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Roshan saw the gun in the other man’s hand a fraction too late.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Wishmeluck,”Sophiasaid as she grabbed her purse and briefcase and opened the door of Emily’s car. She’d figured out a plan to access LAI’s computers, and luck was on her side—when she’d checked in with Penny yesterday after leaving Nathan’s, she’d learned Jared was due to be out of the office all day. Today might be her only chance.
“Be careful.” Emily shot her a worried look from the driver’s seat. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do. It might be the only way to prove Lachlan’s innocence.” She gave Emily’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Have a good last day of work in Foggy Bottom before you head back to Paris tomorrow. I’ll see you later.”
Penny was already at her desk when Sophia pushed open the glass doors leading to LAI’s executive suite. She set down her briefcase in her office and looked around for her coffee mug. It wasn’t in its usual spot on her desk. Had she left it in the break room?
Then she remembered she’d left it in Fred’s office. After receiving Nathan’s phone call, she’d completely forgotten about it. She bit her lip and glanced out her open door at LAI’s office manager. Coffee could wait until she’d finished what she planned. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves anyway. Adding caffeine on top probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
Best to get started. This entire plan would fall apart if she couldn’t get Rob Salas to agree to her request.
“Sophia.” Penny stopped her as she passed by. “A detective from the Fairfax County police phoned this morning.” The cautious note in Penny’s voice had Sophia stiffening. “He wants to interview LAI employees about Lachlan. He said the body in the car may not have been Lachlan’s. The young man who details cars in the surface lot has been reported missing by his family.”
Sophia squeezed her eyes shut to keep Penny from seeing the truth and forced out yet another lie. “That makes no sense. If Lachlan were alive, he would have told us.” She didn’t have to fake the tears brimming beneath her lashes. Her nerves were at the breaking point.
“That’s what I told him. Lachlan wasn’t the kind of man to just disappear.” Penny stood and enveloped Sophia in a hug. “I’m sorry I upset you, dear. I wanted to make sure you knew before the detective contacted you.”
“Thanks. I just—the best thing for me right now is to work.” She politely waved off Penny’s mothering with an excuse about needing coffee. Down the hall, out of sight, she slumped against the wall. If she was going to pull off what she had to do next, she needed to get herself together. Breathing in determination, she squared her shoulders and headed to the IT director’s office.
Rob’s door was open and his light was on, but he was nowhere to be found. Sophia passed Christian in the hall. “Have you seen Rob?”
Christian swallowed his bite of croissant. “He’s in my office. My computer keeps shutting down on me. Piece of crap. We need to put upgrading office equipment into the next funding request.”
“I’ll get right on that.” She liked Christian, so she refrained from pointing out that his penchant for eating and drinking over his keyboard probably wasn’t doing his technology any favors. She’d seen him spill his coffee on it twice when she’d met with him to gather the information needed from his division for the government report.
She found Rob on his knees beneath Christian’s desk, messing with cables. She took a deep breath for courage and belted out yet another falsehood. “Hey Rob, Jared called in and wants me to get some information off his computer. Can you give me his login credentials? He needs the data right away.”
Please, God, let Rob not hear the tremble in her voice or how hard her heart thumped.
The look Rob sent her from his position beneath Christian’s desk spoke volumes about his frame of mind. She smiled and shrugged. “Sorry. I know you’re busy. He said to hurry.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Rob levered himself upright and searched Christian’s desk for a notepad and pen. He pulled a sticky note off its pad and scribbled a series of numbers and letters on it. “Here.”
She accepted the paper, willing her fingers not to shake. “Thanks.”
He waved her off. “It sounds like the boss might need a reminder about security protocols.”
Guilt threatened to suffocate her at deceiving yet another one of her coworkers. If Rob mentioned her request to Jared, her lie would be exposed.
There was no going back now. Her career at LAI was over once her role in helping Lachlan became known. It would be for nothing if she didn’t find information proving Lachlan’s innocence.
She headed to Lachlan’s office first. After closing the blinds, she locked the door, booted up the computer, and typed in Jared’s access code. She fished two thumb drives from her pocket and stared at the one Nathan had given her.
That one could wait.
She inserted her other thumb drive into the machine and downloaded every file and email she could find relevant to LAI’s security teams in Afghanistan, including Lachlan’s communications with his team leaders. When she finished, she made her way down the hall to Fred’s office.
This time, there was no stopping to mourn Fred. She headed straight to his computer and copied every electronic file pertaining to the government report, including the information she’d gathered from both Lachlan’s and Christian’s divisions.
Where was Fred’s audit? The audit had been how he found the discrepancies in the weapons shipments. She searched his files. Her fingers halted over an Excel file,FBAuditAPR.
“Bingo.” She went to click on it, her finger freezing over the mouse. “Date last modified was yesterday?” That didn’t make any sense. Fred had been gone for a week. No one except her had been in his office. At least, not that she knew of. Her gaze went to her coffee mug, still sitting where she left it yesterday morning, what now felt like a lifetime ago.
She right-clicked on the file and opened up version history on a whim. Someone modified the spreadsheet yesterday. She clicked on the previous version dated the day Fred died and saved it to her flash drive, along with the newer version.