by Beck, A Lexy
UNSPOKEN
By A Lexy Beck
www.alexybeck.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, locations or incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 A Lexy Beck
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form.
First Edition: September 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter One
I sat shivering in the back of the police car. My long wet hair hung in cold and heavy strands across my shoulders; my thin cotton pajamas clung uncomfortably to my skin. The only warm parts of my body were my cheeks, where hot tears slid down my face in an unstoppable stream. The blue lights of the many police cars flashed, washing the apartments in a strange and disturbing light. Half of campus had come out to watch what was happening. Feeling a blur of confusion and anger, I watched as Christopher was handcuffed and led away to another car. As he walked by me, he gave me a small grin and turned away, like I never mattered. Like what we had wasn’t real. Suddenly, I knew it was all true. He had never really loved me. It was my father’s money that he was after; the position, the power. I felt like I was going to throw up.
I saw my father walking toward me, his spiky gray hair impervious to the rain, his gray trench coat wrapped closely around him. He looked grim, angry and, worst of all, disappointed. He had warned me about Christopher, but I hadn’t listened. With a firm hand, he opened the car door…
The blaring siren outside my window jarred me from my deep sleep. The anxiousness and tension from my nightmare still haunted me. I struggled to focus on the clock and when I did, panic set in. “Oh my god!” I jumped out of bed and scrambled for the closet. I couldn’t believe I had overslept. Today was too big a day for this kind of screw up.
I was thankful that I’d had the good sense to select an outfit for today the previous night. I slid out of my pajamas and stepped into a pair of charcoal gray pants and quickly buttoned my white blouse. There wasn’t much time to try anything chic with my mass of long, dark hair. Skillfully my nimble fingers quickly coaxed it into a stylish ponytail and smoothed back the wisps with a touch of spray. After a quick session with the toothbrush, I applied some finishing touches with coral lipstick, dabbing it onto my lips and cheeks, and quickly touched my lashes with mascara.
“Oh well, it’ll have to do.” I grabbed my jacket, purse and a binder of paperwork. I slid my size seven feet into my heels and grabbed a strand of pearls, my watch and earrings from my jewelry box. I tossed them into my purse and ran out the door.
I tossed everything into my car, and took off out of the parking garage. My tires squealed and the engine echoed throughout the empty garage. “Fifteen minutes to go two miles. Great!” Cars were backed up bumper to bumper on Cary Street. I pulled down the mirror in the stationary traffic to check my makeup and dug into my expensive Coach purse for my jewelry. Not bad for getting ready in five minutes. Great job, Jennifer.
Finally the traffic began to move and I felt hopeful that I might not be too late. I swung my car into the parking garage. Of course the top floor was full. I drove down to the depths of the garage, parked and made a dash for the elevator. My ponytail swung from side to side as the clicking of my heels echoed off the concrete walls. I poked the button and the elevator doors opened. I jumped in for the short ride to the lobby as I double-checked I had everything with me.
I began to feel a little nervous. Everyone—all the partners, their staff and him, Jack Dunning—would be there. He made me nervous. He always made me nervous, but this case was a big deal. I finally had an opportunity to prove myself. I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts.
The doors opened and I walked quickly across the lobby of the Howard building to the east tower elevator. I had been here so many times but I always felt lost. I waited impatiently for the elevator, tapping my foot.
“Finally!”
I checked my watch and rushed in -- straight into an equally distracted rider who was typing away on his smartphone and moving as quickly as I was, at least until he ran into me. The collision snapped the strap on my worn binder, sending a shower of papers to the floor.
“Seriously? What’s your problem? Can’t you watch where you’re going?” I squatted down to scoop up the lost paperwork. My foot straddled the threshold of the elevator in an attempt to keep the door open.
My companion didn’t say a word. He knelt down beside me, in his wonderfully expensive shoes, to help me collect the lost paperwork with his free hand. His phone was still in the other. I stole a peek at the offender-turned-rescuer and I caught my breath. I had to look away and focus. He was stunning.
After handing me a neat stack of papers he gave me a small smile. I opened my mouth to say “Thank you,” but the door closed before I could speak. Tall and well-built, he had a head full of short dark hair, chiseled features and even, golden skin that made the stranger’s blue eyes stand out all the more. Damn, I acted like a fool. All that remained of the handsome stranger was the lingering scent of his expensive cologne.
I fumbled with the paperwork, coaxing it all back into the binder, and finally stepped on to the well-decorated floor of Dunning, Durst and Chandler. I was greeted by the receptionist, who smiled and waved me urgently to the main meeting room. I had no time to waste daydreaming about a complete stranger, although I would like to. I felt my skin flush.
I paused for a moment in front of the door, squared my shoulders, and walked into the meeting. Unfortunately, my father, Jack Dunning, had the floor and he could not resist taking the opportunity to bring added attention to my tardiness. “Good morning, Jennifer.”
