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“They were very quiet about it,” Tavia confirmed. “He stopped seeing her after he started seeing Sara.”
“You knew about Sara?” Everly asked. She thought that had been a closely guarded secret.
Tavia nodded. “Yes, but I would never talk about it. That was their business. After Mad broke things off with Sara, Valerie made herself available to him again. But he chose to spend all his time with you, and you know what the rumors said.”
So Valerie thought Maddox had moved on with her, all but discarding his old lover. No wonder the accountant had been so full of venom lately.
“Valerie had to know that Maddox was never serious about her.”
Tavia winced. “She’s always had a thing for him, though I suspect it was more about his money than his heart. And the fame. She wanted that, too, and was very upset he wouldn’t take her out in public. I tried to warn her that Maddox wasn’t serious about her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Mad couldn’t do anything that wasn’t messy.”
“That’s true,” Tavia said. “We agreed that if Valerie took even a cent this year that I’d help him put together a tight criminal case against her. I’d planned to see that through after this year’s gala, provided I haven’t been fired by then.” She gave Gabriel a pointed look. “But Maddox took the paperwork with him. My hands are tied without that. Did you say you found it?”
“Yes, but I’m not as worried about that as I am about the pictures of those girls,” Gabriel admitted. “I’ll bring in a forensic accountant and figure out everything Valerie’s done. We can proceed from there. Trust me, I won’t hesitate to fire her. Now did Mad mention why he wanted pictures of your missing girls?”
“I gave those to him,” Tavia explained. “I asked him to hire mercenaries to find them. Um, a group with a very distinct set of skills. He was reluctant, and I gave him the girls’ pictures because I hoped that having faces with the names would motivate him.”
“Mercenaries?” In foreign countries, they could be a necessary evil, but Everly wasn’t aware that Crawford Industries had ever needed to use them.
“Yes.” Tavia continued pacing. She never sat still. “When I asked, Maddox said he knew some. After I shared the pictures, he promised to think about it. But before he could get back to me, he . . .” She sniffled, looking as if she tried to hold herself together. “God, what a mess.” There was a knock at her door. Tavia looked at her watch and stiffened. “It’s Valerie. We have a meeting.”
Gabriel stood and straightened his jacket. “I’ll handle her.”
“You can’t,” Tavia whispered. “Not until you get a solid case together and fire her. If you tip her off now, you’ll give her time to cover her tracks. I know her well, Mr. Bond. She’ll cause trouble if your ducks aren’t in a row.”
Everly nodded at Gabriel in agreement. But even looking at the man threatened to split her heart open. Less than an hour out of his arms and already she ached. Grabbing a few minutes to herself seemed like a good idea.
“We’ll get out of your hair, Tavia.” She turned to Gabriel. “Why don’t you go to your office for a while? I’m sure you still need to meet with the other VPs. And have Connor bring you the files. You can make some phone calls to start the investigative process. I’ll go to my office and tackle my inbox. We’ll meet back up at five. After all, appearances would be better if everything looked normal this afternoon.”
He slid his hand into hers, locking their fingers together. “All right.” He glanced Tavia’s way. “Will you be okay with her?”
Tavia was already striding to her office door. “Of course. I promise you, I can handle this. She won’t suspect a thing.” She swung the door open and gave Valerie a huge smile. “Hey, come on in. Have you had lunch?”
Valerie barely ate at all, from what Everly could tell.
The stick-thin woman looked past Tavia to stare at her. An expression Everly could only describe as one of distaste crossed her face. “I think I lost my appetite.”
Gabriel’s hand tightened on hers. His face was perfectly bland as he led Everly from the room and turned to Valerie. “I’ll see you later.”
Those four simple words might have sounded innocuous, but Gabriel managed to turn them into a threat.
“I thought you were going to let Tavia handle it,” Everly murmured as the door closed behind them.
She didn’t want to admit how much she enjoyed holding his hand, how safe she felt. She knew every eye in the office was on them, but at that particular moment she didn’t care. Touching him settled her, and she loved showing off her guy.
