“She’s talking to someone about selling the winery. You need to stop that.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Watch her. Better yet—” It was time, way past time to end this. “Do away with her.”
“And how would you like me to do that? Poison? Shooting? Stabbing? Torture? A bomb?”
“All sound enticing but I want to send a clear message. I want her to know the enemy she faces.” He issued his orders with calm and cool resolve. Soon everything would be perfect. Dorothea would know who was trying to get her attention.
~~~~
“What the hell were you thinking?” It was the last thing Graham had intended to say, so he was nearly as surprised as she was when he did.
“I’m trying to figure things out.”
“And you couldn’t tell me?”
“Right,” she snorted before brushing her hand lightly over her son’s sleeping head. “I’m not behind this crap that’s happening to Knights Associates.” Tarin marched to his desk and sat at his computer.
Bailey had brought her up a few minutes prior and then disappeared. Now he wished she hadn’t. He wanted to shake Tarin until she understood the gravity of her situation. His hands curled into fists by his side. When he realized that he was so tense he was almost vibrating, he stepped back, his eyes glued to her every movement. Figuring it would take her a while to break into his laptop, he glanced out the window at the darkened, deserted street.
“The truth? I believe you. I’m just not sure if that makes me an idiot,” he said in his best Elmer Fudd voice, “or someone in—” Realizing what he’d been about to say, he clamped his mouth shut.
“Come here.”
He strolled to his desk, intending to enter his password but he found that not only had she already hacked into it but she’d accessed the company’s emails. His jaw dropped as he wondered if he’d spoken too soon.
She was scrolling through his messages, pointing out source code as she went. Her fingers were nimble and her observations rapid-fire, obviously taking for granted that he was with her. Leaning in closer, he tried to follow the code.
“I don’t see what you’re seeing.”
She turned to speak to him, only to draw in a quick breath. His gaze caught hers before he quickly looked away. Way too dangerous to go there, especially when he still had no idea if he could trust her. The next time he looked at the monitor, he realized she had scrolled back to the beginning and had started her explanations again, more slowly.
“This, this and this one are all sent from the same IP address.”
Graham gave her his get-real expression. The smirk she wasn’t doing very well at hiding meant she was deliberately talking to him slowly as though he was simple. The last vestiges of tension left his body. Later, he’d figure out where they stood; for now they needed to identify who was deliberately scamming Knights Associates and more importantly, who wanted Tarin dead or alive.
She opened other emails he’d forwarded to her, explaining what she’d discovered and what she suspected. Patterns emerged; consistency in the source, the format, the similar design of some websites. He was about to say something when he realized she was staring straight ahead but she wasn’t focused on what was in front of her. She was contemplating something.
She clicked on a dozen of the other twenty she had opened and that’s when he understood things had progressed beyond similarities. Four had identical sites containing duplicate information. The names were almost the same as well:
John Templar
Don Templor
Sean Templur
Juan Templer
It didn’t make any sense. Their culprit was getting lazy. Why?
“Graham.”
He was standing so close behind her peering into the screen that when she turned, her nose came almost to rest against his chest. He drew in a deep breath, his body instantly responding to the sweet floral scent of her hair. Thankfully she was doing better at controlling her urges than he was at controlling his.
“These four sites are almost identical. Why would someone go to the trouble of developing fictitious sites without attempting to hide the fact that they’re fake? Look at the names. They’re ridiculous.” She quickly checked another business. “Same name, different extensions. It’s so obvious.”
His hand landed on hers, taking over the mouse as she casually slid hers out from under his. He was already clicking through multiple screens, aware of her every movement yet he couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor. The answer was there. It had to be.
“This is insane. Not only are these obvious but I just discovered the IP address of this jerk. So is this a trap?”
Tarin turned around. “It could be. What could they gain by sending us on cat and mouse games?”
“When we started working for the feds, they made us jump through hoops to analyze how we handled information, what we could figure out and how good we were. It took us about four weeks to figure it all out. In fact, we got so good at it that we could anticipate what they were going to do. It drove them nuts, but they hired us. So if this is someone’s ploy to hire us, why so much? Why make it almost impossible for us to keep up?”
