Theresa shook her head. “That’s wrong.” Then she stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “I work late plenty. But I don’t leave and come back. Sounds like a system error.”
“You weren’t here late at night, three weeks ago, on Friday night, about midnight?”
For a minute, he thought she wasn’t going to answer him at all. But then, Theresa’s eyes rolled upward and she shook her head. “No. Three weeks ago, on Friday night, I was at a concert. Here.” She dug around in her purse, then pulled out her phone. She tapped something onto it, then held it toward him. “I don’t know why I need to prove myself to Leila’s assistant, but here’s a picture from the concert. You see the date stamp?”
He studied it, then nodded and handed it back. She could have faked it, but how would she have known to have it ready? Unless she’d put some kind of electronic tag on the records, so she knew when the data was accessed? To give herself a heads-up if anyone ever suspected? “So, how was your card used that night then?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared hard at her, trying to read her, and she actually fidgeted.
“Look, I know Leila isn’t my biggest fan. I’m not hers, either. Don’t get me wrong—I think she’s done a pretty good job as CEO. Believe me, I was skeptical. The truth is, she never would have had this job if her father didn’t start the company. Everyone knows it.”
“Word is that you told Leila’s father not to recommend Leila her CEO,” Davis said.
Theresa scowled, but nodded. “Yeah. She didn’t have enough experience.”
“Who did you think deserved the position? You?”
Theresa laughed, sat back down. “Maybe. If we’re talking pure experience at the company. But all the boring administrative work of running a company?” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “That’s not my idea of fun. I like to make things, and make them better. I’d never leave R and D.”
“But at the end of the day, you don’t get to make the final decisions on what gets made, right? That’s Leila.”
Theresa nodded slowly, studying him now as closely as he was watching her. “Like the guns? Yeah, that’s true. I think it was a mistake, shutting down that side of the business. But so does everyone else here. Even her father. He just didn’t say it publicly.”
Davis frowned. That was what others at the company had told him, too. Which fit with the idea that Leila’s father had been illegally selling guns, but willing to trade it in for the sake of his daughter’s success. No matter what kind of man he’d been, he had loved her. The more time Davis spent here, the less he believed Neal Petrov had helped put his daughter in the role of CEO to be his scapegoat.
Maybe that was what had gotten him killed. Maybe he’d tried to go legitimate, to protect her, and his partner hadn’t wanted it.
But was his partner Theresa? Maybe. Maybe she just hadn’t had enough time to work things out with BECA if they were pressing for arms she couldn’t yet deliver. According to everyone he’d talked to, it was Neal’s support of Leila’s plan to move solely to armor that had made it a reality. Maybe Theresa had hoped to use Neal’s death to get gun production going again. That would make it easier for her to return to the illegal sales.
He frowned, not quite liking the logic or the timing. It still seemed like someone who was willing to kill to restart gun production would be willing to tell their contacts where to put the blame for it shutting down in the first place.
He must have stayed silent too long, because all of a sudden, Theresa blurted, “Look, I don’t know what Leila thinks I did, or what’s going on with my access card. We’re not best friends, but when I told her dad that I thought she wasn’t ready to be CEO, he made me promise to support her anyway. So, I’m not sure how you heard about what we discussed in private, but it’s not common knowledge. Neal, Joel and I have known each other for a long time. Heck, I’ve known Leila since she was a kid. After Neal died, I committed to protecting Leila for him. And I have.”
She stared at him with such intensity as she spoke, telling Davis that she’d done something she felt was big in order to protect Leila for Neal. Had she really killed Neal for letting their illegal business get screwed up and then thought she could make up for it by not selling out his daughter?
As Davis stared back at her, he realized it was a definite possibility.
Theresa Quinn had just shot to the top of his suspect list.
Chapter Sixteen
“What if it wasn’t just a matter of cheaper materials getting swapped out so someone could pocket the extra cash?” Eric suggested.
