by Marie Astor
Ally took a deep breath and headed for the door. Jake remained where he was, his feet firmly rooted to the floor. A few moments ago she might have been devastated by his gesture, but now she took comfort in it because she knew the reason he kept his back turned was so that he wouldn’t break down and ask her to stay. She wouldn’t tempt him, wouldn’t make it any harder for either of them than it already was. Jake was right, and for now she would do as he said.
Chapter 15
Delilah was a bundle of nerves as she approached Brad Weiss’s office. In the right pocket of her jacket she had an agency-issued recording device that she was going to plant in Weiss’s office. The device was less than an inch long, but she was still terrified. She’d never done anything of the kind. What if she got caught?
She tossed her hair and adjusted her blouse, making sure that it showcased her cleavage prominently, hoping her distraction would work. The worst part was that she was supposed to report to Weiss on McKeenly’s doings and she didn’t have much to report. It had been a week since their meeting and Delilah hadn’t learned anything new. She had tried to learn more about the consultants’ doings, but all of her attempts to get close to McKeenly had been stonewalled. The same went for Ally. The minute they seemed to establish any kind of contact with one of the consultants in the group, their efforts were cut short by Irene Zong. She was like a hawk, watching over her team so that they wouldn’t spend an extra minute on social chatter or any other kind of non-work related activity. And Irene clearly considered indulging questions from interns a non-work related activity. The few times Delilah and Ally had managed to strike up a conversation with any of the consultants from McKeenly, Irene seemed to appear out of the blue, her cold gaze sweeping over them and her prim lips parting with polite but firm excuses.
Delilah knocked on the door of Weiss’s office secretly hoping that he wouldn’t be there, but no such luck. “Come on in,” Weiss’s voice carried through the door almost immediately. Delilah put on her most alluring smile and walked inside.
“Katherine! How good to see you,” Weiss greeted her.
“Good morning, Brad.” She smiled coyly, trying not to think about the fact that Brad Weiss was a very attractive man. If only they had met under a different set of circumstances. Still, there was no harm in observing that he looked particularly handsome today in his crisp, tailored charcoal suit, pale violet shirt and navy tie. Violet—what a whimsical color for a man to wear, especially for an energy company executive, but Brad Weiss pulled it off without a hitch. He’d just gotten a haircut, and with his closely cropped dark blond hair framing his chiseled features he looked dashing.
“So how is your study going, Katherine? Have you got any interesting news for me?”
Delilah almost melted under the gaze of Weiss’s baby blues framed by long, thick lashes. God, that man was handsome. How on earth was she going to bug his office when one look at him made her all hot and bothered? “It’s progressing very nicely, Mr. Weiss—Brad,” she quickly corrected herself as Weiss raised his index finger in mock admonition. “I hope to have a first draft for you in about two weeks. I must say that both Beatrice and I are very impressed by the efficiency of Orion’s plant equipment. It is truly the leader in the industry.”
“And what are your thoughts on McKeenly’s work?”
“To tell you the truth, sir, McKeenly hasn’t been very forthcoming. I guess they’ve got more important things to do than to babysit interns. At least that’s what Irene Zong told me.”
“I see.” Weiss frowned, looking down on his desk.
Somehow Delilah found the presence of mind to use this moment to drop her pen and quickly reach underneath her chair and plant the bug there while picking up the pen.
“Are you all right?” Weiss asked absentmindedly.
“I’m fine, thank you. Just dropped a pen.” Delilah lifted up her pen in evidence.
“I’ll have a talk with Irene. She needs to understand that even though McKeenly is an independent consultant, while retained by Orion they need to abide by Orion’s values and having open communication lines is key to that.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t have a better update for you,” Delilah said, genuinely flustered. She could tell how frustrated Weiss was and she felt sorry for him. What was it he was hoping to hear from her? And why was it that he was asking her to shadow McKeenly in the first place?
