by Lexi Blake
Cara seemed to soften slightly. “I am. At least I hope I am. She’s involved in something criminal, and she doesn’t know it. Or I could be wrong and she’s a big part of it. It’s precisely why I can’t tell her I’m with the FBI. We’re at a delicate time, and I’ve got to figure out how to handle this.”
“What exactly are you investigating? The death of Madison Wallace?” He wanted to know what concerned the feds most.
“I was investigating Layne and her company before Madison Wallace was killed,” Cara explained. “She’s not the first mysterious death around Jessica Layne.”
“You’re talking about her business partner?” Ian asked.
Cara nodded. “And last year a business rival of hers died in a mysterious car accident. They were fighting over rights to patent a process concerning a new leap forward in eye tracking tech. Genedyne’s case was considered the weaker of the two. There have been rumors for years that what Layne really does is bet on tech. She decides something is going to be big, and by either corporate espionage or clever trickery, she forces a legal fight for the patent. In this case, she was going up against a much smaller firm, and when the lead developer died, the firm’s investment cash dried up.”
“Hence, they were unable to fight the legal battle,” Chris continued, “and Genedyne won the patent. The investors quickly found their way to Jessica Layne. There’s a pattern of what I would consider fraudulent use of the legal system to better her company.”
“I haven’t heard anything about new eye tracking tech.” Hutch kept up with everything that was new in the industry. He oftentimes collaborated with Adam Miles on how to perfect facial recognition methods. Eye tracking was in its infancy, and like many new high-tech things, had its start in video games. But the uses were wide and varying.
“That’s because she hasn’t used the patent yet,” Cara explained. “She’s sitting on it, using it to gain capital, but we’ve seen no attempts to actually bring it to market. It’s one of the reasons I need to look at her financials. There are other reasons. I believe she might be working with some other tech firms to steal ideas, patents, even actual money from smaller firms. If I can prove that they’re working together, I can charge them with a number of crimes. I can also force a wider investigation into what I think is collusion amongst a group of tech firms.”
“I don’t see how you could possibly think Noelle is involved in that,” Hutch replied.
“I don’t know that she is. I know she seems perfectly innocent, but there were files on her system that make me worry.” Cara sat back. “And that’s all I can tell you right now. I have decisions to make. If you were who you said you were, it would be simple since I would let things play out. But you aren’t, and I have the added complication of your partner.”
Oh, now they were getting somewhere. “What’s your problem with Kyle?”
Cara looked back to Ian. “It’s not something I’m willing to discuss with the man he considers his uncle.”
“I know everything you know, probably more.” All of the sarcasm had left Ian’s tone. “I’m concerned about Kyle and his previous attachments, both professional and personal, and I’m definitely worried about the ones he refuses to talk about. So why don’t we cut to the chase. You need to explain what you want from us or let us go. I’ll let you in on a secret. The officer who helpfully allowed me to use my phone doesn’t realize what a paranoid bastard I am. I have protocols in place. I didn’t call my Charlie. I called my lawyer, and he should be here…”
There was a knock on the door that proved Big Tag had impeccable timing. Chris went to open it. He stared a hole through Cara when he looked back. “Mitchell Bradford is here, and my chief is, too. The lawyer said something about the DA being on speed dial.”
Ah, Maia Brighton, the gift that kept giving, even if it sometimes bit a man on the ass. Literally. She was the duly elected Dallas district attorney and a long time…associate of Tag’s. He wouldn’t call them friends, but Maia was part of the community and would close ranks if she had to.
Tag grinned. “You gotta love a good lawyer. Mitch will have called my Charlie, and she’ll be down here soon. You want to let me give her a ring to tell her to pick up some breakfast for Hutch on the way? We can still make this friendly. It’s been a while since I was in handcuffs, and honestly, it’s good to keep the kiddos guessing about whether their dad is a good guy or a bad guy. Keeps ’em on their toes. So you can have Charlie come in as a helpful partner or as a raging bitch whose man has been done wrong. I know which way I’d go. Also, I suspect you’re going to need Hutch to cooperate or you’ll both be off this case, and he honestly does think better when he’s not hungry.”
