Page 27 of Fierce Hope
His gut twisted. There was something they weren’t seeing.
“Pull up the Andreassen-Canning security feeds,” he said.
Zara didn’t take her eyes from her screens. “Already on it. Though maybe don’t mention to Jade how easy this is. Might freak her out.”
“Might freak her out? You think?” Ethan snorted, joining them. “We can practically tell what brand of coffee she drinks from her office window.”
“Speaking of coffee,” Kenji interjected, “whose turn is it to make the lattes? Because these spreadsheets are making my eyes cross.”
But Deke barely heard them. He was staring at Jade’s personnel file on his tablet, noticing things he should have seen before. It was entirely too perfect.
“Hey.” Zara’s voice was quiet beside him. “You okay?”
“Something’s not adding up,” he muttered. “And I don’t just mean the client files.”
“Her background’s pretty spotless,” Kenji observed, suddenly serious. “Are we thinking that’s a problem?”
“Not yet.” He hoped.
Zara stretched her arms above her head and sighed. “The Whitmore angle looks worth pursuing. Their CFO made some interesting moves right before Jade started certifying their monthly reports.”
Deke leaned over the conference table, studying the timeline of the Baylor merger. Richard Baylor’s threats were explicit—he’d actually told his ex-wife’s lawyer he’d “make everyone pay.” The Whitmore situation was subtler but equally concerning. Both had means, motive, and a history of lashing out.
But he kept circling back to Jade’s spotless work history.
His phone buzzed?—
Jade: Just checking in. I’ll be done with work in half an hour.
Something in his chest tightened at seeing her name on the screen.
“Alright,” he straightened, decision crystallizing. “Zara, I want everything we can find on Baylor’s movements this morning. Kenji, dig deeper into the Whitmore family tree—see who might have access to a dark SUV. And ...” he paused, steel entering his voice, “I want a complete background sweep on Jade. Go back twenty years.”
Kenji’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure about that?”
“No,” Deke admitted quietly. But they had to tug on any threads they found. “We keep that between ourselves for now.”
“Copy that,” Kenji responded.
He grabbed his keys, mind already mapping out his next moves. Jade wouldn’t like what he had planned. Not that it mattered. He’d rather have her alive and angry than ...
He couldn’t even finish the thought.
“Text me anything urgent,” he told the team. “I’m picking her up from work.”
“And then?” Zara asked, though her knowing look suggested she’d already guessed.
Deke’s expression hardened with resolve. Sometimes protecting someone meant making choices they wouldn’t thank you for. But he’d made his decision.
“Then I do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
She wouldn’t like it.
That he could live with.
15
“You can’t stayat my place!” Jade stared at Deke across the cramped church office, fingers clenched around youth group permission slips.