“The circumstances were outside of your control. I’m not one of those executives who expects unreachable results,” he added with a smile. “I hope to see you at the company gala.” He reached for some papers on his desk, signaling that their meeting was over.
“Company gala?” Delilah asked. “I don’t think I’m invited.”
Weiss’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Not invited? An email was sent to all employees. Sounds like there’s been some kind of glitch. I’ll make sure that you get the email in your mailbox, and of course the invitation extends to your friend Beatrice. ‘Gala’ might be too pompous a word. The event will be held in the company’s auditorium. It is going to be black tie, though. The festivities are to celebrate Orion’s first production batch for our contract with China. The delivery date is still a few months away, but we’ve already began production and Mr. Langman thought it’d be good for company morale to celebrate this major milestone.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“I’m not sure I’d be that enthusiastic about it, but if you’re going to be there, then it actually might be.”
Delilah smiled coyly. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I’ll see you there.” Weiss reached for his phone.
With a smile, Delilah rose from her chair and closed the door behind her. Once outside of Weiss’s office, it took all of her self-control not to press her back against the wall and exhale loudly with relief. She did it! She’d wired Weiss’s office. One minute she was in there, fumbling and inept, wondering how she was going to pull it together and the next her fingers were planting the bug expertly, as though it was something she’d been doing all her life.
Delilah quickly walked down the hall, eager to share her news with Ally. But as she boarded the elevator, her excitement was replaced by doubt. A part of her couldn’t help thinking that she was stabbing Brad in the back. Weiss, she told herself, his name is Weiss. She might indulge his request to address him by his first name in person, but doing so in her thoughts would be a slippery slope. Next thing she knew she’d be fantasizing about kissing those curvy, sexy lips of his and having those manly hands of his on her body. The prospect sounded awfully inviting, which was exactly why she couldn’t allow herself any reference to Brad Weiss outside of a professional one. This assignment could be her big break and she wasn’t going to blow it. They had only been on the case a few weeks, but according to the agency’s source, time was of the essence and so far they failed to make much progress. The agency was starting to put pressure on them, impatient for results. Delilah suspected that this was mainly the reason she got her chance to shine. Jake Morrissey had a very long conversation with her, asking her all kinds of oblique questions, probing to see if she was up for the task. Apparently she had passed the test because he had personally cleared her to wire Weiss’s office, adding that she was to encourage social encounters with Weiss to get information out of him. Delilah was going to deliver. If she cracked this case, her career at the agency would skyrocket. Her drive to succeed did not stem from mere thirst for money or promotion, but from desire for recognition. Having a case like this in her portfolio would finally put her at par with the rest of the agents. Hell, it would catapult her to the top of the list. No longer would she be the odd one out with a wayward past, who was given a job with the agency as charity. She might not have a fancy degree in engineering or physics, but she had excellent instincts and she was damn good at getting information out of people. Her true worth would finally be established, and everyone, including her bosses and her peers, would know what she was really capable of. She woul
d not allow herself to think of Weiss as anything other than a stepping stone to the next phase of her career.
And yet . . . there had been something in Weiss’s eyes that made it difficult for her to think in such cold-blooded terms. When she told him that she didn’t have anything to report on McKeenly, he seemed genuinely upset. During their conversation he looked almost cornered, as though something was haunting him and he couldn’t get away from it, couldn’t find a way out. Whatever Weiss’s troubles were, Delilah secretly hoped they had nothing to do with the leak in Orion’s management and the bug she’d planted would prove that Weiss wasn’t one of the suspects.
