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“Well…” Eva folded her hands in her lap. When she spoke again, her voice was faraway. “Yes. You’re right. That is interesting.”
More than interesting. This person—whoever it was—sounded downright diabolical. “Someone followed her today,” Jack added, shifting in his seat. “He chased her in broad daylight.”
Max leaned back and nodded. “Well, that doesn’t sound like a petty criminal, does it? This person doesn’t seem afraid to take chances. Do you have any enemies, Eva?”
Eva spoke without hesitation. “No. Not at all. No one.”
Jack exhaled. He knew Eva had never met a person she didn’t like, and she was kind to everyone. Personally, Eva hadn’t an enemy in the world.
But when it came to the Fiorini Group, one could never tell. With all the upheaval lately in finding a new CEO, and the potential takeover, there was a lot to be concerned about. Eva had never gotten involved in the business, so she knew very little about what dangers lurked there.
“Not personally, no,” Jack added. “But professionally…maybe. Eva’s largely isolated herself from the family business, but I’ve had concerns. The Fiorini Group has its enemies.”
Eva turned to him, a question on her face. “You never told me that.”
“I’ve seen the articles, about the rumors of a takeover looming in the near future.” Max shifted some papers in the file and picked up some honest-to-goodness news clippings from Fortune magazine and the New York Times. “Seems that a closer look at the Fiorini Group’s enemies could be a good place to start. You have names?”
Jack shook his head. “Just rumors. Nothing concrete.”
Eva was still staring at Jack, a mixture of hurt and fear on her face. “Jack, how could you even think that? Dad and Antonio were two of the most honest men in business. My father was practically a saint. What kind of enemies could they have made? Are you sure about this?“
Max held up two more articles, photo-copied. Jack caught the headshot Antonio had taken for a seminar two weeks prior to his death, and his pulse raced. The obituaries. “Your father and brother died under suspicious circumstances,” Max said. “Didn’t they?”
“No, they weren’t suspicious,” Eva protested, jumping to her feet. She started to pace behind them. “Tell him, Jack. Tell him what happened.”
Jack didn’t answer right away. Before, it had been easy to explain her brother’s and father’s deaths as terrible accidents, nothing more. But now, with this psychopath after Eva…?
Now, there wasn’t much doubt left in his mind. Someone seemed intent on wiping every last Fiorini off the planet. She had to see that. She had to know she was in danger.
“Eva, I don’t believe in coincidences,” he said gently. “And it’s time you stopped believing in them, too.”
“Dad was not…Antonio was not…” She shook her head. “They weren’t…murdered. They can’t have been.” She clutched at her chest, and her shoulders slumped. “Oh, God. This can’t be true, Jack. Can it? Who would do that?”
“I don’t know,” he said, wishing he could hold her, but not sure she would want that in front of Max. “But we’re going to find out.”
She slowly walked back to her seat and collapsed into it, head down. She swiped at her eyes, and the next time she spoke, her voice cracked. “All right. Assuming it might be true, what do we do?”
“We put twenty-four-seven security on you, as soon as possible,” Max said.
She looked up, and Jack saw the tears in her eyes. “How will that work?”
“I’ll have a man sent to your building tomorrow morning,” Max said, matter-of-factly. “He’ll accompany you wherever you need to go, and stay outside your office when necessary.”
“This is insane.” A panicked laugh bubbled from between her lips. “My own private bodyguard? Everyone in my office is going to think I’m out of my mind.“
“Better safe than sorry,” Max said with a smile. “Now, you two go on home and try to take it easy. I’m going to dig into things a little more, and I’ll keep you up to date on any findings. All right?”
When they left the office the rain had stopped, but Jack had never seen Eva’s face look quite so stormy. They decided to walk the few blocks to his apartment.
“I can’t believe that you think that,” she said as they walked down the street. “About Antonio and Dad and the company. Who do you think is responsible?”
“I don’t know.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You know Leonard said something about the rumored takeover coming from the inside. But whoever’s behind it is a complete mystery—some group called Orion Industries that seems to have formed from thin air. I can’t find anything on them, but something shady is definitely going on.”
“Oh.” Her voice seemed deflated. “I wish you had told me what you were thinking.”
“I didn’t see any sense in you worrying unless there was something to worry about. You’re angry?”
“No. I’m…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to feel. I guess I want to just run away.”
