Page 33 of Run for Her Life
“And don’t I know it with every breath I take.” Her voice quaked. “You don’t get to judge me. You don’t know what it’s like to live knowing your one child’s carelessness took your other child’s life.” She glared at David, whose expression was blank and resigned. “Now, why you are here digging up old wounds is beyond me.”
“We have two victims, and the only thing connecting them is your company,” Zoe said. “Jackie was obsessed with the fire. Did she ever try talking to you about it?”
“No.” Dawn shook her head. “Lisa, are we done here now?”
“Yes.” Lisa looked embarrassed. “I think we got everything we need.”
The conversation was wrapping up. Dawn and David were about to leave the room when Zoe piped up. “We’re getting Annabelle’s laptop as we speak. If there’s a time to come clean about anything, it’s now.”
The blood drained from David’s face. He ran a hand down his face while Dawn stepped forward, tipping her chin up. “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room. Is that clear?”
Zoe scoffed. Dawn reminded her of a strict high school principal who believed she had the authority to order everyone around. “Yes, ma’am. Anything you want.”
Aiden elbowed her subtly, but Dawn didn’t seem to have taken offense. “As you know, we are a data storage company but we have been reporting losses for the last consecutive four quarters. And then there was the SEC investigation of fraud that led nowhere. We’ve been branching out into gaming, working with small companies around the country and hiring developers. The idea was to innovate and diversify into what the market wants. So we developed something innovative to announce the new direction our company was taking. A video game.”
“That’s the top-secret project Annabelle was working on?” Aiden asked. “And that Jackie was a tester for?”
“Yes. The launch of the new game is critical. You don’t understand but this could save our company.” She took a shuddering breath. “We didn’t want any of the details to get out because of how uniquely it was positioned. But ten days ago, an earlier prototype of the game was stolen.”
“An internal investigation has started but we haven’t got very far,” David explained. “The prototype isverydifferent from our final product. If it is leaked it will ruin our launch and impact the sales and perception around the game.”
“So you’re delaying the launch of your game?” Aiden guessed.
“Yes,” Dawn said, her teeth clenched. “Whoever has stolen the prototype hasn’t released anything about it, which means they’re waiting for us to release the game so that they can undermine us.”
David sighed. “Annabelle was spearheading the project. Her laptop contains all the details and specs that we are trying to protect. So please, whatever you do, donotlet this information get out.”
“All they care about is some video game, not one of their employees who was murdered!” Zoe huffed as the door shut behind them and they walked down the curling, cobbled driveway of the lavish home. It was an unusually sunny and warm day. When Aiden opened his mouth to reply, she raised a hand. “Yes, yes, I know how the world works.”
Behind them, Lisa trailed in deafening silence. Zoe didn’t fully understand Lisa—she had a quiet strength to her, always following up on tips and coordinating searches. She didn’t speak much, but the deputies in the room would stand up straighter around her. That strength buckled when she was around the Harringtons. She transformed into someone inferior who didn’t speak, not because she wasn’t naturally assertive, but because she was afraid.
Aiden stopped in his tracks and a distracted Lisa almost slammed into him. “Sheriff, is there a conflict of interest we need to know about?”
Lisa bit her lower lip. “No. It’s not like that.”
“This is a high-stakes investigation. We potentially have a missing woman on our hands,” Zoe said. “If the Harringtons are involved in any way, then we can’t let them off the hook?—”
“I know that!” Lisa snapped. “Look, they are the reason I got elected, okay? What you’re seeing isn’t subservience. It’s gratitude. Besides, I don’t have the luxury the two of you have. You will move on from this town and these people once this case is over. I’m stuck here. I can’t afford to piss people off,especiallypeople like the Harringtons.”
“We just want to make sure that you’ll be able to remain unbiased,” Zoe said gently.
Lisa’s eyes ping-ponged between them. She shook her head and sighed, pushing past them, muttering something inaudible under her breath.
Zoe watched her stocky frame head toward her jeep. “We weren’t being unreasonable, were we?”
“No, we just found one person who isn’t charmed by you,” Aiden teased.
“Are you saying I’ve charmed you?” she blurted out without thinking and then bit her tongue. Was she flirting? She could retract and deflect but she waited. She actually wanted to know his answer.
Aiden adjusted his glasses and smiled. A brief pause. “Yes.”
She rolled her eyes and took out her sunglasses despite her heart doing a little skip. “Wish I could say the same. Anyway, what do you think?”
“The only connection is the Harringtons and the video game that was supposed to launch,” he said thoughtfully as he leaned against the car door. “We should get a list of everyone that was involved in the project.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard now that we have Annabelle’s laptop. Do you think the fire is just a red herring?” Zoe said. “There was no hint that Annabelle was interested in it. Maybe it was just Jackie.”
Aiden stroked his jaw and stared at his feet. “I can imagine every other person we find in this town will at the very leastbe fascinated by the incident, if not somehow related to it. This could all just come down to whatever’s going on with Harrington Group. Like you said, someone who stole the earlier prototype. Maybe Annabelle found out who it was.”