Cara stood and walked to the back of the conference room, Chris following behind her. They started in on a whispered discussion.
Big Tag sat back. “It’s not a bad day. I’m going to get donuts and a breakfast sandwich. Charlie lets me off the cholesterol leash anytime I get arrested. I should do it more often. I haven’t had a burger in a while. Hey, you know if we keep them talking, we could get lunch out of this.”
Hutch frowned his way. “Noelle is in trouble. I don’t know that I want Kyle around her. He snuck through my security system last night, and Michael says he called someone early in the morning. From a burner phone.”
Ian groaned and let his head fall back. “Damn it. What has Michael figured out?”
“Pretty much everything we suspect,” Hutch admitted. “He thinks he worked for the Agency and he might be reporting back to them. You know you shut Drake down hard after that last mission.”
It hadn’t been a mission so much as survival. Some of the team had been forced to put down a rogue CIA operative named Levi Green, and it had caused a wide rift between Tag and a man named Drake, who served as a sort of liaison between McKay-Taggart and the Agency. Drake seemed to be a good man, but he was a company man first and foremost, and that might mean using Big Tag’s nephew to spy on him. It wouldn’t be the first time the CIA had planted an operative in the office.
“Well, I should have suspected that, but Michael will keep his mouth shut,” Ian replied. “We need to make a big decision, Hutch. I think they’re about to ask you to work for them.”
“I work for you, and I’m not going to do anything that might put Noelle in danger. I won’t cross that line. Not even for you.”
A ghost of a smile hit Ian’s face. “Then Charlie did good. But Hutch, if they have even a sliver of evidence against Noelle, they’ll have leverage. We can blow their investigation up and then Noelle likely loses her job and perhaps her reputation, depending on how bitter the feds want to be. Her boss won’t help her. She’ll probably end up getting sued, and she doesn’t have the money to fight Layne in court. Or you can step in and do the job they were setting her up to do.”
His gut clenched as the truth hit him. They’d always been ready to use Noelle. They’d simply been looking for the leverage to force her to do it. “They want someone to hack Genedyne’s systems.”
“Of course they do,” Ian replied. “So this is your call. You want to blow it up, let’s do it. You want to try to give Noelle as much cover as possible by making a deal with the feds, we can do that, too. It’s up to you.”
“What about Kyle?”
“Kyle is my problem,” Ian replied. “And I have to figure out how much time I have to solve it before I’m the one who has to blow up my brother’s whole world.”
Noelle wanted to work late tonight. Kyle would be working late, too, because Jessica Layne had a date. If he did his job properly, he could have Noelle out of this in a matter of a couple of hours. “I want it in writing that if I do this, they won’t prosecute Noelle for anything they find.”
He knew she wasn’t guilty, but a good prosecutor could twist things to suit the investigation. He wanted Noelle out of this.
Cara stepped back to the table. “All right. I’m ready to lay everything on the line.”
Chris held her chair out
, a seemingly habitual move. Hutch didn’t miss the way the detective glanced down at her as he moved to his own seat. “I’ve convinced her you’re trustworthy. Please don’t make me a liar.”
The door came open and Mitch Bradford strode in, a fierce frown on his face as he pointed at the detective and special agent. “I’m going to have both of your freaking badges. You arrested my client falsely and in front of his teenaged daughters’ school? I’m going to sue the fuck out of this department and the two of you personally.”
“Mitch, don’t have a heart attack.” Tag had his cell in his hand. “We’re making a deal to keep Noelle safe. You hungry?”
Mitch set his briefcase on the table. “Noelle? My sister-in-law’s stepdaughter? What the hell is Noelle into?”
