Hard Pursuit

by Sheryl Nantus

  A glance passed between the two men. Edgar nodded before turning back to his work.

  Ally patted Edgar on the back before following Trey into her own suite. She closed the door, giving the loyal handler a bit of privacy.

  “Don’t be so hard on Edgar,” she admonished Trey. “He’s been with us for almost a decade.”

  Trey sat at the table. “He’s a good man. Most others would have left by now.” A few seconds later, he turned the computer to show her the sign-in screen. “Vincent’s got this password protected. Any idea what it is or what it could be?”

  “No. Can you break into it?”

  “As I said before—sure can.” Trey nodded. “But for the sake of appearances, let’s make this legal. Is this official property of Sheldon Construction?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I have your permission, as an official company representative, to bust this open in order to assist in finding your wayward employee?” He cracked his knuckles, making her wince.

  “Yes.”

  “Right.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. “Let’s see what I can… Oh.” She heard the laughter in his words. “Might want to tell Vincent to change his password from Guest123 when he gets back.”

  Ally sighed as the laptop screen changed, a black and red sports car filling the background as it continued to boot up. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Nope.” Trey smirked. “This happens a lot. People don’t want to take the trouble to pick something they might forget, so they go for the easiest one. Problem is, it’s easy for people like me to figure out.” A few more taps. “His phone is CoolGuy321, for future reference.”

  She couldn’t hold back a groan. “Of course, it is.”

  “Right, then. Let’s take a look. Check if he’s got any emails from any new ‘friends’ he was going to go visit, or if he downloaded any electronic flyers or went to websites marked for the Las Vegas area. Browser history’ll give us some of that if we’re lucky. On the phone, I’ll look up any recent calls and contacts and cross-reference them against the business connections—maybe he left something there.” He looked toward the couch. “Might as well make yourself comfortable. Doubt this is going to be as fast as it was getting past the front door.”

  She yawned as she sank into the leather cushions. Her shoulders ached, her legs ached, even her teeth ached.

  It was all too much, losing Vincent and then meeting Jessie and Trey. Her world was spinning out of control, and she needed to center herself, settle her jangled nerves.

  She closed her eyes, wondering what could go wrong next. All she was asking for was a little time of her own, some peace and quiet where she wasn’t running from one crisis to the other, putting out fires set by her damned fool of a…

  “Ally.”

  The soft voice jolted her back to reality. She shot up, almost head-butting Trey, who was kneeling in front of her.

  “Hey. Hey.” He put his hand on her cheek to steady her. “Whoa, there. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

  She leaned into his touch, drawn to the heat. It took an effort to pull back and remember where they were, what they were doing.

  Another time, another place.

  She filed it away in her memory.

  “You fell asleep,” Trey offered. “Not surprised.” He smiled, his dark eyes meeting hers. “You were even snoring a bit. Kind of cute.”

  Her cheeks burned. “How long has it been?” Ally murmured.

  “About an hour. Edgar looked in to make sure you were okay then went back to finish searching the rooms.” He gave a wistful shake of his head. “Wouldn’t have bothered you, but you’ve got to take a look at this.”

  She blinked, pushing away the last of the fogginess. “What?”

  He rose, towering over her. He offered both hands to help her up.

  She drew a ragged breath as she stood, the recent memories falling into place.

  Las Vegas. Vincent. Trey.

  “I went through his emails, checking if he had made arrangements to meet someone. Nothing but the usual business notes, full of hyperbole about how great the project was going to be. A lot of big promises, the usual from guys like this. Same sort of data on the phone. Whatever he was planning, he did in person. Not hard to do in Vegas—just walk down and ask the concierge for referrals, and you’ll get an earful. Clubs, restaurants, they know it all.”

  She nodded, remembering how she’d found Lyon Investigations. He guided her to sit at the table in front of the laptop.

