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“Okay…” Eddie said tentatively.
“What’s wrong?” Timmy asked, cutting to the chase, his neck popping out over his dress shirt.
“There’s a lot. You might want to take a seat.” Neither man moved, but I sat down on the couch, the enormity of the situation pressing on me. “Not only were we hacked, but the man who did it, Clive Warren, has sold the information he stole from Paragon to a Chinese biotech company. They also have personal information and photos of me and Gabriel Betts. Biographical information and pictures of us individually. And together. We have information that they’re following us.”
I paused for a second, swallowing hard. “I’m concerned that there might be a…threat against us. A physical one.”
“What about the police?” Eddie asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t risk any other outsiders being involved right now. This is a vulnerable time for us. I might have Clive arrested eventually, but for now, he’s the only link I have to this Chinese company. And I can’t just have them arrested, unfortunately. Getting the Chinese government to cooperate could be difficult.”
“So you’re just going to let Clive…go?” Eddie looked appropriately incredulous.
“For now. He might be worth more to me out of jail than in at the moment.”
“So what can we do?” Eddie asked. He was always to the point, which I admired.
“I need increased security. I need two men assigned to Leo and Dave around the clock. I also need someone to watch out for my sister. I want our best guy for that. She needs protection when she’s here, when she’s out, and when she’s home.” Hannah wasn’t going to like tha
t, but I wasn’t going to give her a choice.
“Mr. Betts has offered to send some of his security force too, so I’ll need you to coordinate with them.” I looked up at Timmy. “I’m going to be…staying at Mr. Betts’s house for now. You might want to rotate another guard in so you can sleep at your own house for once.”
He shrugged. “I’m fine. My family’s used to it.”
Timmy was ex-military. He’d been on multiple deployments before coming to work for me. As I understood it, his family was thrilled he’d taken an “office” job and was close to home. He’d told me the money he was making was more than he’d ever thought he’d earn, and after a year with me, I’d doubled his salary. You couldn’t buy loyalty, but you could reward people for it. I was lucky to have him at Paragon.
“Okay. Good.” I nodded at him. “I need to meet with my sister and wrap up a few things, but then I’m going out. I need you to come with me. I’ll text you when it’s time.”
“I’m going to assign extra men to you too, Ms. Taylor,” Eddie said. “That way, we’ll be able to ascertain if anyone’s following you.”
“Thank you,” I said shakily, then took a deep breath. “There’s one other thing. Everything that I ask you to do, and anything that I tell you, has to remain strictly confidential. I don’t trust anyone right now, understand? The circle stays small. It stays you and me.”
I stopped at Hannah’s office next. “Hi.” I tried to keep my voice even.
My baby sister scowled at me. “What’s the matter? Why isn’t your skin glowing? Did you and Gabe have a fight? You look like hell.”
I sighed, deflated by her onslaught. “No. We’re fine. I just didn’t sleep much.”
She cocked her eyebrow. “For a fun reason?”
I closed her door and sat down. “Unfortunately, no.” I had to walk a fine line with Hannah. I needed her to know there was a real danger, but I didn’t want to upset her too much. “Our tech people found some other documents last night. Some stuff that means we need to increase security.”
Hannah looked wary. “What sort of stuff?”
I shrugged. “It’s better if you don’t know the specifics. What you do need to know is that you’re going to have increased security at all times. Eddie is assigning you an agent. He’s going to be with you twenty-four seven.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. “That’s nonnegotiable. And I need to know everything that you’re doing; otherwise, I’m going to be worried sick.” I felt as if I were channeling Gabe from earlier that morning. “If you’re dating someone new, I need to have him checked out first. If you’re going out with friends, I need names. Everyone has to be screened. You have to keep security with you at all times.”
“What about you? Are you in danger?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
She rolled her eyes. “Lauren. What’s really going on?”
I didn’t want my poor sister to be upset, but I didn’t want to hide anything from her. Sighing, I said, “There’s a security threat against the company, and possibly against me and Gabe…personally.”
“Oh my God.”