“What do you mean?” Leila asked. It was strange, this secret investigation they were running. He’d helped her make an excuse for the armor shipments that weren’t going out this week—claiming delays on the military’s side. Her employees had seemed to buy it.
Instead of making her feel like they were in on something together, her time with Eric was just making her uncomfortable. She needed to repeat what she’d said earlier, that her feelings weren’t the same as when they were younger. But she didn’t want to dive into that discussion when there were so many more important things to figure out right now. The future of her company—not to mention justice for the soldiers who’d been killed—depended on her rooting out the traitor.
Pushing her worries about hurting Eric’s feelings to the back of her mind, Leila tried to focus on what he’d said. What if it wasn’t just a matter of cheaper materials being used for someone to pocket the extra money? “What do you mean?”
“What if both sets of armor were made?”
Leila shook her head, still not understanding.
“Leila, what if it’s kind of like the guns?” Eric asked. “What if someone sent cheap armor to the military, but sold the good ones at a huge markup to criminals? I know convicted felons can buy body armor. But if these sales are as big as Davis seems to think they are, maybe the same criminals who are buying up boxes and boxes of illegal weapons are also buying armor now? Maybe they’re willing to pay more money and keep it on the down-low to keep from attracting any attention from law enforcement.”
The idea made a chill run through Leila strong enough to make her reach for the blazer she’d set aside an hour ago when she and Eric had started digging through purchase receipts, looking for anything unusual. Davis hadn’t told her what kind of criminals were buying the illegal Petrov Armor pistols. But criminals who needed boxes of them and wanted armor to go with it? That sounded like a massacre in the making. She had to stop it.
She couldn’t change the past. But she could help find the person responsible, prevent any more illegal sales. And hopefully when they found the traitor, that person would give up their sales list, help the FBI bring those people to justice, too.
“Even taking into account the cost of buying cheaper armor, it’s a lot more profit,” Eric continued, probably not realizing he didn’t need to convince her that his theory made sense. “And I know you think Davis is crazy...” He paused and scowled a little. “Believe me, I don’t like agreeing with the guy. But the person who’s got the right security level at the company and the easiest access to the armor?”
“Theresa,” Leila stated. She didn’t even like the woman, not really. So, why couldn’t she quite bring herself to believe that Theresa would betray Petrov Armor?
“It has to be her,” Eric insisted, obviously reading her reluctance to believe Theresa was the culprit. “It just makes sense.”
He stared at her, eyebrows raised until she nodded slowly. Maybe he was right. Maybe he and Davis were both right.
“We don’t need Davis here anymore,” Eric said, sounding relieved that she’d agreed with his suggestion Theresa was involved. “Tell him what you suspect and stop letting him muck around in the company’s private information. Send him on his way and let him deal with the investigation from the outside, where he belongs.”
“Eric, I can’t—”
“You need a break from all of this. It’s been too much, with your father’s death and now this. I know you care about the company, Leila. I know you feel like it’s your father’s legacy. But you’re wrong.”
She shook her head.
He smiled at her, this time a sadder, more serious smile. “Don’t you get it, Leila? You’re his real legacy. If everything you’ve told me is true, this company is finished. You need to cut your losses and let it go. Come with me. Let’s start over. A new business, a fresh start together. It doesn’t even need to be in Tennessee. Let’s get away, take a break and go somewhere.” He stared at her with those dark blue eyes she’d fallen for so long ago. “Maybe overseas, lie on a beach for a while. Then we can figure it all out.”
She shook her head. No matter how much she wished she could pretend none of this had happened—not the faulty armor or the gun sales or her father’s murder—she couldn’t leave. Couldn’t just run away and hope someone else fixed the threat inside Petrov Armor.
It was her business to run now. Her responsibility to find out the truth. She owed it to the soldiers who’d been killed, to the employees who’d done nothing wrong and to her father.
She saw the disappointment on Eric’s face even before she spoke. “I have to see this through to the end. No matter what happens.”