***
Pretending to be busy with a phone call, Brad Weiss covertly watched Katherine McGee exit his office. He was convinced that those were the shapeliest legs he’d ever seen on a woman. The rest of her wasn’t too bad either. Stop it, he thought to himself. What the hell is the matter with you? He had no idea what possessed him to flirt so openly with her. Liar, he told himself. He knew the reason perfectly well: nerves and sexual frustration. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten laid properly. Liar again, he thought. He could remember perfectly. The last time had been at Citron Casino, but he’d rather obliterate that memory from his mind completely, not that he was ever likely to succeed in doing so. Since that night, he’d lost all taste for sex, abandoning his favorite escort service, despite several calls from the escort madam herself asking about his well-being and offering him a hefty discount. He just wasn’t into it anymore—he was just too scared. Everywhere he turned, he suspected Tian Wang’s spies watching over him. Who was to say that Wang couldn’t get to his escort service in Las Vegas? It’d probably be less than an hour’s work for the bastard.
But Katherine seemed so pure, yet so innately sensual at the same time. She didn’t need to try to be sexy, she just was. Maybe it was stupid, maybe it was plain dumb, but for some unfathomable reason he felt calm around her. She made him feel safe. He felt like he’d known her forever and could tell her anything. It was almost as though he was hypnotized. Not that he was going to act on his impulses. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by an infatuation, especially with someone at work. Inviting her to the gala was bad enough. Now he’d have to justify the invitation to Wright. Peter Langman would’ve never even blinked at something so minor, but Wright was watching every detail like a hawk. As if Brad didn’t have enough things to worry about already.
Irene Zong had him at her beck and call, as though he was her errand boy or Tian Wang’s errand boy, to be more precise. From the smug expression on Irene’s face, Brad could tell that things were lining up just the way Tian Wang and she wanted them. The worst part was that Brad still didn’t have all the details of Wang’s plan. He knew bits and pieces, just enough to do what Wang required of him, but he was missing the particulars to know exactly how it was going to be done. And how was he supposed to stop Wang’s plan from being executed if he didn’t know what he was stopping? There were so many things that could go wrong with the plant, so many things that would send Tian Wang into a joyful glee. Irene was very cagey about the particulars of the plan, no doubt safeguarding her uncle’s venture from any attempts to stop it. Brad could see exactly why Wang had employed his niece to be his mastermind. Smart as a whip and armed with killer looks, she had men fawning over her left and right, doing her bidding. Brad had a feeling that both he and Wright were nothing but pawns in Wang’s game, with Irene being the only one who had the privilege of knowing the entire plan. And now with all this weight on his conscience, he had to prepare a speech for the company gala.
With a sigh, Brad turned his attention to his computer screen as his fingers began to listlessly hit the keyboard. He prided himself on being a good public speaker and his speeches had always been said to be both lively and to the point, but writing the speech for the gala had proven to be a challenge. For the first time in his career he felt like an imposter and a liar, and even though he’d had plenty of reasons to resent Peter Langman, the only emotions Brad had been capable of feeling lately were guilt, shame, and a sense of hopelessness.
Chapter 16
“How do I look?” Delilah asked, eyeing herself in the mirror.
“You look great,” Ally replied absent-mindedly. Delilah had been fretting about her outfit for the Orion gala ever since they’d received the invite directly from Brad Weiss’s email box.
“You don’t sound too convincing. Should I change into something else? Yes, I’ll try this one instead,” Delilah said, without waiting for Ally’s reply.
“No, no, this one is perfect. Really, you look amazing,” Ally assured her. After three much more risqué versions, Delilah opted for a simple but elegant navy blue silk sheath dress with a tastefully scooped neckline. She pinned up her hair, exposing her long neck, which was further accentuated by a pair of dangling pearl earrings that hung from her earlobes. “I didn’t even know you owned this dress. It looks great on you,” Ally did her best to sound as upbeat as possible. She didn’t feel like going to Orion’s corporate gala, period. She was pretty much sick of this entire case. No matter how hard they tried, things just weren’t going their way. Even having Delilah wire Weiss’s office had not yielded any results. In all fairness it had only been a few days since she put the bug in, but Ally couldn’t help thinking that they hit a dead end. Worst of all, Jake had not made any contact with her, just as he had promised, and even though she kept telling herself that it was only for the duration of the case, she felt miserable. Damn this stupid case—as far as she was concerned whoever was leaking the information inside Orion could continue doing so indefinitely. She was ready to pack it up and go home.
