Page 45 of Near Miss

Lachlan made small talk with Penny at her desk, waiting for Sophia and Jared to exit the conference room.

When Sophia asked to speak with Landry, his first thought was that she’d decided to tell Jared about the unexplained weapons purchases. Then she’d brushed her hand along his back, a gesture he’d taken to mean she was still on his side.

Something Lachlan hadn’t felt in a long time slipped through him, potent and possessive. He’d noticed the anger in Jared’s eyes when Sophia had chosen to stand next to him during the gathering for Fred. Landry’s oblique reference to Roshan Haider in front of Sophia had been an implicit challenge.

He had no right to lay claim to Sophia, not with the situation he found himself in, but that hadn’t stopped him from wanting to place his body between her and Jared and bare his teeth at the other man like he was some bloody troglodyte, and Sophia, his prize.

For reasons Lachlan didn’t understand, she’d chosen to ally herself with him, despite the threat he’d brought to her door, despite his rejection, despite the evidence piling up that made him look like a traitor selling weapons to the enemy.

He wanted to believe she wasn’t part of a larger game at play and he, the pawn to be sacrificed in the end.

The door to the conference room opened. He ducked around the corner as Sophia and Jared emerged and waited until Jared was out of sight before slipping into Sophia’s office.

“Haider is gone. You needn’t be worried about him anymore.”

The relief in Sophia’s expression twisted his gut. She should have never been in danger because of him. “Jared asked if you had told me about Roshan.”

Lachlan barely held back his growl. “I thought Jared could help keep you safe, but it’s over now.”

She bit her lip. A tell she had when she was unsure or worried. “You didn’t do anything inappropriate, did you?”

“I didn’t even cross paths with him.” If he had, he probablywouldhave done something inappropriate, as Sophia put it. “I have it on good authority he boarded a plane to London yesterday afternoon.”

“What about the other thing?” She gazed at him anxiously. “I’m not going to lie. It looks bad, Lachlan, and we won’t be able to keep it from Jared much longer.”

“I’ve asked my suppliers for complete listings of every purchase LAI has made in the past year. I’ve also contacted my shipper. I’m sure they think I’ve gone all doolally, asking for information I should already have.”

She nodded. “I told Jared I’d finish the government report. That way, I can control the information flow and try to buy you some time.”

“Well done.” His shoulders relaxed. She’d done him a huge favor.

“What else can I do?”

“You’ve done enough,” he assured her. “You’ve already put your career at risk for me. I can’t ask you for more.”

Sophia rounded her desk to stand in front of him. Her fingers, dainty and feminine with their polished nails, reached for his. He couldn’t help but notice how smooth and pale her skin was next to his scars and calluses. She gazed up at him with an earnestness that warmed the cold, dark place beneath his sternum.

“Lachlan, you don’t have to do this alone.”

Sophia’s words rang in Lachlan’s head long after he’d returned to his own office.You don’t have to do this alone.He didn’t understand her faith in his innocence when the evidence said otherwise. It rocked him to his core.

His primary supplier had responded with the information he’d requested. He opened the email attachment and scanned the list of purchase orders. He’d need to cross-check it with the export license and shipping documents in his files, but he could already tell there were more orders than he remembered placing.

His attention snagged on the date on the latest order. He’d been in Afghanistan at the time. He checked the time. It was late, but his supplier was in a different time zone and should still be in the office.

“Hey buddy, did you get my email?” Chris Sullivan’s thick Southern accent had taken Lachlan a while to understand when they’d started working together.

“Aye, thanks, pal. The most recent purchase order, how did you receive it?”

“Lemme check.” Lachlan could hear the question in Chris’s voice. “Looks like you emailed it to me.”

Lachlan’s shoulders jacked like they were on puppet strings. He rolled them to try and ease the tension. “Directly from my email address? Can you forward it back to me?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Nothing, annual compliance bullshit.” A new message notification popped up in the corner of his computer screen. He opened his email and found the forward from Chris. The original address was his, meaning whoever placed the order had direct access to his LAI credentials or somehow hacked into LAI’s computer network.

“What’s the status of that order?”

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