Page 40 of Business Temptations

Zahir and Antonio both rolled their eyes. But they didn’t argue.

Chapter 10

Bailey stared at the vault, then looked around the room. “How did they get in?” she whispered, still confounded by the mystery.

She glanced up at the ceiling, noting the security cameras. She gave a little wave, knowing that the head of security was in the security office. Then she wandered around, determined to figure out how to make the laboratory more secure.

“Find anything?” a male voice asked.

Startled, Bailey jumped, then sighed with relief when she saw Tim coming towards her.

With a hand over her heart, she tried to breathe slowly to ease the surprise. “Nothing,” she admitted.

Tim moved to stand beside her. “I’ve gone through all of the possibilities over and over in the past few days, trying to figure out how someone could have broken in here and stolen the formula.”

“Matteo and I have done the same. Everyone on the security team has tried to figure it out as well.”

Tim shook his head, looking up at the high windows. “The only way into this room is through the doors.”

“And the doors are locked. The locks only release when someone uses their security badge,” Bailey continued.

Tim sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve checked with everyone and none of the staff’s security cards were used. I can’t figure out how someone got in here without using an employee badge.”

She turned slowly and looked up at him, working through possibilities in her head. “Do you think that the vault was opened during the day when the staff was here?”

Tim considered that probability for a moment. “Opening the vault would be a pretty major interruption to everyone’s day. The door is two feet thick and the combination is twenty-four characters long.” He walked over to the steel handle. “Even on the rare occasions that I open this door, I have to bring my cheat sheet with me. And that file on my computer is encrypted. Even if someone were to find the file with the security code on it, the numbers won’t work as is. Only I know what to add and subtract to the numbers on my cheat sheet to release the lock.”

There was a long silence as both of them looked around. “What are we missing?” she finally asked.

Tim looked down at her, then around at the lab. “Maybe he doesn’t have anything?”

She bit her lip, nodding. “That’s possible. But from what Matteo has seen, his father seemed confident that he had a formula, even if it’s not the correct one. And we don’t keep the formulas anywhere but in there.”

“I’m certain he doesn’t have the correct formula. The documents I keep in the vault are all fakes.”

There was a loud bang, then the sound of glass shattering.

Tim and Bailey spun around, shocked to find Ricardo standing in the lab. And he was pointing a gun at them! Since it wasn’t working hours, the lab was lit only by the security lights, which added an extra touch of menace.

“What the hell are you saying?” he growled, his voice low and terrifying.

Tim immediately stepped forward, pushing Bailey behind his back.

Bailey froze for a brief moment, but then moved to Tim’s side, needing to see what was going on. Perhaps her curiosity was going to get her hurt, but she couldn’t seem to suppress the need to see what was happening. Or maybe it was a basic human instinct to try to watch a threat approaching.

Tim moved again, trying to shield her from Matteo’s father, who was moving steadily closer.

As silently as possible, Bailey pulled open the drawer on one of the workstations behind her. She wasn’t sure what was in the drawer, but anything that they could use as a weapon would be better than nothing.

Her fingers closed over something with a pointed tip. A pen? Or some sort of instrument? She’d barely gotten through chemistry with a C average, and lab equipment was foreign to her.

But she picked up the object and slipped it into Tim’s hand. His fingers curled around it, but he didn’t take his eyes off Ricardo as the other man moved between the tables.

“You’re going to give me the correct formula,” Ricardo stated firmly. He spoke with absolute conviction that his command would be followed.

“I don’t have the complete formula,” Tim replied.

Ricardo snorted. “You’re the man who created the chemical. I know that you have it in your head.” He moved closer. “You’re a brilliant scientist. I’m sure that you will remember all of the ingredients.” He gestured at the vault. “If the formula I got out of there isn’t correct, why the hell do you have that thing in here?”

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