Page 78 of Daddies Dark Desires (Forbidden Fantasies)
After I get my usual work done—something I’ve gotten pretty proficient at if I’m allowed to boast, and I am—I pull up a few pieces of evidence on the computer. It’s late in the afternoon, and I’m staring at a set of pictures that are utterly meaningless tome when Sunny pops up beside me to whisper something, but I don’t catch her words.
If I know Sunny, it’s naughty and involves one of the many men in the office she’s been innocently flirting with. Much to Kyle’s dismay. That guy needs to grab a hold of his backbone and ask her out already. She’ll definitely say yes.
Just as my brain is shifting gears, her hand shoots out to point at my screen. “Hey, I know that place.”
“Really?” I perk up, the closest thing to a breakthrough we’ve had in too long.
Sunny leans in, squinting harder. “Yeah, that’s the back entrance to the Lyon Foundry. I used to hang out there with my brother’s band—it was their practice spot before it got boarded up.”
She’s identified something I never would have recognized.
My fingers are already typing in a new search, locating the Lyon Foundry and examining the streets and buildings around it.
Wheels turn in my head, and I snap my laptop shut, whirling on Sunny. I stand and gather her in a strong hug, relieved when she squeezes me back just as hard.
“You are brilliant,” I whisper to her.
“Does this have to do with the whole super sleuth thing you’ve been working since we started here? With that sleazeball upstairs?” Her questions are soft in my ear.
“Yes.” I release her. “Grab your things. Come with me.”
I usher her into an open conference room and set up the laptop I’ve been working on that’s only attached to the firm’s network and nothing else.
Before we go through the other pictures and pieces of evidence, I pull the map back up—finally having something concrete, something that’s real to jump off of—I search forany personal relevance, but I don’t recognize any of it. Until something snaps into place in the back of my mind.
Where did I see this street referenced? Was it the foundry Dad was looking at originally? Or simply something nearby?
Parts of the evidence I’ve been combing through repeatedly fill my screen, and I tug Sunny’s chair closer so we can look through it together. Finally, I feel like I’m not drowning in failure. Like I’m living up to what my dad knew I am capable of.
What I imagined were just warehouses transform into real buildings from businesses both current and defunct.
Once we have everything identified, I drag her back through the emails, drop points, delivery receipts, and his notes until we find the connections Dad must have made as he compiled all this information.
My heart is racing, my foot jiggling out of control. Adrenaline has its hold on me, and I’m ready to soar right into wherever this leads.
Sunny’s fingers are tapping on the table, and her lip is hooked in her teeth until I push the laptop toward her. After a brief look in my eyes, she must see my intention because her fingers fly over the keyboard a second later.
It would be stupid of me to insist I do this part all on my own. Sunny is way better at computer stuff, tracking and uncovering data points than I am. Instead, I roll through what I already know.
Dad was tracking someone in the industrial district south of here. Actually, rather close to where the guys renovated the building they live in. The one I live in now. Is that why Dad said not to trust them?
That final note of his is the one piece that sends me spiraling away from productive thoughts.
Sunny brings me back to myself. “Hey, Harp. I found something.”
I scoot my chair tight against hers as she gestures to the screen. “See, the building in this picture isn’t focused on the Foundry but one of the warehouses nearby. Ownership of it has changed hands a few times before the original investigation into this area, and only once since then.”
She pulls up a small street map and taps lightly on the building behind the Foundry. “It’s owned by a shell corporation, which will take a little more digging into, but that’s not the thing that has me excited.”
I’m chewing on my lip, ready to dive into whatever she’s found. Her excitement is contagious. “What?”
“The notes made about the building and the going-on’s…it has to be a hub of illegal activity. That’s what you’ve been looking for, right? Some reason to investigate this spot in particular?” Her bright blue eyes shine at me. Pride. Thrill. Worry.
I grab her hand and hold onto it, smiling sadly. “Yes. I have a few more things to tell you about this whole thing, but first we need to go over a few things.”
She gives me a scandalous look that grows more and more serious as I tell her the story of my dad’s death and why I’m digging into all of this.
Sunny lets out a breath when I’m finished. “I knew it was something more than you were telling me, but god…your dad?”