And that was why she needed space. It would be far too easy to forgive and forget that he really wasn’t hers at all. Despite his words otherwise, she didn’t know that he ever could be.
“I didn’t like the way that woman looked at you.” He steered them toward her office. “I’ll have her escorted off the premises as soon as I can.”
She wouldn’t miss Valerie at all, but something felt off. “If she really took that much money, she deserves it. She might have been smart enough to steal and she was probably plenty pissed off at Maddox, but I don’t think she killed him.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m more interested in her for her obvious infatuation with Mad than I am for her stealing. She would have been fired, but I doubt he really would have prosecuted her. It would hurt both the company and the foundation’s reputation. Any case he was compiling was likely in an effort to force her to keep her mouth shut.” Gabriel stopped in front of Everly’s office. He stared down at her. “However, she wanted him, and there are women crazy enough to kill rather than let their obsession go. We still have a lot to figure out, but I think it’s safe to say that woman had motive to murder Mad.”
Absolutely, and Everly didn’t think Valerie was rowing her boat with both oars, so she might have wanted to kill Maddox. But being capable of his murder was something else. “I’ve worked with her for a while. I’m a little surprised she managed to swindle a hundred grand. I definitely don’t think she’s smart enough to blow up a plane.”
Gabriel frowned. “Maybe her stupid is an act or she found greed motivating enough to get smart. Either way, I want the police to investigate. I’ll put together some information, then let them ask her questions. But I want you out of this as soon as possible.” He sighed and brought her closer. “I’d feel better if you came with me.”
“I’m perfectly safe in the office.” She still wasn’t convinced Valerie was anything but a bitch. Besides it wasn’t long before she was supposed to meet with her informant. She was fairly sure she’d be safe there, too. The parking garage was never empty before nightfall. Employees would be driving in and out, and there were plenty of security cameras. “Go. Do what you need to do. I’m fine.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. God, that felt good. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Don’t leave the building.”
She wouldn’t. Technically, the parking garage was attached. She glanced down at her watch. She had time.
Her office was blissfully quiet.
She went to the safe and pulled out the SD card she’d locked up previously. She sat down again and began downloading the photos. She wanted them on her laptop. Clearly, her desktop was no longer secure.
She stared at the third photo. She could see Mad through the window of her loft. He was smiling and he had a glass of her crappy brandy in his hand.
Her brother. What would her life have been like if she’d grown up with him?
She downloaded two more photos before her computer popped up a message that the destination drive lacked adequate space to store the files. Something was eating up her hard drive. She’d known she was having issues with this damn system.
Everly moaned. She hadn’t had the chance to fix or rebuild it, as she’d intended. Because her laptop had been having issues, she’d planned on wiping the system and starting over clean, hoping it would clear the problem. She’d spen
t hours on Monday backing up her files to the external hard drive in preparation but hadn’t been able to finish the next step.
She hadn’t planned on spending her day performing computer CPR, but she suspected this evidence was important, and she needed to make another copy of the photos that she’d keep close—just in case. With grim determination, she double-checked that she’d captured everything she needed on her hard drive before she proceeded to wipe her system clean and reformat the drive. Once all that was done, she could finally reinstall the operating system but it was going to take her all freaking day.
Scott came by about thirty minutes later with a sandwich in hand. They talked about inconsequential things as though Scott knew she couldn’t discuss Gabriel. He kept it light. She dealt with a myriad of issues, the day flying by.
Hours passed before she looked up and realized it was time to meet her mystery contact. A little thrill of excitement zipped through her. Finally, something she could do. She’d felt so helpless the last few days, as if events were happening to her rather than her making them happen. The chance to be active was a relief.
She ejected the SD card. Backing up these pictures would have to wait until she could get her laptop running again. She wasn’t about to take the chance with this evidence, so she tucked the disc and her laptop into her safe, then withdrew her gun. She’d felt naked without it these last few days, but she hadn’t felt right carrying a firearm to a meeting with her new boss or the police precinct, so she’d left it behind. Now, she checked the clip and tucked it in her purse. The parking garage should be safe, but she wasn’t an idiot. If she couldn’t bring anyone with her, she must have some sort of backup.
