Noah grinned, took a sip of his coffee then cleared his throat. “She told me to stick close. That it was my hide if anything happened to you.”
“She’s supposed to be sticking close,” he groused.
Another laugh from Noah. “She said to remind you that you fired her. So she’ll see you later.”
Jase shook his head.
“Let me guess,” Noah began. “You told her to stay put, and she’s gone?”
“She was asleep when I got in the shower.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Noah informed him.
“I’m going to knock out your teeth if you keep grinning at me like that,” Jase warned.
“We haven’t sparred in too long. Either way, the grin’s sticking. I like Gwen Mercer. I like the way she’s gotten under your skin most of all.”
“You always were a prick, Noah.”
“A very well-paid prick,” Noah added, glancing at his watch. “We should get going. Gwen set up an early meeting for you with Jamison Knight and Levi DiMarco.”
“They’ve found answers?”
Noah grew serious. “Levi’s found a few things from what I know. And before you start grilling me, that’s all I know—other than he was up working on it all night at your sister’s house.”
“Is Julia okay?” If someone planned to hurt his sister, they’d die. Slowly and painfully.
“She’s fine,” Noah assured him. “I checked on her myself. She’s spending the day at the house with your mom.”
Jase nodded, grabbing his briefcase and heading out of the kitchen. “Let’s get going then.”
Jase fielded a few phone calls on the way in to the office. He’d had his secretary cancel all his meetings for the rest of the week. So after his meeting with Jamison, he planned to catch up on paperwork and get in some solid work hours on some new software that was still in the planning stages as far as anyone else knew.
Noah was all business as they walked in. They might be friends, but Noah took his job seriously. He saved the jokes and banter for when they were alone, though he seemed to be at ease around Gwen and her co-worker Seth, too.
The first thing Jase noticed was that Sybil wasn’t at her desk. He’d left a message for her that he’d be coming in. She was young and flighty at times, but all in all, she was a hard worker. She always made sure he was on schedule. Brought him coffee or lunch. Volunteered to pick up dry cleaning or run any personal errands he might require—not that he took her up on those things. There were lines he didn’t cross with employees.
He stopped and laughed. Noah gave him a funny look, and several people glanced Jase’s way. No one would say anything, of course. Noah merely lifted a brow.
“Seems Gwen and I have something in common,” Jase murmured. Then something else occurred to him. “Son of a bitch.”
He practically stomped down the hall, unsurprised to see his office door opened with Jamison and Levi waiting for him. With them were the Playboy and Barrett Locke.
“Sybil’s involved, isn’t she?” Jase fired the question as he walked in and knew from the tilt of Levi’s head that his sudden epiphany wasn’t news to the other man. Without prompting, Jase continued, “She’s always offering to help me. I can’t tell you the number of times she’s asked me if I needed her to pick up lunch or run personal errands for me.”
“Did you let her?” Jagger asked.
“Lunch a few times. Other errands, never. I don’t play where I work, Mr. Wilson. In case that’s what you’re alluding to.”
“Smart people usually don’t,” Jagger returned.
Jase wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt as if the other man were taking his measure. Damned if that didn’t irritate him. At least, Jase wasn’t a goddamn playboy, known for fucking around. Before his temper ignited, he turned his attention elsewhere.
“What did you find?” Jase directed the question toward Levi as he walked around his desk, dropped his briefcase and took a seat, before motioning to the others to be seated.
“Someone found a backdoor into your security system. They’ve managed to override a few things here and there and access things. They obtained some seemingly superficial information that could have gone unnoticed or at least, uncommented on,” Levi told him.
“Such as?” Jase prompted.