Page 24 of Sail Away
The second she closed her eyes, an image of Reid in a pair of shorts, flip-flops, and no shirt appeared in her mind. Even though they’d never be a couple again, she could let go of the anger she’d burned into her heart. She had to make this a turning point in her life.
5
Reid stared at the screen and blinked. His fingers trembled. He glanced around the hotel room until his gaze fixed on the window. The first curve of the yellow sun kissed the light-blue sky. A fifty-million-dollar business with one hundred direct employees, and he couldn’t trust a fucking single one.
Why?
Because he’d had a stupid breakdown over Darcie.
He slammed his fist on the sofa and jumped to his feet. Pacing at the edge of the bed and planting his hands on his hips, he let out a long breath. He had no right to be mad at her for his inability to get over her. That wasn’t her fault. He should have fought for her. He should have told her that he would have followed her to the ends of the Earth.
Instead, he’d ruined his life.
“Fuck,” he muttered. He had to get into the backup server without Preston being notified, and he wasn’t sure how he could do that since he no longer knew the external password. The only way for him to get into the system was to do it from inside.
But that would alert Preston.
Reid was fucked.
And once Preston got wind that Reid was poking around… God only knew what his partner might do or how he would respond.
The worst part was that Reid was pretty fucking sure that Preston was up to more than sliding the fire-retardant material into manufacturing early. Reid just didn’t knowwhat,and he wasn’t sure how to find the answers. What he did know was that he hated putting Darcie right smack-dab in the middle of it all.
His cell phone buzzed.
A text from Preston indicating a change in plans and that there would be no jump off Deception Pass.
Thank God.
That was the last thing Reid wanted to do, only he didn’t like the replacement excursion very much either. He’d rather double down on the kayaking through the rapids.
His chosen ringtone chimed. He jumped.
A local number that he didn’t recognize appeared on the screen. He declined the call and tossed his phone onto the bed. He had to figure out how to get into the system without Preston being notified. It shouldn’t be this hard. It was like an alarm, so maybe he could intercept the texts somehow.
No. That wouldn’t work because he had no clue how to do that. He considered himself well versed in technology and knew a thing or two more than most, but he wasn’t that good.
His phone rang again.
Same local number.
He figured he better answer it this time.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Reid. It’s Jag Bowie.”
Of all the people in Seattle, Jag was not someone Reid expected to hear from. “Hey, Jag. What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping to meet you for a cup of coffee this morning.”
“I’m going to be getting on a boat shortly.”
“I know. My sister’s vessel,” Jag said with quite the stern, deep voice. “But that’s not till noon, and the marina is across the street. I’m in the lobby. If I don’t see you in five, I’ll be up banging on your door.”
“Isn’t this something like police harassment?” Reid said sarcastically under his breath.
“If I didn’t sort of like you, I’d take offense.”
