Page 76 of Once a Killer

“Maybe the other three do, too,” Jameson said. “Maybe they’re just more tight-lipped about it.”

“Yeah. You never know about people.” She swiveled in her chair and said, “You told me you wanted to go to the lab tonight. Check things out. You still interested?”

He held her gaze for a long moment, and she saw heat in his expression. Desire. But he blinked and it was gone. “Yeah, I had other thoughts about tonight, but we should take a look at the lab. See if anything’s been disturbed. I’d rather not do it tomorrow when we’ll have an audience.”

“I agree,” she said. “Let’s head over.”

* * *

They walked into the dark, silent building fifteen minutes later. Bree put her finger over her lips, but he didn’t need to be reminded. They wanted to get in and out before anyone realized they were there.

When they got to the lab, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. Didn’t switch on the lights, but instead pulled out a flashlight. Pointed it at the floor before he turned it on, then took Bree’s hand and tugged her into his office.

“Anything out of order on your desk?” he whispered.

She shivered at his closeness, then walked over to her desk and studied the pile of books and papers she’d left there. There were tech magazines. Her notebook, with illegible scribbling on the first thirty pages. A couple of reference books about tech companies, and one text about labs like Jameson’s and their role in the development of software.

Finally she turned to look at him. “Someone’s looked through everything on my desk. The tells that I left are gone. Things are in different places, but nothing’s missing.

“The good news? There’s nothing here that isn’t related to my fake job. Looking at the mess on my desk, I don’t think there’s any way they could figure out that I’m your bodyguard.”

She jerked her head toward his desk. “What about your desk?”

“Same. My tells are gone or moved. Stuff’s in different places. But nothing missing. I’ll take a closer look tomorrow.”

His jaw clenched. Unclenched. He wasn’t surprised their stuff had been searched. But he was pissed off. One of the people he’d trusted, helped, was giving a salary to, was attempting to steal from him.

“You going to look in the safe?” Bree whispered.

He shook his head. “Nothing important in there. Nothing that could give them any hints about my program.”

He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

Neither of them spoke in the elevator or in the lobby. Finally, when they were outside, Bree took his hand. Twined her fingers with his. “We’ll figure out who’s behind this,” she said quietly. “I’m as invested in this as you are. I’ll start tomorrow, digging into every corner of your engineers’ lives. Something will pop. There’ll be an odd sock somewhere.”

They’d reached the Monster, and she opened the door. Cleared the car. Then she took both of his hands. “I’ll be relentless, Jameson. Iwillfind out who’s after your program, and I’ll stop them. I promise.”

“I know you will, Bree.” He squeezed her hands. Felt the pressure of her fingers against his in return. “But there’s nothing more we can do tonight. And I have plans for the evening.”

Chapter 26

“Ihave some plans of my own,” she said, waiting for him to climb into the SUV, then hurrying around to the driver’s side. Climbing in, she locked the doors, fired up the engine and headed toward home.

“You going to tell me what your plans are?” he asked. He began to reach for her hand, then curled his fingers into his palm. Bree was working, and he didn’t want to distract her. He was a patient guy. The proof? He’d worked on his program for almost ten years.

But he wasn’t patient where Bree was concerned. He wanted to know everything about her. And he wanted everything she was willing to give.

Not now, though. She was on the job. Protecting him. Once they were safely inside his apartment? All bets were off.

Their interlude in New York had been a two-day respite from his problems. But now the question of who was after his program had smacked him in the face again. Hard.

All his attention, and Bree’s, needed to be focused on finding and stopping the person who wanted to steal that program. Once that was resolved, he hoped he and Bree would have more time together, but there were no guarantees. She might have to rush back to Montana for another job.

If she got time off between jobs, maybe he could convince her to spend that time with him. But a tight ball of anxiety grew in his chest. Bottom line? Bree’s job was based in Montana. His was in Chicago. Not exactly a recipe for a happy ending for them.

Bree watched both sides of the car, as well as the back and the front, until they reached his building. She pulled into the garage and turned the ignition off.

Glanced at him, and he thought her gaze softened. “Tomorrow we can figure out what to do about the lab. Nothing more we can do tonight.”

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