* * *
YESTERDAY, AT THE end of the day, Leila had slipped out of the office without Davis spotting her. She’d left him a text message telling him she’d gone home to rest and that she’d see him tomorrow. This morning, she’d been shut in her office nonstop. Davis was tired of waiting for her to emerge, tired of waiting for her to explain why she was avoiding him.
He strode to the door of her office, had his hand on the door handle when he heard Eric’s voice from inside the office. Davis froze, withdrew his hand slowly as he realized how often he’d stopped by Leila’s office to talk to her in private over the past few days and found her and Eric “talking business.”
Initially, he’d been unconcerned. Eric was her head of sales. But last week, she’d answered his questions quickly and efficiently, rarely spent more than an hour or two in meetings with Eric. The last few days, it seemed as though Eric and Leila were constantly meeting.
A bad feeling settled in his stomach. Could she have confided in Eric about the investigation?
Like they had been all week, the blinds on the inside of Leila’s window into the main part of the office were down. But there was a gap on one side where a few slats had stuck together. Davis glanced behind him to make sure other employees weren’t paying him attention as he put his eye to it.
Inside the office, Leila was sitting at the chair behind her desk as usual. But instead of being at the chair on the other side, Eric had pulled his seat around next to Leila. Eric was frowning, pointing at something on the computer while Leila looked serious and determined. As though they were investigating this case by themselves, the head of the company and one of his main suspects.
Davis stood straighter and backed away, and someone’s hand clamped on his shoulder, preventing a collision. He felt himself heat with embarrassment at being caught spying as he turned and found Joel standing there.
Joel held out his hand. “Davis, right?”
When he nodded and shook hands, Joel said, “Why don’t we go down the street and grab a drink, have a chat?” Not giving him a chance to say no, Joel added, “Come on,” and headed for the door.
Giving Leila’s closed office door one last look, Davis followed him to a pub a few blocks away. It had been hard to get to Joel to talk to him, so he wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste. The man didn’t keep regular hours, and hadn’t returned Davis’s few phone calls, on the pretense of doing business for Leila.
Joel was silent most of the walk, keeping up a good pace. It wasn’t until they were seated in a booth and they’d both ordered club sodas that Joel finally spoke. “You’re more than just an assistant, aren’t you, Davis?”
Davis felt a flash of panic and surprise, then Joel continued. “I can tell you’re ambitious. Assistant is a starting point for you.”
He nodded at Davis’s club soda as it arrived. “I respect a man who doesn’t drink while he’s on the job. Some people think it’s social, but it can make you lose focus.” He paused meaningfully, then added, “Women can make you lose focus, too.”
Davis nodded, hanging his head a little. Trying to appear embarrassed wasn’t a stretch. For an undercover agent, he hadn’t done a very good job of hiding his interest in Leila.
At least Joel didn’t suspect he was FBI. Leila’s uncle reaching out to him like this was a perfect way to get information. Davis just needed to steer the conversation in the right direction.
“It’s great working for Leila,” he started, “but yeah, I took this job as a chance to see the inner workings of a big company. My degree is in business management,” he added, sticking to the cover résumé TCD had made him. “I am wondering, though...” He trailed off, hoping Joel would prompt him.
“What? Spit it out. I’ll give you one rule of business right now—you’ll never get what you want if you’re not willing to ask for it. Then you’ve got to be willing to follow through.”
Davis nodded, wondering how much of her can-do attitude Leila got from her uncle, rather than her father. “I was actually wondering about Theresa. It seems like she’s been here a lot longer than Leila. I was kind of surprised—”
“That Leila was made CEO?” Joel finished for him. “I know people see it as nepotism, and let’s be honest, I’m a little biased. There was a period where I basically raised that girl. But if you underestimate what Leila is capable of, that’s a mistake. She might have come into the role a little young, but she belongs there.”
