Page 26 of Unlocked

Tatum leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. The movement drew his attention to the line of her collarbone, the elegant sweep of her throat. He brought his gaze back to her face.

"That sounds like a pretty lame excuse, Archer," she said. "You could have helped people but you chose not to."

The words hit harder than they should have. He took a slow breath. It had been a long day. He was trying to help her, not fight with her.

So again, he chose grace.

"There are facets of my position I can't explain," he said quietly. "Understand that if I could have intervened without destabilizing everything else, I would have."

He leaned forward now, intent. Close enough that the distance between them felt charged. "That's one of the reasons I'm trying to help you."

His gaze held hers. Steady. Unwavering.

"So tell me," he said. "What is it you actually know or suspect? Do you know who the real brain behind the operation is?"

Tatum sighed, rubbed her face, then picked up her teacup again. Her hands, he noticed, were shaking slightly. "No. I don't know who it is. But I suspect it could only be a handful of people."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the way they set this up required a pretty intense knowledge of offshore banking and the law," she said. "None of those three possess that knowledge. And as far as I can tell, the law firm on record for the business didn't come close to having that level of expertise either."

She took a sip of tea, then continued. "So it had to be someone who understands the law and offshore banking. Someone with serious connections. Someone who could get the ball rolling."

Archer listened closely, his mind already running through possibilities.

"North, Kelly, and Lebowitz know people," Tatum continued, "but they're not known as top-tier investors. To convince others to hand over that kind of money, there had to be someone people trusted, at least at the beginning. Someone at the very top."

"That's a fair assessment," Archer said.

More than fair. He was impressed, and that didn't happen easily. He'd known Tatum was intelligent and capable. But this wasn't casual speculation. She'd done real work. Thought it through carefully. Dug deep. The quality of her mind was something else entirely, and he felt it like a current in the room.

He kept his expression neutral.

"So," he asked, "do you have a list of names?"

"Not a list," she said. "But I have ideas."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means," she said carefully, setting her cup down, "it's someone who understands investments, the law, offshore banking, and has the kind of connections that open doors. Someone who could manipulate North, Kelly, and Lebowitz into doing the dirty work."

She looked up at him, and the intensity in her gaze made something shift in his chest. "But that person also had to put the fear of God into them. Otherwise, they'd have already rolled over."

That stopped him.

"Think about it," she said. "They'd probably get time off their sentences if they named the real brains behind it. Even if they end up at Club Fed, they want to spend as little time there as possible. So what's stopping them?"

Archer frowned. He had to admit he hadn't fully considered that angle. His attention had been pulled in too many directions. The board. Austin Davis. The constant political maneuvering. But now that she'd said it, he couldn't ignore it.

It changed everything.

"You're right," he said slowly. "It has to be someone who inspires fear as well as loyalty."

"Exactly."

"Do you think it's one person," he asked, "or multiple?"

Tatum shook her head. "I don't know. But I don't think it can be many. Once a secret is shared, it leaks. Even now, there are already four people who know the truth. If you split it up, one lawyer, one investor, one offshore expert, one connector. That's too many moving parts."