Page 28 of Cameron's Contract

“Three weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

A headache loomed.

“Dan inserted some ambiguous wording into the contract. Tucked it away in there to protect me should I ever need it.”

“He didn’t tell you where?”

“Died the morning before our meeting.”

I stared at the file. “You want me to find some vague wordage?”

“Pretty much.”

“You should hand this over to your lawyers.”

“They’re focused on salvaging what they can.”

“Dad?” I sat back. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Our current threat is linked to someone in legal.”

“And you know this how?”

“There’s evidence. We tracked the IP address to the legal department.”

“And?”

“The account was deleted. IT hit a dead end.”

“Fire everyone. Hire a new team.”

“There’s no time.”

“This is not what I do, Dad.”

He reached for the file to take it back.

I pulled it toward me, my mind spiraling. “Cole Tea is important to me. We’re not going down without a fight.”

He gave a wry grin. “Perhaps you’re my Trojan horse, Cam.”

CHAPTER 8

THE LAUNDRY ROOM felt cozy.

I sat with my back against the Whirlpool washing machine, stealing a moment of privacy, needing time to think.

I was running on adrenaline and caffeine and couldn’t remember what sleep felt like. Nausea welled.

“You’re not staying,” I told myself, as though laying down a lifeline at my feet, ready for when I chose to bail.

Now felt like a good time.

That five hundred page document waited for me in my assigned bedroom. The mission threatened to eat up my time. My childhood bedroom had long ago been demolished in a remodeling, though there was comfort in knowing that room no longer existed.

I regretted agreeing to Dad’s impossible task. There was no time to bury my head in legalese looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. And there was no way to be sure I’d know what it was when I found it.