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The overall assumption at this point was that there had been no way to access the information physically through the break-in. The wild card was determining if anyone had hacked into the systems.
Jake’s investigators weren’t skilled in that area, so there was no way to tell yet. They were working harder on locating Lauren’s mom.
“I have a friend who can look into this for us,” Catherine said. “He says he should be able to tell if anyone remotely accessed the data and if it was extracted. Does anyone have a problem with me telling him to go ahead?”
“Who?” Ryker glared at her.
Catherine looked at him, confused. “No one you know,” she answered.
Ryker grunted and went back to looking at his computer.
“Go for it,” Kayla said.
Catherine nodded and typed away on her phone. “He’s on it. I told him it’s an emergency so hopefully, we will have an answer quickly.”
“Do you need anything from me?” Kayla asked.
“Nope, we just wait now.”
Everyone went back to working on different angles. At some point, someone ordered pizza and everyone took a short break to eat.
It was later than Evan realized as people started to head out. He yawned and looked around for Kayla to check on her before she headed out.
Finding her took longer than expected. He thought for a minute that she had slipped out without taking to him. Instead, he found her in one of the comfortable lounge chairs in the media room asleep. She was curled up in a ball, her neck bent at an angle that would be sure to hurt in the morning.
“Going to wake her?” Cade asked.
“I think I’ll leave her be,” Evan said, still looking at her.
“Good luck. She’s going to be in pain in the morning.” Cade slapped him on the back. “I’m heading home. Let me know if you hear anything.”
He walked Cade out as he debated what to do about the sleeping woman. On the one hand, if he left her, she was going to be in pain, but if he picked her up to carry her to a bed, she might get pissed.
Cade was the last one to leave, and he locked up after closing the door. Evan busied himself cleaning the kitchen and taking pizza boxes to the trash as he debated what to do. In the end, he decided there was no way he could just leave her there.
He went back to the media room and carefully scooped her into his arms. She shifted and curled into him, mumbling something as she did.
He carried her to his room and put her on the bed, pulling the covers up around her. He didn’t dare touch her further and left her there sleeping. She hadn’t woken at all so he could deal with whatever fall-out came tomorrow.
Without his bed, Evan went back to cleaning. The media room took a few minutes to put back to rights, and he turned the lights off with a silent prayer that they caught the person doing this soon.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Kayla
Kayla woke up in Evan’s bed. It had taken her a minute to clear the fog from her brain and realize where she was. First, she had panicked, and then she had smelled him. It was calming and she knew where she was even before she climbed out of the bed.
Evan’s scent was on one of the pillows on her bed, too. It was the only thing she hadn’t washed from their night together, the scent of his soap and cologne soaking it through.
The last thing she remembered was being in the media room with everyone. She had been so tired from all the stress of dealing with this mess that she must have passed out. That meant Evan must have carried her to his bed.
She looked over, not sure what she expected, knowing he wasn’t in the room. The bed was still made on the other side, which meant he’d given up his bed for her and slept somewhere else.
Her phone was charging on the side table, something she was incredibly grateful for. She unplugged it and checked to see if the blackmailer had emailed her again yet. Nothing.
She stretched and got up. She needed to apologize to Evan for taking his bed and to thank him at the same time. He could have left her in the recliner, but he hadn’t for whatever reason. It was sweet and if she didn’t already know better about him, she’d be flattered.
Evan was in his office down the hall, his voice traveling to her as she opened the bedroom door. She considered for a minute just leaving a note and slipping out but then convinced herself she was better than that.