“Morning,” I mumbled back as I looked for a seat in the crowded meeting. “Sorry I’m late.”
“…And this is my daughter. I’ll have to assume you missed the time on the meeting invitation.”
I could see he wasn’t going to let it go, but I refused to be drawn into a battle with him in front of a room full of strangers. Instead, I took out my notebook and pen and stared back at him, blue eyes matching blue eyes with intensity. This is the way it had always been; I can’t remember it being any other way with us. I could feel the people around me shift nervously and someone coughed. My nervousness subsided.
I crossed my legs and leaned forward attentively. “Please continue.”
“Well, you’ve missed the opportunity to meet the CEO of Vawter Corporation, but Dylan Rogers, Chief Technology Officer, will share with us what he knows.” That was it; he’d had the last word, so I suppose he was happy now. “Dylan, please. You have the floor.”
Dylan walked to the front of the room and set his tablet on the conference table. He appeared to be a likable person, of average height, with brown hair and warm brown eyes. He wore glasses, though I suspected that he didn’t really need them. They were more like a mask, or a shield from something. Maybe he felt glasses made him look more scholarly.
He could have easily presented from his seat at the table, but clearly felt the need to be the center of attention at the front of the room. He stood for a moment, drinking in the attention.
“I’ll try to make this as brief as I can, but here are the important points.” He exuded a nerdy confidence. Almost arrogant, though he had nothing to be arrogant about.
His eyes circled the room and eventually locked on me. I sat quietly an
d observed, not losing his stare. Finally, he looked away and continued.
“Thank you for your commitment to helping Vawter Corporation get through this time. It’s not an easy thing to hear that your customers can’t trust you, and that you can’t protect them from nefarious people. However, I feel confident that we can fix this and move on to even greater things. Let’s be honest, the digital community—especially the business community—is much like the Wild West. The need for greater protection and enforcement couldn’t be stronger. I also want to say thanks to Jack Dunning, and everyone at Dunning, Durst and Chandler, for assisting us. I apologize that Trey had to leave so abruptly, but you know how it is… millionaires… who can understand them?” The audience tittered at the comment.
I felt an uneasiness about how he talked about his boss. Observe, Jennifer. Don’t react. Just observe. I wondered why he felt the need to take an unneeded jab at the CEO—his boss.
Dylan continued with his tech speak as I watched him and listened to the details. I couldn’t help but drift away, back to the handsome stranger I had crashed into at the elevator just a few minutes before.
I wondered if maybe he worked in the building, and hoped I would see him again. It had been a long time since I felt compelled to take a second look at anyone.
Dylan picked up his tablet and began illustrating the problem by tapping and sharing his tablet screen with the monitor display. He offered evidence as to when and where the breach was first detected and how far the problem had reached. I half-listened to the presentation, though most of what he was covering was in the paperwork I had received, so instead I spent my time watching him and the other employees. The problem, they believed, came from a weakness in the software, a weakness they contended Vawter Corporation was not made aware of right away. It wasn’t until after the purchase was made that the software company gave them the heads up.
“Now, at one time, Trey and I did discuss making the modifications to the programming in-house, but I’m afraid I lost that argument and here’s where we are today.” Dylan continued to jab at the CEO. “Of course, there were some legal concerns about modifying the program. Pegasus—that’s the company—wasn’t too keen on the idea, since they were already working on the fix. The game plan was to wait for Pegasus to deliver the new product and make the updates, but the breach had already occurred.”
A hand belonging to a woman sitting at the large wooden table in the center of the room shot up. I didn’t recognize her, but I assumed she was new to the firm, based on her overzealousness. “So the bottom line is that you believe that the problem was with the Pegasus software, not with any action taken by Vawter Corporation?”
Dylan reached up and scratched his lip. His eyes darted to the right of the room and quickly focused on hers. “Correct.”
The woman continued. “But Vawter Corporation selected Pegasus and chose their software. As CTO, wasn’t it your job to make sure they knew what they were doing?”
The question agitated Dylan and he immediately became defensive. “Look, I did everything I should have done, and more. Trey ultimately selected this company, even though I suggested otherwise, but we now have to live with his decision and move on from there.”
The mood in the room quickly turned and Jack Dunning returned to the front. Dylan was clearly shaken. Jack patted Dylan on the shoulder assuredly, quickly alleviating the rising tension in the room. Not a great move, Dad. I couldn’t help but frown.
“It’s ok, Dylan. We’ll get more details about all of this. We are here to represent Vawter Corporation and will do everything we can to help. I think we have enough to get started. Let’s end this meeting and we will catch up next week. In the meantime, let’s dig a little deeper and get more information about Pegasus.”
With that, the meeting abruptly ended, leaving Dylan agitated.
Chapter Two
The room began to empty until there were just a few of us left. I sat and watched Dylan for a moment. I wondered why he was so quick to deflect the blame to Trey, the CEO. That hardly seemed like an appropriate action from a CTO, or “partner” in business. Instead, I sensed a serious rift in the Vawter leadership. Surely I wasn’t the only one that noticed the problem?
