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“I understand that one of your nephews is unwell? I was just checking to see if it was something serious?”
“Oh?” Gray asked, hedging.
“Abraham’s brother? I didn’t ask which one.”
“Oh yes,” Gray murmured. “Lake’s under the weather, but should be fine in a couple more days.”
“Ah, now I feel terrible. I made Abraham come in to work.”
“Don’t feel terrible. Abe has already texted me, asking if I can come over and stay with Lake for the afternoon. My manny is here for my little ones, and I’m heading over momentarily.”
“I don’t want to make trouble for you. I know the boys need you.” Not to mention Gray was getting bigger by the day.
“Don’t you dare,” Gray said. “I get a break for the afternoon and can get away from a house full of children for a few hours. I need it before I go nuts.”
“Hey, you wanted babies.”
“I did. And I do. But we all need a break once in a while before we lose our minds. I’ll be a better parent for it when I return, refreshed.”
Wilder chuckled. “Well, I can’t take that away from you, now can I?”
“No, you cannot.” He could hear Gray smiling through the phone. “And if you run into my husband, can you let him know to call me? I tried his office and didn’t get him… and his phone is going straight to voicemail.”
“Of course. Give my nephews a big hug from their Uncle Wile before you go.”
“Will do. Have a lovely afternoon, Wilder.”
“You the same,” Wilder replied before hanging up.
He returned to his work, glad he hadn’t made a total mess of things, but it was hard to focus when he knew Abraham was on the way. A couple of unproductive hours passed before a knock came to his door.
Glancing up, he saw Abraham in the doorway.
The beta’s face was flushed. Was that from rushing to get in or seeing him again?
“I’m glad you’re here,” Wilder said, rising. “I’ve had my assistant set up the small conference room next door with everything you might need.” He strode around the desk and closer to Abe. “Let me show you what we have.”
As Wilder neared, Abe moved back—as if he was afraid he’d be touched. He ignored the gesture and marched through the door. Casting a look over his shoulder, he beckoned Abraham to follow.
“I had them set up a network-connected laptop with access to the digitized files, along with some basic office supplies.” He opened the conference room door and motioned for Abe to enter. “Is there anything else you might need?”
“Another non-networked laptop or computer, for starters.” Abe searched the supplies. “A calculator. Some more highlighters in other colors. Ahh…”
“Another laptop?”
Abe paused, eyeing him. “Somewhere to keep the data that’s non-networked. We don’t want anyone, particularly the person who’s doing this, to catch wind and do any snooping—or deleting. If we have all the incriminating data away from the network, it’s safer.” He pointed to the laptop there. “I need this, as well, to get to the digitized data and any other information on the books. I’ll need full access to accounting data.”
“I’ll call IT and get the laptop—and have Vaughn come in to grant you full access. Anything else, give a list to my assistant and I’ll tell him to make sure it arrives.”
“I can spend today setting up and doing preliminary searches for files.” Abe glanced at him. “A printer of my own would be preferable, too. Hard copies of the invoices in question would be smart to have as I research. Something we can give to the Guard Investigators or the PSA once we have everything together. If I use a shared printer, someone might see things sitting out in the open and talk. Talk could get back.”
“I’ll add it to IT’s list.”
“Thank you,” Abe murmured.
“Anything else?” Wilder asked, impressed with Abe’s air of confidence and what seemed to be a clear understanding of what he was undertaking. It was impressive.
“That’s a good place to start.”