  “Browser history wasn’t anything other than what you’d expect. A lot of searches for how to win at poker—but no online gambling sites, so that’s a positive sign. A few dirty pictures in a folder, but nothing illegal. Then I hit this, tucked into a subfolder in a subfolder, deep down.” His finger nudged the screen. “A series of locked, passworded folders, and no, not Guest123 again. I can crack them, but wanted to give you an update in case you had some idea what they were.”

  She scrubbed her eyes, banishing the last bits of sleep. “Don’t have any idea. Do you think they’re related to his…outing?”

  “I don’t know.” He hesitated. “There could be anything inside. If he’s got it locked up, and it’s got a legitimate password, it wasn’t meant for your eyes, or anyone’s but his own.” His blue eyes searched hers. “Your call. I know you gave permission earlier, but this…this is a bit more than just pulling up his sign-in password. Might be sensitive material.”

  Ally paused, caught up in the steady gaze.

  “Do it. I don’t care about his porn collection or his bootleg movies. I need to see everything on that hard drive,” she said.

  “Done and done.” Trey plugged his cell phone into the laptop, the short cable connecting the two devices. He stroked the small screen, pulling up images she didn’t recognize.

  “You’re pretty good at that,” she said as he leaned in next to her, fingers shifting to tap both the tiny screen and the keyboard. His left arm curled against hers, his chest brushing against her back.

  It was hard to resist slipping back into the hazy dreams of only a few minutes ago, letting her mind wander away from the here and now.

  She barely caught herself before she leaned back into the impromptu embrace. Her hand flew to her mouth, covering a forced cough as she straightened up and berated herself for not paying attention.

  “There.” Trey’s heated whisper scorched her ear. “Open, says me.” His fingers drummed out a last rhythm. “Right. All yours.”

  The screen changed, the expanded window showing a series of folders. She took charge of the trackpad, opening one after the other.

  “I don’t know what I’m looking at. Do you?” he said, still standing behind her.

  Her stomach sank.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Six

  Trey wasn’t surprised to find a bit of scandal inside Vincent Sheldon’s computer. Even on a business laptop, people tended to visit websites they shouldn’t.

  But this… this wasn’t porn. It wasn’t dirty pictures or anything like what he expected to find from a drunken jerk like Vincent Sheldon.

  He watched over Ally’s shoulder as she opened file after file, the spreadsheets flowing across the screen in stacks of numbers and figures. She clicked open a folder on the desktop, one Trey had opened and then closed because it was full of accounting details and gave no clue as to Vincent’s whereabouts.

  A light sheen of sweat appeared on her skin as she highlighted some sections and brought up others, going back and forth from the main page to the newest image.

  Bookkeeping wasn’t his strong suit. But he knew enough to recognize when numbers didn’t match.

  “Fuck.” The words fell from her mouth like an atomic bomb. Ally slumped back in the chair and against Trey.

  His hands automatically went to her shoulders to steady her, sensing the emotional storm about to break.

  “These…” she whispered by way of explanation, “these are financial records. Everything
about various projects from start to finish, how much was bid for materials and how much paid out to subcontractors. Vincent doesn’t worry much about this aspect of the business… or, well, I didn’t think he did. Usually he just signs off on the paperwork when I shove it in front of him.”

  Trey squeezed her shoulder, letting her know he was listening.

  “The files on the desktop are the same as mine, straight from Accounting. No surprise there—I send him the copies when I shuffle them into line. He’s supposed to go over them so he’s aware of what’s going on.” She moved the mouse and brought up another screen. “These are the ones from the folder you unlocked.”

  “They don’t match,” Trey said.

  “No. They do not.” Her breathing was ragged. “There are notes here about accessing bank accounts, and money being transferred into a private account under his own name. Not Sheldon Construction.”

  “Vincent’s been embezzling from his own company. From your company.”

  She shuddered, vibrating with a mixture of rage and sadness that ran through her and shot up into his hands.

