Page 7 of Wired Strong

Raveaux had noticed the byplay between Sophie, as CEO, and Bix as Operations Head, on numerous occasions—they seemed to enjoy it, and they worked well together.

The three Security Solutions representatives stood respectfully as Bix performed the introductions a short time later. “Hermione Leede has come to us with a matter in need of skill and diplomacy.”

The client was a petite woman with a crown of intricately braided white hair encircling her head. She wore a bright scarlet suit, Mary Jane heels, and she carried a well-worn, top quality brown leather satchel that much reminded Raveaux of the messenger bag he used himself.

“Very pleased to meet you.” Leede enunciated her words with the crisp, tony accent of the British upper class. “I look forward to your assistance in this delicate matter.”

“We are delighted to help.” Sophie gave the warm smile Raveaux remembered, but hadn’t seen lately. She extended a long-fingered hand that engulfed the client’s petite, beringed one. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

A delighted smile wreathed Leede’s face. “Perfect. It’s so seldom that I am offered a cup of tea here in Hawaii, or hear the accent of a countrywoman.”

“I’m not British, but I’d be lost without my tea.” Sophie went over to the sideboard and pressed the button on her instant hot water pot. “I was educated in Europe, though.”

Raveaux sat back and waited as Sophie prepared the tea things and the two women chatted. Bix pushed a contract over in front of Leede eventually, when the client sat at the table. “Here’s our standard agreement for your review. Would you like to pay our hourly rate, or a percentage?”

“How interesting that you would offer those options.” Leede cocked her head. Raveaux was reminded of a sparrow eyeing a nice bit of seed. “I’ve hired on for this audit for a recovery fee that’s a percentage of the funds regained through my investigation—plus an hourly rate. If I fail to find any inappropriate losses, I’m paid the hourly rate only.”

“That kind of payment structure is often indicated in insurance recovery investigations,” Bix said. “We can work with that.”

They negotiated for a few minutes, agreeing on a princely hourly rate with a fractional percentage, if the money was recovered.

Sophie returned with the loaded tea tray. Leede’s pale brows lifted and she clapped her hands in glee. “I can’t believe you have real chocolate biscuits! And what kind of tea can I look forward to? Loose leaf, no doubt?”

“Of course. This tea is very special—a blend of new leaf tips dried and produced in my home country of Thailand,” Sophie said. “I have it delivered monthly, directly from the family that grows it.”

“I shall look forward to tasting this exotic treasure.” Leede accepted a teacup, saucer, and spoon.

“Let’s let it steep for a moment.” Sophie turned over the tiny hourglass that accompanied the set. She picked up her tablet and stylus from the table. “Now that we’ve observed the niceties, I have just one burning question. Why did you enlist our firm’s assistance? The Kama`aina Schools’ Board has entrusted you to do the audit on your own, and you would be entitled to the entire payment if you completed it. Why do you want us to get involved?”

“Because it’s too big a job for one person,” Leede said. “And I don’t feel safe.”

Chapter Six

Raveaux

Raveaux leaned forward,making eye contact with the tidy, petite auditor. “Tell us more about that. In what way don’t you feel safe?”

Hermione Leede adjusted the bright gemstone rings on her fingers in a habitual gesture. “Tempers are very high on the Kama`aina Schools’ Board, and they don’t want anyone to know that the audit is going on. A large bureaucracy supports the schools, and whoever is siphoning off this money will not want it to be discovered. I worry about the lengths someone might go to stop the audit. Not only that, I worry that I might need an additional witness to what I uncover, as well as more manpower for the various tasks I foresee.” Leede paused to take a sip of tea, and when she replaced her cup on the saucer, it rattled against the china. “In addition, I’m a traditional accountant. There will be forensic computer records analysis, and that’s not my specialty. Give me anything to do with a calculator and a spreadsheet, and I’m your girl—but searching a dozen computers for deleted files is not something I’ve ever wanted to learn.”

“Fair enough,” Sophie said. “Sounds like we’re a match, because I’m excellent with computers, and Raveaux here can provide all the protection you might need.”

The sideways compliment from Sophie warmed him, and Leede’s eyes twinkled at Raveaux from behind rhinestone-studded, cat eye glasses. “It definitely won’t hurt my reputation to show up withyouby my side, Monsieur Raveaux.”

They wrapped up the meeting, and Raveaux made an appointment to meet Leede at her office the next day to begin the audit.

As Leede and Bix headed out, Sophie stopped Raveaux with a hand on his arm. “Can we speak for a minute?”

Her touch sent a zing of awareness through his body. “Of course.” Raveaux sat back down.

Sophie went to her desk and took out a surveillance wand. She ran it over him quickly and expertly; he bit the inside of his cheek and held very still. He didn’t blame her a bit for wanding him; he’d been bugged the last time they spoke privately. “Should we turn on the fan?”

“Not necessary. This room is swept daily.” Sophie put the device away, and sat down across from him. She poured more of the fragrant tea through a strainer into their cups. “I’ve been meaning to catch up with you since you warned me about the raid on Phi Ni, but with all the security concerns we’ve been going through, I didn’t want to draw attention.”

“I understand.” Raveaux had been leveraged to get Sophie to return to the United States from her private island sanctuary in Thailand with a fabricated story. The multi-agency team that was after the Ghost had planned to raid the island and capture him; Raveaux’s warning had given Sophie time to warn Connor. “I know everything worked out, because you came back and it’s been business as usual—but what happened over there?”

“After I dodged the agents sent to detain me in the conference room—again, thank you Pierre, for that warning—I took our corporate jet to Phi Ni to check on what had happened. The Department of Justice had marked all of the buildings and the entire island for seizure. No one was there.” Sophie’s honey-brown eyes darkened with remembered stress. “It was terrifying.”

Raveaux’s brows drew together. “What had happened to everyone?”

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