Davis felt pride swell in his chest at the words, even though the feeling was ridiculous. He had no reason to feel anything but impartial interest. But no matter how much Leila was pushing him away right now, he was never going to feel impartial toward her. Never.
The thought gave him pause, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Something to pick apart later, when he wasn’t undercover. When he didn’t have a dead friend who deserved his full attention on finding out who had caused her death.
“Theresa’s great,” Joel continued. “She’s driven and ridiculously intelligent when it comes to innovation. She can be too intense sometimes, but she’s reliable. She’s a workaholic, too, but believe me, that’s because she loves the research, loves the process of creating a new product. Theresa has no interest in being CEO. Eric, on the other hand...”
Davis had been staring pensively into his club soda, and he couldn’t stop his head from popping up at Joel’s statement. Theresa was still the stronger suspect, but Eric’s time stamp had shown unusual activity too. Davis wasn’t sure how to approach him, especially if Leila might have confided in him.
“Look, I like Eric. I’ve known him since he was a kid. Even back then, he was always hanging around wherever Leila was.” Joel fiddled with his glass, still mostly full. “So I’ll just say this—Leila has a blind spot when it comes to Eric.”
“How so?” Davis asked, wondering why Joel had reached out to him. Was it just to give him career advice? Or was this really about Eric? Did Joel suspect Eric of something and need a sounding board?
Joel sighed, sounding conflicted as he spoke. “Eric loved my brother like a father. His own old man was never around. Which is better than what Neal and I had, but that’s a whole other story. Anyway, when Eric graduated from high school, my brother saw something in him. Knew he’d be a hard worker, could succeed with the right mentorship. Talked Eric into going to school at night and working here during the day.”
Davis nodded, having heard as much from Leila.
“The thing is, Eric wasn’t my brother’s kid. Leila was. So, when it came time
to suggest a name to the board for CEO...” Joel shrugged, took a long sip of his club soda.
“Eric’s jealous that Leila took over?”
“Resentful, is more the way I see it.” Joel set his glass down, looking troubled. “He still loves Leila, that I know. But I’m not sure that love is pure. It’s too tied up in him wanting all the things he thinks should be his. That’s not just Neal’s daughter. It’s also her job. I think he’d do almost anything to get it—or if he can’t do that, to take it away from Leila.”
Chapter Seventeen
Most days of the week, there were lots of employees in the office well into the evening. Leila’s father had hired a dedicated group, people who cared about what they did. But on Fridays, many of them took off an hour early, got a jump-start on their weekend. A fair trade for the extra work they’d put in during the week, so both her father and Leila encouraged it.
Tonight, Leila wished she had a different policy. It was only six o’clock, but because it was Friday, the place was eerily empty. Normally she didn’t mind being in the office alone. She should have been happy to have some time alone to think.
Right now, though, she wanted the background noise. She wanted the reminder that she wasn’t all alone in the world, that she still had people she loved and who loved her, that she still had a company to run, to keep her going. When she was alone, it was too easy to fixate on what she’d lost. Her mother, so long ago. Her father, so recently. And soon, probably her father’s company, too.
It was too easy to focus on Davis. Too easy to think about how much she already missed him, after a week of barely talking. Definitely too easy to worry about what else he might have uncovered in her company that he wasn’t telling her.
By this point, he’d figured out that she was keeping something from him. But he hadn’t pulled the plug on his undercover operation, so he didn’t realize she’d told anyone about who he really was.
Guilt nagged her, an itch to come clean with him that she couldn’t give in to. Half the reason she’d blurted the truth to Eric had been to stop him from kissing her. Right now, she wanted to talk to her uncle about what was going on. But even though Davis had betrayed her, she didn’t want to do the same to him. She’d broken her promise by telling Eric, but Davis’s words had rung in her head about the secrecy of the investigation. So, she’d made Eric promise repeatedly not to tell anyone else. And as bad as she wanted her uncle’s insight right now, she’d resisted confiding in him.
Secret Investigation (Tactical Crime Division Book 2) Page 15