  “Yes. He gets a salary, a damned good one. Obviously, it wasn’t enough.” Ally gave a rough laugh, startling him. She ran her finger along the screen. “He’s got company credit cards, he’s got expense accounts to take care of his partying. He’s been skimming a little from this and a little from that. It all adds up to a large amount of money.” Her hand dropped into her lap. “An outrageous amount.”

  “Enough to take Sheldon Construction down?”

  “No, not from what I’ve gathered so far. I’ll have to let the accountants parse the details.” She closed her eyes and lolled her head back against Trey, falling against his neck. “But it’s a hell of a hit.”

  Her delicate perfume held a hint of flowers, just enough to tickle his senses. His previous promise to not stare at her disappeared as his gaze traveled the milky-white skin of her neck, down to the edge of the unbuttoned blouse.

  Trey shifted his weight from one leg to the other, painfully aware of the effect she was having on him. Vincent Sheldon’s adopted sister or not, Ally was hot as hell.

  Which made his mission much, much more difficult.

  “Hey.” He squeezed her shoulders. “Why don’t you rest before jumping to any conclusions? You were dozing off there on the couch—go to bed. I promise I won’t look at any of it. I’m awful with numbers, wouldn’t know what I was seeing, anyway.”

  She opened her eyes, staring at him. “I should call our accountants. Our computer security expert. Our…” She let out a pained sigh, her eyes brimming with tears. One broke free, dribbling down her cheek.

  “Listen to me. There’s no use calling anyone right now. It’s the middle of the night on the East Coast—this’ll keep until morning. For all we know, he’s hooked into some fantasy gambling league, some silly game we can’t figure out this minute.” Trey smiled, fighting to keep from brushing away her tears. “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and lie down. Let me keep poking around his laptop, and we’ll see what we have in a few hours. Smoke, fire, and all that. We still need to find Vincent. I’ll check in with Dylan and Jessie and bring them up to date on what we have, exchange information. If he is gambling, knowing that will help them refine their search parameters. He’d be at the high-stakes games, and there’s only so many of those going on.”

  Ally sat up, wiping her cheeks. “Yes. That’s true. We don’t know what’s going on, do we?”

  “We don’t.” Trey gently tugged the chair back, urging her to stand. “No use making any assumptions until we gather all the facts. I’ll come and wake you if I find anything else.”

  She looked at him. “I need you to promise this will stay secret.”

  He dragged his finger across his heart, reveling in her answering smile. “Scout’s honor.”

  “I somehow doubt you were ever a Boy Scout.”

  “I’m hurt.” He slid his lower lip out in a childish pout, drawing a wider smile from her. “Want to see me tie a knot?”

  It came out sexier than he intended.

  She looked at him, lips curling upward and stealing the air from his lungs as his libido reacted to that smoking hot silent response.

  The sexual tension hung between them for a few seconds, a lifetime in Trey’s mind.

  Ally spoke first, breaking the spell. “I’ll see you later. Come get me if you find something.” She went toward the bedroom, her slow-footed drag across the floor showed her exhaustion. “Please call Edgar if you need anything.”

  At the door, she paused before looking back. “The knot thing. I’ll keep it in mind.” Her sly grin made his heart skip a beat, the flirting settling his nerves.

  She’ll be okay. A hard punch to the gut but she’ll take it and push through.

  The door closed, hiding her away.

  He cracked his knuckles before sitting back down at the laptop.

  Let’s take a look at what other secrets you have hidden here, Vinnie. Because I’m damned sure there’s more than just one.

  …

  Ally woke up with a start, disoriented for a minute. She spotted her suitcase, wheeled in and unpacked by Edgar while she slept. A glass of water sat on the table beside the bed, and she lunged at it, her throat dry and sore.

  Damned jet lag.

  A glance at the clock showed she’d been asleep for four hours.

  Four hours.

  It was early in the morning, the sunlight fighting to break through the drawn curtains.

  She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, caught between being annoyed at sleeping so long and grateful she’d managed this much.

  After a brief stop in the bathroom, she opened the bedroom door.

