“I don’t know how that addendum was added after I signed it. It’s not a forgery. I did sign it, but not with the addendum. I’m not sure when it was added or by whom. But the why is more important. Was it this Tanner guy? I don’t know. After digging as much as I could and finding nothing, I decided to bring him here. We’ll find out what he’s up to.”
“Is he trying to blackmail you?” Adrian asks.
“The thought has crossed my mind. But why? What is his endgame? If I had agreed to the addendum, it’s not illegal, unless there’s something I missed…” What if I did miss something?
“We’ll figure it out. But you really should have come to us sooner,” Aaron says, his voice accusatory.
“Probably. But if it was just something stupid, there was no need to worry anyone. But I can’t help feeling that this is part of something bigger.”
The twins nod, but remain silent. They’re the developers, the geniuses behind our new apps, and don’t really get involved with the running of the company. That falls to Aaron, Adrian, and me.
“What are we going to do with him when he gets here?” Asher asks as he pulls Emma against his chest. I understand his protectiveness. It’s ingrained in all of us.
“I haven’t decided yet. I figured we’d greet him and get a feel for the guy. Then we’ll decide.”
“Where is he going to stay? We don’t know him. He can’t just wander around here and spy on us. For all we know, that is the plan,” Asher says. There are storm clouds brewing in his expression. I need to nip this in the bud before he goes full bear and lives up to Emma’s nickname for him.
“I don’t know that, either. I’ll probably have him stay on the couch in my cabin where I can keep an eye on him,” I answer.
Emma tugs lightly on Asher’s beard. Whatever she whispers into his ear makes him visibly relax and nod. I’m so thankful for her right now. In the past, he’d have stormed out of here and started setting up an interrogation area.
“He can stay with me or Aaron. We don’t have partners yet either.” Adrian shrugs. It won’t bother me to have the little shit in my cabin.
“Let’s play it by ear. No matter who he says with, he won’t have free rein of the compound. We can question him in the morning.”
“In the meantime, I’m going to do some digging,” Adrian adds.
“Me, too. I want to go through all of the recent contracts and look for any other red flags,” Aaron adds.
I nod in agreement. Hopefully, they’ll find something I couldn’t. But internet sleuthing isn’t my thing. Aaron is practically a numbers savant. If there is anything weird in our accounting, he’ll find it.
“Do you need us to do anything?” Adam asks.
“Actually, give me all the design requirements for the application they purchased. Can it be weaponized? If so, what are the implications for us? Our country? I guess that’s another issue we need to look at. Does this leave us open to prosecution for supplying weapons to foreign entities?”
“Will do. Aaric, I’ll take care of it. Get Hannah and the baby home.” The baby is fussing in Aaric’s arms. “I’m going to take Rebekah home and work from there. I don’t think any of the women should be around Mr. Tanner until we know what’s going on.”
“I agree. The less he knows about our family, the better. We keep to ourselves for a reason. I’m sorry I didn’t bring this forward last week, but I was trying to keep our newfound happiness going a bit longer. It’s been too long in coming.”
“Hey,” Asher cuts in, as he stands with Emma still in his arms. “This is not your fault. We’ll figure it out and fix it. You never know, it could still be someone’s innocent mistake.”
I’d like to believe that, I really would. But that extra verbiage didn’t just magically materialize on the Enki Inc. contract. Someone is up to something. Now, we just have to figure out the who, what, and why.
two
Jaclyn
I don’t know what I expected when security led me from the terminal onto the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport. When Mr. Snyder explained that the Gallants had sent a private plane, I imagined one of those small ones with six seats like you see on TV.
It wasn’t a small plane that was waiting for me, though. The blue-and-gold plane was sleek, with the JNG logo painted on the side. Mostly, it was huge. I couldn’t figure out why they’d send this just for me. A regular flight would have been fine. Well, not really, since I didn’t want to fly anywhere, but it would have worked and been cheaper, too.
A slim, blonde-haired woman wearing a uniform waits at the bottom of the steps. As we stop at the bottom of the stairs, the security guard hands her my boarding paperwork and government ID. Then he says, “Have a good day,” and walks off. Yeah, that isn’t happening. I wish more than anything I could time-travel and go back to last week and never, ever, ever send that fucking email.
I don’t have a driver’s license, but my ID worked just as well. Cheri knows more about this than I do. She used to fly all the time with her family and had to deal with the whole ID situation. I’m glad I listened to her. Not only did I need it today, but I needed it to get my job at JNG. My birth certificate works for most things, but this is a lot easier.
“Ms. Tanner? Just up the stairs, and then you can pick a seat.”
For a few heartbeats, I stare at her, gripping the suitcase and my purse as if my life depends on it.
