Page 58 of Bad Seed

Her frown deepened. Her fingers were resting on the keyboard as she let that question sink in.

But Brendan kept up the questions. “Who else besides the old man would have had easy access to the warehouse and control of the purchasing department, other than this Paget guy who got arrested for it?”

“God! I can’t imagine. I ran background checks on every employee who ever handled money at Crossley or had access to the financial department. I even ran one on Wilhem, but didn’t tell him. Who did I miss during the three weeks I was there?” And then it hit her. She missed the man who wasn’t there!

“Oh my God! It was right in my face! Why didn’t I see it before?”

“See what?” Brendan asked.

“Tipton Crossley! Wilhem’s son, heir, and co-owner. He wasn’t there. I never met him. It never occurred to me, but he’s the man who is taking over the business so Wilhem could retire. He already oversees the purchasing and accounting side of the company. The man who travels all over Europe and Asia, buying products to import to the United States. He could easily forge his father’s signature on anything.” Then she stoppedherself. “No. No. This doesn’t make sense. Why would he take such an ugly route into human trafficking? His father is rich. I saw Tip’s salary and bonuses when I was auditing. He has no reason to commit this kind of crime. He wants for nothing.”

Brendan looked past her shoulder to a painting hanging on the wall, then wadded up his napkin and tossed it into a nearby wastebasket like he was going for three points. It landed in the basket without hitting the rim.

“Sometimes, pretty lady, it’s not about want, but the adrenaline rush of danger. For some people, no matter what they have, it’s never enough.”

Harley had seen that look in his eyes before and knew that, for a few moments, he’d been somewhere else.

“At this point, anything is possible, I guess. I know nothing about his lifestyle. What I do know is that opening this can of worms could backfire or bring the unnamed kingpin to justice, but if I follow this lead, I am going to need help. I do not have the clearance for deep diving in personal lives or hacking into bank accounts.”

She was frustrated and worried, and trying to figure this out before someone killed her, and Brendan felt helpless. But when she closed the laptop and set it aside, it was as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and he thought of Rusty.

“I don’t know if she’d agree or not, but I can call Rusty Pope, the cousin who’s ex-FBI. She may still havecontacts who would help, and she may know some other agents who were part of busting up that gang…if you want me to.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I want you to. Explain what we’ve talked about, and if she’s willing to give me some pointers or advice, I’ll gladly take it. If she is, just ask her to give me a call.”

“That much I can do. Now, back to your visit from the PD. Are they going to put a guard on your room?” he asked.

“I told them not to. All that would do is alert a hit man as to where I was. And on another note, I like your brothers. They’re sweet and Wiley’s funny.”

“Yeah, he’s a character for sure, but he is the guy who’ll have your back faster than you can blink. He walked in on a bank robbery in progress a couple of years back. The perps were caught off guard, and by the time they knew he was there and fired at him, he stepped behind a pillar and put two on the floor. He fired off a shot at the last one, too, but took a bullet in the chest. It knocked him completely off his feet and would have killed him but for his bulletproof vest.”

Harley was finishing her burger the whole time he was talking, completely caught up in the story.

“That’s awful! Was he hurt bad?”

“Cracked rib, knocked the breath out of him. And his girlfriend, Linette, was one of the hostages. They’d already killed one of the bank executives before he got there. After the shooting, everyone who’d been on thefloor gets up and starts running toward the door. He can’t breathe, but he’s trying to get up to stop them from leaving the scene, knowing the police will have to question everyone there. We’re all tough. Wiley always says Clyde beat the mean out of all of us until the only thing left was the good our mama gave us.” Then right in front of her, he snagged a french fry from her basket and ate it.

Harley laughed and, without thought, started to dab at a drop of ketchup at the corner of his lip with her napkin. He grabbed her wrist and dispatched the ketchup with one lick, then kissed the back of her wrist as an apology.

“I was savin’ that for later,” he said.

Harley burst out laughing. “You are a caution and a delight. I have never met a man like you.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s a good thing, for sure. What else do you know how to do besides be your witty self, go fast on motorcycles, and bake like an angel?”

“I’m an open book,” he said. “All you have to do is turn a page.”

And just like that, the moment went from light to weighted with insinuations she could explore or ignore.

“I love to read,” she said, and pointed at his ketchup ramekin. “I’m out of ketchup. Can I double-dip in yours?”

Brendan took a breath. Right now, he was thinking about everything they could do together besides shareleftover ketchup.Don’t say it. Just don’t the hell say it.Instead, he set the ramekin beside her plate.

“Sure thing. My fries are gone. Help yourself.”

They continued to eat, sometimes in mutual silence, sometimes popping up a new question, until they were down to dessert.

---