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Fucking hell.
“Who knows?”
“Ravi, Don, Nick,“ she typed, then pointed at him and Nathan.
He and Nathan locked gazes.
“We need to find this guy,” Nathan muttered.
Ryder could only nod as apprehension slithered up his spine to curl around the base of his neck. If the thief discovered the program was incomplete and Nathalie held the missing piece, she became the next target.
Nathalie relocked the cabinet. She pointed with a frown at the thick black eyewear frames someone had placed on the top. “Who do those belong to?”
“They’re not Ravi’s or yours?” Nathan snapped on a glove and lifted the frames. “No lenses.” He handed them over to Officer Esposito. “Bag these.”
“Who would leave a pair of empty frames behind?” Ryder murmured.
“Birth control glasses, too, from the looks of them,” Nathan added.
Nathalie’s brows knit together. “Birth control glasses?” Understanding lit her eyes. “Military issue.”
Nathan nodded. “Standard black frames. Ugly as all hel—ah heck.” He gave Nathalie an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“Actually,” Nathalie’s gaze followed Esposito’s movements as he placed the frames in a clear plastic evidence bag, “they remind me of what Superman wears when he’s Clark Kent.”
Ryder stiffened.Clark Kent. His detested nickname when he was in the army.
“One more thing,” Nathan said. “Your guy, Ravi, said the man spoke with a British accent. Anyone you know or met lately with a British accent besides this guy?” He jabbed his thumb in Ryder’s direction.
Nathalie shook her head. “No.” She glanced at Ryder before looking away. “Not another man, at least.”
She was thinking of Grace Winfield. Ryder could see it in her eyes.
The Winfield Group was one of the UK’s most prominent defense firms. Oliver Winfield had the means to hire someone with the skills to steal Nathalie’s software design. But would he stoop to industrial espionage? Would he have sent his daughter to the States to oversee the operation?
It didn’t feel right. Winfield was an aggressive businessman, but to Ryder’s knowledge, not a criminal one. As for Grace?
Grace wouldn’t have done this.
But the manwasBritish. And what little Ryder saw of his face in Danny’s photo had triggered a memory. From where? His time in the SAS?
Could the glasses have been a taunt left for him?
A knock sounded on the open door. A second police officer stood at the entrance to the lab. “Ma’am? I need to get some information from you, and the forensic team needs to dust for fingerprints.”
Ryder peered over the officer’s shoulder to see Don Lambert and Nick Moore hovering in the background.
Nathalie, Don, and Nick spent the next hour and a half going over everything with the police, while Ryder, Nathan, and Danny planned to secure Nathalie.
Finally, the police departed.
“We’re leaving.” Ryder didn’t give a damn what else had to be done. It could wait until tomorrow. He wanted Nathalie safe.
“Go home. Get some sleep,” Nathalie told Don and Nick. “Tomorrow morning, we hold a company-wide meeting. I want everyone on heightened alert. Anything that strikes them as suspicious, I want them to report it. Immediately.” She looked ready to fall over as she gripped each of the men’s forearms. “Be careful. Please.”
“Don’t worry about us.” Don patted her hand. “We’re not so old that we’ve forgotten all that military training. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open.”
“This guy tries anything with me, he’ll be meeting the business end of my Beretta,” Nick vowed. He pointed a stubby finger Ryder’s way. “You stick with him.”