“Nothing, but our friends here dragged her into some fairly wretched business,” Hutch complained. “So I’m going to get her out. And tell Charlotte I need something sweet.”
He did think better when he wasn’t hungry.
Tag leaned over and whispered. “Dude, you should have taken a shower. You smell like sex.”
He groaned and sat back as Mitch started to do his thing and prayed Noelle would forgive him for what he was about to do.
Chapter Fourteen
Noelle stared at the computer in front of her and sighed. She was close. So damn close to being done with this assignment that it seemed stupid to stop work and go back to Hutch’s place where she would sit around and think about work.
Well, after he’d blown her mind because he would definitely do that. She was already considering how hot she could get him in the car ride home. Traffic didn’t have to be boring, and one of their assignments was to push each other’s limits.
But then she would worry about this damn report all weekend. He said he would let her come up to work tomorrow, but she could finish tonight, have that report on Jessica’s desk, and then take the whole weekend off.
“Dr. LaVigne?”
She glanced up and a woman with dark hair stood at the front of her desk. She had a cart in front of her filled with envelopes of all sizes. She was probably in her late twenties and the pitch-black color of her hair was obviously not her natural color. The woman had fair skin that would have gone well with a blonde tone, but the stark makeup she had on marked her as a goth girl. She reminded Noelle the slightest bit of MaeBe, but without the other woman’s infectious smile. “Yes?”
“I’m from the mailroom,” the woman said. “I was stopping by to see if you have anything you need to send out.”
“We have a mailroom?” She thought almost everyone used email and texts these days.
The woman smiled. “Oh, yes. Though it’s almost exclusively used by the business floors. Snail mail is still a thing. I was told not to bother coming to the labs, but I had a couple of minutes before we close up and saw you in here. You had some tech journals.”
She started to hand them over to Noelle when they slipped out of her hands and to the floor.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said.
They’d landed far closer to Noelle. She leaned over to pick them up, one hand on her cane.
“I can be such a klutz.” The woman maneuvered the cart so it wasn’t between them. She held a hand out to help Noelle up.
“I’m good.” She stood back up, her copy of the latest chemistry journal in her hand. “Thanks for this. I needed some light reading for the weekend. I usually get this delivered at home.”
The dark-haired woman shrugged. “I think I heard something about the company ordering journals for the bigger labs. I think she meant for you to share them with your techs. It’s some kind of continuing education thing. I don’t know. I’m mailroom. The only magazine I read is People. I leave the other stuff to the smarter citizens of the world. Anyway, let me know if you need anything. I should get back downstairs before they think I’m talking too much.”
Noelle nodded her way. “Thanks.”
The woman pushed her cart into the outer lab as Pete walked in. He turned, looking at the woman.
“Who was that?” Pete asked.
She hadn’t asked the woman’s name. That had been a bit rude. “No idea. She said she was from the mailroom and dropped off a couple of magazines. Have you heard anything about a continuing education program?”
A brow rose over Pete’s eyes. “Beyond the fact that Jessica firmly believes everyone should pay for their own education?”
Noelle set the journal down. “Yeah, I thought it was weird, too. Did you know we had a mailroom?”
Pete waved that off. “Oh, yeah. The upper floors still rely on snail mail. I sneak in my Christmas cards to avoid paying for stamps. Don’t tell anyone. But they must have done some hiring lately because the last time I was down there it was all dudes.”
“It’s good they’re diversifying.” But the mailroom didn’t matter. Hutch would be here any minute and she was going to try to convince him to stay with her for an hour or two while she finished up. “Are you heading out?”
“I’m running up to the gym. I was going to see if you wanted to join me. After what happened last time, I don’t want you to go alone.”
“Oh, my boyfriend’s picking me up any minute.” Hutch would flip if he caught her going to the gym again. She’d been ordered to stay out of the locker room until further notice. Hutch had been escorting her to the small gym in her building when she wanted to work out.
