Page 59 of Butterflies and Hazel Eyes
“I know the chances it would get damaged were slim, but I had to bring it, just in case,” I explained lamely.
“I understand,” he promised, trailing a finger down my cheek. “You don’t have to explain. I know you don’t have a lot of personal possessions that are important to you.”
He held out a chair for me, and I sat, opening the computer while he grabbed the other chair. After we were settled, I fired up the laptop, refusing to plug it in due to the lightning outside. I typed in the password and waited. “I’ve saved it all externally on a drive because I’m afraid someone will know I have the information. I’m aware that I’m paranoid but, as you said, better safe than sorry,” I explained as I plugged in the flash drive and clicked on a document I’d made.
He read several of the entries and spun toward me in slow motion, as if his brain hadn’t caught up to what his eyes told him was on the screen. “What the heck does this mean?”
I held up both hands. “I was hoping you would know. It’s strange, to say the least.”
Gulliver scratched his temple and read aloud. “‘I’ve seen the weather, and I doubt we’ll be able to do anything for the next few days. I don’t think we’ll get to load the fridge or see the Packers.’” He read a few more to himself and pointed at several of them. “They all say the same thing in one way or the other.”
I tapped the screen with my pen. “Exactly what I thought, which is odd. At first I thought it might be a dating forum, but the communication is just too weird.”
“I’m getting a sick feeling in my gut,” he said, his frown deepening. “What if Honey is saying she’s not going to be able to get in and load something on a computer or see the research?”
I dropped my hand from the keyboard in resignation. “That’s my fear too. There’s probably a sheet of code words somewhere, but so far I haven’t come across it.”
“These can’t be all the messages, right?”
“No, but every one of them reads like this, which is what makes me think everything is in code. I have one envelope left to finish.” I rolled my shoulders to stretch them out. The long hours of decoding this information were catching up to me. Everything felt bruised and battered, and I was thrilled to be almost done with it.
“This is a massive amount of work. You’ve gone above and beyond, Charity,” Gulliver said, leaning back in the chair.
I was about to speak when a clap of thunder startled us, and the room was bathed in blackness. The only light remaining was the computer screen, and my eyes widened.
“Give it a second. The generator will kick in,” Gulliver said calmly.
I held my breath, and in less than thirty seconds, the whir of the generator filled the room, and the emergency lights lit up. There was enough light in the room to see comfortably, and I stood, meeting him at the table. “We should shut this down before the battery dies. We might need it.” I signed out and turned it off before sliding it back into the case. “I hope the last envelope holds the key to the code or something to give us a clearer idea of who she’s corresponding with.”
“Do you think these are from her email? If you hack in, could you see who it is?”
I did the so-so hand. “I mean, I could try, but chances are Honey’s not communicating over email. If I were involved in something shady, I’d use a chat board or some other type of anonymous forum. Using email is asking for trouble when you’re on someone else’s computer every day.”
He rested his chin in his hand while his mind sorted out all the information he’d just read. “Hmmm, you’re probably right. She’s not the brains of the operation, whatever the operation is. You can sense she’s their flunky from the messages being passed back and forth. The response to her messages is always standoffish and demanding. If she’s in on it, then she gets what she deserves. If she’s being coerced, which is what it sounds like in the last few messages, then I’m a little bit worried for her, to be honest. If she doesn’t come up with the information and we take the pesticide to production, she’ll be in danger.”
“I keep seeing Honey’s broken arm. Is she sticking with the story that she fell on the stairs?” I asked him. “I know I asked this before, but seeing this,” I said, motioning at the computers, “I have to ask again.”
“That’s the story she told everyone, but only she knows for certain how it happened. The doctor told Mathias the injury was hours old by the time he got her to the emergency room, so that means it had to have happened in the early morning hours.”
“And why was she on the stairs in the dark?” I asked. “That doesn’t make sense. She sat there with a bone sticking out of her arm for hours and then decided to go to the diner instead of call for help? Very odd, Gulliver. I understand she was in shock, but once she got to the diner, one word to Lucy and she’d be in an ambulance. When I found her, she was in pain, but she was also terrified.” I rubbed my forehead and motioned at the computers again. “I think we need to talk to Mathias about all of this.”
Gulliver waved his hand near his throat. “Not yet. If it comes to it, I’ll let Honey go and explain to him why I had to do it.”
I grabbed his arm frantically, my fingers digging into the tissue firmly. “No, don’t. If you fire Honey, the people behind this will know we’re on to them, and they might hurt her.”
He grimaced, and his lips thinned in anger and frustration. “If Honey’s not the mastermind behind this, you might be right.”
“She’s not, the messages tell me that much,” I said and laughed sardonically. “I pray she’s playing her own game with them, because if not, she’s in serious danger. Is there a way to get Mathias’s private investigator to take a cursory glance at her life?”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “I suppose I could ask, but then Mathias would find out for sure.”
I stared at him steely-eyed. “It’s probably time he knows, Gulliver. If my whole financial life were at stake, I wouldn’t want to be blindsided by it.”
He blew out a breath that was long and sad. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll talk to him on Monday. He’s not in town this weekend, and Honey is with him, so at least she’s safe for the next couple of days.”
I glanced up at the ceiling just as the floor shook under our feet like an earthquake. The resulting clap of thunder had me throwing my hands over my ears. “I wonder what’s going on out there.”
Gulliver stood and, holding on to the table and counter, he made his way to the walkie-talkie by the fridge. “Simon, what’s the report?” he asked, releasing the button and waiting as static filled the room.
