Page 108 of Falling for the Boss's Son

The elevator doors opened to her floor, and she made her way to her desk. Her gaze landed on a piece of paper that hadn’t been there previously.

You’re wrong.

Cassie had been away from her desk for over an hour, but she scanned the area anyway.

It was useless, of course. The office buzzed with its usual activity.

She picked up her phone and dialed Jesse’s office, but he didn’t answer. Next, she tried his cell, but again it went to voicemail.

Something told her ignoring the message was a bad idea, so she crossed to her boss’s office and knocked. No one answered.

She was considering her options when she heard something that sounded like someone was bouncing a ball against the stairwell door. It wasn’t loud exactly, but it was consistent. And it wasn’t increasing or decreasing in volume like it would be if it came from someone going up or down the stairs.

At first, Cassie ignored it, remembering Jesse’s instructions not to go to the sixth floor by herself. But the noise persisted. Never getting louder. Never getting softer.

He didn’t say I couldn’t go into the stairwell. It could be a leaking pipe or something. She didn’t want it to cause a bigger issue.

Convincing herself it would be okay if she looked, Cassie walked to the heavy metal door that led to the stairwell and opened it.

CHAPTER 26

Almost as soon as Cassie left his office, Jesse got a call from his dad saying he was needed in IT. There was a problem with the newest software update and his dad had been called away by one of their largest clients.

It took him over an hour to get things sorted. Someone had buried a bogus code into the old software. When they’d upgraded it, the new system didn’t know what to do with the code and kept trying to merge it with the new software.

The kicker was the code was tied to his department. It was possible it was being used to skim money through a customer’s account. Jesse was willing to bet, if that was in fact what was happening, it was somehow connected to the missing contract.

He wasn’t sure how yet, but the best news of the day was now they had a trail to follow. Even if they couldn’t find the missing contract, they might be able to find who entered the code and where the money was being funneled. Grayson Hyde, the head of IT, just needed time to flush it out.

When Jesse returned to his desk, Stephanie was typing away. She looked up from her keyboard as he approached. “Craig Allen came by to see you. He asked that you give him a call as soon as you returned.”

Jesse nodded and went into his office, closing the door behind him. Taking a seat behind his desk, he dialed Craig as he began logging into his computer.

“We have a problem,” Craig said in greeting.

Jesse stopped typing. “What kind of a problem?”

“I’ve been researching Crystal and Sandy’s history. Crystal’s dad married Sandy’s mom when the girls were young. They lived together for two years, then the couple split. There was nothing in either of their files to suggest they’d stayed in touch, until I found they were both sent to a summer camp as pre-teens.”

“They stayed in touch after that, I’m assuming.”

“It appears so,” Craig said. “I’ve found some social media posts where one commented on the other’s photos. Nothing crazy, but one can assume they were communicating through private messages.”

“Can you get access to those?” Jesse asked.

“Legally?”

Jesse shook his head. “Okay, I won’t ask. Plausible deniability.”

“Good call.”

Jesse wasn’t sure how this new information constituted a problem. “But we already knew they were communicating. They worked together.”

“While scrolling through the pictures, I came across some of Crystal and a man.”

The first person who came to mind was Travers. Was that why Sandy had been in on the gossip regarding him and Cassie? “Was it Travers?”

“No.” Craig paused, and the suspense was killing him. “It was Grayson Hyde.”

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