What would it be like when Hutch wasn’t staying with her? Would he still spend time with her at night, or would they get back to being obsessed with work?
“Good. Then I’ll leave you to it. Did the experiment finish up?” Pete settled his gym bag over his shoulder.
“It’s uploading data right now.” She glanced back at her screen. “It’s going to take another hour or so. I’ll probably be up here tomorrow.”
Pete winced. “Sorry, Noelle. I’ve got a family party tomorrow. It’s my brother’s birthday, and we’re all meeting for brunch. I can maybe make it after two or so. Or I can stay tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She was done with the physical experiments. “I’m doing nothing but running data and extrapolating at this point. I’ve got to have the report on the latest data to Jessica by Monday.”
Pete looked thoughtful for a moment. “Huh. I must have heard wrong.”
“What?”
“I heard that Jessica already met with investors about our project,” Pete admitted. “I thought you were being extra careful since she’s already presented the data.”
There were some crazy rumors flying around. “No. She can’t present what she doesn’t have. We’ll probably need to go to a couple of meetings next week to get her ready and be prepared in case we need to explain things to the investors. I’ve never done this, but I know Madison went with Jessica when they got that ridiculous amount of cash for her project.”
She remembered that Madison had dressed up for the occasion. She’d been in the locker room that afternoon, changing into her designer sheath. Noelle had watched as she’d reached up into her locker, feeling for something she’d hidden at the top. When she’d brought down a small magnetic box, she’d shown off the big diamond earrings hidden inside.
“There’s this spot at the very top of all the lockers I can hide this. These earrings are worth more than your whole lab. I’m certainly not going to keep them in my purse,” Madison had said as she’d fastened them on. “Do I look like a million bucks? Because I need these suckers to give me about ten. Million, that is.”
Would Jessica want her to dress as flashy as Madison had? Madison wore sky-high heels and slinky dresses even when she was working in the lab. Noelle got the feeling her dressiest sneakers wouldn’t make the cut for an important investor meeting. Did she have any shoes that would work? Or a dress? Maybe she wouldn’t spend all her time working this weekend. She might need to go shopping.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.” Pete started for the door. “Give me a call if you need anything.
Definitely give me a call if you need to run the experiment again. That damn machine is being held together with tape at this point. I’ll be happy when we can get a new one.”
So would she. An influx of cash would help her enormously. A whole lot of the cash for her lab had gone to Madison last quarter. Now she was the one with the successful experiment, and she was ready to reap the rewards by buying a bunch of new equipment. It would be like Christmas. “I think this data is the last I need, but thanks. Have a good workout.”
He strode out as Kyle was walking in. Kyle looked a bit pale and kept glancing back at the door.
“Are you okay?” She didn’t see Hutch with him.
Kyle seemed to shake something off. “Yeah, I’m good. Just saw someone who reminded me of an ex. Like the worst ex ever. How are you doing?” Kyle stepped into the lab. He’d put his suitcoat on, a sure sign he was about to follow Jessica to someplace fancy. “Hutch texted me he’s running late, but he should be downstairs in a couple of minutes. I thought I’d walk you down.”
She frowned his way. “Is there any way I could convince him to let me stay a couple of hours?”
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think so. Not after what happened yesterday. He doesn’t want you in here alone, and I have to go out tonight.”
That brought up a good point. Kyle should know what Jessica was doing this evening. “I thought this was a date, but Pete mentioned a meeting with investors.”
“She mentioned a date to me a couple of days ago, but from what I can tell this is a business dinner,” Kyle explained. “She changed the restaurant from a French bistro to a steak house, and I overheard her assistant confirming a table for four. Why do you ask?”
“Pete thought she was pitching my research to investors.” It didn’t make any sense unless she was buttering them up for the real meeting next week. “But she doesn’t have my supporting evidence, so it can’t be that. I know you’re not supposed to listen in.”