“Are they trying to keep you away from something else?”
He scowled. That question had come up before and yes he was certain she was right, but he still didn’t know who or why. The fact that Oliver’s computer was a bust still frustrated him, and now the man had taken a long overdue holiday. It could be a while before he got some answers.
“There’s a code I need to ask you about.” She pulled up the ones from Caspian Winery. “What does this mean—the number and letters?”
“I’m assuming it’s their billing numbering system.”
“Can you find out?”
“Sure. I’ll ask Dorothea.”
“This is no life for Chance. It’s got to be someone good on a computer. My dad’s good on one. After all, he taught Bobbie. God, this has to end,” she muttered to herself.
“What?” His cell phone rang.
“Graham. I managed to tackle him but he got away. However, I managed to pilfer a business card from his pocket. C-Lite Hotels.”
Tarin’s dad.
“I should have known he’d be behind this,” Tarin’s shoulders slouched as she looked at him. She appeared defeated.
Graham wandered into the outer office; he didn’t want her overhearing any more of the conversation than she had.
“Man, can this get any crazier?”
“Hang on; Bailey’s calling me.”
Graham stared into space, his mind grasping for answers. A moment later Guy returned.
“Someone’s trying to sandbag our wedding. We hadn’t received RSVP’s from a lot of the guests. Bailey’s been on the phone constantly over whether invites had been sent. Well, it turns out a mail sorter stored a bunch of them in his garage. It’s a total fluke they were found. He’d reported a burglary two nights ago and when the police investigated, they found our invites. He confessed to being paid to steal them. He says he doesn’t know who hired him—cash under the table—the money was good and he thought it harmless.”
“This is crazy.”
“I’ll pick up Bailey and we’ll be in. Anything new on your end?”
“No. But we may need the big guns. We’re in way over our head. Since Tarin has arrived, nothing has gone right.”
“‘I understand. See you soon.”
He returned to his office to be met by Tarin’s dark and disturbed expression.
“So I’m guilty again.” Tarin climbed to her feet, walked over to her son and picked him up. He snuggled in close.
As soon as he realized what she was doing, he stepped in her path to stop her. “Look, if you heard what I said—”
“Do you mind?” She tried to sidestep him but he mimicked her movements, as though they were dancing a waltz without touching.
“Get out of my way.”
“No. Let me explain.”
“Why? It’s true. Things have gone to crap since I arrived. They aren’t going to get any better until I get answers.”
“Give Chance to me, he’s heavy.” He plucked her son from her arms before she could protest. Then he strode across the room and put him down. When he turned back, he was shocked to discover she’d left. He raced to the outer door just as the sound of her shoes tapping on the stairs faded and she disappeared from view. Letting her go was not an option but he couldn’t leave her son alone.
What the hell?
Fifteen minutes later when Guy and Bailey arrived, he had done so many laps of the office, pacing back and forth. He was ready to punch walls.
“She’s gone,” he said as soon as they entered.
“Where?”
“No idea. She raced out of here and by the time I could get Bill up here to babysit, she was long gone.”
“So let’s look at what we do know. The wedding, the winery and our business are all being targeted. Unfortunately, we all have a common enemy—if he is still alive. The question is where Tarin fit into all of this?” Guy sat at Graham’s desk and started tapping away at keys. “Have you looked at this?”
Both Bailey and Graham crowded in behind him. Tarin had left open all of the emails, the websites, the things she’d googled. Guy rapidly flipped through them.
“Before you called, she was asking about a code on Caspian Winery bills. Why would she want to know that?”
“I should have looked at her emails. Dammit, that didn’t even dawn on me.”
“You’re going to hack her account?”
“I don’t have much choice.” Graham didn’t mention he’d done it before. He waved Bailey over. “She left this message on my laptop.”
Keep Chance safe. I’ll be back as soon as I have answers.
If I don’t return, please follow this link.
I’m sorry. T