  Edgar dropped his magazine into his lap and got up from the couch. “Miss Ally.”

  She patted the air in an attempt to calm him. “I’m fine.” Her attention went to Trey, still sitting at the desk. He’d sprawled out in the chair, one foot now propped up against the wall as he studied the screen. A glass of soda sat beside the laptop, half-drunk. The remains of a hamburger and fries lay on a plate.

  “Vincent show up?” Ally asked, her heart sinking.

  Edgar shook his head. “No.” He let out a pained grunt. “I was waiting for you to wake up before I headed out to search for him again.”

  I’ve been observing, watching Trey and judging if you’d be safe with him before I headed out.

  She held back a smile in appreciation of his concern.

  Trey turned to her. “We have good news and bad news.” He didn’t wait or ask for her to choose one or the other. “Jessie checked in about a half hour ago—she’s cleared the drunk tanks. Took her some time to work through them all. Been a busy night at the cop shops. Dylan’s still waiting to hear, but it doesn’t appear Vincent stayed local. He might have decided to go out of town, knowing you’d send the hounds after him.”

  “If I had them, I would.” A horrible thought crept into her mind.

  Trey held up a finger as if he’d telepathically snatched it from her. “That was the bad news. The good news is Ace checked the hospitals, along with the all-night clinics, looking for anyone who matched his description, walking wounded or admitted via ambulance. Nothing.” His comforting smile soothed her nerves. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him. He’s got to come up for air at some point. And it’s not looking like he was kidnapped—you were right about the ransom note, but with this new set of facts, it’s more likely than not he went off on a binge, as you said. Drinking and gambling—a dangerous combination anywhere, but this city’s built to exploit people’s weaknesses.”

  She looked at Edgar. “Can you please give us the room? If you don’t mind, maybe order some breakfast for yourself and for us. Light pastries and coffee for me, please. Nothing too heavy. Thank you.”

  The older man nodded and left.

  Trey swiveled around in the chair. “Afraid he’ll overhear what we’re talking about?”

  “In
a way.” Ally sat on the couch, wriggling her toes in the lush, thick, light brown carpet. “He worries about Vincent, almost too much at times. Edgar would put himself in danger if he needed to, he’s so dedicated.”

  “He’s ex-British Marines.” Trey grinned. “They’re hardcore. Take a bullet for either you or Vincent if it came to it. Reason why your uncle put him here—man knows his job. He’s as dedicated as they come.”

  “You’ve been talking.” She pulled her feet up under her, her mind still groggy from recent events.

  “Hard not to. He insisted on feeding me. I also know he was checking me out, making sure I’m no threat to you before he sprints out of here to hunt for Vincent on his own.” He gestured at the half-eaten burger. “Edgar’s a solid man. Not going to contact your parents until you say so, though he’s worried sick.”

  Ally sighed. “If he had, I’d be waking up to a call notifying me they were on the way. Even if Vincent returned this minute, they’d be upset with Edgar and me for letting him go out.”

  Trey shook his head. “Hardly sounds fair. Vincent’s old enough to take care of himself—blaming you two isn’t right.”

  “No, it’s not. But that’s how it is.” She scrunched up her nose. “I was always expected to watch over Vincent, no matter what. At least until they find a man worthy to marry into the family, and then I can focus on popping out the next generation.” Ally leaned forward, putting her head in her hands. “God. I can’t imagine how this could be any worse.”

  Chapter Seven

  Trey swallowed the foul taste in his mouth. He didn’t want to tell her about the spiders he’d sent out remotely to dig up information about where Vincent Sheldon was five years ago.

  All he had to do was wait and collect the evidence.

  Then…

  Trey held back the urge to spit.

  It wouldn’t be enough to arrest Vincent Sheldon.

  Technically, the case was still open but gone cold for a lack of suspects. But even if he got Dylan to call in all of their favors earned over the years, the illegality by which the evidence was obtained would kill any chance at prosecution. In a nutshell, it was well-nigh impossible to achieve justice for Nick.