I realized I was the only one still sitting at the large conference table. I quickly gathered my papers and took the most direct route to the door. I tried to avoid Dad and everyone else that was left.
Before I could escape, Dylan extended his hand. “Hi. Quite an entrance you made there.”
I shook his hand. It was a warm and sturdy. “I apologize for that. Nothing like being late for the first and biggest meeting with a new client.”
“So are you one of our lawyers on this? I’d feel better knowing you were.” His voice softened and seemed like quite a different guy to the one who felt challenged just a few minutes ago.
Before I could answer, my father joined our conversation. “Oh, she’s not a lawyer.” His condescending tone was apparent to everyone within earshot. “No, Jennifer’s a people watcher and question asker.” He laughed, as if it were some kind of dirty joke.
Dylan appeared surprised and looked at both of us. “A people watcher?”
“Actually, my specialty is jury selection, questioning and profiling. It’s all about the unspoken signals people give off.” I watched as my father rolled his eyes. His displeasure in my career choice was obvious.
“I see. Well I certainly hope you can help…and from now on, I guess I’ll be more careful in what I do and say. I wouldn’t want you getting the wrong idea of me.” Dylan joked nervously.
“Too late.” I smiled. “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”
“Well, I guess we are both off to a terrible start then.” Dylan smirked and gathered up his tablet and files. He shook my father’s hand and moved toward the door.
I tilted my head curiously at my father and waited for Dylan to leave the room. Dad was a handsome man, or at least that’s what I’d heard growing up. He was like steel in many ways, especially when it came to me, his only child. “Jennifer…” he began.
“Look, I know what you are going to say. I’m sorry, alright? I got started late and I was stuck in traffic. Thanks for the embarrassment.” I was standing tall and straight, but I could feel the blood rising to my neck.
“They already knew you were late, Jennifer. Would you rather I just pretend you were here all along? I hope you’re taking this seriously. I could have used you as an attorney on this, not some kind of people watcher.”
“No, I didn’t expect you to pretend but you didn’t have to go out of your way to embarrass me! People are going to watch me anyway, because I’m a Dunning, whether you like it or not.”
I had always been under the microscope, even more so after my mother had passed away, leaving my father to raise me. He made sure that I was brought up to his standards and that there was no way I would ever embarrass him or bring shame to his name.
That only lasted until my senior year in college.
“I’m sorry you are disappointed in my career choice and that I’ve disappointed you! How about some support, for a change?” I was livid and I felt like a spitting cat. I ignored the young man who came to close the door to give us some privacy.
“Look, this isn’t the time to talk about us. You’re here now, so do your job. Go see Reese. He’s setting up the interviews and leading the research.” He turned and walked toward the door. “And Jennifer, if I didn’t intend on supporting you in this so-called career I wouldn’t have invited you.”
“He’s lying…” I blurted out. Dad stopped and turned toward me. I could see the confused look on his face. “When the new girl asked Dylan whether Vawter Corp had anything to do with this breach. He lied.”
The look of confusion turned to doubt and then disappointment. “Jennifer, stop jumping to conclusions. They hired us. They would have no reason to lie about any of this.” He shook his head and left me standing alone in the conference room.
I pulled myself together with some tough love and left the conference room. I headed down the hall past the enormous fish tank and the other partners’ offices. Reese had been with the firm as long as I could remember and had earned one of the nicer offices on the floor, right next to Dad’s.
I slinked down the hall, past the large mahogany door prominently displaying the shiny gold “Jack Dunning” nameplate. I had spent plenty of time in that office and it held both good and bad memories. As of this morning, I was thinking of nothing but bad ones. I quickly glanced in and noticed he was nowhere to be found.
Thank goodness. I was already second-guessing this job. I’d had offers from other firms and agencies, but Dad convinced me this was the best move. I should have followed my instincts, especially since I was already dodging him in the office after the first few hours.
I ducked into Reese’s office, remembering with a smile that it was always cluttered with files and photographs. It had the very look of every private detective’s office that you’d see on TV or in the movies. I stepped through the doorway and was greeted by Cynthia, Dad’s assistant.
“Hey, Cynthia, do I have the right office? Did Reese move?”
Cynthia shook her head and smiled. “No. You have the right place. I knew Reese wasn’t going to clean this place up for you, so I did. You two are going to be roommates for a while.”
I smiled. “Lucky me. I get the view, to be right next to Dad and to share an office with Reese.”
“It won’t be that bad. Reese has softened up a bit…and your dad…well…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence. We both knew exactly what Dad was like.
Reese was an old-fashioned, hard-nosed kind of guy, who took his job seriously; he expected the people he worked with to do the same. He was a cross between a tech genius and hard edge detective. I always wondered why he settled for working at the firm, but I guess it had a lot to do with him and Dad being such close friends.
