Page 62 of Enticing the Fixer

“We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”Not long enough. This is going to take a second to fix.“We’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“Got you. I’ll pull Jagger and Cade into the office. Brief them. And see you then.”

“10-4.” I click off the line and shove my cell phone into my pocket. “I’m not supposed to chase you down. Although it would fulfill one of my fantasies. Me. You. And a brick wall.”

“Don’t.” The tension in her body sags as her shoulders slump downward.

“I’m not trying to make light of things.” I march toward her. Thankful that she’s not still running off. “I assume you heard the IP address and bank account information.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think you’re responsible.” I grab her shoulder and turn her to face me. The tears streaking down her face break me like nothing else ever has. “Babe.” I swipe my thumb along her cheek, collecting her sorrow and wiping it away. “I’m not going after you. I came outside to dial Truman. Whoever is out to get you isn’t above bugging the telephones. They’re trying to set you up.”

“I didn’t do it.” Her bottom lip quivers. “I don’t understand what’s going on. This is crazy.” She shakes her head. “This can’t be my life. I didn’t put a virus into the computer system. I didn’t set up accounts to receive pilfered money to a second account in my name. I’ve wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

“Why would I do that? It makes no sense for me to leave a smoking gun pointed directly at myself. I’m not stupid.”

“Sweetheart.” I clasp the back of her head and place my forehead against hers. “You’re too intelligent to do this. If you wanted money, you’d sell the company. And make millions more than the thousands that have been stashed into the account. Someone is fucking with you, and we need to figure out who it is.”

One corner of her mouth arches upward. “Thank you. I thought you were going to take me to jail.”

“I’m taking you with me to Truman Security. That’s the company that hired me to investigate what’s happening. My brother works there. Truman was a Navy SEAL for 15 years. I have more computer training than he does, but he has the contacts I don’t have. And he’s used to tracking down criminals. Bouncing this off him will help us narrow down who’s responsible.”

“He still hasn’t told you who hired him? That part doesn’t make sense either.”

“No. He wanted me to be impartial.” I tighten my grip on her. “Not that I’ve done very well with that.”

Her face softens even though she’s dealing with a lot. “Ethan Rossi cornered me in the parking garage.”

I straighten, returning to high alert. “What did he say?” I researched every board member the first night. I know everything about the man, from his height to his grade point average in college. I can recite his stats like I’m studying again for the bar exam.

“He was cryptic.” She wipes her hands on her black skirt. “I don’t know if he was threatening me or warning me. That, along with talking to Mark the other night, I’m starting to wonder if someone did intentionally kill my father.”

“What exactly did he say?”

She runs a hand through her hair, causing it to tumble down her back. “It’s all a blur. He implied my dad’s death wasn’t an accident and demanded I sign the paperwork to sell the company. He gave the impression that if I didn’t follow through with the sale, I might end up with the same fate as my father.”

“Motherfucker.” My hands ball into fists. Even though he’s sixty years old, I want to knock his teeth out.

“Leo.” She grabs my arm. “Maybe he was warning me. I don’t know. Everything is freaking me out. Five minutes ago, I thought you were a plant and setting me up.”

“Seriously?” My eyes narrow. “That’s not nice.”

She smiles. “I know. Can you forgive me?”

I tip my head toward the wall. “You, me, and the wall. And we have a deal.”

She wrinkles her nose. “After dark?”

“Nope.” I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her into me. “That’s too long and not nearly hot enough.”

“You have a good point.” She slips her arms around my neck and stands on her tiptoes. When her belly presses against my lower abdomen, my cock twitches his approval.

The sleeve of her shirt rides up toward her elbow, exposing a plastic-covered patch of skin. I pull back and slide the material up her arm. A wish dandelion. Damn her. “He does good work, doesn’t he?”

Maverick. You’ve been holding out on me.

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