the bag and Keith hefted it off the bed.
“Thank you.” She headed for the kitchen. Keith joined her after he set the suitcase by the front door.
Now she found Chad’s reusable grocery bags hanging from the hook inside the pantry. Opening one of them, she emptied the pantry of his favorite snacks. It didn’t take long. She opened the fridge and as she suspected, only several drinks remained inside. He had probably invited his next door neighbor, a widow around the age of their grandfather who doted on Chad, to take anything perishable. She also would see to watering his few plants. Chad had given her a code that would allow her inside the main area for a few minutes. Harlow had one as well. Their codes did not allow them access to his safe room.