“Thanks. It was just something I packed at the last minute. You’re sure it’s not too boring? I feel like I’m going to court or something.”
“You’re going to a corporate party, which is very close. I’m sure it’ll be just as boring,” Ally muttered, snatching a hanger with her own outfit. She was going to wear a simple black sheath dress—it was not as though she had plans to beguile anyone with her looks. Jake would be there, but his attention would be occupied by Irene Zong, as it had been the entire week.
“I’m sure it’ll be anything but boring!” Delilah exclaimed, fiddling with her hair. “Brad will be there—” she stopped in mid-sentence.
Ally raised an eyebrow. Delilah had been talking about the gala nonstop since they’d received the invitation. She kept saying that they were bound to get a ton of leads at the party, but Ally suspected that Delilah’s enthusiasm had more to do with Brad Weiss than with the case. And even though Jake had “vetted” Delilah before he cleared her to use the effect she so obviously had on Weiss to get intel for the case, Ally didn’t buy it. Delilah might have fooled Jake, but she didn’t fool her. Not that Ally was Delilah’s chaperone. Delilah was free to do as she wanted, but Ally knew firsthand how complicated personal involvement could get with a job like theirs, and she didn’t want to see her friend get hurt.
“I meant Weiss will be there,” Delilah said quickly, blushing.
“Yeah, sure,” Ally sighed. She’d been trying to knock some sense into Delilah by subtle and then not so subtle hints ever since she saw sparks fly between her friend and Weiss, but her attempts had been futile. Right now she just didn’t have the energy for another lecture. If Delilah wanted to play with fire, Ally couldn’t constantly be on standby with a fire hose.
“What’s wrong?” Delilah asked, noticing her friend’s dour mood.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to go to this party, that’s all.”
“Why not? Everyone’s going to be there. We could get a ton of new contacts.”
“We’ve been getting a ton of new contacts and where has it gotten us? I’ll tell you—nowhere. And do you know why? Because it takes more than hot looks and charm to get information.” Ally knew that she was way off base, but she’d been holding up frustration inside her for weeks and now she was letting it all out. “L
et’s see, I watched you have drinks with Mark and Alex and whoever else invited you. All those guys were going gaga over you and you thought it’d be enough to solve the case. Well, it isn’t. It takes more than flashing some cleavage and leg to solve a case.”
Delilah stared at her in disbelief. “You ‘watched me’ have drinks with those guys? From what I remember you were there too and you even had a few yourself. And don’t tell me that it was completely useless—we got a good scoop on Orion’s IT systems from Alex. And Mark was useful too.”
Ally rolled her eyes. “Fine, they were somewhat useful. But we could’ve gotten this information through other means.”
“Which would’ve taken twice as long.”
“Not if you do it right.”
“Says the expert!” Delilah scoffed. “And since when do you thumb your nose at showing a bit of leg or boob to get information out of a guy? I remember you got pretty chummy with Blaine Platt when you worked that case. And don’t you try to deny it—I helped you pick those sexy outfits you wore to your rendezvous with him. Oh, wait, was that okay because you were avenging your daddy’s honor? Huh?”
Ally said nothing, silenced by a sudden lump in her throat. It had been an excruciating process, but she had made peace with her father’s death and Platt’s shameless pillaging of her father’s business empire. Platt was in jail now and her father’s name had been cleared. Ally had done everything she could, and although the heartache of losing her father would always remain with her she had moved on, building a new life for herself. But now the sneer in Delilah’s voice brought back all the hurt and heartache, reawakening the memories with painful vividness. Deep down Ally knew that Delilah was speaking out of anger, merely reacting to Ally’s earlier outburst, but that didn’t make the pain any less acute.
